Dein erstes Forum » e. Hopefully, if he plays, he can continue to perform

NEW YORK -- In a back-and-forth game between the top teams in the NL East, the biggest swing came from Wilmer Flores.Thats been happening a lot lately for the surging New York Mets.Flores hit a go-ahead, three-run homer and New York rallied past the Washington Nationals 9-7 on Thursday night in the opener of a pivotal four-game series.Hes on a roll right now. Hes unbelievable, new teammate Jose Reyes said. He makes it look easy.Reyes, Travis dArnaud and Asdrubal Cabrera also went deep for New York in a slugfest that featured eight home runs -- most in the eight-year history of Citi Field. The second-place Mets improved to 7-1 on their 11-game homestand leading into the All-Star break and shaved Washingtons division lead to three games -- two in the loss column.Washingtons attempt to rally in the ninth inning was thwarted when Jayson Werth was called for an illegal takeout slide at second base, giving the Mets a double play after Cabrera made a diving stop at shortstop of Daniel Murphys sharp grounder.The call was upheld following a replay review, and Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo got into a shouting match with second base umpire Jim Joyce in the hallway between clubhouses just moments after the final out.I know Ive been told four or five different things from different crews about the rules and last time I was told it was going to be a common-sense type thing, Washington manager Dusty Baker said. I dont know how you teach young players now to break up a double play, because theres no such thing as breaking up a double play.The victory provided an emotional pick-me-up for the Mets, who announced sobering news before the game: Struggling right-hander Matt Harvey has symptoms consistent with thoracic outlet syndrome and might require season-ending surgery to treat a serious condition that has jeopardized the careers of other major league pitchers.Murphy homered and drove in three runs, his latest big performance against the Mets since the defending NL champions let him leave as a free agent in the offseason. Bryce Harper, Clint Robinson and Anthony Rendon hit solo shots off 43-year-old Bartolo Colon in the fourth to give the Nationals a 4-1 lead.That put prized prospect Lucas Giolito in good position to earn his first career win, but the 21-year-old right-hander tired quickly and never made it through the fourth inning. He threw 90 pitches over 3 2/3 innings and gave up four runs, seven hits and four walks in his second major league start -- both against the Mets.We fought back, they fought back. Probably a heck of a game to watch, but a terrible game to lose, Baker said.After the ninth-inning double play, All-Star closer Jeurys Familia struck out Harper for his major league-best 31st save. Familia has converted a club-record 47 consecutive regular-season save opportunities since August, though he did blow a four-run lead this year.With the Mets trailing 6-4 in the fifth, Cabrera and Brandon Nimmo singled. Flores, who had just come off the bench in a double switch to play first base, drove the first pitch he saw from Oliver Perez (2-2) just over the facing of the second deck in left field.Scores of fans jumped out of their seats -- seemingly in unison -- when Flores connected. The fan favorite popped out of the dugout for a curtain call and pumped his left fist to acknowledge a crowd of 37,569 that chanted his name.On a tear at the plate all week, Flores homered twice Wednesday against Miami and went 6 for 6 with two homers Sunday against the Chicago Cubs.Theres just a good flow to our offense and our team right now, Mets second baseman Neil Walker said.Hansel Robles (3-3) retired Rendon with the bases loaded to end the fifth and worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Addison Reed struck out two in 1 1/3 hitless innings as New Yorks bullpen came through all night.Washington swept three games from the Mets at home last week to open a six-game lead.Still just trying to put ourselves in a situation where we can make a run for it in the second half, said New York outfielder Curtis Granderson, who reached base five times and scored twice.TIME TO GIVE THANKSReyes gave dArnaud a Rolex watch as a thank you gift for relinquishing uniform No. 7 when the longtime Mets star rejoined the team this week. He loved it, a smiling Reyes said before joking that he went looking to find a knock-off.TRAINERS ROOMNationals: 1B Ryan Zimmerman, who homered Wednesday against Milwaukee, sat out because of general soreness. It was simply a precaution and he is day to day, Baker said. Robinson started at first base.Mets: Cabrera was back at shortstop after getting scratched just before the first pitch Wednesday because a family illness had kept him up all night.UP NEXTWashington RHP Stephen Strasburg (11-0, 2.71 ERA) faces RHP Noah Syndergaard (9-3, 2.41) for the first time Friday night in a marquee matchup of ace pitchers heading to the All-Star Game next week in San Diego. Strasburg was pulled with a no-hitter intact after 6 2/3 innings Sunday against Cincinnati because he had already thrown 109 pitches in his first start since an upper back strain landed him on the DL. Custom Washington Redskins Jerseys . Aduriz headed home Markel Susaetas cross in the sixth minute to open the scoring at San Mames Stadium. He bettered that with a long-range blast that went in off the goal frame in the 18th, and converted a penalty in the 72nd after Diego Mainz was sent off for fouling Aduriz with only the goalkeeper to beat. Custom New York Jets Jerseys . Kyle Denbrook, a soccer player from Saint Marys University, took the CIS male athlete of the week honour. Stanley, a fourth-year business administration student from Charlottetown, scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Dalhousie on Friday and tallied again in a 1-0 win over Saint Marys on Sunday. http://www.footballcustomjerseys.com/custom-denver-broncos-jerseys-188c.html . -- Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Alrdridge were again the go-to duo for the Trail Blazers against the Kings. Cheap Custom Football Jerseys . One game after a miserable showing in Oklahoma City, Gay tied a career high with 41 points and the Sacramento Kings cruised to a 114-97 victory at the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. Custom Tennessee Titans Jerseys . John Tavares, Thomas Vanek and Kyle Okposo were also being counted on to slow down sizzling Rangers forward Rick Nash. That plan didnt go so well early. Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb and Nic Maddinson have been thrust into the firing line as debut batsmen for an embattled Australia amid a drastically changed squad for the third Test against South Africa.The interim selection chairman Trevor Hohns also included Chadd Sayers as an Adelaide Oval specialist for the day/night match alongside Jackson Bird, with Matthew Wade to retake the gloves in a Test for the first time since the 2013 tour of India.Six changes from one Test squad to another is a figure not seen in Australian cricket history since 1984, when the same number was made between back-to-back Test series against the fearsome West Indies team that ultimately broke Kim Hughes captaincy.Joe Burns, Adam Voges (concussion), Callum Ferguson, Peter Nevill and Joe Mennie are the casualties of the innings defeat in Hobart that handed the series to South Africa and also triggered the resignation of the selection chairman Rod Marsh. Hohns spared a thought in particular for Ferguson, dropped after his debut Test.We were given the charter to revamp the Test match side, Hohns said. Sure it may sound harsh but Callum like all of our players except for our bowlers went back to Sheffield Shield cricket, had their opportunity to press their claims for inclusion in this side. Some have, some havent and I would suggest that Callum is not discarded by any means. Doesnt mean the end of the road and we would love Callum to continue to score a lot of runs and belt the door down and demand selection again.There may have been another change too if not for a calf injury to the left-arm spinner Steve OKeefe, who had up until Saturday been favoured to oust the incumbent the spin bowler Nathan Lyon, who has struggled notably for wickets or impact so far this summer.Stephen was in serious contention theres no doubt, Hohns said. Nathan as we all know, has over 200 Test wickets, hes our best off-spinner that weve had ever, so it might not be that hes not taking wickets at the moment, but theres no indication that hes bowling poorly. Im sure if he continues to bowl well as we say in cricket, the wheel always turns.Hohns spoke strongly of Renshaw as an occupier of the crease, and of Handscomb and Maddinson as aggressive players in the classic Australian mould. Maddinsons inclusion was somewhat surprising ahead of his fellow New South Welshman Kurtis Patterson, but he has been highly regarded for some time - even playing for Australia A in England in 2013 on the day Darren Lehmann was appointed coach in place of Mickey Arthur. Maddinson is also close to the captain Steven Smmith, who will fancy his chances of extracting the left-handers best.dddddddddddd.We see him as a player of enormous potential, Hohns said of Maddinson. He is definitely a game breaker and if we can get the best out of him at that level as I think we can, he could be a very, very important player for us down the track.Form on the first two [Renshaw and Maddinson] were very important, there was always an area at the top of the order that was in contention. And Peter Handscomb getting 200, hes been there and thereabouts for a good couple of years now. Hes always been spoken about in our selection meetings, hasnt quite made the cut recently but now his form cant be ignored.Sometimes you do of course go with your gut, as they say. Its all very well looking at statistics all the time but sometimes, particularly right now, we were asked to go with some players. And we decided to do that of course, because we obviously need to, go with some players that we thought could play for Australia and hold us in good stead for years to come.Bird and Sayers were included primarily as support bowlers for Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. Both had been chosen for the tour of New Zealand earlier this year. Chadds a very good performer, and a very good performer in Adelaide and thats why hes been chosen for this Test match, Hohns said. He bowls very well here as we all know, it was only two Sheffield Shield games ago he took 11 or 12 wickets here. Hopefully, if he plays, he can continue to perform well.Wades inclusion marks a significant change in philosophy for Australia, rewarding his batting ability and fighting demeanour ahead of the neater gloveman in Nevill. Lyon in particular will have to get used to the change. [Nevill] very unlucky, theres no doubt about that, but we consider Matthew Wades wicketkeeping has improved to the extent that weve gone in that direction, Hohns said. Theres no secret Matthew Wades batting is very, very good, in fact hes scored hundreds in Test cricket.Hes obviously seen as a tough competitor and that is what were looking for in our players now, and we want them to get out there now and have a fair crack at this and go forward with that. We dont expect an immediate turnaround, but weve got a bit of faith in these guys now.Squad David Warner, Matt Renshaw, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith, Peter Handscomb, Nic Maddinson, Matthew Wade (wk), Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Jackson Bird, Chadd Sayers. ' ' '