. "Some of em are able to still end up in t from corse178's blog
RIO DE JANEIRO -- With the Olympics behind it, the WNBA is ready to restart its season after a monthlong break. Leon Jacobs Jersey .There should be quite the sprint to the finish during the leagues final weeks, starting Friday through Sept. 18.Very excited to get the back end of the season going, WNBA President Lisa Borders said. You think about the format changes, top eight teams make the playoffs, doesnt matter what your geography is, it matters what your record is.Only 4 1-2 games separate fourth place and 11th after the league changed its playoff format this season to get rid of conferences. The top eight teams will make the playoffs.The league is very close right now and anybody can make it into the playoffs or get kicked out at this point, Chicago Sky star Elena Delle Donne said. Every game is do or die.Phoenix, which had nearly half its team go to Rio, has been the biggest disappointment this season. Picked in preseason by the leagues general managers to win the title, the Mercury sit at 10-14 in seventh place.The WNBA season is very tricky, especially with the Olympic break, Diana Taurasi said. If we can start building momentum and playing good basketball, we have championship-caliber talent. We just need to start playing like it.Los Angeles and Minnesota have already clinched playoff spots and likely will be the top two seeds, earning byes into the semifinals. The Sparks had plenty of time to rest during the last month as none of their players made the Olympic team.Not the case for Minnesota, which had coach Cheryl Reeve and stars Maya Moore, Lindsay Whalen, Seimone Augustus and Sylvia Fowles all playing for the gold medal-winning team.Reeve isnt worried about the impact of the Olympics on her core four.They would have been playing anywhere whether it was here or there, she said. The domestic stuff was pretty challenging on their time and their bodies. Once we got to Rio and settled on the (cruise) ship and got a little more of a rhythm and downtime. ... Genos done a great job managing their bodies. Well continue down that path.Here are a few other things to watch as the WNBA gets back underway on Friday:RETURNING FROM INJURY: New York sits in third place and should get a boost from the return of Epiphanny Prince, who missed the first 26 games while recovering from an ACL injury . Coach Bill Laimbeer expects her to be ready come playoff time.FAREWELL: Tamika Catchings won her fourth gold medal and winds down her playing career in Indiana. Shes not the only person retiring at the end of the season. Penny Taylor also announced this is her last year playing professionally . Swin Cash announced her retirement in the middle of the season, effective at the end of this year. San Antonio coach Dan Hughes said before the season it would be his final one on the bench.POWER POLL: The AP power poll will return on Tuesday. The previous poll order before the break: Los Angeles, Minnesota, New York, Indiana, Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix, Seattle, Connecticut, Dallas, Washington and San Antonio.SUPER 20: The WNBA is celebrating its 20th season and the remaining weeks of the regular season with a new ad and sweepstakes through Sept. 18. The league is offering any fan who buys a ticket entry into a sweepstakes to attend next years WNBA All-Star game or the NBA All-Star game or a cash prize.There will be one winner selected for each All-Star game, and the package includes two tickets, transportation and accommodations.With all the interest coming out of the Olympics and our womens national team, with their sixth consecutive gold medal, we really wanted to do something special for our fans and create something that would say thank you to our core fans, WNBA chief operating officer Jay Parry said. And also introduce the WNBA to casual fans and give them a reason to come to a WNBA game as we race towards the playoffs.---Follow Doug on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dougfeinberg Cheap Jacksonville Jaguars Jerseys . -- Gus Malzahn finally had his day in Fayetteville. Cheap Jaguars Jerseys Authentic . But by the time the game started, the Toronto Raptors forward felt even worse. And, for three quarters, it showed as Gay shot a woeful three-for-13 from the field. http://www.cheapjaguarsjerseysauthentic.com/ . LUCIE, Fla.NEW YORK -- Michael Wacha had combed his hair and dressed in a button-down shirt, all ready at his locker not long after a beer shower to celebrate his first major league win. Just as he did on the mound, the St. Louis rookie got cleaned up quick. Wacha recovered from a wild start and Allen Craig hit a three-run homer for the Cardinals in a 9-2 victory over the staggering New York Mets on Tuesday night. "Its an unbelievable feeling," Wacha said. "Hopefully, theres more to come." Matt Holliday had three hits and the NL Central leaders took full advantage of a crucial error by new Mets first baseman Daniel Murphy, who was shifted over from