Dan Uggla’s walk-off double to left-center field in the bottom of the 10th inning scored Hanley Ramirez to give the Marlins an 8-7 victory over the New York Mets on Thursday night at Dolphin Stadium before an announced crowd of 15,132 whose allegiance swung on every pitch.

The loss was the eighth in nine games for the Mets and reduced their lead in the National League East over Philadelphia to 1½ games as the Phillies beat Washington 7-6.

The game was filled with amazing comebacks, the ejection of Mets’ right fielder Lastings Milledge in the seventh inning and the ejection of a fan in the eighth inning after he threw a ball on the field between home plate and third base. He wasn’t arrested.

Pinch hitter Marlon Anderson’s three-run double highlighted the Mets’ four-run rally in the ninth inning to give them a 7-4 lead. It was closer Kevin Gregg’s fourth blown save in 34 chances.

Reliever Jorge Sosa couldn’t hold the lead. Jeremy Hermida and Miguel Cabrera singled to open the bottom of the ninth and advanced on an infield out.

Hermida scored on Mike Jaocbs’ infield hit. Cody Ross’ single to left scored Hermida, and Reggie Abercrombie, running for Jacobs, scored on Matt Treanor’s infield out to send the game to extra innings.

Ramirez’s leadoff single in the 10th inning was his 200th hit of the season. He and Juan Pierre in 2003 and 2004 are the only Marlins to do it.

The Mets’ ninth-inning comeback erased a 4-3 Marlins lead built on Cabrera’s three-run homer in a four-run fifth inning and six solid innings from starter Dontrelle Willis that overcame a 3-0 Mets lead. The homer matched Cabrera’s career high of 33 in 2004 and 2005 and gives him 109 RBI.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/baseball/marlins/sfl-flsp21marspec21sbsep21,0,620105.story

From the Associated Press.

Miami Dolphins middle linebacker Zach Thomas will miss Sunday’s game against the New York Jets after tests revealed he has a mild concussion.

Thomas might be available to play next week.

Thomas played every snap in Miami’s loss Sunday to Dallas but said he felt lightheaded in the locker room after the game. He complained of a migraine this week and missed practice for the third day in a row Friday.

The game will be only the 14th Thomas has missed in his 12-year career.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3030539

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/hockey/panthers/sfl-flsppant5quest16nbsep16,0,2344828.story 

1. Will goalie Tomas Vokoun live up to expecations?

GM/coach Jacques Martin called Vokoun one of the league’s five best goalies after trading three draft picks for him in June, and Vokoun has embraced the pressure of taking on Roberto Luongo’s role.

It won’t be hard to top last year’s tandem of Alex Auld and Ed Belfour. Vokoun’s worst save percentage in his past eight seasons (.903) was still better than Belfour’s last season (.900), and Belfour was lauded for his play in the second half.

Vokoun will be counted on to steal games and shut down opponents in shootouts — the Panthers were 20th in save percentage (.586) in losing 8 of 10 shootouts last season.

Backup Craig Anderson was sharp in five appearances last season but is relatively inexperienced. So the Panthers, who are counting on 70-plus games from Vokoun, can’t afford for him to play 44 and 61 as he did the past two seasons, because of a blood clot in his leg and hand injury.

2. Will the three free-agent forwards the Panthers signed to replace Martin Gelinas, Chris Gratton and Juraj Kolnik be an upgrade?

Wingers Richard Zednik and Radek Dvorak and center Brett McLean were brought in for added speed and scoring punch. McLean’s 15 goals last season were the most scored at even strength by any player in the NHL. Zednik had 21 points in 42 games.

Gelinas, Gratton and Kolnik finished with fair numbers — 38 goals and 104 points combined — but contributed little during the pivotal first two months. Gratton drew the most penalty minutes of the team’s forwards (94), and Gelinas took costly penalties late in games.

The Panthers were short-handed more times (443) than all but one team last season and had the fewest power-play opportunities (337) in the league. They’re hoping the skill of Zednik, Dvorak and McLean makes that differential less skewed.

3. How will forwards Stephen Weiss and Nathan Horton and defenseman Bryan Allen perform after signing long-term?

The first two are locked up for six years and Allen for five. All posted their most points ever last season while becoming key contributors.

After a slow start, Allen thrived in the first pairing with All-Star Jay Bouwmeester and provided needed toughness. He must continue to progress, as must Weiss, the team’s No. 2 center.

Weiss emerged from Joe Nieuwendyk’s shadow last season, but will need to build on his 20 goals — a team-high 10 of which came on power plays.
Finally, the Panthers need a pure goal scorer to complement Olli Jokinen. A seemingly more mature and committed Horton appears poised to post 40-plus goals in his fourth NHL season.

4. How will defensemen Cory Murphy, Noah Welch and Branislav Mezei contribute?

It’s hard to predict what any of them will do. Murphy is expected to bolster the Panthers’ power play from the point.

Welch is a promising prospect who’s also an unproven commodity, as he spent most of last season shuffling between the NHL and the AHL with the Penguins.

They’ll compete for a spot in the third pairing, as will injury-cursed Mezei, who was arguably the team’s best blue-liner last preseason (four points, plus-4 in six games), but has yet to play more than 45 games in any of his six NHL seasons.

5. Can the Panthers get off to a better start and finally win some games in November?

Last season, the Panthers won eight of their first 23 games. They had three wins in November — and that was an improvement from 2005-06, when they won just once during the month and seven times their first 25 games.

