Photo credit: sports.yahoo.com

By Jeremy Kahn

On the day that the Washington Capitals brought the newly won Stanley Cup to Nationals Park and Alexander Ovechkin threw out the first pitch, it was the Washington Nationals superstar that provided the big blast against the San Francisoo Giants.

Bryce Harper hit his National League-leading 19th home run in the bottom of the fourth inning, as the Nationals defeated the Giants 7-5 in an early Saturday matinee at Nationals Park.

In his first game since being activated from the 60-day disabled list, Adam Eaton scored two runs to help even the weekend series with the Giants.

Eaton, who missed 52 games with a left ankle bruise, was hit by a pitch, as he led off the bottom of the first inning.

Anthony Rendon drove in Eaton with a single that gave the Nationals a quick 1-0 lead, and then in the next inning, he scored again and the Nationals took a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning.

Dereck Rodriguez lasted just 2.2 innings, as he gave up five runs just six days after his first major league start and win over the Philadelphia Phillies at AT&T Park.

Rodriguez, who is the son of Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez, pitched in front of his father for the first time as a major leaguer, and will do so again on Thursday, when he pitches in his hometown of Miami against the Marlins.

Nick Hundley got the Giants back in it in the top of the third inning, as he hit a three-run home run off of Gio Gonzalez to get the Giants within 5-3.

The Giants rally continued in the top of the fourth inning, as the Giants loaded the bases and were only able to manage one run, as Andrew McCutchen hit a sacrifice fly.

Gonzalez, who like Rodriguez saw his pitch count elevate and was unable to get out of the fourth inning.

Justin Miller picked up his third win of the season, as he retired all five batters he faced.

Hundley got the Giants within one run in the top of the seventh inning, as he doubled in a run; however, the Nationals put the game away in the bottom of the seventh inning, when Spence Kieboom hit a RBI double of his own.

NOTES: Derek Holland will take the mound in the series finale on Sunday, while the Nationals will send Max Scherzer to the mound, as he looks to improve to 11-1 on the season.

This will be the first time that Holland will face the Nationals in his 10-year career, while Scherzer looks to go to 2-0 against the Giants this season. On April 25, Scherzer went six innings and struck out 10 in a 15-2 victory for the Nationals, as they salvaged the series finale.

Brandon Crawford was out of the lineup for the first time since May 16 against the Cincinnati Reds. Crawford struck out as a pinch hitter in the top of the seventh inning.

Ovechkin’s first pitch to Scherzer went over the pitcher’s head, and the Conn Smythe Award Winner asked for another one and it was granted.

UP NEXT: The Giants and Nats conclude their series on Sunday at 1:05 pm PDT.