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SAN FRANCISCO -- With his team chasing the Chicago Cubs for the best record in baseball, Washington manager Dusty Baker is willing to do whatever it takes to keep the Nationals close -- even if it means pulling closer Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth inning.While it might not be the move he cherishes, its one Baker may make even more down the stretch as Papelbon struggles through one of his roughest stretches of the season.Ryan Zimmerman had two hits and scored a run, Trea Turner added two hits and an RBI and the Nationals beat the San Francisco Giants 4-2 on Thursday night in the opener of a key four-game series between division leaders.Papelbon went into the game with 19 saves and retired one batter in the ninth before getting pulled in favor of Shawn Kelley after giving up a single and walk.Im sure he felt badly but I had to do what I had to do to win the ballgame, Baker said of his closer. Im sure that Pap didnt like it but Im sure that he understands.Papelbon has struggled over the past week. He took the loss Sunday against San Diego and again on Tuesday in Cleveland before being unable to close out the win in San Francisco.The object is to win the game, Papelbon said. Do what you can do to win the game.Bryce Harper doubled in a run while Anthony Rendon had two hits to help the Nationals beat All-Star game starter Johnny Cueto (13-3) in Bakers return to AT&T Park. Baker won 840 games as the Giants manager from 1993-2002.San Francisco scored a run in the ninth to pull within 4-2 before Kelley struck out Angel Pagan with the bases loaded to end it and get his fifth save.I was just told to be ready, Kelley said. I had plenty of time to get loose. Basically was just sitting down there waiting to see Dusty poke his head out. When he did I knew it was my turn.The two teams went into the game with identical 59-42 records before Washington won to join the Chicago Cubs (61-40) as the only teams in the majors with at least 60 wins.Nationals starter Tanner Roark (10-6) allowed one run over seven innings, striking out three and walking three. He also singled in a run as part of a three-run second inning.Sammy Solis pitched the eighth while Papelbon, Oliver Perez and Kelley combined to retire the final three batters.Washington jumped on Cueto early with four consecutive two-out singles and a walk in the second inning. Danny Espinosa, Roark and Turner each had an RBI in the inning.Cueto lasted only five innings, matching his shortest outing of the season. The right-hander allowed eight hits and three runs with three strikeouts and two walks.The Giants went into the day hitting .157 with runners in scoring position since the break and squandered a big opportunity in the fourth after Brandon Crawfords one-out triple. Brandon Belt struck out looking and Crawford was caught trying to advance when a pitch from Roark bounced in front of the plate.Man we couldve used a big hit there to really pick this club up when youre in a streak like this, but they got out of it, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. We just couldnt quite finish it there in the ninth. It wouldve done a lot for the club.Harpers RBI double in the sixth drove in Turner and made it 4-1.WERTHS STREAK REACHES 31Jayson Werth singled in the fifth to extend his on-base streak to a career-high 31 games, the longest active streak in the majors.TRAINERS ROOMGiants: 2B Joe Panik was activated from the disabled list. Panik missed 23 games with concussion. ... OF Hunter Pence (hamstring) could come off the disabled list this weekend. ... LHP Josh Osich was placed on the 15-day DL with a forearm strain. .... LHP Matt Reynolds was called up from Sacramento. ... INF Grant Green was designated for assignment.UP NEXTNationals: RHP Max Scherzer (10-6) faces San Francisco for just the second time since taking a no-decision against the Giants in Game 4 of the 2012 World Series when he was with the Detroit Tigers.Giants: RHP Jeff Samardzija (9-6) makes his fifth career start against Washington. Samardzija is attempting to become the third San Francisco pitcher to reach double digits in wins this season. Clearance Football Jerseys . He just needed to be his best twisting, turning acrobatic self. "I didnt need to be anybody else, I just needed to be myself and be aggressive," said Burks, who scored a career-high 34 points to spark the Utah Jazz to a 118-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. Cheap Carolina Panthers Jerseys China . Now that hes hitting streaking teammates with pin-point passes for easy layups, Love is asserting himself as one of the true superstars in the league. http://www.cheapfootballchina.com/cheap-minnesota-vikings-jerseys-china_395w.html . Louis Cardinals. Victorino is batting sixth and playing right field after missing two games because of back tightness. Cheap Cincinnati Bengals Jerseys China . JOHNS, N. Cheap Green Bay Packers Jerseys China . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two. LINCOLN, Neb. -- The last seven times Mark Banker faced Oregon, all losses, his Oregon State defenses gave up an average of 578 yards and 45 points a game. Theres no shame in that. Oregon has piled up yards and points against lots of opponents over the years.Mike Riley last year brought Banker with him to continue as his defensive coordinator at Nebraska (2-0), a program that has more resources than Oregon State and presumably more talent.So does Bankers familiarity with No. 22 Oregon (2-0) give him an edge in Saturday nights game in Lincoln?Theres been a lot of cases where Ive known the offenses very well, he said, but I cant do a damn thing about it because Im not playing, and knowing is one thing, and reacting to what you see is another thing.OK. Then does he have better players than he had at Oregon State?He deferred on that, too. He pointed out that his 2008 defense had seven players who became NFL draft picks, and that unit gave up 10 yards a play and lost 65-38 to the Ducks in a defeat that denied the Beavers a trip to the Rose Bowl.We feel like we can match up, Banker said, but theres no sense in talking about it. We have to go do it.What Banker is sure of is that the Cornhuskers will face an offense that thrives on big plays and moves at a dizzying pace.Oregon already has 15 plays of 20 yards or longer. Last year, the Ducks had 94, fifth-most in the country.As usual, the Ducks have blazing fast receivers (Darren Carrington and Olympic hurdler Devon Allen among them) and a premier running back (Royce Freeman). Tight end Pharaoh Brown has become a major weapon since recovering from a devastating injury. And they have a new quarterback in Dakota Prukop who is as comfortable running the zone read as he is throwing the deep ball, and hes improving by the game.If you dont have someone to distribute the ball, whether its hand it off or throw it, then that offense is just an offense with a bunch of good athletes, Banker said. Theyve always been best when the quarterback has good command and control of the ins andd outs of that offense.dddddddddddd This young man seems to have that.As big a challenge as stopping Oregons plays is having the ability to regroup between plays. Theres not much time. Prukop has taken snaps with as much as 28 seconds left on the 40-second play clock.Fast, fast, fast, Banker said.He offered examples of what goes through defenders minds when theyre on the field.`Let me rest on this type of play, or `Im so tired I cant focus, he said. You get going, and your heart rate is up. Then if they get a big play -- bang, theyre at the line of scrimmage and coming at you. You have to have poise and keep the big plays to a minimum. You know people are going to get yards. Just get them to a manageable third down, go get it, and then be ready to play fourth down because theyre going to go for it on fourth down as well.Nebraska was sound against overmatched Fresno State and Wyoming. The Huskers rank in the top 25 nationally in scoring defense (13.5 points per game) and against the run (81 yards per game), and they are tied for the national lead with seven interceptions.The Huskers came into the season feeling good about their linebacker depth and concerned about their defensive line and secondary. The linebackers have been as good as expected, the front four have held up, and the Nate Gerry-led secondary, which was vulnerable to the big play last season, has become a strength with the emergence of safety Kieron Williams .Linebacker Michael Rose-Ivey downplays what the defense has done so far. The Ducks are a huge step up in competition, and he said he and his teammates can afford no slips.For some teams, one mistake is 15-20 yards. For them, one mistake is a touchdown, Rose-Ivey said. They want those big plays, and theyve got guys up there (in the press box) who are going to be looking for the weak link on our defense.---Online:AP college football website: http://collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '