BALTIMORE -- The sweat was dripping off Freddy Garcias size 54 jersey from the first inning through the eighth. Yes, the 87 degree temperature made it a bit uncomfortable for the 250-pounder. On the positive side, the conditions served to make split-finger fastball virtually unhittable. Garcia pitched eight innings of three-hit ball to get the best of Dan Haren in a duel of veteran right-handers, and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Washington Nationals 2-0 Thursday night. Nick Markakis hit an RBI double in the third inning and Manny Machado doubled in a run in the eighth for the Orioles, who took three of four from the Nationals in a home-and-home series that began Monday in Washington. Making his sixth start for Baltimore, Garcia (2-2) struck out six, walked none and permitted only two runners past first base. The 36-year-old retired 17 of the first 19 batters he faced, including 14 straight after Adam LaRoche and Ian Desmond each singled to open the second inning, and concluded his performance with seven consecutive outs. "When its hot like that," Garcia said, "the splitters pretty good." The Nationals went down in order in six of eight innings against Garcia, who changed his jersey two or three times during the course of the game, according to Orioles manager Buck Showalter. "I think with the humidity, his fingers probably had a little sweat going on there," Desmond said. "That (split) was pretty unbelievable tonight, and he threw it a lot. He must have thrown 60 per cent split fingers, which is very out of the ordinary." Signed as a free agent by Baltimore in late March, Garcia toiled in the minors until being summoned by the Orioles on May 4. He has proven to be a very welcome addition to a team striving to reach the playoffs for a second straight season. "He had his A game today," Machado said. "He brought out what he could do for this ballclub to help us win. He pitched a (heck) of a game, had all his pitches right." Jim Johnson worked a perfect ninth for his 17th save, the second in two nights. Haren (4-6) allowed two runs and eight hits over 7 1-3 innings but absorbed his third straight loss. The 32-year-old struck out five and walked none. "I threw the ball well, but obviously Im not happy with the end result," he said. The pitching duel came after the neighbouring teams combined for 35 runs, 65 hits and 14 homers in the previous three games. "Both pitchers threw really, really well tonight," Baltimores Nate McLouth said. "I dont think there was a walk in the game. That shows you, if you throw strikes, what can happen. They both pitched amazing." The Orioles went up 1-0 in the third inning when Ryan Flaherty singled, took second on a single by Machado and scored on a two-out double by Markakis. Haren then struck out Adam Jones with runners at second and third. "I was walking the tightrope in that one inning and made a good pitch to Adam Jones to get out of it," Haren said. Washington, meanwhile, got only one runner past first base in the first six innings. In the second, after the singles by LaRoche and Desmond, both runners advanced on a groundout by Tyler Moore. Chad Tracy followed with a short fly ball to left and Kurt Suzuki popped out. That began Garcias run of 14 successive outs. It ended when Roger Bernadina singled with two outs in the sixth, but Ryan Zimmerman followed with a harmless grounder to second base. In the eighth, McLouth hit a bloop to short right field and hustled into second for a double. Machado then chased Haren with a sharp grounder inside the third base line, his league-leading 25th double. NOTES: Baltimores Chris Davis went 0 for 3, ending a run of eight games in which he got a hit and scored a run. He was 18 for 30 with six homers during that span. ... Washington opens a three-game series against NL East-leading Atlanta on the road Friday. Stephen Strasburg gets the start for the Nationals. ... Baltimore begins a three-game set against the visiting Detroit Tigers on Friday night. Miguel Gonzalez (2-2) will pitch for the Orioles, and the Tigers will start Max Scherzer (7-0). ... Nationals OF Jayson Werth (hamstring strain) began his rehab assignment Wednesday by playing three innings for Class A Potomac. He was expected to go five innings on Thursday. ... Orioles C Taylor Teagarden (dislocated thumb) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Norfolk on Friday. Brad Hand Indians Jersey . On Saturday night, the normally free throw-challenged centre did just that. Howard scored 18 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, including 13 of 19 free throws in a 2 1/2-minute stretch, and the Houston Rockets beat the Denver Nuggets 122-111. Bradley Zimmer Indians Jersey . After Gasquet beat fifth-seeded Ivan Dodig of Croatia 7-5, 6-3, Tsonga followed up with a 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-2 win against sixth-seeded Edouard Roger-Vasselin in an all-French match. http://www.indianssale.com/indians-tyler-clippard-jersey/ . -- Ohio States Urban Meyer has never had any issue acclimating to the biggest stages in college football. Jim Thome Indians Jersey . Meanwhile, there were huge victories for Sunderland and West Ham over fellow relegation rivals, leaving the battle to avoid the drop up for grabs with the bottom 11 teams separated by just six points. Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres scored second-half goals to seal a fourth straight victory for Chelsea, which climbed above Arsenal and Manchester City in the standings ahead of their games on Monday and Sunday respectively. Zach Duke Jersey . The players spoke Jan. 13 during a Major League Baseball Players Association conference call after Rodriguez sued the union and Major League Baseball to overturn an arbitrators decision suspending him for the 2014 season and post-season. Vishys counterattack lights up ChepaukIndia vs. West Indies, Madras, 1975Gundappa Viswanaths?daredevilry, which mesmerised the Chepauk full house, was a bold rescue act, which romantics swear would rarely be bettered.?At Eden Gardens, in the third Test, his 139 in the second innings was the catalyst to India winning their first match and keeping the five-Test series alive. Chepauk offered a slow, turning pitch in the fourth Test. Andy Roberts, however, was menacingly fast and precise, extracting extra bounce and having Indian hearts skip in fear. Viswanath came in at 24 for 2 and watched wickets tumble. At 117 for 8, it seemed all over for India. But Viswanath and Bishan Bedi remained resolute. Viswanath dished out a range of artistic strokes - square drives, straight drives, on drives and flicks. The 52-run partnership for the ninth wicket, during which Bedi faced only 23 balls, helped India to 190.Viswanath was undefeated on 97 and went back laughing. Roberts, who took 7 for 64, went back brooding. Erapalli Prasanna and Bedi then restricted West Indies first-innings lead to only two runs. Viswanath was among the runs in Indias second innings as well, his 93-run stand for the sixth wicket with Anshuman Gaekwad set West Indies a target of 255. Bhagwath Chandrasekhar burst through the defences of Gordon Greenidge with a fast legbreak. Farokh Engineer pouched Viv Richards brilliantly. Lloyd leapt out against Prasanna and was duly stumped. Alvin Kallicharan resisted with a fifty, but India won an hour into lunch to level the series after being 2-0 down.By Nagraj GollapudiBefore Kolkata 2001, there was Melbourne 1981India vs. Australia, Melbourne, 1981Before Kolkata 2001, there was Melbourne 1981. India bowled out for 237, three frontline bowlers injured, and in store, endless suffering in one of the most unforgiving settings in Test cricket: Australia on top at MCG. Australia went on to take an 182-run lead, which should have been enough to shut India out, but there was some rare pluck shown until then. Shivlal Yadav batted with a broken toe to see Gundappa Vishwanath to a hundred, then bowled 32 overs with painkiller injections in every session.Sunil Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan then - remember the altercation with Dennis Lillee? - led a batting resurgence to set Australia 143 in the fourth innings. From the moment Greg Chappell was bowled to a filthy long hop from Karsan Ghavri in the dying moments of day four, India believed they were destined to win. The pitch, slow and uneven by now, reminded them of home, which is another reason for this irresistible belief. With Australia 24 for 3 at the start of the final day, the injured Kapil Dev came back to bowl unchanged for 16.4 overs, straight and into the pitch, taking five wickets to bowl India to a 59-run win.By Sidharth MongaIndia ends 64 year Lords waitIndia vs. England, Lords, 1986India had been playing Tests at Lords, the home of cricket, since their arrival on the Test stage in 1932. But of their ten encounters previous to this one in 1986, eight had ended in defeat and the other two had been drawn. Three years ago, Kapil Dev and his men had shocked the world by lifting the World Cup at Lords but Test success at the games most hallowed venue remained elusive.David Gowers team had an unsettled air about it as the series began with his captaincy facing questions.dddddddddddd An assured hundred from Graham Gooch, who would score a triple century at the same venue against India four years later, was the bright spot in an otherwise insipid first innings batting effort. Derek Pringle made a combative 63 but as many as six English batsmen failed to cross double figures as they folded up for 294. Indias bowling attack was led by the sprightly Chetan Sharma who secured a place on the honours board with a five wicket haul with Roger Binny picking up a further three. Indias riposte with the bat was led by the man who would come to be known as the Lord of Lords. Dilip Vengsarkar had made hundreds in his previous two visits to the venue and constructed another masterpiece here. There was little support for Vengsarkar, who stroked 16 fours in his vigil and remained not out as India folded up for 341.A lead of 47 was by no means substantial but the all-round quality of Indias bowling attack decisively shifted the game in their favour. Kapil Dev was masterful with the new ball, picking up the first three wickets including the dangerous Gooch and captain Gower before the deficit was erased. The left arm spin of Maninder Singh flummoxed the lower order and India were left with just 134 to accomplish a famous win. Despite an stutter with the loss of openers Gavaskar and Srikanth, India werent to be denied. It took them 42 overs to go past the target for the loss of five wickets and take the series lead. Lords had been conquered and in a few days the second Test at Headingley was pocketed too as India clinched the series 2-0. It was the first time they had won more than one Test on a tour of England.By Gaurav KalraSrinath skittles South Africa out at MoteraIndia vs. South Africa, Ahmedabad, 1996A victory which was vintage Indian cricket, but then again not. Ahmedabad was the first of three Tests on South Africas first full tour of India. A dry, brown Motera wicket shrieked spin and promised hot-tin-roof-style batting and a low scorer and it was. A bowlers Test as expected but the victory not earned through a familiar template - bat once, bat big and let the spinners on. Allan Donald, pace and variation through the air cut through the Indian first innings, but Sunil Joshi, Anil Kumble and Narendra Hirwani kept the first innings lead down to 21.In the second, Indias top five were gone for less than 100 and only a fifty-plus partnership between a debutant called VVS Laxman and Kumble, helped set 170 as a target. South Africa had two days to get it, if only they could hold off the spinners. It was when Ahmedabad, its brown crumbler and dry winter air, produced the surprise in fast bowler Javagal Srinath firing the ball in - speed, accuracy, in swinger, off-cutter - slicing and dicing. His 12 overs dismantled South Africas batting and intention, two of the top three gone without a run on the board, only three batsmen getting to double figures. Srinath 6-21saw South Africa dismissed inside 39 overs with India winning by 64 runs. A runaway script, an unpredictable Test, an unexpected finish.By Sharda Ugra ' ' '