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MINNEAPOLIS -- Los Angeles Sparks coach Brian Agler had just finished with a split in the first two games of the WNBA Finals in Minnesota and was asked about his feeling heading back home for two games.The home-court advantage in the series had seemingly flipped in Los Angeles favor when the Sparks took Game 1 with a buzzer-beating, game-winning shot by 12-year veteran Alana Beard. Following the Game 2 loss, Agler didnt seem at ease despite heading to Los Angeles with a split.You know, Im glad we won a game, Agler said, almost tentative of his teams chances against the defending champion Lynx. Youre sitting back and saying, Well, that team has got to win on the road. Thats going to be very important, and it is, theres no question about it. But from my seat now, I dont really look at it that way. I just sort of focus on the next game...Our focus right now is to win one more game. Thats what we want to do. We want to win one more game, and then well see where we stand and well go from there.Minnesota won Game 2 on Tuesday night, 79-60, finally pulling away in what had been a close series until the second quarter on Tuesday. Game 3 is Friday at the Galen Center.Aglers hesitancy is fitting a series against the Lynx, who are seeking their fourth championship in six years. Last year, Minnesota lost the first game on its home court before beating Indiana in five games. The Lynx won Game 2 at home before going on the road and taking back the home-court advantage with a Game 3 win in Indiana.We have a lot of confidence, Minnesota guard Seimone Augustus said after 14 points in Tuesdays victory. Like you said, we were in this position before, last year. And, I mean, the thing for us is we know what we needed to do.The Lynx have been in a similar position not only in recovering from a blown Game 1. Minnesotas core has been around during their championship runs.Augustus, Maya Moore, Lindsay Whalen and Rebekkah Brunson have been key players on each of the championship teams. Even relative newcomer Sylvia Fowles has played nine WNBA seasons and was on last years title team, winning the Finals MVP.Los Angeles features one player with Finals experience in seldom-used center Ann Wauters.The inexperience might have shown on Tuesday when the Sparks couldnt counter the Lynx big runs.Everybody just kind of has to do a better job of helping one another, Los Angeles guard Kristi Toliver said. Sometimes its hard in an environment like this, and it just feels like everything is going a mile a minute. You kind of just have to take a pause sometimes, and I think (Tuesday) we didnt take that pause.Los Angeles led the league during the regular season by shooting 48.7 percent from the floor. On Tuesday, the Sparks shot just 32.9 percent (23 of 70). League MVP Nneka Ogwumike took just six shots, making five in a 14-point performance.Meanwhile, the Lynx controlled the boards with a 46-32 rebounding advantage.I think theres only one statistic that maybe theres a separator between the two teams, and its rebounding, Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said. So, we might as well try to use it to our advantage, and it gives you the extra possessions. We got some good hustle plays.Moore, who was third in MVP voting behind Ogwumike and New Yorks Tina Charles, was the star of Game 2. Moore scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the game, and keyed a 17-3 lead in the second quarter as the Lynx took control of the game and changed the outlook of the series.Its a series, Toliver said. I said after Game 3 when we lost in Chicago (in the semifinals) that we werent going to sweep them, and were not going to sweep now in the Finals. Were still a confident group. We still feel good.We came here to do what we wanted to do, and that was to get one (win). We feel pretty good about that, and now we need to take care of business at home. Alex Wilson Jersey .Y. -- Sabres forward Drew Stafford has witnessed plenty of turmoil during his eight seasons in Buffalo. Alan Trammell Jersey . LOUIS -- Alexander Steen scored a power-play goal with 59. http://www.tigersgearshop.com/Tigers-Miguel-Cabrera-Kids-Jersey/ . Speaking to the Chicago Tribune at baseballs Winter Meetings in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Boras called the former home of the Expos a "tremendous environment" for baseball. Daniel Norris Jersey . Goals from Jerome Boateng, Franck Ribery and Thomas Mueller extended Bayerns unbeaten run to a record 37 matches. "This record is incredible," Bayern coach Pep Guardiola said. Jack Morris Jersey . LOUIS -- Alexander Steen scored a power-play goal with 59. HOUSTON -- Limiting pitching changes, restricting defensive shifts, altering the strike zone and installing pitch clocks are among the ideas Major League Baseball may consider as it undertakes a multiyear review of the game that could include the sports most radical changes in decades.Baseball owners were given a lengthy presentation Thursday during their quarterly meeting of how the sport has changed in the past 40 to 50 years.Sometimes baseball fans think about what should happen with the game sort of with an artificial construct, that the choice is between preserving `The Game, as it came down originally from the mountain, and making some changes to that game, baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said.The point of the conversation today was that the game has changed dramatically. Its changed organically. It kind of has flowed where the competitive juices of managerial and general managerial decisions have taken it. And the question is, you take a snapshot after 40 years of that and you say, wow, heres what it looks like, heres what it used to look like and should we be thinking about what has occurred and whether we want to allow