Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper made his much anticipated Spring Training debut in a 9-3 victory over the Mets on Monday afternoon and struck out twice. It was Harper's first professional game since he played in the Arizona Fall League, where he hit .343 with a home run and seven RBIs in nine games for the Scottsdale Scorpions. Harper entered the game against the Mets in the fifth inning as a pinch-runner for designated hitter Matt Stairs. "I would have preferred if Bryce's first at-bat was against a righty, but you don't know what order people are going to pitch in," manager Jim Riggleman said. "It's the big leagues, 40-man roster guys, closers and setup men. There are going to be tough at-bats. He is going to meet the challenge." In the ninth, Harper fanned against right-hander Ryota Igarashi on a curveball. "I'm very pleased with what I saw [from Harper] and how he conducted himself," hitting coach Rick Eckstein said. "He is going to be fine. His mentality is to be aggressive. There are times when you are attacking the ball and your front side tends to leak a little bit. "He is in the process of knowing what he needs to do. But he was really amped up today. He was real excited. There are things that we talked about on the bench that we are going to get back to."