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Sports Wrap

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The calendar is about to turn to September, and the Philadelphia Phillies and Baltimore Orioles are angling for playoff positions.

Philadelphia completed a weekend sweep of the Los Angeles Angels with a 5-2 victory Sunday, extending its winning streak to four games and improving to 77-60. The Phillies are now tied with the Chicago Cubs for the first National League wild-card position. Chicago lost to Cincinnati 7-5 Sunday.

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The Phillies, winners of eight of their last 10, now head west to continue their playoff push with a series against Arizona beginning tonight.

Baltimore is also making September interesting. The Orioles completed a three-game sweep of the Athletics with an 8-5 victory Sunday, improving to 68-69 and moving within one game of the final AL wildcard spot.

The postseason picture isn’t nearly as promising for Pittsburgh or Washington.

The Pirates did win Sunday, edging St. Louis 5-4 behind home runs from Esmerlyn Valdez and Jared Triolo. Pittsburgh took two of three from the Cardinals and has won four of six, but its earlier struggles have left it out of realistic playoff contention.

Washington’s season continued to unravel in particularly painful fashion Sunday. The Nationals carried a 2-0 lead into the ninth inning before Miami erupted for six runs and a 6-2 victory.

Elsewhere in baseball, the Yankees hammered Boston 16-1 Sunday, while Cleveland crushed Kansas City 11-1, Toronto blanked Seattle 7-0 and Tampa Bay edged San Diego 5-4 in 11 innings.

Meanwhile, Friday night lights are back across Adams County as the scholastic fall sports season gets underway.

Gettysburg opened its football season with a 32-10 victory over New Oxford on Friday. Littlestown defeated Kennard-Dale 31-14, while Bermudian Springs topped Biglerville 26-6. Soccer, field hockey, cross country, volleyball and other fall sports are also moving into full swing.

College football is next.

Gettysburg College opens its season Thursday night with a 7 p.m. road game at Juniata College in Huntingdon. It will be the fourth consecutive season the Bullets and Eagles have met in the opener. Gettysburg’s home opener is Sept. 12 at 6 p.m. against Washington and Lee at Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium.

And after a weekend that wrapped up the NFL preseason, the countdown to the real thing has begun. The regular season opens Wednesday, Sept. 9, when the New England Patriots visit the Seattle Seahawks at 8:20 p.m. on NBC.

Source: MLB, Reuters, Gettysburg College, NFL

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