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WACO, Texas — Fourth-ranked TCU had players shuffling on and off the field as the final seconds were ticking off the clock. Kicker Griffin Kell was the last one to get into place.

“That looked like chaos, but we practice it every Thursday exactly like that,” Frogs coach Sonny Dykes said.

And the Horned Frogs executed it perfectly to stay undefeated in what was no practice situation.

Kell kicked a 40-yard field goal on the game’s final play, and TCU beat Baylor 29-28 on Saturday, scoring nine points in the final 2:07 to avoid another potential playoff-busting loss on the banks of the Brazos River.

Emari Demercado scored on a 3-yard TD run to cap a 90-yard drive with 2:07 left to get the Frogs (11-0, 8-0 Big 12) within 28-26, but he was unable to pull in a pass on the 2-point conversion attempt.

After kicking deep, TCU used all three of its timeouts while forcing a three-and-out, and it got the ball back at its 31 with 1:34 left. Max Duggan had two completions before converting one third down with a 12-yard run on a quarterback draw.

Demercado was short of a clock-stopping first down on a run to the Baylor 23, going down in the center of the field with about 16 seconds left before the offensive and special teams units ran by each other. The ball was snapped at 3 seconds, and the kick by Kell, who earlier had an extra-point attempt clank off the upright, went through as time ran out.

“The great thing about that last drive, we were throwing all of our day one concepts,” Duggan said. “We were throwing easy stuff that we practice and we can do with our eyes closed, and stuff that you believe in. … So just going out there, being confident, believing it was going to happen and Griff makes a huge kick for us.”

TCU, which already had clinched a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game, hasn’t been undefeated this deep in a season since 2010, when it finished 13-0 with a Rose Bowl victory and No. 2 national ranking.

When the Frogs played at McLane Stadium for the first time in 2014, after it first opened, they lost 61-58. That was their only loss that season, and they went on to share the Big 12 title with Baylor. They were the first two teams left out of the inaugural four-team College Football Playoff.

Baylor (6-5, 4-4) was coming off a 31-3 home loss to Kansas State a week earlier, but last year’s Big 12 champions took a 28-20 lead after a pair of true freshmen scored TDs early in the fourth quarter: tight end Kelsey Johnson‘s 12-yard catch and Richard Reese‘s 1-yard run.

“It’s a tough locker room,” Baylor coach Dave Aranda said. “I told them that I wish that we, that I, could take the pain away.”

Duggan was 24-of-35 passing for 327 yards and a touchdown, and he also ran for a score while leading the Frogs with 50 yards rushing on eight carries. Kendre Miller had a rushing TD in his 12th consecutive game, a 2-yarder early in the second quarter that tied it at 14 before he got hurt early in the second half.

TCU didn’t lead until Duggan hit a wide-open Gunnar Henderson for a 26-yard touchdown with 5½ minutes left in the third quarter, one play after the two had connected for 20 yards. It was 20-14 after Kell’s missed PAT.

Baylor’s Blake Shapen was 21-of-30 passing for 269 yards and a score, while Craig “Sqwirl” Williams ran for 112 yards. Monaray Baldwin had six catches for 123 yards, including a 74-yard gain on third-and-11 that set up Reese’s TD with 9:47 left.

“For it to end that way really hurt,” Williams said.

THE TAKEAWAY

TCU: Another comeback for the Frogs, who last month overcame double-digit deficits in the second half against Oklahoma State and Kansas State. They never faltered after several players dealt with flu-like symptoms during the week, and they finished the game without leading receiver Quentin Johnston and Miller.

Baylor: The Bears never really had much trouble moving the ball, piling up 501 total yards, 232 on the ground. On their opening drive, they had 56 yards rushing — twice as much Texas had the whole game against TCU a week earlier. But they missed a chance to take a halftime lead when Shapen’s pass was intercepted in the end zone by Bud Clark with 4 seconds left.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

TCU will stay in the top four of the AP poll Sunday, and should still be in the all-important top four of the new CFP rankings on Tuesday.

UP NEXT

TCU ends the regular season at home against Iowa State next Saturday.

Baylor is at Texas on Friday.

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Lightning’s Hagel leaves G4 loss after high hit

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Lightning's Hagel leaves G4 loss after high hit

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel left his team’s 4-2 loss to the host Florida Panthers in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference first-round series on Monday night after a high hit from defenseman Aaron Ekblad that wasn’t penalized.

With less than 9 minutes left in the second period, Hagel played the puck out of the Tampa Bay zone near the boards. Ekblad skated in on him and delivered a hit with his right forearm that made contact with Hagel’s head, shoving him down in the process.

The back of Hagel’s head hit the ice. He was pulled from the game for concussions concerns. Ekblad did not receive a penalty on the play.

