Termine » game humbles all of us. Manziel, how

DENVER -- The Washington Nationals turned their clubhouse into a postgame rave scene, complete with blaring music, fog machine and dancing lights. A dazzling display -- almost as eye catching as their performance on the field. Ian Desmond tied a career high with five hits, including a two-run homer, and Doug Fister threw effectively into the sixth to help the Nationals beat the sinking Colorado Rockies 7-2 on Monday night. They were in quite a festive mood, too, as they took over sole possession in the NL East with Atlantas loss. "Anytime we win, its a great day," Fister said as he explained the light show. "We want to make sure we get that winning feeling." The 6-foot-8 Fister (9-2) -- all "elbows and knees" as Charlie Blackmon described him -- allowed nine hits before being pulled with two outs in the sixth after running into trouble. Desmond had four singles -- including one off the arm of reliever LaTroy Hawkins in the ninth -- to go with his 17th homer of the season. His approach at the plate is quite simple: "I just look for the ball and swing as hard as I can." The last time Desmond had five hits in a game was Sept. 15, 2011, at the New York Mets. "Kind of the way its been going for me lately," Desmond said. Franklin Morales (5-5) didnt pitch all that bad, except for one inning. He surrendered all four of his runs -- three earned -- in the fourth. "Other than that, he threw the ball well," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. Ben Paulsen had two hits and drove in a run in his major league debut for the Rockies, whove lost six straight and fell into a tie with Texas for the worst mark in the majors (40-59). Fister was cruising along until the sixth when the Rockies rallied for two runs on RBI singles from Nolan Arenado and Paulsen to make it 4-2. With the bases loaded and two outs, Nationals manager Matt Williams summoned Aaron Barrett from the bullpen to face pinch hitter Brandon Barnes. Barrett struck out Barnes with a slider in the dirt. "That was kind of, in my eyes, the turning point in the game," Desmond said. The Rockies had a little bit of a scare in that inning when Carlos Gonzalez was tagged out trying to slide into third base. He stayed down on the dirt for several minutes, clutching both wrists after jamming them into the ground. Gonzalez had surgery on his left index finger earlier this season and missed more than a month. He stayed in the game, but had a scrape on his right arm. "I dont know what else can happen this year," Gonzalez said. Washington padded its lead in the seventh on an RBI single from Wilson Ramos. Desmond later scored on a wild pitch. Colorado was missing several big bats from its lineup as Troy Tulowitzki missed a second straight game with a sore left thigh. Earlier in the day, Justin Morneau was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained neck. Taking Morneaus place at first was Paulsen, who was called up from Triple-A Colorado Springs. Hes the ninth different player to make his debut with the team in 2014. Paulsen lined a single to left in his first plate appearance. After Fister received the ball on the mound, he tossed it to a bat boy as a keepsake for Paulsen. Washington finally solved Morales in the fourth, scoring four times. Desmond gave Fister all the run support the right-hander would require with a two-run homer to left. Danny Espinosa drove in another run with a double and later scored when Morales tried to pick off Fister at first and threw the ball down the right-field line. Blackmon led off the first with a double, but Fister managed to escape. Fister struck out Gonzalez with a 79-mph changeup to end the inning. "You know you have to keep the ball down," Fister said. "Thats something we focused on a lot tonight." NOTES: Williams called OF Bryce Harpers day off "a one-day thing." Harper entered as a pinch hitter in the seventh and struck out, then briefly argued with the home-plate umpire over whether he foul tipped the pitch. Williams pulled Harper away. ... RHP Jordan Zimmermann (6-5), who left his last start with a cramp in his right biceps, will start Tuesday. The Rockies will throw LHP Yohan Flande (0-2). ... A woman was hit in the head when the bat slipped out of Gonzalezs hands in the fourth. She was escorted from her seat. Al Hamilton Jersey .Y. -- Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire will have less time to remain eligible for the Hall of Fame ballot under changes made Saturday. Boyd Gordon Jersey .500. The Jets have now won nine of their last 11, and five of their last six road games. With the win they moved to within two points of Vancouver in the west, the Canucks holding down the eighth spot. Vancouver lost in Boston, while the other big game saw Dallas win in Phoenix. http://www.cheapedmontonoilersjerseys.co...j-sekera-jersey. The Maple Leafs handed their embattled head coach a two-year contract extension on Thursday, while at the same time announcing that assistants Dave Farrish, Greg Cronin and Scott Gordon will not be back. Andrew Ference Jersey . The motion to expand the stadiums capacity passed through by a count of 39-3, with Toronto mayor Rob Ford being among those in opposition. Glenn Anderson Jersey . -- The taxing preseason, which included two games in China, is finally over.