NEW YORK -- Add Dan Harens pitching to Ryan Zimmermans hitting, and Washington again looked like a playoff team. Best Nike React Shoes . Too bad for the Nationals they cant subtract nearly a whole seasons worth of muddling along. "The math keeps getting smaller and smaller," Haren said. Haren threw one-hit ball for six innings, Zimmerman hit another home run and the Nationals won their fifth straight game, beating the New York Mets 3-0 on Wednesday in a night full of 9-11 tributes. The Nationals improved to 22-9 in their late charge toward a playoff spot. They remained six games behind Cincinnati for the final NL wild-card spot with only 17 to play. "I dont know how many more games we could lose," Haren said. Zimmerman hit his fifth home run in five games. He also stole a base, but was hit in the back by the throw and left in the bottom of the ninth. Nationals manager Davey Johnson said Zimmerman was stiff and would get treatment. Denard Span extended his hitting streak to a career-high 22 games and Anthony Rendon added a two-run double that broke it open in the eighth inning. Jayson Werth delivered another extra-base hit and Bryce Harper beat out an infield hit after missing four games because of a sore left hip. Haren (9-13) and the Washington bullpen held an overmatched New York lineup to three singles. The Mets started five rookies and lost for the eighth time in 10 games -- on Monday night, they were shut out on one hit by Nationals lefty Gio Gonzalez. The Mets were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention during the day. "I know theyre young. Thats all part of it," manager Terry Collins said. "But, as we said before, in the growing stages in this part of the year, we want to see some guys get better. And part of that getting better is being able to gather yourself on the side and get into the batters box and put a good at-bat on." Battered by the Mets and Marlins in his previous two starts, Haren dominated. He gave up a single to Juan Lagares in the fourth, struck out eight and walked one. Haren had no complaints about getting pulled by Johnson on a humid night. "I lost his confidence a little bit after the last two starts," Haren said. "I get it." Xavier Cedeno, Drew Storen, Tyler Clippard and Rafael Soriano combined for three scoreless innings of relief. Soriano closed for his 41st save, giving up a bunt single to Lagares. Zack Wheeler (7-5) gave up one run and eight hits in seven innings, striking out six and walking one. He wound up with his third loss in four starts. Zimmerman opened the sixth by homering beyond the leap of left fielder Eric Young Jr. His 22nd home run came on an 0-2 pitch and was the first long ball permitted by Wheeler in 36 innings -- he was tagged for nine homers in his first 57 innings this year as a major leaguer. The Reds 6-0 win over the Chicago Cubs was already posted when the Nationals took the field. They got off to a fast start when Span led off the game with a single and Werth lined a one-out double. Wheeler escaped by striking out Harper and Ian Desmond. Werth has gone 11 for 23 during Washingtons winning streak with two homers and six doubles. Collins wore an NYPD hat during batting practice, and there were several remembrances on the field, on the scoreboard and over the public-address system of those affected by the terror attacks 12 years ago. Before the game, the dugouts were filled with applauding players, managers and coaches as representatives of first responders from Sept. 11 marched into the middle of the diamond. The Mets and Nationals then lined up along the baselines for a moment of silence, followed by the national anthem. A member of the New York Fire Department performed "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch. NOTES: Zimmerman was 0 for 8 against Wheeler before homering off him. ... Lagares ended an 0-for-12 rut with his single. ... Mets INF Justin Turner will be "down for a few days" with a strain in his right hamstring. He hurt himself running the bases Tuesday night. ... Mets 3B David Wright (strained right hamstring) ran the bases before the game and will increase his workouts this weekend. Hes been out since Aug. 2 and theres no target date for his return. ... Nationals LHP Ross Detwiler, sidelined since early July because of a back strain, threw his second bullpen session. ... Before the game, Johnson admitted his preseason boast of "World Series or bust" had come too soon. "We had some injuries. We didnt have a lot of depth in pitching," the retiring manager said. "I wouldnt have been as cocky coming out and saying were going to dominate and win the World Series if all those things I knew werent set in place." Nike React Australia . Striker Dario Mandzukic scored the opener in the 22nd minute but was given a red card nine minutes later for a reckless tackle and left