Werth's clout sends Nationals past Cardinals, forces Game 5

WASHINGTON — Joyous, bouncing teammates waiting to greet him at home, the red-clad crowd raucous as can be, Jayson Werth yanked off his red batting helmet with two hands and thrust it four meters overhead.

A little less than two years ago, the Washington Nationals showered Werth with millions, persuading him to come show them how to win. On Thursday night, with one swing of his black bat, Werth delivered a game-ending homer to extend his club's surprising season and wipe away whatever disappointments marred his days in D.C.

Werth led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a 13-pitch at-bat against reliever Lance Lynn that ended with the ball landing beyond the wall in left field, giving the Nationals a tense 2-1 victory over the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals and forcing a deciding Game 5 in their NL Division Series.

"That's the way that game should have ended: Jayson Werth hitting a home run," Nationals manager Davey Johnson said. "He has not hit that many this year. . . . Unbelievable. Great effort on his part."

The best-of-five series will end Friday night in Washington, with the winner advancing to face the San Francisco Giants in the NL Championship Series. The starters will provide a rematch of Game 1, which Washington won, with Gio Gonzalez on the mound for the NL East champion Nationals, and Adam Wainwright for the wild-card Cardinals.

"It's what you play all season for, and what you work out all winter for, and what you get to spring training early for," Werth said. "We have a chance tomorrow to take that next step. I know my teammates will be ready. And the city will, too."

The homer was Werth's first of the series, the 14th of his postseason career. He won the 2008 World Series and a string of division titles with the Philadelphia Phillies, then moved to Washington before last season as a free agent on a $126 million, seven-year contract that stunned much of baseball.

He managed to hit only five homers and 31 RBIs in 2012, missing 75 games because of a broken left wrist. Last year, his first in Washington, Werth hit only .232 with 58 RBIs, and there was grumbling about his worth.

That vanished at dusk Thursday, when Werth circled the bases, raising his right index finger in a "No. 1" gesture, while the announced crowd of 44,392 roared, and the other Nationals raced out of their dugout to greet him.

"I'm just happy that these fans got to see it, because obviously he had a rough year last year, and he got hurt this year, and I don't think the fans realize how good of a player Jason is," Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. "For him to have a moment like this in front of the home fans, and in front of this atmosphere, I couldn't be happier for him. He deserves it."

Werth's arrival certainly coincided with a quick turnaround: The Nationals lost 100 games in 2008 and 2009, but led the majors with 98 wins this year.

Werth's shot provided a sudden end to a classic postseason contest filled with tremendous pitching. Each team managed only three hits.

Lynn, usually a starter for St. Louis but a reliever in these playoffs, was making his third appearance of this series.

Drew Storen, who threw the top of the ninth, got the win. Jordan Zimmermann made the first relief appearance of his career in the seventh.

Starters Kyle Lohse, who won the wild-card playoff game for St. Louis against Atlanta last week, and Ross Detwiler were both superb. Lohse lasted seven innings, allowing one run and two hits. Detwiler went six, with one unearned run and three hits.

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Nationals top Phillies again

Yes!: Chicago's Tony Campana (left) celebrates beside Houston's Matt Downs after being called safe at third base on Tuesday. AP

PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper and the Washington Nationals continued their domination of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Jordan Zimmermann pitched six solid innings, and Ian Desmond and Rick Ankiel homered to lead the Nationals to a 5-2 victory Tuesday night.

Harper tripled, singled and drove in two runs for the Nationals, who won their third straight overall and beat the Phillies for the sixth straight time in Philadelphia — something that never had been done in the franchise's 43-year history. Washington has defeated Philadelphia in four of the five meetings this season and 13 of the last 16 overall.

Roy Halladay (4-4) continued his indifferent season with his second-worst start of the season, going six innings and allowing five runs and nine hits with six strikeouts and one walk.

It was especially surprising against the Nationals, a franchise Halladay has dominated with an 11-1 record and 2.28 ERA in 16 career starts. His last loss to the Washington franchise came on June 28, 2002 as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays against the then-Montreal Expos.

