eat. He matched his career-high scoring total set in the opening win against Tulane to go with six rebounds, four assists and two turnovers in 21 minu

NEW YORK -- Bryce Harper, Trea Turner and the Washington Nationals stole this one from Noah Syndergaard.Harper hit two doubles and became the latest player to swipe a base against Syndergaard, helping A.J. Cole post his first major league win as the Nationals beat the New York Mets 4-1 Friday night.Washington won its fourth in a row and increased its NL East bulge over the wild card-contending Mets to 10 1/2 games.Like a lot of teams, the Nationals came out running on Syndergaard, stealing four bases in the early innings.Its all around the league that he doesnt hold runners yet, Washington manager Dusty Baker said.Tall and slow to the plate, Syndergaard has had 45 runners steal with him on the mound -- the most against any pitcher since Hideo Nomo in 2001, ESPN Stats & Info said.Baker said the strategy does more than set up runs. It also seems to rankle Syndergaard.Hes prideful, Baker said. After a steal, he added, he looks at the runner and doesnt like it very much.Only six runners have been caught with Syndergaard pitching. Before the game, Mets manager Terry Collins said Syndergaard had improved at holding runners on base.Maybe, but after Turner led off the game with a single, he stole two bases and scored on Harpers sacrifice fly.Just told myself at first to go, Turner said.With 20 steals, Turner set a Nationals-era record for most by a rookie. Hes also reached base safely in 21 straight games.Yeah, hes real fast, very aggressive, and Noahs going to have trouble with those kind of guys, Collins said.Harper doubled with one out in the fourth, stole his 19th base with two outs and came home on a single by Wilson Ramos. Harpers double set up Anthony Rendons two-run single in the ninth.The key to hitting Syndergaard, Harper said, is to not chase tough pitches he throws.Cole (1-1) gave up one run and three hits in six innings. He struck out five in his fourth big league start.This is what Ive been working toward, the 24-year-old righty said.Asdrubal Cabrera homered for the sixth time in eight games, sending a drive over the right-center wall in the Mets fourth. His 19th home run came one pitch after he hit a long fly that barely hooked foul into the upper deck in right field.Mark Rzepczynski, Koda Glover, Oliver Perez and Mark Melancon combined for three innings of scoreless relief. Melancon closed for his 38th save.Syndergaard (12-8) gave up just three hits in seven innings and retired his final 10 batters.Along with shutting down the Nationals in the middle innings, Syndergaard might have shut down the crowd, too. Earlier this week, he wrote on Twitter and said on video that he wasnt a fan of fans doing the wave.Daniel Murphy singled in the ninth, and has a hit in all 14 games against the Mets this season. He also stole a base against the team he boosted to the World Series last year.TENNIS, ANYONE?The U.S. Open is being held right across the street from Citi Field, and Harper said he didnt play tennis as a kid growing up in Las Vegas. Being on the court at 120 degrees, I didnt want that, he said. But even a few years ago, tennis had a hand in his development, sort of. My dad used to pitch me tennis balls, he said. Theyre hard to square up with a bat, harder than a baseball. You have to hit them just right or you foul them off. Made for a lot of frustrating swings.COVER CHARGEMets leadoff man Jose Reyes struck out twice in going 0 for 4, but he still managed to knock the cover off the ball. Literally, he did. In the first inning, Reyes hit a foul that kept spinning quickly in the batters box, with a flap of the ball coming loose. Reyes and Ramos watched it spin into the dirt for several seconds.TRAINERS ROOMNationals: RHP Stephen Strasburg (sore elbow) threw a bullpen and was feeling good, Baker said. There was no timetable for his return to the rotation, but Baker figured probably pretty soon.Mets: Collins said LHP Steven Matz (shoulder tightness) will head to the teams spring training complex in Florida after this weekend and start throwing again Monday. Matz is on the disabled list and hasnt pitched since Aug. 14.UP NEXTNationals: RHP Tanner Roark (14-7, 2.87 ERA) is 3-0 with a 1.82 ERA at Citi Field in seven games, four of them starts.Mets: RHP Robert Gsellman (1-1, 3.72) makes his second major league start. Among those in attendance will be Laurie Hernandez, who won a gold medal with the U.S. Olympic womens gymnastics team and will throw out the first ball. Tom Brady Patriots Jersey . That gave fans outside Joe Louis Arena another chance to ask for autographs from the 19-year-old whose stardom in the NHL has arrived earlier than most