Pirate Galaxy » ames, including his 600th career point in the An

PITTSBURGH -- The tag was clearly fake. What happened next was all too real for the NL East champion Washington Nationals: Bryce Harper got hurt and needs X-rays.Harper injured his left thumb making an awkward slide to avoid a pretend tag by Pittsburgh third baseman Jung Ho Kang, and the teams later cleared the benches Sunday in Washingtons 10-7 win.Nationals manager Dusty Baker said Harper was sore and would have X-rays on Monday. The reigning NL MVP had surgery to repair a torn ligament in the same thumb in 2014.Harper led off the third inning with a triple. As he neared third, Kang acted as if a throw was coming and feigned a tag.Harper went down, was checked by a trainer and stayed in. He scored on Anthony Rendons double and was replaced in the field in the bottom half by Chris Heisey.Kang insisted he merely intended to keep Harper from scoring when right fielder Josh Bells throw was way off line.First of all, I meant no harm, Kang said through a translator. During the relay play, I tried to hold the runner on third base. Thats all I tried to do.The next time Kang came up, Nationals starter A.J. Cole threw a fastball behind him and was immediately ejected by plate umpire Jordan Baker as the benches emptied.Cole said he was trying to pitch inside to Kang. Baker said the entire situation wasnt ideal for a team that is focusing on a playoff run.We dont want guys suspended, Baker said. But you know, boys will be boys, and youve still got to defend your teammates.Washingtons Jayson Werth was in the middle of the skirmish. Pirates outfielder Sean Rodriguez was ejected.I was very surprised I was the only one ejected considering, Rodriguez said. I got blamed for being the one that instigated, but you can watch the film yourself.Werth had a pinch-hit, two-run homer and Heisey had a go-ahead single during a five-run burst in the eighth. The Nationals rally came against former teammate Felipe Rivero (1-5).Rivero had allowed just four earned runs in his previous 25 innings since being traded from Washington to the Pirates.Kang hit a two-run homer off Koda Glover to give the Pirates the lead in the seventh.Shawn Kelley (3-2) wound up with the win. Former Pirates closer Mark Melancon pitched a scoreless ninth for his 43rd save.TRAINERS ROOMPirates: C Francisco Cervelli did not play after taking a foul ball off his wrist Saturday. ... RHP Neftali Feliz (arm) threw off flat ground but is not yet ready for a return to the mound.UP NEXTNationals: Tanner Roark (15-9 2.70 ERA) had his start pushed back one day after the Nationals clinched the NL East on Saturday night. Hell looking for his career-best 16th win as Washington hosts Arizona for a four-game series.Pirates: Chad Kuhl (5-3, 3.73 ERA) will start as Pittsburgh begins a four-game series against the NL Central champion Chicago Cubs. 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Duchene scored two goals and had an assist, helping the Colorado Avalanche beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 on Friday night to match the best 10-game start in team history.LOS ANGELES -- The New York Islanders bring a surprising surge of momentum into a Wednesday game against the red-hot Los Angeles Kings.New York (6-8-4) broke a four-game losing streak by winning a franchise-record, 14-round shootout and emerging with a 3-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday. The road victory was the first of the season for the Islanders, who are 1-4-1 overall away from Barclays Center during an early-season schedule heavily weighted toward home contests.Thomas Griess was the key to victory, stopping 39 shots through regulation and overtime then 10 more in the shootout for his first victory since Oct. 30 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Nick Leddy became the first defenseman in Islanders history to score a game-winning shootout goal but deferred credit to his goaltender for earning the two points.I was a little nervous, Leddy said of his shootout chance. Johnny Boychuk and I were talking saying there was a good chance we were gonna go in the shootout, but Thomas came up huge for us in the net.Griess said, Its great to get the win. Thats the most important part. Its big and great for the morale of the team.The Islanders may have to play Wednesday without Cal Clutterbuck, who left the Tuesday game with an upper-body injury after taking a hit from Anaheims Josh Manson. He did not return, and it was presumed he was being evaluated for a possible concussion.Despite the win, New York remains last in the Eastern Conference and is tied with Arizona for the least amount of regulation wins in the NHL (five). Coming off a 102-point regular season and a playoff series win against the Florida Panthers, expectations were high as the season started. The slow start has fueled speculation about the status of Jack Capuano, but general manager Garth Snow gave the embattled coach a vote of confidence last week.While the lone win wont quiet the speculation, it gives the Islanders a foothold in the hopess of turning their season around.dddddddddddd. Standing in their way is a Kings team that has battled through injury adversity to regain the form that will be needed to contend for the Pacific Division title.The Kings 10-9-1 record was fashioned by both winning and losing streaks. At present, Los Angeles is on a four-game winning streak after defeating the Ducks 3-2 Sunday. The winning streak is more impressive considering it comes at the conclusion of an eight-games-in-13-days segment of the schedule and accomplished without the presence of Anze Kopitar, the Kings top center and leading scorer for the past eight seasons.In his absence, Jeff Carter stepped up, recording four goals and two assists to earn the NHL First Star for the week ending Sunday. Overall, Carter leads the team with nine goals and 17 points in 20 games, including his 600th career point in the Anaheim victory.You lose a guy like Kopitar, everybody has to step up, Carter said after the Sunday win. One guys not going to fill his spot. Guys have done a good job.Kopitar is close to returning after missing six games with a wrist injury sustained in a 2-1 loss at Ottawa on Nov. 11. Although he skated with the extra players Tuesday, a source said he will attempt to return against the Islanders. The Kings trail the division-leading Edmonton Oilers by two points entering the contest.Kings coach Darryl Sutter was forced to rely on rookies through the teams first 20 games. An injury to top-four defenseman Brayden McNabb caused Derek Forbort to be promoted to the top defensive pairing and led to the recall of Kevin Gravel. Forbort and Gravel struggled on Los Angeles last road trip but stabilized their play during the winning streak.Theyre probably not going to be in the lineup if were fully healthy, Sutter admitted. ' ' '