Plege und Gesundheit der Hunde » we never got a chance to get it

WASHINGTON -- By the time Danny Espinosa hit his two-run homer in the eighth inning, there were only a couple of hundred fans left in the ballpark, almost all of them congregated behind the two dugouts. A couple of times there was an ad hoc chant-off between the ones in red down the first base line and those in blue on the other side. "You can hear every word at that point," Espinosa said. "Its like a back-field spring training game." Anthony Rendon hit a two-run homer in the first inning Monday night, and -- thanks to an odd-moving storm that produced an interminable rain delay -- Espinosa and the Washington Nationals didnt finish off the Los Angeles Dodgers until some six hours later on Tuesday morning, holding on for a 4-0 victory and gaining sole possession of first place in the NL East. Jordan Zimmerman pitched four shutout innings before the game was halted, and five relievers threw an inning apiece after play resumed. In between, there was an interruption of 3 hours, 17 minutes while a narrow, cigar-shaped storm took its time soaking D.C. and not much else. "You certainly wait around that long, you want to win the game," Nationals manager Matt Williams said. Aaron Barrett (2-0) got the win mainly because he happened to be Washingtons first reliever when play resumed. Zack Greinke (5-1) got a hard-luck first loss of the season, and plate umpire John Tumpane became the MVP for calling strikes and getting the game done in a reasonable hurry once the tarp was removed. There were four strikeouts before the delay, 16 after it. "We dont get off to a good start, they get a couple quick runs, and then obviously a three-hour delay in there and lose Zack," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "Really, we had chances, we just didnt do anything." The rain limited Greinke to three innings, ending a streak that had been unmatched for a century. He had 18 consecutive regular-season starts of at least five innings while allowing two runs or fewer -- the longest such run in the majors since 1914. "Its not really like its an important streak; no one really cares about it anyway," Greinke said. "If it was like a consecutive win streak or something more important than that, it would mean a little more." Dodgers slugger Yasiel Puig sat out the marathon, still sore after crashing into an outfield wall in the ninth inning of Sundays 5-4 road loss to the Miami Marlins. Manager Don Mattingly said Puig remained day to day and declined to say directly whether a concussion has been ruled out. Nationals left fielder Nate McLouth had his own crash-into-wall injury in the eighth inning, when he made a sliding backhand catch of a foul ball. Both hands and both knees hit the wall hard, and his right hand was bleeding as he walked off the field. Williams said McLouth wasnt seriously hurt. The cut didnt require stitches, although a banged-up knee will almost certainly be sore for a while. Zimmermann held the fort until the middle of the fourth, when the dozens of bags of sands poured on the infield by the grounds crew were no longer a match for the weather. The fans who stayed behind were treated to a scoreboard broadcast of their city-sports-brethren Washington Wizards winning an NBA playoff game. Also shown during the delay was the Atlanta Braves loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, which helped the Nationals vault into first in the division. The fans who remained when play resumed had unusually good odds when it came to chasing a foul ball, or catching a T-shirt tossed into the stands as part of a standard promotion. "Fans are going crazy," Zimmermann said. "Its a game, you have to play no matter how many fans are out there. The place wasnt exactly rocking, but it was a game we had to play." NOTES: Greinke had been unbeaten in his previous 13 starts (9-0) vs. NL East teams. ... The Nationals plan to promote RHP Blake Treinen from Triple-A Syracuse to start Tuesdays game. RHP Ryan Mattheus will be optioned to Syracuse. ... Clayton Kershaw (strained back) is scheduled to come off the disabled list Tuesday and start for the Dodgers. ... Kershaw is expected to take the roster spot held for a day by RHP Pedro Baez, who was recalled Monday from Double-A Chattanooga and made his major league debut in the eighth inning. RHP Stephen Fife, who started Sundays game, was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque. ... Mattingly said LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu, who missed Sundays start with a sore shoulder, did not need an MRI and would resume throwing Tuesday. ... Washington reinstated OF Scott Hairston (strained side muscle) from the 15-day DL and optioned OF Steven Souza Jr. to Triple-A Syracuse. ... Washington C Wilson Ramos (hand) caught nine innings for Double-A Harrisburg on Monday