d fifth and vaulted to 30th in the standings, 13 points ahead of David Ragan and in position to use his Pocono win to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup with just three races left in the re

NEW YORK -- In a back-and-forth game between the top teams in the NL East, the biggest swing came from Wilmer Flores. Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys .Thats been happening a lot lately for the surging New York Mets.Flores hit a go-ahead, three-run homer and New York rallied past the Washington Nationals 9-7 on Thursday night in the opener of a pivotal four-game series.Hes on a roll right now. Hes unbelievable, new teammate Jose Reyes said. He makes it look easy.Reyes, Travis dArnaud and Asdrubal Cabrera also went deep for New York in a slugfest that featured eight home runs -- most in the eight-year history of Citi Field. The second-place Mets improved to 7-1 on their 11-game homestand leading into the All-Star break and shaved Washingtons division lead to three games -- two in the loss column.Washingtons attempt to rally in the ninth inning was thwarted when Jayson Werth was called for an illegal takeout slide at second base, giving the Mets a double play after Cabrera made a diving stop at shortstop of Daniel Murphys sharp grounder.The call was upheld following a replay review, and Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo got into a shouting match with second base umpire Jim Joyce in the hallway between clubhouses just moments after the final out.I know Ive been told four or five different things from different crews about the rules and last time I was told it was going to be a common-sense type thing, Washington manager Dusty Baker said. I dont know how you teach young players now to break up a double play, because theres no such thing as breaking up a double play.The victory provided an emotional pick-me-up for the Mets, who announced sobering news before the game: Struggling right-hander Matt Harvey has symptoms consistent with thoracic outlet syndrome and might require season-ending surgery to treat a serious condition that has jeopardized the careers of other major league pitchers.Murphy homered and drove in three runs, his latest big performance against the Mets since the defending NL champions let him leave as a free agent in the offseason. Bryce Harper, Clint Robinson and Anthony Rendon hit solo shots off 43-year-old Bartolo Colon in the fourth to give the Nationals a 4-1 lead.That put prized prospect Lucas Giolito in good position to earn his first career win, but the 21-year-old right-hander tired quickly and never made it through the fourth inning. He threw 90 pitches over 3 2/3 innings and gave up four runs, seven hits and four walks in his second major league start -- both against the Mets.We fought back, they fought back. Probably a heck of a game to watch, but a terrible game to lose, Baker said.After the ninth-inning double play, All-Star closer Jeurys Familia struck out Harper for his major league-best 31st save. Familia has converted a club-record 47 consecutive regular-season save opportunities since August, though he did blow a four-run lead this year.With the Mets trailing 6-4 in the fifth, Cabrera and Brandon Nimmo singled. Flores, who had just come off the bench in a double switch to play first base, drove the first pitch he saw from Oliver Perez (2-2) just over the facing of the second deck in left field.Scores of fans jumped out of their seats -- seemingly in unison -- when Flores connected. The fan favorite popped out of the dugout for a curtain call and pumped his left fist to acknowledge a crowd of 37,569 that chanted his name.On a tear at the plate all week, Flores homered twice Wednesday against Miami and went 6 for 6 with two homers Sunday against the Chicago Cubs.Theres just a good flow to our offense and our team right now, Mets second baseman Neil Walker said.Hansel Robles (3-3) retired Rendon with the bases loaded to end the fifth and worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Addison Reed struck out two in 1 1/3 hitless innings as New Yorks bullpen came through all night.Washington swept three games from the Mets at home last week to open a six-game lead.Still just trying to put ourselves in a situation where we can make a run for it in the second half, said New York outfielder Curtis Granderson, who reached base five times and scored twice.TIME TO GIVE THANKSReyes gave dArnaud a Rolex watch as a thank you gift for relinquishing uniform No. 7 when the longtime Mets star rejoined the team this week. He loved it, a smiling Reyes said before joking that he went looking to find a knock-off.TRAINERS ROOMNationals: 1B Ryan Zimmerman, who homered Wednesday against Milwaukee, sat out because of general soreness. It was simply a precaution and he is day to day, Baker said. Robinson started at first base.Mets: Cabrera was back at shortstop after getting scratched just before the first pitch Wednesday because a family illness had kept him up all night.UP NEXTWashington RHP Stephen Strasburg (11-0, 2.71 ERA) faces RHP Noah Syndergaard (9-3, 2.41) for the first time Friday night in a marquee matchup of ace pitchers heading to the All-Star Game next week in San Diego. Strasburg was pulled with a no-hitter intact after 6 2/3 innings Sunday against Cincinnati because he had already thrown 109 pitches in his first start since an upper back strain landed him on the DL. Wholesale NFL Jerseys . Speaking to the Chicago Tribune at baseballs Winter Meetings in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Boras called the former home of the Expos a "tremendous environment" for baseball. