WILLIAMSPORT
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Greg Joseph Jersey , Pa. (AP) ¡ª to fans from the
on-deck circle, just like major league teams never line up after a game and
shake hands.Put a big league game in a tiny park full of 11 and 12 year olds,
though, and those kinds of customs get tossed aside.Amed Rosario had three hits
and drove in three runs, and the New York Mets went from cheering on players in
the Little League World Series to impressing the youngsters in an 8-2 victory
over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday night.Jeff McNeil added a two-run
single to back Vargas (3-8) as the Mets claimed the second Little League Classic
and prevented the Phillies from moving into first place in the NL East.
Philadelphia dropped into a three-way tie for the top NL wild card.¡°I had some
cool interactions with the kids,¡± Vargas said of his in-game dialogue. ¡°They
were having a great time.¡±Carlos Santana hit a two-run homer for the Phillies,
but Nick Pivetta (7-10) allowed six runs in 3 2/3 innings in Philadelphia¡¯s
seventh loss in 11 games.After the final out, players lined up across the
diamond for a postgame tradition for kids that¡¯s never seen in the majors.¡°I
thought the handshaking gesture was huge,¡± Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said.
¡°It¡¯s something I experienced for the first time since I was in Little
League.¡±Players and families from the 16 teams competing in the nearby LLWS
packed into 2,500-seat Bowman Field, the 92-year-old home of the Phillies¡¯ Class
A affiliate in the New York-Penn League.And the spotlight shined on New York¡¯s
Todd Frazier and Michael Conforto and Philadelphia¡¯s Scott Kingery, who are
among 54 players who reached the majors after playing in the LLWS.¡°Pretty
surreal because I walked into the dugout and they were getting ready to play a
game and one of them was like, ¡®Whoa, that¡¯s Scott Kingery!'¡± said the rookie
infielder, who doubled in the fifth. ¡°That¡¯s crazy, because I remember when I
was sitting in that
dugout.¡±Frazier
Myles
Garrett Jersey Elite , who sparked a four-run second with a leadoff
single, helped Toms River, New Jersey, win the 1998 title when he led off the
game with a home run and struck out the final batter.¡°It¡¯s been a long day, but
well worth it,¡± said Frazier, who hadn¡¯t been back to Williamsport since 1999.
¡°I kept telling these kids, let it all sink in.¡±The Mets built a 6-0 lead in the
fourth to take the five-game series and improve to 8-5 against the Phillies, who
dropped a half-game behind division-leading Atlanta.The teams flew 185 miles
Sunday morning from Philadelphia, where the first four games were played. They
were met by youth players at the airport, then bused to the Little League
complex.¡°We were driving through the city and people were coming out of their
homes and waving to us,¡± Mets manager Mickey Callaway said.While watching the
kids play, Mets ace Jacob deGrom interviewed some for TV. Santana took selfies
with the youngsters. Phillies outfielder Rhys Hoskins chased down Little Leaguer
and internet sensation Alfred ¡°Big Al¡± Delia.¡°We share a common love, hitting
dingers,¡± Hoskins said.Hoskins narrowly missed homering with a long foul in the
third and a single off the wall in the sixth against Vargas, who entered with an
8.10 ERA.Santana followed with his 18th
homer
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and Vargas was lifted after allowing two runs and six hits in 5 1/3
innings.Rosario had a two-run single in the second, chased Pivetta with a single
in the fourth and added a sixth-inning RBI single.The Little League teams were
introduced, in full uniform, before the game. They danced between innings, ate
plenty of ice cream and watched the lowly Mets collect 14 hits.¡°Some of them are
stepping into America for the first time ever and they get to see a Major League
Baseball game. I think that¡¯s pretty cool,¡± Frazier said. ¡°And that one kid
who¡¯s never been here before, you want to show them the right way to play and
how exciting it is and how great it is.¡±NEXT YEARCommissioner Rob Manfred
