Avoiding Harper stings ChiSox

WASHINGTON — Here’s the dilemma Chicago White Sox manager Robin Ventura faced Thursday night in the fourth inning of a close game against the Washington Nationals:

Pitch to No. 3 hitter Bryce Harper with a runner on base or walk Harper and pitch instead to cleanup man Ryan Zimmerman with two aboard.

Ventura chose to have right-hander Dylan Axelrod intentionally walk the lefty-swinging Harper. That brought up the right-handed Zimmerman, who delivered a two-run double, breaking the game open and helping the Nationals beat the White Sox 7-4 for a three-game sweep.

“You’re rolling the dice either way,” Ventura said. “You just take your chance.”

Nationals manager Davey Johnson raised an eyebrow and grinned when asked what he thought about that sequence.

“I’m glad,” Johnson said, “I don’t have to make those decisions.”

Zimmerman’s modest take?

“I wouldn’t pitch a righty against Bryce right now, either,” he said.

Ventura’s basic, two-word explanation: “Harper’s hot.”

That’s certainly true, and Harper himself wasn’t surprised about the walk there, saying, “First base open. Hitting righties pretty good.”

Actually, it doesn’t seem to matter who’s on the mound at the moment. The reigning National League Rookie of the Year is hitting .417 with four homers, eight RBIs and a .778 slugging percentage. His run-scoring single in the eighth gave the 20-year-old Las Vegan at least two hits in seven of Washington’s nine games so far.

“Obviously, they’re showing a lot of respect for Bryce, 10 days into the season,” Nationals starter Dan Haren (1-0) said after getting the win despite allowing 10 hits in five innings. “I mean, he’s special. Our lineup’s really good, though. There’s no soft spots.”

With the score tied at 3 in the fourth, Haren helped himself by doubling off Axelrod (0-1) and eventually scoring on a wild pitch with two outs. Chicago then put Harper on base on purpose, but the move didn’t work: Cleanup hitter Zimmerman lined a double to right on Axelrod’s 103rd — and final — pitch of the night.

“I just didn’t want to give in. We got to 3-2 and I went with the changeup. I hadn’t thrown a changeup to a right-hander all game,” Axelrod said, “and it seemed like a good idea at the time.”

That put Washington ahead 6-3, and relievers Ryan Mattheus, Tyler Clippard and Rafael Soriano made it hold up. Soriano pitched the ninth for his fifth save in six chances, and third in three days.

“Well, I was tempted to go another route,” Johnson acknowledged afterward about using Soriano again, “but he hadn’t cried ‘Uncle’ for me yet.”

Washington, 6-0 at home and 7-2 overall, opens a three-game set today against visiting NL East rival Atlanta. The Braves are on a six-game winning streak and own a major league-best 8-1 record.