(SportsNetwork.com) - It cant possibly go worse, can it? The much-anticipated starting debut of Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Johnny Manziel was a bigger bomb than 47 Ronin, the Keanu Reeves fantasy action film regarded by Hollywood as the biggest Box Office bust in history. Johnny Football will get his second opportunity on Sunday against a 5-8-1 Carolina Panthers team still in the thick of the NFC South race. The harshest of Manziels critics didnt expect what happened last weekend when the lightning rod proved to be an abject mess in his first NFL start, completing 10-of-18 for 80 yards with two first-half interceptions as Clevelands playoff hopes nosedived in a similar trajectory to Manziels stock with a 30-0 setback to the AFC North-leading Cincinnati Bengals. There were flashes but they were brief, Browns coach Mike Pettine said in a laughably kind review of Manziels performance. Seemingly every Bengals defender got a chance to flash the former Heisman Trophy winners signature money-sign celebration to the FirstEnergy Stadium crowd, essentially mocking Manziel for his inability to get anything done offensively. Of course, he kind of brought that on himself, Bengals defensive end Wallace Gilberry quipped. The Browns made the switch from the limited Brian Hoyer to Manziel to provide a spark in an effort to keep their fading playoff hopes alive. However, that spark was never fanned. In his first 30 minutes, Manziel was 4-for-9 for 22 yards and a 12.0 passer rating and things never really turned around as Cleveland, which has lost three in a row, ran only 38 offensive plays (the fewest by any team in a game this season), totaled 107 yards of total offense and had six three-and-outs. I saw the field fine today, but when it came down to it, I just need to throw the ball and let it rip, and I didnt do a very good job of that, Manziel understated. About the only positive you could take from Manziels performance was the fact he didnt make any excuses. Nobody wants to win (in the locker room) more than I do, and its tough to come out there and lay an egg like that, Manziel said. Im not using the rookie excuse. I needed to play better. The Panthers, meanwhile, kept hope alive in Week 15 by topping lowly Tampa Bay, 19-17, to win for the first time in seven games despite being without star quarterback Cam Newton, who was injured in a car accident earlier in the week. Derek Anderson filled in for Newton and threw for 277 yards and a touchdown. Newton suffered two transverse process fractures in his lower back in a two- car accident on Dec. 9 near the teams stadium. Anderson, who also started for Newton in the Panthers Week 1 win at Tampa Bay, completed 25-of-40 passes. Everything was not as clean as we wouldve liked it. Anderson said. It wasnt perfect by any means ... overall Im very happy with the win. Greg Olsen matched a career-high with 10 receptions for 110 yards and Kelvin Benjamin added 104 yards on eight receptions for Carolina, which is percentage points behind the New Orleans Saints (6-8) for first place in the division with two games to play. After Cleveland the Panthers will finish their schedule at Atlanta, which is 5-9 and also in the mix in the NFC South. The Saints and Falcons play each other in New Orleans on Sunday, and the Saints will close the reggular season at Tampa Bay in Week 17.dddddddddddd The Panthers need to win their final two games and have the Saints lose once to repeat as division champions. Carolina leads its all-time series with the Browns by a 3-1 margin but the two teams havent met since Nov. 28, 2010 when Cleveland got its only win, a 24-23 triumph in the Buckeye State. The clubs havent met in the Queen City since 2006, a 20-12 Panthers win. WHAT TO WATCH FOR The Panthers are playing a wait-and-see game with Newton but signs point to him giving it a go on Sunday. Newton was able to practice by Wednesday and reports said he was moving well and looking relatively pain free, just eight days since his accident. He looked like he threw the ball well, but again, a lot depends on how he feels tomorrow, Panthers coach Ron Rivera said. He went through all the team drills. He went through all the individual drills. He did all we had slated for him.This is a young man who is very strong-willed and very tough. The hope is that Newton continues to progress without any setbacks. Rivera hopes to make a final decision on his status by Friday. The biggest factor will be whether or not (team doctors) tell me he can protect himself, Rivera said. I dont want to put a guy out there if he cant protect himself. By that I mean being able to run out of the way, scramble out of the way to stay alive, keep the play alive, by being able to get out of the way. Whether its Newton or Anderson under center, expect them to keep feeding Olsen, who has 20 catches in his last two games and is tied for the NFL lead among tight ends with 81 receptions and ranks second with 960 yards. If I see him one-on-one with a guy that I know cant cover him, I have a lot of confidence in what (Olsens) going to do, Anderson said. Making things tougher for the Cleveland defense are injuries to cornerbacks Joe Haden (shoulder) and Justin Gilbert (concussion), who are both iffy for this contest. Manziel, meanwhile, called his first chance at solving an NFL defense very humbling and the Browns are hoping his struggles serve as a wake-up call when it comes to off-the-field preparation. I think its too small a sample size, Pettine said when asked to project Manziels future. When you look at how we played around him, I think its very unfair to judge what somebodys career is going to be like off of their first start. That type of game humbles all of us. Manziel, however, is trying to stay away from the negativity. Im not really listening to any outside noise or what anybody else has to say, he said. I know that I need to play better and if I dont, people are going to continue to say things like that. OVERALL ANALYSIS The Panthers get a big break here in a must win game with Manziel starting, which strikes many as a general manager forcing a first-round pick on a first- year coach with little cachet. Pettine understands Manziel is simply not ready to play an NFL game yet so the Browns ate behind the 8-ball for the final weeks. Whether Newton or Anderson starts, Carolina should do enough to stay in the NFC South race for at least one more week. Its a race, but we play Cleveland next. That will be the focus, Rivera said. Weve got to get things going in the right direction. Sports Network predicted outcome: Panthers 20, Browns 13 ' ' '