back the clock? And does the 64-year-old Popovich have anothe

WASHINGTON -- For a guy who was originally supposed to have the weekend off, Bryce Harper was pretty productive on Saturday. Harper drove in three runs after talking his way into Washingtons lineup, Ryan Zimmerman knocked in the go-ahead run and the Nationals rallied for a 5-4 win over the San Diego Padres. Adam LaRoche homered, and Denard Span and Ian Desmond added two hits apiece as the Nationals won their third straight and moved three games over .500 (45-42) for the first time since mid-May. Harper, who was named to the NL All-Star Team on Saturday along with starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann, texted Davey Johnson and lobbied for playing time earlier in the day after the Washington manager said Friday night that he was probably going to give the young slugger the weekend off. "In his text he said, Play me or trade me," Johnson said before the game. "And so since tradings out of the question I guess Im going to play him." Harper walked with the bases loaded in the third, hit an RBI single in the fifth and drove in the tying run in the seventh with a sacrifice fly. "Yeah, I mean I was pretty serious about what I said," Harper said of his text. "You know I want to play. I want to play every day and if he wants to put me in the lineup then I want to be in the lineup. And if he doesnt then Im going to try and make him put me in the lineup. "Its something that I want to do every day and Im going to grind through everything I do and play as hard as I can and good things happen." Since returning from the disabled list and homering in his first at-bat Monday night against Milwaukee, Harper had gone 0 for 19 before his RBI single. He was 0 for 4 with a sacrifice fly in Friday nights 8-5 win over San Diego. Jesus Guzman hit a three-run homer and doubled for San Diego, which has lost eight straight. The Padres went 1 for 14 with runners in scoring position Saturday. Ross Ohlendorf (2-0) got the win, Drew Storen pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and Rafael Soriano pitched the ninth for his 24th save. Soriano allowed a pair of singles with one out, but retired pinch hitter Mark Kotsay and Everth Cabrera -- on a diving stop by LaRoche at first -- to end it. The Nationals trailed 4-3 when they came up in the seventh. Span and Desmond singled off reliever Nick Vincent (2-1) with one out, and left-hander Joe Thatcher came on to face Harper. After a wild pitch advanced both runners, Harper lifted a fly ball to left and Span scored easily after the catch to tie it. Zimmerman followed with a RBI single off Luke Gregerson to score Desmond with the go-ahead run. "Weve been playing better lately and obviously scoring runs later in the game and getting hits like that, so (weve) got to keep doing that and take it one game at a time slowly just kind of creep up," Zimmerman said. Trailing 3-1 in the sixth, the Padres got one-out singles from Carlos Quentin and Chase Headley. Johnson lifted Jordan Zimmermann after he had thrown 101 pitches and brought in Ohlendorf to face Guzman, who deposited a 1-1 fastball in the Padres bullpen to give San Diego the lead. "I tell you, this game is weird," Guzman said. "Ive had three or four home runs to give us the lead, and weve lost. And we win the game (earlier in the season) at home when I get hit by pitch." Zimmermann, who was suffering from neck stiffness, allowed three runs and five hits in 5 1-3 innings, striking out four and walking one. "Its been going on for a little while, but Ill be fine," he said. "Today I was just deep in the counts and they were battling and made me work out there, and it was probably one of the hottest games Ive ever pitched in, so that definitely doesnt help." San Diego starter Jason Marquis went six innings, allowing three runs on eight hits. He struck out three, walked three and also contributed at the plate with a double and an RBI groundout. "Its not fun," Marquis said. "Especially after the hole we dug out of early. We put ourselves in a good position to stay in it." Washington took the lead in the third. Anthony Rendon led off with a single and Kurt Suzuki doubled him to third. Ryan Zimmermann struck out, but Span walked to load the bases. Desmond grounded into a fielders choice, with Rendon out at home, but Harper walked to make it 1-0. LaRoche made it 2-0 when he led off the fourth with his 13th homer of the season, a line drive into the Nationals bullpen. "That was a wild game," Johnson said. "We had chances to put Marquis out of his misery early and couldnt do it, but kept battling." San Diego got a run back in the fifth when Logan Forsythe walked and later scored on Marquis grounder to short. Washington got it right back when Span singled, stole second, went to third on a bloop single by Desmond and scored on Harpers single. NOTES: Padres C Yasmani Grandal was hurt on Rendons slide and left the game with a right knee sprain. Padres manager Bud Black said hell go on the disabled list. . Johnson said starting pitcher Ross Detwiler experienced discomfort in his back when he threw his bullpen session and headed for the disabled list. . Black said 2B Jedd Gyorko (groin) did some running before Saturdays game and hopes to play a minor league rehab game in the middle of next week. . San Diego LHP Robbie Erlin (1-1, 4.34 ERA) opposes Stephen Strasburg (4-6, 2.24) in Sundays series finale. John Matuszak Youth Jersey . 