Community Picks: Pittsburgh Pirates 0% vs Texas Rangers 0%

Prior to Thursday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Washington Nationals slugger Bryce Harper was probably pretty frustrated with his recent performance. The 23-year-old came into the contest hitting just .194 during the month of May, and had only clubbed two home runs. [ Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Baseball contest now ] That frustration likely intensified after Harper struck out swinging during the first inning. Instead of taking out his anger on the water cooler, Harper decided to channel that rage into a future at-bat. In the sixth inning, it came to pass. Harper put all of his hatred into one swing. The only victim was a poor, helpless baseball. On the third pitch of the at-bat, Harper obliterated an 80 mph curveball from Mike Leake. The ball was launched so far that it hit off the facing of the third deck in right field at Nationals Park.  While hitting the ball to the third deck is no easy task, Harper's blast won't threaten for the longest home run of the season. It traveled just 434 feet according to official measurements.  Texas Rangers rookie Nomar Mazara's  491 foot moonshot is safe  ... for now.  We have no reason to doubt the official data, but that seems light. We would have bought at least 480 feet based on how hard that thing was hit. It's not the first time  Harper has driven a ball out to the upper deck, but it's still incredibly impressive every time he does it. That area is usually reserved for big, powerful veterans like Adam Dunn, not a 23-year-old kid. [Elsewhere: One of the Pirates broadcasters explained his verbal feud with Tony La Russa ] Given Harper's ability to go on a tear at the plate, this home run might be just what he needed to break out of his slump. While that would make most players happy, Harper might want to stay angry. He tends to hit the ball a long way when he's angry. More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports: - - - - - - - Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik Continue to Article

May 26, 2016 9:42:pm EST

Facing Pirates ace Gerrit Cole, the Arizona Diamondbacks gave themselves plenty of chances to break the game open and grab a win. Cole was far from sharp from the start, giving up back-to-back doubles to Jean Segura and Jason Bourne in the first inning to give the Diamondbacks an early 1-0 lead. Cole needed 106 pitches to get through five innings. Continue to Article

May 26, 2016 6:13:pm EST

Rougned Odor's suspension for clocking Jose Bautista is losing a small bit of its punch. According to MLB Network's Jon Heyman , Odor's suspension will be reduced from eight games to seven after his appeal to the league office. [ Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Baseball contest now ] Odor propelled the ugly brawl between the Toronto Blue Jays and Texas Rangers on May 15 when he connected a punch to Bautista's face after a take-out slide at second base. The bad blood between these two teams had been brewing since last season's ALDS when Bautista homered to put the Blue Jays ahead and unleashed the most famous bat flip in the history of baseball . Continue to Article

May 26, 2016 5:27:pm EST

Rougned Odor's suspension for clocking Jose Bautista is losing a small bit of its punch. According to MLB Network's Jon Heyman , Odor's suspension will be reduced from eight games to seven after his appeal to the league office. [ Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Baseball contest now ] Odor propelled the ugly brawl between the Toronto Blue Jays and Texas Rangers on May 15 when he connected a punch to Bautista's face after a take-out slide at second base. The bad blood between these two teams had been brewing since last season's ALDS when Bautista homered to put the Blue Jays ahead and unleashed the most famous bat flip in the history of baseball . Continue to Article

May 26, 2016 5:27:pm EST