Gäste Forum » clinching Game 5. When he stepped up again in his

WASHINGTON -- The Washington Nationals returned to form and generated some momentum for their showdown with the New York Mets.Bryce Harper hit the first of Washingtons three home runs, and the Nationals overpowered the Milwaukee Brewers 7-4 Wednesday to avert a three-game sweep.Jose Lobaton and Ryan Zimmerman also connected for the NL East-leading Nationals, who open a four-game series Thursday night at second-place New York before heading into the All-Star break.Its critical because theyre chasing us and were trying to put some distance on them, Washington manager Dusty Baker said. Its very important.After watching the Nationals score a combined two runs in two games against the Brewers, Baker said before the finale, Were operating at a low energy level right now.Harper remedied that with a three-run shot in the first inning, the Nationals first long ball in three games. Lobaton made it 4-0 in the second and Zimmerman chased Brewers starter Matt Garza (1-2) with a two-run drive in the fifth for a 7-4 lead.Tanner Roark (8-5) allowed four runs and seven hits in seven innings for the Nationals. The right-hander also beat the Brewers on June 26 to help Washington dodge a three-game sweep.He pounded the strike zone, Harper said. When he goes out there, its usually a quick game and a lot of fun.Jonathan Papelbon worked the ninth for his 17th save in 19 chances.Afterward, the Nationals turned their attention toward their trip to New York, knowing a sweep either way would have a huge impact on the standings.How many games are we up on them? Four? Harper said. We could either be tied or up eight. Its plain and simple.Scooter Gennett had two RBI and stole home for the Brewers. Despite the loss, Milwaukee finished 4-2 against the Nationals to win the season series for the first since 2010.Builds our confidence knowing you can play with the best, Gennett said.Garza gave up seven runs, eight hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings. He is 1-5 with a 7.69 ERA in 10 starts against Washington.Behind in a lot of counts today and I had to pitch from behind and thats what happens, Garza said. You just put it in the back of your mind and get through it and get to the next one.The right-hander ran into difficulty almost immediately, giving up singles to Ben Revere and Jayson Werth before Harper hit his 18th home run, an opposite-field poke to left.After retiring the first six batters, Roark gave up five singles in the third. Milwaukee drew even when Gennett scored on the front end of a double steal.Stephen Drew hit a two-out RBI double in the bottom half for a 5-4 lead.MAKE SOME NOISEBaker is asking the home fans to crank up the volume in the second half of the season. Some of the guys on the team wish our fans were more boisterous and crazy, like we see at different stadiums on the road, he said. Taking into account the transient nature of Washington, Baker added, We realize a lot of fans are new. Were trying to win everybody over to us. We need their energy, big time.CLOSE CALLAccording to Major League Baseball, the 88-vote margin by which Chicago Cubs second baseman Ben Zobrist defeated Washingtons Daniel Murphy to start in the All-Star Game (3,013,407 to 3,013,319) was the closest margin since 1982, when Manny Trillo defeated Steve Sax for NL 2B by 1,625 votes.WIN AND OUTBrewers: RHP Zach Davies, who started and won Tuesdays game, was optioned to Triple-A Colorado Springs. 1B Andy Wilkins was recalled from the same minor league club.TRAINERS ROOMNationals: RHP Joe Ross (right shoulder inflammation) has been inactive since being placed on the DL on Sunday. Hes shut down right now. Were trying to get the inflammation out of there, Baker said.UP NEXTBrewers: After taking Thursday off, the Brewers welcome St. Louis for a three-game series leading up to the All-Star break.Nationals: The Nationals send rookie Lucas Giolito to the mound Thursday night. He pitched four scoreless innings in his debut.Marlins Jerseys 2020 .S District Court against Major League Baseball, the Office of the Commissioner and his own union, the MLBPA. Custom Miami Marlins Jerseys . -- Teemu Selanne scored the first goal of his 22nd NHL season, and the Anaheim Ducks extended the best start in franchise history with their fifth straight victory, 3-2 over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. https://www.cheapmarlinsjerseys.us/ . Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek defeated Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on the indoor hard-court at Belgrade Arena. The victory improved the Czech pairs impressive cup doubles record to 14-1. Miami Marlins Shirts . P.A. Parenteau scored early in the third period to help the Avs edge Toronto 2-1 on Tuesday night. Cory Sarich also scored for Colorado (3-0-0), which is off to its best ever start. Marlins Jerseys China .