Touch 'Em All: Harper benched for lack of hustle

Bryce Harper hit the ball to the mound, jogged to first base, and took a right turn to the dugout before getting halfway down the basepath.

That would be his final play in the Washington Nationals' 4-3 home loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday.

First-year manager Matt Williams will tolerate physical miscues, such as the error that provided St. Louis three unearned runs, but he won't take the nonchalance that the normally aggressive Harper displayed during his sixth-inning jog.

"Lack of hustle. That's why he came out of the game," Williams said. "He and I made an agreement, this team made an agreement, that when we play the game, that we hustle at all times."

"I respect what he did," the 21-year-old Harper, a two-time all-star, said of Williams' decision. "That's part of the game."

This was a rare sight: Mike Trout looking overmatched at the plate.

Trout struck out four times Saturday, and the Los Angeles Angels lost, 5-2, to Max Scherzer and the Tigers in Detroit. It was the first time in Trout's career that he fanned more than three times in a game, and not even Albert Pujols' 498th home run could lift Los Angeles to another win over the Tigers.

"Some days you've just got to tip your cap. [Scherzer] made a few good pitches," Trout said. "He's got good life on his fastball. The ball, in the middle, kind of rises up from that kind of sidearm motion."