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NEW YORK -- In a back-and-forth game between the top teams in the NL East, the biggest swing came from Wilmer Flores.Thats been happening a lot lately for the surging New York Mets.Flores hit a go-ahead, three-run homer and New York rallied past the Washington Nationals 9-7 on Thursday night in the opener of a pivotal four-game series.Hes on a roll right now. Hes unbelievable, new teammate Jose Reyes said. He makes it look easy.Reyes, Travis dArnaud and Asdrubal Cabrera also went deep for New York in a slugfest that featured eight home runs -- most in the eight-year history of Citi Field. The second-place Mets improved to 7-1 on their 11-game homestand leading into the All-Star break and shaved Washingtons division lead to three games -- two in the loss column.Washingtons attempt to rally in the ninth inning was thwarted when Jayson Werth was called for an illegal takeout slide at second base, giving the Mets a double play after Cabrera made a diving stop at shortstop of Daniel Murphys sharp grounder.The call was upheld following a replay review, and Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo got into a shouting match with second base umpire Jim Joyce in the hallway between clubhouses just moments after the final out.I know Ive been told four or five different things from different crews about the rules and last time I was told it was going to be a common-sense type thing, Washington manager Dusty Baker said. I dont know how you teach young players now to break up a double play, because theres no such thing as breaking up a double play.The victory provided an emotional pick-me-up for the Mets, who announced sobering news before the game: Struggling right-hander Matt Harvey has symptoms consistent with thoracic outlet syndrome and might require season-ending surgery to treat a serious condition that has jeopardized the careers of other major league pitchers.Murphy homered and drove in three runs, his latest big performance against the Mets since the defending NL champions let him leave as a free agent in the offseason. Bryce Harper, Clint Robinson and Anthony Rendon hit solo shots off 43-year-old Bartolo Colon in the fourth to give the Nationals a 4-1 lead.That put prized prospect Lucas Giolito in good position to earn his first career win, but the 21-year-old right-hander tired quickly and never made it through the fourth inning. He threw 90 pitches over 3 2/3 innings and gave up four runs, seven hits and four walks in his second major league start -- both against the Mets.We fought back, they fought back. Probably a heck of a game to watch, but a terrible game to lose, Baker said.After the ninth-inning double play, All-Star closer Jeurys Familia struck out Harper for his major league-best 31st save. Familia has converted a club-record 47 consecutive regular-season save opportunities since August, though he did blow a four-run lead this year.With the Mets trailing 6-4 in the fifth, Cabrera and Brandon Nimmo singled. Flores, who had just come off the bench in a double switch to play first base, drove the first pitch he saw from Oliver Perez (2-2) just over the facing of the second deck in left field.Scores of fans jumped out of their seats -- seemingly in unison -- when Flores connected. The fan favorite popped out of the dugout for a curtain call and pumped his left fist to acknowledge a crowd of 37,569 that chanted his name.On a tear at the plate all week, Flores homered twice Wednesday against Miami and went 6 for 6 with two homers Sunday against the Chicago Cubs.Theres just a good flow to our offense and our team right now, Mets second baseman Neil Walker said.Hansel Robles (3-3) retired Rendon with the bases loaded to end the fifth and worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Addison Reed struck out two in 1 1/3 hitless innings as New Yorks bullpen came through all night.Washington swept three games from the Mets at home last week to open a six-game lead.Still just trying to put ourselves in a situation where we can make a run for it in the second half, said New York outfielder Curtis Granderson, who reached base five times and scored twice.TIME TO GIVE THANKSReyes gave dArnaud a Rolex watch as a thank you gift for relinquishing uniform No. 7 when the longtime Mets star rejoined the team this week. He loved it, a smiling Reyes said before joking that he went looking to find a knock-off.TRAINERS ROOMNationals: 1B Ryan Zimmerman, who homered Wednesday against Milwaukee, sat out because of general soreness. It was simply a precaution and he is day to day, Baker said. Robinson started at first base.Mets: Cabrera was back at shortstop after getting scratched just before the first pitch Wednesday because a family illness had kept him up all night.UP NEXTWashington RHP Stephen Strasburg (11-0, 2.71 ERA) faces RHP Noah Syndergaard (9-3, 2.41) for the first time Friday night in a marquee matchup of ace pitchers heading to the All-Star Game next week in San Diego. Strasburg was pulled with a no-hitter intact after 6 2/3 innings Sunday against Cincinnati because he had already thrown 109 pitches in his first start since an upper back strain landed him on the DL. Fake Vans Website . Louis Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey last Sunday. The fine is the fourth this season for Goldson. He was fined $30,000 for a hit on the New York Jets Jeff Cumberland in Week 1. Fake Vans . The team also announced Tuesday that the Braves will wear a commemorative patch on the right sleeve during the season. The patch, shaped like home plate, carries the number 715, Aarons autograph and a "40th Anniversary" banner. https://www.vansfake.com/ .com) - Christian Ponder will get another chance to prove himself for the Minnesota Vikings, with head coach Leslie Frazier announcing Wednesday that the struggling quarterback will start this weekends game against the Green Bay Packers. Fake Vans Cheap . The Celtics closed out their first preseason under Stevens on Wednesday night with a 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Fake Vans From China . Miller finished in two minutes, 6.09 seconds, one day before the first medal race on the Alpine schedule. The 36-year-old American also turned in the top time in Thursdays opening training session. When the NCAA last year meted out its sanctions against the SMU Mustangs, sanctions that included a postseason ban and suspension of head coach Larry Brown, I posed a simple question: What did the school expect when it hired Brown?Nine months later as Brown announces his sudden resignation, reportedly over a contract dispute, its time to ask the same question.What did SMU expect?Reality TV cultivates longer-lasting relationships than hiring Brown. Since 1965, he has cashed paychecks from 15 different employers. Forget a rocking chair or watch for years of service. For Brown, staying put long enough to become fully vested in a 401(k) plan is considered an accomplishment. He spent six seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, which in Brown parlance counts as longevity.The country is littered with his resignation papers, from Los Angeles, where he resigned ahead of the NCAA posse at UCLA, to New Jersey, where he bolted after the Nets stumbled; in Americas heartland, where he departed Kansas amid more NCAA trouble; and in the South, where he decided not to join the Carolina Cougars when they relocated to St. Louis; from the West, where he left the Denver Nuggets after two years, to the Southwest, where he left the Spurs midway through the season.You could call that nomadic.Narcissistic would be more accurate.On April 7, 1969, Brown landed his first head-coaching job, using his connections with his college coach, Dean Smith, to get the top gig at Davidson. In a newspaper clipping from The Dispatch, the 28-year-old Brown said, I will be coaching at a school I have always respected and I hope we can carry on the same high traditions.On July 3, 1969 -- a whopping 91 days later -- he left Davidson to carry on those high traditions without him, resigning his position. He hadnt so much as coached a practice, let alone a game (his tenure was so short, in fact, it doesnt even make his Wikipedia bio page). He later claimed the school didnt live up to its promises.That, of course, is a common refrain. The school, the NBA franchise, some organization always fails to live up to promises made to Brown.This time it is SMU on the wrong side of the tracks. Brown reportedly wanted a five-year contract extension. School administrators, perhaps considering the 75-year-old had just led the university down the trenches of an NCAA investigation and into a postseason ban and other sanctions, thought a two- or three-yyear deal might make more sense (which is rather generous if you consider the totality of things).dddddddddddd Brown disagreed and so, just two days into the vicious recruiting cycle, he packed up his whistle and left.Just like always, skipping out of town without care or responsibility. UCLA sanctions? Kansas violations so egregious an NCAA official once joked the Jayhawks were on the bubble for the death penalty? Misunderstandings and misinformation twisted for the NCAAs benefit.The man who preaches his love for his kids spent most of last season bemoaning the fact that the NCAA wrongly penalized Nic Moore and Markus Kennedy with a postseason ban when they werent guilty of any wrongdoing.Which is true.Its also true that Larry Brown was guilty of NCAA wrongdoing and thereby he did his players wrong. He broke promises to them, promises to be honorable, to obey NCAA rules and to, as crazy as it sounds, prohibit secretaries from doing an athletes coursework. Had he kept those promises the NCAA would not have visited campus and Moore and Kennedy would have enjoyed the fruits of their regular-season labor in March.Except that would never occur to Brown, the perennially put-upon victim. For all the college and NBA teams who have let him down, he never once recognized the people he has let down as well.Because if there are two truisms in his illustrious career, it is these:The man is a brilliant basketball mind, one of the best coaches to walk across a court.And above everything and everyone, Larry Brown is loyal to Larry Brown first, second and always. The first truism means someone will hire him somewhere. The second means his next employer, too, will eventually be stood up, discarded or disappointed.The only sign of progress in this entire ordeal is that SMU at least had the good sense to name Tim Jankovich as its coach-in-waiting. The school, at least, realized that with Brown there is no such thing as a long-term commitment, and that Jankovich wasnt going to be Mike Hopkins, the Prince Charles of college hoops forever waiting for Syracuse King Jim Boeheim to resign.No, the school hired Jankovich a mere nine days after it announced Brown would be the head coach because administrators knew theyd need a backup plan.With Larry Brown, what else would you expect? ' ' '