WASHINGTON -- For a guy who was originally supposed to have the weekend off, Bryce Harper was pretty productive on Saturday. Harper drove in three runs after talking his way into Washingtons lineup, Ryan Zimmerman knocked in the go-ahead run and the Nationals rallied for a 5-4 win over the San Diego Padres. Adam LaRoche homered, and Denard Span and Ian Desmond added two hits apiece as the Nationals won their third straight and moved three games over .500 (45-42) for the first time since mid-May. Harper, who was named to the NL All-Star Team on Saturday along with starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann, texted Davey Johnson and lobbied for playing time earlier in the day after the Washington manager said Friday night that he was probably going to give the young slugger the weekend off. "In his text he said, Play me or trade me," Johnson said before the game. "And so since tradings out of the question I guess Im going to play him." Harper walked with the bases loaded in the third, hit an RBI single in the fifth and drove in the tying run in the seventh with a sacrifice fly. "Yeah, I mean I was pretty serious about what I said," Harper said of his text. "You know I want to play. I want to play every day and if he wants to put me in the lineup then I want to be in the lineup. And if he doesnt then Im going to try and make him put me in the lineup. "Its something that I want to do every day and Im going to grind through everything I do and play as hard as I can and good things happen." Since returning from the disabled list and homering in his first at-bat Monday night against Milwaukee, Harper had gone 0 for 19 before his RBI single. He was 0 for 4 with a sacrifice fly in Friday nights 8-5 win over San Diego. Jesus Guzman hit a three-run homer and doubled for San Diego, which has lost eight straight. The Padres went 1 for 14 with runners in scoring position Saturday. Ross Ohlendorf (2-0) got the win, Drew Storen pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and Rafael Soriano pitched the ninth for his 24th save. Soriano allowed a pair of singles with one out, but retired pinch hitter Mark Kotsay and Everth Cabrera -- on a diving stop by LaRoche at first -- to end it. The Nationals trailed 4-3 when they came up in the seventh. Span and Desmond singled off reliever Nick Vincent (2-1) with one out, and left-hander Joe Thatcher came on to face Harper. After a wild pitch advanced both runners, Harper lifted a fly ball to left and Span scored easily after the catch to tie it. Zimmerman followed with a RBI single off Luke Gregerson to score Desmond with the go-ahead run. "Weve been playing better lately and obviously scoring runs later in the game and getting hits like that, so (weve) got to keep doing that and take it one game at a time slowly just kind of creep up," Zimmerman said. Trailing 3-1 in the sixth, the Padres got one-out singles from Carlos Quentin and Chase Headley. Johnson lifted Jordan Zimmermann after he had thrown 101 pitches and brought in Ohlendorf to face Guzman, who deposited a 1-1 fastball in the Padres bullpen to give San Diego the lead. "I tell you, this game is weird," Guzman said. "Ive had three or four home runs to give us the lead, and weve lost. And we win the game (earlier in the season) at home when I get hit by pitch." Zimmermann, who was suffering from neck stiffness, allowed three runs and five hits in 5 1-3 innings, striking out four and walking one. "Its been going on for a little while, but Ill be fine," he said. "Today I was just deep in the counts and they were battling and made me work out there, and it was probably one of the hottest games Ive ever pitched in, so that definitely doesnt help." San Diego starter Jason Marquis went six innings, allowing three runs on eight hits. He struck out three, walked three and also contributed at the plate with a double and an RBI groundout. "Its not fun," Marquis said. "Especially after the hole we dug out of early. We put ourselves in a good position to stay in it." Washington took the lead in the third. Anthony Rendon led off with a single and Kurt Suzuki doubled him to third. Ryan Zimmermann struck out, but Span walked to load the bases. Desmond grounded into a fielders choice, with Rendon out at home, but Harper walked to make it 1-0. LaRoche made it 2-0 when he led off the fourth with his 13th homer of the season, a line drive into the Nationals bullpen. "That was a wild game," Johnson said. "We had chances to put Marquis out of his misery early and couldnt do it, but kept battling." San Diego got a run back in the fifth when Logan Forsythe walked and later scored on Marquis grounder to short. Washington got it right back when Span singled, stole second, went to third on a bloop single by Desmond and scored on Harpers single. NOTES: Padres C Yasmani Grandal was hurt on Rendons slide and left the game with a right knee sprain. Padres manager Bud Black said hell go on the disabled list. . Johnson said starting pitcher Ross Detwiler experienced discomfort in his back when he threw his bullpen session and headed for the disabled list. . Black said 2B Jedd Gyorko (groin) did some running before Saturdays game and hopes to play a minor league rehab game in the middle of next week. . San Diego LHP Robbie Erlin (1-1, 4.34 ERA) opposes Stephen Strasburg (4-6, 2.24) in Sundays series finale.Peter Boulware Jersey . Ashley Youngs cross was inadvertently headed by Chester into his own net in the 66th minute, allowing United to claim a third straight league win. "We had to dig deep with our fighting spirit and weve done that," United striker Wayne Rooney said. Robert Griffin III Jersey . The Dane followed up his first European Tour title last weekend with eight birdies and just a single dropped shot on Thursday for a one-stroke advantage over South Africas Allan Versfeld and Portugals Ricardo Santos. http://www.customravensjersey.com/custom-gus-edwards-jersey-large-1733d.html .com) - Yankee Stadium is the home of the Bronx Bombers, but on Sunday afternoon it will open its gates to host the latest addition of the Hudson River Rivalry. Nick Murphy Jersey .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. Clarence Moore Jersey . -- If this was Aaron Gordons final home game at Arizona, and it almost certainly was, then he went out in style.Throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs, NHL on TSN analyst and former NHL goaltender Jamie McLennan ranks the netminders after each game night. Number values assigned are out of five with five being the best performance. Antti Niemi - 4 - Very good on ice coverage again. Bad goal on Brown, he was late to get back to post, but made huge post play saves on Brown earlier in the game and Clifford on a Kopitaar rebound he was able to seal the ice quickly.dddddddddddd. Jonathan Quick - 4 - Aggressive all game long, played 18 inches outside his blue paint when he was allowed to by the sharks. No chance on the Thornton goal, and was late to pick up Galiardis goal as it came through Reghers legs. Even the Galiardi goal, if you look at where he is playing, it shows how aggressive and confident he is. ' ' '