Instant analysis: Nats 5, Padres 4

Associated Press

Game in a nutshell: The morning began with some debate about whether Bryce Harper would even play. But the 20-year-old talked his way into the lineup and then made it all worthwhile. Harper drove in three runs to pace the Nationals' offense. Ryan Zimmerman delivered the big, go-ahead RBI single in the seventh. Jordan Zimmermann didn't earn the win, but he pitched well enough to get curly W No. 13. The honor ultimately went to Ross Ohlendorf, who allowed a three-run homer in relief of Zimmermann but remained the pitcher of record when the Nationals rallied in the bottom of the seventh. Drew Storen turned in a much-needed, 1-2-3 eighth inning, and Rafael Soriano closed out a 1-run victory. With that, the Nationals improved to three games over .500 for the first time since May 18. And they learned Harper and Zimmermann were named All-Stars, with Ian Desmond still having a chance to crack the roster as well.

Hitting highlight: Harper had to convince Davey Johnson to let him play today. Good thing the manager listened to his young star. Harper wound up driving in three of the Nationals' five runs. He drew a bases-loaded walk in the third. He singled up the middle in the fifth. And he delivered the game-tying RBI with a sacrifice fly in the seventh. Harper is still battling a 1-for-20 slump since his dramatic home run on Monday, but he's still finding ways to contribute. And he capped his day by learning of his first career election to the All-Star Game starting lineup.

Pitching highlight: Zimmermann allowed only five hits, but he certainly seemed to labor through a hot afternoon. He needed a whopping 101 pitches to get through 5 1/3 innings, uncharacteristic for the right-hander, who is among the most-efficient pitchers in baseball. But he still did his job, getting pulled with the Nationals leading 3-1. At that moment, he was in line to earn his league-leading 13th win. But Ohlendorf entered out of the bullpen and immediately surrendered a three-run homer to Jesus Guzman, dashing Zimmermann's hopes for a win. He ultimately settled for his first career All-Star selection.

Key stat: Harper is the youngest NL player ever elected an All-Star starter, and only the second Nationals player ever elected to the starting lineup, joining Alfonso Soriano in 2006.

Up next: The series wraps up at 1:35 p.m. Sunday when Stephen Strasburg looks to earn his fifth win, facing Padres left-hander Robbie Erlin.