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DENVER -- Jon Gray and Stephen Strasburg both will be trying to rebound from two poor starts when they oppose each other Wednesday in the rubber game of a three-game series between the Colorado Rockies and Washington Nationals.Gray, who is 8-6 with a 4.55 ERA in 21 starts for the Rockies, will be facing the Nationals for the first time in his career.While losing his past two starts against the Miami Marlins and at Philadelphia, the right-hander pitched a total of eight innings while allowing 16 hits and 15 runs, 14 earned, with five walks and nine strikeouts.Grays slider has been a vaunted pitch for him this season, one he has relied heavily on to get many of his 129 strikeouts in 122 2/3 innings. However, that pitch was highly ineffective in his most recent starts. Miami right fielder Giancarlo Stanton walloped a poor slider for a two-run homer on Aug. 7.Against the Marlins, the action (on the slider) was so bad, really bad, Gray said. It was really flat. It didnt have an effect at all. It was an easy, hittable pitch. The one (Stanton) hit was a terrible slider. I dont think I threw any good ones that day. Zero.Strasburg is 15-3 with a 3.07 ERA in 22 starts with 108 hits allowed in 143 2/3 innings, 41 walks and 176 strikeouts. While losing his past two starts to the San Francisco Giants and the Atlanta Braves, both at home, Strasburg has allowed 15 hits and 10 runs in 10 innings.The Washington right-hander is 4-3 with a 2.35 ERA in seven career starts against the Rockies. He is 1-2 with a 3.44 ERA in three starts at Coors Field, where he has not allowed a home run in 18 1/3 innings.Strasburg hopes to lift the Nationals to a series win after they scored a 5-4 win Monday before Colorado rebounded for a 6-2 victory Tuesday.Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper went 3-for-3 with two doubles, one RBI and two walks in the series opener. He drove in a run with a groundout Tuesday while going 0-for-3 with a walk, giving him a major-league-leading 86 walks.Harper is the reigning Most Valuable Player in the National League, an award he won unanimously after his memorable 2015 season. He hit .330 last year with 42 home runs, 99 RBI, a .460 on-base percentage and a .649 slugging percentage.This season, Harper is hitting .238 with 20 homers, 60 RBI, a .381 on-base percentage and a .447 slugging percentage.Dusty Baker is in his first season as the Nationals manager, so he didnt witness Harpers 2015 feats on a daily basis. Nonetheless, Baker said he has been impressed by Harpers team-first attitude all season.What struck me is he wants to win, Baker said. Very rarely have I heard any talk about any personal accomplishments or anything like that. I know in his heart and his mind its hard to go from MVP to not having a good year. But I think these last six weeks, hell rise to the top because he has a lot of pride and a lot of game.After a game, you cant tell if he got five hits or zero hits. And thats what I admire about him. A lot of guys, you can tell if the team won and they got hits, and if the team lost, theyd be kind of happy if they got their hits. Cheap Custom Mariners Jersey . Jon Montgomerys gold medal in skeleton at the Whistler Sliding Centre and his subsequent auctioning off of a pitcher of beer in the village square elevated him to folk-hero status. Wholesale Custom Mariners Shirts . Oyama had six birdies and two bogeys at Kintetsu Kashikojima in the event also sanctioned by the Japan LPGA Tour. "I have been having this neck ache thats been affecting my golf recently," Oyama said. http://www.custommarinersjersey.com/ .C. -- After a listless first half, the Washington Wizards used a big third quarter run to beat the Charlotte Bobcats Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17-0 run in the third quarter to take control of what had been a close game and beat the Bobcats 97-83 on Tuesday night. Custom Mariners Jerseys . Houston won 3-0 to advance to face New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Last in the game, Di Vaio and Romero got into a shoving match with several Houston players. Romero appeared to elbow and kick Houston defender Kofi Sarkodie. Custom Edgar Martinez Jersey . Ibaka equaled a career high with 20 rebounds, adding four blocked shots and 15 points as the Thunder smothered the Milwaukee Bucks offence in a 92-79 victory Saturday night. EAST HARTFORD, Conn. -- American Athletic Conference Commissioner Mike Aresco says that his conference would not necessarily replace schools that leave for another league.Several American programs have been mentioned as prime candidates for the expansion of the Big 12, which is considering adding two, or perhaps as many as four schools.Aresco, speaking before Saturdays football game between Virginia and UConn, said the American has been making contingency plans and would be ready to react to whatever the Big 12 decides to do.Weve got our checklist, he said. We know what we need to do should something happen.But, he also said the conference could survive with 10 member schools and still hold a football championship game, and therefore would not be forced to add teams just for the sake keeping the conference at 12 members.I dont want to insult any schools that might want to be in our league...but, I dont want to dilute the brand in any way, he said.dddddddddddd. I think we have a good brand now.He said his priority is to put a winning product on the field and get a better TV deal.We dont have to have four or five teams in the Top 25 every year, he said. But weve got to be competitive.Aresco also said the conference has made no decision about whether to move its softball championship tournament this spring from North Carolina. But he noted that it is not at a neutral site and East Carolina is hosting the event as part of a rotation, not because of any bid for the tournament.The NCAA and ACC have pulled championship events from North Carolina over a law, known as HB2, which excludes gender identity and sexual orientation from statewide antidiscrimination protections. ' ' '