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NEW YORK -- Ian Desmond wants more. Desmond homered off a backup catcher, Gio Gonzalez pitched seven shutout innings and the Washington Nationals roughed up rookie Zack Wheeler and the New York Mets 13-2 Sunday for a much-needed road-series win. "Its stride in a right direction," Desmond said. "Obviously I think were capable of more than this. Not being greedy or anything, but we have a good offence and we feel like we can score runs." Adam LaRoche homered and Desmond and Denard Span had RBI doubles in a four-run second to spoil Wheelers home debut, which became such a laugher that catcher Anthony Recker pitched the ninth inning. Jayson Werth also homered against the Mets touted prospect as Washington finally gave Gonzalez (5-3) some run support -- and then some. Every Nationals position player had at least one hit and an RBI in setting a season-high for runs. Washington improved to 4-8-2 in road series by taking two of three from the Mets. With the expected Monday return of star slugger Bryce Harper, who has been out since late May with left knee bursitis, the Nationals are optimistic of making a run in the NL East despite finishing the first half a disappointing 41-40. "Anytime you can add a guy like that to your lineup, offensively and defensively, youre in good shape," catcher Kurt Suzuki said. Suzuki hit a two-run homer and Anthony Rendon had a two-run double when Washington batted around in a six-run eighth. Suzuki also had an RBI single in the second against Wheeler (1-1). A day that began with such promise for Mets fans ended as Recker smiled when he was introduced while warming up to pitch the ninth. Desmond hit a two-run homer off the facade of the restaurant in left field, giving him 28 RBIs in June and a Nationals record for any month. "I wanted to throw strikes and stay within myself and not get hurt," said Recker, who reached 88 mph on the stadium radar. Gonzalez (5-3) won for only the third time in 11 outings since May 5, even though he has given up two earned runs or fewer in 10 of those games. "Nobody likes to waste good pitching like we have for the first half of the season," Ryan Zimmerman said. After giving up a one-out single to Daniel Murphy and walking David Wright in the first, Gonzalez retired 17 of 18 around Wrights fourth-inning double before pinch-hitter Zack Lutz walked to open the seventh. Josh Satin followed with a single, and pitching coach Steve McCatty took a slow walk to the mound. Gonzalez retired the next three batters and finished with seven strikeouts and two walks. Mets starters Matt Harvey and Dillon Gee dominated the Nationals in the first two games of the series, and many of the 33,366 fans -- the second-highest attendance this season at Citi Field after opening day -- were eager to see Wheeler do the same in his third big league start. The crowd included his parents and two brothers. Wheeler got the biggest cheer from fans when lineups were announced and then another roar after striking out two in the first with a fastball that ranged from 94-98 mph. But he didnt make it through five innings. LaRoche quieted the crowd in the second with a drive off the facing of the second deck in right field on the first pitch. Unsettled, Wheeler walked Werth on four pitches and allowed an RBI double to Desmond. "He looked pretty good," LaRoche said. "Got to work on that control a bit. Hes got a live arm, hes got some really good potential." Desmond laid off two sliders before sending a fastball into the right-centre gap. One long fly out later, Suzuki singled through a drawn-in infield for a 3-0 lead. After Gonzalez struck out, Span doubled to left-centre on a 93 mph fastball for the innings final run. Wheeler slowly walked off the mound to near silence. When Wheeler sat in the dugout, manager Terry Collins stopped by for a moment and the 23-year-old received pats of encouragement from pitching coach Dan Warthen and Harvey. Werth homered to left-centre on another fastball with two outs in the third and Wheeler was chased after walking LaRoche with two outs in the fifth, putting runners on first and third. "I left a few balls up and Im learning pretty fast that you cant get away with mistakes," Wheeler said. "Ive always struggled with fastball command. My command has to improve." The sixth overall pick by San Francisco Giants in the 2009 amateur draft, Wheeler has had mixed results in the majors. He pitched six scoreless innings in his debut in Atlanta but gave up four runs and four hits in 5 1-3 innings against the Chicago White Sox, an outing in which Collins said Wheeler was tipping his pitches. This time Wheeler yielded five runs and six hits in 4 2-3 innings. He struck out five and walked two. John Buck hit a two-run homer in the ninth for the Mets. NOTES: The Mets finished June 11-15, Washington was 13-13. ... Harper batted .364 (4 for 11) with a double, triple and homer in four rehab games. ... Nationals RHP Dan Haren (shoulder inflammation) had a bullpen session for first