Ajaz Patel, the New Zealand spinner, will play the final two games of the County Championship season for Yorkshire, replacing Keshav Maharaj as the club's overseas player.

Patel, who took nine wickets in New Zealand's 1-1 draw in their Test series in Sri Lanka last month, has spent most of the English summer playing club cricket as Cranleigh's overseas professional.

Yorkshire can mathematically still win the Championship - though would be reliant on Essex and Somerset suffering a severe downturn in form if they were to win the title.

"I came over to play at Cranleigh CC this winter, hopefully with the opportunity to pick up some county cricket while I was over here," Patel said. "But I obviously got called into the New Zealand squad for the Sri Lanka Tests while I was over there. It all happened pretty quickly from there, I got the call and jumped at the opportunity really.

"It's exciting and Yorkshire are in with a chance of winning another County Championship. It's a club with a lot of history and one that's been pretty successful in the championship in the past. I'm coming for two games and hope to contribute as much as I can and to try to do as much as I can to help Yorkshire into the best position to be able to win the competition as they approach the end of the season.

"I've had a good tour of Sri Lanka, where I was quite successful in their conditions. Confidence-wise I'm feeling good and the ball is coming out really nicely."

Yorkshire have been without Adil Rashid for the entirety of their Championship season due to international duty and injuries, while Josh Poysden has missed the second half of the campaign due to a freak head injury after being struck during a nets session.

As a result, they have had to recruit from elsewhere to find a spinner. Dom Bess played four games on loan from Somerset, while Maharaj is the same number of games into his stint as an overseas player.

Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire's director of cricket, said: "Ajaz has had a good last two or three seasons in domestic cricket and he's currently in the New Zealand Test squad. We feel he's well qualified to come in and be available for the last two games for us, when hopefully we can continue our push to finish as high as possible in the County Championship.

"We want to finish as high in the County Championship as possible; mathematically it's possible that we can still win it and we want to give ourselves the best possible opportunity. We looked at the options to fill Kesh's shoes and we think Ajaz is the best to do that.

"We've spoken to those that know him well and he has been one of the most consistent performers in domestic cricket and he has done well in Sri Lanka for New Zealand recently."

New Zealand might be struggling to find 11 fit players for the final T20I against Sri Lanka after a number of their squad members picked up a raft of injuries, even though there was good news for them on the Ross Taylor front.

Taylor was ruled out of the second match with a hip injury, but has since been declared available for selection, but Martin Guptill, who was unable to bat after straining a stomach muscle in the field, has since been ruled of the third game. Tom Bruce, who struck a half-century in the chase in the second game, picked up a knee problem part-way through his innings, and is being monitored.

With Lockie Ferguson having been ruled out of the series with a broken finger and not replaced in the 14-man squad, there is the potential for New Zealand to be left with just 11 fit players, meaning even one training injury could throw things into disarray.

Fortunately for them, though, the series is in the pocket after they won the first and second games by five wickets and four wickets respectively.

"I swung at the ball a bit too hard, swung and missed, and felt [the hip] twinge a little bit. More of a precautionary measure, nothing major," Taylor had said after missing the second game.

@kylemills79 warming up in the comm box after a couple of injury scares tonight! Mills and @Sdoull on standby for T20 #3 #SLvNZ pic.twitter.com/239riAl4fd

— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) September 3, 2019

At the presentation, captain Tim Southee said: "We have to do an injury check and see who's available for the next game [on Thursday, in Pallekele]."

Bruce, who replaced Taylor, struck 53 off 46 balls before falling in the final over leaving Mitchell Santner to secure a tense win, and said he would do all he could to be available for the last match of the tour.

"I'll ice the knee and rest up the next couple of days. I think it should be right, fingers crossed anyway," he told Radio Sport.

A return to Antigua has rekindled fond memories for Australia allrounder Ash Gardner, but for team success rather than personal glory.

Just under a year ago, Australia claimed the T20 World Cup title by beating England in the final with Gardner named Player of the Match for her standout all-round contribution of 3 for 22 followed by an unbeaten 33 off 26 balls.

Gardner and the Australians are now back on the island to begin their limited-overs tour of West Indies with the first ODI on Thursday. That match will be played at the Coolidge ground before the final two ODIs are staged at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, the scene of Australia's triumph last year.

"When I think about West Indies I just think about the World Cup and the team performance, it's nice having those memories personally but the team comes first," Gardner said. "It's nice coming back here to a place where we've had really good success and hopefully we can create some more really good memories."