second after slumping Ike Davis got demoted to the minors Sunday. David Freese extended his career-best hitting streak to 20 games, longest in the majors this season, and Wacha (1-0) even knocked in a run with a groundout for his first RBI. The 21-year-old righty walked three batters and fell behind 2-0 in a 37-pitch first inning but worked his way through it and soon settled in. "The first inning was rough," he said. "Just didnt have any command over my pitches. After I got out of the first I just told myself, just flush it out and just forget about it and just go out and attack the hitters the next couple of innings." Omar Quintanilla homered for the Mets, who gave up a major league-high seven unearned runs and lost for the seventh time in eight games since a season-best five-game winning streak that included a four-game sweep of the Subway Series against the New York Yankees. They dropped 13 games under .500, their lowest mark of the year. Jeremy Hefner (1-6) had a 2-1 lead until St. Louis scored five unearned runs in the fifth, capped by Craigs fifth homer. The outburst began when Jon Jay reached on a leadoff grounder to Murphy, who knocked it down on his backhand but rushed a high, off-balance throw to Hefner covering first. "Its a groundball that I should have handled, but I booted it," Murphy said. "Its not my first time playing first base, and it gave them life." Pete Kozma doubled and Hefner slammed down the rosin bag after Wachas grounder to shortstop tied the score. Matt Carpenter walked, Yadier Molina put the Cardinals ahead with an RBI groundout and Holliday reached on an infield single before Craig drove an 0-1 pitch to left-centre for a 6-2 advantage. At his best in clutch situations, Craig came in batting .400 with runners in scoring position -- the same average he had last year. "You just cant say its a fluke when a guy does what hes done," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "Its for real. Hes just got a knack for getting it done." St. Louis, which owns baseballs bestt record at 42-22, added two in the seventh after Kirk Nieuwenhuis misplayed a deep fly to right for an error. Will Richardson Jersey. Holliday had an RBI single and reliever Josh Edgin, just recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas, walked Jay with the bases loaded to force in another run. "Their lineup is a test," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "They hit to all fields. They hit to all fields with power. They stay focused pitch after pitch." Shane Robinson, who replaced Craig in right field, homered in the ninth off David Aardsma to make it 9-2. Craig made a painful-looking catch in the third when he fell at the base of the wall, where his neck and the back of his head snapped back and hit the fence. "I feel all right. Probably going to be a little sore tomorrow, but not a big deal," Craig said. "It definitely jarred me a little bit." Wacha, drafted 19th overall a year ago out of Texas A&M, was making his third major league start after an impressive outing against Kansas City and a shaky one vs. Arizona. Pitching on the road for the first time, he gave up a home run to his second batter. Marlon Byrd hit a sacrifice fly and the bases were loaded when Nieuwenhuis hit a grounder up the middle that appeared headed for centre field and a two-run single that would have given New York a 4-0 lead. Kozma, however, was positioned perfectly at shortstop and made a nice play to end the inning. It was the sort of play that often goes unnoticed, but it stopped the Mets in their tracks. Wacha did not walk another batter and yielded five hits over six solid innings before Randy Choate and Keith Butler finished up. "He just was out of rhythm and every pitcher goes through it," Matheny said. "Some of em are able to still end up in the sixth inning." New York did not manage a hit after Jordany Valdespins leadoff single in the fifth. With Davis sent down, Valdespin is getting an opportunity to play regularly at second base, his natural position. NOTES: Cardinals RF Carlos Beltran, a former Mets star, was rested to give him consecutive days off. The team was off Monday and Beltran travelled home to attend commencement ceremonies for the first graduating class of his Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy in Puerto Rico. ... RHP Jake Westbrook (elbow inflammation) is scheduled to come off the disabled list and start Friday night in Miami. ... Carpenters 18-game hitting streak ended. ... Mets RHP Matt Harvey (5-0, 2.10 ERA) threw his bullpen session and is on target to make his next scheduled start in the series finale Thursday afternoon against RHP Adam Wainwright (9-3, 2.34). Harvey left Saturdays start after seven effective innings with tightness in his lower back. Cheap NFL Autographed Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys 2020Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Store Black China NFL Jerseys Jerseys NFL Cheap China NFL Jerseys ' ' '
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