NEW YORK -- Long after prized prospect Lucas Giolito stumbled in his second major league start, the frustrated Washington Nationals left Citi Field still angry at the umpires.Not only the players, either.Even general manager Mike Rizzo got into a heated exchange with crew chief Jim Joyce just moments after the final out.Wilmer Flores hit a go-ahead, three-run homer and the surging New York Mets rallied past Washington 9-7 on Thursday night in the back-and-forth opener of a pivotal four-game series between the top teams in the NL East.We fought back, they fought back. Probably a heck of a game to watch, but a terrible game to lose, Nationals manager Dusty Baker said.Washingtons attempt to rally in the ninth inning was thwarted when Jayson Werth was called for an illegal takeout slide at second base, giving the Mets a double play after shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera made a diving stop of Daniel Murphys sharp grounder.To me, thats a clean slide. Its been a clean slide for over 100 years, Werth said. The only difference between the three slides tonight that went past the bag is that there was contact on that one. So if the rule is just that you cant make contact, then Major League Baseball needs to clarify that.I feel like it changes from day to day, from series to series and in this case, from inning to inning, he added.The call was upheld following a replay review, and Rizzo later got into a shouting match with Joyce, the second base umpire, that drew security in the concrete tunnel between clubhouses.I know Ive been told four or five different things from different crews about the rules and last time I was told it was going to be a common-sense type thing, Baker said. I dont know how you teach young players now to break up a double play, because theres no such thing as breaking up a double play.Jose Reyes, Travis dArnaud and Cabrera also went deep for New York in a slugfest that featured eight home runs -- most in the eight-year history of Citi Field. Curtis Granderson reached base five times and scored twice.The second-place Mets improved to 7-1 on their 11-game homestand leading into the All-Star break and shaved Washingtons division lead to three games, two in the loss column. The Nationals swept three games from the Mets at home last week to open a six-game lead.Murphy homered and drove in three runs, his latest big performance against the Mets since the defending NL champions let him leave as a free agent in the offseason. Bryce Harper, Clint Robinson and Anthony Rendon hit solo shots off 43-year-old Bartolo Colon in the fourth to give the Nationals a 4-1 lead.That put Giolito in good position to earn his first career win, but the 21-year-old right-hander faded fast. He threw 90 pitches over 3 2/3 innings and gave up four runs, seven hits and four walks. Both his major league outings have come against the Mets.I didnt really have good command from the start of the game and once I started to give up a lot of hard contact, the game started to speed up, Giolito said. It got away from me.After the ninth-inning double play, All-Star closer Jeurys Familia struck out Harper for his major league-best 31st save.Flores, who had just come off the bench in a double switch to play first base, connected off Oliver Perez (2-2) in the fifth to put New York up 7-6.Hansel Robles (3-3) retired Rendon with the bases loaded to end the top of the fifth.BIG HITTERIn a stunning bright spot, Perez went 2 for 2 at the plate with a double and scored a run for the first time since 2009 with the Mets. They were his first hits since 2010 for New York. A career .158 hitter coming into the game, he hustled into second on his sixth-inning double to right field and made it safely with more of a headfirst plunge, really, than a slide or a dive. On the other hand, my real job is to get the hitters out and I failed to do that, Perez said through a translator. The previous major league reliever with a multihit game was Esmil Rogers for Colorado at San Diego on July 30, 2011.TRAINERS ROOMNationals 1B Ryan Zimmerman, who homered Wednesday against Milwaukee, sat out because of general soreness. It was simply a precaution and he is day to day, Baker said. Robinson started at first base.UP NEXTWashington RHP Stephen Strasburg (11-0, 2.71 ERA) faces RHP Noah Syndergaard (9-3, 2.41) for the first time Friday night in a marquee matchup of ace pitchers heading to the All-Star Game next week in San Diego. Strasburg was pulled with a no-hitter intact after 6 2/3 innings Sunday against Cincinnati because he had already thrown 109 pitches in his first start since an upper back strain landed him on the DL. Cheap