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PHILADELPHIA -- Ian Desmond was one close call away from his fourth strikeout of the night before he got another chance. He didnt miss it. Desmond hit a grand slam in the 11th inning and the Washington Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-2 Wednesday night, avoiding a three-game sweep. Jayson Werths RBI single with two outs in the ninth tied it off Jonathan Papelbon, who blew a save for the second time in three nights after starting the season 13 for 13. Starters Kyle Kendrick and Gio Gonzalez both were outstanding, but wound up with no-decisions. Kendrick allowed one run and two hits, striking out six in 7 2-3 innings. Gonzalez gave up two runs and two hits, tying a career-high with 11 strikeouts in seven innings. He didnt allow a hit after the second batter. Ryan Zimmerman hit a one-out double off Mike Stutes (2-1) in the 11th. After Adam LaRoche was intentionally walked, Werth walked to load the bases. Desmond took a 1-2 pitch that had manager Charlie Manuel screaming at plate umpire Alfonso Marquez from the dugout. "It looked like it couldve been a strike," Manuel said. Desmond drove the next pitch out to left-centre. "I was adjusting all night," Desmond said. "I had too many long swings. I just wanted to see the white ball and put the barrel on it." Drew Storen (2-1) pitched a scoreless 10th to earn the win. "We needed to show the Phillies were still hanging around," Nats manager Davey Johnson said. Papelbon was a strike away from securing a save Monday night before allowing a tying homer to Chad Tracy. The Phillies won it in the bottom half on Domonic Browns RBI single with two outs. Denard Span reached on an infield to start the Washington ninth. He went to second when LaRoche walked with two outs. Werth followed with a single to left to score Span. "As a closer, its important for me to finish it off for the starters," Papelbon said. "Its a tough pill to swallow. I still got to make the pitch to Werth." Michael Young hit a two-run homer to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead in the first. He surpassed 1,000 career RBIs on the homer, becoming the 242nd player in major league history to reach that total. RBIs became an official stat in 1920. The Phillies didnt get another hit until Carlos Ruiz singled with two outs in the 10th. Kendrick retired 16 straight before walking Zimmerman with one out in the seventh. Zimmerman went to second on a groundout and scored on Werths line-drive single. Ben Revere hit a single to lead off Philadelphias first, extending his hitting streak to 10. Young then connected for just the third time this season. Gonzalez got six of his strikeouts on Ryan Howard and Brown, who is second in the NL with 19 homers. "I think thats one of the best game weve had as a team all year," Gonzalez said. "We battled, made adjustments and came out on top." Coming off his worst outing of the season -- seven runs and 10 hits in 4 1-3 innings at Colorado -- Kendrick controlled the Nationals with a sharp sinker. He got 13 outs on grounders. Kendrick has been Philadelphias second-best starter behind Cliff Lee and has allowed two runs or less in 10 of his 15 starts. NOTES: Chase Utley began a rehab assignment going 0 for 4 at Double-A Reading. The Phillies five-time All-Star 2B has been sidelined by an oblique injury. ... Phillies first-round pick J.P. Crawford met players and spent an hour chatting with Manuel behind the batting cage. Crawford, a shortstop chosen with the 16th overall pick, is signed and heading to Clearwater, Fla. to begin his career with Philadelphias Gulf Coast League team. ... The Nationals reinstated 2B Danny Espinosa from the disabled list and optioned him to Triple-A Syracuse. ... The Phillies are off Thursday before starting a three-game series against the New York Mets. ... Jordan Zimmermann (9-4, 2.44) faces Colorados Roy Oswalt on Thursday night. NMD Store . The Brazilian goalkeeper signed a loan deal with the Major League Soccer club on Friday as he looks to get playing time ahead of this summers World Cup in his home country. NMD Cheap . Westbrook has missed 27 games since having a procedure on Dec. 27 to deal with swelling in his injured right knee — the third operation on the knee in nine months. https://www.cheapnmdoutlet.com/ . Here are his mid-season NBA awards. MVP: (KEVIN DURANT-Thunder) - Has been sensational this season and more importantly, the most consistent player in the league. Considering that his team has been without star guard Russell Westbrook and with the free agent departure of sharpshooter Kevin Martin, hes had to carry the majority of the load to not only keep his team afloat but more importantly, at an elite