gs, how he fanned Desmond in the fifth for his 1,500th career

NEW YORK -- The New York Mets have changed a lot in the eight days since they were swept by the Washington Nationals in Washington, D.C. But the Nationals hope the result remains the same during a four-game series this weekend in New York.The series pitting the top two teams in the National League East begins Thursday night, when the suddenly scorching Mets host the first-place Nationals at Citi Field.The Nationals remained four games ahead of the Mets by virtue of a 7-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, New York beat the Miami Marlins 4-2.The Nationals lead was six games on June 29, the day they capped the sweep of the Mets. At that time, it seemed as if the final series before the All-Star break might present an opportunity for Washington to bury the defending NL champions.But the Mets responded to the three straight losses by authoring a four-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs and then taking two of three from the Miami Marlins. New York outscored the Cubs and Marlins 46-24 in the last seven games -- a stunning turnaround for a team that scored just 47 runs in 15 games from June 14 through June 29.I said it a lot in the Cubs series: Coming into that series without playing well, (it was) really, really important to have a good series against them, and we did, Mets manager Terry Collins said Wednesday afternoon. (The) Marlins, for all the years Ive been here, play us tougher than any team we play, I think.Now weve got to go against the Nationals, who are going to come in here looking to put some more distance between us. So weve got our work cut out for us this weekend.So do the Nationals, who went 3-3 between series against the Mets despite playing two NL Central non-contenders in the Brewers and Cincinnati Reds.I always want to go into the All-Star break hot and come out hot, Nationals manager Dusty Baker told reporters Wednesday.Nationals right fielder and reigning NL Most Valuable Player Bryce Harper put his inimitable succinct spin on the weekend.How many games are we up on them? Four? Harper told reporters Wednesday. We could either be tied or up eight. Its plain and simple.Mets right-hander Bartolo Colon is scheduled to start Thursdays opener against Nationals right-hander Lucas Giolito in perhaps the most distinct old vs. young battle of the season.Colon is the oldest player in baseball at 43 and has 483 starts under his belt, most among active players. He has been pitching so long that his first appearance against the Nationals franchise came in 2002, when the team was still the Montreal Expos. Colon is 4-6 with a 3.15 ERA in 11 career appearances (10 starts) against the Nationals/Expos.The 21-year-old Giolito. meanwhile, is the seventh-youngest player in the majors and has made just one career start. He threw four shutout innings against the Mets in an appearance cut short by a rain delay on June 28. Custom Toronto Blue Jays Jerseys . The Vancouver coach and an announced sellout crowd of 18,910 watched in dismay as the Canucks lost 7-4 to the New York Islanders on Monday night by squandering a 3-0 lead in the third period. Blue Jays Jerseys 2020 . After a lengthy wait, persistent rain finally forced the postponement of the Nationals game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday night. The teams, and a few thousand fans, waited nearly four hours from the 7:05 scheduled start time before an announcement was made shortly before 11 p. https://www.cheapbluejays.com/ .com) - The women will also have a new champion at the Australian Open. Stitched Blue Jays Jerseys . Perhaps Carroll was so prepared for a break because he believes there is very little the Seattle Seahawks need heading into the off-season. "I dont see anything that we need to add. We just have to get better," Carroll said. Fake Blue Jays Jerseys . Anthony Davis had 31 points and 17 rebounds in his seventh straight game with more than 20 points, but that was only enough to keep the Pelicans competitive into the final minutes. Andrew Bogut had 10 points and 15 rebounds for Golden State, which rebounded from a loss a night earlier in Oklahoma City and snapped a two-game skid. DENVER -- Braden Shipley made his first start at hitter-friendly Coors Field a memorable one.The rookie right-hander pitched 5 2/3 innings and got two big strikeouts in the sixth to preserve a lead and help the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Colorado Rockies 9-4 on Saturday night.Chris Owings had a career high-tying four hits and Jake Lamb homered for the Diamondbacks, who built a six-run lead early for Shipley. Owings singled each of his at-bats, with his hit in the second giving Arizona a 1-0 lead it never relinquished.Shipley (3-3) wasnt intimidated by pitching at altitude, scattering eight hits and walking just one. He relied on his experience from the Pacific Coast League to get through the Rockies order.Ive pitched in a lot of tough ballparks, especially in Triple-A this year with Reno, he said. I just never really let it get to my head. I just always have trusted my stuff. And I think that was the key tonight, trusting my stuff and let the defense work.He trusted it in the sixth when the Rockies cut a 6-0 lead to 7-3 and got the first two men on. He struck out NL home run leader Nolan Arenado and David Dahl before Tom Murphy hit a run-scoring single.In that situation I just kind of took a deep breath and told myself, `Just limit. Get a double play ball right here and well move, Shipley said. It was just about pitch by pitch in that situation and keeping the team where it was.Edwin Escobar relieved Shipley and struck out Gerardo Parra in an eight-pitch at-bat to end the inning with runners on second and third.I was working with my strength, trying to throw a fastball inside, Escobar said. I said, `I threw too many fastballs already, lets try with a breaking ball. And I got him with a breaking ball.The Diamondbacks bullpen tossed 3 1/3 scoreless innings after imploding against Colorado on Friday. Arizona relievers allowed eight runs, seven in the eighth inning in Fridays loss.Very proud of the guys for coming back, especially after a tough one last night, manager Chip Halle said.ddddddddddddParra homered and doubled against his former team and Daniel Descalso also went deep for the Rockies.The Diamondbacks broke it open in the third off Tyler Chatwood (10-9) as Welington Castillo had a three-run double and Lamb followed with his 27th homer to make it 6-0.His command got away from him when they got the five, Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. He started spraying it around a bit, getting into bad counts. Thats what hurt him.Parra led off the Rockies third with his sixth homer and doubled ahead of Descalsos fifth of the year in the fifth inning to pull the Rockies to 6-3.Arizona tacked on a run in the sixth and two more in the seventh on Paul Goldschmidts RBI double and Yasmany Tomas run-scoring single. Goldschmidt extend his streak of reaching base against the Rockies to 50 straight games, the longest streak ever against Colorado.TRAINERS ROOMDiamondbacks: LHP Andrew Chafin (shoulder) is scheduled for a rehab assignment Sunday and RHP Rubby De La Rosa (elbow) is expected to toss an inning Monday. If all goes well manager Chip Hale said both player could join the team soon. ... C Chris Herrmann (hamstring) played five innings in a rehab assignment Friday and was scheduled to play left field Saturday and catcher on Sunday.Rockies: OF Charlie Blackmon was a late scratch with back tightness. ... RHP Jeff Hoffman had his start pushed back an extra day. Manager Walt Weiss said the rookie is dealing with a blister.20 GRANDDJ LeMahieu had three hits for Colorado and has now reached base in 20 straight games. He is now hitting an NL-leading .345.SEPTEMBER START UPThe Diamondbacks recalled infielder Kyle Jensen from Triple-A Reno. Jensen, 28, made his major league debut as a pinch-hitter in the eighth and flew out to right field.UP NEXTDiamondbacks RHP Archie Bradley (5-8, 4.95 ERA) will face Rockies rookie Jon Gray (9-6, 4.41). ' ' '