WASHINGTON -- T.J. Rivera will not forget his first major league home run anytime soon.The rookie second baseman belted an 0-2 pitch off Mark Melancon into the left-field seats with one out in the 10th inning to lift the New York Mets to a 4-3 victory over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night.All I could do was go up there and try to have a good at-bat, Rivera said. He left something up and luckily I was able to put the barrel on it. That was pretty much my whole concept, my whole idea for that at-bat was really just compete because Id never faced him before.The Mets pulled within nine games of Washington in the NL East and remained a half-game ahead of St. Louis in the NL wild-card race. New York has won eight of its last 10 and is 17-6 since Aug. 20, gaining 3 1/2 games on Washington in that stretch.Jeurys Familia (3-3) earned the victory despite surrendering two runs in the ninth to blow his fourth save of the season. Left-hander Jerry Blevins struck out Daniel Murphy for the final out to earn his first save since 2012.I was trying to put it into play, said Murphy, who earlier had two hits and has hit safely against the Mets in 18 consecutive games this season. I was unsuccessful.Rivera, who won the Pacific Coast League batting title this season and entered the night with 41 career at-bats in the majors, probably would not have played if Wilmer Flores wasnt dealing with a stiff neck. Manager Terry Collins gave Rivera the start, and the move paid off even before the home run.Rivera had an RBI single in the third and a sacrifice fly in the fifth, then took Melancon (2-2) deep after the Nationals rallied to force extra innings.Somebody has to surprise you, Collins said. Somebody you dont expect has to come through, and tonight it was T.J.Washington mustered only four hits in the first eight innings, but quickly got to Familia in the ninth. Murphy led off with an infield single, and third baseman Jose Reyes threw Bryce Harpers grounder into the seats. Anthony Rendon and Wilson Ramos then delivered consecutive singles to tie it.Familia then got Ryan Zimmerman to line out and pinch-hitter Clint Robinson to hit a soft liner to second that fooled pinch-runner Wilmer Difo, who was doubled off first.We have arguably the best closer in the game and they hit four groundballs and three of them didnt get out of the infield and the games tied, Collins said. He was frustrated by it and we certainly understand it, but we wouldnt be sitting where we are without him.After Jayson Werths two-out single off Fernando Salas in the 10th brought the winning run to the plate, Collins called on Blevins. He got two strikes on Murphy, who then worked a full count before missing a curveball to end it.Hes so good and an MVP candidate for a reason, Blevins said. You try to take advantage of some aggressiveness and get him to swing at your pitch.Noah Syndergaard struck out 10 over seven innings for the Mets, yielding just one run and four hits.When you run probably your best pitcher out, you have to win that game, Collins said. You have to win this game tonight with Noah on the mound. He pitched great.Nationals starter A.J. Cole allowed three runs and nine hits in five innings.SYNDERGAARDS MILESTONESyndergaards 10-strikeout outing of the season gave him 205 for the season. The 24-year-old is the fifth Met to record 200 strikeouts at that age or younger, joining Tom Seaver (1968 and 1969), Jon Matlack (1973), Dwight Gooden (1984-86) and Sid Fernandez (1986).ZEROES FOR RZEPCZYNSKIWashington reliever Marc Rzepczynski retired the lone Met he faced and has not allowed an earned run in nine appearances since being acquired from Oakland on Aug. 25. Rzepczynski has yielded four hits and three walks in 8 1/3 innings since joining the Nationals.TRAINERS ROOMMets: INF Flores (stiff neck) remained out of the lineup and was going to try to hit in the batting cage before the game. Flores has not played since Saturday. ... OF Justin Ruggiano, on the DL since Aug. 27, underwent left shoulder surgery. He hit .350 with two homers in 20 at-bats this season.Nationals: 1B Zimmerman, who did not start the last two times Syndergaard pitched against Washington, was in the lineup against the right-hander. Zimmerman entered the night 1 for 8 lifetime against Syndergaard and went 1 for 3 against him.UP NEXTMets: RHP Robert Gsellman (2-1, 3.92) faces Washington for the second time this month. The rookie allowed one run in six innings to earn the victory against the Nationals on Sept. 3.Nationals: RHP Tanner Roark (14-8, 2.85), who has quality starts in seven of his last nine outings, starts the finale of the three-game series for Washington. http://www.brownsrookiestore.com/Browns-Isaiah-Crowell-Jersey/ . Pedro scored from a pass by Lionel Messi in the 33rd minute and added two more goals in the 47th and 72nd after Valdes saved his second penalty in four days following his stop in Wednesdays 4-0 over Ajax in the Champions League. http://www.brownsrookiestore.com/Browns-Joe-Schobert-Jersey/ . Philadelphia is 2-0 against the Senators this season and scored five goals in each victory. The Flyers recorded a 5-0 win in Ottawa on Nov. 12 and then earned a 5-2 home decision on Nov. 19. The Flyers have claimed three straight and four of the last five encounters with the Sens overall and Philly has won two in a row and three of its past four tests in Canadas capital city. http://www.brownsrookiestore.com/Browns-Larry-Ogunjobi-Jersey/ . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. http://www.brownsrookiestore.com/Browns-Kevin-Hogan-Jersey/ . Aduriz headed home Markel Susaetas cross in the sixth minute to open the scoring at San Mames Stadium. He bettered that with a long-range blast that went in off the goal frame in the 18th, and converted a penalty in the 72nd after Diego Mainz was sent off for fouling Aduriz with only the goalkeeper to beat. http://www.brownsrookiestore.com/Browns-Jim-Brown-Jersey/ . 1, meaning problems for the doping controls at both major international sports events next year. The World Anti-Doping Agency provisionally suspended the Moscow Antidoping Center on Sunday, saying its operations must improve or a six-month ban on the facilitys accreditation will be imposed. (STATS) -- Theres always talk about whos in and whos out with the final at-large selections of the FCS playoff field each season.The NCAA committee delivered a message last November that its willing to reward playoff-level teams that face playoff-worthy schedules. After facing what was deemed the toughest schedule in the FCS, Western Illinois became the first six-win team (at 6-5) to receive an at-large selection to the 24-team field.Teams hiding behind soft schedules may want to think twice about what some of the Big Sky and Missouri Valley programs are doing this week. The two power conferences have three big matchups between nationally ranked teams -- No. 8 Eastern Washington at No. 1 North Dakota State, No. 14 Montana at No. 3 Northern Iowa, and No. 19 Northern Arizona at No. 18 Western Illinois.The Southern and Southland conferences also check in with a key intersectional game: Samford at Central Arkansas. The winner will get a long look from Top 25 voters.No team should be penalized for playing good people, winning or lose. To me, thats what its all about, I think its great, said Western Illinois first-year coach Charlie Fisher, the offensive coordinator on last years national semifinal Richmond team.You see the FBS teams going to this, where more teams are having to play higher-level teams. It makes it great for our fans, for opposing fans, and quite honestly, thats the way it ought to be. Thats what great leagues do, they play other great leagues and good teams. It creates a lot of excitement and you find out a lot about your team early on. Its no different in basketball -- teams that schedule hard get better and they have an opportunity to get in the tournament at the end.North Dakota State, which has won an NCAA-record five straight national titles, is helping to set the standard for non-conference schedules this season. The Bison have beaten No. 7 Charleston Southern, face another Top 10 team in Eastern Washington and visit Big Ten power Iowa in another week. All this on top of playing in a Missouri Valley Conference that is considered the best in the FCS.But Eastern Washington, Northern Iowa and Western Illinois -- all part of the fun on Saturday -- also are right there with tough schedules as is 2015 national runner-up Jacksonville State from the Ohio Valley Conference.National programs that have been slow too take on demanding non-conference schedules in recent years, such as James Madison from CAA Football and Youngstown State from the Missouri Valley, are probably going to have to change their way of thinking.dddddddddddd Second-year YSU coach Bo Pelini said he is looking for tougher games on future schedules, and JMU has a new coach in Mike Houston.An expansion of the regular season could impact scheduling. The NCAA proposal to allow FCS teams to play a permanent 12th game in the regular season, submitted by the Ohio Valley and Southland conferences, would likely cause top teams to try to schedule another tough game.The proposal has been submitted into the normal legislative cycle for the 2017 NCAA Convention in January, but it has drawn only lukewarm support across FCS conferences.If youre in an 11-game schedule, I think youre limited in what you can do with your non-conference schedule, Northern Iowa coach Mark Farley said. But with a 12-game, I think we all have our options (with) what fits our school best, whether we play a Division I (FBS), whether we get another home game. I think its based on financial choices as much as football choices. So thats what that 12th game allows us do.Our deal has always been we want to get into the NCAA playoffs. Thats (as) many Division I wins as you get, you want Division I wins, said Central Arkansas coach Steve Campbell, who felt his team was playoff-worthy last year, although its strength of schedule was not high enough.For the foreseeable future as far as our program is concerned, we have a lot of our FBS opponents and FCS opponents already mapped out for the next six to seven years. As it develops over the years, Im sure (a 12th game) will have some influence.With far fewer FCS schools in the western United States, Big Sky programs tend to take on riskier non-conference games than programs in many other conferences. The Missouri Valley isnt far behind in that regard. Hence, the trio of big matchups Saturday with another one -- Weber State at South Dakota -- kicking off first as kind of the undercard.A tough non-conference schedule, Fisher said, does allow your team to grow up in a hurry. ... Its a good challenge for us, a good early season challenge. 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