level. NMD For Sale . After Martin Skrtel put the Reds in front from close range at Stamford Bridge after only four minutes, Hazard hit back in the 17th with a superb strike. Etoo gave Jose Mourinhos team a decisive lead from Oscars back pass in the 34th. NMD Clearance . The 18th player to shoot 60 on the tour, Jamieson settled for par on the final hole when his 15-foot birdie chip grazed the edge of the hole and stayed out. After opening with rounds of 66 and 73 to make the cut by a stroke, he had 11 birdies in the bogey-free round. GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The toughest test yet of the season looms on Sunday for the Green Bay Packers league-best run defense.No team has moved the ball better on the ground than the Dallas Cowboys so far this season.Mike Daniels and the Packers defensive front against a Cowboys offensive line that paves openings for rookie tailback Ezekiel Elliott .Strength against strength. The Packers hold opponents to 42.8 yards rushing per game. The Cowboys rush for 155.2 yards per game.Its the starting point each and every week for both football teams, Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. So itll be an excellent matchup.Elliott is only the third rookie in NFL history, after Eric Dickerson and Mike Anderson, to run for at least 130 yards in three straight games. Mobile quarterback Dak Prescott has three rushing touchdowns.This is a good week for the Packers defensive front to be reinforced.Lineman Mike Pennel is eligible to rejoin the active roster this weekend after being suspended the first four games by the NFL for violating the leagues substance abuse policy. Pennel was a key backup last season, especially effective against the run.His impending return would mean that Green Bay would have its full complement of linemen again. Tackle Letroy Guion rejoined the starting lineup last week alongside Daniels after missing a game with a knee injury.Kenny Clark, the teams first-round draft pick, has also played well for a rookie. Hybrid linebacker-lineman Datone Jones has helped fill the void up front.Now Jones may be able to focus more on pass-rushing duties. Either way, Green Bays deep group of outside linebackers, led by Clay Matthews and Nick Perry, has extended the wall against the run to the edges.Were all on the same page. Were clicking, Perry said after practice Wednesday. This is our opportunity to be the best ... to be aggressive and to compete on all downs.Cowboys coach Jason Garrett has taken notice. The Packers, he said, play well against the run regardless of whether Green Bay is in its base 3-4 defense, or if a fifth defensive back is on the field in what would normally be passing situations.Garrett also likes how his ooffense has improved running the ball no matter the defense.ddddddddddddThere are certainly a lot of areas where we have to get better, Garrett said, but were doing a good job coming off the ball, getting into blocks and finding places for runners to run. The runners are running well.Ellliott, a 6-foot, 225-pound rookie, will certainly be tough to bring down. But keep in mind that the Packers have already held Vikings running back Adrian Peterson to 19 yards on 12 carries in Week 2 before Peterson got hurt.But facing a mobile quarterback such as Prescott presents the Packers with a new challenge this season. McCarthy said handling the Cowboys play-action game will be important.Obviously theyre stacked in their numbers in the run game. So maybe well have to throw it a little bit more, Prescott said in a conference call. But thats a great defense that theyve got over there. Were excited for the challenge.QUOTABLEYou catch the ball, you throw it a little more accurately and, you know, dont throw it away as much. Maybe I should start taking some more sacks. No, you know what, Ive got to be more accurate and I will. Weve got to make the most of the opportunities on 50-50 balls and the balls we should catch and complete. -- QB Aaron Rodgers, when asked about his uncharacteristically-low 56.1 percent completion rate through four games, which is 31st in the NFL.INJURY REPORTWR Randall Cobb was limited in practice with a neck injury after taking a hard hit late in last weeks 23-16 win over the Giants. ... RB Eddie Lacy (left ankle) and CB Damarious Randall (groin) were also limited. ... Backup RB James Starks was held out with a knee injury. The Packers have no running backs on the active roster after Lacy and Starks, though they have used Cobb and fellow receiver Ty Montgomery in the backfield at times.---AP Sports Writer Schuyler Dixon in Dallas contributed to this story.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Genaro Armas at: https://twitter.com/GArmasAP ' ' '