"You've got to be aggressive against him because he'll throw strikes," Nationals manager Davey Johnson said of Halladay. "He's a Hall of Famer, you better be up there swinging."

Harper did just that by belting the first pitch he saw, a 127-kph curveball, to right-center for a two-run triple in the third inning.

"He hung a curveball to the kid and he smoked it," Johnson said. "It was a turning point in the game as far as I'm concerned."

Said Harper, "I was looking for a first-pitch curveball and I got it. I was just trying to hit something up the middle and score some runs."

Mets 3, Pirates 2

In Pittsburgh, Lucas Duda smacked a go-ahead RBI single in the top of the eighth.

Reds 4, Braves 3

In Cincinnati, Brandon Phillips drove in three runs with a pair of homers off Brandon Beachy.

Marlins 7, Rockies 6

In Miami, Ricky Nolasco gave up three runs in the first inning, then settled down to set a franchise record for career victories.

Cardinals 4, Padres 0

In St. Louis, Adam Wainwright threw a four-hitter and the Cardinals beat San Diego.

Giants 6, Brewers 4

In Milwaukee, Buster Posey homered off the Miller Park scoreboard and had three RBIs.

Milwaukee's Norichika Aoki was 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Astros 2, Cubs 1

In Houston, J.D. Martinez hit the go-ahead RBI single in the sixth inning and Jose Altuve had a solo homer.

Dodgers 8, Diamondbacks 7

In Phoenix, Ivan De Jesus hit a two-run double with two outs in the ninth to give the Dodgers the lead.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Indians 5, Tigers 3

In Cleveland, Chris Perez, greeted by a standing ovation from the time he left the bullpen, worked another scary ninth inning for his 14th save.

Angels 4, Athletics 0

In Oakland, C.J. Wilson and Ernesto Frieri combined on a one-hitter.

Rangers 3, Mariners 1

In Seattle, Elvis Andrus lined a two-strike pitch into the left-center field gap for a two-run triple, and Texas snapped the Mariners' winning streak at four.

Ichiro Suzuki was 2-for-4 for Seattle.

Yankees 3, Royals 2

In New York, Robinson Cano homered, and Phil Hughes beat Kansas City for the second time this month.

Rays 8, Blue Jays 5

In St. Petersburg, Florida, Carlos Pena hit a three-run homer during a five-run fourth.

Twins 9, White Sox 2

In Chicago, P.J. Walters tossed his first career complete game.

White Sox outfielder Kosuke Fukudome was 0-for 1.

Orioles 4, Red Sox 1

In Baltimore, Brian Matusz allowed two hits and struck out nine batters.

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Kato eclipses big guns at judo nationals

Last man standing: Hirotaka Kato reacts after beating Ryuta Ishii by ippon in the final of the national judo championships in Tokyo on Sunday. KYODO

The three men with the highest expectations to lead Japan in a much-needed resurgence in the over-100 kg class at the London Olympics this summer fell flat at the judo national championship on Sunday.

Unheralded Hirotaka Kato beat Ryuta Ishii in the final to claim his first title, but tournament favorite Daiki Kamikawa, veteran Keiji Suzuki and Kazuhiko Takahashi failed to produce the goods for early consideration in the open-weight Olympic qualifier.

The 26-year-old Kato, who was making his fifth appearance at the championship, deployed a corner-drop technique to score an ippon against Ishii in 1 minute, 29 seconds into the match at Tokyo's Nippon Budokan.

"This feels like a dream," said Kato, who is the first under-100 kg judoka to win a national crown in 40 years. "I am so excited I feel like I don't know where I am. I was determined that I had to win this, and I kept plugging away until the end."

Shinobu Sekine, who won the national title in 1972 and then went on to win a gold medal in the middle weight class at the Munich Olympics, was the last non-heavyweight to achieve the feat.

Kato, who stands at 1.74 meters and weighs in at just 93 kg, defeated former national champion Yasuyuki Muneta on a judges' decision in the quarterfinals, and dropped Masaru Momose using a stomach throw for a waza-ari in the semis.