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . -- Ryan Getzlaf grabbed the three pucks wrapped in tape and held them up to his chest in the Anaheim Ducks dressing room for a celebration nine seasons in the making. http://www.wholesalenikenfljerseys.com/ . The return match will take place next Wednesday. Udinese leads Fiorentina 2-1 in the other semifinal. Napoli staged a second-half comeback from two goals down after Gervinhos opener and a stunning strike from Kevin Strootman. BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Kevin Harvick won the night race at Bristol Motor Speedway that wasnt.He won a race that had four rain delays, including one of 17 hours, 42 minutes, that stretched from the race being suspended overnight Saturday into Sunday, making it the first night race in Bristol history not actually completed at night.The weirdness didnt end there. He won a Bristol race that was nothing really like Bristol had ever seen. Two distinct grooves existed, one upper groove and one lower groove that had improved grip thanks to a resin applied to an 18-inch-wide lane.It created a Bristol that didnt feature any classic bump-and-runs, the kind that generated excitement back in what many view as the good ol days. But it did allow drivers choices of lanes, and that resin was also blamed for a wreck that took out several contenders.So Harvick, who led the final 71 laps, didnt necessarily win in typical Bristol fashion. He didnt celebrate in typical fashion, either. Harvicks car owner and good friend Tony Stewart joined him for a two-car burnout celebration as part of Stewarts final trip to Bristol before hanging up his Sprint Cup drivers suit.That is part of what made the win special to Harvick. He had not won at Bristol since 2005 and will now go home with a 300-pound trophy that sits on wheels.I just won a trophy, Harvick said. I dont care where it came from, what the situation is.That is not the typical night race winning quotes, because this place has such a cool factor. But amid all the differences of Bristol past, Harvicks message was a familiar one: He took advantage of having the best car late in the race and the opportunity for the win. Its something he hasnt done much this year -- he had not won in the previous 18 races -- and something any driver and team have to do if they want to put themselves in position to win a championship.Harvicks second win of the season gave Chevrolet just its sixth of 2016. The Fords have six and the Toyotas have 11.So theres the reason Harvick gets mentioned among title contenders ... but not as the definitive one.Its us against us, Harvick said. Thats how were going to treat it, and if thats not good enough, then well go back to the drawing board next year.That might sound a little cocky, but Harvick typically carries that swagger only when he truly feels that way. He ranked third coming into Bristol in laps and miles led this year. The victory put him back atop the series points standings.I think we have a good plan, Harvick said. I think we have great cars, and weve made a lot of adjustments. ... Hopefully this win and everything getting ready to start with the Chase is going to put all the pieces together, and I think everybody has been working hard to do that.The weekend didnt start out all that grannd. NFL Jerseys China. With rain forecast for Friday, the team did not do a mock qualifying run and missed the setup, resulting in Harvick rolling off 24th Saturday night.Qualifying in the back kind of motivates me. ... Its kind of exciting, Harvick said. I like to pass cars. [My crew chief] doesnt really like to do it that way, but I think its fun to pass cars.The feel when he rolled off Saturday night did have the Bristol night race aura. The crowd was much larger than it was for the April day race and the buzz generated from a great Xfinity Series race the night before added an extra pulse.For Harvick, it was a great sight. It was through the suggestions of the NASCAR Drivers Council from meetings in May with Bristol track ownership that the idea of using some sort of sealer was pushed.It gave everybody an option to do something different, and as a driver, thats what you want, you want options, Harvick said. You dont want to get stuck behind a car thats four- or five-tenths [a second per lap] slower than you after youve just run them down from a half a lap and cant pass him.Kurt Busch blamed hitting the sealer for his wreck. He didnt get into it the right way, causing him to crash in front of the field and taking some strong drivers -- Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney and Matt Kenseth -- with him. Ironically, Busch was about to be black-flagged by NASCAR for jumping the restart but NASCAR didnt make the ruling before Busch lost it.It was just one of many ways where drivers lost this race. Denny Hamlin had a speeding penalty before rallying to finish third.Harvick had no such miscues.Im happy for these guys, Stewart said. This is a hard place to win at. There are so many things that can go wrong. All it takes is one thing.Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Austin Dillon had hoped to mount challenges in seeking their first wins, but they didnt have enough for Harvick and finished second and fourth, respectively. Chris Buescher finished fifth and vaulted to 30th in the standings, 13 points ahead of David Ragan and in position to use his Pocono win to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup with just three races left in the regular season.Weve been confident in our cars, just not confident in closing everything out, from myself, to is it ever really going to happen again, and I think that goes away tonight, Harvick said. You get back into that [groove].We know we have fast cars, knowing that you can win again, and it kind of happened that way for us in 2014 at Charlotte when we won [and then won the title], and it just kind of re-instilled that confidence of everything we know we can do, and it finally all just came together. 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