WASHINGTON -- Denard Span was in the middle of discussing his 26-game hitting streak when cheers, claps and whoops erupted from out-of-sight sections of the Washington Nationals clubhouse. Timo Meier Jersey . "I think Gomez must have robbed a homer," Span said. "OK, thats good for us." That would be Milwaukee Brewers centre fielder Carlos Gomez, who kept Jay Bruces drive in the park in the ninth inning of a tied game against the Cincinnati Reds. The Brewers went on win, a result that combined with the Nationals 11-2 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday to trim Washingtons deficit to 4 1/2 games for the NLs second wild-card berth. Jordan Zimmerman (18-8) scattered two runs and seven hits in seven innings for his NL-best 18th win, and Wilson Ramos had four hits and five RBIs on the day he became the 2013 version of the iron man catcher. The Nationals have won eight of nine and 25 of 35. "Id trade all those wins," Zimmermann said, "for a shot in the playoffs." Put Ramos near the top of the list of reasons for the Nationals late surge. He started his 23rd consecutive game, passing St. Louis Yadier Molina for most starts in a row behind the plate in the majors this year. He tied career highs for hits and RBIs, and he has 49 RBIs in 54 games since coming off the disabled list. "Hes been hitting the heck out of the ball, catching good, throwing people out. Hes hard to take out of the lineup," Johnson said. "Weve missed him for two years, so were going to ride him." Ramos tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee last year and was hindered this season by a bothersome right hamstring. Hes been close to being tagged with an injury-prone label, so his recent streak has answered at least a few of the questions about his durability. "That was very important for me," said Ramos, who has 14 homers and 50 RBIs in only 67 games. "Thats a good test for my knee, for myself, to show everybody that I can play every day." The Nationals other noteworthy games-in-a-row watch continued when Span singled up the middle in the third, putting him one shy of Colorados Michael Cuddyer for longest hitting streak in the majors this season. Washington took the lead for good with three runs in the fourth off Tyler Cloyd (2-5), starting with back-to-back doubles by Bryce Harper and Ian Desmond. Harper added his third outfield assist in the three-game series when he caught Darin Ruf trying to stretch a single off the left-field wall into a double in the sixth. Washington added five runs in the seventh off Joe Savery and Mauricio Robles. The Nationals recent run has come in a soft part of the schedule. Next comes at three-game series against the Atlanta Braves, who have a chance to clinch the NL East at Washingtons ballpark. "We dont want that," Johnson said. The Nationals are 4-12 against the Braves this season. "We need to at least send a message these next three days that were better than them," the manager said. The Nationals long day came at the expense of Cloyd, who allowed five runs and 10 hits. "He has to be real good with his command, and it seemed like today as the game got into the fourth it looked like balls started to be elevated a little bit and caught a lot of the plate," Philadelphia manager Ryne Sandberg said. "And against that lineup, and the way theyre swinging the bat, its a tough combination." NOTES: Every player in the Nationals starting lineup had at least one hit. ... Washington went 9 for 13 with runners in scoring position; the Nationals began the day with a .239 RISP average, 25th in the major leaguers. ... Phillies LF Domonic Brown, returning from a right Achilles tendon injury, doubled and scored in the second inning in his first start since Aug. 30. He came off the bench Friday and Saturday. ... The Nationals 18 hits tied their season high. ... The Phillies have not won a series on the road since the All-Star break. ... A pigeon wandered near the pitchers mound, shortstop and second base for several innings. During warmups at the start of the eighth, the bird had a staredown with first base umpire Jim Wolf on the edge of the outfield grass. The crowd cheered whenever the pigeon attempted to fly, but the bird appeared to be injured and couldnt stay airborne for more than a few yards. "You could walk right up to him, and he wouldnt budge," Nationals 2B Steve Lombardozzi said. Cheap Sharks Jerseys Authentic . Jets head coach Paul Maurice made the announcement Saturday following the morning skate and confirmed Al Montoya will start in goal against the Dallas Stars on Sunday. Logan Couture Jersey . Jesus Navas bookended yet another huge home win for City by scoring after 14 seconds and again in second-half stoppage time, with Sergio Aguero also netting in each half to add to an own goal by Sandro and a brilliant strike by Alvaro Negredo. http://www.cheapsharksjerseys.com/?tag=adidas-mikkel-boedker-jersey . -- LeGarrette Blount wasnt satisfied with three short touchdown runs, not against a team coming off the second greatest comeback in playoff history.SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Jim Boeheim stared up in frustration at the Carrier Dome scoreboard, his No. 2 Orange in big trouble against eighth-ranked Villanova. The Wildcats had started Saturdays game by hitting four straight 3-pointers -- three swishes by James Bell and another by Darrun Hilliard -- and led 25-7 midway through the first half after a dunk by Josh Hart. Syracuse struggled to create open looks and went nearly 4 minutes without a basket as the Wildcats looked exactly like the team that had already beaten two ranked teams. "There was no indication we were going to get going," Boeheim said. If the Orange were frazzled by their largest deficit of the season, it never showed. They responded with a 20-0 run over the next 5 minutes to take their first lead and never trailed again, winning 78-62 in a game between two of nine unbeaten teams left in Division I. "They came out on fire. They kind of caught us off guard," said C.J. Fair, who had 17 points for the Orange despite constant double-teams. "We knew the kind of team they are. Its hard to have a defence for the type of offence they have for the first 5 or 10 minutes." Syracuse (12-0) tightened its defence and the Wildcats (11-1) missed seven shots, committed three fouls and were called for a travel before losing the ball out of bounds as the game began to slip away. Villanova trailed 34-30 at the half, not bad considering leading scorer JayVaughn Pinkston had only three points on 1-of-3 shooting, his only make coming on a desperation 3 at the shot-clock buzzer in the final minute. "They weathered the storm," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "We hit shots. When you hit shots like that, everything looks great, but you know youre not going to shoot that percentage for the entire game. They weathered it and kept coming back at us. We had the lead and then we got sloppy." Trevor Cooney led Syracuse with 21 points, Tyler Ennis had 20, and Jerami Grant 11. Bell finished with a career-high six 3-pointers and matched his career high with 25 points to lead Villanova before fouling out with 1:42 left. Hart had 10 points, the only other Villanova player in double figures. Pinkstton, averaging 16. Adidas Brent Burns Jersey. 5 points, finished with three points, while Hilliard, averaging 14.4, had only five points on 1-of-7 shooting before fouling out in the final minute. Cooney had 11 points and Fair added six in the Oranges comeback spurt, which was capped by a driving layup by Ennis at 4:51. "It was a tough war to get back," said Cooney, who was 5 of 8 from long range. "Getting behind like that against a team like Villanova, its tough to come back. It shows a lot about us." Syracuse was the third unbeaten ranked team the Wildcats had faced this season. Villanova handed then-No. 2 Kansas its first loss of the season a month ago in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis and came back the next night and defeated No. 23 Iowa in overtime. "Syracuse has a really good team," Wright said. "They really played at a high level. This is a tough place to play. I sensed that when we came back from break we were just a little bit off. We were in such a groove. We got a little bit better yesterday. I was hoping. In hindsight, I would have practiced on Christmas night. We slipped. They did not." In the second half, Syracuse scored nine straight points early and the Wildcats committed four fouls in a 59-second span to fall farther behind. Cooneys 3 from the top of the key gave the Orange a 47-37 lead with 16:32 left and Fairs follow slam of a miss by Ennis kept the lead at 10. Nova took advantage of a flagrant foul whistled against Grant midway through the period as boos rained down from the Carrier Dome crowd of 28,135, the largest of the season. Bell sank the two free throws and Harts 3 from the left corner closed the gap to 54-49 with 9:25 to play. Villanova closed to 56-53 at 7:02 after Bell hit a 3 from the corner and Daniel Ochefus free throw, and wouldnt wilt. Another 3 from the corner by Bell moved the Wildcats within 64-59 with 3:25 left, but the Orange made 14 of 16 free throws to thwart any chance of a comeback. Syracuse finished 29 of 35 from the free throw line. "We stepped up big-time," Boeheim said. "This was the first adverse situation (this season) where we were really down a lot." Cheap Diamondbacks Jerseys Cheap Braves Jerseys Cheap Orioles Jerseys Cheap Red Sox Jerseys Cheap Cubs Jerseys Cheap White Sox Jerseys Cheap Reds Jerseys Cheap Indians Jerseys Cheap Rockies Jerseys Cheap Tigers Jerseys Cheap Astros Jerseys Cheap Royals Jerseys Cheap Angels Jerseys Cheap Dodgers Jerseys Cheap Marlins Jerseys ' ' '