Ultra Boost 2018 China . Houston won 3-0 to advance to face New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Last in the game, Di Vaio and Romero got into a shoving match with several Houston players. Romero appeared to elbow and kick Houston defender Kofi Sarkodie. Grey Ultra Boost 2018 . The FA rejected Wilsheres appeal that the length of his punishment was "clearly excessive" and said Thursday his suspension begins with immediate effect. He will miss league matches against Chelsea on Monday and West Ham on Dec. http://www.cheapultraboostsale.com/ . -- Hunter Smith scored the winner with just 12 seconds remaining in the third period as the Oshawa Generals edged the host Sarnia Sting 5-4 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. Wholesale Ultra Boost 2018 .B. - Sebastien Auger made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 2-1 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. White Ultra Boost 2018 .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. As the last point of the mens singles final in Rio ended with Lee Chong Weis smash landing agonizingly wide, it was impossible not to feel for the Malaysian, who had lost the gold-medal match for the third straight Olympic Games. This, after winning his semi-final against the man who had denied him gold in the two previous games, Lin Dan. The defeat in the final was another in a long list of disappointments in the biggest tournaments.Lee Chong Weis career is an unusual mix of exceptional success, consistency, and disappointment. He has held the No. 1 ranking for an incredible 307 weeks since the beginning of 2009, when BWF computer rankings were first introduced; between August 2008 and June 2012 he spent 199 consecutive weeks at the top. These numbers of long-term dominance are much like those of Roger Federer, who was No. 1 in the ATP rankings for 302 weeks, including 237 in a row.The next best in badminton among mens singles players during this period is 76 weeks, by Chen Long, who defeated Lee Chong Wei in the Olympics final. Its clear that Lee Chong Wei has been the dominant player in mens singles badminton over the last eight years. Yet, the biggest prizes have consistently eluded him.In world badminton, the two biggest tournaments are the World Championships - held every year except the Olympic year - and the Olympic Games: each fetches the winner 12,000 points, while the Super Series Premier events fetch 11,000. Lee Chong has reached seven finals in these two biggest tournaments, but hasnt won a single one. Four times he has been denied by Lin Dan, and three times by Chen Long.In the 2016 Olympics, he got past Lin Dan in a titanic battle in the semi-finals 22-20 in the third game - the players hugged and exchanged shirts after the match in what was one of the most poignant moments of the Games - but Chen Long was a bridge too far. The defeat means Lee Chong has reached the final of the biggest tournament of the year in each of the last six years.dddddddddddd. only to lose each time.It isnt as if Lee Chong hasnt beaten these players or won other big tournaments in badminton - he has three All England Open titles, 11 Super Series Premier titles and four World Super Series Finals, the year-end championship featuring the top players. On the biggest stages, though, he has inexplicably fallen short.His head-to-head rivalry against his two biggest opponents bear some resemblance to Federers as well: he is 12-25 against left-hander Lin Dan (much like Federers 11-23 against another left-hand rival), and 13-13 against a younger, right-hand opponent Chen Long (not unlike Federers 22-23 head-to-head against Novak Djokovic).Like Lee Chong, Federer has lost several times to Nadal and Djokovic on the biggest stages in the last few years; since 2008, Federer is 0-4 against Nadal and 0-3 against Djokovic in Grand Slam finals, which adds up to a similar 0-7 record at the biggest stage of the biggest tournaments (though he has beaten them in other tournaments).Federer, though, has amassed enough Grand Slam titles to feel secure about his legacy as one of the greatest - if not the greatest - mens players of all time. He has won more Grand Slam titles than anyone on the mens tour, and has beaten both Nadal and Djokovic in Grand Slam finals in the past.While Lee Chong Weis longevity and his hold over the top ranking are Federer-esque, he doesnt have the biggest titles in the sport; by comparison, Lin Dan has won five World Championships and two golds in the Olympics, apart from six All England Open titles. Those are numbers that Lee Chong Wei cant get anywhere close to.(S Rajesh is Stats Editor of ESPNcricinfo) ' ' '