PHOENIX -- Ian Desmond likes to be aggressive early in the count, often swinging at the first pitch. Facing a side-arming right-hander, one who had not allowed a run in 19 games, Desmonds approach worked out quite well for the Washington Nationals. Desmond and Tyler Moore each lined two-run singles off Brad Ziegler in the ninth inning, helping the Nationals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-1 on Wednesday to salvage what started as a difficult road trip. "Hes really good, has some good numbers over the past few years, has been effective," Desmond said of Ziegler. "I just wanted to make sure I got something up in the zone and let the hands do the work." Washington had a hard time solving Brandon McCarthy, who locked into a pitchers duel with Doug Fister for the first seven innings. Ziegler (0-1) hadnt allowed a run in 18 1-3 innings, so pulling off another late-inning victory appeared to be a daunting task. Denard Span got it started with a gritty at-bat, drawing a walk after fouling off four straight pitches. The Nationals loaded the bases and Desmond came through, lining a single through the left side. Moore followed with another two-run hit, breaking his bat on a single up the middle. Jayson Werth homered and Tyler Clippard (4-3) tossed one scoreless inning for Washington, which took two of three from Arizona after being swept in Oakland. "We needed this one," Nationals manager Matt Williams said. "It salvages the road trip. It started off really bad and its nice to get this one and head home on a positive note." The Diamondbacks had just come off a solid road trip and McCarthy put them in good position to win four straight series for the first time in nearly three years. Arizona lost to Washington in the ninth inning Monday night, and then had a surprising meltdown in the series finale by one of baseballs best relievers over the past few seasons. Aaron Hill homered and made several spectacular plays at second base for the Diamondbacks. "I had a lot of swing and misses over the top and a lot of balls chopped foul," Ziegler said. "I felt like I had decent stuff. Just didnt execute pitches that well." Fister was sharp after a rough debut for the Nationals. Acquired from Detroit in an off-season trade, the right-hander spent the first six weeks on the disabled list with a back strain. He returned Saturday against Oakland and was hit hard, allowing seven runs and nine hits in 4 2-3 innings. Fister worked around a couple of baserunners the first three innings until Hill, swinging on a 3-0 pitch, hit a drive to left for his fourth of the season. Fister allowed five hits and struck out six before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the eighth inning. "Great job by Doug," Desmond said. "After his last start, Im sure he needed that one. He did an excellent job of keeping the ball down, using his sinker a lot." McCarthy was hit hard by the White Sox on Saturday, giving up seven runs and nine hits in 3 1-3 innings. The veteran right-hander was sharp against the Nationals. Keeping them off balance with big breaking curveball, McCarthy was perfect until Desmond led off the fifth inning with an infield single up the middle. Washington had a runner on third with one out in the sixth after an error on Arizona shortstop Chris Owings and a sacrifice bunt, but Hill saved a run with a diving stop in the hole on a hard-hit ball by Anthony Rendon to end the inning. Hill nor anyone else had a chance to reach Werths tying homer in the seventh inning, a screaming liner to right-centre that got out in a hurry. McCarthy continued to get outs after that and got some more help in the eighth from Hill, who dived and scooped the ball in the same motion on a slow roller by pinch-hitter Kevin Frandsen. McCarthy allowed two hits and struck out seven in eight innings. "Some of the changes I wanted to make off last week I felt I was able to execute and do a better job, and make it a high priority," McCarthy said. "The results kind of followed after that." NOTES: Arizona LHP Randy Wolf exercised the out clause in his contract and was granted his release. The 37-year-old signed a minor league contract with the Diamondbacks after missing last season due to reconstructive elbow surgery. ... Washington leads the majors in run differential from the seventh inning on at plus-38. ... Arizona has Thursday off before RHP Wade Miley opens a three-game series against the Dodgers on Friday. ... Washington has Thursday off and has yet to announce a starter for the start of a three-game series against the New York Mets on Friday. . - Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr has nothing but good problems right now. . You can, too, Clay Buchholz, if we ignore the sixth inning of Game 2. Doug Fister and Jake Peavy, youre up next in Game 4 and theres a lot to live up to.
http://www.tigersgearshop.com/Tigers-De ... ds-Jersey/. Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Darcy Kuemper, Minnesota (5): He was calm, poised, and looked comfortable all game. . The Canadian skicross racer appeared to have the bronze medal locked up in the mens final at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, only to wipe out while trying to make a pass in the biggest moment of his career. . Dumont, a fifth round draft pick of the Canadiens in 2009, has four assists and 20 penalty minutes in 12 games with the Bulldogs this season. The 23-year-old split last season between Hamilton and Montreal, recording 16 goals and 15 assists in 55 regular season games with the Bulldogs.COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Luke Moore assisted on what he hoped would be the winning goal by Jonathan Osorio. But, after the Columbus Crew tied the match in the 81st minute he had to do a little extra. Moore headed in a corner kick by Collen Warner in the 84th minute to give Toronto FC a 3-2 win against Columbus on Saturday. Moores goal was the last of three scores in the final 31 minutes and gives Toronto a sweep of the three-game season series against the Crew. "They defend well in the box. They counter well and (have) set pieces," Columbus coach Gregg Berhalter said. "Those three components gave us trouble in all three games." It was the latter that proved to be the difference. Moores fifth goal of the season came under duress. He was blanketed by Crew forward Aaron Schoenfeld but still managed to direct the ball past goalkeeper Steve Clark. "It happened quickly," Moore said. "It was a great ball by Collen. It had enough pace on it. I think the keeper misread it." Gilberto gave Toronto (9-7-5) a 1-0 lead in the 43rd minute off a pass from Moore, but the Crew got the equalizer in the second minute of first-half stoppage time on a penalty kick by Federico Higuain. "The first half we created so many chances to put the game to bed," Toronto coach Ryan Nelsen said. "We just didnt take them and then the penalty gave them a big boost, especially the timing of it. We knew they were going to come out invigorated by that." Toronto took a 2-1 lead in the 59th minute with Moore the catalyst. He challenged Clark in the box but was denied. The ball bounced off Moore to an unmarked Osorio for the easy goal, his second of the season.dddddddddddd Columbus (6-8-9) made it 2-2 when Justin Merams long cross ended up skipping past goalkeeper Joe Bendik as he was distracted in front by Schoenfelds try for the ball. Toronto was undeterred and Moores score gave the Reds five goals in the past two games despite the absence of leading scorer Jermain Dafoe (11 goals), who is expected to miss two to three more weeks because of a groin injury. "The mentality of this team is strong," Toronto midfielder Michael Bradley said. "We need to be a little more consistent. To do that we need to be a little more ruthless and determined to walk off fields every week with points." Nelsen is encouraged by the play of Gilberto, the Designated Player from Brazil in his first MLS season. On his goal, Moore found Gilberto drifting wide on the left flank. Gilberto had the angle on Crew defender Giancarlo Gonzalez, a starter for Costa Rica at the 2014 World Cup, and beat Clark with pin-point accuracy for his fourth goal. "Every game Gilberto is getting better," Nelsen said. "We knew Gilberto was finding out the league. It takes the foreign guys a wee bit of a while. He was injured all pre-season so he kind of started a few yards back of everybody else. Hes catching up." The Crew were able to tie the score 1-1 when Justin Morrow was called for a handball, but TFC battled back. "It shows we can win at any place, including Columbus, which is a very difficult place to play," Nelsen said. "We havent had much success here ever so to win here twice (this season) is obviously very big." Toronto next plays at Sporting Kansas City on Aug. 16. ' ' '
