WASHINGTON -- Ian Desmond keyed a 15-hit attack with a three-run homer, Stephen Strasburg pitched six solid innings and the Washington Nationals defeated the Texas Rangers 9-2 on Friday night. Jayson Werth and Denard Span had three hits each for Washington, which had lost 6 of 7. Previously slumping, Washingtons offence has 14 runs and 30 hits in its last two games. Strasburg (4-4) allowed two unearned runs, though his error led to them, and six hits. He struck out nine and walked one. It was the eighth straight start in which Strasburg has pitched at least six innings and allowed three runs or less. He improved his ERA to a season-low 3.15. Adrian Beltre had three hits for Texas, which fell to 6-3 on its 11-game road trip. Rangers starter Colby Lewis (4-4) allowed six runs, five earned, and nine hits in taking his first road loss. Strasburg had thrown 88 pitches when manager Matt Williams lifted him in the sixth for a pinch-hitter with two outs and two on. The moved paid off when Tyler Moores double to left scored both runners, increasing Washingtons lead to 6-2. The Nationals added two runs in the seventh and one in the eighth. Washington trailed 2-0 in the fourth when Werth and Adam LaRoche singled with one out. Lewis struck out Wilson Ramos, but Desmond sent a 1-0 fastball into the seats in centre field for his 10th home run. Span used his speed to make it 4-2 after he singled in the fifth. Running on the pitch, he kept going around second on Anthony Rendons grounder to third. First baseman Mitch Morelands throw back to the third was wild and Span scored on the error. Texas took the lead during a bizarre second inning. Beltre doubled leading off, but Strasburg stuck out the next two hitters and should have been out of the inning when Leonys Martin hit a slow bouncer to the mound. The ball bounced off Strasburgs glove, then his head, and fell to the ground. He still had a chance to get Martin but missed a stab at the ball. Martin was safe on the error with Beltre moving to third. Strasburg then surrendered RBI singles to the Nos. 8 and 9 hitters, Rougned Odor and Lewis. Lewis hit snapped an 0-for-23 stretch by Rangers pitchers going back to June 20, 2012. NOTES: Texas was making its second trip back to its original home city since the franchise left Washington in 1971. Texas took 2 of 3 from the Nationals in June 2008. . Rangers RH Yu Darvish, scratched from his start on Tuesday night because of neck discomfort, remains on track to pitch Sunday after throwing a side session Friday. . Nationals 3B Ryan Zimmerman (broken right thumb) began a rehab assignment Friday night with at Class A Potomac. . Williams said LHP Gio Gonzalez (left shoulder inflammation) threw a 35-pitch bullpen session Friday. He will pitch a simulated game Sunday and if all goes well, a rehab start next week. . Desmond (77) moved ahead of Adam Dunn for second on Nationals all-time home run list. Zimmerman leads with 181. . Rangers RHP Nick Tepesch (2-0, 2.95) opposes RHP Doug Fister (2-1, 3.42) on Saturday. Wholesale Fake Shoes . 2015 Oscar nomination pending. Here is an open letter from Steven Stamkos to his fans: When I shot this final Moment Zero film last August, it was a fun few days on set with Coke Zero and Jordan Eberle in my hometown of Markham. Fake Sneakers .J. Mayo made seven three-pointers and scored 25 points, Ersan Ilyasova added 20, and the Milwaukee Bucks placed seven players in double figures in a 130-110 rout of the Philadelphia 76ers, who lost their 11th straight game on Monday night. https://www.fakeshoes.net/ . He reps the 4-1-6The insecurity of Canadian basketball fans is not what it once was with the home grown talent making its way to the big leagues, but it is still nice to see the local kids remembering where they come from once they make their way south. Wholesake Fake Air Jordan 1 . While he was away, it was the division-rival Baltimore Orioles conducting a little business of their own, scooping up Ubaldo Jimenez on Monday evening to a reported four-year, $50-million contract. Cheap Fake Shoes .com) - Robert Martin and Josh Hicks combined for more than 300 yards rushing and three touchdowns, as Rutgers rolled past North Carolina, 40-21, in the Quick Lane Bowl.England skipper Alastair Cook could get close to matching Sachin Tendulkars record of 51 Test hundreds, says Sir Ian Botham. Cook chalked up the 30th Test hundred of his career on the fifth and final day of the drawn first Test against India to move past Sir Donald Bradman in the all-time list, finishing on 130 off 243 balls.In so doing, he registered his fifth century in India - a record as he eclipsed the four apiece scored by South Africas Hashim Amla and West Indian duo Clive Lloyd and Everton Weekes. Cook and Virat Kohli reflect on the drawn first Test The 31-year-old still has quite some distance to go, though, to match the achievements of Tendulkar who rattled up 51 Test centuries over a 200-Test career.Nevertheless, Botham says Cook - Englands most-capped Test captain and leading Test run-scorer of all time with 10,839 in 136 Tests - is not out of the running.He just breaks records, said Botham, speaking to Sky Sports in Rajkot.I was here in India when he flew halfway around the world to play in Mohali and got a hundred after 30-odd hours travelling, having arrived the night before.Hes now got 30 hundreds and is the one player currently playing in world cricket who I believe could get close to Sachin Tendulkar.Hes not yet 32 and batsmen can go on for a bit longer than the hard-working bowlers and all-rounders. He could bat until hes 36 or 37. Mike Atherton says the drawn first Test will feel like a win for England Cook, in leading England for a 55th time in the Test in Rajkot, broke Michael Athertons record of 54 Tests as skipper.ddddddddddddIn the wake of his sides 1-1 series draw in Bangladesh, several bookmakers slashed the price of England suffering a 5-0 whitewash at the hands of world No 1 side India, but Botham said they could not have got it more wrong.England were written off before they even started this game by just about everybody, said the former all-rounder.Theyve come here and theyve dominated the game, putting runs on the board in the first innings which is crucial in this part of the world, and the bowlers stuck to their task.If you look at the scores up until the fourth innings youd have thought we were playing on a road but I thought it was an extremely good cricket wicket. Haseeb Hameed describes his Test debut as surreal I thought England out-played India for 90 per cent of this match and thats big news over here. They will take a lot from that.If our spinners bowl as well in the next Test as they have done here, then they can out-bowl India again - because I thought our spinners were better!Watch the second Test between India and England at Visakhapatnam live on Sky Sports 2 from 3.30am on Thursday. Also See: India hold out for draw Five things: Rajkot Day five highlights Cricket videos ' ' '