ars.The Spartans beat the Cougars for the first time since 1990. Washington State had won the past five meetings.BIG PICTUREW

NEW YORK -- Bryce Harper, Trea Turner and the Washington Nationals stole this one from Noah Syndergaard.Harper hit two doubles and became the latest player to swipe a base against Syndergaard, helping A.J. Cole post his first major league win as the Nationals beat the New York Mets 4-1 Friday night.Washington won its fourth in a row and increased its NL East bulge over the wild card-contending Mets to 10 1/2 games.Like a lot of teams, the Nationals came out running on Syndergaard, stealing four bases in the early innings.Its all around the league that he doesnt hold runners yet, Washington manager Dusty Baker said.Tall and slow to the plate, Syndergaard has had 45 runners steal with him on the mound -- the most against any pitcher since Hideo Nomo in 2001, ESPN Stats & Info said.Baker said the strategy does more than set up runs. It also seems to rankle Syndergaard.Hes prideful, Baker said. After a steal, he added, he looks at the runner and doesnt like it very much.Only six runners have been caught with Syndergaard pitching. Before the game, Mets manager Terry Collins said Syndergaard had improved at holding runners on base.Maybe, but after Turner led off the game with a single, he stole two bases and scored on Harpers sacrifice fly.Just told myself at first to go, Turner said.With 20 steals, Turner set a Nationals-era record for most by a rookie. Hes also reached base safely in 21 straight games.Yeah, hes real fast, very aggressive, and Noahs going to have trouble with those kind of guys, Collins said.Harper doubled with one out in the fourth, stole his 19th base with two outs and came home on a single by Wilson Ramos. Harpers double set up Anthony Rendons two-run single in the ninth.The key to hitting Syndergaard, Harper said, is to not chase tough pitches he throws.Cole (1-1) gave up one run and three hits in six innings. He struck out five in his fourth big league start.This is what Ive been working toward, the 24-year-old righty said.Asdrubal Cabrera homered for the sixth time in eight games, sending a drive over the right-center wall in the Mets fourth. His 19th home run came one pitch after he hit a long fly that barely hooked foul into the upper deck in right field.Mark Rzepczynski, Koda Glover, Oliver Perez and Mark Melancon combined for three innings of scoreless relief. Melancon closed for his 38th save.Syndergaard (12-8) gave up just three hits in seven innings and retired his final 10 batters.Along with shutting down the Nationals in the middle innings, Syndergaard might have shut down the crowd, too. Earlier this week, he wrote on Twitter and said on video that he wasnt a fan of fans doing the wave.Daniel Murphy singled in the ninth, and has a hit in all 14 games against the Mets this season. He also stole a base against the team he boosted to the World Series last year.TENNIS, ANYONE?The U.S. Open is being held right across the street from Citi Field, and Harper said he didnt play tennis as a kid growing up in Las Vegas. Being on the court at 120 degrees, I didnt want that, he said. But even a few years ago, tennis had a hand in his development, sort of. My dad used to pitch me tennis balls, he said. Theyre hard to square up with a bat, harder than a baseball. You have to hit them just right or you foul them off. Made for a lot of frustrating swings.COVER CHARGEMets leadoff man Jose Reyes struck out twice in going 0 for 4, but he still managed to knock the cover off the ball. Literally, he did. In the first inning, Reyes hit a foul that kept spinning quickly in the batters box, with a flap of the ball coming loose. Reyes and Ramos watched it spin into the dirt for several seconds.TRAINERS ROOMNationals: RHP Stephen Strasburg (sore elbow) threw a bullpen and was feeling good, Baker said. There was no timetable for his return to the rotation, but Baker figured probably pretty soon.Mets: Collins said LHP Steven Matz (shoulder tightness) will head to the teams spring training complex in Florida after this weekend and start throwing again Monday. Matz is on the disabled list and hasnt pitched since Aug. 14.UP NEXTNationals: RHP Tanner Roark (14-7, 2.87 ERA) is 3-0 with a 1.82 ERA at Citi Field in seven games, four of them starts.Mets: RHP Robert Gsellman (1-1, 3.72) makes his second major league start. Among those in attendance will be Laurie Hernandez, who won a gold medal with the U.S. Olympic womens gymnastics team and will throw out the first ball.Tim Frazier Jersey . Halifax beat the Saint John Sea Dogs 7-5 on the strength of two goals apiece from Nikolaj Ehlers, Matt Murphy and Brent Andrews. Jonathan Drouin also scored and had three assists while Zachary Fucale made 17 saves for the Mooseheads (16-8-0), who led 6-1 after two periods. Detroit Pistons Jerseys . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity football teams. https://www.pistonsrookiesshop.com/Joe-Dumars-City-Edition-Jersey/ . Fellow centre Pavel Datsyuk remains out because of a concussion. Zetterberg has 11 goals and 19 assists for a team-high 30 points, and Datsyuk has a team-high 12 goals and 11 assists. Terry Mills Jersey .C. at the helm of the top team in the Eastern Conference. His tenure as the GM in Vancouver was all too brief. Though he led the Canucks to what was then a franchise record-shattering campaign in just his second season, Nonis was gone and replaced one year later. Zaza Pachulia Jersey . One game after a miserable showing in Oklahoma City, Gay tied a career high with 41 points and the Sacramento Kings cruised to a 114-97 victory at the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night.PULLMAN, Wash. -- Given the same set of circumstances a year ago, San Jose State coach Dave Wojcik figured his team would have let the game slip away.Ryan Welage tallied 20 points, including three 3-pointers, and 11 boards and four Spartans scored in double figures to lift San Jose State over Washington State 88-76 on Sunday.This year we showed some maturity and finished it off, Wojcik said. We did a good job all the way around. Thats what youve got to do to beat a Pac-12 team.The Spartans outrebounded the Cougars 50-39.Brandon Clarke finished with 12 points and 11 boards on 6-of-10 shooting for the Spartans.SJSU (2-3) led by six at intermission and jumped out to a 10-point advantage with two quick baskets to begin the second half. Washington State called a timeout to regroup, but never closed the gap.Even though the building was empty and there wasnt a lot of energy in the building, I thought they showed great composure, Washington State coach Ernie Kent said.Each time the Cougars (3-3) began chipping away at the deficit, the Spartans answered with more buckets.Down seven, Washington State accrued five consecutive misses in one possession and grabbed three offensive boards in a row. But Clarke turned Josh Hawkinsons last miss into a 3 by Jalen James at the other end, and pushed the Spartan lead back to 10.We just lacked urgency the whole time, Washington State guard Malachi Flynn said.Welage hit a deep 3-pointer with 8:30 remaining, which lifted San Jose State up 13 points -- its largest lead was 16.Were always talking to (Welage) about defending and rebounding, Wojcik said. He has a double-double. . thats what Im most prouud of.dddddddddddd He made some big shots, its a hell of a night for him.In the early going, the teams traded leads.Hawkinson scored a quick seven points, including a corner 3-pointer, putting Washington State up 12-9, with 13:57 left in the opening half. He led WSU with 19 points and 12 boards.Weve just got to get back to playing our kind of basketball, were not there right now, Kent said. Its not Xs and Os. Its a sense of togetherness, bonding, passion -- all of those things.Flynn tied his season-high with 18 points and Ike Iroegbu had 15 for the Cougars.The Spartans beat the Cougars for the first time since 1990. Washington State had won the past five meetings.BIG PICTUREWashington State: The Cougars took their lumps in the Paradise Jam, with losses to No. 22 Creighton and Loyola-Chicago, and flopped in their first game back home. After finishing at the bottom of the Pac-12 last season, WSU is still searching for early momentum before Pac-12 play begins.San Jose State: The Spartans, picked to finish last in the Mountain West, pick up a big first road win of the season against a Pac-12 opponent.UP NEXTWashington State plays Utah Valley on Wednesday in Pullman, the second of a four-game homestand that also includes games against New Orleans and Idaho. The Cougars also face Big 12 opponent Kansas State on Dec. 7.San Jose State heads eight miles east to face Idaho on Tuesday. It will be the last of a three-game road trip before returning home Dec. 3 to face Northern California neighbor Santa Clara. ' ' '