Photo by Tony DeFillippo

Diamondbacks 5, Nationals 1: Bryce Harper might want to think about getting more of his practice licks in at Nationals Park than the National Mall. Harper went hitless in his home debut. Then again, the Nationals’ offense continued its recent anemia, managing just one run on six hits as the team dropped its fifth consecutive game. The hot, hot heat of that 14-4 start has really cooled off in the past week. It was only in the eight inning, on a double by Roger Bernadina followed by an Ian Desmond single, that the Nationals managed to eke out their lone run. On the mound, Jordan Zimmermann wasn’t horrible—giving up four runs (three earned) over a bit more than six innings of work would be perfectly serviceable if the Nationals offense was capable of more than the seven runs the team has scored over the course of the five-game losing streak. But, alas.

At least Harper put on something of a show, if not with his bat (or mouth). In the seventh inning, with Arizona tacking more runs on the board, Harper made the frame’s best play when he chased down a long fly ball and, with the Diamondbacks’ John McDonald on third and heading home, fired a rope more than 300 feet to Wilson Ramos, who appeared to make the tag. The umpire called McDonald safe, of course. Still, Harper’s throw was something.

“I reared back and gave it my all,” he told the Post.

Capitals vs. Rangers Resumes Tonight: After Alex Ovechkin’s Game 2 heroics on Monday tied up the Eastern Conference semifinals, the series resumes tonight at the Verizon Center. One thing the Caps need try to do is avoid the same home-ice performance they showed in the first round against the Bruins. Although the Capitals had the NHL’s third-best home record in the regular season, they went 1-2 against Boston in the opening series of the playoffs. “We’ve still got a lot of confidence at home. I think that’s still where we play our best hockey,” defenseman Karl Alzner told the Post.