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WASHINGTON -- Doug Fister made quick work of the New York Mets, and thats one reason why his teammates on the Washington Nationals provided him with ample hitting support. Fister took a five-hit shutout into the eighth inning, Adam LaRoche homered twice and Danny Espinosa also connected as the Nationals cruised to a 7-1 victory Wednesday night. Fister (11-3) allowed one unearned run and six hits in 7 1-3 innings. He struck out seven and reduced his ERA to 2.49. In his first season with Washington, Fister has made a positive impression with his new team by working rapidly and going after opposing hitters. The technique confounded the Mets and provided the Nationals with plenty of time to take their hacks against New York starter Jonathon Niese (5-8). "Its no coincidence that I feel like a lot of runs get scored when Doug pitches," LaRoche said. "I think its a matter of really quick innings. Hes pitching to contact, guys are on their toes, and theres a lot of action. Seems like when hes pitching, were out there for 30 minutes on defence and spend two hours in the dugout." The Mets, who had faced Fister only once previously, seemingly werent prepared for his rapid-fire style. "He works real quick, throws a lot of strikes, doesnt walk anybody," New York manager Terry Collins said. LaRoche hit a two-run drive in the first inning and a solo shot in the eighth, his 23rd career multihomer game. Espinosa went deep with two on in the sixth and Anthony Rendon hit two doubles to help NL East-leading Washington increase its lead over sputtering Atlanta to four games. Niese gave up a season-high six runs on eight hits in six innings. It was only the second time in his last 25 starts the left-hander yielded more than three earned runs. Niese is 0-4 with a 5.76 ERA in four starts since coming off the disabled list with a left shoulder strain. "It seemed like when I didnt feel 100 per cent, thats when I was pitching best," Niese said. "My arm feels a lot better so Ive got to figure out how to pitch with that." Washington got all the offence it needed in a three-run first. Rendon doubled with one out, Jayson Werth hit an RBI single and LaRoche followed with his 14th home run. "Its certainly nice to get that," Fister said. "Ive still got to go out there, still got to put up a zero and get our guys back in to hit." In the sixth, Ian Desmond singled, Bryce Harper walked and Espinosa sent a 1-1 pitch over the left-field wall. It was his seventh home run of the season, the first since May 12. Fister left with two on and one out in the eighth with Washington up 6-0. Newcomer Matt Thornton gave up a two-out RBI single to Daniel Murphy. Washington leadoff hitter Denard Span singled in the third to extend his streak of games reaching via a hit or walk to 32. TRAINERS ROOM Mets: Collins said he expects RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka (right elbow) to throw off a mound by next week and to make a rehabilitation appearance soon after that. Matsuzaka, who was placed on the disabled list July 26, is 3-3 with a 3.87 ERA. Nationals: Werth was pulled in the seventh with a shoulder strain. "Jaysons got a shoulder thats been bothering him a little bit. Tonight he was a little tight in his neck," manager Matt Williams said. UP NEXT Mets: Rookie Jacob deGrom (6-5) seeks to win his sixth straight start when New York and Washington meet Thursday afternoon to close out the three-game series. Nationals: Washington will start RH Jordan Zimmermann (7-5), who hasnt given up a home run at home in nine games since April 9. SCOREBOARD WATCHING Williams said he had too much to do as a player to be a scoreboard watcher. "I couldnt afford to. I wasnt good enough," he said. "I didnt have time for it." Hes not checking out the out-of-town scores now, either. "Theres no reason to see what anybody else is doing because were trying to take care of our business today," he said. "If we win today, the position that were in, there cant be any movement." Jose Abreu White Sox Jersey . Helwani said that Weidman has been dealing with recurring swelling and pain in his knees related to torn meniscus he suffered as a teenager and the problems came to a head last week when he suffered prolonged swelling and pain in his left knee, resulting in the decision to undergo an arthroscopic scope procedure to clean up the tear in both knees. James McCann Jersey . "I only want to go through this one more time," Crosby said Friday. The 24-year-old captain hasnt played since the symptoms resurfaced following a loss to Boston on Dec. 5. Doctors allowed him to return to full practice on Tuesday and while Crosby is pleased with the way his body is responding he refuses to put on his return. https://www.cheapwhitesox.com/614e-hecto...-white-sox.html. "I knew it was gone. I mean, I felt it," the 2012 NL Rookie of the Year said. "I havent felt like that in a while. I havent got extension on a ball in a pretty long time. Lance Johnson White Sox Jersey . Wade is posting a short film on his website next week, with a sneak preview scheduled to come out Wednesday. Dylan Covey Jersey . They probably ruined Tim Duncans hopes of a career change, though. Duncan wants to be a point guard, coach Gregg Popovich revealed Saturday, a wish that wont be granted. JOLIET, Ill. -- Matt Kenseth pulled away from teammate Kyle Busch to win the opening race in the Chase for Sprint Cup championship. The steely win by the top seed in the Chase helped restore a sense of normalcy at the end of a week that saw NASCAR fighting the biggest credibility crisis in its history. Now the sport waits to see if its fans are still angry that several teams manipulated the race finish at Richmond. The ensuing scandal has raised questions about NASCARs integrity that winning team owner Joe Gibbs said hes seen before in sports. "Ive seen things like that happen on the NFL side," said Gibbs, a three-time Super Bowl winning coach with the Washington Redskins. "We tried to do the best we could in handling it, and hopefully weve got this behind us with the race. We all love our sport and nobody wants anything that would hurt or harm it or disappoint people." Kenseth slid into Chicago under the radar as all the attention centred squarely on NASCARs investigation into the schemes of at least three teams to alter the outcome of the previous week. It led to severe sanctions against Michael Waltrip Racing, and Martin Truex Jr. was replaced by Ryan Newman in the Chase field. NASCAR continued to review incidents long after cars began to practice for Sundays race. Chairman Brian France took the unprecedented step of expanding the field to 13 drivers to add Jeff Gordon. Then France held an ethics meeting for teams on the eve of the opening race to outline new "rules of the road," demanding drivers give 100 per cent going forward and banning any attempts to artificially affect the outcome of races. Kenseth said he was eager to help NASCAR move on. "I think the important thing is its behind us," Kenseth said. "I think its pretty clear what everybody expects and the things we should do or not do, though a lot of that is pretty obvious, anyway. Hopefully we can move on because I think its been a tough week -- not only for some of the teams involved, but I think its also been a tough week for NASCAR." A strong opener to the 10-race Chase would have gone a long way, but rain made it a difficult day. The start was delayed by mist for almost 90 minutes. Once the race did go off, it made it almost to the halfway point before the sky opened up again. In all, there were two stoppages totalling 6 hours, 30 minutes and Kenseth didnt cross the finish line until early Monday morning. It was worth the wait when he passed Busch on a restart with 27 laps remaining -- in part because of a push from Kevin Harvick -- then led Busch across the finish line for a 1-2 finish for Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota. Helll take an eight-point lead over Busch into next weeks race at New Hampshire.dddddddddddd Thats bad news for the rest of the Chase field: JGR drivers have won six of the seven races so far this season on 1.5-mile tracks, and four of the nine remaining races in the Chase are tracks covering the same distance. Kenseth, a six-time winner this season, has four wins on 1.5-mile tracks. "Were excited about that," crew chief Jason Ratcliff said. "I think our program has been pretty solid all the way around." This latest victory denied Busch a weekend sweep yet again. Hed won the Truck and Nationwide Series races this weekend, only to come up short in the main event. The same thing happened last month at Bristol, where Busch won the first two legs of the trifecta only to be denied the sweep by Kenseth. "Oh, yeah. I watched it slip right away," Busch said. "Nothing you can do about it. Certainly it would be nice if we could have won and brought home a trifecta. It was going to be cool." Harvick finished third, Kurt Busch was fourth and teammates Jimmie Johnson and Gordon were fourth and fifth as Chevrolet took spots three through six and Chase drivers swept the top six spots. Gordon, who only learned he made the Chase 48 hours before the race, was in great shape until he got a flat tire that forced him to pit and claw his way back for his finish. "That was an incredible accomplishment. It just shows how much fight this team has in them. They just never gave up," he said. "To think how far down we were with 40 laps to go -- I know we were 18th on one of those last restarts -- to be able to come up through there and get sixth, and have a shot at top-five, was a lot of fun. Thats what we needed to get this thing started off right." Defending series champion Brad Keselowski, who failed to qualify for the Chase this year, was seventh. Keselowski was the defending race winner. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was eighth. Clint Bowyer, the driver who first triggered all the trouble last week at Richmond when he spun with seven laps to go in an effort to help teammate Truex make the Chase, finished ninth. Newman was 10th, Carl Edwards 11th and Kasey Kahne 12th. Chase driver Greg Biffle was 16th. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (35th) and Joey Logano (37th) had the worst nights of the Chase drivers as both failed to finish because of engine issues. "I am pretty angry. That was such as fast race car we had," said Logano, the pole-sitter. "Unfortunately the motor blew up. You have these every once in a while. It is a bummer to have it in the Chase when you are running for a championship." ' ' '