sons missed free throw with 21 seconds left kept the deficit at 3.HE

WASHINGTON -- In a game long overdue for a clutch hit, along came Hanley Ramirez with a man on second and none out in the 10th inning. Ramirez already had two singles, but the other team pitched to him anyway. He raised his average to .390 and essentially won the game with an RBI double, the kind of clutch hit the Los Angeles Dodgers have been getting lately -- and the sort of thing that has totally deserted the Washington Nationals. Ramirez drove in Adrian Gonzalez, then scored on Andre Ethiers sacrifice fly in Saturday nights 3-1 win. Among the teammates congratulating Ramirez in the dugout was starter Zack Greinke, who wondered why the Nationals bothered to throw the Dodgers cleanup hitter a strike. "He said: Even me, I would have walked you," Ramirez said. As it turned out, Ramirez and Greinke -- who raised his average to.406 -- combined for half the Dodgers 10 hits, but everything seems to be going right for a team that has won seven of nine and 19 of 24 to pull within a half-game of the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL West. "Were winning all kinds of different ways as the momentum has started to go our way," manager Don Mattingly said. "We lost of lot of these early in the year, but now it seems like were hanging in there, feeling like were going to win these." Ethier won Fridays game with a ninth-inning homer, and the first two games of the series yielded outcomes that kept the teams trending in opposite directions. The Nationals have lost seven of nine to fall below .500 and into third in the NL East. They went 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position and are 2 for 21 with RISP in the series. "Im sure everyone is sick of hearing it, but its got to turn around at some point," Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond said. "And if it doesnt, then were going to keep on trying until we run out of time." In seven of the 10 innings, the Nationals had legitimate scoring chances. They looked like a rock band that decided to play all of its worst hits on the same night. First inning: bases loaded, none out. Second inning: leadoff double. Third inning: pair of one-out singles. Fourth inning: leadoff single. Seventh inning: first and second, one out. Eighth inning: first and third, one out. They failed to score each time. In the fourth, they managed three consecutive fielders choices. Even Greinke is mystified. "They should be scoring more than they have," Greinke said. Greinke allowed the only Nationals run on his final pitch, when pinch-hitter Roger Bernadina hit an RBI single and was thrown out trying to advance to second, ending the sixth inning. The run ended Greinkes scoreless innings streak at 21, a Dodgers season-high. Jose Dominguez, Paco Rodriguez, Ronald Belisario, J.P. Howell, Chris Withrow and Kenley Jansen did the rest. Withrow (1-0) pitched the ninth for his first career win, and Jansen handled the 10th for his 11th save as the Nationals fans, clearly running out of patience, booed their team off the field. The Nationals wasted a solid outing from starter Gio Gonzalez, who matched a career-high with 11 strikeouts. Greinke, who had won five consecutive starts, scattered seven hits and remained one shy of 100 career wins. The Dodgers keep winning even though rookie Yasiel Puig has cooled off. He is 0 for 9 with five strikeouts in the series. "You see a little bit of confusion up there," Mattingly said. "Theyre starting to do some things to him -- he seems to be caught in-between a little bit. Hell be OK. He just needs to catch his wind and clear his head a little bit." Notes: Dodgers OF Matt Kemp (shoulder), eligible to come off the disabled list Sunday, hit in a simulated game for the second straight day and hit two home runs. ... Nationals LHP Ross Detwiler didnt complete a full bullpen session Saturday and will miss at least two more starts while dealing with a lower back strain. ... Washington 1B Adam LaRoche missed his second consecutive game with the flu. Tre Lamar Jersey . They had already blown a double-digit lead, fans were hitting the exits, and a long seven-game road trip waited at the end. Brandon Reilly Jersey . Jeff Green scored 13 points and Kris Humphries 12 for the Celtics, who nearly blew an 18-point, second-half lead. Sullingers 20-20 was the first by a Celtics player since Kevin Garnetts first game in Boston in 2007. Garnett was dealt -- along with Paul Pierce -- to Brooklyn during the off-season. http://www.wholesalelionsjerseys.com/?tag=youth-darius-slay-jersey . LOUIS -- Attorneys for the St. AShawn Robinson Jersey . That gave fans outside Joe Louis Arena another chance to ask for autographs from the 19-year-old whose stardom in the NHL has arrived earlier than most expected. Cheap Lions Jerseys Online . Detroit and Boston are deadlocked, 1-1, and Tigers manager Jim Leyland could be forgiven if he was caught rationalizing instead of dissecting how his club could blow a 5-1 lead late in Game 2. AMES, Iowa -- No. 6 Mississippi State found itself five minutes away from its first loss -- and a big one at that.The Bulldogs showed their character down the stretch, surviving a tough road environment to stay unbeaten.Morgan William scored 24 points, Victoria Vivians had 16 and Mississippi State overcame a 17-point deficit to beat Iowa State 85-81 in overtime Saturday.Roshunda Johnsons 3-pointer with 11 seconds left in the fourth quarter forced overtime for the Bulldogs (8-0), who trailed by 11 with 4:49 left.We still have work to do, William said. We came out flat, but most important was (that) we fought through adversity.Mississippi State controlled the overtime, but it took four free throws by William with the final 15 seconds to seal the win.The underdog Cyclones (5-1) played like the favorites for much of regulation, outscoring Mississippi State 28-13 in the second quarter to go up 43-26 at halftime.But the Bulldogs cut it to 70-68 with 36 seconds left on Williams 3, and Johnsons contested 3 from the elbow gave them a chance to steal a big win on the road.That what great players do. They want to be in that moment and have the opportunity, Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer said. After that...our kids practice really hard. Anything that goes longer than 40 minutes, were kind of built for.Seanna Johnson had 21 points with eight rebounds for Iowa State. Jadda Buckley added 19 points and 11 assists. The Cyclones were 10 of 15 from 3-point range, but they also had 18 turnovers.Im not upset with anyone. I know they played as hard as they could, Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said. We ran out of gas down the stretch.THE BIG PICTUREMississippi State: Schaefer might regret scheduling eight consecutive games away from Starkville for a team with the Final Four in its sights. This was the fourth game of that stretch, and Mississippi State looked little likee the team that entered play 35-8 since the start of last season -- until the final 15 minutes.dddddddddddd Thats when the Bulldogs, aided by a cold stretch from Iowa State, took control. We looked like we still had one foot left stuck in Hawaii, Schaefer said, referencing last weeks successful trip to the Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu.Iowa State: The Cyclones had their first losing season since 2003 last season. If they keep playing like this, they might push for an upper-division Big 12 finish. Iowa State created open shots with excellent ball movement, overcame its lack of size by attacking the defensive glass and made the most of their forced turnovers. Fennellys decision to milk the clock rather than attack late ruined his teams offensive flow.POLL IMPLICATIONSMississippi State never reached as high as sixth until this week. Voters know that playing in Ames is never easy, so the Bulldogs could end up staying where they are.PIVOTAL MOMENTS? NOT SO MUCHBuckley drilled 3s from the left elbow to back-to-back possessions to put the Cyclones ahead 39-22, and Bridget Carleton added another 3 with 6:34 left that put Iowa State on top 64-53. All three seemed to bury the Bulldogs. But they shot 77 percent in the fourth quarter, and Seanna Johnsons missed free throw with 21 seconds left ' ' '