Sports
Mets SS Francisco Lindor out of lineup in fourth straight game
Sep 16, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor (12) talks to teammates in the dugout during the fifth inning against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor was not in the starting lineup once again for Thursday’s opener of a key four-game home series against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Lindor missed each of the Mets’ previous three games with a lower back injury and has played just two innings of the past five games.
Without Lindor in the lineup, the Mets swept their three-game series against the Washington Nationals. They are in possession of the National League’s third wild-card spot, two games ahead of the Atlanta Braves at the start of MLB play Thursday.
The Mets and Braves meet for three games next week in Atlanta.
Lindor had an MRI on his back that came back clean on Monday, but his timetable for a return remains in question. He was optimistic he would be back before the end of the regular season.
The 30-year-old had said he was experiencing back pain for two weeks as he tried to mount a bid to challenge the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani in the NL MVP race. Lindor is batting .271 with 31 homers, 27 stolen bases and is tied for the team lead with 86 RBIs in 148 games.
A veteran of 10 seasons, Lindor has batted .217 over his last seven games played, but in one of those games last week, he broke up a no-hitter in the ninth inning with a home run against the Toronto Blue Jays’ Bowden Francis as the Mets rallied for a victory.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Team Yandex advances to grand final of PGL Wallachia Season 7
Dota 2 competition at the Esports World Cup Team Yandex swept BetBoom Team in the upper-bracket final on Saturday to advance to grand final of the PGL Wallachia Season 7 at Bucharest, Romania.
BetBoom team dropped into Sunday’s lower-bracket final against Team Liquid, with the winner taking on Team Yandex later in the day in the double-elimination playoff format.
The $1 million Dota 2 tournament began last weekend with 16 teams. Eight teams advanced from the 16-team group stage, which concluded Wednesday. All matches are best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final, with the winning team taking home $300,000.
Team Yandex took down BetBoom in a marathon 61 minutes and then 48 minutes, both on red. Alimzhan “watson” Islambekov of Kazakhstan paced Team Yandex with a 15-4-13 kill-death-assist ratio. Ilya “Kiritych” Ulyanov of Russia led BetBoom with a 14-5-12 K-D-A ratio.
Team Liquid got started on a busy Saturday by sweeping HEROIC 2-0 in the lower-bracket quarterfinals, winning in 56 minutes on red and 80 minutes on green. Michal “Nisha” Jankowski of Poland posted a 16-3-12 K-D-A. HEROIC’s Yuma “Yuma” Langlet, who represents Nicaragua, Belgium and Germany, had a 20-1-8 K-D-A.
Team Spirit won in the other lower-bracket quarterfinal, vanquishing Tundra Esports in 40 minutes on red and 38 minutes on green. Team Spirit’s Illya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk of Ukraine had a 20-2-11 K-D-A. Neta “33” Shapira of Israel paced Tundra Esports with a 5-6-3 ratio.
The lower-bracket semifinal was a battle, won by Team Liquid 2-1. Team Liquid opened with a win in 40 minutes on green, but Team Spirit drew even with a win in 43 minutes on green. Team Spirit took the match in 32 minutes on green.
Sweden’s Michael “miCKe” Vu led Team Liquid with a 13-3-10 K-D-A. Aleksandr “rue” Filin of Russia paced Team Spirit with a 7-4-11 ratio.
PGL Wallachia Season 7 prize pool:
1. $300,000
2. $175,000
3. $120,000
4. $80,000
5-6. $60,000 — HEROIC, Tundra Esports
7-8. $40,000 — Vici Gaming, Aurora Gaming
9-11. $20,000 — Xtreme Gaming, Natus Vincere, PARIVISION
12-14. $15,000 — Team Falcons, OG, Yellow Submarine
15-16. $10,000 — MOUZ, Team Nemesis
–Field Level Media
Sports
Carolina shake up CDL Major 2 qualifying standings with Minnesota sweep
A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.
Jordan Woodruff
The Carolina Royal Ravens moved into playoff position with four match days remaining thanks to a sweep of GS Minnesota as Week 5 of qualifying for the Call of Duty League Stage 2 Major continued on Saturday.
Minnesota entered the day in fourth while Carolina was in seventh, but the resounding loss dropped Minnesota — which has lost two straight and three of its last four — into seventh place.
In other Friday action, Los Angeles Thieves remained in third place with a defeat of Cloud9 New York, Toronto KOI moved into fourth place with a 3-1 win over Vancouver Surge and Paris Gentle Mates boosted their bubble standing with a 3-1 victory against Boston Breach.
The 12 Call of Duty League teams are playing a full qualifying round robin to determine seeding for the second major of the season, to be held March 27-29 in Marston Green, England, as part of the DreamHack Birmingham event.
The top six teams in qualifying head straight into the Stage 2 Major playoffs, while the teams in seventh through 10th place will compete in a play-in round.
The Stage 2 Major champion will receive $150,000 and 100 Call of Duty League points, while the runner-up will get $90,000 and 75 CDL points.
Carolina pulled off the sweep of Minnesota with a 250-234 hardpoint win on Scar followed by a pair of wins on Exposure, 6-4 in Search and Destroy and 6-2 in Overload.
Toronto claimed the opener 250-196 in Colossus Hardpoint and bounced back from a 6-4 Exposure Search and Destroy Vancouver win by securing a 6-3 Exposure Overload win and closing with a 250-235 Scar Hardpoint success.
Los Angeles opened with a commanding 250-95 Colossus Hardpoint win, lost the second game 6-4 in Scar Search and Destroy but closed out the win to snap a three-match losing streak with a 5-3 Scar Overload victory followed by a 250-108 Scar Hardpoint rout.
In the final match of the day, Paris took a 2-0 lead with a 250-246 Colossus Hardpoint win and a 6-4 Scar Search and Destroy victory. Boston briefly extended the match with a 4-2 Den Overload win but Paris secured the match win with a 250-176 Den Hardpoint triumph.
The remaining Week 5 matches:
Sunday
–G2 Minnesota vs. Boston Breach
–Vancouver Surge vs. Miami Heretics
–Riyadh Falcons vs. Los Angeles Thieves
–FaZe Vegas vs. Carolina Royal Ravens
Call of Duty League Stage 2 Major qualifying standings (match record, map differential)
1. OpTic Texas, 9-0, +20
2. Miami Heretics, 5-3, +6
3. Los Angeles Thieves, 5-3, +8
4. Toronto KOI, 5-5, +2
5. Riyadh Falcons, 4-4, +2
6. Carolina Royal Ravens, 4-4, 0
7. G2 Minnesota, 4-4, -2
8. Paris Gentle Mates, 4-5, -2
9. FaZe Vegas, 3-5, -4
10. Vancouver Surge, 3-5, -7
11. Boston Breach, 3-6, -8
12. Cloud9 New York, 2-7, -15
–Field Level Media
Sports
Natus Vincere, Aurora set to fight for title at ESL Pro League Season 23
The hands of an esport gamer clutching the controler at Encore Esports Gaming Lounge in New Rochelle on Thursday, December 20, 2018.
E Sports
Neither took the easy route, but Aurora Gaming and Natus Vincere are the last two teams standing at the ESL Pro League Season 23 Main Event at Stockholm.
Natus Vincere opened Saturday’s semifinals with a 2-1 win over FUT Esports, with Aurora following with its own 2-1 win, against Astralis.
The eight-team Counter-Strike: Global Offense event features a $275,000 prize pool. The single-elimination bracket consisted of best-of-three matches until Sunday’s grand final, which will be best-of-five. The championship side will receive $100,000.
Natus Vincere’s semifinal win was noteworthy in that the Ukrainian outfit was the last of the eight teams to advance to the main event out of online qualifying. After opening Saturday’s match with a 13-5 win on Mirage, Natus Vincere lost 13-11 on Ancient as FUT forced a winner-take-all third map. Natus Vincere took the map — 13-7 on Dust II — to advance and relegate FUT to Sunday’s third-place match.
Natus Vincere 67 kills and a plus-30 kill-death differential from Romanian Mihai “iM” Ivan. Drin “makazze” Shaqiri of Kosovo netted 51 kills. Romania’s Laurentiu “lauNX” Tarlea had 44 kills but a minus-4 differential as no FUT member had a positive differential.
Aurora, like Natus Vincere was one of the sixth- through eighth-place teams from the online tournament. Aurora had an even more difficult time in the semis, losing 13-11 on Nuke to open the match against Astralis. That forced Aurora in need of a reverse sweep in order to make the grand final … which they got, winning 13-2 on Dust II and 13-10 on Inferno.
Ali “Wicadia” Haydar Yalcin led the all-Turkish Aurora squad with 57 kills and a plus-21 K-D differential. Love “phzy” Smidebrant of Sweden led Astralis with 41 kills but had a minus-6 differential. Victor “Staehr” Staehr of Denmark had 39 kills and a plus-2 differential — the only Astralis player in the black — in the loss.
ESL Pro League Season 23 Main Event schedule
Sunday
–Astralis vs. FUT Esports (third-place match)
–Aurora Gaming vs. Natus Vincere (grand final)
ESL Pro League Season 23 prize pool
1. $100,000
2. $55,000
3. $37,500
4. $22,500
5-8. $15,000 — Team Spirit, Legacy, The MongolZ, MOUZ
–Field Level Media
Team Yandex advances to grand final of PGL Wallachia Season 7
Carolina shake up CDL Major 2 qualifying standings with Minnesota sweep
