Ryan isnt too shabby himself, currently second in the

PHILADELPHIA -- Jordan Zimmermann is disappointed that he likely wont be able to pitch in the All-Star game. The Washington Nationals right-hander hopes thats the worst of what comes out of Friday nights outing. Zimmermann abruptly left his start in the fourth inning of a 6-2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies with a right biceps injury. Zimmermann, who is scheduled to participate in his second straight All-Star game, will be evaluated further on Saturday but isnt expected to pitch Tuesday in Minneapolis, according to manager Matt Williams. Zimmermann (6-5), who had Tommy John surgery in August 2009, called the Nationals training staff out after he threw a pitch to Cameron Rupp with one out in the fourth. He showed no obvious discomfort, but left the mound after a short discussion with the training staff and Williams. He doesnt feel the problem is related to his shoulder or elbow. "It was gradually getting worse with every pitch," he said. "I knew something wasnt right. I didnt want to push it too far." He said not pitching in the All-Star game would be a disappointment. "Obviously, you want to go," he said. "I had all my plans made and I wanted to pitch in front of my family. But the main thing is to get healthy." Zimmermann left after allowing four runs and six hits. He threw 53 pitches, 36 for strikes. "I feel OK now," he said. "I dont think its anything major. Hopefully, the MRI comes out good." Bryce Harper homered for the Nationals, who have lost three of four. Zimmermann has a 1.26 ERA since June 1 with 46 strikeouts and seven walks in 50 innings over seven starts. But he gave up four runs and six hits in 3 1-3 innings against the Phillies. Jimmy Rollins homered twice and A.J. Burnett pitched 7 2-3 strong innings to lead the Phillies to their fifth straight victory. Burnett (6-8) allowed two runs and five hits while striking out six and walking four. He improved to 10-4 with a 3.37 ERA in 19 career starts against Washington. "Hes been tough on us and he was good tonight," Williams said. "He had everything working, and he knows how to pitch." Domonic Brown doubled and drove in two runs for Philadelphia, which matched its longest winning streak of the season. It has been a surprising run for the Phillies, who had lost 13 of 16 before a four-game sweep of the NL Central-leading Brewers in Milwaukee. Philadelphia hasnt lost since general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. predicted changes, calling the teams offence "poor." The hitters have responded by averaging 6.2 runs over the winning streak. Brown gave Philadelphia the lead with a two-run double in the second and the first of Rollins homers, a two-run shot to right, put Philadelphia in front 4-0. Rupps RBI double off Craig Stammen in the sixth put Philadelphia ahead 5-0 before Harper broke out of a 1-for-22 slump by leading off the seventh with a homer to deep right to pull Washington within 5-1. It was just the second homer of the season for Harper, who missed 57 games due to a thumb injury. Rollins got the run back in the bottom of the inning, just clearing the wall in right for his ninth career multi-homer game. "Were playing good ball," Burnett said. "Its good to see this team clicking on all cylinders." As with the rest of the starters, Burnett has been a victim of lack of run support this season. So the recent outburst is nice to see. "You go about your business the same, but its definitely better to get some runs," he said. Batting leadoff and playing centre field, Grady Sizemore went 1 for 4 with a single in his first game with the Phillies after being called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The three-time All-Star whose career was derailed by injuries had been released by the Red Sox last month after batting .216 with two homers and 15 RBIs in 52 games. The 31-year-old missed all of the 2012 and 2013 seasons due to an assortment of injuries. After leaving Thursdays game at Baltimore after getting hit by a pitch on his right thumb, Washingtons Ian Desmond didnt play Friday. Desmond entered Friday leading all shortstops in the majors with 55 RBIs. NOTES: Philadelphia improved to 19-27 at Citizens Bank Park, where they have struggled this season. ... Rollins last hit two homers in a game on Aug. 1, 2012, at Washington. ... Washingtons Wilson Ramos extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a fifth-inning single. ... The Phillies also won five straight from June 16-20 at Atlanta and St. Louis. ... Nationals RHP Stephen Strasburg (7-6, 3.47) opposes Phillies LHP Cole Hamels (3-5, 2.87) on Saturday night. Zapatillas NMD Baratas . Clevelands manager had just watched his team lose 5-3 to Kansas City, which completed a 2-6 homestand and dropped the Indians 2 1/2 games behind Detroit in the AL Central. Adidas NMD Baratas . The Americans, skipped by John Shuster, seized the advantage in the eighth end by scoring five points for a 7-3 lead. The Czechs pulled two back in the ninth, but Shusters team of third Jeff Isaacson, second Jared Zezel and lead John Landsteiner ended with another point to secure the last Olympic berth on offer. http://www.adidasnmdbaratas.es/ .Cameron sustained his third concussion in three seasons last week on a hit by Oakland safety Brandion Ross, who was fined $22,050 by the NFL for the helmet-to-helmet blow. Adidas NMD Comprar Online . "Ive still got it," Seattles ace said with a sly grin. Riding that fastball carrying a little more zip, Hernandez took a shutout bid into the ninth inning as the Mariners beat the Los Angeles Angels 3-1 on Wednesday night. On the verge of a brilliant shutout and first complete game since Aug. Comprar Adidas NMD Baratas . The team of Lars Nelson, Daniel Richardsson, Johan Olsson, and anchor Marcus Hellner cruised to victory in the 4x10 km event, winning in a time of one hour, 28 minutes, and 42.(SportsNetwork.com) - Lets face it, the Atlanta Falcons are lucky to be playing meaningful football in December. But the schedule doesnt shape up as all that fortunate down the stretch. The 5-7 Falcons are now atop the dismal NFC South division in advance of their trip north to face the powerful Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Monday Night Football. And win or lose in Titletown, Atlanta will remain in control of its own destiny because of a perfect 4-0 record inside the division, along with a looming Week 16 matchup at the Saints, who fell back to 5-8 after Sundays setback to Carolina. If you look ahead, however, you can see things figure to get far stickier for the Falcons starting tonight. While Atlanta has to battle the Packers, who are 6-0 at home this season, New Orleans will face opponents who currently have a 12-26 mark the rest of the way. Conversely, the Falcons face three teams with playoff aspirations (The Pack, Pittsburgh and New Orleans) before finishing off with the now 4-8-1 Panthers. Both the Saints and Atlanta are attempting to avoid joining the 2010 Seattle Seahawks as being the only NFL teams to win a division with a sub-.500 record. The Falcons have won three of four overall, including a big 29-18 win over the NFC West-leading Arizona Cardinals in Week 13 action at the Georgia Dome. Matt Bryant connected on all five of his field-goal attempts in that one and Matt Ryan finished with a season-high 361 yards on 30-of-41 passing with scoring throws to Julio Jones and Levine Toilolo. Jones led all receivers thanks to 189 yards on 10 receptions, Harry Douglas added 116 yards on nine grabs, and Steven Jackson contributed 101 yards on 18 carries. Arizona signal caller Drew Stanton was picked off twice by the much-maligned Atlanta defense, once by Josh Wilson and another by Dwight Lowery. The Packers, meanwhile, took another step toward what would be a franchise- record fourth consecutive division title when they outlasted the New England Patriots, 26-21, in a game that could have foreshadowed Super Bowl XLIX. MVP candidate Aaron Rodgers threw for 368 yards and two touchdowns and kept two NFL-record streaks alive as he outdueled Tom Brady and the Pats. Rodgers was 24-of-38 and has now thrown 360 consecutive passes with 31 touchdowns since his last interception at home, which was over two calendar years ago. Eddie Lacy rushed 21 times for 98 yards and caught two passes for another 17, stretching his Green Bay running back record to four consecutive games with at least 100 yards from scrimmage. Davante Adams had six receptions for 121 yards and Randall Cobb made seven catches for 85 as the Packers ran their winning streak to four games since their bye week. Weve been great at home, said Rodgers. The fans have been excellent with the noise and weve got a good advantage with it. Weve just got to keep rolling. Green Bay leads its all-time series with Atlanta by a 14-12 margin, including a 22-21 win at Lambeau last season while Rodgers was out with a broken collarbone. On Monday nights the Falcons have been dismal historically, compiling a 10-26 mark. The Packers are also underwater but much better at 28-31-1. WHAT TO WATCH FOR Rodgers has thrown for 20 touchdowns without an interception at home this season. Overall, the All-Pro leads the NFL with a 118.6 passer rating and has thrown for 32 scores against just three INTs, captaining a team that scoress 31.dddddddddddd7 points per game, the best mark in the league. In his four previous career meetings against the Falcons Rodgers has always crossed the 300-yard barrier throwing the ball and has nine TDs against just one INT. Its a big challenge for us this week with Aaron Rodgers, Falcons coach Mike Smith admitted. No doubt, hes playing the best of any quarterback in the NFL right now. Hes got a number of weapons he can get it to. Hes played extremely well at home. I dont think hes thrown an interception at home this season, and I dont even want to talk about how many points theyve scored. The answer to that is 40.9 points while outscoring foes 245 to 106 at Lambeau. I dont know that theres been a quarterback thats had a stretch like hes had in the history of the NFL, Smith continued. Rodgers finished November with 1,233 yards passing with 13 touchdowns and no interceptions for an NFL-best 128.1 passer rating. And more importantly a 4-0 record. No disrespect to any quarterback in the NFL, but right now hes at a level that is much higher than anybody else, Smith said. When you look at his pure statistics, theyre phenomenal. The key to Green Bay at home has been blitzing people out of the starting blocks. The Packers have outscored their opponents by an amazing 79-0 margin in the first quarter of their last five home contests. That number expands to 151-23 at halftime and 14 of those 23 points were scored by the powerful Patriots last week. Foes have been looking up and finding the score 14-0, or in the case of the Pats 13-0, and that has enabled a flawed Packers defense to excel as teams become more one-dimensional. Despite some talent issues on the defensive side Green Bay has allowed just 17.3 ppg in its current four-game winning streak. When you watch the tape, its even more impressive, Smith said. (Rodgers has) got a great grasp of how to attack defenses. Hes extending plays. If he can extend the play and when the play gets off schedule, he can make the throws. Hes been very accurate. His quarterback rating is off the charts. You would think the only way Atlanta can beat the Packers is in a shootout and Ryan isnt too shabby himself, currently second in the NFL with 3,427 passing yards, slightly ahead of Rodgers 3,325. The veteran also has 21 TD passes versus 10 interceptions and a solid 93.7 passer rating. Jones, meanwhile, is one of the best receivers in the game as evidenced last week when he torched the highly-regarded Patrick Peterson time and time again. The Falcons could also get a boost from the potential return of Jones regular running mate, Roddy White, who sat out last week with an ankle problem. Roddy was close to playing (last week), Smith said. He worked with our athletic performance guys late in the week. We felt that it was in the best interest long term for him to not play in the game this past week. We anticipate, with the extra day, that hell be ready to go this week. OVERALL ANALYSIS Rarely is a division leader favored by double digits over another division leader but thats the story here and its hard to imagine a team with so many issues on defense like the Falcons solving Rodgers at Lambeau. We have some big goals, and were getting into December football now with a chance with everything right in front of us, A-Rod said. Expect the Packers to keep rolling here. Sports Network predicted outcome: Packers 34, Falcons 20 ' ' '