The outfield troika of Willie Harris, left, Nyjer Morgan, center, and ElijahDukes (34) revel in yesterday’s win. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
- Nationals 5, Pirates 3: The Nationals have to be glad that they decided not to trade Josh Willingham — he continued his torrid form on Sunday, sparking a Washington rally as the club broke a four-game losing streak. Willingham — hitting in the clean-up slot as Adam Dunn took the day off — hit a home run in a productive seventh inning which saw the Nationals finally get to Pirates ace Paul Maholm (6-6), who had shut down the Nats lineup through six frames. Willingham also smashed an run-scoring double in the eighth to seal the win; the right fielder, who hit .330 with 8 doubles, 7 homers and 23 RBI in July, has now gotten his August off to a fine start. Former Pirate Sean Burnett (2-2) claimed the win in relief, but youngster Collin Balester put in the hard work, giving up but two runs in 5.2 innings.
- Fever 87, Mystics 79: Three losses to the same team in a shade under two weeks? Rough. On the bright side, at least the Mystics don’t have to play Indiana again this season. This go-round went a lot like the previous two — the Mystics played it close, but faltered down the stretch. Indiana shot nearly 50% from the field and had four players score in double figures. Alana Beard and Lindsay Harding combined for 45 points to lead Washington, but they got little help from the rest of the team in the losing effort.
