WASHINGTON (AP) - Bryce Harper, Ian Desmond and Denard Span all homered, powering the Washington Nationals to a 4-1 win over the New York Mets on Saturday.
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Dan Haren (5-11) pitched seven innings for his first win since May 9, allowing one run and three hits.
Desmond and Span hit back-to-back homers against Dillon Gee (7-8) in the second inning and Harper followed with a two-run drive in the third.
Harper returned to the starting lineup after being limited to pinch-hitting duty in the second game of Friday's doubleheader. The All-Star outfielder aggravated his left knee while diving for a ball in the opener.
After Haren's leadoff double in the third, Harper hit his 15th home run of the year.
Despite a tumultuous week, which included the Nationals firing their hitting coach and demoting former closer Drew Storen to the minors, Washington has won three of four games after dropping six straight following the All-Star break.
David Wright had two singles and an RBI for the Mets, who have lost two straight, scoring a combined two runs after winning Friday's doubleheader opener 11-0.
The game was delayed by rain for 62 minutes with one out in the bottom of the eighth. Only scattered fans from the original crowd of 37,464 returned to watch the final five outs.
Rafael Soriano pitched the ninth for his 26th save.
In his longest start since May 30, Haren walked one and struck out six. Haren's winless drought wasn't a case of bad luck but primarily poor pitching.
In between victories, the veteran right-hander made 11 starts, going 0-8 with a 6.18 ERA. Even worse, Washington lost all 11 games, including three since Haren returned from the disabled list on July 8.
With Eric Young Jr. on second following a single and stolen base in the sixth, Wright's two-out single ended Haren's shutout hopes.
Haren and the Nationals bullpen held New York to one hit over the final three innings. Reliever Tyler Clippard pitched a spotless eighth.
Gee had not lost since June 17 and did allow an earned run in his preceding two starts. He dominated the Nationals in three previous starts this season, posting a 3-0 record with an 0.96 ERA.
Gee pitched seven innings, allowing four runs on six hits.
Span hit his first home run with the Nationals and first for the former Minnesota outfielder since Oct. 2, 2012, a span of 426 plate appearances.
NOTES: Minus the delay, the game took 2 hours, 17 minutes. ... Washington has seven sets of back-to-back home runs this season. ... The Mets are moving to a six-man pitching rotation in an attempt to limit the number of innings pitched by starters Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler. Following Gee and Carlos Torres in Washington, Jeremy Hefner pitches Monday at Miami followed by Wheeler, Jenrry Mejia and Harvey. ... Torres (1-1, 0.94) opposes Washington's RHP Taylor Jordan (0-3, 3.68) in Sunday's series finale.
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ModCloth, the indie fashion site best known for its vintage-inspired dresses, is today offering the first look into its revenue situation since 2009. The e-commerce startup, which is backed by roughly $48 million in outside funding, says it did over $100 million in revenue last year, and is now growing faster than 40 percent year-over-year. That’s up from the $15 million it had previously reported in 2009. To compare that figure with other well-known e-commerce industry players: Fab.com did $120 million in revenue last year, and is now valued at $1 billion; Beyond the Rack estimated around $200 million for 2013; Rue La La had previously estimated $400 million in sales for 2012; and Gilt was at $600 million+ in 2012. Meanwhile aggregator Fancy speaks of sales differently, claiming around $100,000 in transactions per day. The majority of ModCloth’s sales are those for its well-known dresses, though other merchandise on the site, such as swimwear and shoes, will see seasonal bumps, explains company CEO Eric Koger, who founded ModCloth with wife Susan back in 2002. Half Of ModCloth’s Shoppers Coming From Mobile By Year-End News of the company’s progress comes at a time when the e-commerce industry as a whole is learning to adapt to the new mobile landscape, which affects not only where and when people shop, but also how. Earlier this year, ModCloth began tapping into this trend, launching first on iPad in February followed by the iPhone app release later that spring. Koger, who recently described ModCloth’s business as one where all future development will proceed with a “mobile-first” mindset, says that the company’s progress on mobile has gone well, speaking of softer metrics like “increased engagement,” as well as ones that more directly affect ModCloth’s bottom line. “We have more transactions and more purchases on the app – pretty significantly versus the mobile web app,” he says. “We’re predicting that more than 50 percent of our shoppers are going to be coming from mobile devices by the end of the year.” To put that in perspective, it was only last Christmas when the company noticed the surge in mobile visits had begun accounting for nearly 30 percent of ModCloth traffic. A year later, and they expect the number to grow to half. It’s a shift that is not without its challenges — and not just for ModCloth, but for any e-commerce company that wants to maintain