Australia have not had a huge amount of time to prepare for the series, which involved a 36-hour journey to the Caribbean for most of the squad plus a 14-hour time difference. They have not had any official warm-up matches, instead using two inter-squad matches two days ago as their first hit out since the end of the Ashes series in England in late July.

"It's been quite difficult coming from Australia, trying to get back into the swing of things, but it's been really nice to be back," Gardner said. "We didn't realise the first game was so close but we are all really keen and ready to go, trained hard coming off a really successful Ashes."

There will be some changes to Australia's batting line-up from the Ashes with Nicole Bolton, who opened in the Ashes ODIs, not making this trip. Rachael Haynes is one option to take her place at the top of the order alongside Alyssa Healy, but it could also mean more chances for Gardner up the order having not batted higher than No. 7 in her 24 matches.

"I'd love to if I got the opportunity, that's what those [warm-up] games were all about, giving people an opportunity to bat in different positions to what they normally do," she said. "If I got the opportunity to bat as high as possible I know I'd try to take it with both hands."

These ODIs - which are followed by three T20Is - are part of the Women's Championship. Australia (22 points) are currently second behind England (24) but have played six games fewer, having won 11 of their 12 matches, while West Indies (11) are second bottom. The top four teams automatically qualify for the 2021 World Cup.

Big Picture

The bourgeoning rivalry between Bangladesh and Afghanistan begins its Test chapter with a spin duel likely to be the highlight in what is expected to be helpful conditions in Chattogram. Rain, however, could well play a major role in the proceedings, and the stop-start affair could well make the batsmen's lives more miserable.

The two sides are also led by top-class spinners: Shakib Al Hasan and Rashid Khan. Shakib's spectacular 2019 World Cup has made him one of the game's major global stars - if he wasn't already - and now he is tasked with reviving the fortunes of the team after an indifferent few months. Rashid has somewhat emulated Shakib in terms of becoming his team's main man, winning them games with the ball as well as becoming a competent lower-order hitter and gun fielder. Much of that, though, has been restricted to the white-ball formats.

ALSO READ: Five challenges for new Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan

Rashid's new role as Afghanistan captain in all formats gives him a lot more responsibility. He would definitely look forward to his batsmen, especially the likes of Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi and Asghar Afghan, to tackle Bangladesh's four-man spin attack - Shakib, Taijul Islam, Mehidy Hasan and Nayeem Hasan, who took all 40 wickets during the last home series, against West Indies last year. The tricky part for the Afghan batsmen would be to rein themselves in and avoid the big hits, which isn't going to be easy for long periods in a Test match.

ALSO READ: Bangladesh look to take the pace off again

Rashid and Mohammad Nabi will be the main bowlers, and they can call upon left-arm wristspinner Zahir Khan and legspinner Qais Ahmed for a four=pronged spin attack similar to what Bangladesh will have.

For the home side, which is without Tamim Iqbal, the concern would be to replace the experience at the top. How Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib and Mahmudullah bat in the middle-order becomes key, while Liton Das and Mominul Haque would no doubt need to step up.

Form guide

(Last five completed matches, most recent first)

Bangladesh: LLWWW
Afghanistan: LW (only two Test matches so far)

In the spotlight

After a brilliant World Cup, Shakib Al Hasan is back playing for Bangladesh after a rest, during which Bangladesh toured Sri Lanka for an ODI series. He has been tasked to lead the side into a new era, albeit reluctantly.

How will Rashid Khan the bowler fare after becoming the captain, is a critical question for Afghanistan. He will be the man Bangladesh's batsmen watch out for as well as target, and as much as they would like to wear him out, pitch and conditions in Chattogram could assist Rashid's type of accurate, stump-to-stump spin bowling.

Team news

Shakib and Mushfiqur, having missed Bangladesh's New Zealand Test series, will replace Tamim and Mustafizur Rahman. This is likely to push Soumya Sarkar to open with Shadman Islam, while Abu Jayed could be the token pace bowler.

Bangladesh (probable): 1 Soumya Sarkar, 2 Shadman Islam, 3 Mominul Haque, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim, 5 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Liton Das (wk), 8 Mehidy Hasan, 9 Taijul Islam, 10 Nayeem Hasan, 11 Abu Jayed

Afghanistan have three obvious changes to make from the side that played their last Test against Ireland. Mohammad Shahzad, Wafadar Momand and Waqar Salamkheil are all out of the reckoning, and could be replaced by Ibrahim Zadran, Zahir Khan and Qais Ahmed.