announced the Cubs will face the Pirates in next year¡¯s Williamsport game on
Aug. 18.HAPPY ADDITIONSTwo of the more excited players were Phillies C Andrew
Knapp and Mets 1B Dominic Smith, who were recalled from the minors. Each team
could add a 26th player because it was a neutral site game.¡°A tremendous
experience,¡± said Smith, who had an RBI double in the eighth.Knapp purchased a
West regional Little League cap. The California native fell a couple wins shy of
reaching LLWS when he was a kid.¡°I didn¡¯t get one when I was 11, so I had to get
one now,¡± he said.TRAINER¡¯S ROOMMets: Brandon Nimmo (left index finger) was out
of the lineup for the fourth straight game. ¡ 3B David Wright (shoulder, back)
ended an 0-for-14 rehab skid by going 2 for 3 for Class A St. Lucie while
playing five innings in the field. ¡ OF Jay Bruce (left hip) went 2 for 5 as the
DH for St. Lucie.Phillies: RHP Jerad Eickhoff (right lat) allowed one run and
three hits in 4 2/3 innings for Triple-A Lehigh Valley.UP NEXTMets: RHP Zack
Wheeler (8-6, 3.75 ERA) opposes San Francisco LHP Derek Holland (6-8, 3.83) on
Monday night in New York.Phillies: RHP Vince Velasquez (8-9, 4.13) faces
Nationals RHP Tanner Roark on Tuesday night to open a three-game series at
Washington. Few starters in baseball have needed as little cushion this year as
St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Miles Mikolas. Monday night¡¯s 11-6 victory in
Atlanta upped his record to 16-0 when receiving two or more runs of
support.Mikolas gets the call Sunday when St. Louis tries to bolster its
National League wild-card playoff hopes with a series sweep of the San Francisco
Giants in Busch Stadium.St. Louis leads Colorado by 1 1/2 games for the final
wild-card spot. The Cardinals also edged within two games of Milwaukee for the
first wild-card and are 4 1/2 games behind the Chicago Cubs for the NL Central
lead.Article continues below ...Mikolas
(16-4
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Myles Garrett Jersey , 3.01 ERA) has been perhaps the best value signing
of the offseason. Skepticism abounded when the Cardinals (86-69) inked him to a
two-year, $15.5 million deal after three successful seasons in Japan. After all,
Mikolas looked like bottom of the staff material while posting a 6.44 ERA in10
starts in 2014 with Texas.But Mikolas has surprised the skeptics, averaging just
over six innings a start and making every turn in the rotation. He has fewer
walks (29) than starts (30) and could lead the NL in wins if he winds up on the
upside of his last two starts.¡°I¡¯ve been fortunate than when I pitch, we have
great offense and we¡¯ve put up runs and we play great defense and everything has
come together,¡± Mikolas said to mlb.com after his victory in Atlanta. ¡°It¡¯s been
a great season for me.¡±Mikolas will make his fifth career appearance against San
Francisco, although it will be his first as a starter. He has no record and a
1.69 ERA in 5 1/3 innings.St. Louis pulled out a dramatic 5-4, 10-inning victory
Saturday over San Francisco to move one step closer to its first playoff spot
since 2015. Yadier Molina¡¯s two-run homer in the seventh inning erased a 4-2
deficit and Tyler O¡¯Neill¡¯s tape-measure blast with two outs in the 10th
supplied the Cardinals their 11th walk-off win of the year.San Francisco (72-83)
has nothing left on its plate beside contractual obligation and statistical
incentives. The Giants have battled the Cardinals hard in the series¡¯ first two
games, but their bullpen has let them down, as has often been the case this
year.Rookie left-hander Andrew Suarez (7-11, 4.24 ERA) takes the ball for San
Francisco, looking to build on two straight quality starts. Suarez picked up a
4-2 win on Monday night in San Diego, working 7 2/3 innings and allowing two
runs and four hits with three walks and four strikeouts. This will be his first
career outing against the Cardinals.St. Louis second baseman Kolten Wong, who
left Friday night¡¯s game after seven innings after he suffered cramps in both
hamstrings, could be available for Sunday¡¯s game.