CHICAGO -- The Washington Nationals hit the halfway point of the season tied with Atlanta for the NL East lead. Adam LaRoche will take that. "I like our position in the standings and I like how our team is playing," LaRoche said after Washington swept a day-night doubleheader from the Cubs on Saturday. LaRoche and Wilson Ramos homered, Blake Treinen earned his first major league win and the Nationals beat Chicago 7-2 in a rainy nightcap. Gio Gonzalez pitched two-hit ball over seven innings in the opener for a 3-0 victory. In the second game, Washington tagged Jeff Samardzija (2-7) for six runs over five innings to salvage a four-game series split. LaRoche led off the second with a long drive to right for his 11th homer, and Ramos connected to start the fifth, sparking a four-run rally that made it 6-2. Making his fifth major league start, Treinen (1-3) allowed two runs and four hits in five innings. The right-hander was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse as the 26th man on the roster for the doubleheader. "It means a lot," he said about the win. "Im definitely excited, thats for sure." Ross Detwiler pitched three perfect innings for his first career save. The only runs for the Cubs came on a two-run homer by Luis Valbuena that tied it at 2 in the fourth, right about when the rain started falling. With two outs in the inning and Nate Schierholtz batting, play was stopped for 55 minutes. Once the game resumed, it didnt take long for the Nationals to regain the lead. Ramos connected on the first pitch of the fifth for his second homer, and Washington sent up nine batters in the inning. With two outs and a man on first, three straight singles by Anthony Rendon, Kevin Frandsen and Jayson Werth resulted in two more runs. First baseman Anthony Rizzo then let LaRoches hard smash get by him for an error, bringing in Frandsen to make it 6-2. "Coming out of the rain delay they jumped on me right off the bat, and then they hit some fastballs over the plate and hit them up the middle," Samardzija said. "Made me keep throwing pitches. Like I said, they did a good job. They were ready out of the break." In the first game, Gonzalez dominated in his third start back from the disabled list, outperforming Dallas Beeler in the rightys major league debut. Rendon had three hits, including a two-out double against Beeler in the sixth before scoring the games first run on a wild pitch. Rendon added an RBI triple off Justin Grimm and came home on a sacrifice fly by LaRoche against Wesley Wright in a two-run eighth. Denard Span chipped in with two hits and scored a run, and the Nationals snapped a three-game losing streak. Gonzalez (5-4) struck out seven and walked two while improving to 2-0 in three starts after missing a month because of inflammation in his pitching shoulder. Tyler Clippard worked the eighth and Rafael Soriano finished for his 19th save in 21 chances. "Obviously, coming (off) the DL and trying to work your way back is going to be a process," Gonzalez said. "Its not going to happen overnight. Its good to see, little by little, using fastball and changeup at the same time. Its good to know when you need them theyll be there." Beeler was about as good as Gonzalez. Called up from Triple-A Iowa as the 26th man, he pitched four-hit ball while allowing an unearned run in six innings. Beeler also singled in his first at-bat when he lined the first pitch he saw up the middle in the third, drawing big cheers from the crowd. "I was a lot calmer than what I thought Id be," he said. "I walked out there, took a deep breath, threw my warmup pitches, kind of looked around again, exhaled and I was like, All right, same game Ive been playing for the last 20 years." NOTES: Nationals OF Bryce Harper hit three homers and drove in five runs in a rehab game for Double-A Harrisburg. The 2012 NL Rookie of the Year is working his way back from a torn ligament in his left thumb. He went 4 for 5 as the DH against the Cleveland Indians Akron affiliate. Washington manager Matt Williams said hes not sure if Harper will play another game for Harrisburg on Sunday. The Nationals are optimistic he will return early in the week, if not Monday, when they open a three-game series against Colorado. ... The Cubs have their first scheduled Sunday off in 82 years because of the annual Pride Parade in Chicago. The last one was on June 19, 1932. Chicago played the Giants in New York on a Saturday and then went to Philadelphia on a Monday. Larry Gura Jersey . - Andre Drummond had his best night on the boards. Scott Blewett Jersey . Louis Cardinals on Sunday afternoon; a brief, poor outing that served to highlight two trends that have developed this season. https://www.cheaproyals.com/1397a-danny-...royals.html.com) - Calgary Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau has been selected as the NHLs Rookie of the Month