Pete Alonso delivered a clutch, three-run homer off closer Devin Williams in the ninth inning and the New York Mets rallied for a wild 4-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night to win their NL Wild Card Series.

The Mets' comeback victory in the decisive Game 3 gave them their first playoff series win since claiming the NL pennant in 2015. They advance to a Division Series beginning Saturday at rival Philadelphia against the NL East champion Phillies.

The Brewers, making their sixth playoff appearance in the last seven years, still haven't won a postseason series since reaching Game 7 of the NL Championship Series in 2018.

Milwaukee appeared to have the victory in hand after Jake Bauers and Sal Frelick broke a scoreless tie by opening the seventh inning with back-to-back homers off José Buttó. Tobias Myers and three relievers had combined on a two-hit shutout through the first eight innings.

Twelve straight Mets had been retired when they opened the ninth against Williams, a two-time NL reliever of the year who had earned the save Wednesday in Milwaukee’s Game 2 victory.

But Francisco Lindor opened the ninth by walking on a 3-2 pitch. After Mark Vientos struck out, Brandon Nimmo singled to put runners at the corners.

That brought up Alonso, who has 226 career homers in six seasons but hadn’t gone deep since Sept. 19.

After getting ahead 3-1 in the count, Alonso sent a 3-1 changeup over the wall in right field to give the Mets the lead.

Edwin Díaz pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to earn the win and David Peterson, making his first relief appearance of the season, worked the ninth for his first major league save.

Erik ten Hag does not believe Manchester United should be judged too harshly despite their tough start to the season, after snatching a last-gasp draw with Porto.

Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund gave the Red Devils a quickfire lead in Portugal, before Pepe and a double from Samu Omorodion looked to have sealed a turnaround.

Bruno Fernandes was then sent off for the second game in a row, but Harry Maguire came off the bench to ensure United left with a point in the Europa League after a 3-3 draw.

It was their second consecutive draw in the competition, having given up a lead in both, leaving them 21st in the league table.

In fact, United are winless in their last five matches in European competitions (D3 L2) despite leading by 2+ goals in three of them. 

Ten Hag continues to come under pressure, with his team now winless in four in all competitions, but he believes the squad have what it takes to turn things around.

"We will get there," he told TNT Sports. "Don't judge us in this moment, judge us at the end of the season.

"We are in the process, we will improve. We have had two seasons where we have reached finals, we will continue and fight.

"You see the spirit and the connection between the staff and the team. The players are together, they have a strong spirit, and they want to achieve. We have a good mentality but in some defending parts we have to step up."

Maguire came on as a 78th-minute substitute and scored his first goal of the season, nodding in from Christian Eriksen's corner in the 91st minute.

The former United captain backed the manager to cope with the added noise surrounding his job once again.

"I've played for this club for six years; I know how it works. When you go on a bad spell players come under pressure and also the manager does," Maguire said.

"He's experienced enough and been at this club long enough, so I'm sure he knows how to deal with it. It's part of the privilege you have playing for this club."

Malick Fofana and Alexandre Lacazette each scored twice as Lyon outclassed Rangers 4-1 in the Europa League at Ibrox on Thursday.

Former Arsenal striker Lacazette scored twice before the break after Tom Lawrence had earlier cancelled out Fofana's opener in Glasgow, with the latter also netting again in the second half.

Vaclav Cerny was punished for woefully blazing over the bar when Fofana bent home on the rebound from the hugely impressive Rayan Cherki's shot after 10 minutes.

Lawrence quickly prodded home the equaliser when Cyriel Dessers was denied, but an awful error from Connor Barron led to Fofana laying on a simple finish for Lacazette.

The Frenchman then made it 3-1 with a whipped 25-yard stunner before the break and Fofana poked home Cherki's low cross at the back post to add more gloss shortly after the restart.

Duje Caleta-Car saw a header thunder off the crossbar and Corentin Tolisso had a shot cleared off the line, while substitute Said Benrahma was also denied as Lyon pushed to really emphasise their dominance of proceedings.

Data Debrief: Lyon forwards tormentors in chief

Rangers, who won impressively at Malmo on MD1, just had no answer for the dynamism of a Lyon side who are now two from two and second in the table.

