Raidfortschritt » , a 6-foot-5, 240-pounder who had a big year

LOS ANGELES -- Gio Gonzalez picked a good time to earn his first victory for Washington in the second half, coming against a talented Dodgers lineup the Nationals could see in the post-season. Backed by four homers, including two from Denard Span, Gonzalez snapped his five-game skid with a 6-4 victory on Monday night in a matchup of division leaders. Gonzalez (7-9) allowed three runs and three hits in six-plus innings. The left-hander hadnt won since beating the Cubs on July 5. He had a 4.38 ERA in his previous nine games. He also doubled and scored on Anthony Rendons double off Brandon League in the seventh. "My velocity was where I wanted it to be," Gonzalez said. "I was attacking the strike zone, fastball, curveball, changeup, it was all working. Especially in a game like this with that lineup, its definitely not easy." The East-leading Nationals (78-58) own the NLs best record while the Dodgers (77-61) are atop the West and close behind in pursuit of the top seed, despite losing for the third time in four games. "We need to win games," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. Rafael Soriano pitched a shaky ninth to earn his 31st save. He yielded an RBI single to Juan Uribe, after the ball skipped by the mound and caromed off second base, allowing Yasiel Puig to score. The Dodgers then had runners on the corners with two outs but Joc Pederson took a called third strike in his major league debut. Roberto Hernandez (2-2) gave up five runs and five hits -- including a career-high four homers -- in 4 1-3 innings. The right-hander came in 2-0 against the Nationals, having allowed just an unearned run in 15 1-3 innings in two starts against them while pitching for Philadelphia before being acquired by the Dodgers last month. "It surprised me a lot," Hernandez said through a translator. "I didnt have command of my pitches from the first inning. It was just a matter of things not working for me. It wasnt that I had lost confidence." The Nationals ended August with 40 homers, second-best in the major leagues behind Baltimore. They picked up where they left off to start the final month of the regular season, with Jayson Werth and Asdrubal Cabrera adding solo shots. Spans second homer, a two-run shot on the first pitch he faced in the fifth, extended Washingtons lead to 5-2. That chased Hernandez, who had walked Cabrera to start the inning before striking out Gonzalez. "I really cant explain it, other than home runs come in bulk and Ive been seeing the ball pretty good," Span said. Werth hit his 16th homer with two outs in the first. The Dodgers then got a two-out homer in the bottom half from Matt Kemp to take a 2-1 lead. Asdrubal Cabrera tied it at 2 with a leadoff drive in the third. One batter later, Span hit his first homer of the game. LONG SPAN It was Spans second career multihomer game. His first came on Sept. 13, 2008. His three RBIs were a season high. He is batting .360 in 43 games since the All-Star break. STREAKING KEMP The outfielder was 2 for 4 with two runs scored and the two-run homer, his 17th of the season. He has 10 RBIs in his last nine games, batting .361 since Aug. 22. His 174 career homers are three behind Mike Piazza for fourth on the Dodgers career list. TRAINERS ROOM Nationals: 1B Adam LaRoche left in the fifth after straining his lower back during an at-bat. He is day to day. ... OF Steven Souza Jr. (left shoulder) returned from rehab and was reinstated to the active roster. He was named International League MVP last week, having led the league in nearly every offensive category. Dodgers: RHP Chris Perez (bone spurs, right ankle) was reinstated from the 15-day DL after making five rehab appearances with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga. INF Carlos Triunfel was designated for assignment. CALL-UPS Nationals: With rosters expanding Monday, Washington recalled RHP Aaron Barrett, LHP Xavier Cedeno, C Sandy Leon, INF-OF Tyler Moore and RHP Blake Treinen from Triple-A Syracuse. Dodgers: Los Angeles recalled C Tim Federowicz, RHP Yimi Garcia, and INF-OF Alex Guerrero from Triple-A Albuquerque and selected the contract of OF Pederson from Albuquerque. Guerrero struck out as a pinch hitter and Garcia made his major league debut in the eighth, allowing one hit and striking out two in two scoreless innings. UP NEXT Nationals: RHP Doug Fister (12-5, 2.55 ERA) is 0-2 with a 3.86 ERA in his last three starts. Dodgers: LHP Clayton Kershaw (16-3, 1.73) starts. Among NL pitchers with at least 15 decisions, Kershaw and Fister (.706) rank first and second in winning percentage. Wholesale Miami Dolphins Jerseys . Patrick Deslisle-Houde and David Rose each scored in the second to give the fourth-seeded Redmen a 3-1 lead after Jean-Philippe Mathieu scored in the first. Cheap Miami Dolphins Gear . Rudy Gay made the tying basket in regulation and a 3-pointer in overtime that gave Sacramento the lead for good, and Fredette scored a career-high 24 points to help the Kings beat the Knicks 106-101 on