Another attempt at a no-hitter Vernon Hargreaves III Jersey , a reliever alternating between the mound and first base, and postgame pushing and shoving.

The Tampa Bay Rays pulled off an odd one for their fifth straight victory.

Nathan Eovaldi took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before an unusual combination of relievers in the ninth completed a three-hitter as the Rays beat Max Scherzer and the Washington Nationals 1-0 Tuesday.

Eovaldi (2-3) lost his no-hit bid when Bryce Harper hit an opposite-field double off the left-field wall with two outs in the sixth. The right-hander, who struck out nine, walked two and hit a batter over six innings, was making his sixth start since returning from a second Tommy John surgery in August 2016.

However, it was the ninth inning that stole the spotlight.

After Diego Castillo went two innings, lefty Jose Alvarado began the ninth by walking Harper before moving to first base when Chaz Roe relieved him. Roe struck out Anthony Rendon before Alvarado returned to the mound and gave up singles to lefties Juan Soto and Daniel Murphy that loaded the bases.

”We wanted to get our best matchups possible,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. ”The gamble, I guess, was hoping that nobody hit a ground ball to first.”

Sergio Romo replaced Alvarado and got his sixth save by getting Trea Turner to fly out and Michael A. Taylor to strike out.

”I was a little jealous that it wasn’t me going out and playing a position Kam Chancellor Jersey ,” Romo said.

Alvarado declined to talk to reporters after the game.

There was a brief scrum near the mound after Taylor struck out when Romo exchanged words with the Washington outfielder, who had stolen second in the sixth inning of the Nationals’ 11-2 over Tampa Bay on June 6.

”I don’t disrespect anybody on that team other than the person that I felt disrespected me and my team,” Romo said.

Said Taylor: ”I understand the situation. Obviously they think different but I’m not worried about that. The talking and things like that, I’m not big on drama.”

Nationals manager Dave Martinez said Romo’s unhappiness was misdirected.

”If he gets mad, he should get mad at me, but don’t show up one of our players,” Martinez said.

Tampa Bay’s Blake Snell took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of the Rays’ 11-0 rout of the Nationals on Monday night. Washington finished that game with two hits.

Scherzer (10-4) gave up one run, four hits, three walks and struck out four in seven innings for the Nationals, who have lost nine of 12. The three-time Cy Young Award winner has lost three straight decisions for the first time since August 2015.

The Rays took both games of the series with Washington on the heels of a three-game sweep last weekend over the New York Yankees D.J. Fluker Jersey , who have the best record in the majors.

Tampa Bay is 7-5 during a stretch of 16 games against the Yankees, Nationals and Houston Astros.

Tampa Bay went up 1-0 in the first when Kevin Kiermaier singled, advanced to third on Matt Duffy’s base hit during a 10-pitch at-bat and scored on Jake Bauers‘ grounder.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Nationals: RHP Jeremy Hellickson (strained right hamstring) had a 30-pitch bullpen session, which could the final step before rejoining the rotation.

Rays: RHP Chris Archer (left abdominal strain) remains on schedule for a three-inning simulated game Thursday and could be back around the All-Star break.

FUN TIMES

Rays OF Mallex Smith was doing a live TV interview wearing a buffalo hat – honoring teammate Wilson Ramos, the leading vote-getter for AL All-Star starting catcher – when Tampa Bay OF Carlos Gomez got Smith in the face with a shaving cream pie.

MORE HIGH JINKS

As Harper walked to the plate in the first inning, Frank Sinatra’s ”New York, New York” played over the Tropicana Field sound system for the potential free agent after this season. In the sixth, the musical selection was Sinatra’s ”Chicago.”

UP NEXT

Nationals: Washington has not announced its rotation for a four-game series at Philadelphia that begins Thursday night.

Rays: RHP Ryne Stanek (1-1) wil start the first of a four-game set Thursday night with Houston.

—


NEW YORK — For the last week, the New York Islanders received reminders of what could have been. But at least they won’t have to worry about watching another team celebrate clinching a playoff berth Tuesday night when they host the Philadelphia Flyers in the penultimate home game of the season at Barclays Center.

The Islanders continued their late-season collapse Saturday, falling to the New Jersey Devils 4-3. The Flyers moved closer to securing a playoff berth Sunday when they posted their second straight win by beating the Boston Bruins 4-3 in overtime.

The Flyers (40-25-14) could technically clinch no worse than an Eastern Conference wild-card berth Tuesday Noah Spence Jersey , though it would take a win over the Islanders and a loss by the Florida Panthers, whose game against the Nashville Predators starts half an hour after the Flyers face off against the Islanders.

The Panthers kept their faint playoff hopes alive Monday by beating the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 to move within six points of the Flyers. Florida has four games left and Philadelphia has three games remaining.

“First goal on the list is to become a playoff team,” Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. “We’re not there yet, we haven’t completed that yet. We’re just working toward the next two points.”

Points have been in increasingly short supply the last several weeks for the Islanders (32-37-10), who have lost eight of 10 (2-8-0) and 16 of their last 19 (3-12-4) to fall into last place in the Metropolitan Division.

New York lost twice on consecutive nights Friday and Saturday to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are headed for the playoffs as one of the top three seeds in the Atlantic Division, and the Devils, who are in the driver’s seat for the second wild card.

“It just stinks knowing we’re not playing past this weekend,” Islanders center and captain John Tavares told Newsday after practice Monday afternoon. “We’re just trying to focus on the positives as much as you can and it’s the last week, so we want to go and play hard and play with a lot of pride and get some good results.”

Flyers goalie Petr Mrazek is expected to start against the Islanders’ Jaroslav Halak in a battle of teams with uncertain short- and long-term goaltending situations.

Mrazek has served as the closest thing the Flyers have had to a No. 1 goalie in the 25 games since Brian Elliott suffered a core muscle injury on Feb. 10.

Mrazek improved to 6-5-3 in that span with 36 saves Sunday. Elliott practiced Monday and is expected to play before the regular season ends this weekend so Philadelphia can get an idea if he can start in the playoffs.

Halak sat out the last two games Chris Carson Jersey , including Saturday, when he was scratched because of illness. He last started March 27 when he made 33 saves in the Islanders’ 4-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators.

While Halak has been the goalie of record in 32 of the Islanders’ 44 games since the Christmas break, he is a free agent at the end of the season and unlikely to return to New York, which is on pace to lead the NHL in goals allowed and has just one goalie, Thomas Greiss, under contract for next season.

Womens DJ Moore Jersey