Lacazette was playing his 50th game in the Europa League and scored his 23rd and 24th goals in the competition. Only Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (34) and Aritz Aduriz (26) have scored more since his first appearance in September 2012.

Cherki set up both of Fofana's goals in an excellent display and has six goal involvements in only five Europa League starts (three goals, three assists), while Fofana scored and assisted in the same game for the first time for Lyon.

Rangers have a night to forget and this represented only the first time in the Europa League/UEFA Cup they have conceded four goals at home, and only the third time overall.

Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid told the media Thursday the team was waiting for swelling to go down on Rashee Rice's knee before performing additional tests.

Three hours later, the Chiefs had enough information to know he'll be side-lined for at least one month.

The Chiefs placed Rice on injured reserve later Thursday, meaning he will out for a minimum of four weeks.

Rice was injured in last Sunday's 17-10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, and it was reported he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

There has been no update on the extent of the injury, but a torn ACL would side-line him for the rest of the season.

The second-year receiver was injured on a bizarre play when he collided with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who inadvertently dove into Rice's knee as the two team-mates were attempting to tackle Chargers cornerback Kristian Fulton on an interception return.

Rice was carted off to the locker room shortly after leaving the field and eventually ruled out of the game.

 

His injury is the latest blow to a Kansas City team that is already without leading rusher Isiah Pacheco, who is recovering from a fractured fibula he sustained in Week 2.

It also leaves Mahomes without his top target, as Rice led the NFL with 24 receptions through this season's first three weeks.

No other Kansas City player had double-digit receptions entering Week 4, though Travis Kelce finally took on a larger role in the offence.

The veteran tight end had seven receptions for 89 yards against the Chargers after catching eight passes for 69 yards in the first three games.

Despite losing two of their top play-makers, the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs are 4-0 heading into their Week 5 Monday night game against the New Orleans Saints.

Harry Maguire's late goal spared Manchester United's blushes as they drew 3-3 with Porto despite Bruno Fernandes' red card in the Europa League.

Samu Omorodion's double looked like it had secured Porto the win, but Maguire came off the bench to score in the 91st minute. 

Galeno tested Andre Onana with a powerful first-time shot two minutes in, but Marcus Rashford would open the scoring five minutes later at the other end, cutting inside from the left to drill his low shot under Diogo Costa's leg.

He then set up Rasmus Hojlund for their second in the 20th minute, and Costa again should have done better as the shot went through his hand.

Porto showed their fight soon after, though. Onana sprung brilliantly to keep out Noussair Mazraoui's inadvertent header, but Pepe was alert, stooping to nod home from close range.

Samu got his first in the 34th minute, taking advantage of some slack defending as he leapt high to thump his header over the goalkeeper, and got his second after the break, rifling a powerful shot into the top corner.

It looked like United's hopes of a result were over in the 81st minute as Fernandes received a red card for the second consecutive match. He got his first booking in the first half, receiving his marching orders in the 81st for a high boot in the box.

However, the Red Devils kept pushing for an equaliser, and it came from a corner, with Maguire guiding Christian Eriksen's cross into the top-left corner.

Data Debrief: Ten Hag gets lucky

It was a game that summed up United's season in some ways. They started the game on the front foot, getting two quickfire goals to put themselves in control only to drop their concentration.

Since Erik ten Hag joined the club in 2022, no Premier League club has conceded three or more goals in a match more times in all competitions than United (24).

In fact, they are winless in their last five matches in European competition (D3 L2) despite leading by 2+ goals in three of them. 

Fernandes' red card against Tottenham may have been overturned, but this one will stand. Having not received a single red card in any of his first 241 appearances for United in all competitions, he has now received two in his last two.

President of the St. Lucia Olympic Committee, Alfred Emmanuel, was among persons elected to the Panam Sports Executive Board at the body’s elections held on October 2 in Paraguay.

The continental body of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) elected Nevin Ilic as President.

He got 37 votes from a total of 53 votes. His challenger, Keith Joseph of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, received 16 votes.

There were also elections for individual members from the three different groupings. In Group 2, of which Saint Lucia is a part, the two representatives elected alongside Emmanuel were Roberto Richards of Cuba and Dennis Knight of St. Kitts and Nevis.

The representatives of Group 1 elected were: Mario Garcia de la Torre of México, Tricia Smith of Canada and Damaris Young of Panama.

The representatives of Group 3 elected were: Nicole Hoevertsz of Aruba, Mario Moccia of Argentina and Jorge Delgado of Ecuador.

The three Vice Presidents are: Veda Bruno Victor of Grenada - 1st Vice President, Camilo Perez of Paraguay - 2nd Vice President and Sarah Hirshland of USA - 3rd Vice President.

Ange Postecoglou waxed lyrical over the performances of Brennan Johnson and Mikey Moore as Tottenham defeated Ferencvaros 2-1 in the Europa League on Thursday.

Spurs made it two from two in Europe's secondary competition as goals from Pape Sarr and Johnson were enough for victory in Hungary despite Barnabas Varga's late consolation.

Versatile forward Johnson has now scored in each of his past five Tottenham appearances and has as many goals now as he did in the whole of last season (five).

Speaking at a press conference after the game, Postecoglou said of the Wales winger: "He's in a great vein of form right now. He's really confident. 

"They thrive on that sort of stuff, but his numbers have always been good. I was always curious as to why he was singled out because his numbers were always good when stacked up against the other wingers. 

"Now he's probably ahead of them with his numbers."

It was a night to remember for teenager Moore, who played the entire 90 minutes on his first professional start.

Postecoglou was extremely impressed with the way the 17-year-old forward applied himself on the European stage.

"His ability to just deal with pressure and keep the ball in really tight areas and make really good clean decisions for such a young boy," he added.

"It's not easy out there when defenders fly in, and he took one within the first 30 seconds, but he drives on. He's got so much growth, and he wants to learn. I couldn't be happier with him, and I'm very pleased that he's part of our football club.

"I thought he was outstanding. It's brilliant for a 17-year-old to play 90-plus minutes in a European away tie.

"He just handled it superbly, I kind of knew he would, and I think it'll help his growth as a footballer once you get through a sort of experience like that. 

"I think he'll grow and evolve, and I didn't feel like I needed to take him off. He still looked strong at the end and was still contributing."

Lee Carsley insists Harry Maguire's omission from his latest England squad is not due to form and he still has an important role to play for his country.

Manchester United centre-back Maguire missed Euro 2024 for beaten finalists England due to injury but was involved for interim boss Carlsey's first squad since Gareth Southgate departed for the Nations League victories over the Republic of Ireland and Finland last month.

However, there was no place for the 31-year-old ahead of this month's Nations League double-header against Greece and the return clash with the Finnish.

Maguire was the fifth-most utilised player for England under Southgate, with only Harry Kane, Kyle Walker, Jordan Pickford and John Stones appearing more, and Carsley explained that the decision was just to take a look at other options.

"It was a chance of having a look at other players. It's nothing to do with form. It's looking at the next two camps to look at other players," Carsley said.

"The players left out all have a case but we saw the benefit in the last camp of the squad being fresh, feeling fresh and a lot of energy in it.

"It's not just a copy and a paste, I want them to feel like they all have earned their place in the squad. People want to know where they stand long-term, I've told all the players this is a short-term situation.

"Harry is a player I've worked with in the past. He was very positive in the conversation we have.

"It was a case of talking to him about what my decision was, we have some really good centre-backs who we are keen to see play. Harry still has a really important part to play, not just in this squad but also in the campaign."

Brennan Johnson's red-hot form in front of goal continued as he helped Tottenham to a 2-1 win over Ferencvaros in the Europa League on Thursday.

Pape Sarr had given the visitors the lead in the first half before Johnson got the second with four minutes remaining prior to Barnabus Varga giving the hosts a late consolation.

A young Spurs side started slowly and were given a wake-up call 12 minutes in as Varga's header across goal nestled into the far bottom corner, but his goal was ruled out due to a tight offside.

Sarr put Spurs ahead just 11 minutes later, getting a little bit of fortune as the ball ricocheted through the box before he slotted past Denes Dibusz.

