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A22     sports
                 Monday 9 SepteMber 2019


























            Connecticut Sun coach Curt Miller questions official Tiffany Bird
            during the team’s WNBA basketball game against the Chicago
            Sky on Friday, Sept. 6, 2019, in Uncasville, Conn.
                                                     Associated Press
            Final WNBA playoff

            seedings came down                                          New York Mets' third baseman Jeff McNeil (6) can't get Philadelphia Phillies' Corey Dickerson's

                                                                        foul ball as fans watch from behind a protective netting during the fifth inning of a baseball
            to last day of season                                       game, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2019, in New York.                         Associated Press


            By DOUG FEINEBRG             Chicago  swept  the  three     Phils hit 3 HRs, outlast Mets
            AP Basketball Writer         games  during  the  regular
            NEW YORK (AP) — The WN-      season  between  the  two      10-7 to tighten wild-card race
            BA’s  playoff  bracket  is  set  teams.
            after a busy final day of the  “In  a  one  game  knock-    By BEN WALKER                            pen got battered yet again as the Mets
            regular season.              out situation as long as we    AP Baseball Writer                       missed a chance to move up in the post-
            Washington,  Connecticut  can  limit  what  they  want      NEW YORK (AP) — Looking for every ex-    season race.
            and  Los  Angeles  had  al-  to do and make them feel       tra  edge  in  a  playoff  chase,  the  Phila-  "It stings, it stings," Mets manager Mickey
            ready  sealed  up  the  top-  uncomfortable    anything     delphia  Phillies  tried  most  everything  Callaway  said.  "We're  still  going  to  be
            three  playoff  spots  before  is  possible.  We  didn’t  win   —  stealing  and  bunting,  plus  plenty  of  the same amount of games back. We've
            Sunday’s contests. The Mys-  at  Connecticut  last  year    pinch-hitters and pitchers.              got one less game to make that up. But
            tics and Sun don’t play until  and we went in there and     On and on they went, mixing and match-   we can do it."
            the  semifinals.  The  Sparks  won,” Phoenix coach San-     ing against the New York Mets for so long  It  was  the  longest  nine-inning  game  in
            will  play  Sunday  against  dy Brondello said.             the teams actually began to run out of  Mets'  history,  topping  a  4:14  matchup
            the worst remaining seed.    “We’ve been in these situ-     baseballs.                               with Washington last Sept. 23. The Phillies
            Las  Vegas,  which  had  ations before so we’re not         In the end, the Phillies had just enough.  tied for the longest nine-inning NL game
            clinched  the  franchise’s  looking  at  it  like  “Oh  we   Maikel Franco , Scott Kingery and Adam  at 4:30 on July 6, 2018, against the Pitts-
            first  playoff  berth  since  haven’t  won,”  because       Haseley  homered  as  Philadelphia  over-  burgh.
            2014 and first since moving  you just go and play. We’re    came an early deficit and outlasted the  The Red Sox and Yankees set the major
            to  Nevada  last  year  from  going to believe. We know     Mets 10-7 Sunday to further tighten the  league record of 4:45 in 2006.
            San Antonio, earned a first-  we  can  do  this.  It’s  not   NL wild-card race.                     By the late innings, extra balls were need-
            round  bye  and  a  home  easy,  no  game  is  easy.        "It wasn't the prettiest win by any stretch,"  ed. Usually, 16 dozen are rubbed up for
            game  with  a  victory  over  Anyone  can  beat  anyone     manager Gabe Kapler said.                games at Citi Field — that's more than at
            Phoenix  on  Sunday  and  a  in  this  league  so  we  just   The game took 4 hours, 29 minutes — a  most parks and usually ample by a lot.
            loss by Chicago.             have to make sure that it’s    minute  short  of  matching  the  longest  But the teams ran through those, and re-
            “The  season  kind  of  went  our night.”                   nine-inning  game  in  NL  history.  When  it  quired an extra two dozen to finish.
            how I expected it to. A lot  Minnesota  had  a  chance      was over, Philadelphia had closed within  Phillies  starter  Vince  Velasquez  blamed
            of  ups  and  downs,  trying  to get a home game, but a     two  games  of  Chicago  for  the  second  himself for the slow proceedings. He al-
            to  understand  each  other  loss to Los Angeles on Sun-    wild-card  spot.  The  Mets  stayed  four  lowed four runs, six hits and four walks in
            and  learn  how  to  win,”  day and a win by Seattle in     back  of  the  Cubs,  who  lost  Milwaukee  4 1/3 innings.
            Aces  coach  Bill  Laimbeer  Dallas  gave  the  Storm  the   8-5.                                    "I take full responsibility on that end," he
            said.                        home  matchup  against         With  both  managers  maneuvering,  the  said.
            “We had our moments we  the  Lynx  on  Wednesday            clubs  combined  to  use  39  players,  in-  Pinch-hitter Phil Gosselin blooped an RBI
            looked very good, and mo-    night in the opening round.    cluding  eight  pitchers  apiece.  Héctor  single  that  gave  the  Phillies  a  5-4  lead
            ments where we looked re-    Seattle  won  three  of  the   Neris escaped a two-on, one-out jam in  in the sixth and Franco followed with a
            ally  bad.  All  in  all,  to  take  four meetings between the   the ninth.                          two-run  homer.  Franco  later  doubled
            the  fourth  seed  and  have  teams  this  season,  includ-  "We  have  to  try  to  win  games,"  Kapler  and had seven homers and 18 RBIs in 15
            a bye in the first round and  ing the last three.           said. "We have to try to win the inning."  games against the Mets this year.
            a home game. We will take  “We know how to be good,         Injured star Bryce Harper drew a bases-  The Mets clawed back for two runs in the
            it.”                         and  now  we  need  to  do     loaded walk as a pinch-hitter, capping  bottom  of  the  sixth  to  make  it  7-6  and
            While the Aces have a bye,  that on the road. That’s the    a three-run seventh inning to put the Phil-  had the tying run in scoring position, but
            Chicago  will  have  to  play  hardest  thing,  and  that’s   lies ahead 10-6. That came shortly after  Rodríguez  charged  hard  into  the  tight
            Wednesday  against  Phoe-    why  the  home  games  are     a sensational catch by right fielder Sean  foul  space,  banged  hard  into  the  wall
            nix.                         so  coveted,”  Lynx  coach     Rodríguez preserved a slim lead.         and caught a fly by J.D. Davis to end the
            The Mercury are no strang-   Cheryl Reeve said.             Wilson  Ramos  and  Robinson  Canó  hit  inning.  Rodríguez's  teammates  waited
            er to the single-elimination  “We are going to see if we    back-to-back  homers  in  the  first  inning  outside  the  dugout  to  greet  him,  and
            postseason  format,  going  can win a hard road game.       for a 3-0 New York edge. But Noah Syn-   several  players  came  off  the  bench  to
            6-0  in  it  since  the  league  We need to play a lot bet-  dergaard  couldn't  hold  it  and  the  bull-  join in.q
            changed  to  it  in  2016.  ter than we did today.”q
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