DENVER -- Early on, Stephen Strasburg didnt have his best stuff and yet the powerful right-hander tried to bear down to keep his team close. Almost paid off, too. The Washington Nationals loaded the bases in the ninth before falling 6-4 to Jorge De La Rosa and the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday. Strasburg (7-8) settled in after a shaky start, giving up four runs -- three of which were in the first -- and nine hits over 5 1-3 innings. "Giving up three runs early, I couldve easily shut it down," Strasburg said. "I didnt want to do that. I wanted to keep it as close as possible. Give the guys a chance to come back -- anything can happen here." And almost did. Closer LaTroy Hawkins got the first two outs in the ninth, before allowing RBI singles to Jayson Werth and Anthony Rendon to make it a 6-4 game. With the bases loaded, Hawkins struck out Ian Desmond to end the rally. "You have to tip your cap sometimes. He did a good job," Desmond said. "He made some pitches on me. "We did a good job battling back right there. We kept on grinding away. Ill take us in that situation a lot of times." Denard Span had four hits for the Nationals, who finished the season series 5-1 against Colorado. He was one of the few to have success against De La Rosa, who gave the Rockies a badly needed boost as they snapped a seven-game skid. "Jorge, another great outing. He did it again," manager Walt Weiss said. "Were scuffling like crazy and he takes the ball and gives us a great performance and wins the game." The Rockies tried a little bit of everything to break out of their funk. They wore their socks high and even engaged in a pregame staring contest. Turns out, the best cure for their slump was simply the left arm of De La Rosa. De La Rosa (11-6) struck out a season-high 11 as he pitched efficiently into the eighth inning. He kept the Nationals guessing by effectively mixing in a changeup with his 89-mph cutter. "All my pitches were working really good today," said De La Rosa, who allowed two runs -- one earned -- before being lifted for a reliever with one out in the eighth. "My command of all my pitches was really good today." The Rockies decided as a team to wear their socks high, just to try something new. Even Weiss followed the trend. This helped ease the tension, too: Prior to the first pitch, Rockies outfielder Brandon Barnes and Nationals reliever Aaron Barrett engaged in quite a stare-down, with both players standing near the dugout holding their hats over their chest to see who would blink first. After several minutes, Barnes finally gestured toward Barrett that they settle it with a game of rock-paper-scissor. Right after De La Rosas warmup pitches, home plate umpire Paul Emmel told Barnes go into the dugout, with Barrett throwing his hands up in triumph. "Well do any stare-down to win games, for sure," joked Nolan Arenado. Once again, De La Rosa mastered a park that typically isnt friendly to pitchers. Hes 42-14 lifetime at Coors Field. "This is the perfect park for me," he said. Usually, its the hitters saying that. De La Rosa had his pitches dancing all day. He struck out Bryce Harper three times. The Nationals were just 1 of 14 with runners in scoring position off De La Rosa. "He knows how to pitch here," Nationals manager Matt Williams said. "Hes got a surprising fast ball when he needs it, but he relies on his changeup a lot. Thats a great strategy here. "Hes a good pitcher. He pitches well." The Nationals were without infielder Ryan Zimmerman, who went on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday with a strained right hamstring. "Its a pretty substantial strain of the hamstring," Williams said. "You never know how its going to react, so well just take it day by day. Its going to be a couple of weeks at least. Well see where he is at the end of that and go from there. He pulled it good." NOTES: Werth wasnt in the starting lineup because of a tender right knee. ... The Nationals are off Thursday before opening a three-game series in Cincinnati. . The commissioners office said Friday that Sears tested positive for metabolites of Methandienone. Sears will be 23 in March. He signed with the Braves in June 2013 out of Arizona Christian, an NAIA school, and is on the roster of the rookie-level Gulf Coast League Braves. . Hes still nowhere close to throwing yet. The four-time MVP was in good spirits when he made his first public appearance on the field since having neck surgery Sept.
http://www.cheap76ersjerseysauthentic.c ... jersey.com) - The Ottawa Senators will try to keep their slim playoff hopes alive when they face the Chicago Blackhawks who are trying to secure their place in the post-season. . -- Wichita State is all alone in the record book. .Bekker was added Wednesday in exchange for allocation money after two seasons with Toronto. The native of Canada had 29 MLS appearances, including 16 starts. Hes also played in 13 games for the Canadian national team.Ottawa, ON (SportsNetwork.com) - Tyler Johnson notched a pair of goals, including an insurance marker in the third period, to lead Tampa Bay to a 4-2 decision over Ottawa on Sunday. Victor Hedman contributed a goal and assist with Steven Stamkos picking up the other score for the Lightning, who shook off a loss in Pittsburgh on Friday and won for the fifth time in their last six. We gave up one on the first shift, but after that I thought we had a great response of just sticking with the game plan, Stamkos admitted. We kind of had to take what they gave us and we turned in a big effort tonight. Ben Bishop backed his offense with a 20-save effort as the Lightning pulled into a tie atop the Northeast Division with idle Montreal. Kyle Turris and Mark Stone supplied the scores for the Senators, who have lost four of six with their modest two-game win streak ending. Robin Lehner stopped 26 pucks in defeat. Johnson put the Bolts ahead by a 4-2 count seconds shy of eight minutes to go in the third period. He was left alone in the left circle to take a Nikita Kucherov slap pass and bury it. Lehner was not allowed to leave his net for an extra attacker until the final seconds, and the hosts only tested Bishop with six shots in the final 20 minutes. Turris lit the lampp just 32 seconds after the opening puck drop, on a quick one-timer off a backhand feed by Clarke MacArthur.dddddddddddd Hedman beat Lehner high at 3:48 of the second to tie the game, but Stone put the Senators back on top with 7 1/2 minutes gone and seconds after a power play expired. Tampa flipped momentum once more with goals from Johnson and Stamkos 47 seconds apart in the late stages of the frame to head to the second intermission up 3-2. The former saw Johnson creep behind coverage on the left side to whip home a Kucherov dish. On the latter, coming with 3:05 remaining in the period, Stamkos circled the Ottawa net and beat several would-be Senators checkers before sliding a backhander home from the right side. We got off to the good start, then its 2-1 us, and they tied it up, and then I made a terrible play on Stamkos there behind the net. I cant let that happen, Turris said. Game Notes Tampa improved to 10-8-3 on the road and will end its three-game trip in Montreal on Tuesday ... Bishop has yet to lose in regulation to his former team, now 6-0-2 lifetime ... Johnson has recorded four multi-goal efforts this season ... Ottawa starts a four-game swing at Philadelphia on Tuesday. ' ' '
