SAN FRANCISCO -- When Mike Rizzo and Dusty Baker called Mark Melancon on Saturday from the visiting clubhouse at AT&T Park, one thing that impressed them right away about their new All-Star closer is that he planned to immediately check in with Jonathan Papelbon.It says a lot about his character and makeup, and that was a big reason why he was such an attractive target to us, said Rizzo, Washingtons general manager. His performance level is great but his makeup and character are a lot of the reason that we went out and got him. That tells me hes team-first and Mark Melancon second.Washington sent reliever Felipe Rivero and pitching prospect Taylor Hearn to the Pirates to acquire Melancon, who supplants the struggling Papelbon as Washingtons closer. Rizzo and Baker also spoke to Papelbon, who made it clear he wants to win, Baker said.Melancon is expected to join the Nationals on Sunday for their series finale at San Francisco.Pittsburgh general manager Neal Huntington tried to tell Melancon he had been traded. And tried. And tried.I felt bad because I missed his call three times because my phone was on silent, so I woke up to that, the reliever said after he awakened from his nap and learned of the deal.A 31-year-old right-hander, Melancon has converted 30 of 33 saves with a 1.51 ERA this season and joins his fifth organization in eight years. He is making $9.65 million and is eligible for free agency after the World Series; as part of the swap, the Pirates will pay Washington $500,000 on Sept. 1.Once considered a possible successor to Mariano Rivera when he broke into the majors with the New York Yankees in 2009, Melancon said during the All-Star break he knew a trade was possible, given his contract status.The move comes as the Pirates find themselves on the fringe of the wild-card race. While general manager Neal Huntington stressed the team remains committed to reaching the playoffs for a fourth straight season, the opportunity to deal Melancon -- who led the majors with 51 saves in 2015 and had 33 in 14 -- for two young arms with friendly long-term contracts was too good to pass up.Bakers bullpen is taxed.Were getting some reinforcements, he said of Melancon.Rivero is under team control through 2021 and hit 100 mph on the radar gun regularly during an extended relief appearance against the Pirates this month. If Melancon left as a free agent, Pittsburgh would have received a high draft pick as compensation.We knew full well that holding Mark Melancon would have been a good return, but at the end of the day we felt this was a better return for us, Huntington said.This was the well-traveled Melancons fourth season in Pittsburgh after he also pitched for Houston, Boston and the Yankees.He will move his family once more -- his wife and three kids.This has been a blast. Pittsburgh has a special place in heart. My family has been treated so well, Melancon said. The experiences weve had, just running through my mind all the wild-card games, just big games that weve been in. From where we started, to where we are now, it is an honor. It is an honor to be a Pirate. We got to go through those experiences together. My teammates are my best friends.Papelbon is 2-4 with a 4.41 ERA and has allowed eight runs and seven hits in his past three outing. Manager Dusty Baker wouldnt say earlier Saturday whether Papelbon still was his closer. Baker pulled Papelbon from a game Thursday in the ninth inning.Rivero, a 25-year-old lefty, is 0-3 with a 4.53 ERA this season. Hearn is a 21-year-old lefty who was the Nationals fifth-round pick in the 2015 amateur draft.Pittsburgh will plug the 25-year-old Rivero into a seventh-inning role, with Neftali Feliz working the eighth and Tony Watson in the ninth. Watson was an All-Star in 2014 in a set-up role and will take over a position where Pittsburgh has enjoyed plenty of success during its rise from mediocrity. Each of its previous three closers: Melanon, Jason Grilli and Joel Hanrahan, made the All-Star team wearing black and gold.Manager Clint Hurdle will miss Melancon but is confident in his bullpen options.I love the guy, love the family. Happy we had him. He helped us, I believe we helped him, Hurdle said. We are not giving up anything, we arent lowering the bar. We are not settling. Our organization made a baseball trade, with confidence that our bullpen is going to be in a good place. We are going to be able to compete this year, we are going to be able to add to our competition level in the years to come.Huntington hinted the team may try to take the money it will save by not paying the remaining portion of Melancons contract and use it before Mondays trade deadline. The Pirates need help in the starting rotation, which has been forced to turn to rookies Jameson Taillon and Tyler Glasnow quickly as established players Jeff Locke, John Niese and Juan Nicasio faltered.---AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum, AP Sports Writers Will Graves and Stephen Whyno and AP freelance writer Anthony Totoraitis contributed to this report. Discount Nike Air Max 1 . Clarke was injured while practicing on the Doha Golf Club range after the pro-am on Tuesday. The Northern Irishman arrived at the course on Wednesday hoping to start, but after hitting a few balls on the practice putting green Clarke advised officials he was not fit to play. Nike Air Max 1 2021 . -- Team after team passed on Andre Ellington in the draft. https://www.cheapairmax1store.com/ . It is a cliché dragged out by fans and pundits regularly when discussions take place around which teams are better than others. Nike Air Max 1 . Detroit and Boston are deadlocked, 1-1, and Tigers manager Jim Leyland could be forgiven if he was caught rationalizing instead of dissecting how his club could blow a 5-1 lead late in Game 2. Fake Nike Air Max 1 . -- Quarterback Will Finch threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and Yannick Harou rushed in two scores as the No. CLEVELAND -- Hue Jackson struggled to push out the words.A season he never fathomed reached another low point on Sunday, and as Clevelands first-year coach wrestled to put it into perspective, Jackson paused to gather himself. He tapped the side of the podium with his right hand and pursed his lips as his eyes welled up.This hurts.Being 0-12 is probably the hardest thing ever, Jackson said after the Browns lost 27-13 to the New York Giants.Unfortunately, with four games left, it might get harder for him.Following the game, Jackson, saddled with a rookie-laden roster, met with Clevelands upper management in his office before his news conference. Jackson insisted the discussion had nothing to do with his job status or future, and hes as committed as ever to turning Cleveland into a winner.But until that day arrives, Jackson has no choice but to keep teaching, motivating and pushing his players, who are hoping to avoid joining the 2008 Detroit Lions as the only teams to go 0-16.I have never been through this, he said. But I am not going to fall off a cliff or anything like that. These guys, these players, this organization, and the (ownership) group mean too much to me for me to ever feel like that. Do I ever get disappointed and frustrated? Yes, I do not want you guys to feel like I do not. I do not want you guys to think I do not get mad or sad or disappointed. I go through all of those emotions.At the same, I know what I signed up for. I know through our injuries and the things we have been through this season where we are and where we are trying to go. You can either beat yourself up, and I do that enough, or you can just put your head down and keep fighting and push through this. That is what we are going to do as a football team and as an organization.As has been the case most of this season, the Browns just didnt have enough talent -- or luck -- to pull out a win.They were within 20-13 in the fourth quarter before Eli Manning threw his second touchdown pass to Odell Beckham Jr. New Yorks defense put an exclamation point on the Giants sixth sstraight win by sacking Josh McCown a few more times in the final minutes.ddddddddddddMcCown was dropped seven times as the Browns again struggled to protect their quarterback.Cleveland had two chances to score touchdowns in the first half, but had its drives stall and settled for field goals by Cody Parkey. Thats been a familiar and frustrating pattern for Jackson, an offensive mastermind who just doesnt have enough weapons.If theres a shred of good news its that the Browns have a bye next week, giving the coaching staff and players a break from the misery. Jackson said hell devote the time off to fixing his team.It has been a long 12 weeks, he said, and unfortunate for the men in that room over there, we have not been able to get them a win yet. We will go back to the drawing board, and we will come back tomorrow. I know these guys will come to work, they will be ready to go and we will work through tomorrow. Then they will get out of here and we will self-scout ourselves and see where we are and go from there.Jackson brushed aside a question about his job security, saying he has the full support of owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam. He added they have continued to hold positive discussions about the teams struggles.In these times of toughness and times of crisis, you have to have good strong conversation, he said. It is healthy and it is good. That is how you do not go through these things in the future. You work through those things and you talk through them so that you can come on the other side, and they have been great with me from top to bottom.Hopefully, they feel the same from me to them. I dont like losing. I never have and I never will, and I have had my butt kicked up over my shoulders enough this season that I really dont need my butt kicked anymore. I have to figure out how to quit getting my butt kicked. It is just that simple.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '