Abbey Friend added three goals for the Tar Heels (17-3). North Carolina will play top-seeded Maryland, an 11-10 winner over No. 4 Syracuse in the second semifinal, in the final Sunday.

Brooke Griffin scored the go-ahead goal on an assist from Katie Schwarzmann with 2:51 left to lead top-seeded and undefeated Maryland (22-0), which has won 11 national titles, into its 21st championship game appearance. Kayla Treanor had four goals for the Orange (18-4).

"We're just really excited," North Carolina coach Jenny Levy said. "I really liked how we competed. I thought we were poised, we stuck together and we executed on things, especially on the defensive end, that were special."

Kat DeRonda had a goal and assist for second-seeded Northwestern (19-3). The Wildcats, the winners of seven of the last eight NCAA titles, also lost to North Carolina on Feb. 22.

"We made a lot of errors and didn't finish our shots," Northwestern coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said. "We had our chances, and on a big stage you have to be calm and cool and finish those chances. We didn't finish our opportunities."

Northwestern was 0 for 9 on free-position shots and matched a season low for goals.

"We wanted to make them uncomfortable, change things up and never let them get into a rhythm," Levy said.

North Carolina held Northwestern to 16 shots.

"We switched up our defense and every one of our defenders played so well," said North Carolina goalie Megan Ward, who made seven saves. "I feel really confident going into the championship game because our team played so well."

In North Carolina's only other appearance in the final, the Tar Heels lost to Northwestern 21-9 in 2009.

Friend scored two first-half goals to help North Carolina to a 4-1 halftime advantage. And the Tar Heels opened the second half with three straight goals, capped by Kelly Devlin's goal on a free position that put them up 7-1 with just under 23 minutes left.

Alyssa Leonard and Kelly Rich scored to pull Northwestern to 7-3 with 18:55 remaining, but Cannizzaro scored four straight goals over the next 7:20 to put the Tar Heels ahead 11-3 with 11:35 left. Cannizzaro, who has a team-high 57 goals, credited her teammates' performance - particularly in the first half when she was held scoreless.

"They totally shut me down (in the first half)," Cannizzaro said. "My team did amazing. When I get going, I think everyone feels a little momentum swing. But my team carried us in the first half and that's what allowed us to explode in the second half. My team was able to produce when I was shut down in the first half. I have to give everything to my team."

The Wildcats played short-handed in the final 15:45 after Leonard received a second yellow card. North Carolina will be playing a powerful Terps team.

Against Syracuse, Kelly McPartland had three goals, and Alex Aust, Beth Glaros and Taylor Cummings each had a pair of goals for Maryland, which claimed seven straight titles between 1995-2001 and won its last title in 2010.

McPartland's goal on a free position 4½ minutes into the second half put the Terps ahead 9-6, but Syracuse scored four straight over the next 7 minutes to go in front for the first time, 10-9.

McPartland tied with a goal from close range with just under 11 minutes remaining. After a long scoring drought, Griffin took a pass tallied from just in front of the crease with 2:51 left to send the Terps to the final.

The Terrapins led 5-4 when Syracuse's Bridget Daley scores with 1:16 left before intermission. But Glaros scored from close range on a pass from Schwarzmann with 35 seconds left, and Aust followed with a tally on a free position with 11 ticks left in the half, also off a feed from Schwarzmann, to put Syracuse up three goals at the break. Treanor had three goals and an assist for the Orange in the opening half.

Zimmermann (8-2) allowed two runs and six hits with no walks over seven innings - actually raising his ERA to 1.71 - on an unseasonably chilly and windy night in the nation's capital. There was at least a bit of heat from the Nationals' bats, which have been going through such a cold spell that manager Davey Johnson said before the game he wouldn't shave again until his lineup started hitting.

As it turned out, the Nationals scored their most runs in a week, and they got four or more in the same inning for the first time almost a month. Steve Lombardozzi, playing second while Danny Espinosa recovers from a broken wrist, had three hits, including a two-out, two-run double that capped the rally in the four-run fifth.

Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick (4-3) had his shortest outing of the season, allowing five runs and eight hits over five innings. He walked four for the second consecutive start, including three consecutive bases on balls that allowed the Nationals to score a run in the second with a sacrifice fly and no hits.

The Phillies missed a chance to pull even in two ways. A win would have put them at .500 for the first time since April 14, and it also would have tied them with the Nationals, who had lost four of five and have been mired in mediocrity while dealing with the expectations of Johnson's preseason proclamation of "World Series or bust."

The Nationals just completed a 10-game West Coast road trip that included a four-game losing streak, the team's sixth shutout loss of the season, Bryce Harper's head-first collision with a wall and a broken hand for Ryan Mattheus after he punched his locker following a rough outing. Washington entered the game hitting .225, second worst in the majors, and the scraggly-looking Johnson arrived at the ballpark saying: "I decided I wouldn't shave until we started hitting."

Both teams are missing some star power. The Phillies don't have Roy Halladay (shoulder surgery) and Chase Utley (oblique strain), while the Nationals are making do without Jayson Werth (hamstring) and Espinosa, who learned Friday that he's been playing with a slight fracture in his right wrist and will need a few days of rest, if not more.

Domonic Brown's RBI single in the second and Erik Kratz' sacrifice fly in the fifth gave the Phillies a 2-1 lead, but the Nationals put together five hits in the bottom of the inning to go ahead 5-2. Adam LaRoche hit an RBI triple off the center field wall and Kurt Suzuki had an RBI single before Lombardozzi's drove in two more.

Tyler Clippard pitched the eighth for the Nationals, and Rafael Soriano sailed through the ninth for his 14th save.

Notes: Washington's last four-run inning came April 25 against the Cincinnati Reds. ... Headgear on both players when flying when Tyler Moore crashed into Kratz while trying to score on Lombardozzi's single in the fourth inning. Kratz held on to the ball, and Moore was out. ... Philadelphia recalled INF-OF Michael Martinez and RHP Michael Stutes to replace Utley (disabled list) and RHP Phillippe Aumont (optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley). ... Phillies RHP Mike Adams (right back strain) felt fine after a second rehab bullpen session Friday and is expected to be reactivated Sunday. ... Washington LHP Ross Detwiler will throw a full bullpen session Saturday and remains on pace to return to the rotation Tuesday after skipping one start because of back spasms.

"If you think about those things, that's the only thing you're focused on," said senior Maryland midfielder Katie Schwarzmann. "You're scared to lose, and you're not playing to win."

Earlier this season, Maryland beat Syracuse, but in this final four, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

"My freshman year, it was the exact same final four, so you get familiar with these teams," said senior Maryland attacker Alex Aust. "Every year is a different year, and I think this team is one of the best I've played on."

With eight seniors on the roster, the Terps are experienced and as they will tell you, almost like family.

"We've been through a lot," said Schwarzmann. "We have a lot of things we can teach the younger players and give it our last go."

Aside from Syracuse, this Final Four has powerhouse programs, namely Northwestern. The Wildcats have won seven out of the last eight NCAA championships, their only loss was to Maryland in 2010.

"It was tough. I cried. Real men cry,” he says.

Griffin said as soon as the surgery was done, he changed the passcode on his phone to reflect the date of the first game. He is all in for week one.

RG3 showed off his straight ahead speed as well as his powerful - and accurate - right arm. But the question remains: What is still left to overcome? RG3 says explosive sprinting and cutting remain.

On his relationship with Redskins coach Mike Shanahan, who some criticized for leaving in the fateful game too long, RG3 says they hashed things out.

Griffin's good-natured demeanor was a contrast to his sharp words in a pair of recent Twitter rants. Last month he tweeted that Americans "are held hostage by the tyranny of political correctness" and this week hit back at criticism he received for posting a photo of a pile of wedding presents sent to him by fans.

"It's really been crazy," Griffin said Thursday. "You really can't do anything or say anything without it being blown out of proportion. When it comes to the political correctness tweet ... the only thing I will say about that is there's a difference between political correctness, common sense and being offensive."

Griffin, who is getting married in July, then thanked the fans for the gifts that started pouring in after his wedding registry was made public.

"I didn't ask you guys to do that," he said, addressing the fans. "The media made that public, and you guys decided to get me gifts out of the generosity of your heart. ... Anything else that came after that, criticism and stuff like that, you've just got to move on and not worry about it."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Maryland announced in November that it will leave the ACC for the Big Ten in 2014. The ACC sued the school in North Carolina to make it pay a $52 million penalty for exiting the conference. Maryland responded by suing the ACC in a Maryland court, calling the penalty illegal.

The ACC is asking Maryland's lawsuit be dismissed or stayed until the lawsuit in North Carolina is concluded. Maryland says the withdrawl penalty would wipe out nearly its entire athletic budget and is illegal under Maryland antitrust law.

Arguments are scheduled for Thursday in Prince George's County Circuit Court.

Harper hit his 12th homer in the sixth and sparked the winning rally with a one-out double. Ryan Zimmerman was walked intentionally before Desmond came up with his big hit against Jeremy Affeldt (1-1).

Tyler Clippard (3-1) pitched a perfect 10th for the win and Rafael Soriano got three outs for his 14th save. He failed to convert each of his last two chances, including Tuesday night's 4-2 loss.

Buster Posey hit a tying RBI single for San Francisco in the eighth. Marco Scutaro went 0 for 3 with two walks, ending his 19-game hitting streak. He flew out to deep left to end the game.

Both teams failed to muster much offense in a nice pitchers' duel between Gio Gonzalez of the Nationals and Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner.

Gonzalez was charged with one run and four hits over 7 1-3 innings, throwing a season-high 116 pitches. Harper's leadoff drive in the sixth was the only blemish for Bumgarner, who gave up four hits in seven innings.

Bumgarner's first four outs were by strikeouts and five of the first eight. He did not strike out a batter after the third inning. He gave up a career-high nine runs - seven earned - in a season-low 4 2-3 innings last Friday at Colorado.

Gonzalez has been pitching better of late, giving up five runs over his last 29 innings after allowing 19 runs over his first 32 innings.

Angel Pagan made it to third with one out in the first, but Gonzalez struck out Hunter Pence and Brett Pill to end the inning.

Gonzalez, who had his third consecutive no-decision, retired 15 of 16 hitters during one stretch.

NOTES: Attendance at AT&T Park reached 1,040,301 for the season in home game No. 25. ... The Nationals have hit at least one home run in 71 consecutive series. ... RHP Jordan Zimmerman (7-2, 1.62 ERA) takes the mound for the Nationals on Friday against the Philadelphia Phillies. ... RHP Tim Lincecum (3-3, 4.70 ERA) starts Friday's game for the Giants against the Colorado Rockies. ... Giants INF Pablo Sandoval was not in the starting lineup because of an illness. ... Giants 1B Brandon Belt felt tightness in his back and did not start. ... The Nationals ended their longest road trip of the season (10 games). ... Nationals OF Tyler Moore went 0 for 3 and is hitless in his last 21 at-bats.

But Garcia found himself in the rough Tuesday night after telling a reporter he'd invite Woods over and serve "fried chicken."

“Don't get me wrong, my answer was stupid and out of place,” Garcia said. "As soon as I left the dinner, I got a sick feeling, didn't sleep at all last night, felt like my heart was going to come out of my body.”

Woods responded Wednesday with a series of tweets: "The comment that was made wasn't silly. It was wrong, hurtful and clearly inappropriate. I'm confident that there is real regret the remark was made.”

The national stir created by the Woods/Garcia drama has trickled down to the local level. Some people at the University of Maryland golf course and asked for their reaction about it."

One thing Woods and Garcia appear to agree on is that they both hope the drama is behind them, as Woods tweeted: “It's past time to move on and talk about golf.”

CHICAGO (AP) - Star linebacker Brian Urlacher says he's retiring after spending 13 seasons with the Chicago Bears.

The eight-time Pro Bowler announced his retirement through social media accounts Wednesday. In a statement, he says "after spending a lot of time this spring thinking about my NFL future, I have made a decision to retire."

Urlacher was the face of the Bears' franchise and leaves as one of the game's great linebackers. In March, he and the Bears were unable to reach a contract agreement and he became a free agent.

He started 180 games from 2000 through 2012, and recorded a team-record 1,779 tackles. He has 41½ sacks, 22 interceptions, 16 fumble recoveries and 11 forced fumbles. He was the AP's defensive player of the year in 2005 and helped lead the 2006 team to the Super Bowl.

Last year, he was slowed by injuries.

The Redskins aren’t saying much about the injury that knocked him out of last year's playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks, but his father is.

Robert Griffin II says he didn’t even see his son’s knee buckle in the Seattle playoff game.

“I missed something in that game and I told Robert (that) I've got to have better seats,” he says. “When he threw the ball at the last minute, his leg buckled and he fell and then he came back.

"Then he got up, went back in, threw the touchdown. They went up 14-0. I would have pulled him… he was done as far as I was concerned because no one hit him. His knee buckled.”

Griffin II says after his son tore his ACL at Baylor in 2009, he monitored his son’s recovery month-by-month. He’s doing the same thing this time and says his son is recovering even faster than he did before.

“…Physical strength, lateral movement, lateral strength. He feels he far exceeds four months post-surgery from [the] first time, but Robert knows this is a long-term thing," he said.

RGIII stirred up controversy with an ad saying he’ll be back for the first game, but his father’s ready to guarantee he’ll be there.

“If Robert is training right now, the goal is to play football this year," Griffin II said.

But this season he expects to see some changes in the management of the game to protect his son and the team’s investment. He wants his son to run less.

“I think that the message was loud and clear. What they have to do in order to have Robert, you know, be what they want him to be, because you don’t want him to limp into the playoffs,” he says.

Griffin II says he scouts his son more than any other team ever has and he’s convinced RGIII has more wrinkles and surprises up his sleeve for the league and Redskins fans.

"There's no Lebron's no Kobe's...all the real athletes are here. They already made it, let's just focus on us," Woodson High School's Charles Barley said.

Barley's strongest sport is the shot put, but there's no picking favorites for this iron man.

"[I like] all of them, all of them, first place," Barley said. "The best part of it is everybody comes together and starts playing."

Whether they earned a gold medal or just a smile to show for their efforts, all of the athletes agreed is about one thing.

"It felt like it was just fun to do it," Special Olympian Dayona Walker said.

The three-day event isn't just for the athletes participating. Volunteers like Robert Beard, who was paralyzed for six months with rheumatoid arthritis, get just as much enjoyment.

"It really makes me appreciate life," Beard said. "Everyone is a winner. You have gold and silver, but everyone is a winner."

The Special Olympics run through Thursday at Catholic University and include competition in track and field, motor activities, soccer and bocce.

On top of that, manager Davey Johnson said that right fielder Jayson Werth is still a couple of weeks from coming off the disabled list after another MRI on his strained right hamstring showed he isn't healing as quickly as hoped.

With all that going on, an 8-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants seemed like an afterthought.

Mattheus allowed five runs in one inning of Washington's 13-4 loss to the San Diego Padres. According to Johnson, Mattheus did not inform the team of his injury until just before Monday's game at AT&T Park.

"Last night after the game he came in and was in the locker room and banged his glove against his locker with his hand in it," Johnson said. "He didn't say anything to anybody. His hand didn't swell up but when he went out to throw today his hand swelled up and he couldn't throw the ball.

The news came on the same night that the Giants lost starter Ryan Vogelsong to a fractured right hand while batting.

Mattheus underwent a series of tests Monday and an X-ray revealed the damage.

Washington pitcher Zach Duke, who lasted 3 1-3 innings and took the loss against San Francisco, suffered a similar injury in 2011 when he was hit in his pitching hand by a line drive.

"When it's the throwing hand it's tough," Duke said. "You basically lose all the stamina that you build up in the arm. I couldn't pick up a ball for five weeks. You have to get out there and re-establish what you did in the offseason."

The Nationals are expected to call up two pitchers from the minors to help their beleaguered bullpen.

Reliever Henry Rodriguez pitched two innings in relief of Duke and threw 47 pitches, one day after throwing 21 in an outing against the Padres.

"It'll be tough to grind through without (Mattheus) for a little while but he'll be back and I'm sure he'll be eager to go," Duke said.

Harper went 0 for 4 in his return to the Nationals' lineup after last season's NL Rookie of the Year missed two games with a bruised left knee. He was hurt in a hard collision with the outfield wall a week earlier at Dodger Stadium that also caused him to need 11 stitches on his chin.

Duke (0-1) lasted just 3 1-3 innings in a spot start for Ross Detwiler, who is sidelined with back spasms. Duke allowed four runs and seven hits in his first start of the year.

Washington was shut out for the sixth time.

Vogelsong retired the first eight Nationals hitters in order. The right-hander lasted only 2 2-3 innings in his first career start against Washington last year, allowing eight runs on nine hits with two walks.

Vogelsong got a defensive gem from Angel Pagan when the center fielder slammed into the wall on Adam LaRoche's deep fly in the second.

At Buzz and Ned's BBQ nearby the buzz is already growing. There was an employee wearing his love for the team on his arm with a tattoo and a patron, who's not a Redskins fan, planning to come to camp anyway. And some suburban Washington students say the distance wouldn't deter them from a road trip to Richmond.

Most of the space at the site has been allocated for this year. But the Redskins did allow for some future growth. One area will have fan access this year, with the hopes of building an indoor facility in the future.

The facility is on schedule - but there was a question of it being $800,000 over budget.

“That will be taken care of with private donations - the area for the park - so no taxpayer money will have to be used,” says Richmond Major Dwight Jones.

The city expects to bring in more than $8 million annually as 100,000 fans are expected for the three-week camp starting July 25.

Woods already has four PGA Tour wins this year and is the defending champion at the AT&T, although it's now been nearly five years since he last won a major. 

"It's all predicated on practice," Woods said. "I normally derive my confidence from practice sessions, and I was at a point where I just couldn't practice. So I had to get healthy where I could do that."

That 15th major win still eludes the world's number one player. But, as he'll tell you, there's work to focus on first before next month's U.S. Open.

"I need to play well at (the) Memorial. I'm defending there as well so I'm looking forward to that," Woods said.

The Annapolis Capital says that an agreement has been reached to move the annual Military Bowl from Washington's RFK Stadium to the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium starting this season.

The game, which began as the EagleBank Bowl, has been played in D.C. every year since 2008. Navy has a tie-in with the bowl game, which would make qualifying for the bowl a de-facto home game for the Midshipmen.

San Jose State defeated Bowling Green 29-20 in what will end up being the final Military Bowl played in Washington. That game was played in front of just 17,835, the lowest figure in the game's history. According to the Birmingham News, that was the lowest attended college bowl game in seven years.

READ MORE at capitalgazette.com.

Naturally, the overwhelming response has its supporters and detractors. What's RGIII have to say about it, though?

"SMH."

The Redskins' second-year quarterback posted that acronym, which stands for "shaking my head," to Twitter Sunday in response to those who have critiqued him for accepting box after box of items in celebration of his upcoming wedding.

Thank you to the Fans who are helping buy ALL the items from our wedding registry at Bed Bath & Beyond … say.ly/MLw5Rbg

— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) May 19, 2013

Griffin is set to marry his fiancée, Rebecca Liddicoat, on July 6.

I didn't ask the fans to buy me anything. They found it on their own and decided to get what they could. SMH at all these Debbie downers

— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) May 19, 2013

With their wedding less than six weeks away, Griffin and Liddicoat registered at Bed, Bath & Beyond for things that every couple needs to start a life together, including a waffle maker, a glass pitcher and a hand mixer.

In the case of Redskins fan Keith Elgin, a welcome mat caught his fancy. So, he bought it for the couple, and he's not apologizing for it.

"I just first thought...that's funny, I wonder what he registered for," Elgin said. "As I was going through it I thought (my wife and I) could get him a gift, and that would be pretty funny and something nice."

The whole situation is unique, and D.C.-based etiquette expert Alexandra Kovach says that while it's unusual for strangers to buy wedding gifts for someone they don't know, simply returning the items may not be the solution.

"From an etiquette standpoint, it's a questionable recommendation because if someone gives you a gift, it's probably not good etiquette to return it," she said.

ABC7's Justin Karp contributed to this report.

Andrew Cashner pitched 6 2-3 strong innings and Kyle Blanks and Will Venable homered off Dan Haren to lead the Padres to a 13-4 victory Sunday and a split of their four-game series.

"It's huge. They have probably one of the best rotations in baseball, let alone lineups," Cashner said. "That's a really, really good team over there. After we lost the first two we definitely played better the last two games."

After Eric Stults outpitched Jordan Zimmermann on Saturday night, the Padres got to Haren early on Sunday. The Padres tied their season high in runs and their 15 hits against four Nationals pitchers were two short of their season high.

"It was good to bounce back in beating Zimmermann, who is arguably the best pitcher in the National League right now. That was a big win last night," San Diego manager Bud Black said.

"Then to come back today against Haren, who's a great competitor. We got to him early and got him there in the middle part of the game with a couple big swings. Good for our guys. It was a good win."

San Diego's Yonder Alonso homered off Drew Storen leading off the eighth to finish 3 for 4 with two RBIs and three runs scored. It was his sixth homer.

Everth Cabrera and rookie Jedd Gyorko each had two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored. Cabrera had three stolen bases to give him a major league-leading 18.

"We're swinging really good right now and we're seeing the ball so good right now," Cabrera said. "It feels great. I'm happy."

Cashner (3-2) allowed three runs and seven hits, struck out six and walked one.

He retired the first seven Nationals batters and the Padres jumped on Haren for three runs in the first.

"Cash carried that momentum all the way through the game," Black said. "I thought he did a nice job with the fastball-change combination. He wobbled very little. I thought he was in control of the game and pitched very well."

The Nationals have lost six of nine.

Haren (4-5) got off to a rough start by allowing three runs in the first inning and was gone after the fourth-run fifth. Haren allowed nine hits while striking out five and walking two.

With the Padres leading 3-2, Venable opened the fifth with a shot deep into the stands in right field, his sixth. Haren retired the next two batters before Alonso doubled to left-center and scored on Gyorko's single to left.

Blanks then lined Haren's next pitch an estimated 383 feet off the side of the Western Metal Supply Co. brick warehouse in the left-field corner for a 7-2 lead. It was his third.

"Way too many mistakes," Haren said. "I didn't feel good out there. I didn't have much. I made a bunch of mistakes in the first inning. I kept it close for a while but you can't keep leaving balls out over the plate to a professional lineup. I kept fighting myself. I was working behind in the count too much, which is a recipe for disaster."

The Padres scored three runs against Haren in the first on three hits and a walk. Carlos Quentin and Gyorko had RBI doubles and Alonso a sacrifice fly.

The Nationals pulled to 3-2 in the fourth on Ryan Zimmerman's two-run homer that went an estimated 414 feet into the second deck in left, his third. Steve Lombardozzi was aboard on a leadoff infield single after his hard smash went off Cashner's glove. Cashner was knocked backward by the impact. He stayed in the game.

The Padres scored five runs on four hits, two walks and a sacrifice fly off Ryan Mattheus in the seventh. Cabrera had a two-run single.

"Very disappointing," Washington manager Davey Johnson said. "I hate to even talk about that one today. We didn't pitch very well. We got back in the ballgame but Haren obviously didn't have his stuff. The bullpen didn't do it. Tough day."

NOTES: The Padres had a season-high five stolen bases. ... Washington's Adam LaRoche hit an RBI single in the seventh to extend his career-best hitting streak to 16 games. ... Nationals OF Bryce Harper sat out a second straight game with a bruised left knee from his collision with the right-field wall at Dodger Stadium last Monday night. .... Haren's poor start ended a string of nine consecutive games in which Washington starters allowed two or fewer earned runs. ... The Nationals open a three-game series at San Francisco on Monday night. LHP Zach Duke (0-0, 8.40) is scheduled to start against RHP Ryan Vogelsong (1-4, 8.06). Duke is slated to make his first start since July 10, 2011, at St. Louis. ... The Padres continue their homestand with a three-game series against St. Louis that starts Monday night. The Cardinals are scheduled to start RHP Shelby Miller (5-2, 1.40) vs. RHP Jason Marquis (5-2, 3.49).

Everth Cabrera singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth against Zimmermann, and Yonder Alonso homered and helped turn a heads-up double play as the San Diego Padres beat the Nationals 2-1 Saturday night.

Zimmermann (7-2) was trying to become the first player in the majors to eight wins this season.

Cabrera singled in Alex Amarista, who reached when catcher Kurt Suzuki fielded his bunt and forced John Baker at second. Zimmermann tried to pick off Amarista but his throw was wide of first baseman Adam LaRoche for an error, allowing Amarista to take second.

"I just hung onto it too long," Zimmermann said. I just pulled it a little bit, a little left of Rochy and he couldn't get a glove on it."

Cabrera's hit made a winner of Eric Stults (4-3). The left-hander went a season-high eight innings, allowing one run and four hits while striking out five and walking two.

Zimmermann also went eight, allowing two runs, one earned, and seven hits. He struck out six and walked none.

Huston Street pitched the ninth for his 10th save in 11 chances. Street gave up Chad Tracy's pinch-hit homer in the 10th inning of the Nationals' 6-5 win Friday night.

Alonso sent a drive a few rows beyond the home run porch in the right-field corner leading off the second for a 1-0 lead. It was his fifth of the season.

"It was a good pitch, it was up," Zimmermann said. "You can't really complain about that. The throwing error I made down the line cost us. If I don't make that, we're still out there playing."

The Nationals had runners on second and third with one out in the third after Kurt Suzuki walked and Zimmermann reached on an error when second baseman Jedd Gyorko couldn't handle a low throw from Stults on a sacrifice attempt and the ball rolled into foul territory.

Denard Span then hit a hard comebacker that ricocheted off Stults to Alonso, who tagged the bag and then ran over to third, where Zimmermann had joined Suzuki. Zimmermann broke to go back to second and Suzuki was still off third base so Alonso tagged him to end the inning.

"I saw the ball going up the middle and I thought it bounced in front of the pitcher," Zimmermann said. "I was taking off and I didn't really know what happened when they said it went off his foot to the first baseman. That's kind of the way our luck has been going."

The Nationals tied it in the sixth on their first two hits off Stults. Suzuki hit a leadoff single to right, advanced on Zimmermann's bunt and scored on Steve Lombardozzi's single to right-center.

San Diego's Chase Headley was caught in a rundown between third and home for the third out of the seventh after he didn't see that shortstop Ian Desmond made a nice diving stab at Chris Denorfia's single. Headley rounded third by a few steps and Desmond threw to third. Headley broke for home but was tagged out.

The teams go at it again this afternoon at 4:10 p.m.

Oxbow led from start to finish. It was the sixth Preakness victory for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas and 15th Triple Crown win, the most in horse racing history.

"I get paid to spoil dreams," Lukas said in an interview with NBC moments after the race. "Unfortunately we go over here and you can't mail 'em in. It's a different surface and a different time. You gotta line 'em up and win 'em.

Orb finished fourth. The Kentucky Derby winner was a 3-5 favorite in Saturday's race, but he became another casualty of starting on the rail in the Preakness. Since 1950, only two horses have won the middle jewel of the Triple Crown from the No. 1 post position.

Orb's five-race winning streak ended on an overcast, windy day at Pimlico Race Course. The brown colt had not lost since Nov. 24.

Oxbow was coming off a sixth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby, where he made a move for the lead in the final turn but faded.

In the Preakness, Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens took control at the outset and never relinquished the advantage, winning this race for the third time in his career.

Oxbow covered the 1 3/16th miles in 1:57.54. He went off as a 15-1 underdog and paid $32.80, $12 and $8.80.

Itsmyluckyday finished second and paid $7.80 and $5. Mylute paid $5.20 to show.

Mylute, with Rosie Napravnik in the saddle, came in fifth in the Kentucky Derby. Racing at the track where she earned her first career victory, Napravnik was attempting to become the first female jockey to win the Preakness.

Lukas had three entrants in the nine-horse race. Titletown Five and Will Take Charge did not finish in the money, but the 77-year-old Hall of Fame trainer nevertheless made it to the winner's circle.

Oxbow bested Itsmyluckyday by 1 3/4 lenths.

For Lukas, the victory broke a tie with "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons for most Triple Crown wins.

It meant a lot to Stevens, too.

"It's so special," the jockey said. "Wayne, he supported me. Put me on my first Triple Crown winner. A lot of people were trying to get me off. He was the first guy to call me up and said 'I'm going to have a colt for you. His name is Oxbow.'"

Stevens added, "Wayne is like a brother, coach, a father figure to me."

Stevens almost couldn't believe how well it went.

"We came in here with a lot of confidence," he said. "When I hit the half-mile pole, I told myself 'Are you kidding me?' 'Is this happening?'"