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NEW YORK -- The New York Mets didnt have to do a thing Thursday in order to take sole possession of the second wild card in the National League. On Friday, the Mets will begin taking playoff destiny into their own hands.The Mets open up their final homestand of the regular season Friday night, when the Minnesota Twins visit for a three-game interleague series at Citi Field. New York (77-69) was off Thursday following a 1-0 loss to the Washington Nationals on Wednesday while the Twins (55-92) beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-1, at Comerica Park Thursday afternoon.While the Twins are hoping to avoid 100 losses, the Mets will enter Friday with a one-game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals (76-70) in the race for the NLs second wild-card spot by virtue of the Cardinals 6-2 loss Thursday night to the top wild card, the San Francisco Giants (78-68).The Mets, the defending NL champions, appeared finished four weeks ago Friday, when an 8-1 loss to the Giants dropped them to 60-62 and into fifth place in the wild-card race, 5 1/2 games behind the second wild card Cardinals.But the Mets have the best record in baseball (17-7) since Aug. 19 and will play their final 16 games against a quartet of teams -- the Twins, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies and Miami Marlins -- that enter Friday a combined 88 games under .500.We have caught up a lot in the last couple of weeks, Mets manager Terry Collins said. We have a chance to do some damage if we take care of our own business.The Mets have done damage of the past month thanks largely to strong pitching from three unexpected contributors: Rookies Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman as well as wise old sage Bartolo Colon. The trio is a combined 9-1 with a 2.58 ERA in 14 games (13 starts) during New Yorks run.Colon, the oldest player in baseball at age 43, is scheduled to start Fridays opener while Lugo is expected to pitch Saturday.At this time of year, (with) where were at, and you see the young guys stepping up and doing their job, you can tell how good stuff they have, Mets catcher Rene Rivera said after Gsellman threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings Wednesday.The Twins, meanwhile, will look to continue playing spoiler as they try to avoid the franchises first 100-loss season since 1982. Minnesota, which needs to go 8-7 the rest of the way to finish with fewer than 100 losses, just split a four-game series with the AL wild card-contending Tigers and will play the next 12 games against four teams -- the Mets, Tigers, Seattle Mariners and Kansas City Royals -- who are currently over .500 and within six games of a playoff spot.Rookie right-hander Jose Berrios, who has a 9.27 ERA in his first 11 big league starts, is scheduled to oppose Colon on Friday night.Were trying to finish and at the same time construct a little bit in our brains going forward, what people are in our mix, Twins manager Paul Molitor told reporters Thursday afternoon.China Jerseys 2020 . Fellow centre Pavel Datsyuk remains out because of a concussion. Zetterberg has 11 goals and 19 assists for a team-high 30 points, and Datsyuk has a team-high 12 goals and 11 assists. China Jerseys Online . Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, announced Wednesday that the team would assign Swedish forward Elias Lindholm to his nations team for the upcoming tournament. https://www.chinajerseysreview.com/ . Jason Zucker and Matt Cooke also scored for Minnesota, which has won five of six. Kuemper made five saves in the first, nine in the second, and nine in the third. The rookies best save came with 2:17 left in the third period when he denied former Wild forward Matt Cullen from just outside of the crease on the right side. Wholesale China Jerseys . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. Wholesale China Jerseys . The incident occurred at 19:56 of the second period of the Kings 4-2 road win over Edmonton on Sunday. Nolan punched Oilers forward Jesse Joensuu in the jaw in front of the Kings goal during a scrum.RIO DE JANEIRO -- Rio de Janeiros Olympic golf course took three years to build as the project was slowed down by environmental lawsuits, Brazilian bureaucracy and stop-and-start funding by a billionaire real estate developer.Four months after golfs surprising popularity at the Olympics, an even larger test remains: What to do with an acclaimed course in a country where few play the game, and in a city that cant pay to maintain it.You know that its not going to be easy, Paulo Pacheco, head of the Brazilian Golf Confederation, told The Associated Press. Its challenging. Its not easy to do. Its very hard. I think its the only opportunity we have to improve golf in Brazil.Everything feels unfinished around the course, except the course itself, which threatens to become a white elephant.Billed as the first public championship-level course in the country, the layout is hidden behind several luxury apartment towers known as Riserva Golf, which wont be completed until 2018. Cinderblock walls and fencing obstruct the view from the street, and no signs mark the entrance to the course in the western Rio suburb of Barra da Tijuca.Once through the rutted parking lot and inside the clubhouse, theres no pro shop, few furnishings, no local club professional and no restaurant.And few players.Only four middle-age men were on the course one morning this week, though the early rain showers didnt help. Even in good weather, attendance has been sparse in a city of 6 million that has only 1,500 golfers.Brazil has about 20,000 players. compared to 25 million in the United States, and the game is played almost exclusively by the wealthy.Another problem: Who will pay to keep the course running? Out-going Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes says the city cant pay. He has said repeatedly he would not have pushed to build the course were in not for the Olympics.Its not a popular sport in Brazil, Paes said last year. But there are some things you need to do when you deliver the Olympics.Last week, a state court froze Paes assets as a public prosecutor investigates whether he improperly waived an environmental tax for the course builder. The builders assets were also frozen.The state of Rio de Janeiro has declared a financial calamity and is several months behind in paying teachers and public employees. And the country itself is in the deepest recession in decades, with unemployment at 12 percent.Pacheco, who has been managing the course, was vague in explaining how it will stay afloat. He said he would be leaving the job in a few weeks, and that negotiations were taking place with a new management company that could take over Jan. 1. But nothings beenn signed with just two weeks to go.ddddddddddddPacheco said employees of the present management company were being partially paid and were still working as both sides work out a pay settlement. Some employees complained several weeks ago about not being paid.Neil Cleverly, the Briton who helped build the layout and had been managing maintenance, is no longer working at the course since his visa expired. Pacheco said it would be six months before the course was fully operating, and estimated the cost to maintain the layout at between $75,000-100,000 monthly.World golf officials are concerned.As has been the case since the very beginning of this project, getting an accurate picture of the current situation on the ground, and the best parties responsible for the short- and long-term success of the Olympic Golf Course, has been difficult, said Ty Votaw, vice president of the International Golf Federation.Pacheco acknowledged that local golf officials have been slow in getting organized. He said a new website and Rio tourist agencies would soon be promoting the course, which will charge $80 green fees after Jan. 1 for Brazilians and foreigners.The IGF is worried, he said. Its the legacy you have to give back to the Olympics.In a deal with the city, billionaire developer Pasquale Mauro spent about $20 million to build the course in exchange for permission to construct multi-million-dollar apartments on some of Rios most desirable real estate.Its not just any course. From a wetland area -- formerly part of a nature reserve -- American golf architect Gil Hanse carved out a links-style layout with undulating fairways that bump up against scrubland brimming with wildflowers.Local animal life includes small alligators, nesting owls, and a large rodent called a capybara that leaves tracks through the courses abundant bunkers.Players raved about the course during the Olympics.Gil did a good job taking nothing and turning it into a great golf course without having time to make any changes or adjustments, American Rickie Fowler said. Theres a lot of fun characteristics.Marcos Dias, one for four players alone on the course one day this week, said it could be a milestone in developing young Brazilian talent.There was no place to practice. Now I have everything to improve my game, Dias said. In the United States you have a real good scenario to develop your game. Its like here with soccer. Wherever you go here you find a soccer field. But for golf, its really rare to have a course like this to play. ' ' '