Bryce Harper’s bizarre night: four runs, zero swings and a little bit of history

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Have a night, Bryce Harper — have a very bizarre and a very effective night.

The Washington Nationals pounded the Atlanta Braves on Thursday, winning 15-1. Harper scored four of those runs but didn’t really do any pounding. Unless you count pounding the dirt out of his cleats.

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Harper came to the plate four times, he saw 20 pitches and didn’t swing at a single one. Each time he walked, he came around to score. Once, he walked with the bases loaded. His final line for the night: 0-for-0, four runs, one RBI and four walks.

You don’t see that one every night. In fact, it’s only happened three other times since 1914. The other players to score four runs in a game without registering an official at-bat:

• Larry Doby in 1951
• Joe Morgan in 1973
• Rickey Henderson in 1989

None of those three also had an RBI. Oh, and this is worth noting: The Nats pulled Harper in the sixth inning because the game was out of hand. C’mon, Matt Williams, you couldn’t keep him in just until the swingless streak ended? The only player to see more pitches and not swing in the last 10 years, according to ESPN Stats & Info, was Juan Uribe in 2010. His total was 21, one more than Harper’s.

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Harper wasn’t itching to swing either. After the game, he told reporters, including MLB.com’s Jacob Emert:

“I’ve got confidence in everybody on our team to get a job done behind me,” said Harper. “I’ll take my walks when I can. And when they throw the ball over the plate, I’ll take my hits, too.”

That was true on Thursday night. Ryan Zimmerman, hitting cleanup behind Harper, was 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Even if the potential NL MVP didn’t take a single cut, it’s hard to argue with the results.

One last footnote about Harper’s odd night: This is actually the second time this season he’s walked four times and scored four runs. The other came Aug. 18 against the Colorado Rockies. But that night Harper registered two official at-bats beyond the walks.

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