Third base coach Pat Listach congratulates Nyjer Morgan on his lead-off home run. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)- Nationals 8, Brewers 3: Is Nyjer Morgan going to be the acquisition that takes the interim tag off Mike Rizzo’s general manager title? It certainly appears that way. The spunky center fielder — who has been a driving force behind quite a bit of the team’s recent success — led off yesterday’s game with a home run and drove in three runs to lead the Nats to their fourth straight win. Adam Dunn and Cristian Guzman also took Milwaukee pitching deep — Dunn’s even went out of the building — as the Nationals continued to pile up big innings against opposition hurlers. With the win, manager Jim Riggleman upped his record at the helm to 6-7. (Hey, that’s almost .500!) Collin Balester (1-1) provided a quality start, allowing two runs on five hits in six innings. Carlos Villanueva (2-8) took the loss for the Brew Crew. Tomorrow night, Washington counters fellow eight-loss Brewer Manny Parra with the unpredictable Garrett Mock — a fifth straight win would be their longest positive streak of the season.
- United 1, CD L.A. Firpo 1: The Black-and-Red settled for a draw against Club Deportivo Luís Ángel Firpo in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League prelimary round matchup. Firpo, based in Usulután, El Salvador, will be pleased to head back home with an away goal tucked in their back pocket — United will now have to earn a score draw or win in the return leg next week to avoid being dumped before the group stage of the tournament. The visitors were the aggressors from the outset, attacking a patchwork D.C. lineup with solid possession play. Eventually, a silly attempt to dribble out of trouble from center back Greg Janicki gave Firpo’s Mario Benitez a one-on-one with keeper Milos Kocic. The Columbian delivered off the post and it was 1-0. Jaime Moreno tallied the equalizer from the penalty spot, but United couldn’t muster another, leaving them with plenty of work to do next Tuesday in hostile territory at the Estadio Monumental Cuscatlan — the largest stadium in Central America.
- Fever 85, Mystics 81: The Mystics held a 28-18 lead after the first quarter, but couldn’t maintain on the road against league-best Indiana. They’ll certainly look back on the disparity in free throws: Indiana made 28 of 36 at the line, while Washington only went 9-16. 20 Mystics turnovers didn’t help much, either. Then again, maybe it was just Katie Douglas’ night — the versatile player lit the Mystics up for 34 points. Alana Beard had 19 for Washington in the losing effort.