Wednesday night. http://www.cheapdolphins.com/76v-cheap-c...y-dolphins.html. At Manchester United, Ferguson developed Beckham into one of the worlds most recognizable sportsmen, but the midfielder left United in 2003 for Real Madrid under a cloud after his relationship with the manager broke down. Discount Miami Dolphins Jerseys .com) - Real Madrid claimed its 16th consecutive victory across all competitions on Saturday after earning a 2-1 win over Malaga at the Estadio La Rosaleda. Miami Dolphins Jerseys China .com) - The Chicago White Sox have officially announced that the club has agreed to terms with utilityman Emilio Bonifacio on a one-year, $4 million contract that includes a team option for the 2016 season.It would be easy enough to drop Peyton Manning in as the number one quarterback this year and worry about slotting the rest after that, but that doesnt have to be automatic either. Yes, Manning is coming off a career-best season, one for the ages, but after three consecutive seasons with more than 5,000 yards passing, Drew Brees can make a reasonable claim for top spot too. No matter which one is on top -- and I have Brees -- they are a cut above the rest at the position. The way that passing has evolved in the NFL, there are now lots of quarterbacks who can throw for 4,000 yards and 25 touchdowns -- there were eight last season -- but Manning and Brees were the only ones north of 5,000 yards and 35 touchdowns, so consider them Tier One. After that, Matthew Stafford and Aaron Rodgers are accomplished passers. Over the past three seasons, Stafford ranks second (behind only Brees) with 14,655 passing yards and that gives him a slight edge on Rodgers, who ranks second in that time (again behind Brees) with 101 touchdown passes. Those are still elite options but, after that, the warts start to become a little more apparent, even among quality options. Colin Kaepernick and Cam Newton are brilliant runners and while thats a potential fantasy goldmine for yardage and touchdowns, it also presents a risk of injury. Working in Kaepernicks favour is that he has an improved receiving corps, with a healthy Michael Crabtree and newcomers Stevie Johnson joining Anquan Boldin and tight end Vernon Davis, Kaepernick doesnt lack weapons. Newton, on the other hand, requires a leap of faith, because his supporting cast is suspect, at best. Tight end Greg Olsen is a good one, but Newtons No. 1 wideout appears to be Jerricho Cotchery, a 32-year-old who had a nice season (46 REC, 602 YDS, 10 TD) last year, as Pittsburghs number three receiver, but he has one 1,000-yard receiving season in his career and last year was the only time in Cotcherys career that hes had more than half a dozen touchdowns in a year. On the other side, the Panthers have rookie Kelvin Benjamin, a 6-foot-5, 240-pounder who had a big year (54 REC, 1011 YDS, 15 TD) at Florida State, but its asking a lot to expect the 28th pick in the draft to immediately make an impact.dddddddddddd In any case, these are some challenges that Newton faces as he tries to match the production of his first three seasons. They arent the only accomplished running quarterbacks. Further down the draft list, Robert Griffin III -- who ought to benefit from the addition of wide receiver DeSean Jackson -- and Russell Wilson, maybe with a healthy Percy Harvin at his disposal, have appeal as well. After a breakout performance last season, during which he threw for 27 touchdowns and only two interceptions in 13 games (10 starts), Nick Foles has exciting potential, if not the longest track record in the league. Andrew Luck has the pedigree, as a first overall pick, and has thrown for more than 8,000 yards with 46 touchdowns in his first two seasons. Its tempting to go for that potential. For more established options, maybe look to Atlantas Matt Ryan, who is likely to bounce back with a healthy Julio Jones in the lineup and Tom Brady has to be considered. Even though his passing touchdowns declined last year, to 25 his lowest since 2006, Brady has thrown for more than 4,300 yards in four of the past five seasons and the Patriots offence is still focused on him. Beyond that top dozen, there are proven veterans, like Andy Dalton, Tony Romo, Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger, all of whom have been able to put up big numbers, just not with the same kind of consistency. Romo has, in fact, been pretty consistent in his production but, coming off back surgery, hes perhaps a little riskier than in previous years. Among the younger quarterbacks looking for a breakthrough, maybe Ryan Tannehill, Geno Smith or E.J. Manuel are ready to move up, but they are still second-stringers, at best, for fantasy purposes. As for rookies Johnny Manziel, Blake Bortles or Teddy Bridgewater, keep an eye on them and be prepared to work the waiver wire, but none of the three appear to be set for big production right off the start. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Fantasy Football Report powered by Coors Light. 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