8 Kansas to a 64-63 win over Texas Tech on Tuesday night. The freshman from Vaughan, Ont. Ted Hendricks Womens Jersey . Tevez, who has had conflicts with coaches in the past, has not been called up since Sabella was named coach in 2011. Argentina boasts Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, Sergio Aguero, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Angel Di Maria. https://www.raiderssportsgoods.com/Womens-Jerry-Rice-Inverted-Jersey/ . With the short-handed Warriors needing help from someone -- anyone -- to stop a three-game skid, ONeal returned from right knee and groin injuries that had sidelined him for four games and put up season highs with 18 points and eight rebounds. It was just enough to help lift Golden State to a 102-101 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. Trayvon Mullen Raiders Jersey .875,000, avoiding arbitration. Clippards deal Monday means all eight Nationals players who filed for arbitration wound up settling before a hearing. Marcus Allen Raiders Jersey .S. -- Nikolaj Ehlers registered a hat trick for the third straight game and Jonathan Drouin had a goal and five assists as the Halifax Mooseheads hammered the host Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 10-1 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.MIAMI -- Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili trudged off the court, their heads hanging, bald spots that come from more than a decade of games like this for all to see. These proud San Antonio Spurs gave everything they had in Game 7. And when their valiant fight fell just short, they couldnt stop thinking about the title they gave away two nights earlier. LeBron James scored 37 points and the Spurs couldnt quite finish one last stand in a 95-88 loss to the defending champion Miami Heat on Thursday night. "To be at this point with this team in this situation, where people every year continue to count us out, is a great accomplishment," said Duncan, his voice quivering in a rare show of emotion for the intensely private star. "To be in a game 7 or be in a game 6 and up one with two chances to win an NBA championship, thats tough to swallow." Duncan had 24, 12 rebounds and four steals and Ginobili scored 18 points with five assists. But Tony Parker struggled with just 10 points on 3-for-12 shooting and the Spurs were left lamenting the Game 6 collapse that cost them their fifth title under coach Gregg Popovich. "Being so close and feeling that you are about to grab that trophy and then seeing it vanish is very hard," Ginobili said. "I think that if we wouldve lost both games like this, I would be a little more up. But its a tough feeling." The Spurs were in it the whole game, down 90-88 with two minutes to go after a 3-pointer by Kawhi Leonard. But Duncan missed two point blank chances to tie and had a turnover in the closing minutes, and James went out and grabbed the title that was there for the taking after the Spurs let it slip away. "For me, Game 7 is always going to haunt me," Duncan said. It was a heart-breaking way to end it for these Spurs, who were 21 seconds from title No. 5 when everything went wrong in Game 6. James hit a 3 and Ray Allen hit another with 5.2 seconds to go to tie it, and the Heat outlasted the Spurs in overtime to force a Game 7. "Its such a fine line between celebrating and having a great summer with now feeling like crap and just so disappointed," Ginobili said. Now, once again, they will face proclamations of their demise. Only this time, it may be harder to hold those off. Duncan is 37, but coming off an All-NNBA First Team season and a vintage performance in the finals.dddddddddddd The 31-year-old Parker is nearing his apex after one of his finest seasons. But Ginobili will turn 36 next month and will be a free agent, perhaps marking the end of the three-person core that helped put the Alamo City on the NBA map, and keep it there for 10 years. "I couldnt love our guys more," Popovich said. "What they accomplished this year was something nobody ever expected. They showed a lot of mental toughness and a lot of good play to get where they got. I couldnt be more proud of them." They gave it their all, these Spurs. But in the end, James was just too much, and a prophecy came to be. Back in 2007, when the Spurs swept James and the Cleveland Cavaliers for the franchises fourth title, Duncan found the young superstar for a quiet moment to tell him that the league would one day be his. Now James has four MVPs, two Olympic golds and back-to-back titles on his resume. Duncan has been right so many times throughout his career. This time, its at his expense. The questions begin now. Will Ginobili return? Can Duncan keep turning back the clock? And does the 64-year-old Popovich have another year left in him? Parker chafed when asked if he thought this was the last run with this group. "I cant believe youre asking that question," Parker snapped. "Its been five, six years you saying were too old, so Im not going to answer that." Duncan said flatly that he will be back next season -- "I have a contract that says I am" -- and Ginobili said it was too soon to think about that. "Its not the moment," Ginobili said. "Im very disappointed, very upset. I really cant say anything." The coach said, win or lose, he will take some time after the season to do some travelling and be with his family before he makes a decision. But he sure didnt sound like the kind of guy who was pondering riding off into the sunset. "After a little while just getting up when you want to in the morning and really not having challenges gets a little boring," Popovich said before the game. "You can only grow so many tomatoes and read so many books. You want to get busy, get competitive again. "When I stop feeling competitive around September, then Ill hang it up." ' ' '