WASHINGTON -- Bryce Harper looked simply bewildered during his first three at-bats against the Phillies, all ending in swinging strikeouts. He came through big in his fourth plate appearance.Harper hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Washington Nationals to a 3-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night.Harper whiffed repeatedly against Phillies starter Jerad Eickhoff. He then provided the games only scoring against Patrick Schuster, who threw a wild pitch, issued a walk and gave up the homer without recording an out after replacing fellow reliever Luis Garcia (1-1).I was thinking to myself, `well, you struck out three times. Hit a homer and everybody will forget about that, Harper said. Look what happened.Nationals ace Max Scherzer gave up four hits in 6 2/3 scoreless innings, and struck out eight to increase his NL lead to 251.Shawn Kelley (2-2) recorded the final out of the eighth and Mark Melancon pitched ninth for his 40th save as Washington won for the fifth time in six games.Ben Reveres single with one out in the eighth started the winning rally against Garcia, who was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley before the game. Daniel Murphy walked before Harpers heroics.The 2015 NL Most Valuable Player starred at the drive down the right field line before punctuating the drama with a bat flip.That was a dramatic home run, National manager Dusty Baker said. It just shows how strong he is mentally after you strike out three times and hit a home run. He had a rough night going up to then.Facing a 3-1 count against Schuster, Harper had one objective in mind.I was kind of shocked he threw it over the middle of the plate, Harper said of Schusters curveball. I was swinging no matter what anyway, to tell you the truth. If it had been in their dugout I probably would have swung at it.Eickhoff essentially matched Scherzer, keeping Washington off the scoreboard over six innings. He gave up five hits and struck out five.Tied for the NL lead with 16 wins, Scherzer won each of his previous four starts with 32 strikeouts and a 2.45 ERA in that stretch. He entered Saturdays matchup 3-0 against Philadelphia this season.The Cy Young contender wasnt special throughout -- he hit two batters -- and labored at times with long innings. He also got clutch outs when needed.With two runners on and one out in the first, Scherzer induced back-to-back infield pop-ups. He struck out Tommy Joseph to end the third with two runners in scoring position.I didnt think (Scherzer) was at his best tonight, Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. He had a ton of pitches. He looked like he was struggling with command and we just couldnt take advantage of it.Philadelphias defense kept the game scoreless in the fourth. Jose Lobatons single with runners at first and second sent Clint Robinson around third. Center fielder Odubel Herreras throw bounced to home, where catcher Cameron Rupp shielded the plate and tagged out Robinson.TRAINERS ROOMPhillies: 3B Maikel Franco pinch-hit in the seventh inning after sitting out the previous two games with a sore right thumb.Nationals: RHP Joe Ross, on the disabled list since July 3 with right shoulder inflammation, threw 60 pitches during a simulation at Nationals Park Saturday. (Joe) had good velocity. ... Changeup looked like hed never been out, manager Dusty Baker said.STRASBURG SPEAKSNationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg made his first comments since leaving Wednesdays start with a strained flexor mass in his right elbow. Strasburg passed on projecting a timeline for his return before or during the postseason.I cant make that claim, he said. Theres still pretty much a month left in the season. Im just trying to get back healthy. Hopefully were still playing baseball.BLANK CHECKSaturday marked the third time the Phillies were shut out by the Nationals this season and the 10th time they were held scoreless overall.UP NEXTPhillies LHP Adam Morgan (2-9, 5.90) faces LHP Gio Gonzalez (10-9, 4.40), who allowed six runs and eight hits in three innings in his last start on Monday against the Braves. Edson Alvarez Jersey . -- Teemu Selanne scored the first goal of his 22nd NHL season, and the Anaheim Ducks extended the best start in franchise history with their fifth straight victory, 3-2 over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Carlos Vela Jersey . 8 Kansas to a 64-63 win over Texas Tech on Tuesday night. The freshman from Vaughan, Ont. http://www.soccermexicojerseysteamstore.com/javier-hernandez-mexico-jersey/ . President of baseball operations Larry Beinfest was fired Friday after 12 years with the Marlins. The move came as the team neared the end of its third consecutive last-place season in the NL East. Carlos Salcedo Jersey . -- Devin Hester is done returning kicks in Chicago. Giovani dos Santos Jersey . The deal is pending a physical, assistant general manager Bobby Evans said. Traded from Seattle to Baltimore on Aug. 30, Morse also can play first base and right field to give manager Bruce Bochy some flexibility in writing his lineup. RIVERIA MAYA, Mexico -- Brittany McPhee and Shannon Coffee scored 13 points apiece and No. 11 Stanford blitzed Wichita State 87-39 on Friday at the Cancun Challenge.Erica McCall added 13 points for the Cardinal (5-1) and Alana Smith, Nadia Fingall and Marla Snezek had 11 each.Stanford scored the last seven points of the first quarter to take a 20-11 lead and then scored the first 16 of the second. The Cardinal made 11 of 13 shots in the second quarter and led 46-15 at the break. They outscored the Shockers (1-4) 22-2 on points in the paint and got 20 points off 13 turnnoversWith Smith and McCall grabbing eight rebounds and Coffee seven, Stanford dominated the boards 45-18.dddddddddddd The Cardinal ended up at 62 percent shooting (33 of 53) and a 50-13 advantage on inside points.No player reached double figures for the Shockers, who shot 26 percent (14 of 54). In their only other meeting, the Shockers beat Stanford 71-68 on Dec. 4, 1980.Stanford wraps up the round-robin tournament facing Purdue on Saturday. ' ' '