and could rejoin the team later this week. Wholesale Air Max 200 . -- Arkansas didnt need a spectacular dunk to beat No. Nike Air Max China Wholesale Paypal . The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night. http://www.airmaxsneakersonsale.com/cheap-air-max-97.html.J. -- Kevin Gilbride retired Thursday as offensive co-ordinator for the New York Giants. Fake Air Max 95 . The struggling New Orleans Pelicans were simply overmatched. Crawford hit seven 3s on his way to 24 points, and the Clippers beat the Pelicans 123-110 on Monday night. "We understand what we do well. If we all do what we do well, well make our team stronger," Crawford said. Air Max Plus Tn Fake . Dwyane Wade followed a few days later.FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. - Mike Smith is not giving up on the Falcons season, just as he wouldnt give up in the closing minutes of a lopsided loss to Seattle. Smith was criticized for exposing quarterback Matt Ryan and others to injuries by leaving them on the field late in Sundays 33-10 loss to the Seahawks. The coach said he wouldnt abandon the idea of trying to win. Similarly, Smith said Monday he hasnt given up on the season even when three straight ugly losses have left the Falcons 2-7. The Falcons already have matched the high mark for losses in Smiths first five seasons — a 9-7 finish in 2009. Atlanta trails first-place New Orleans by five games in the NFC South. Smith said hes heard plenty of negative talk about the outlook for the remainder of the season, including this weeks game at Tampa Bay. "This season is not over," Smith said. "I know people want to say doom and gloom. Thats not the case. Weve not played the type of football that wed like to play in the first nine games. It is well below our expectations and were going to continue to work and get ready to play the Buccaneers." Smith acknowledged there must be improvement on both lines and in the running game. In his third game back from a hamstring injury, Steven Jackson was held to 11 yards rushing on nine carries. Seattles Marshawn Lynch ran for 145 yards and a touchdown, and Smith said Seattle dominated both lines. "I think we did not win the physical battle ... they won that handily," Smith said. "I felt like they won the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football. Thats where games are won and lost." As a result, Jackson often had no chance. "Of course Im frustrated," Jackson said. "The thing about it is you have to keep chipping away. No one is going to come in the locker room and save us. We have to save ourselves. ... We cant dwell on it. One thing about being a professional, you have to acknowledge the things you made a mistake on and move on to the next one." The Falcons quickly fell so far behind that they abandoned any hope of ballancing their offence in the second half.dddddddddddd. Ryan had to carry the load. "On our first possession of the second half, we were down 26-3, and at that time your run game basically goes out the window," Smith said. It was not a new problem. "I know that Steven is a guy who gets stronger as the game goes on," Smith said. "Unfortunately, in the last three weeks the game has gotten so out of hand coming out after halftime weve had to basically ditch the run and start throwing the football, so we havent had an opportunity to really concentrate on running the ball for 60 minutes." Left tackle Sam Baker was held out with a knee injury. He has missed five games this season. He played on Nov. 3 against Carolina but couldnt stay off the inactive list two straight weeks. "Yes, it is a concern when youre not able to play consecutive games," Smith said. The offensive line lost centre Todd McClure, who retired, and right tackle Tyson Clabo, who was released, from the 2012 starting unit. Mike Johnson, who was expected to replace Clabo, was lost for the season when he dislocated his left ankle and broke his left leg in training camp. With Bakers ongoing knee problem added to the mix, the lack of continuity on the line has been a constant issue that resurfaced against Seattle. "A couple of our opportunities to run it, we never got a chance to get it going," Smith said. "There were some individuals and individual blocks and combination blocks that were executed very well and there were some blocks that were not executed very well on the same play. As a unit, youve got to hit on all your blocks if youre going to have a chance to have a successful running play." Smith said linebacker Sean Weatherspoon will be activated off the injured reserve list by Wednesday. Weatherspoon, one of the defences leaders, has been out since hurting his foot the second week of the season. Smith said he had no update on tight end Tony Gonzalez, who briefly left Sundays game with a toe injury. ___ AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org ' ' '