Croatia with 10 men for the remainder of the match. Nike React Cheap .com) - Kam Chancellor bobbed his head in celebration as he crossed the goal line on his game-clinching 90-yard interception return. http://www.cheapnikereactaustralia.com/ . The Mariners ace allowed just one hit over eight innings while striking out nine, and Robinson Cano backed him with a two-run homer as Seattle earned a 3-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Sunday.Optimal player deployment is a hockey question thats never going to have a definitive answer. Each team has unique roster and character traits that necessitate different use of skaters and goaltenders and some teams are afforded luxuries other teams dont possess. But trying to extrapolate the best possible performance from a 23-man roster is a league-wide question - one thats ingrained in a hockey operations or coaching staffs ability to maximize performance for each player on the roster. Like never before, todays NHL has an insatiable appetite for competent even-strength hockey players. And there are a lot of factors at play here. For one, the phasing out of enforcers and specialists has created a window of opportunity for a wave of skill players to take on larger roles at both positions. Front offices in Vancouver and Toronto have pointed to successful models in Los Angeles and Chicago - two franchises which have enjoyed reliable production from those bringing up the rear. And teams are cognizant that first lines and first pairings win a lot of hockey games. But finding the appropriate balance between maximizing their ice-time and minimizing fatigue effects has led to further prioritization of back end guys who can pick up the slack as needed. Theres another factor at play – the creation of more even-strength ice time by the continued decrease in penalties. Take for an example, this seven-year graph of the average NHL teams total power play minutes: In just seven seasons, the NHL teams full season average power play time has dropped more than 100 minutes from 528 to 426 – a 19 per cent decline. Its substantial - and there are shot and goal differentials to be won in the additional minutes created for five-on-five play. Have organizations handled their deployment as a result of this? I think the answer is yes. Take, for one example, the comparison chart below showing ice time for forwards (meeting our minimum criteria of 245 minutes played) in 2007 and 2014: The rightward shift here should seem apparent – a higher concentration of guys playing larger minutes now as opposed to seven years ago and fewer guys picking up scrap minutes in smaller roles. Thee number of forwards playing ten or less minutes a night has dropped from 109 in 2007, to 65 in 2014. Nike React Sale. And the number of forwards playing between 13 and 16 minutes a night has moved from 153 in 2007 to 231 in 2014. As a group, teams may still be leaning on their star players, but theres also been a more balanced spread of total ice time than there was seven years ago. So on a league-wide scale, forwards have experienced considerable change in deployment. But what about defencemen (meeting our minimum criteria of 245 minutes played)? Other than defensive defencemen, specialists on the blue line have been far less common than specialists (be it special teams specialists or enforcers) in the forward ranks. I think a large part of that is the fact that teams only carry six defencemen into a game and at least four of those guys play significant minutes every night. That said, I anticipated less overall change - at least relative to the forwards: My intuition, of course, was wrong. The rightward shift is rather clear here, too. There are far fewer players picking up scrap minutes on the blue line today then there were seven years ago. And again, there is a noticeably larger concentration of defenders picking up significant minutes per game. The 16- to 20-plus minute band is particularly interesting. In 2007, 38 per cent of regular defenders were playing 16 or more minutes a night. In 2014, that number has jumped to 64 per cent. Combine the importance placed on puck possession and territorial control with dissipating non-even strength minutes and you have a premium placed on guys who can skate regular shifts at five-on-five. This premium is more evident in some cities than others. But at the league level, talent and depth are no longer a luxury – they are a necessity. Popular hockey analytics writer Travis Yost joins TSN as a columnist appearing every Tuesday and Thursday during the season on TSN.ca and as a frequent guest on TSN Radio. Yost has appeared as a regular contributor to The Sporting News, NHLNumbers.com, Ottawa Citizen and HockeyBuzz.com, where he served as one of the sites lead analytics writers in addition to covering the Ottawa Senators beat. ' ' '