WASHINGTON -- Lance Lynn was sharper than he had had been all season, which made it all the more frustrating for him when he failed to make it out of the sixth inning. Stephen Paea Jersey For Sale . Bryce Harper didnt get past the sixth inning either, but for a completely different reason. Lynn won his fourth straight start and delivered an RBI double after yet another error by Washington, and the St. Louis Cardinals scored three unearned runs to beat Jordan Zimmermann and the Nationals 4-3 Saturday. Lynn (4-0) gave up one run and five hits over 5 2-3 innings in becoming the NLs first four-game winner. After the right-hander lost his control in the sixth, Kevin Siegrist retired Danny Espinosa on a two-out fly ball with the bases loaded. "Im not going to lie to you, my stuff was better today than its been all year," Lynn said. "Thats the disappointing thing about the way the game finished for me today." Harper, meanwhile, was pulled after Nationals first-year manager Matt Williams questioned the manner in which the young outfielder ran out a comebacker leading off the sixth. "Lack of hustle. Thats why he came out of the game," Williams said. "He and I made an agreement, this team made an agreement, that when we play the game, that we hustle at all times." Now in his third season, the 21-year-old Harper is one of Washingtons brightest stars. The two-time All-Star once ran into a wall in the relentless pursuit of a fly ball, but on this day Harper was left explaining an act of nonchalance. "I respect what he did," Harper said of Williams decision. "Thats part of the game." Tony Cruz drove in two runs for the Cardinals, who have won nine of the last 10 games between the teams. St. Louis took control with a three-run second inning fueled by third baseman Anthony Rendons throwing error, capped by Lynns first career extra-base hit. The Nationals, under former Gold Glove third baseman Williams, are averaging more than an error per game and lead the majors in miscues. "I feel like we made a mistake, a couple of minor mistakes that cost us, but we were in the game," Williams said. Trevor Rosenthal worked the ninth for his fifth save, but not without difficulty. Washington put runners on second and third with one out, and Kevin Frandsen drove in a run with a groundout before Rosenthal struck out Jayson Werth on three pitches. Frandsen was batting in Harpers spot in the lineup. "Kevin Frandsen put on a nice AB against Rosenthal," Williams said, "but (Harpers) spot came up with the ability to win the game. And thats a shame for his teammates." Said Harper: "Man, thats tough to watch, not being able to be up there in that situation. Its something that I thrive on and I want to be in. You know, its in the past and theres nothing we can do about it now." Williams said Harper would start Sunday in the series finale. Espinosa homered for the Nationals, but he was the only player to get past first base against Lynn until the sixth. Zimmermann (1-1) allowed four runs, only one of them earned, in seven innings. He struck out six and walked two after coming in with a 0-3 with an 8.27 ERA in six career games against the Cardinals. Zimmermann took the loss but probably deserved a better fate. The right-hander has beaten every NL team except St. Louis and Pittsburgh (one start). St. Louis bolted in front for good in the second inning. After Rendon threw wide on a potential force play at second, Cruz sliced a two-out, two-run single to right field and scored on a double by Lynn. It was the pitchers first extra-base hit in 115 career at-bats and his fourth RBI. "I was trying to hold it to a single," Lynn joked. "I dont like to run." The tainted inning extended a series trend that began Thursday night, when the Nationals made three errors, and continued Friday when Washington scored two unearned runs in a 3-1 win. Espinosa led off the fifth with his first home run since last May 5. In the Washington sixth, Werth singled and Adam LaRoche walked before Rendon looked at a third strike after getting ahead in the count 3-0. Lynn then walked Ian Desmond on four pitches before Siegrist retired Espinosa. Matt Holliday delivered a two-out RBI single for St. Louis in the seventh, and successive doubles by LaRoche and Rendon got Washington to 4-2 in the eighth. NOTES: The game drew a sellout crowd of 41,084. ... The Nationals activated OF Denard Span from the 7-day disabled list and optioned OF Steve Souza Jr. to Triple-A Syracuse. Span started in the leadoff spot and got two hits. ... Stephen Strasburg (1-2) starts for Washington on Sunday against RHP Shelby Miller (1-2), who went 2-0 against the Nationals last year. ... Cardinals manager Mike Matheny remains undecided on his starter Monday against the Mets. Gale Sayers Elite Jersey . The third-year pro went shot for shot with Knicks star Carmelo Anthony down the stretch before nailing the most important one of the night. Walter Payton Youth Orange Jersey . But after playing in England for more than a decade, Reo-Coker already recognized a key issue. He faces an adjustment as he prepares for his first Major League Soccer season.TAMPA, Fla. -- A week after finding a way to keep Ryan Callahan in Tampa Bay, the Lightning have landed two of his former teammates to help him. Defenceman Anton Stralman was lured to the Lightning as a free agent on Tuesday with a $22.5 million, five-year contract. He scored one goal and had 13 assists last season for the New York Rangers, and had five assists in 25 playoff games. A few hours later, centre Brian Boyle became the second member of the Eastern Conference champions to join the Lightning on the opening day of NHL free agency when he agreed to a three-year contract. Meanwhile, general manager Steve Yzermans search for a backup goaltender snared Evgeni Nabokov, a veteran of 13 NHL seasons who was with the New York Islanders last season. Stralman, 27, has 18 career goals and 112 points over seven seasons with the Rangers, Columbus and Toronto. Stralman had career highs with six goals and 34 points with the Blue Jackets during the 2009-10 season. The addition of Stralman, Boyle and Nabokov bolsters a roster that many felt would lose Callahan to free agency because his asking price might be too high. Brian Urlacher Jersey For Sale. Instead, the veteran right wing obtained in the trade that sent Martin St. Louis to the Rangers late last season signed a six-year, $34.8 million to remain in Tampa Bay. Yzerman, who made a trio of cost-saving trades over the weekend to create additional salary cap space for the start of free agency Tuesday, also announced the signing of right wing Mike Blunden, who appeared in seven games for the Montreal Canadiens last season. Forward Mike Angelidis was re-signed to a one-year, two-way contract. The flurry of activity as free agency began came on the heels of the Lightning trading forward Teddy Purcell to Edmonton in exchange for Sam Gagner, who was in turn packaged with B.J. Crombeen and sent to Phoenix for a draft pick. Yzerman capped a busy weekend by trading veteran forward Nate Thompson to Anaheim for two draft picks late Sunday. The moves created more than $5 million in cap space, giving the Lightning about $13 million heading into free agency. cheap jerseys ' ' '