it to continue to go on on the path its on?If implemented, some of the changes could be the most revolutionary since the AL adopted the designated hitter in 1973 or perhaps even since the number of balls for a walk was reduced from five to four in 1889.I think its kind of ridiculous. It changes the game completely, Orioles reliever Brad Brach said before Baltimore hosted Houston on Thursday night.Orioles catcher Matt Wieters wasnt too enthused, either.I dont like things that would actually change the way the game is played. If you make the game shorter without changing its integrity, Im all for it. But the things that are being talked about can mess with the integrity, he said.Offense dropped steadily after the start of drug testing in 2003 until an uptick started in the second half of last season. Strikeouts have set records annually for much of the past decade, increasing from an average of 12.74 per nine-inning game in 2006 to 15.57 this season.And the average time of a nine-inning game is exactly 3 hours -- Manfred highlighted that Game 7 of the 1960 World Series took 2:36 for Pittsburghs 10-9 win over the New York Yankees.Manfred acknowledged some of the increased length was caused by added TV commercials.We did not and we are really not at the point of making recommendations or having the owners make decisions about what if any changes are necessary, Manfred said.I think when you have sort of a new administration, its a good time to take a really hard look at the product. I think there are pieces to this project that are not yet complete, including figuring out what are fans are seeing, what they like, what they dont like in a more comprehensive way than weve done in recent years, having interactions with the other stakeholders in the game, the ESPNs, the Foxes, the Turners, our big partners, and sharing with them how we see the product and getting their reaction, he said.AL Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel of the Astros was wary.All of those you could argue for. But then again, its changing the culture of the game of baseball and what fans have been accustomed to. That would be a bad thing because you want the best hitters facing the best pitchers, he said.Chief Operating Officer Tony Pettiti made the presentation with Senior Vice President Chris Marinak and Steve Hirdt of the Elias Sports Bureau.Manfred said defensive shifts have changed the game: There werre 2,464 on balls in play in 2011 and this years total projects to 28,117, according to Baseball Info Solutions.dddddddddddd Pitchers per nine-inning game have increased from 6.89 in 2000 to 7.88 last year.You can make an argument that more relievers have lengthened the game, more pitching changes has slowed the pace of the game and the unbelievable effectiveness of those relief pitchers have robbed some of the action from the game, Manfred said.MLB is unlikely to propose altering the height of the pitchers mound, which was lowered from 15 inches to 10 inches after the 1968 season.Because the height of the mound does changes peoples delivery and we have a lot of pitcher issues in terms or injury and whatnot, probably would be a little slower to move in that direction, Manfred said.While MLB can make on-field rules changes unilaterally with one year advance notice, it has done so in recent years only with approval of the players association.While Manfred would like to see pitch clocks, which have been used successfully in the minor leagues since 2015, the union has been reluctant, leaving the matter for this years bargaining.Theres too many scenarios within a game that depend on either the pitcher or the batter to take a little extra time and if you get penalized for that, Boston pitcher Clay Buchholz said. I dont see how thats going to make the game any better. Its going to actually cost people some jobs, I think. No, I dont think Id be in favor of that.But the commissioner is the commissioner, he can do what he wants to do. If that happens, then Ill abide by it and go from there, he said.The current contract between owners and players will expire Dec. 2.The CBA process is kind of where you expect it to be in August, Manfred said. Weve got a nice, compete inventory of issues on the table from both sides. Weve had a good, respectful exchange at the table and were moving into that phase where I think were going to start trying to package some things up and hopefully start to make agreements on issues and move towards a final agreement. The pace of that depends, always depends, on how both parties see the relevant timing deadlines.Owners approved the sale of a controlling stake in the Seattle Mariners from Nintendo of America to a group of minority owners led by Western Wireless Corp. founder John Stanton, who will be the control person, and retired Microsoft executive Chris Larson.Bob Bowman, MLBs president of business and media, reported on the split-off of BAMTech from MLB Advanced Media and the agreement announced Aug. 9 to sell a 33 percent interest of BAMTech to The Walt Disney Co. for $1 billion, with part payable now and the remainder in January. Disney, which owns ESPN, gets an option to acquire majority ownership in the future. The NHL receives a minority interest in BAMTech under an agreement announced in August 2015.Manfred expects to have an announcement quite soon on baseballs investigation into a December report by Al Jazeera accusing high-profile athletes of using performance-enhancing drugs, among them Philadelphia first baseman Ryan Howard and Washington first baseman Ryan Zimmerman. The lawyer for Howard and Zimmerman, William Burck, called the report outright lies.Former major league catcher Taylor Teagarden, another player implicated, was suspended for 80 games in April.---AP Sports Writers David Ginsburg and Noah Trister contributed to this report. ' ' '