WASHINGTON -- Washington Nationals second baseman Anthony Rendon knew he was a triple short of the cycle late in the game. Joel Campbell Costa Rica . It didnt mean he was going to change his approach. Rendon singled in a run, hit a three-run homer, and doubled in his first three at-bats before grounding out and flying out in the Nationals 11-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night. "I heard people in the stands, get the triple, get the triple. I didnt want that, means Ive got to run more. Ill stop at second base," Rendon said with a smile. He drove in four runs to back Jordan Zimmermanns seven shutout innings. "I think it set the tone with Anthony in the first inning," manager Matt Williams said of the offence. "Youve got a 3-1 pitch and he doesnt get too big. He simply stayed with the approach of what he needed to have happen there and he ended up getting a base hit." The Nationals hitters had been struggling in the nine games since Ryan Zimmerman went on the disabled list. Saturday they had 14 hits, including two apiece by Denard Span, Asdrubal Cabrera and Wilson Ramos. Every Nationals starter, including Zimmermann, hit safely. Zimmermann (7-5) held the Phillies to five singles and struck eight without a walk for his 50th career win, and first since June 30th. He retired the last 11 batters he faced and left after throwing 97 pitches. Marlon Byrd had two hits for Philadelphia, which had won the first two games of the series 10-4 and 2-1. Phillies starter A.J. Burnett (6-11) and manager Ryne Sandberg didnt last long. Both were ultimately ejected when Burnett motioned and yelled toward home plate umpire Chris Guccione during Washingtons four-run second inning. Washington loaded the bases on two walks and an error. After Span drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, Rendon connected on a 3-1 pitch from Burnett for his 14th home run, making it 5-0. Rendons blast snapped a nine-game homerless streak for the Nationals, the longest in team history (2005-present). Burnett, who had two walks in the inning, then intentionally threw ball one to Jayson Werth and motioned toward Guccione. "I did ask him twice in the first and second if that was out or that was down," Burnett said of Guccione. "Yeah, it was out, it was down, okay. And the one I threw purposefully out, I said the same thing, but I said it more of a statement than a question. I said Thats out. That was it, pretty quick trigger." After Burnett was tossed, Sandberg raced out and heatedly argued with Guccione near home plate, and was soon ejected. Burnett allowed five runs, one was earned, in losing his third straight decision. TRAINERS ROOM: Phillies: Sandberg said outfielder Domonic Brown, suffering from strep throat, is day-to-day, and that Byrd has been playing with a bruised right foot for four or five days. ON DECK: Phillies: Cole Hamels (6-5, 2.55) has won four straight decisions. He makes his 30th career start against Washington Sunday. Hes 15-6 with a 2.63 ERA versus the Nationals. Nationals: Stephen Strasburg (7-9, 3.55) is 3-0 with a 1.13 ERA in three home starts against the Phillies dating back to last season. WILLIAMS SAYS SWING AWAY In addition to experimenting with his batting stance recently, Bryce Harper has also on occasion attempted to bunt for a hit. Williams would generally prefer Harper swing away. "Depends on the situation," Williams said. "It depends on a lot of things, health, how his thumb is feeling. It depends on what the situation dictates for that particular game. More often than not, I would like to see him swing the bat. Because he just has the opportunity to do something special. "If he feels like the guys playing him back far enough that he can do that and get on base, given the right situation, okay. But then again, theres times where I want him to swing, too," said Williams, adding he and Harper have talked about it. Harper is enjoying more success recently, and is 7-for-his-last-23. Oscar Duarte Costa Rica . Showing more spark after not taking enough challenging shots on goal in their 1-0 loss Friday night, the Bruins had 18 shots in the first period after managing just 25 in the entire opener. Luke Glendening cut Bostons lead to 2-1 at 13:20 of the second period before Milan Lucic scored late in the second and Zdeno Chara added a power-play goal early in the third. Esteban Granados Jersey .com) - Alabama and Florida State were predictably the top two teams in the latest installment of the BCS standings. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Backseat Badger? Not on this day. All-America point guard Jordan Taylor deliberately diminished his offensive output during his senior season, knowing he had to nurture three new starting forwards if Wisconsin was to have any chance of another NCAA tournament run in March. On Thursday, Taylor scored 17 points, pulled down eight rebounds, dished out six assists and committed no turnovers in masterfully directing the fourth-seeded Badgers 73-49 rout of Montana in the East Regional. "Im just coming out trying to do anything I can to help my team win," Taylor said. "I felt like I got some open looks there, especially in the first half. Its the same for me as it is for everybody else. If you get an open look, youve just got to step in and knock it down. Just be aggressive and play confident." Ryan Evans, one of the newcomers who benefited greatly from Taylors unselfish play and mentoring, led Wisconsin with 18 points and added eight boards to make up for five turnovers. "I wanted to come out and play aggressive and loose. Not with the idea that I was going to have five turnovers, but kind of help relieve pressure from Jordan and the rest of them," said Evans, who had 14 points in the first half as the fourth-seeded Badgers built a double-digit lead that the Grizzlies couldnt erase. The other two newcomers in the lineup that benefited from Taylors dial-it-down style early in the season also came up big. Mike Bruesewitz had eight points and four boards, and Jared Berggren blocked seven shots. The Badgers (25-9) improved to 10-1 in NCAA tournament openers under Bo Ryan, the winningest coach in the programs history. Wisconsin will face Vanderbilt on Saturday. The Commodores (25-10) held off Harvard 79-70 Thursday. Art Steward had 18 points for the Grizzles (25-7), who were familiar with the Badgers style because one of their assistants, Freddie Owens, played at Wisconsin from 2001-04. But his inside information couldnt help the Grizzlies pull off the upset. Montana was riding a school-record 14-game winning streak, having already established its best record in two decades. The teams previous loss was Jan. 14 at Weber State, the same squad it wiped out by 19 in the Big Sky title game. The 13th-seeded Grizzlies only held two leads against the bigger, badder Baadgers -- 2-0 and 5-2 on Derek Selvigs 3-pointer, which was quickly matched by a 3 from Josh Gasser, who scored 12 points. Diego Calvo Costa Rica. Evans averaged 10.9 points in the regular season and topped that in the first half when his 14 points helped the Badgers to a 39-29 halftime cushion. Wisconsin, making its 14th straight appearance in the NCAA tournament, raced out to a 14-7 lead when Evans swished his first four shots, including a 3-pointer from the top of the key. The Grizzlies made a charge in the second half when Mathias Ward sank two free throws and a 3-pointer and Will Cherry hit another 3 to cut Wisconsins 16-point lead to 48-38. But the Badgers called timeout and then outscored Montana 25-11 the rest of the way, never letting the Grizzlies push the pace like they wanted. "They werent turning the ball over," Cherry said. "We sped them up at times, but I felt like somehow they always kicked it to an open shooter who made a dagger 3, and put a little damper in our comeback." The Grizzles shot just 38 per cent against the nations No. 1 scoring defence. "We pride ourselves on creating doubt in the minds of our opponents, and I thought they really did a good job of that tonight," Montana coach Wayne Tinkle said. "Our guys battled back. We made a nice little run there in the second half and they always had an answer, a lot of dagger plays there in the second half, so proud of my group. Its been a heck of a year." The Badgers held Cherry, Montanas leading scorer (16.0) and spark plug, to nine points on 3-of-14 shooting -- and zero assists. "We just made sure that we tried to run him off the 3-point line and tried to get some help to him and squeeze the court, make the driving lane smaller," Ryan said. Wisconsin had to replace three senior forwards who went on to play pro ball -- Jon Leuer (18.3-point average), Keaton Nankivil (9.7) and Tim Jarmusz (3.9). Thanks to Taylor, their trio of replacements combined to average 26.9 points. Taylors stats all went down, surely costing him a shot at another All-America honour, but it was all so that the Badgers would be rolling like they are now. "Well, I know I certainly wouldnt want to trade him with the deadline today," Ryan cracked, referring to the main story in the NBA on Thursday. ' ' '