Afghanistan (probable): 1 Ihsanullah, 2 Ibrahim Zadran, 3 Rahmat Shah, 4 Hashmatullah Shahidi, 5 Asghar Afghan, 6 Mohammad Nabi, 7 Ikram Alikhil (wk), 8 Rashid Khan (capt), 9 Yamin Ahmadzai, 10 Qais Ahmed, 11 Zahir Khan

Pitch and conditions

The curator here, Zahid Reza, has often produced sporting pitches, as much as it is possible while keeping the home team happy. Particularly in the 2016 Bangladesh v England Test, the evenness and consistency of turn and bounce ensured a good game of cricket. But rain has been forecast for all five days, and that could be a bummer.

Stats that matter

• Taijul is one strike away from becoming the third Bangladeshi bowler to reach 100 Test wickets. The other two are Shakib and Mohammad Rafique.

• Bangladesh have never won their maiden Tests against their previous opponents.

• The uncapped Ibrahim was the standout performer during Afghanistan A's tour of Bangladesh last month, having made 482 runs with a century and three fifties.

Quotes

"I have to bowl a lot of overs at home, so it is slightly difficult to bat up the order. Maybe in the future if I bowl less, then maybe I can bat higher up the order. Concentration levels are important for a batsman, so I must be fresh. It is better then to bat down the order."
Shakib Al Hasan on whether he will also bat up the order in Tests.

"Everyone is matured. It is not like we are playing for the national team for the first time. They have played enough cricket. I tell them to keep enjoying, on and off the field."
Rashid Khan on whether he will need to calm down the dressing room's excitement.

NEW YORK -- Betrayed by his 38-year-old body -- and his forehand -- Roger Federer is done at the US Open.

Federer's upper back and neck gave him trouble, he kept missing makeable shots and he kept giving away the lead against a guy he'd never lost to. It all added up to getting beaten 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 by 78th-ranked Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinals before a stunned crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday night.

"Grigor was able to put me away,'' Federer said. "I fought with what I had.''

Chasing a 21st Grand Slam title, and sixth at Flushing Meadows, Federer appeared to be flexing his upper back after some points and said afterward that he began feeling something in that area in the afternoon.

He took a rare-for-him medical timeout after the fourth set, leaving the court with a trainer. When play resumed after a break of nearly 10 minutes, Federer's form never picked up.

"He started slowing down a little bit,'' Dimitrov said. "For sure, in the end, he was not 100% of himself.''

Federer kept contributing to Dimitrov's cause, missing shots this way and that, long or wide or into the net.

The stats were staggering and showed exactly how off Federer was on this evening: 61 unforced errors, 33 on the forehand side. Compare that to his 40 total winners.

And so his two-sets-to-one lead vanished.

"Start of the fourth wasn't ideal,'' Federer said. "Start of the fifth wasn't ideal.''

Federer had been 7-0 in their head-to-head series, taking 16 of the previous 18 sets against Dimitrov, who is a decade younger and long ago was dubbed "Baby Fed'' because of his similar one-handed backhand and all-court game.

Federer is now 43-2 in his US Open career against players ranked outside the ATP's top 50. His other loss came last year in the round of 16, against the 55th-ranked John Millman.

The No. 3-seeded Federer could have become the oldest man to reach a Grand Slam semifinal since Jimmy Connors was 39 in 1991 at the US Open. He could have claimed a berth in his record 56th career major semifinal.

"Just disappointed it's over, because I did feel like I was actually playing really well after a couple of rocky starts,'' Federer said. "It's just a missed opportunity, to some extent.''

He joins Novak Djokovic on the sideline less than two months after their epic five-set Wimbledon final. Defending US Open champion and No. 1 seed Djokovic retired from his fourth-round match in New York because of a painful left shoulder.

That leaves No. 2 Rafael Nadal as the only member of the Big Three still in the draw.

Dimitrov will participate in a Slam final four for the third time, facing No. 5 seed Daniil Medvedev on Friday.

Dimitrov has struggled for much of 2019, failing to even get to a quarterfinal anywhere since Week 1 of the season. And it's been nearly 1½ years since Dimitrov reached a semifinal at any tour-level event, let alone a major.

His Grand Slam results have been trending in the wrong direction, too, from a loss in the fourth round at the Australian Open to the third round at the French Open to the first round at Wimbledon.

So his ranking, as high as No. 3 a couple of years ago, is nowhere near that now. His coaches, Andre Agassi and Radek Stepanek, aren't anywhere near Flushing Meadows, either.

They opted to stay away from the tournament. Asked why, Dimitrov hemmed and hawed.

It's certainly working so far, as Dimitrov became the lowest-ranked US Open semifinalist on the men's side since the aforementioned Connors run in 1991, when he was ranked No. 174.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

CLEVELAND -- Carlos Carrasco's return to Progressive Field didn't produce the results he wanted.

Carrasco received a standing ovation in his first appearance at home since being diagnosed with leukemia, but he gave up home runs to James McCann and Eloy Jimenez in the eighth inning that lifted the Chicago White Sox over the Cleveland Indians 6-5 Tuesday night.

Carrasco entered the game with a 5-2 lead, but gave up a three-run homer to McCann, which was followed by Jimenez's second homer of the game.

"I made a mistake," Carrasco said. "The two homers -- it was a hanging slider. That's what happened. That's what cost us the game right there."

Cleveland missed a chance to move into a virtual tie with Tampa Bay for the American League wild-card lead. The White Sox ended a season-high seven-game losing streak.

The crowd of 17,397 came to its feet when Carrasco ran through the bullpen gate and chanted "Cookie" -- the right-hander's nickname.

Carrasco (4-7) entered after Roberto Perez's three-homer in the seventh gave Cleveland a 5-2 lead. Carrasco gave up singles to Leury Garcia and Tim Anderson, but struck out Jose Abreu and Yoan Moncada.

With the fans on their feet again, McCann startled the crowd by homering into the bleachers to tie the game. Jimenez followed with a towering drive to right that cleared the wall despite a leaping attempt by Yasiel Puig.

"I thought when he got Moncada that he was OK," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "He hung a breaking ball to a guy who knows what to do with it."

The inning finally ended when Carrasco fielded Daniel Palka's high chopper and ran to first for the out. He was given another ovation when he left the field.

Francona said he wanted to use Carrasco in low-pressure situations as he returned, but Cleveland needed five relievers in Monday night's 11-3 victory.

Carrasco, diagnosed with a treatable form of leukemia in June, pitched an inning in Tampa Bay on Sunday. Carrasco said Monday that his whole body was shaking when he was on the field, but he knew his first appearance at home would be even more emotional.

"That was good, all the fans right there," Carrasco said of the reception. "As soon as I started running down to the mound. That was great. It was unbelievable."

White Sox manager Rick Renteria said even his team felt the emotion of the moment.

"It was outstanding," he said. "Even our guys were applauding him. Listen, you know what, when you realize there are things that are certainly more important than what we do and for him coming back this year after having been diagnosed, treated and gone through everything, God bless him. Good for him and happy for him."

Cleveland has lost four of five and trails Minnesota by 6½ games in the AL Central

Jimenez had an RBI double in the second and a solo homer in the seventh off Mike Clevinger. The rookie left fielder recorded his fourth career two-homer game.

Evan Marshall (4-2) got the win despite allowing Perez's home run. Alex Colome survived Franmil Reyes' flyout to deep right in the ninth for his 26th save.

Francisco Lindor homered in the first. Jimenez tied the game in the second with an RBI double. Perez broke the tie with an RBI single in the fifth, but Jimenez homered in the seventh.

TRAINER'S ROOM

White Sox: LHP Manny Banuelos sustained a bruised foot when he was struck by a ground ball in the eighth inning Monday.

Indians: RHP Danny Salazar (sore shoulder and groin) returned to his home in Tampa, Florida. Francona said Salazar experienced some physical issues while on a minor league rehab assignment and asked for some time away. Salazar made one appearance for Cleveland last month before going back on the injured list.

SWING AND A DRIVE

Jimenez said he wasn't sure he ball he hit in the eighth inning would reach the seats.

"I don't want to lie to you, I first thought I might be out at the warning track, but when I saw that Puig kept running, I was like 'Oh my God,' and when I saw it was gone, that was amazing for me," he said.

TAKING HIS CUTS

Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis missed his third consecutive game with tendinitis in his right wrist. He took batting practice on the field before the game.

