What promised to be an epic pitching duel between two undefeated pitchers in Justin Nicolino (2.79 ERA) and Stephen Strasburg (2.76 ERA) got off to an unexpected start when Christian Yelich went deep off Strasburg for a solo shot over center field, and Nicolino walked his first two batters before welcoming Bryce Harper to the plate with no outs.
Harper didn't make Nicolino pay like he did Kyle Barraclough last night when he lifted a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh, but he still walked and loaded the bases.