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WASHINGTON -- The Baltimore Orioles hated giving up a day off to face the Washington Nationals on the road before heading to Toronto. A victory over their neighbouring rivals made the detour much more tolerable. Caleb Joseph homered and drove in three runs, J.J. Hardy had four hits and Baltimore beat Washington 7-3 on Monday night in a duel between first-place teams. Nick Markakis homered for the Orioles, who trailed 3-1 before rallying for their eighth win in 11 games. The game was a makeup of the July 8 contest that was postponed by rain. A sellout crowd of 42,181 -- many of them wearing Oriole orange -- showed up to watch teams located just 38 miles apart on I-295. The Orioles wanted the makeup game to be played in the afternoon, but the Nationals nixed the request. So Baltimore planned on taking a red-eye to Toronto for a three-game showdown between the top two teams in the AL East. "It was a tough one, and then again tomorrow and the next day," manager Buck Showalter said. "These guys get to sleep around 5 or 6. Its part of what we have to go through to get what were trying to get done." Hardy and Ryan Flaherty opened the seventh with successive doubles off Tanner Roark (11-7) to tie it at 3. Delmon Young followed with an RBI single -- making him 9 for 17 as a pinch-hitter this season -- and Adam Jones capped the uprising with a run-scoring single, Baltimores sixth hit of the inning. Young has been a significant contributor in his first season with the Orioles, whether starting or coming off the bench. "He got a big hit," Showalter said. "He works so hard at it. I see him rattling in the cage from the first or second inning on." Joseph singled in two runs in the eighth to make it 7-3. Kevin Gausman (6-3) gave up three runs and eight hits in six innings for the Orioles. "I definitely had to grind through that one," he said. "I think it was kind of huge to get through six there." Washingtons lead over Atlanta in the NL East slipped to three games and Baltimore increased its margin over Toronto to four games. Roark allowed five runs, the most he yielded in 16 starts since May 3. He won his previous four starts, allowing only one run in each game. "The ball was up, elevated, I wasnt hitting my spots," he said. "If the balls up and Im not hitting spots, Im going to get hit hard." He gave up seven hits, including two homers. Roark hadnt allowed more than one home run in a game since that May 3 game against the Phillies. "Theyre in first place for a reason," he said of the Orioles. "They hit the ball, and they showed it tonight." Wilson Ramos put the Nationals up 1-0 in the second inning with his first home run since July 9, against the Orioles. Joseph homered in the third, the first run against Washington in 23 innings. In the bottom half, Jayson Werth hit a sacrifice fly after a double by Denard Span, who has reached via a hit or walk in 30 straight games. Markakis made it 3-2 in the fifth with his 10th home run, matching his total of last season. TRAINING ROOM: Orioles: Right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez (right ankle sprain) has completed his rehabilitative work in the minors and could be activated from the DL as soon as Friday. Nationals: Washington placed outfielder Nate McLouth on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation. Outfielder Steven Souza Jr. was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse. ON DECK: Orioles: Baltimore will start right-hander Bud Norris on Tuesday night in Toronto. Hes 2-0 with a 1.83 ERA against Toronto this season. Nationals: Gio Gonzalez (6-7) starts Tuesday for Washington in the opener of a three-game series against the New York Mets, who are 1-5 against the Nationals this year. JOHNSON RETURN? Released by Oakland over the weekend, former Orioles right-hander Jim Johnson worked out for Baltimore at the teams training complex in Florida. If signed by the Orioles, Johnson would likely receive a minor league deal. "Hes certainly got a good pedigree and history of having success," Showalter said. "Hes got himself a tough decision to make, but a good one. Hes got some people interested in him." Ian McCoshen Jersey . -- The Los Angeles Dodgers signed Cuban shortstop Erisbel Arruebarrena to a $25 million, five-year contract Saturday. Jared McCann Jersey . -- Canadian freestyle skier Roz Groenewoud isnt letting surgery to both of her knees deter her expectations for the Sochi Olympics. http://www.hockeypanthersofficialonline ... ey-jersey/. Last years runner-up, Sara Errani, also reached the last eight in straight sets. Flipkens converted all four of her break points against Meusburger, and the third-seeded Errani broke Karin Knapps serve five times to win their all-Italian match 6-4, 6-3. Denis Malgin Jersey . -- Another baseball tradition is about to largely disappear: a manager, with a crazed look in his eyes, charging the field and getting into a face-to-face shouting match with an umpire. Florida Panthers Jerseys .Y. - The Buffalo Sabres reassigned