They could blame Hurricane Wilma for some of their ‘05-’06 struggles, but there was no excuse last season, after they vowed it wouldn’t happen again. So what about this year? Eight of their first 11 games will be against teams that made the playoffs last season, and they’ll play more road games (eight) in November than in any other month.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/hockey/panthers/sfl-flsppant5quest16nbsep16,0,2344828.story

http://www.miamiherald.com/614/story/243925.html 

The Dolphins secondary that has been an epicenter for change early in the season might undergo more adjustment by Sunday’s game against the New York Jets, with cornerback André Goodman returning to action, cornerback Travis Daniels possibly making a long-expected move to safety and Michael Lehan getting more work.

Daniels worked mostly at safety Wednesday, when Miami began preparations for their game at the Meadowlands. The repetitions Daniels took at cornerback came in the nickel and dime package and not with the starting base defense.

Daniels is working at safety, in part, because backup safety Donovin Darius was limited in practice with a calf injury. The injury makes Darius’ availability for Sunday uncertain.

Goodman was cleared to play after his surgeon in New York and Dolphins team physician George Caldwell agreed he was ready for team participation this week. How much he’ll be able to contribute Sunday — if at all — is still in question.

Lehan apparently took most of his repetitions alongside Will Allen as the starting cornerback tandem in the base defense Wednesday. Lehan declined to discuss any specifics about practice but did acknowledge he has played well enough in Miami’s first two games to merit consideration among the starters.

”I’m not pleased yet. I want to do better,” Lehan said. “But I’m not going to say I’m upset. [Playing well] is something I’m supposed to be doing.

“Other people may think I’m playing well, but, to me, that’s the reason I’m here. I can’t get too excited about what people are saying. I still have a long way to go.”

Although the Darius injury forced Wednesday’s move, Miami’s defensive coaches have long thought about experimenting with Daniels as a safety. He knows the calls and is tall and rangy.

http://www.miamiherald.com/614/story/243925.html

OK, so maybe Clinton Portis still is a No. 1 back, despite the knee injury that cost him all of preseason.And Antwaan Randle El? Yes, his career-high 162 yards receiving more than makes his case as a No. 2 receiver.

And the Washington Redskins? They don’t have the gloomy feeling of starting the season with an upset loss at home the way they did last year.

The Redskins got the morale boost they needed Sunday with a 16-13 overtime victory over the Miami Dolphins, though they know they won’t get much credit for barely beating a rookie-heavy, rebuilding team with a new coach and a new quarterback.

“It don’t shut them up — we need the doomsayers,” said Portis, who shook off the rust of a months-long battle with tendinitis to run for 98 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown. “We don’t need nobody to jump on our bandwagon.”

The Redskins kicked three field goals, including a 39-yarder 5:36 into the extra period, and Randle El had a big hand in all of Washington’s points in regulation as the Redskins took the first step in their attempt to rebound from last year’s 5-11, the worst season in Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs’ career.

“It was critical for us to go out there and get a win today,” Gibbs said. “First game of the season, opening up at home. We’re in the business of winning ballgames. It doesn’t matter how we get it done.”

The victory came with a heavy price. Right tackle Jon Jansen broke his right ankle early in the second quarter and could be out for the year.

“It takes away a little bit from the win,” right guard Randy Thomas said. “I’m down about that. That’s a blow, man. That’s a rock.”

The loss spoiled Cam Cameron’s first game as an NFL head coach, as well as quarterback Trent Green’s debut with the Dolphins. Miami’s day included a drive with back-to-back false starts, several drops by receivers, untimely penalties, strange time management on a scoring drive at the end of the first half, and a punt by rookie Brandon Fields that barely got off the ground yet somehow managed to bounce 30 yards downfield.

Both Miami and Washington were last-place teams in 2006, and it showed. Most baffling stat: five unused second-half timeouts at the end of regulation.

“We were able to have some drives, and then we hurt ourselves,” said Green, who went 24-for-38 for 219 yards and one touchdown. “It wasn’t good enough to get it done. That’s the disappointing thing because I think we had some opportunities as an offense to do more. An errant throw, the penalties, the drops — those are all things we did to ourselves.”

Randle El, opening the year as the No. 2 receiver ahead of Brandon Lloyd, was the game’s most dynamic player. His 35-yard catch set up a second-quarter field goal, and his 49-yard snag set up a 19-yard run by Portis for a 10-7 lead in the third quarter. His 15-yard punt return helped lead to Suisham’s 44-yard field goal that put Washington ahead 13-10 with 5:30 remaining.

Randle El nearly won the game on a miracle play at the end of regulation, when he caught a deflected despertion pass at the 3, but was unable to reach the end zone.

He caught five passes, but his play on an incompletion was just as big. The 5-foot-10 receiver leaped high to barely tip an overthrow by Campbell with the score tied and less than two minutes left in regulation. If the ball wasn’t deflected, cornerback Michael Lehan was there to make the interception with a clear path to score what probably would have been the winning touchdown.

“He did a great job of trying to make a play,” Campbell said. “You don’t expect him to give up on any route.”

The Redskins won the toss to start overtime, took the kickoff and drove 58 yards in 10 plays, all but two runs by Portis and Ladell Betts. Portis ran 9 yards to Miami’s 22 to set up Suisham’s kick, which came on first down.

The Dolphins appeared to be driving for the winning touchdown in regulation before a holding penalty and an intentional grounding call forced the team to settle for Jay Feely’s 36-yard field goal that tied the game with 1:55 remaining.

Campbell, who became the starter with seven games remaining last year, finished 12-for-21 for 222 yards and two interceptions.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/recap;_ylt=AumuIA4eOqyYkrFHU064abAisLYF?gid=20070909028