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WASHINGTON -- Wilmer Difo hit his first major league homer, and Pedro Severino his second, helping the injury-depleted NL East champion Washington Nationals move closer to clinching home-field advantage in the Division Series by beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3 at a near-empty stadium on a dreary Thursday.Second baseman Difo and catcher Severino, both rookies, were in the lineup instead of Daniel Murphy (last started 12 days ago) and Wilson Ramos (out for the season), respectively.Last in the NL West, Arizona has nothing at stake the rest of the way. The Nationals, while already assured of winning their division and of facing the Los Angeles Dodgers to open their postseason, still are trying to lock up a higher seeding for that series.Washington began Thursday with a two-game lead over NL West champion LA for the right to host more games in the best-of-five NLDS. The Dodgers, though, hold the tiebreaker because of a 5-1 advantage in the teams season series.Nationals starter Joe Ross, working his way back from a stay on the disabled list with right shoulder inflammation, allowed one run in four innings, throwing 90 pitches. Washington wants to stretch him out to be able to start at some point in the playoffs.Reliever Reynaldo Lopez (5-3) was credited with the win. He pitched 3 2/3 innings, letting up Socrates Britos two-run homer in the ninth before being lifted.Mark Melancon got the last two outs for his 45th save.Robbie Ray (8-15) allowed five runs in 4 2/3 innings, including solo shots by Severino in the third and Difo in the fifth, along with Michael A. Taylors two-run single in the fourth.TRAINERS ROOMDiamondbacks: RF Yasmany Tomas was a late scratch from the starting lineup because of a stiff neck.Nationals: 2B Murphy (glute muscle) and RF Bryce Harper (left thumb) sat out again. Manager Dusty Baker said he expects to get Murphy back in the starting lineup for Game 1 of the NLDS against the Dodgers on Oct. 7. Murphy last began a game on Sept. 17. He might get a pinch-hit, but I dont want to take him backwards, Baker said. Well probably have an intrasquad game or something to get him some live pitching.Harper, meanwhile, was out of the lineup for a fourth consecutive day, but mainly as a precaution on a wet day. Im still a little afraid. If he hits the ball solid, its not going to hurt. But if he gets rattled or hits one on the end or gets jammed on one, its going to send electric shocks through his body, Baker said.RAMOS STOPS BYRamos, out for the rest of 2016 because of a torn ACL in his right knee, stopped by the home clubhouse before Thursdays game. He is waiting for the swelling in his knee to go down before having surgery. Asked whether he would be around the Nationals during the playoffs, Ramos said: Im going to have to support the team from home, because its going to be very difficult for me to get around with the knee after the surgery.Ramos can become a free agent this offseason, and reportedly turned down a contract offer before he got hurt.If its up to me, he said Thursday, I definitely would like to keep playing for the Nationals and play as long as I can.UP NEXTDiamondbacks: Open a season-closing, three-game home series against the San Diego Padres, with RHP Braden Shipley (4-5, 5.26 ERA) starting for Arizona on Friday. The Diamondbacks and Padres are two of the four worst teams in the NL.Nationals: Their final regular-season series begins Friday against the visiting Miami Marlins. RHP A.J. Cole (1-2, 5.09) is slated to pitch for Washington, but he is waiting to hear the outcome of his appeal of a five-game suspension for throwing at a batter. Tom Rathman Womens Jersey . 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STORRS, Conn. -- UConn made an effort to get inside against North Florida and ended up with its most lopsided win of the season.Kentan Facey scored a career-high 20 points to lead five Huskies in double figures and UConn beat the Ospreys 80-59 on Sunday.The 6-foot-10 senior added nine rebounds and four of the teams 13 blocked shots as UConn evened its record at 5-5.Christian Vital and Jalen Adams each had 13 for UConn. Rodney Purvis and Amida Brimah added 11 apiece.Adams also had 10 assists and Brimah hit all five of his shots and blocked four of North Floridas.UConn (5-5) dominated the game down low, outscoring the Ospreys 40-10 in the paint.Coach has been emphasizing that we needed to get some more points in the paint, some more touches in the paint so we could play inside-out and I think we did a good job of that tonight, Facey said.Dallas Moore led North Florida (4-10) with 18 points, but had just three after halftime. Garrett Sams added 16 points and for the Ospreys, who were held to 33.3 percent shooting.UConn led by five at halftime. Purvis scored nine points during a 13-3 second-half run that pushed a 55-50 lead to 68-53.The Huskies trailed 7-2 early, before it found the inside game. A baby hook by Steven Enoch gave the Huskies their first lead at 8-7.A steal and driving layup by Vital gave the Huskies their first double-digit lead at 28-17.Moore had been averaging more than 23 points a game. His first basket came almost seven minutes into this one, a 3-pointer from well behind the line. By the end of the half he had four 3-pointers and 15 points and the Huskies led just 41-36.UConn rotated Purvis, Adams and Vital on him in the second half, playing in his face and holding him to a single 3-point field goal.This was the first time that any team was allowed to be that physical with him, said North Florida coach Matthew Driscoll. When the best player on the floor has to deal with that constantly and then make shots over shot-blockers like that and do those things, it wears on you.The Huskies average margin of victory in their previous four wins was 4.5 points, and that included an 11-point victory over Division II Chaminade.Our bigs pretty much dominated thhe game, said UConn coach Kevin Ollie.ddddddddddddBIG PICTUREUConn: The Huskies are holding teams to just over 38 percent shooting for the year and held their three previous opponents to 30.3 percent. Boston University shot 31 percent, Syracuse was held to 26 percent and Ohio State beat the Huskies despite shooting just 34 percent.Facey said the team has made defense its focus, especially after losing two key offensive cogs, guard Alterique Gilbert and forward Terry Larrier to injury for the season.We knew we had to change our mindset to give ourselves a chance to win games, he said.North Florida: The Ospreys have played a tough nonconference schedule. Their losses this year include road games at Auburn, Syracuse, LSU, and Arkansas. They fell to Miami and Florida at home. But Driscoll said he doesnt buy into the theory that playing those teams will help his guys when they face Atlantic Sun opponents.We do this because we have to bring in a large amount of money for our athletic department, he said. That wears on you. Wouldnt you rather play a lesser of a schedule and have more wins and give your guys confidence that way?MORE ON MOOREMoore had scored 30 or more points in in four of his last five outings . Adams said he and the other UConn guards were determined not to let that happen against them.We knew we just had to lock in on him, Adams said. If you can cut the head off the snake then we can more likely get the `W. Mainly, when he got the ball we tried to blitz him and get the ball out of his hands.INJURY UPDATEGilbert underwent surgery on Friday to repair the torn labrum in his left shoulder that he suffered in a win over Loyola Marymount on Nov. 17. The Huskies were also short a coach on Sunday. Assistant Ricky Moore missed the game with flu-like symptoms.UP NEXTUConn: The Huskies host Auburn on Dec. 23 before opening up their American Athletic Conference schedule on Dec. 28 with a home game against Houston.North Florida: The Ospreys visit FIU on Wednesday before their holiday break. The return home to face Ball State on Dec. 29. ' ' '