for December, the league announced Friday. Mark Gubicza Jersey . This has become the Raptors mantra as they embark on a new era with a new regime and, in the not-so-distant future, a new image. Kyle Zimmer Jersey . TSN 1290s Jordan Cieciwa, Big Marv and Toby are here to give their predictions on who will leave with the belt and who will take some of the other key bouts on the card. Johny Hendricks vs. MINNEAPOLIS -- The shots were clanking and the frustration was mounting for J.J. Barea during a three-game shooting slump that was getting him booed off his home court with regularity. With the lowly Milwaukee Bucks hitting everything in sight, Minnesota coach Rick Adelman gave Barea some time with the Ricky Rubio in the same backcourt, and the throwback lineup helped jumpstart Barea and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Kevin Love had 27 points, 10 rebounds and six assists and Barea scored 19 points to lift the Timberwolves to a 112-101 victory over the Bucks on Tuesday night. After going 5 for his previous 25, Barea hit seven of 10 shots to help wake up the sluggish Wolves and Kevin Martin scored 26 points to help them finish a four-game homestand at 2-2. After carving a niche for himself in this league as a helter-skelter, mini-shooting guard who thrives when playing alongside a bigger point guard, roster limitations have forced Adelman to play Barea as a more prototypical backup point guard this season. But Milwaukee plays a smaller backcourt, which allowed Adelman the chance to pair Barea and Rubio. "I love it. I miss it," Barea said. "I miss playing off the ball a little bit, especially with Ricky. When Im making shots, its great for our team." Brandon Knight scored 21 points for the Bucks (13-51), who led at halftime and were looking for their first set of back-to-back victories this season. But after scoring 61 points in the first half and leading by 11 points in the second quarter, the Bucks were outscored 19-4 to start the fourth quarter. "Fourth quarter, we couldnt really get anything going," said Bucks guard Nate Wolters, who had 14 points. "Weve had problems all year in the fourth quarter closing games. We gave ourselves a chance to win, having a lead going into the fourth, but just couldnt get it going and win." Rubio had 11 points and 10 assists and three steals for Minnesota. "J.J.s a great scorer and sometimes he needs to play the (shooting guard)," Rubio said. "But its hard to do it when they have a (big) two. But I like playing with him. He made shots today and he played a lot." The Timberwolves scored 30 points off of 15 turnovers by Milwaukee to offset some poorous defence that allowed the Bucks to shoot 52.dddddddddddd per cent. They trailed by six points at halftime, but Love and Dante Cunningham fueled the game-clinching run with a flurry of jumpers that pushed the lead to 105-88. "There was no pace and we let them get defensive stops," said Bucks forward ZaZa Pachulia, who had a career-high 10 assists with nine points and six rebounds. "They are one of the best teams in transition and they got out in front of us and got easy buckets in transition. We just werent able to get back." The Wolves (32-31) entered the game five games behind Memphis for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. In all likelihood, they kicked away their chance to make the post-season for the first time in 10 years with losses to the Knicks and Raptors earlier in this homestand. A loss to the worst team in the league at home surely would have ended any slim hopes that remained. The Bucks have been playing better basketball, at least offensively, since a trade last month brought Ramon Sessions and Adrien from Charlotte and sent disgruntled guard Gary Neal to the Bobcats. Even so, they were playing the second night of a back-to-back while the Wolves were playing their fourth straight game at home. The Bucks also were missing starting power forward Ersan Ilyasova because of a sore ankle. But as the Timberwolves have done all year long, they delivered a listless defensive effort to give their opponent life it had no business having. Milwaukee made its first 12 shots, the longest streak without a miss to open a game in the league this season, and shot over 71 per cent in the first quarter to jump out to a 33-22 lead. Barea made his first six shots in the second quarter, including a layup that tied the game at 49. NOTES: Wolters, from nearby St. Cloud, Minn., had a large contingent of fans who came both from his hometown and from South Dakota. Wolters starred in college at South Dakota State. ... Timberwolves F Luc Richard Mbah a Moute hosted a dozen young fans from the south of France. The fans made plans to travel to the U.S. to see him play for Sacramento against New York. But Mbah a Moute was traded to Minnesota in December, so he picked up the tab to change their flights. ' ' '