n the first half after a short argument with an official following a foul c | Forum

CHICAGO -- Stephen Strasburg and the Nationals were cruising along until it all fell apart. http:///...anti-teo-jersey.aspx . Then, a slow roller bailed them out. Denard Span scored the go-ahead run on pinch-hitter Chad Tracys grounder in the 13th inning, and the Nationals beat the Chicago Cubs 5-4 on Thursday after Strasburg blew a three-run lead in the ninth. Span doubled leading off the 13th against Michael Bowden (1-3). He moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Steve Lombardozzi and came around on Tracys roller to the first-base side of the mound. "We got to do better than that. I mean, that gave me a heart attack," manager Davey Johnson said, smiling. "Its a good thing we had a track star down on third base. But a win is a win." Craig Stammen (7-5) worked two innings and earned the victory. Drew Storen secured his third save in eight chances. Storen deflected Dioner Navarros liner toward Lombardozzi to start a game-ending double play after Anthony Rizzo reached on a throwing error by the second baseman with one out. After a two-hour rain delay at the start, Strasburg was one out away from a complete game with a 4-1 lead before Chicago rallied to tie it. Junior Lake had an RBI single, and Donnie Murphy hit a two-run homer to make it 4-4. Rafael Soriano gave up a double to Brian Bogusevic before Darwin Barney lined to left, sending the game to extra innings. Before the rally, Strasburg and the Nationals were sailing along. Ryan Zimmerman and Lombardozzi homered, and Strasburg added two hits, including an RBI single, as Washington built a 4-0 lead against Travis Wood. Strasburg was aiming for his second shutout in three starts before Chicagos Brian Bogusevic homered leading off the eighth. When the Cubs struck again in the ninth, Chicago spoiled the aces dominant outing. "Ive seen him pitch all the time, but I never got to face him," said Murphy, a 30-year-old journeyman with eight homers in 16 games since joining the Cubs about three weeks ago. "Going in there and him K-ing me three times before getting the last hit was pretty cool." Strasburg gave up seven hits, struck out eight and walked two after the shortest start of his career. He was ejected in the second inning at Atlanta last week for throwing two consecutive pitches behind Andrelton Simmons back. Strasburg acknowledged he was tired toward the end of Thursdays game. "If we get more consistent and I throw the same amount of innings, I feel like I get stronger, especially in the later innings," said Strasburg, who was surprised to bat in the ninth. "But that 26-pitch debacle last game kind of set me back a little bit as far as stamina." He sure looked good for most of the day, though. Wood, meanwhile, settled down after allowing a solo homer to Zimmerman in the first and two runs in the second. But that drive by Lombardozzi leading off the seventh gnawed at him. "That homer by Lombardozzi in the seventh kind of stings, especially the way we battled back and ended up putting up four there in the ninth. The game would have been over," said Wood, who allowed four runs and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings. NOTES: The Nationals held SS Ian Desmond out of the lineup because of a back problem. His back tightened up during batting practice on Wednesday, and he stayed in until the fifth inning of that game, when he was replaced by Anthony Rendon as part of a double switch. ... Cubs OF Ryan Sweeney, on the 60-day DL because of a broken left rib, is scheduled to start a rehab assignment in the Rookie Arizona League on Saturday. 3B Luis Valbuena (strained muscle on right side) will head to Arizona to take batting practice from the minor league coaching staff. RHP Scott Baker, recovering from Tommy John surgery, is scheduled to start Friday for Class A Kane County. ... Cubs manager Dale Sveum said he doesnt envision SS Javier Baez being called up in September, although he has been impressed with his play. Baez is hitting a combined .286 with 33 homers and 100 RBIs for Class A Daytona and Double-A Tennessee. ... RHP Edwin Jackson (7-13, 4.89 ERA) starts Friday for the Cubs at San Diego, with RHP Edinson Volquez (9-10, 5.72) going for the Padres. Washington visits Kansas City, with LHP Gio Gonzalez (7-6, 3.38) starting for the Nationals and LHP Bruce Chen (5-1, 2.20) pitching for the Royals. http:///...-johnson-jersey.aspx . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. http:///...-emanuel-jersey.aspx . Pert has formerly spent time as an assistant coach with Cardiff City, Coventry City, and Bahrain mens national team. "Martyn is a highly-respected coach with experience at the top levels in England," said Whitecaps FC head coach Carl Robinson. http:///...-hayward-jersey.aspx . The injury bothered Bledsoe in the Suns victory over the Clippers on Monday and he sat out the teams home loss to Memphis on Thursday night.MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Houston Rockets coach Kevin McHale searched more than three quarters for five guys who would play well together. He almost ran out of time. But early in the fourth quarter, McHale finally hit the jackpot and the Rockets roared past the Memphis Grizzlies for a 93-86 road victory. Chandler Parsons scored 17 points and Omri Casspi added 16 as the Rockets (10-5) won for the fifth time in six games. Houston outscored Memphis 38-23 in the fourth quarter, with Parsons and Casspi combining for 20 of those points. "We just kept on trying to find a lineup that would really click," McHale said. "And that last lineup we had there did a great job." Houston trailed for most of the night and its 93 points were a season low, but the Rockets made a 14-2 run early in the fourth quarter, pushing ahead 67-65 on a pair free throws by Casspi with 8:26 remaining. The Rockets played without All-Star guard James Harden, who missed his second straight game with a sore left foot. It was the Grizzlies first full game since 7-foot-1 centre Marc Gasol was lost indefinitely to a sprained MCL in his left knee. Memphis (7-7) had a 46-32 lead early in the third quarter, but couldnt hold it down the stretch. "We had a great game plan and we did it for three quarters," Allen said. "They just turned into a whole different team once they set their starters down. Those guys penetrated the basketball, got into our soft spot. They made plays -- Casspi was a difference-maker." Tayshaun Prince led Memphis with 16 points. Allen added 15. Houstons offence was missing a considerable chunk of its scoring without Harden, who is averaging 24.2 points per game. The Rockets had a miserable offensive first half without him, turning the ball over 11 times and shooting just 11 of 32 from the field (34.4 per cent), including 1 of 11 (9.1 per cent) from 3-point range. The Grizzlies closed the second quarter on a 15-6 run to take a 44-32 halftime lead. Houston finally found some rhythm in the second half, hitting five 3-pointers after starting 1 of 14 from behind the arc. http:///...io-gates-jersey.aspx. The bench was key in the run, with Francisco Garcia hitting a 3-pointer to tie it at 65 -- pumping his fist and screaming as he went back on defence. Casspi scored 11 points in the fourth quarter while Parsons had nine. It was a hodgepodge lineup for most of the fourth quarter, with McHale leaning on Beverly, Garcia, Parsons, Casspi and Omer Asik. But it worked. "When we move the ball and share the ball together, we are tough," Casspi said. Parsons shot 8 of 9 from the field. The Rockets shot 23 of 37 (62 per cent) in the second half. "Tonight was ugly and we didnt do a lot of things right," Parsons said. "But we trust our coaches, we trust our offence and we continued to run it." Memphis coach Dave Joerger says his teams offence will change considerably with Gasol out of the lineup. And at least for one night, it changed for the worse. Gasol said pregame he expects to be on crutches for three to four weeks before he can even start work on his return. Kosta Koufos started in place of Gasol and had a productive night, with eight points and a season-high 13 rebounds. But Mike Conley, the Grizzlies leading scorer with more than 19 points per game, had a tough night, shooting just 2 of 14 from the field and finishing with 10 points and 10 assists. Memphis had won five straight over Houston at FedExForum dating back nearly three years before Mondays loss. NOTES: Memphis Jon Leuer and Nick Calathes saw extensive playing time in the first half. Leuer had notched five straight DNPs before facing Houston while Calathes had DNPs in four of his last five. Both finished with four points. ... Memphis Randolph had his streak of five straight double-doubles snapped. ... Houstons Howard was called for a technical foul early in the first half after a short argument with an official following a foul call. ... Houstons reserves scored 27 points, led by Casspis 16. ... Asik has been buried on the bench for most of the past month, but chipped in with two points and 10 rebounds over 21 minutes against the Grizzlies. 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