expected. Custom New England Patriots Jerseys . Following a lopsided 5-2 loss against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night, Paul MacLean told reporters that "theres a lack of focus, theres a lack of leadership and theres a lack of preparation" with his struggling team. That came on the heels of Bryan Murray taking the unusual step of going into the locker room at the Prudential Center and addressing the players himself. https://www.patriotssportsgoods.com/Womens-Jarrett-Stidham-Inverted-Jersey/ . Three came down to the fourth quarter while quarterbacks continued to shine in all four games; so important to the overall quality of the game. Irving Fryar Womens Jersey . -- Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Alrdridge were again the go-to duo for the Trail Blazers against the Kings. Rob Gronkowski Patriots Jersey . That gave fans outside Joe Louis Arena another chance to ask for autographs from the 19-year-old whose stardom in the NHL has arrived earlier than most expected. CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- North Carolina keeps sharing the ball and putting up big numbers, proving the fifth-ranked Tar Heels still have plenty of offensive punch despite losing a lot of production from last year.Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams is more focused on getting more consistency from his team on the defensive end, and maybe a little more attention to detail, too.Joel Berry II scored 23 points and UNC shot 53 percent to beat Long Beach State 93-67 on Tuesday night for a third straight lopsided win to open the season.Kennedy Meeks added 15 points for the Tar Heels (3-0), who scored the games first 14 points and led by 23 points by halftime. That dominating start was enough to erase any doubt about the outcome, though Williams was aggravated enough at one sloppy second-half stretch that he angrily punched a clipboard to the court during a timeout.That first 10 minutes of the second half ... that was about as bad offensively as Ive seen us in 31 practices and three games and one exhibition, Williams said, adding he also wants more from his team defensively.Still, that stretch was little more than a blip, the kind of moment that will give Williams something to focus on in coming practices. The Tar Heels -- who shot 59 percent in the opening half -- never let the 49ers closer than 16 after halftime.Gabe Levin scored 17 points for Long Beach State (1-2), who never recovered from an awful start that included making 8 of 31 shots (26 percent) in the first half. The 49ers finished at 36 percent and missed 20 of 26 3-pointers.Im disappointed that we didnt take advantage of the opportunity to come out here and play a little better early, Long Beach State coach Dan Monson said.BIG PICTURELong Beach State: This game came roughly 48 hours after a loss at Wichita State as part of a demanding opening stretch that includes a stop at No. 12 Louisville on Thursday as well as visits to UCLA, Washingtoon and Kansas before the end of November.ddddddddddddSo far, at least, Long Beach State is struggling to keep up, losing the past two games by a combined 63 points.This game will help us get better, Monson said. Hopefully Thursday will too.UNC: Williams angst aside, the Tar Heels offense has gotten off to a quick start. They had 20 assists on 32 baskets after assisting on 72 percent of their made shots through the first two games. They have also scored at least 93 points in all three games -- so far, so good for an offense with new people inheriting key roles from last years NCAA finalist.POLL IMPLICATIONSUNCs three wins have come by an average of nearly 29 points per game, part of the reason the Tar Heels climbed one spot in this weeks AP Top 25 poll.BERRYS STARTBerry is off to a fast start in his development as UNCs No. 1 threat. He matched his career-high scoring total set in the opening win against Tulane to go with six rebounds, four assists and two turnovers in 21 minutes.The junior is shooting 60 percent from the floor so far this season.Im just taking open shots, Berry said. Im not trying to force anything, not trying to play outside of my game and trying to do what I have to do to help this team.THEY SAID ITA lot of curse words, just telling us to get our stuff together because we were playing bad. -- Meeks on Williams angry timeout message.UP NEXTLong Beach State: The 49ers continue their nationwide trek at No. 12 Louisville.UNC: The Tar Heels head west for an extended trip, first to play Hawaii on Friday before beginning play in the Maui Invitational over the Thanksgiving holiday.---Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap---More AP college basketball at http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/APTop-25 ' ' '