The 22-year-old Kamikawa, meanwhile, lost a judges' split decision to Momose in the quarterfinals, while Takahashi was tossed to the mat by Ishii with an outer-leg trip, also failing to make the semis.

"I have no one to blame but myself for a weak performance. When it came to a decision, I thought I might be in trouble," said Kamikawa, who is aiming for his first Olympic berth. "The only thing I can focus on now is trying to win at the national weight-class championships."

Suzuki, the 2004 Athens Olympic champion in the heaviest weight category, made it to the semifinals against Ishii, but received three point deductions for passivity after hurting his right shoulder when his opponent sent him down with an inner thigh throw.

The 31-year-old Suzuki, who was later diagnosed with a dislocated shoulder, was aiming for his fifth national title.

"I feel nothing but disappointment the national championship has ended like this for me. I want to apologize to my fans," Suzuki said in a statement before leaving for the hospital.

The Japanese men's over-100 kg category for London will be decided at the national weight-class championships being held at Fukuoka Kokusai Center on May 12-13.

Japan men's coach Shinichi Shinohara praised Kato for a job well done, but read the riot act to his three mainstays.

"I am happy one of our young judoka could win and I look forward to his future performances, but I have to ask the three guys who are in the running for the Olympics, 'What the heck are you doing?' There were too many wrongs I saw from them today.

"From the beginning, I couldn't see Kamikawa's determination to fight and win. These guys are the ones being considered, so they have to act like it. This is a tough result to swallow. But Kato really did a great job."

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Mao makes spirited return at nationals

KADOMA, Osaka Pref. — Skating just over two weeks after the death of her mother, former two-time world champion Mao Asada put together a courageous Christmas Eve performance to place second after the women's short program at the national championships.

Dazzling return: Mao Asada skates during the women's short program on Saturday at the national championships in Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture. Mao is in second place with 65.40 points. KYODO PHOTO

Mao, appearing in her first competition since her mother Kyoko on Dec. 9 passed away aged 48 after a lengthy battle with liver cirrhosis, sailed through her fluidly composed program, landing all of her jumps cleanly to score a season-best 65.40 points.

Seventeen-year-old Kanako Murakami took top spot with 65.56 points while Akiko Suzuki, silver medalist at the Grand Prix Final in Quebec earlier this month, placed third.

With the Osaka crowd behind her all the way, Mao kept her emotions in check as she glided around the Namihaya Dome rink to "Sheherazade" by Nikolai Rimski-Korsakov, opening with a double axel and comfortably landing a triple flip-double toe and a triple loop in a skate free of any major errors.

"I feel relieved. I have had so many messages of support and I really wanted to try hard today. I felt like so many people were watching over me," said the 21-year-old Mao.

"I felt a different kind of tension but I was able to stay focused. I had a solid skate and hopefully I can build on that in the free program."

A resurgent Mao had been set to compete at her first Grand Prix Final in three years in Quebec but made a frantic return to Japan from Canada on the eve of the women's short program after learning that her mother was in a critical condition. Kyoko died before Mao could reach her bedside.

Murakami, who has struggled this season with boot problems and failed to qualify for the Grand Prix Final, landed a triple combo jump and had a clean triple flip and double axel for 65.56 points, her best score of the season.

"I think I did well. I was confident about my jumps and took care of the rest of my program and it went as well as I hoped," said the former junior world champion.

"I didn't make any mistakes and I am really pleased. I was hoping to score more than 60 points but I was surprised with my score."

Suzuki had her opening triple-triple downgraded and took third with 59.60.

"I've gained confidence competing in events this season but it's never that easy at the national championships," said Suzuki, winner of the NHK Trophy in Sapporo in November.

"I want to show how much progress I have made since last season in the free skate."

Defending champion and reigning world gold medalist Miki Ando is taking time out of competition this season but was watching Saturday's short program from the stands.

Daisuke Takahashi won the men's title with 254.60 total points, followed by defending champion Takahiko Kozuka (250.97) and Yuzuru Hanyu (241.91).

The nationals, which double as a qualifier for the world championships in Nice, France, in March, wraps up with the women's free skate on Sunday.

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