NL East

The Philadelphia Phillies (13-15) and Washington Nationals (18-9) will close out a three-game National League East series on Sunday night at Nationals Park, with the first pitch scheduled for 8:05 ET on ESPN.

Las Vegas oddsmakers have established the Phillies as +105 road underdogs, while the total has held steady at its opening number of 6.

Few prospects have been hyped for as long or as hard as the Nationals' Bryce Harper.  When third baseman Ryan Zimmerman was put on the 15-day disabled list it heralded the call-up heard 'round the baseball world: Harper's debut.

Just when you thought the Washington Nationals might lose a one-run game at home, they come from behind again to win against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Stephen Strasburg looked good on Friday night, but was the victim of the ball jumping out of Nationals Park. Hunter Pence and Carlos Ruiz connected for surprisingly long home runs. When they landed, they accounted for a total of three runs.

With the lackluster offensive performance out of the Phillies' bats this season, fans are starting to question where is the strength in this World Series-hopeful team.

With RBI machine Ryan Howard out for what seems like a significant time, and an unknown return time for Chase Utley, Philadelphia needs to look toward the team's pitchers for a boost of motivation. 

Why not the pitching staff?

Before the 2012 season began, an early May series between the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves would've been expected to be a big matchup, one that would help determine the NL East winner and likely a postseason wild card. 

According to Marc Narducci of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Ryan Howard is starting to get back into the swing of things both literally and figuratively.

The power-hitting first baseman has been cleared for baseball activities and will be heading to Florida on Sunday.

Bryce Harper officially makes his MLB debut for the Washington Nationals, thus starting what many think will be a long big-league career.

Some say that Harper should have started the season in Washington, while others believe he should still be in Triple-A to gain more experience.

In 20 games with Syracuse, Harper hit .250 with one home run, three RBI and four doubles.

Shortly after 6:00 p.m. PT, Washington Nationals top prospect Bryce Harper will make his major league debut at Dodger Stadium against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

It's going to be a big moment. Just in case you didn't know that already.

The Washington Nationals (14-6) and Los Angeles Dodgers (14-6) continue a three-game National League series on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium, with the first pitch scheduled for 9:10 p.m. ET.

As much as we've anticipated Bryce Harper getting called up to the majors, we apparently weren't as excited as Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo. Whatever plan he had just got tossed out the window in a desperate hope to inject some offense into an increasingly feeble Nats lineup.