Washington Nationals

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper homered Wednesday against the Giants for the first time since missing time with a bruised left knee.

Harper went the other way with a solo home run in the sixth inning to open the scoring. He added a double in the 10th and came around to score the winning run in a 2-1 game.

Harper went 2 for 5 with an RBI and two runs scored. He struck out once. He's hitting .288 with 12 home runs, 23 RBI and a .994 on-base plus slugging percentage. 

Nationals closer Rafael Soriano bounced back Wednesday from two blown saves with a 1-2-3 inning to secure a 2-1, extra-inning win over the Giants.

Soriano needed 17 pitches for a perfect 10th inning, a night after he blew a save chance. He retired all three batters he faced on fly balls for his 13th save of the season.

Soriano has 13 saves in 16 opportunities with a 3.00 ERA in 21 innings. 

Nationals starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez had one of his best starts of the season Wednesday against the Giants, but ended with a no-decision in a 2-1, 10-inning victory.

Gonzalez held the Giants to a run in 7 1/3 innings. He walked Angel Pagan with one out in the eighth inning then was pulled for reliever Drew Storen. He allowed four hits and two walks, while striking out five. He threw a season-high 116 pitches.

Gonzalez, who has lowered his ERA to 3.66 with four quality starts in a row, will next start Tuesday against the Orioles. 

Probably due to last week's brief power spike, in which he hit four homers in three games, and a 16-game hitting streak, Fantasy owners have made Adam LaRoche the third-most added first baseman on CBSSports.com, trailing Mitch Moreland and Brandon Belt.

With a batting average that still stands at just .219, LaRoche could still improve, yet he may actually be overowned right now.

Owners in 70 percent of our leagues are rostering LaRoche, and while he should be due for more hits in general and more doubles in particular, when the dust settles, he could easily remain outside the top 25 first basemen. LaRoche has been limited to three doubles in part because of apparent bad luck (1 for 31 on flyballs in play), but he is also striking out far too often. Even as he has heated up in May, LaRoche has 20 strikeouts in 65 at-bats this month.

Power binges come and go, but unless LaRoche starts making contact more often, the Nationals' first baseman may not help much beyond home runs and walks.

Nationals closer Rafael Soriano struggled yet again Tuesday against the Giants, blowing his second save in as many appearances.

Soriano entered the ninth inning of the game with a 2-1 lead and promptly allowed an infield single to let the tying run on base. He got the next two batters out and seemed to be on his way to the save, before allowing a game-tying triple to Gregor Blanco.

Soriano finished the inning without any more damage, but he blew his third save in 15 appearances. The Nationals would lose the game, 4-2, in 10 innings. Soriano has a 2.25 ERA in 20 innings of work.