Pedro Porro then cut inside to drive a low shot against the foot of the right post before the break, while Matheus Saldanha forced Guglielmo Vicario into a fingertip save shortly after half-time.

Johnson came off the bench and hit the bar before keeping his composure to double Spurs' lead, sending his strike in off the inside of the post.

Varga did get his name on the scoresheet in stoppage time, stretching out a leg to lift Cristian Ramirez's whipped cross over Vicario.

Data Debrief: Johnson proves the difference

He may not have started the game, but it is Johnson's involvement that sealed all three points for Spurs, and a second consecutive Europa League win.

The forward has scored in each of his last five appearances for the club in all competitions, matching his goal tally for the entirety of last season (five goals).

Ange Postecoglou was not afraid to ring in the changes, and Tottenham became the first English side to start four-plus teenagers in a single match in a major European competition since Manchester United versus Astana in the Europa League in November 2019 (six).

Caitlin Clark lived up to the lofty expectations as one of the most highly touted rookies in WNBA history, and has been rewarded.

The WNBA announced Thursday that the Indiana Fever star was chosen as the league's Rookie of the Year.

Clark received 66 of 67 votes, with the other vote going to Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky.

After a phenomenal collegiate career, Clark was the first pick of this year's draft and made an immediate impact on the court and also by helping the WNBA gain popularity worldwide.

She broke the league's single-season assist mark with 337 - including a WNBA-record 19 in one game - and averaged 8.4 per game to become the first rookie to lead the league in that stat.

Her 122 3-pointers also led all players and she scored the most points ever by a rookie with an average of 19.2 per game to rank seventh in the WNBA.

With averages of 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals, she started all 40 games for the Fever to help the franchise reach the play-offs for the first time since 2016.

Joining Clark on the 2024 WNBA All-Rookie Team is Reese and Kamilla Cardoso of the Sky, New York Liberty forward Leonie Fiebich and Los Angeles Sparks forward Rickea Jackson.

 

Caitlin Clark lived up to the lofty expectations as one of the most highly touted rookies in WNBA history, and has been rewarded.

The WNBA announced Thursday that the Indiana Fever star was chosen as the league's Rookie of the Year.

Clark received 66 of 67 votes, with the other vote going to Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky.

After a phenomenal collegiate career, Clark was the first pick of this year's draft and made an immediate impact on the court and also by helping the WNBA gain popularity worldwide.

She broke the league's single-season assist mark with 337 - including a WNBA-record 19 in one game - and averaged 8.4 per game to become the first rookie to lead the league in that stat.

Her 122 3-pointers also led all players and she scored the most points ever by a rookie with an average of 19.2 per game to rank seventh in the WNBA.

With averages of 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals, she started all 40 games for the Fever to help the franchise reach the play-offs for the first time since 2016.

Joining Clark on the 2024 WNBA All-Rookie Team is Reese and Kamilla Cardoso of the Sky, New York Liberty forward Leonie Fiebich and Los Angeles Sparks forward Rickea Jackson.

 

Jason Gillespie insists Shan Masood has a "clear plan" as Pakistan's Test captain.

Pakistan's red-ball skipper has faced scrutiny after overseeing five straight defeats as captain, starting by being whitewashed 3-0 by Australia last December.

That was followed by a shock 2-0 series defeat to Bangladesh last month, which marked Gillespie's first as Pakistan Test coach.

Next up is a three-match series with England, where Joe Root (12,402) is 71 away from surpassing Alastair Cook (12,472) as the all-time leading run scorer for England in men’s Tests, beginning in Multan on Monday.

Speaking on BBC World Service's Stumped podcast, Gillespie said of Masood: "Shan has got a very clear plan on how the Test side should play and we are completely aligned on that," the 49-year-old said.

"There are things people don't see and I've been really impressed by his communication with the players and how he's gone about doing his job."

Gillespie added that he believes part of the issue is improving the fitness of the team.

He added: "We can't afford to have players in international cricket who are not fit or strong enough to negotiate the rigours of the game.

"What I've learned from the Bangladesh series is that we've got some wonderful players, but we need to be more consistent. We've got the skills but we need to keep fine-tuning them.