time since going on DL last week. He said he thinks he will pitch a sim game Wednesday. Wholesale Custom Jerseys Authentic . -- Team after team passed on Andre Ellington in the draft. Cheap Custom Jerseys China .Y. - New York City has been selected to host the NBA All-Star weekend in 2015, with the game played at Madison Square Garden and the slam dunk contest and other skills events held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. http://www.jerseyscustom.us/ . Didier Drogba gave away the penalty that put Senegal one goal away from a major upset, but the veteran striker will get another chance -- probably his last -- at the World Cup after Salomon Kalous injury-time strike sealed the Ivorians place in Brazil next year. Fake Custom Jerseys .H. -- Matt Kenseth made it 2 for 2 in the Chase, holding off teammate Kyle Busch to win Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Wholesale Custom Jerseys . -- Devin Hester is done returning kicks in Chicago. DUBLIN, Ireland -- Irish fans will be familiar with the script that unfolded at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday evening.Their team worked tirelessly for 80 minutes, but just as it looked as though they would find a way through the All Blacks defence, a hammer blow was struck at the other end. Normal service was resumed.New Zealand were made to graft for this win. Faced by a vociferous crowd, and a determined opponent, this victory will be remembered as much for the 144 tackles made by those wearing black as for the finesse added by fly-half Beauden Barrett.It was Barrett who picked off Ireland when the opportunity arose, with the timing of a world champion boxer. He set up his teams first try and scored the second - naturally, he also had a hand in the third.But this was a performance built on resilience and character. The All Blacks lost a wealth of experience following the 2015 Rugby World Cup, but the current incarnation are proving just as daunting an opponent in only their first year together.This could well become an important result in the evolution of a record-breaking side.Two weeks ago this team suffered their first loss, that created a bit of adversity, coach Steve Hansen admitted after their Dublin win. Today was all about seeing how theyd stand up to that. So, to come out on top 21-9, three tries to none and defend for long periods of the game, I think they answered a lot of questions re their character.?While it wasnt always pretty I think theres plenty for us to learn and get better on. To be at this point of the year, after losing 818 caps, youve got to be reasonably happy. Pretty good year so far.A pretty good year is obviously a sizeable understatement for a team who prior to stepping on the pitch in Chicago had set a new benchmark for consecutive Test wins. But it is telling that Hansen believes they can still get better.The All Blacks performance in Dublin was far from perfect. They conceded 66 percent possession and 69 percent territory, and the pressure that Ireland were able to exert was highlighted by the fact that they had to plaay a quarter of this match with 14 men as Aaron Smith and Malakai Fekitoa saw yellow.ddddddddddddBut it is in adversity that the size of someones heart can be measured.We had to defend, All Blacks captain Kieran Read said. As Steve said the character of the men really showed up. The way we defended, we had to work bloody hard.After 15 minutes it had seemed that they wouldnt have to work all that hard. In defence anyway. The determination of those wearing green in the stands of the Aviva Stadium to witness yet more history was palpable.We are now used to seeing players running out amid the crescendo of fireworks, of course, but this seemed a little different. There was a collective will to ensure that the result in Chicago would not prove a one-off.Unfortunately, for the majority of the 51,000 fans in attendance, there was an equally powerful assertion from the All Blacks that Ireland would not become only the second team in 10 years to secure back-to-back wins against them.After an early Irish surge, the crowd fell silent as Barrett drilled a cross-field kick into the grateful arms of Fekitoa to score the games opening try. Just over 10 minutes later, he had added a second himself following consultation with the TMO.There was consternation from the home support, but while Barretts try was still being debated as they departed into the night, the All Blacks first score was the beautiful result of some hard work on the training pitch.Our kicking game was better, Hansen said. Although it wasnt as great as wed like it to be. To win big Test matches, particularly against sides who are good defending sides, youve got to be able to kick the ball to space, youve got to be able to pass it there or run it there. Its as simple as that.Simple it definitely wasnt but New Zealand have proven that any talk of their demise was greatly exaggerated. France will find out next weekend exactly how much they learned from this bruising Test match. ' ' '