Bryce Harper with a dramatic Sunday homer in Philly, in futility

This was to be the statement comeback game of the year so far in 2016 for the Nationals. This was supposed to be where they overcame the deficit and won the game on the back of the best player in baseball, after he homered on a rocket to right center on a full count pitch to put the Nationals ahead 2-1 in the top of the ninth. The Nats were going to steal this one on getaway day, after Bryce Harper’s sixth home run. That would be the headline.

That is, until their bad ju-ju closer Jonathan Papelbon would enter the game and blow it in the bottom of the ninth.

Bryce Harper baptized not-for-long closer Jeanmar Gomez with a home run in the ninth inning, for his sixth of the year. It was the fourth straight game he had homered and I don’t even know how many straight at Citizens Bank Park, a streak that will ride into the next time he plays at this park.

The Nationals lost the game 3-2 and went to 9-2 instead of a shiny 10-1. But Bryce Harper is proving he’s the most difficult out since Barry Bonds.

I will never understand for the life of me why the Nationals felt the need to retain this slug. He is a true POS. He will rear his ugly head again in a big, much more costly spot. You watch.