Bryce Harper receives loud boos from angry Nationals fans in D.C. return

Chris Cwik
Updated

Washington Nationals fans aren’t happy Bryce Harper left for a division rival. In his return to D.C., Harper was welcomed back with loud boos from Nationals fans.

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The fans only grew angrier as the night went on. That’s because Harper came back to haunt his former team, pacing a Phillies 8-2 with three hits, including a monstrous two-run home run.

The boos started when Harper was announced as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies’ starting lineup. They continued during Harper’s tribute video from the Nationals.

It made for an awkward moment.

Prior to Tuesday’s game, Harper let the D.C. fans know how much he appreciated them with a heartfelt Instagram post. Either the Nationals fans in attendance didn’t see that, or it wasn’t enough to make up for him leaving.

Harper turned down a 10-year, $300 million offer from the Nationals during the offseason. The team came back with a 12-year $250 million deal a few months later, which Harper also rejected.

Harper eventually agreed to a 13-year, $330 million deal with the Phillies. Thanks to his hot start, the team is now 4-0 for the first time since 1915.

The Nationals and Max Scherzer looked like they might be able to slow Harper down early. In his first at-bat of the night, Harper struck out against Scherzer.

Harper’s second at-bat ended with the same result as he struck out a second time against Scherzer.

That’s all Harper needed to do to draw some cheers from the D.C. crowd.

From that point on though, it was Harper’s night.

He broke through against Scherzer with a double in the fifth inning. In the seventh, he singled home a run to extend Philadelphia’s lead. Then in eighth, he delivered the dagger with his home run against Jeremy Hellickson.

Yeah, Bryce Harper was feeling it.

Really feeing it.

The refueled NL East rivalry will continue Wednesday afternoon.

Philadelphia Phillies' Bryce Harper watches a video tribute in honor of him from the dugout before a baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park, Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Philadelphia Phillies' Bryce Harper watches a video tribute in honor of him from the dugout before a baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park, Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik

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