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach.CHICAGO -- Clayton Kershaws playoff renaissance is over, at least for this year. The Los Angeles Dodgers ace flopped at a big moment -- again.Kershaws postseason resume took another hit in Game 6 of the NL Championship Series, finishing off the reeling Dodgers. The Chicago Cubs battered the three-time Cy Young Award winner on their way to a 5-0 victory Saturday night, making it 28 years and counting since the Dodgers last won the World Series.This day is never fun, the ending of a season, Kershaw said. You look back and think about the whole season as a whole. Its tough to swallow tonight, obviously, but Id rather be in this position and fail than not to get to be in this situation at all.Kershaw could have started Game 5 on three days rest, but manager Dave Roberts decided to save him for Saturday night at Wrigley Field. Roberts was hoping a couple more days would help Kershaw duplicate his performance from Game 2, when he pitched seven innings of two-hit ball in a 1-0 victory.The decision worked out quite well -- for the Cubs. After winning a pair of shutouts in Games 2 and 3, the Dodgers dropped the next two by a combined score of 18-6. Even the great Kershaw was unable to slow Chicagos momentum, and Roberts first season as Dodgers manager ended in disappointment.The left-hander allowed four earned runs and seven hits while dropping to 4-7 with a 4.55 ERA in 18 playoff games.I think that the first thing I saw is the Cubs hitters, they had a great game plan tonight, Roberts said. And there was a couple mistake sliders that they took advantage of. But they were running counts, they used the whole field, and there was traffic all night for Clayton. And he gave it everything he had, but when they did -- when he did make a mistake, they made him pay.Dexter Fowler hit a ground-rule double on Kershaws third pitch of the night, and the Cubs were off and running. Kris Bryant followed with an RBI single. Then left fielder Andrew Toles dropped Anthony Rizzos fly ball to the gap in left-center, setting up Ben Zobrists sacrifice fly.It was the first time Kershaw had given up two runs in the first inning all season. He was limited to 21 starts this year due to a back injury.You get out of that first inning and you give up two, you feel like you have a chance maybe, Kershaw said. They just kept tacking on runs. I gave up some two-out hits and some homers and some two-strike hits -- just a lot of things that you cant do in a game like this.Fowler added a two-outt RBI single in the second, rookie Willson Contreras hit a leadoff drive in the fourth and Anthony Rizzo connected in the fifth.dddddddddddd Rizzo became the first lefty batter to homer against Kershaw since Daniel Murphy for the New York Mets in Game 4 of their 2015 Division Series.It was the first time Kershaw had allowed two homers in a game since April 9 at San Francisco. That was it for Roberts, who hit for his star pitcher in the sixth.We have asked a lot of Clayton all year long, so, again, its just more of you got to give those hitters credit, Roberts said.While Kershaw struggled against the Cubs, the Dodgers were shut down by Kyle Hendricks and Aroldis Chapman. Los Angeles managed just two hits and four baserunners, with none of them advancing past first.Chicago became the first team to face the minimum in a postseason game since Don Larsens perfect game for the New York Yankees in the 1956 World Series.We had a 2-1 lead with two games at home and it didnt go the way we thought it would go, Los Angeles center fielder Joc Pederson said. We didnt take care of business. We made some mistakes, all of us.Roberts managed the Dodgers to their fourth straight NL West title after taking over for Don Mattingly. But injuries to Scott Kazmir, Brandon McCarthy, Brett Anderson and Hyun-Jin Ryu hurt rotation depth.Kenta Maeda, who won 16 games during his rookie season, struggled in the playoffs, and 20-year-old Julio Urias was knocked out in the fourth inning of his first postseason start in Game 4 on Wednesday night.Los Angeles went with three starters in the Division Series against Washington and Kershaw pitched three times, including a two-out save in the clinching Game 5. When he stepped up again in his first start in the NLCS, it looked as if he might be on the verge of a postseason breakthrough.But his turnaround came to a screeching halt on a cool night in the Windy City. He dropped to 1/3 with a 6.28 ERA in five career starts with the Dodgers facing postseason elimination, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.Its only going to make him stronger for the years coming on, Pederson said. Hes had some trouble with his back and overcame it and came and helped us win the division and get past the NLDS. We wouldnt be here without him. Hell be stronger for next year.---Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap ' ' '