"There's also been plenty of talks around fitness and we're making sure that it's a key component for us going forward."

Julen Lopetegui says he expects to be under pressure after West Ham's recent struggles at home but hopes to put that right against Ipswich Town.

West Ham have won just one of their six Premier League matches so far, away to Crystal Palace, but have lost all three of their home fixtures, conceding eight goals and scoring twice.

Having failed to win any of their last four in the league, along with a heavy 5-1 defeat to Liverpool in the EFL Cup before last week's draw at Brentford, Lopetegui is coming under a little pressure already.

However, the Spaniard is not fazed by that, explaining his team are working hard to change their fortunes at the London Stadium.

"Always it's very important to win, and that's why we work hard every day. We want to win for sure," Lopetegui said.

"Ipswich are a good team, and all our thoughts are on Saturday.

"Our job is to live under pressure, and it is normal because we haven't won at home yet. That's why we are working, to try and win on Saturday against Ipswich."

Meanwhile, the Tractor Boys are still searching for their first win since being promoted back to the top-flight.

There is reason to be optimistic though, as Ipswich have drawn each of their last four outings, including 2-2 against Aston Villa last weekend.

Kieran McKenna is expecting another tough test but knows his players will show their competitiveness once again.

"I know it is another big game, another big challenge and one to look forward to," McKenna said.

"Let's hope we can make it really competitive. I don't think there [will be] many weeks this year where we are going to blow teams out of the water, so we need to work really, really hard to be competitive.

"We hope we can be really clinical in our execution when we have our moments and defend their moments well to give ourselves a chance to get a result."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

West Ham – Tomas Soucek

Tomas Soucek netted his 29th Premier League goal for West Ham United in their 1-1 draw with Brentford, overtaking Milan Baros (28) into second place for the top Czechia scorers in Premier League history.

He is now only behind Patrik Berger (38 goals), a record he will be keen to start chasing down.

Ipswich Town – Sam Morsy

No player has more Premier League yellow cards this season than Ipswich midfielder Sam Morsy (four) and was perhaps lucky not to receive a second against Aston Villa last weekend.

Since his Ipswich league debut in September 2021, only one player has more yellow cards in the league in England's top four tiers than Morsy's total of 40, but given his importance to McKenna's side, the manager will be hoping he can avoid another.

MATCH PREDICTION: WEST HAM WIN

West Ham have lost just one of their eight Premier League meetings with Ipswich (W3 D4), a 1-0 home loss in March 2001. Their last such meeting was a 3-1 victory for the Hammers in March 2002.

However, Ipswich won their last two league meetings with West Ham, beating them 1-0 away and 5-1 at home in the 2011-12 Championship campaign.

West Ham have lost their three home Premier League games this season, the first time they have started a season with three home defeats. The Hammers have not suffered four defeats in a row in the top-flight at the London Stadium since the final four home matches of Manuel Pellegrini's reign in November-December 2019.

Indeed, West Ham have won just five points in their opening six Premier League matches this season (W1 D2 L3), the fifth time in the last nine seasons they have had five or fewer points at this stage of the campaign.

Meanwhile, Ipswich are winless in all six Premier League games this season (D2 L4), only once starting a top-flight season with a longer winless start, in 1969-70 (seven games).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

West Ham – 51.3%

Draw – 23.8%

Ipswich Town – 24.9%

Stan Wawrinka reflected on a "really tough year" after racking up a new ATP 1000 milestone with his first-round victory over Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard at the Shanghai Masters.

The three-time grand slam champion secured a 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (8-6) victory in China in what was the first ATP meeting between the two.

According to Opta Ace, it represented Wawrinka's landmark 100th hard-court victory in ATP 1000 events, becoming the 12th player to do so.

Speaking on court after the victory, the veteran 39-year-old said: "It's been a really tough year so far, but I'm not getting younger so I'm trying to keep pushing myself.

"I'm happy with the match. I think it was a really good level. I was playing really good, one of the best matches of the year for me.

"He's such an aggressive player. It was great to be here, so much support here, so I'm enjoying my time in China."

Wawrinka, who only had five ATP wins this year before featuring in Shanghai, next faces  Flavio Cobolli in round two.

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.