forward Sam Reinhart to the WHLs Kootenay Ice on Friday. WASHINGTON -- Raise your hand if you had Greg Oden as the Miami Heat MVP. Or if you had any inkling the Washington Wizards were capable of taking a 34-point lead against the two-time defending champs. Or if you thought LeBron James and Co. would follow a White House visit by dropping their third straight against the heart of the middling Eastern Conference. Oden played his first game in more than four years Wednesday night, and that might have been the only positive for the Heat. He played all of 8 minutes, 24 seconds and made a pair of dunks to help start a rally that had loads of promise -- until it fell flat in the fourth quarter of a 114-97 loss to the Wizards on Wednesday night. "They came here, whatever. Went to the White House, whatever," Wizards forward Nene said. "We just came here to play." John Wall scored 25 points, and Bradley Beal and Nene had 19 apiece to lead seven players in double figures for the Wizards, who had their lead cut to nine before closing with a 17-9 run. They had dropped seven of eight at the Verizon Center, having blown a fourth-quarter lead to the Houston Rockets on Saturday in a game twice delayed because water was leaking onto the court through a hole in the roof. Chris Bosh scored 26 points, and James had 25 for the Heat, who had been off since Friday and therefore had time to be feted by President Barack Obama on Tuesday for winning a second consecutive NBA title. For one half, the Wizards made Miami look like a team that will never again be invited to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Washington went on a 20-0 run in the first quarter. James had three of the Heats six first-quarter turnovers. The Wizards, with their first sellout crowd of the season, taunted the Heat fans in attendance with the "Bandwagon Cam" that mocked those wearing the visitors colours. Washington didnt even commit a foul until the 8:48 mark of the second quarter. "They was playing at another speed," James said. "They was playing at, like, 15 and we was playing at, like, seven." James paused, then corrected himself. "Dont even gonna give us that much of a credit," he added. "We was playing at, like, five." James said he even lost his voice during the second or third quarter. He was still hoarse after the game. "We love adversity more than anything. Were definitely at that point," he said with a smile as his voice cracked. "As you can tell, my damn voice is gone. I gotta try to find it, too." At least the Heat found Oden, who stepped onto the court for his first regular-season game since Dec.dddddddddddd 5, 2009. He scored six points, going 2 for 3 from the field with a pair of dunks. He made both of his free throws and grabbed two rebounds. It was Oden, of all people, who helped get the Heat going after the Wizards led 43-18 at the end of the first quarter and 64-30 during the second. Wearing No. 20 and with both knees heavily wrapped, he entered with 6:03 remaining in the first half and made an immediate impact: an offensive rebound, a dunk and a foul in 30 seconds. By halftime, the score was 69-48. Oden also started the second half and played four minutes before sitting for the rest of the game. "In a short amount of minutes tonight," James said, "he was pretty good for us." It was Odens first appearance in a regular-season game since fracturing his left kneecap while playing for the Portland Trail Blazers against the Rockets. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 draft also missed what would have been his rookie year because of a right knee injury. He has had three microfracture surgeries on his knees. Oden said the Heat have "come up with something to keep me playing, not just to get me out there and get injured." "So this is the plan and its got me this far," he said. "It got me in the game." Norris Coles jumper pulled the Heat within single digits -- 84-75 -- with less than a minute to go in the third, but they never got any closer than nine. The Wizards had nine turnovers in the third quarter but only one in the fourth, and an alley-oop from Wall to Martell Webster put Washington up by 17 with 3:02 to play. "We knew they were going to make a run," Washington coach Randy Wittman said. "Thats still the best team." NOTES: The Wizards began the day 1-14 against teams with winning records. ... The Heat hadnt lost three in row since the 2012 Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics. Their last regular-season three-game skid was Jan. 10-13, 2012. ... The loss ended the Heats 22-game winning streak vs. Southeast Division opponents. ... Miami played without F Chris Andersen, who "landed awkwardly on his knee," according to coach Erik Spoelstra. G Mario Chalmers (strained right Achilles) missed his fourth straight. F Shane Battier was in the starting lineup after missing five games with a strained left quadriceps. G Dwyane Wade was back after resting his sore knees for one game. ... Washington shot a season-high 55 per cent. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '