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NEW YORK -- Daniel Murphy is torching major league pitching and no one is burned more than his former New York Mets teammates.Murphy, who is leading the majors in hitting, homered for the sixth time this year against the Mets, drove in four runs, leading Max Scherzer and the Washington Nationals over New York 6-1 Saturday night.Oh my gosh, how many superlatives can you say? Scherzer said when asked about Murphy. This guy is just absolutely hitting the cover off the ball. He just understands what he is doing at the plate. He has such a great feel for the strike zone and when he gets his pitch, he hits it, and he is hitting these guys pretty good.Murphy had a run-scoring single in the third inning, an RBI double in the fifth and launched his 16th home run in the seventh. He is hitting .349 overall -- hes batting .438 (21 of 48) with 19 RBI against the Mets after becoming a free agent in the offseason and signing with Washington.Murphy refused to discuss his accomplishments against the team that he led to the NL pennant.His focus was on the Nationals, their season and winning this four-game series, with the Nats leading 2-1. Even being booed at Citi Field didnt seem to draw a reaction.I guess it means you are doing something to help your ballclub win a game, against that team, Murphy said. Thats the way I look at it.The NL East leaders now have a five-game lead on the Mets. At 53-36, they set a team record for wins before the All-Star break, snapping the mark from 2005, the clubs first season in Washington after the move from Montreal.Nationals manager Dusty Baker did not understand the booing. He added Murphys hitting reminded him of some of the great players he either played with or managed -- Orlando Cepeda, Rico Carty, Barry Bonds, Jeff Kent and Moises Alou..He is not missing much, Baker said. His concentration level is beyond compare right now.Baker is not surprised that Murphy has hit the Mets.Anybody who has gotten traded or came back to play their old team, definitely it means a lot to them, Baker said.Mets manger Terry Collins said Murphy is taking advantage of mistakes.You know, hes pumped up to play against us and show us we made a mistake, Collins said. Thats human nature and its part of the game. We just got to make better pitches. Were giving him balls to hit. They were good pitches to hit. Weve got to do a better job.Scherzer (10-6) gave up three hits and an unearned run in seven innings. He joined fellow Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg (12-0) in having 10 wins before the All-Star break.Logan Verrett (3-6) gave up five runs on only four hits in 6 2/3 innings, but he was hurt by walks. His first three all scored, including one to Scherzer.The Mets staked Verrett to a lead in the first. Jose Reyes drew a leadoff walk, Curtis Granderson followed with a single and both runners advanced on left fielder Jayson Werths throwing error back to the infield.Scherzer minimized the damage, giving up a sacrifice fly to Neil Walker and striking out Asdrubal Cabrera and Brandon Nimmo. The hard-throwing righty cruised the rest of the way, fanning nine.THE EYE HAS IT:After walking Alejando De Aza with two outs in the seventh, Baker considered taking out Scherzer. He went to the mound and asked the righty how he felt. The pitcher said he was still strong and wanted to finish the inning.Baker wanted to see the look in Scherzers eye to confirm that, so he asked the pitcher which eye he should look at. Scherzer has a blue eye and a brown one.He said the expletive brown eye, Baker said with a laugh. The pitcher stayed in and got Travis dArnaud on a liner to left.Scherzer explained after the game, the brown eye, his left one, is his pitching eye.DE AZA STARTS: De Aza started for Cespedes in center field and and had two singles and a walk. He struck out to end the game with a heavy rain starting to fall and the fans getting up to leave.TRAINERSS ROOMNationals: Baker expects Joe Ross (7-4) to return to the roster after the All-Star break, but he did not have an exact dathe te. Ross was placed on the 15-day disabled list earlier this month with right shoulder inflammation.Mets: Noah Syndergaard (arm fatigue) and outfielder Yoenis Cespedes (strained right quadriceps) are not going to play in the All-Star Game in San Diego. Both will attend Tuesdays game. There was no definitive word on how long they will be out, but Collins indicated that neither injury was major.UP NEXTWashingtons Gio Gonzalez (4-8, 4.79 ERA) pitches Sunday against Steven Matz (7-4, 3.34) in a matchup of lefties. Gonzalez has lost seven of his last eight decisions, but he is 7-1 in his career at Citi Field, with a win this year. Matz has lost his last three decisions.Custom Edmonton Oilers Jerseys . Varlamov made 33 saves and Ryan OReilly had a goal and scored in the shootout as the Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Thursday night. Fake Oilers Jerseys .C. -- Calgarys Kevin Koe did it the hard way again. https://www.cheapoilers.com/ .ca! Kerry, Two nights after the Scott-Eriksson incident in Buffalo, the Bruins returned home to play San Jose. In that game, Zdeno Chara put a check on Tommy Wingels that clearly targeted his head. Oilers Jerseys 2020 . Laudrup revealed Thursday he was notified of his dismissal in "the briefest of letters which gave no reasons why such hasty and final action was deemed necessary. Oilers Jerseys 2021 . - Blake Griffin had 30 points and 12 rebounds, J.This might just be the quietest Wimbledon in years. Tennis has put Maria Sharapova on mute with the Russian banned after failing a drugs test. Victoria Azarenka is absent because of a knee injury, and Rafael Nadal isnt playing here because his wrist wont let him.But dont imagine that grunting has disappeared from tennis. Nick Bollettieri, the American coach who has previously been blamed for encouraging players to make some noise as they strike the ball, has told the Wimbledon Diary that grunting is still part of the game.Were here in England and its all prim and proper, but you cant stop this, its everywhere, he said. If you took one of those sound-meters to the courts, youd find that the men are just as loud as the ladies. So dont pin this all on the girls.The men and the women are putting every ounce of energy -- their hearts and souls -- into hitting the ball, and what are you going to tell them? Youre going to tell them to be quiet? Are you crazy?The last thing that tennis should be doing, Bollettieri suggested, is silencing the players and turning them into mummies or square asses.You dont want them to come to the court dressed in a shirt and tie and being a square ass, he said. Weve got to make this game fun, baby. Weve got to have a little excitement. Dont we want the players to show how much they care and want to win?50 shades of ... green?Among the quirks of this tournament is that if you stand at the southern end of all the courts across the All England Club, you will notice that the stripe to the left of the centre is the lighter shade of green.ddddddddddddUnless youre looking out for that, you wouldnt notice that, the head groundsman, Neil Stubley, told the Wimbledon Diary. But thats just us being meticulous about what we do. We want to be as close to perfection as we possibly can.Parlez-vous Francais?If Serena Williams had her way, she would speak more French with her coach Patrick Mouratoglou. But Mouratoglou, a Frenchman of Greek descent, told the Wimbledon Diary he prefers to have all important conversations -- such as when they are discussing tennis -- in English.We dont speak French together as much as we should. Serena always asks me to speak French to her but Im so used to speaking English to her. My vocabulary in English is bigger than hers in French, and I want to be understood when were talking about tennis, he said. Serena loves to speak French. She has a good accent, not bad at all. If I compare her to other Americans, shes doing really well.Kvitova the clean freakThere is no tidier tennis player than Petra Kvitova, a winner of two Wimbledon titles. The morning after winning the 2014 Championships, the Czech vacuumed the house she had rented in Wimbledon Village. She also put the bins out. That behaviour has continued this summer.A member of her entourage told the Wimbledon Diary that Kvitova is the one looking after the team in the house, including doing the laundry. ' ' '