UP NEXT

White Sox: RHP Ivan Nova (9-11, 4.48 ERA) has been dominant in his last eight starts, going 5-2 and allowing nine earned runs in 52 innings.

Indians: RHP Shane Bieber (12-7, 3.27 ERA) has lost his past three decisions. The All-Star Game MVP hasn't won since Aug. 9.

WASHINGTON -- A few cheering fans caught the attention of Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez as he finally began his nightly debrief with reporters.

"Thank you for staying," Martinez said.

They couldn't have been blamed for leaving early. No doubt, they're glad they didn't.

Kurt Suzuki capped the largest ninth-inning comeback in Nationals franchise history with a game-ending, three-run homer, helping Washington score seven runs in its final at-bat to stun the New York Mets 11-10 Tuesday night.

"With the at-bats everyone was putting on that inning, I didn't want to kill the rally," Suzuki said. "I wanted to come through just like everyone else was."

Mets relievers Paul Sewald, Luis Avilan and Edwin Diaz pitched through the meltdown, retiring just one batter while Washington rallied for its 20th win in 26 games. The Nationals/Expos franchise had never won a game after trailing by at least six runs in the ninth or later.

"It's been a crazy year," said Nationals veteran Ryan Zimmerman, who hit a two-run pinch double during the rally. "That's the only way to sum it up. For me, for the team, for everyone. It kind of fits into the narrative, I guess."

New York led 10-4 after scoring five runs in the top of the ninth. Wilson Ramos extended his hitting streak to 26 games and Pete Alonso crushed his 44th homer to put the Mets in position for a win over the current leaders in the National League wild-card hunt.

Mets manager Mickey Callaway lifted reliever Seth Lugo after he retired all three hitters he faced in the eighth. Lugo routinely gets six outs per outing, but Callaway said he thought the lead was safe enough to go deeper into the bullpen.

"We had a six-run lead," Callaway said. "Major league pitchers got to be able to hold that."

Sewald allowed four hits to his five batters, including Trea Turner's RBI double and Anthony Rendon's RBI single. Avilan allowed a single to load the bases, and then Diaz (1-7) relieved and allowed a two-run double to Zimmerman followed by Suzuki's blast.

"It kind of just seemed like a bad dream," Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo said. "I don't know. That's hard to do even in a Little League game I feel like, come back from [six] runs down in the bottom of the ninth against guys throwing 99 mph. I don't really have words for it."

Suzuki pointed into the home dugout before rounding first base, pumped his fist at second and was swarmed by teammates at home plate. It was his 16th homer of the season.

"The difference was that that team didn't let up at any moment," Diaz said through an interpreter. "I was throwing my pitches. I thought I was executing my fastball, my slider and it just happened to be that he got me. He was waiting on that pitch and he hit it out."

Javy Guerra (3-1) retired the only batter he faced to end the Mets' ninth.

Washington is the first team to allow five or more runs in the top of the ninth and get even more in the bottom of the inning for a walk-off win since the Red Sox on June 18, 1962, against the Washington Senators, according to Stats LLC.

New York's five-run ninth was aided when Turner forgot how many outs there were and passed on a possible double-play grounder with one out, instead throwing to first.

The game began as a duel between the most recent NL Cy Young Award winners. Washington's Max Scherzer allowed four runs and five hits while striking out seven in six innings, the longest of his three starts since coming off the injured list last month.

New York's Jacob deGrom was in firm control for much of his outing, which ended abruptly in the eighth after Rendon's infield single and Juan Soto's two-run blast to right-center pulled Washington within 5-4. In seven-plus innings, deGrom yielded four runs while striking out six.

WASHINGTON -- They are what we thought they were. The Washington Nationals' see-it-to-believe-it, come-from-way-behind-way-late, 11-10 win over the New York Mets wasn't a swing game. It didn't transform the pennant race. It didn't alter the fate of the free world as we know it. It didn't reverse the destiny of an entire organization. What it did do, however, was serve as an affirmation that a pair of NL East rivals are pretty much what we thought they were.

Let's start with New York, which entered Tuesday's game in D.C. with little to no hope of playing beyond September. Despite a white-hot stretch in which the Amazin's resurrected the ghost of their 2015 forefathers by winning 21 of 26 to become wild-card contenders, they've come crashing back to earth recently. By the time the extended Labor Day weekend officially concluded, the Mets had just a 7.5% chance of making the playoffs, according to FanGraphs. Although they weren't technically toast, they certainly seemed toast-ish. After Tuesday's miraculous meltdown, it could very well be time to bust out the knife and butter.

