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Bryce Harper homers using star-spangled bat on Fourth of July

Bryce Harper homers using star-spangled bat on Fourth of July

How does Bryce Harper celebrate America's birthday?

The same way we all wish we could celebrate America's birthday. By playing baseball for a living, and using a Fourth of July-themed bat featuring the stars, stripes and the colors of the American flag.

Of course that's how Bryce Harper celebrates.

[David Price joins The StewPod to talk social media, baseball brotherhood and more.]

But we know one thing for sure, Harper isn't just satisfied using a star-spangled bat. He had to make it memorable, and he did just that by connecting for his 25th home run off San Francisco Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner.

That's World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner, but that wasn't a big deal to Harper or the Nationals early in Saturday's game. After the first two batters reached, Harper capped their first-inning rally with an absolute rocket to the Nationals bullpen in right field. That gave Washington a three run lead just five pitches into the game. It also tied Harper with Cincinnati's Todd Frazier for second in MLB in home runs, trailing only the injured Giancarlo Stanton.

Harper finished the game 3 for 4, adding a double, single and walk to his total, as Wahington cruised to a 9-3 victory.

As far as we know, Harper didn't immediately enjoy a celebratory hot dog in the dugout. That will likely come later. Still, this is about as America as it gets on July 4.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!