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The offense that Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez has been waiting for showed up just in time to prevent a sweep at the hands of a division rival Sunday night.

Daniel Murphy’s single drove in the tying and go-ahead runs in the eighth inning and the Nationals rallied past the Philadelphia Phillies 8-6 to salvage the finale of the three-game series.

Anthony Rendon homered and doubled John Ross Jersey , Bryce Harper tied a career high with three doubles and Michael A. Taylor and Murphy each had three singles as Washington pounded out 17 hits in a game that was delayed 38 minutes by rain in the bottom of the fourth inning.

”We weren’t scoring very many runs,” Martinez said, ”and for us to come out and compete like we did today and put up eight runs . and just really work very good at-bats, I felt really good for the boys and I know they’ll feed off it.”

Rhys Hoskins and Nick Williams homered for the Phillies, who had won three straight.

Pinch hitter Brian Goodwin led off the eighth with a walk. With one out, right-hander Seranthony Dominguez (1-2) came on to face Harper, who doubled to right, with Goodwin stopping at third.

After Rendon grounded out, Phillies manager Gabe Kapler elected to walk rookie Juan Soto and pitch to the veteran Murphy, who began the day hitting .135.

”You pick your poison right there,” Kapler said. ”You have two very good hitters. The first one in Soto has been elite. And Murphy has struggled a little bit. And we went after the guy that was struggling and coming off injury.”

After throwing three 98-mph plus fastballs to get ahead 1-2, Dominguez tried a slider that Murphy lined to shallow right. Taylor’s single made it 8-6.

”I was watching some film on him and he had kind of gone with the slider as a kill shot to a couple lefties Tarik Cohen Jersey , so once I got two strikes I was aware of it,” Murphy said. ”I hadn’t seen it yet, so that’s never any fun, but fortunately I was able to get it in the air enough and kind of scoop it over Cesar (Hernandez’s) head at second base.”

Ryan Madson (2-3) pitched the eighth inning, and Sean Doolittle finished for his 21st save.

The Phillies took a 6-2 lead in the fifth on a two-run triple by Odubel Herrera and a two-run homer by Williams, but the bullpen surrendered six runs.

Washington pulled within a run at 6-5 in the sixth with four two-out hits, including an RBI triple by Trea Turner and RBI doubles by Harper and Rendon.

RENDERFUL

Rendon has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games is batting .447 (17-for-38) in that span with three homers, seven RBIs and nine runs scored.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Phillies: C Andrew Knapp left in the seventh with a right knee contusion. … 3B Maikel Franco slipped on first base and fell hard in the eighth. He stayed in to run but left after the half-inning with lower back tightness. … INF Jesmuel Valent锟絥 was placed on the paternity leave list and OF Dylan Cozens (left quadriceps strain) was reinstated from the 10-day DL.

Nationals: RHP Jeremy Hellickson (right hamstring strain) allowed 11 runs in 4 2/3 innings of a rehab start at Class A Potomac on Sunday. ”I’m more concerned with the way he feels,” manager Dave Martinez said, downplaying the results. ”We’ll go from there.” … RH reliever Brandon Kintzler (right forearm flexor strain) threw a scoreless inning at Potomac. … RHP Stephen Strasburg (right shoulder inflammation) played catch on the field again. ”We’ll keep doing his throwing progression and figure out when he can actually throw from the mound,” Martinez said.

UP NEXT

Phillies: RHP Vince Velasquez (5-7, 4.82) starts the opener of a series against the Yankees on Monday. He is 0-0 with a 3.24 ERA in two games vs. New York.

Nationals: RHP Gio Gonzalez (6-4 Carlton Davis Jersey , 3.08) opens a series at Tampa Bay on Monday. He is 2-2 with a 5.54 ERA in six games against the Rays.

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NEW ORLEANS — They have a pulse, and now the New Orleans Pelicans feel they have a chance.

After routing the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors 119-100 on Friday night at the Smoothie King Center to cut their Western Conference semifinal series deficit to 2-1, the Pelicans enter Game 4 on Sunday looking to get even and make it a best-of-three series.

Everything worked to perfection for the Pelicans on Friday night.

They played suffocating defense and hounded Warriors guard Stephen Curry, perhaps a bit tired in his second game back from a five-week rehab of his strained left knee, into a quiet 19-point shooting night; guard Rajon Rondo dished out a franchise-playoff-record 21 assists and pushed the pace as the Pelicans built a 25-point lead; and forward Anthony Davis scored 33 points by using an array of inside and outside moves to keep the Warriors on their heels.

New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry said Davis was so confident the Pelicans would prevail that he guaranteed the victory during a second-half timeout. Fresh in Davis’ mind had to be Game 3 in the 2015 playoffs against the Warriors when teh Pelicans blew a 20-point, fourth-quarter lead and lost in overtime.

The Pelicans, then a vastly different team, were swept in four games by Golden State. Davis said that was not happening again.

“I think about that all the time,” Davis said. “We were up 20 going into the fourth and then they come back and won it in overtime. It was tough for us. That was the message — we can’t lose this game. It’s always tough to come back from 0-3. Our mindset is to go out there, play and do what we’re supposed to do from all the game planning. Whatever results happen, happen.”

Game 4 should prove to be more than a battle of game plans. Rondo and Warriors forward Draymond Green have come face-to-face several times and verbally confronted each other, but neither has crossed the line and picked up a technical foul.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr said that might be considered a minor miracle for Green LeSean McCoy Bills Jersey , known for his quick trigger.

“It’s one of the great stats of this year’s playoffs,” Kerr said, referring to Green’s technical-free play.

During Game 3, a camera caught Rondo appearing to extend a foot and trip Green 50 feet away from the action on the other side of the court. It seemed like a case of Rondo, a veteran point guard, trying to goad Green into retaliating.

“I’m not an idiot,” Green said. “I see what they’re trying to accomplish a mile away.”

“It’s kind of just how I am,” Rondo said, referring to his street-wise competitiveness. “I don’t know if that’s really trying to set an example. It’s just guys talking trash on the other team — it’s kind of just natural for me to respond. Not in a crazy way or anything, just let them know we’re not a pushover. We’re here to fight, and with my guys on the court, I’m going to fight as hard (as) I can for these guys — whatever it takes.”

Rondo’s aggressiveness seems to have lit a fire under the Pelicans. While Davis and guard Jrue Holiday have been the go-to performers for New Orleans Baker Mayfield Jersey , guard E’Twaun Moore, forward Nikola Mirotic and reserves Ian Clark and Solomon Hill came up big in Game 3.

The Pelicans had 36 assists, their fourth-highest total in any game this season. Rondo was the third player in NBA history — John Stockton and Magic Johnson are the others — with multiple 20-assist games.

“We need that energy,” Mirotic said of Rondo. “He was everywhere. He was on defense, offense, talking, communicating with us. He’s just huge when the playoffs start. He’s been terrific.”

The Warriors realize the Pelicans are not the 2015 team they steamrolled.

“Obviously, (Game 3) was no fun,” Warriors guard Klay Thompson said. “They did whatever they wanted. … We have to come back on Sunday and make them more uncomfortable, because they were way too comfortable.”

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