"When I came in here, I didn't really know what just happened," center fielder Brandon Nimmo said from the visiting clubhouse after his team scored four runs in the top of the ninth to extend its lead to 10-4 but then blew it by allowing a seven-spot in the bottom half, the last three runs coming courtesy of Kurt Suzuki's walk-off, three-run bomb against closer Edwin Diaz. "It kind of just seemed like a bad dream. That's hard to do even in a Little League game, I feel like, to come back from seven runs down in the bottom of the ninth against guys throwing 99 mph. I don't really have words for that."

Forget about words: There are barely numbers for that. Through Monday's games, home teams were 0-274 when trailing by six-plus runs entering the bottom of the ninth inning. The past five years, MLB teams were 4-1,321. Washington was 0-63 in the past decade.

In other words, the odds of the Nats doing what they did on Tuesday were roughly equivalent to the odds of Satan needing to use the defroster in his Satanmobile. Then again, these are the 2019 Mets we're talking about.

For all the goodness that has emanated from Queens this season, there has been plenty of badness. Despite Pete Alonso's epic rookie season and Jeff McNeil's solidifying his status as one of the game's best all-around hitters and J.D. Davis' becoming a cult hero and Jacob deGrom's making a serious run at a second consecutive Cy Young award, it has been hard to not focus on the things that haven't gone well. From rookie GM Brodie Van Wagenen tossing chairs during a meeting with coaches to pitcher Jason Vargas getting into a shouting match with a reporter, there has been plenty of weirdness.

But perhaps the most dysfunctional thing about the Mets this season has been the bullpen. Following the surprising offseason acquisition of Diaz, a dominant closer who was an All-Star in 2018, New York's relief corps was expected to be better. Instead, it has been one of the worst in the league. Including the latest fiasco, the Mets' pen has a 5.15 ERA, fourth-highest in the majors. Mets relievers have now blown 25 saves and are in danger of breaking the franchise's single-season record (29). Still, nobody could have predicted what went down in the District on Tuesday -- except maybe the home team.

"The boys fought. What can I say about these guys, honestly?" said manager Davey Martinez, whose club began the day having scored more ninth-inning runs than any other team in baseball, then went out and added to that cushion. "All year long, they've been down, down, down, and they come right back."

Clearly, Martinez was talking on a micro level about Washington's propensity for erasing in-game deficits. But it applies on a macro level: Back on May 24, the Nationals were 19-31 and looked like they were finished. Thanks to a 59-28 record since then (best in the majors), they're now at the top of the wild-card race and have a 99% chance of making the playoffs.

"Think positive, that's all I can tell you," said Martinez, who could barely conduct his postgame news conference because fans in the VIP club at Nats Park, which shares a glass wall with the media room, kept interrupting him with raucous cheers. It's a dynamic that hardly anyone could have imagined four months ago, when local talk radio was filled with callers demanding Martinez's job.

"If you let this game go like this, it's not going to be good," Washington's skipper said, making a roller-coaster gesture with his hand, which then turned into a flat line. "Just stay right here, and we'll be fine."

That isn't to say the Nationals don't have issues. The only reason they were in a big hole entering the bottom of the ninth was because their bullpen, which has been the worst in the NL all season, allowed five runs in the top half to turn a one-run game into what looked like a laugher.

It wasn't all the relievers' fault, though: With one out and a man on first, shortstop Trea Turner fielded a double-play grounder but threw to first because he thought there were two down -- the kind of "little things" mistake that was the norm for the Nats earlier in the season.

A couple hours before that, Max Scherzer -- Washington's ace and would-be wild-card starter -- got pummeled during a four-run fourth inning that suggested he has a ways to go before he's back to his usual Cy Young self.

"Obviously, there's things I can sharpen up," Scherzer said. "An outing like today, as much as you want to beat yourself up for it, was a step forward."

Of course, it's a whole lot easier to avoid self-flagellation when your teammates pick you up -- when they do the unthinkable and come from way behind way late in see-it-to-believe-it fashion.

"We've just got great chemistry," Scherzer said. "Got great mojo. We've really gelled together, watching this team come together and just playing good baseball. We have fun together, we all pull for each other, and it's a real treat to come to the park and compete with these guys. We've got a real good team."

In other words, the Nationals are who we thought they were.