strike.WILD ONEWashington reliever Koda Glovers wild pitch landed flush on the left shoulder of home plate umpire Mike Muchlinksi in the eighth. As Nationals catcher Ramos simultaneously searche

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Bruce Bochy all but had his mind made up days ago: Madison Bumgarner would hit in an AL ballpark for interleague rather than using a designated hitter.All the San Francisco Giants manager had to do was ask the ace pitcher himself, knowing full well the big left-hander would want to swing the bat. At first, MadBum thought Bochy was joking, then quickly said: No, Id love to. Id rather hit.Bumgarner doubled leading off the third inning of the finale of a four-game series against lefty Dillon Overton and the Oakland Athletics on Thursday night as San Francisco tried to avoid a sweep. The Giants batted around and he also ended the inning with an infield popup.This wasnt a tough call for me, the way he swings the bat, the numbers, facing a left-hander, Bochy said. All of these things came into play. Its nothing against our guys, but hes a pretty good hitter and its a pretty good matchup. ... It keeps him in the game, the flow of his normal game being in the National League. He was all for it. And he would have been fine the other way. He didnt come to me, he didnt push for it. I went to him and said, `Hey, Im thinking about letting you hit for yourself and not use the DH.It will be the first time a team intentionally used a pitcher to hit instead of a DH since the Chicago White Sox allowed Ken Brett to do it in 1976 -- the Rays were forced to bat pitcher Andy Sonnanstine in 2009 because of a lineup card mixup.Thats a long time, As manager Bob Melvin said. I would love to have someone like that you could plug into the lineup depending on what your roster looked like. Not too many guys like him. I dont know what that feels like. Theyre a little banged up, too. Hes got some power, swings the bat well. Hes a real hitter, so hes not the kind of guy that youre consistently looking to try to get to the bottom of the order so you can walk somebody to get to him.Bumgarner began the day batting .175 with two homers and five RBI in 40 at-bats. He even made a public plea to enter into the All-Star Home Run Derby, but Bochy said that idea is now off the table.The players union didnt want a Derby slot being taken by a pitcher, Bochy said, but the plan is to review the idea again of having a pitchers derby.There is no Home Run Derby for Madison, Bochy said. Its been nixed.Yankees manager Joe Girardi said letting a pitcher hit in the Derby could be devastating, so he wouldnt do it.I would like to, but, again, theyre not used to taking swings year-round, he said. If youre the San Francisco Giants, and hes a great hitter, Madison Bumgarner, he pulls a ribcage muscle, whos going to deal with that? Jake Arrieta pulls a ribcage muscle, whos going to deal with that? To me, its different if its a position player that plays every day, and youd love to reward the guy and say, `Go have fun. But a lot of times theres a lot on the line, and I would hate to see one of those guys go down because of the home run derby.---AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum in New York contributed to this report. Felipe Aguilar Jersey . -- Derrick Rose shook off poor shooting early to hit clutch shots late and Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 104-95 preseason victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. Santiago Arias Jersey . "Four now," Carl Gunnarsson told the Leaf Report proudly following a 5-2 victory over New York on Tuesday night, the clubs fifth straight at home. http://www.nationalcolombiafootball.com/stefan-medina-colombia-jersey/ .S District Court against Major League Baseball, the Office of the Commissioner and his own union, the MLBPA. Marlos Moreno Jersey . World champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia won the gold medal with 237.71 points, Moore-Towers and Moscovitch followed at 208.45 and Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia were third at 187. Carlos Bacca Colombia Jersey .com) - The red-hot Los Angeles Kings will try to extend their winning streak to a season-high seven games when they visit the Edmonton Oilers for Sundays clash at Rexall Place. WASHINGTON -- If the Colorado Rockies faced contenders like the Washington Nationals more often, they might also be in the playoff race.Nolan Arenado went 4 for 4, including his 35th home run and a triple, and drove in three runs as the Rockies beat the Nationals 5-3 on Sunday.Arenado and David Dahl hit back-to-back home runs in the third inning off Nationals rookie Lucas Giolito.Colorado took two of three from Washington and won the season series 4-2.Since August 12, the Rockies have won three of five series with the victories coming over the NL East-leading Nationals and the Chicago Cubs, owners of the best record in the majors. Yet those gains were offset by three game sweeps by Philadelphia and Milwaukee.Its weird the way were playing, Arenado said. When we face the good teams, the best teams, we take it to another notch. ... When play bad teams, it feels like we get kind of complacent. We have to change that. Every game counts now for us.Bryce Harper, Trea Turner and Wilson Ramos went deep for Washington.Giolito (0-1) allowed four runs and six hits in five innings. Washington has dropped six of eight.Chad Bettis (11-7) allowed two runs, both on solo homers, and five hits with six strikeouts over seven innings in his longest start since April 10.The right-hander induced Ben Revere into an inning-ending double play with two runners on in the fifth to preserve a 4-1 lead.He used his entire pitch mix well, but especially his changeup, Rockies manager Walt Weiss said of his starter. The double play he got in the fifth was big. That was a game-changer.Adam Ottavino recorded the final three outs for his second save after Harper homered off Boone Logan leading off the ninth.The Nationals officially recalled Giolito from Triple-A Syracuse before the start of Sundays game and sent infielder Wilmer Difo to Double-A Harrisburg. Washingtons top prospect allowed three of the first four batters to reach as Arenados RBI single put Colorado up 1-0.They definitely jumped on the fastball, and when I wasnt able to locate it, they kind of made me pay, Giolitoo said.dddddddddddd.Turner immediately tied it in the bottom of the first with a leadoff homer.In third, Arenados liner cleared the fence in left for a two-run blast and Dahl followed with a drive for a 4-1 lead. All three runs in the third came with two outs.Its that one bad inning that does you in, Nationals manager Dusty Baker said of Giolitos outing. That was the one bad inning.Arenados fifth-inning triple was initially scored a three-base error on Harper misjudged a fly ball hit to sunny right field.The third baseman now has 32 RBI in August. In his last seven games, he is batting .552 (16 for 29) with five homers and 13 RBI. Arenado also two, four-hit games in that stretch.Harper went 1 for 4 a day after he was ejected in the 10th inning of Washingtons 9-4 loss for arguing a called third strike.WILD ONEWashington reliever Koda Glovers wild pitch landed flush on the left shoulder of home plate umpire Mike Muchlinksi in the eighth. As Nationals catcher Ramos simultaneously searched for the ball and checked on the crumpled umpire, Daniel Descalso scored from second base for a 5-2 lead. Muchlinksi remained in the game.AUGUST HEATArenados 32 RBI in August is one shy of the franchise record set by Andres Galarraga in 1996.TRAINERS ROOMRockies: RHP Tyler Chatwood (10-8, 3.75), on the disabled list with a mid-back strain since Aug. 16, will have a rehab start Monday for Double-A Hartford at Richmond. Chatwood is expected to go five innings or about 75 pitches.Nationals: RHP Joe Ross (right shoulder inflammation) allowed one run on three hits in one inning Sunday in his first rehab appearance with Triple-A Syracuse.UP NEXTRockies: Colorado returns home to begin a three-game series against the Dodgers. RHP Jon Gray (8-6, 4.61 gets the nod for the Rockies.Nationals: RHP Tanner Roark (13-7, 2.99 ERA) faces Phillies rookie Jake Thompson (1-3, 9.78) in the first of 22 straight games for Washington against NL East opponents. ' ' '