WASHINGTON -- T.J. Rivera will not forget his first major league home run anytime soon.The rookie second baseman belted an 0-2 pitch off Mark Melancon into the left-field seats with one out in the 10th inning to lift the New York Mets to a 4-3 victory over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night.All I could do was go up there and try to have a good at-bat, Rivera said. He left something up and luckily I was able to put the barrel on it. That was pretty much my whole concept, my whole idea for that at-bat was really just compete because Id never faced him before.The Mets pulled within nine games of Washington in the NL East and remained a half-game ahead of St. Louis in the NL wild-card race. New York has won eight of its last 10 and is 17-6 since Aug. 20, gaining 3 1/2 games on Washington in that stretch.Jeurys Familia (3-3) earned the victory despite surrendering two runs in the ninth to blow his fourth save of the season. Left-hander Jerry Blevins struck out Daniel Murphy for the final out to earn his first save since 2012.I was trying to put it into play, said Murphy, who earlier had two hits and has hit safely against the Mets in 18 consecutive games this season. I was unsuccessful.Rivera, who won the Pacific Coast League batting title this season and entered the night with 41 career at-bats in the majors, probably would not have played if Wilmer Flores wasnt dealing with a stiff neck. Manager Terry Collins gave Rivera the start, and the move paid off even before the home run.Rivera had an RBI single in the third and a sacrifice fly in the fifth, then took Melancon (2-2) deep after the Nationals rallied to force extra innings.Somebody has to surprise you, Collins said. Somebody you dont expect has to come through, and tonight it was T.J.Washington mustered only four hits in the first eight innings, but quickly got to Familia in the ninth. Murphy led off with an infield single, and third baseman Jose Reyes threw Bryce Harpers grounder into the seats. Anthony Rendon and Wilson Ramos then delivered consecutive singles to tie it.Familia then got Ryan Zimmerman to line out and pinch-hitter Clint Robinson to hit a soft liner to second that fooled pinch-runner Wilmer Difo, who was doubled off first.We have arguably the best closer in the game and they hit four groundballs and three of them didnt get out of the infield and the games tied, Collins said. He was frustrated by it and we certainly understand it, but we wouldnt be sitting where we are without him.After Jayson Werths two-out single off Fernando Salas in the 10th brought the winning run to the plate, Collins called on Blevins. He got two strikes on Murphy, who then worked a full count before missing a curveball to end it.Hes so good and an MVP candidate for a reason, Blevins said. You try to take advantage of some aggressiveness and get him to swing at your pitch.Noah Syndergaard struck out 10 over seven innings for the Mets, yielding just one run and four hits.When you run probably your best pitcher out, you have to win that game, Collins said. You have to win this game tonight with Noah on the mound. He pitched great.Nationals starter A.J. Cole allowed three runs and nine hits in five innings.SYNDERGAARDS MILESTONESyndergaards 10-strikeout outing of the season gave him 205 for the season. The 24-year-old is the fifth Met to record 200 strikeouts at that age or younger, joining Tom Seaver (1968 and 1969), Jon Matlack (1973), Dwight Gooden (1984-86) and Sid Fernandez (1986).ZEROES FOR RZEPCZYNSKIWashington reliever Marc Rzepczynski retired the lone Met he faced and has not allowed an earned run in nine appearances since being acquired from Oakland on Aug. 25. Rzepczynski has yielded four hits and three walks in 8 1/3 innings since joining the Nationals.TRAINERS ROOMMets: INF Flores (stiff neck) remained out of the lineup and was going to try to hit in the batting cage before the game. Flores has not played since Saturday. ... OF Justin Ruggiano, on the DL since Aug. 27, underwent left shoulder surgery. He hit .350 with two homers in 20 at-bats this season.Nationals: 1B Zimmerman, who did not start the last two times Syndergaard pitched against Washington, was in the lineup against the right-hander. Zimmerman entered the night 1 for 8 lifetime against Syndergaard and went 1 for 3 against him.UP NEXTMets: RHP Robert Gsellman (2-1, 3.92) faces Washington for the second time this month. The rookie allowed one run in six innings to earn the victory against the Nationals on Sept. 3.Nationals: RHP Tanner Roark (14-8, 2.85), who has quality starts in seven of his last nine outings, starts the finale of the three-game series for Washington. 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Jeff Green scored 13 points and Kris Humphries 12 for the Celtics, who nearly blew an 18-point, second-half lead. Sullingers 20-20 was the first by a Celtics player since Kevin Garnetts first game in Boston in 2007. Garnett was dealt -- along with Paul Pierce -- to Brooklyn during the off-season. SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Tom Brady chatted up one of his old 49ers favorites in Tom Rathman, then pushed aside all that nostalgia for a few hours to earn his 199th career victory.Brady threw for 280 yards and four touchdowns, and the New England Patriots beat San Francisco 30-17 on Sunday. Brady tied Hall of Famer Brett Favre for the second-most wins by a quarterback in NFL history. With his next win, Brady will match Peyton Manning for the top spot.Back home in the Bay Area playing on San Franciscos home field for the first time, facing the team he cheered as a boy, Brady handled the game and took care of the ball on a day it was difficult to do so.When the game ended, a rainbow had emerged over the entire stadium -- a fitting cap to Bradys fine afternoon. No. 12 then threw a football into the stands behind one end zone and hustled off to see all of his supporters.It was very cool. It doesnt get any better than that. To have the first chance to ever do that was very special, Brady said . I felt it in pregame warmup and it carried right to the last play of the game. It was pretty great.They have a great organization, they always have. They inspired a lot of kids here in the Bay Area in my time growing up, and I was one of them.Under pressure on the slick grass, Brady found Danny Amendola for a 5-yard touchdown to start the fourth quarter, then later hit Malcolm Mitchell on a 56-yard score for his fourth TD pass.Brady also threw short touchdown passes to Julian Edelman and James White on his first two possessions and completed 24 of 40 passes. The AFC East-leading Patriots (8-2) bounced back from last weeks loss to the Seahawks on a rainy day at Levis Stadium.Edelman caught a 4-yard TD pass for the first score of the game , breaking away from Keith Reaser to the corner and barely keeping two feet inbounds. Edelman finished with eight receptions for 77 yards, and Mitchell had four catches for 98 yards.Brady hit White for a 9-yard touchdown , then Amendola reached a career high with his fourth TD catch of 2016 on the first play of the fourth quarter. Mitchells athletic, reaching grab between two defenders and straightaway speed after the catch resulted in his first career touchdown to seal it.Brady completed eight of his first nine passes and nine of 11, while New Englands defense flew through a leaky offensive line at Colin Kaepernick for four first-half sacks and five in all.Brady had never played a road game against the 49ers.dddddddddddd He injured his knee before the Patriots 2008 visit to Candlestick Park -- the very place the young Brady used to cheer Joe Montana and witnessed The Catch by Dwight Clark.It only took until his 17th NFL season for Brady to finally get this chance. Of course, he shined in the big moment.Hes Tom Brady. Hes going to make the plays hes going to make, and thats what he did today, 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks said.LeGarrette Blount had a season-long 44-yard run and finished with 124 yards rushing.Kaepernick threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Vance McDonald late in the first half to get the 49ers (1-9) within 13-10, but they didnt do enough right after intermission until Shaun Draughns late 13-yard TD catch.Levis Stadium was so packed with Patriots fans it almost sounded like Foxborough.Kaepernick has looked improved each week since regaining the starting job last month, completing 16 of 30 passes for 206 yards. But the 1-and-Niners -- as their nickname quickly became Sunday -- lost a ninth straight game under first-year coach Chip Kelly since opening the season with a shutout of the Rams.SO MANY TARGETS: During the regular season, Brady has thrown touchdown passes to 63 players -- second-most behind Vinny Testaverdes 70.Brady also had four TD passes with no interceptions for the 21st time in his career.PATS PASS RUSH: Five Patriots had sacks on Kaepernick: Patrick Chung, Malcolm Butler, Kyle Van Noy, Donta Hightower and Rob Ninkovich.Hes a tough guy to tackle, coach Bill Belichick said. Our players stayed after him.LEWIS DEBUT: Pats running back Dion Lewis made his season debut after recovering from reconstructive surgery on his left knee. He had a 9-yard reception for a first down during New Englands opening drive.DAWSONS MARK: With a 33-yard field goal in the first quarter, San Franciscos 41-year-old kicker, Phil Dawson, became the 10th kicker in NFL history to reach 400 field goals.SMITHS FIRST MISS: San Francisco wideout Torrey Smith missed his first career game and had his streak of consecutive games snapped at 89 because of a shoulder injury sustained last week at Arizona. This is his sixth NFL season.UP NEXTPatriots: at Jets on Sunday.49ers: at Dolphins on Sunday.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '