Wire Taps: Washington Nationals Try To Win Three Straight In Nationals Park North.

• April 8, 2012: The Chicago Cubs salvage the third game of the season-opening series in Wrigley. April 15, 2012: The Cincinnati Reds take the fourth of four in Nationals Park after losing the first three. April 19, 2012: The Houston Astros pound out an 11-4 victory for their only win over the Nats in the fourth game of a four-game series in D.C. April 22, 2012: Game three of three with Miami is rained out after the Nats win the first two. April 26, 2012: The San Diego Padres win a close 2-1 game to avoid losing three-straight to the Nationals. May 6, 2012: The Philadelphia Phillies lose two in a row on the road in the nation's capital, but win game three with Cole Hamels outdueling Jordan Zimmermann. May 13, 2012: The Cincinnati Reds lose two, but take game three in Great American Ballpark to avoid losing three-straight. May 15, 2012: The Nats win the first, but lose the second game of a two-game set with San Diego. May 22, 2012... The Washington Nationals take on the Philadelphia Phillies in Citizens Bank Park, looking to win every game of a series. Having failed to do so seven times this season with weather taking away another opportunity, the Nationals try to keep their six-game winning streak in Citizens Bank Park Nationals Park North going when they send Edwin Jackson to the mound tonight against Harper-hitting lefty Cole Hamels... Can they do it? Find out tonight... Til then it's the links and lots of them... RIGHT NOW!!!:

• THE BIG STORY!!!: (And you'll love this one.):

• "It’s hard seeing the cocky Washington Nationals take 4 of 5 games from the Phillies thus far, but there is still over four months of baseball to go." - "These Phillies have been hard on the eyes" - Neil Hartman, Comcast Sportsnet

• NATS BEAT:

• "'The Phillies, as far as I’m concerned, are still the king of the mountain,' Nationals Manager Davey Johnson said. 'Nobody’s really knocked them off that mountain...'" - "Nationals vs. Phillies: Washington retakes NL East lead by beating Roy Halladay for the first time" - Adam Kilgore, The Washington Post

• "By scoring all five runs off [Roy] Halladay, the Nationals scored more times against the two-time Cy Young winner than they had in any game since he joined the NL East in 2010." - "Harper helps Nationals get the best of Halladay in 5-2 win" - Amanda Comak, Washington Times

• "[Bryce] Harper turned on the hanging curve, smoking it into the gap in right-center. The Nats right fielder hustled his way into third with his third career triple..." - "Nationals Pastime: Harper shows not just skill, but smarts" - Dan Kolko, MASNSports.com

• "By night's end, [Bryce] Harper was far from the only one to get a shot in against [Roy] Halladay. Ian Desmond and Rick Ankiel homered. Steve Lombardozzi had a pair of hits." - "Bryce's Broad Street beatdown" - Mark Zuckerman, NatsInsider.com

• "The kindling, however, does exist for the Nationals and Phillies to one day turn their games into must-see events that national networks clamor to add to their programming." - "Phillies-Nationals has makings of a budding NL East rivalry" - Joe Lemire - SI.com

• "There figures to be some extra buzz at Citizens Bank Park when a certain Phillies hurler squares off against a certain Nationals rookie phenom in Wednesday's series finale." - "Washington Nationals at Philadelphia Phillies - May 23, 2012" - Jake Kaplan, MLB.com Preview

• "The Nationals have beaten the Phillies six straight times at Citizens Bank Park, marking the first time in franchise history the Nationals/Expos have won that many games in a row in Philly." - "Washington Nationals at Philadelphia Phillies - May 22, 2012" - Bill Ladson, MLB.com WSH Recap

• "'Usually when I pitch the eighth, I just come to the clubhouse and we just do this,' Clippard said, making a high-five motion to no one in particular. 'It's a lot more fun out on the field.'" - "Clippard gets his opportunity to close" - Mark Zuckerman, NatsInsider.com

• "Amuse yourself with childish pranks. Call Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo. Ask, "Do you know who you’re messing with?" Hang up. Repeat." - "Ways to cope when the Phillies are at the bottom of the NL East" - David Gambacorta, Philly.com

• "[Ryan] Zimmerman had been feeling soreness in his sore right shoulder, an injury to which landed him on the disabled list for 13 games." - "Ryan Zimmerman to play tomorrow after getting scratched with shoulder soreness" - Adam Kilgore, Nationals Journal - The Washington Post

• "After the Nationals' 5-2 win over the Phillies, [Ryan] Zimmerman said he felt 'fine' and downplayed any issues he's been having with the shoulder." - "Ryan Zimmerman scratched due to manager's decision (UPDATED)" - Amanda Comak, Washington Times

• "Who's scared to stand in there against [Roy] Halladay? Certainly not [Bryce] Harper. The kid went right after the two-time Cy Young Award winner..." - "Instant analysis: Nats 5, Phillies 2" - Mark Zuckerman, NatsInsider.com

• "The Washington Nationals are awaiting a June 1 deadline to find out how much their 2013 television rights will be worth." - "Deadline for TV deal looms for Nats, MASN" - Jim Williams, Washington Examiner

• "'If the ball is in [the strike zone], it's good enough for me,' [Ian] Desmond said. 'I'm not too picky. I'm just trying to put the barrel on the ball, with no real secret to my approach.'" - "Move to fifth appears to have helped Desmond" - Bill Ladson, nationals.com: News

• "'A lot more adrenaline, a lot more nervousness,' a smiling [Tyler] Clippard said after the game. 'But it was a good feeling. I haven't had that for a while, so it was a lot of fun tonight.'" - "Nationals Pastime: Clippard: 'It was a good feeling. I haven't had that for a while'" - Dan Kolko, MASNSports.com

• "The Nationals have been reluctant to move [Tyler] Clippard out of the eighth-inning set-up role as they consider him to be so valuable in that spot and he has the ability to pitch more than one inning." - "Tyler Clippard feels ready to close, plus Wang talks about move to bullpen" - Amanda Comak, Washington Times

• "[Ryan Zimmerman] said the soreness he's felt the last two days was not in the same area as the previous injury and downplayed the significance of this day off." - "Zimmerman scratched with sore shoulder" - Mark Zuckerman, NatsInsider.com

• "Tyler Clippard had pitched in dozens and dozens of situations over the past two years more demanding and more crucial to victory than what he faced last night." - "Tyler Clippard converts his first save chance of the season" - Adam Kilgore, Nationals Journal - The Washington Post

• "Right-hander Craig Stammen, in the midst of his best season ever as a major league pitcher, should be moved into the closer role temporarily." - "Move Stammen to closer's role, activate Wang" - Byron Kerr, MASNSports.com

• "[Ryan] Zimmerman, who went 0-for-4 in Monday's game against the Phillies, took batting practice prior to Tuesday's game, but manager Davey Johnson decided that Zimmerman wasn't going to play." - "Zimmerman sits because of sore shoulder" - Bill Ladson, nationals.com: News

• "[Jordan] Zimmermann said he was pleased with his slider tonight, and made an adjustment to how he approached the Phillies' hitters from his last start against them on May 6." - "Nationals Pastime: Final notes, quotes from Johnson, Zimmermann, Desmond" - Dan Kolko, MASNSports.com

• "The Nationals will be shorthanded in the bullpen without [Ryan] Mattheus, who could have become a candidate to close games with Henry Rodriguez moved to a less demanding role." - "Chien-Ming Wang could be available tonight" - Adam Kilgore, Nationals Journal - The Washington Post

• "[Jordan] Zimmermann came in averaging just 2.4 runs of support per game when he is in the contest. So four runs had to feel like a big block of cheese for the Wisconsin native." - "A little run support was all Zimmermann needed to stun the Phillies" - Byron Kerr, MASNSports.com

• Your Daily Message From The Dalai Lama On Twitter (@DalaiLama): "The ultimate source of happiness is not money and power, but warm-heartedness."

• NATS MINORS:

• Class-A Hagerstown: "In game two, Suns' starter Brian Dupra suffered the loss as he was hit for eight runs in 1.2 innings pitched." - "Suns Split Doubleheader with Grasshoppers" - Hagerstown Suns News

• Class-A Potomac: "Potomac starter Robbie Ray cruised through the first two innings striking out five of the seven batters he faced." - "P-Nats Blow Late Lead in 4-2 Loss to Wilmington" - Potomac Nationals News

• Triple-A Syracuse: "Outfielder Corey Brown homered and drove in five of the seven runs in the victory, while starting pitcher Mitch Atkins allowed just two hits in six shutout innings." - "Brown, Atkins dominate in Chiefs win" - Syracuse Chiefs News

• Triple-A Syracuse: "I am a staunch John Sterling, ahem, disliker, but lets surmise what a Corey Brown home run call would be for the warbler: Downtown Corey Brown; Get out of Town Corey Brown; That’s Big Apple Corey Brown..." - "Chiefs win, The 'John Sterling Corey Brown HR Call Edition'"- Ben Meyers, The Auburn Citizen

• "Wednesday’s News & Notes" - Luke Erickson, NationalsProspects.com

• "Washington Nationals Minor League Scoreboard for May 22" - Dave Nichols, District Sports Page

• NATSTOWN:

• "Every mass movement starts with a few brave individuals who aren’t willing to accept the status quo..." - "Adam Jones wears Let Teddy Win button during batting practice" - Dan Steinberg, DC Sports Bog - The Washington Post

• "The Nationals are now on their 4th string closer and no one has a clue who it actually will be." - "Closer Watch" - Mac, Capitol Baseball

• "Ed Delehanty Where are You? Part 2" - Karen and Kevin Flynn, D.C. Baseball History

• "The argument can be made that Tuesday night's 5-2 conquest of the division rival Philadelphia Phillies, solidified by a two-RBI triple off the bat of Bryce Harper, was one of the most enjoyable for Nationals fans so far this season." - "Regional rivalries add life to NatsTown" - Nationals Buzz: Rachel Levitin, MASNSports.com

• "Broad Street Bryce pwns Phillies, Halladay." - "Drinking the Washington Nationals Kool-Aid?" - Nats Enquirer

• "Steve Lombardozzi, Bryce Harper, Ian Desmond, and yes, Jordan Zimmermann all had multi-hit games for Washington." - "Nats Beat Up On Roy Halladay, Win 5-2" - Will Yoder, The Nats Blog

• "The Nats pounded Phillies starter Roy Halladay for five runs — including home runs from Ian Desmond and Rick Ankiel — and nine hits en route to a 5-2 win over the Phillies before 45,569 at Citizen’s Bank Park." - "Washington Nationals Game 43 Review: Nats win 5-2 for sixth straight victory in Philly" - Dave Nichols, District Sports Page

• NL EAST UPDATES:

• Mets: "Ike Davis wasn’t about to get specific yesterday about his meeting with manager Terry Collins the previous day." - "Ike Davis of New York Mets won’t disclose details of meeting with manager Terry Collins before 3-2 victory over Pittsburgh Pirates Tuesday" - Mike Puma, NYPOST.com

• Braves: "Julio Teheran picked up the win today, allowing just 1 run over 7 innings, striking out 3 and walking 2." - "Teheran And Moore Take Care Of The Pitching, Kubitza, Beckwith, And Skinner Take Care Of The Hitting In Tuesday's Atlanta Braves Minor League Action" - cbwilk, Talking Chop

• Marlins: "For starters, it was fast — maybe the fastest ever. The ball was clocked at 122.4 mph, the fastest home run ball hit since hittrackeronline.com started charting baseball’s biggest homers in 2006." - "Grand slam by Miami Marlins’ Giancarlo Stanton clocked at 122.4 mph" - Manny Navarro, Miami Marlins - MiamiHerald.com