WASHINGTON -- Bryce Harper swung at the 91 mph pitch in the bottom of the 13th inning and could tell right away the ball would end up over the fence. Custom Philadelphia Phillies Jerseys . "I knew it was gone. I mean, I felt it," the 2012 NL Rookie of the Year said. "I havent felt like that in a while. I havent got extension on a ball in a pretty long time." Harpers fourth homer of an injury-interrupted, trying season was a game-ending, two-run shot to the opposite field off righty reliever Carlos Torres, lifting Washington past the New York Mets 5-3 Thursday and giving the Nationals a season-high 4 1/2-game lead in the NL East. "Wanted to put a two-seamer down and away," said Torres (5-5), who struck out Harper on Wednesday. "It didnt move that much, unfortunately." Harper was hitting .250 with 14 RBIs in 2014 entering Thursday, with zero homers since July 18. "Hopefully he rides that for the next couple months and (we) sail off into the sunset," said Ian Desmond, who walked ahead of Harpers homer. Desmond drove in Washingtons first three runs with a two-run homer in the second inning, his 18th, and an RBI single in the fourth -- both off Mets starter Jacob deGrom. So can one swing change things for Harper? "In my mind, Im hoping so. Definitely," he said. Harper missed 57 games because of a torn ligament in his left thumb, returning June 30. He immediately caused a stir that day by publicly offering suggestions for how Williams should arrange his lineup. This week, the morning after Harper went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts in a loss to the Mets on Tuesday, Williams was asked on radio station 106.7 The Fan whether it would be a bad idea to send Harper to the minors. When a reporter followed up during Williams pregame news conference Wednesday, the manager vented, saying: "The minute you think you can read my freaking mind, youre sorely mistaken." At the end of his postgame session with reporters Thursday, Williams offered an unprompted mea culpa, saying: "I didnt sleep much last night. So I just wanted to apologize to members of the press for my actions yesterday." The Nationals now head into a three-game series beginning Friday at the reeling second-place Atlanta Braves. Atlanta was off Thursday after an 0-8 road trip against the Dodgers, Padres and Mariners. "Theyre going to want our throat," Harper said. Said Craig Stammen (2-4), who worked three scoreless innings for the win Thursday: "We know these three games will be big because theyre right on our tails." He was Washingtons seventh pitcher. The Mets used eight. Closer Jenrry Mejia left after giving up two hits in his only inning of work, the 12th, and said afterward his right calf was "just a little bit tight." Hours after he left the mound following his 6 1-3 innings of work, Nationals starter Jordan Zimmermann was thrilled with the way Harper ended the game. "Were all pulling for him," Zimmermann said. "Hopefully he gets out of this little rut hes in." TRAINERS ROOM Mets: About Mejia, whose right calf was taped up after the game, manager Terry Collins said: "Well find out more tomorrow. If its still bothering him, he certainly wont pitch tomorrow." Nationals: Reserve outfielder Nate McLouth (15-day DL, right shoulder) got an anti-inflammatory injection and was "shut down for a few days to get everything calmed down in there," Williams said. UP NEXT Nationals: Stephen Strasburg (8-9, 3.39 ERA) faces Atlantas Ervin Santana (10-6, 3.59 ERA) in Fridays opener at Atlanta. In 14 career starts against the Braves, Strasburg is 3-5 with a 4.04 ERA, his highest ERA against any team hes faced more than three times. Mets: In the opener of a four-game set at the Phillies, 41-year-old righty Bartolo Colon (10-9, 4.12 ERA) makes his second attempt at career victory No. 200. Stitched Phillies Jerseys . It is unclear how long Kallstrom, who was brought in to alleviate the teams midfield problems, will be sidelined. Arsenals communications director, Mark Gonnella, says the club decided to proceed with Kallstroms signing despite the injury. Philadelphia Phillies Store . Coetzees finish, with six birdies and no bogeys, took him to 19-under 268 overall and past South African compatriots Thomas Aiken and Justin Walters, the overnight co-leaders. Coetzee was flawless on the East Course at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club to clinch his maiden title after 24 top 10 finishes. https://www.cheapphilliesjerseys.us/ . Azarenka needed exactly one hour in a 6-1, 6-0 rout of Austrian Yvonne Meusburger to start the night session at Laver Arena. Sharapova had a much easier time earlier in the day with cooler conditions and took full advantage in 6-1, 7-6 (8-6) win over Frenchwoman Alize Cornet, while Radwanska had to rally for a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.TORONTO -- Toronto Marlies head coach Steve Spott knows the exact point his team lost Saturdays game to the Texas Stars. Up 1-0 midway through the second period, the Marlies had a chance to add to their lead with a 1:35 two-man advantage. Instead, they went scoreless on just two shots. Scott Glennie tied the game 20 seconds after five-on-five play resumed, and Taylor Peters added the winner midway through third to lift the Stars over the Marlies 2-1 for a 3-2 series lead in the American Hockey Leagues Western Conference final. "Thats the game right there," said Spott. "Youve got a (1:35) 5-on-3, youre up 1-0 as soon as you dont get at least momentum off of it you know theyre probably going to get a push back shift. They got it and Scott Glennie got a big goal for them. "Then you could feel the tide turn." Spencer Abbott scored the lone goal for the Marlies, his fourth of the playoffs and fourth in the last two games. Drew MacIntyre made 31 saves in the loss. Cristopher Nilstorp stopped 17 shots in the win as the Marlies were out-shot for the 11th time in 12 playoff games. The Game 5 winner in Calder Cup playoff history has gone on to win the series 81.1 per cent of the time. Peters poked home the rebound off of Matej Stranskys shot for his first of the playoffs at 9:02 of the third for the winning goal, and Texas goaltender Cristopher Nilstorp made 17 saves in the win. With Maxime Fortunus off for closing his hand on the puck and Jyrki Jokipakka serving a tripping minor, Torontos power play, which went 3 for 6 in Game 4 was unable to generate any serious threat. Glennie beat MacIntyre with a wrist shot for his fourth of the playoffs at 11:10 of the middle frame to tie it 1-1. "We didnt buy in tonight andd thats really frustrating," said MacIntyre. Fake Phillies Jerseys. "You could tell right away, but I thought wed wake up at some point and we just didnt and thats really disappointing. "We were desperate to win (Game 4) we didnt want to go down 3-1, but I wouldve thought we have the same desperation tonight, not wanting to go down 3-2, but were doing it the hard way." Toronto opened the scoring for a 12th consecutive game as Abbotts centring pass deflected off of Stars centre Chris Mueller and past Nilstorp 41 seconds into the first period. Trevor Smith nearly made it 2-0 at 3:19 of the opening frame, with Nilstorp down and out, the Marlies captain missed the wide open net. "Weve got our backs against the wall now and weve got nothing to lose," said Smith. "Weve got to go out there and play like weve been playing and just string together three periods. Weve come out strong in all the games, but we got a little complacent towards the end of the first period." Spott believes his 12 forwards were out-worked once again by the Stars forward group and as a result, expects lineup changes once again in Game 6. "The challenge for me is getting our 12 forwards to work as hard as their 12 forwards. If I can get that, were going to be fine," Spott said. "Our goaltending has been fine, our back end has been fine. We simply dont have enough push back from our 12 forwards right now and we need that going into Texas." Notes: American Hockey League President and CEO, David Andrews was in attendance for Game 5. Marlies defenceman Korbinian Holzer missed his second game with a lower body injury and Spott doesnt expect him to be available for Game 6. Game 6 of the series goes Monday in Texas. ' ' '