WASHINGTON -- The Washington Nationals returned to form and generated some momentum for their showdown with the New York Mets.Bryce Harper hit the first of Washingtons three home runs, and the Nationals overpowered the Milwaukee Brewers 7-4 Wednesday to avert a three-game sweep.Jose Lobaton and Ryan Zimmerman also connected for the NL East-leading Nationals, who open a four-game series Thursday night at second-place New York before heading into the All-Star break.Its critical because theyre chasing us and were trying to put some distance on them, Washington manager Dusty Baker said. Its very important.After watching the Nationals score a combined two runs in two games against the Brewers, Baker said before the finale, Were operating at a low energy level right now.Harper remedied that with a three-run shot in the first inning, the Nationals first long ball in three games. Lobaton made it 4-0 in the second and Zimmerman chased Brewers starter Matt Garza (1-2) with a two-run drive in the fifth for a 7-4 lead.Tanner Roark (8-5) allowed four runs and seven hits in seven innings for the Nationals. The right-hander also beat the Brewers on June 26 to help Washington dodge a three-game sweep.He pounded the strike zone, Harper said. When he goes out there, its usually a quick game and a lot of fun.Jonathan Papelbon worked the ninth for his 17th save in 19 chances.Afterward, the Nationals turned their attention toward their trip to New York, knowing a sweep either way would have a huge impact on the standings.How many games are we up on them? Four? Harper said. We could either be tied or up eight. Its plain and simple.Scooter Gennett had two RBI and stole home for the Brewers. Despite the loss, Milwaukee finished 4-2 against the Nationals to win the season series for the first since 2010.Builds our confidence knowing you can play with the best, Gennett said.Garza gave up seven runs, eight hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings. He is 1-5 with a 7.69 ERA in 10 starts against Washington.Behind in a lot of counts today and I had to pitch from behind and thats what happens, Garza said. You just put it in the back of your mind and get through it and get to the next one.The right-hander ran into difficulty almost immediately, giving up singles to Ben Revere and Jayson Werth before Harper hit his 18th home run, an opposite-field poke to left.After retiring the first six batters, Roark gave up five singles in the third. Milwaukee drew even when Gennett scored on the front end of a double steal.Stephen Drew hit a two-out RBI double in the bottom half for a 5-4 lead.MAKE SOME NOISEBaker is asking the home fans to crank up the volume in the second half of the season. Some of the guys on the team wish our fans were more boisterous and crazy, like we see at different stadiums on the road, he said. Taking into account the transient nature of Washington, Baker added, We realize a lot of fans are new. Were trying to win everybody over to us. We need their energy, big time.CLOSE CALLAccording to Major League Baseball, the 88-vote margin by which Chicago Cubs second baseman Ben Zobrist defeated Washingtons Daniel Murphy to start in the All-Star Game (3,013,407 to 3,013,319) was the closest margin since 1982, when Manny Trillo defeated Steve Sax for NL 2B by 1,625 votes.WIN AND OUTBrewers: RHP Zach Davies, who started and won Tuesdays game, was optioned to Triple-A Colorado Springs. 1B Andy Wilkins was recalled from the same minor league club.TRAINERS ROOMNationals: RHP Joe Ross (right shoulder inflammation) has been inactive since being placed on the DL on Sunday. Hes shut down right now. Were trying to get the inflammation out of there, Baker said.UP NEXTBrewers: After taking Thursday off, the Brewers welcome St. Louis for a three-game series leading up to the All-Star break.Nationals: The Nationals send rookie Lucas Giolito to the mound Thursday night. He pitched four scoreless innings in his debut.Sale Nike React Schweiz . 4 Villanova with a 96-68 drubbing on Monday. Wragge hit 9-of-14 from behind the arc, matching Kyle Korvers school record for 3-pointers in a game set in 2003, as Creighton (16-3, 6-1 Big East broke a conference record with 21 treys in the rout. Nike React Schweiz . Spiller left Week 3s 27-20 loss to the New York Jets with a thigh injury, but fully practiced with the team all week and expects to be ready to go on Sunday. http://www.nikereactonline.ch/ . The showiest items on Calgarys lot were forwards Mike Cammalleri and Lee Stempniak. Both will be unrestricted free agents this summer. Nike React Schweiz Kaufen . 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The Montreal Canadiens announced on Friday that the veteran forward will return to the teams line-up on Saturday night when the Habs visit the Nashville Predators.PARIS -- Defending champion Paris Saint-Germain wasted chances in the first half and fell apart in the second as it lost 2-0 away to Toulouse on Friday.The early signs are worrying for Spanish coach Unai Emery, who has lost twice in seven league games since replacing Laurent Blanc this summer.Despite leading PSG to back-to-back domestic trebles, Blanc was fired after PSG again failed to get past the quarterfinals of the Champions League last season.Emery was hired after guiding Sevilla to three straight Europa League titles with a team focused on hard work and catching teams out on the break.But his methods are taking time to gel and he has grabbed more headlines for dropping winger Hatem Ben Arfa -- a player he signed -- for the past four games.The scenes of joy were unbridled in the Toulouse dressing room as television images showed coach Pascal Dupraz hugging club president Olivier Sadran while the players sang loudly nearby.We just beat PSG, Dupraz said. We need to continue playing like this. Its great.It has been some turnaround for Toulouse, which was anchored to the bottom of the table last season before Dupraz came in and saved the club.Toulouse stayed up after winning 3-2 on the final day of last season, whereas PSG coasted to a fourth straight title by 31 points.Midfielder Yann Bodiger, who scored the winner that kept Toulouse up, netted from the penalty spot in the 48th minute after PSG right back Serge Aurier was sent off for hauling back Sweden forward Ola Toivonen.ddddddddddddurier had been shown a yellow card for an earlier infringement on 17-year-old goalkeeper Alban Lafont, who made two brilliant saves from striker Edinson Cavani in the first half and denied winger Angel Di Maria after the break.With just over 10 minutes remaining, PSG midfielder Thiago Motta -- lucky not to be sent off after shoving an opponent to the ground moments earlier -- made a terrible mistake as his back pass landed straight to Sweden midfielder Jimmy Durmaz, who advanced to goal and slotted into the bottom corner.PSGs defeat was more significant due to the large number of young players in the Toulouse side.Not least Lafont, whose remarkable point-blank save from Cavani in the first left the Uruguay striker shaking his head in disbelief.This season might be more difficult, said PSG midfielder Blaise Matuidi, who made it clear he wanted to leave the club during the summer transfer window. But its a long season and we will see what happens in the future.PSG dropped to third place ahead of this weekends matches, one point behind Toulouse and leader Nice, which has played a game less. ' ' '