The Lightning trailed the Panthers 1-0 at the time of the hit, but Mitchell Chaffee and Erik Cernak scored two goals in 11 seconds after Hagel left the game to give Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead. When the teams returned for the third period, Hagel was not on the bench.

The Panthers rallied in the third, as Ekblad, Seth Jones and Carter Verhaeghe scored to give Florida a 3-1 series lead. Game 5 is in Tampa on Wednesday.

Game 4 saw Hagel return to the Tampa Bay lineup after he served a one-game suspension for interference on Florida captain Aleksander Barkov in Game 2. The NHL ruled the Barkov wasn’t eligible to be hit and that Hagel made head contact with him. It was the first suspension of this career.

Hagel was one of the best two-way wingers in the league this season, with 35 goals and 55 assists in 82 games for the Lightning.

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Nimmo matches Mets franchise record with 9 RBIs

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Nimmo matches Mets franchise record with 9 RBIs

WASHINGTON — Brandon Nimmo hit a grand slam and matched a franchise record with nine RBIs, helping the New York Mets past the Washington Nationals in a 19-5 rout on Monday.

Nimmo also hit a three-run drive in his seventh career multihomer game. The 32-year-old outfielder had four hits and scored four times after beginning the day with a .192 batting average.

All of Nimmo’s damage came in a three-inning span. According to ESPN Research, he became only the third player to pull off that feat in that time frame since the RBI became an official stat in 1920.

The win came a day after New York let a six-run lead slip in an 8-7 loss to the Nationals. The matinee bounce-back earned the club split of the four-game series. The Mets have won nine of 11 overall to improve to a major league-best 20-9.

“Really proud of the guys for flushing yesterday, coming back today and really going out there and work on all sides of the ball,” Nimmo said. “It was really fun to play today.”

Jeff McNeil and Mark Vientos also homered for New York, which finished with 21 hits. Vientos connected for a three-run drive against Washington infielder Amed Rosario in the ninth.

James Wood and Nathaniel Lowe homered for Washington in the eighth.

The Mets had a 3-0 lead when Colin Poche replaced Nationals starter Trevor Williams (1-3) with two on in the sixth. Nimmo greeted the left-hander by ripping a 2-0 fastball deep to right-center.

An inning later, the Mets had the bases loaded when Nimmo sent Cole Henry‘s fastball into the right-field seats for his second career grand slam.

Nimmo added a two-run double in the eighth to tie the franchise record for RBIs set by Carlos Delgado in the first game of a doubleheader against the New York Yankees on June 27, 2008.

“Tomorrow is a new day as well,” Nimmo said, quickly turning the page from the win. “And we’re just going to have to take it a day at a time, and treat it like it is its own.”

McNeil, who made his season debut Friday after sitting out 25 games because of a right oblique strain, hit the first pitch of the fifth deep to right for his first home run of the year.

“One hundred percent,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said, when asked if McNeil’s start has been good to see. “When you see him pulling the ball like that, and going deep? That’s a good sign. It’s good to see him continue with that approach.”

Griffin Canning (4-1) pitched five innings of four-hit ball for New York. He has won four consecutive starts for the first time in his six-season career.

Jose Urena earned his first save of the season. He gave up five runs in three innings in his Mets debut.

Williams yielded five runs in a season-high 5⅓ innings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Now in LF, Altuve asks off Astros’ leadoff spot

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Now in LF, Altuve asks off Astros' leadoff spot

HOUSTON — Jose Altuve asked manager Joe Espada to move him out of the leadoff spot and into the second hole for the Houston Astros. The reason? He wanted more time to get to the dugout from left field.

Altuve is playing left for the first time in his career after spending his first 14 MLB seasons at second base. “I just need like 10 more seconds,” he said.

The 34-year-old Altuve made the transition to the outfield this season after the trade of Kyle Tucker and the departure of Alex Bregman shook up Houston’s lineup.

Jeremy Peña was in the leadoff spot for Monday night’s game against Detroit. Altuve didn’t suggest that Peña be the one to take his leadoff spot.

“I just told Joe that maybe he can hit me second some games at some point, and he did it today,” Altuve said. “I just need like that little extra time to come from left field, and he decided to put Jeremy [there].”

Peña entered Monday hitting .255 with three homers and 11 RBIs. He hit first in Sunday’s 7-3 win over Kansas City — with Altuve getting a day off — and had two hits and three RBIs.

Along with giving him a little extra time to get ready to bat, Altuve thinks the athletic Peña batting leadoff could boost a lineup that has struggled at times this season.

“Jeremy is one of those guys that has been playing really good for our team,” Altuve said. “He’s taking really good at-bats. He’s very explosive and dynamic on the bases, so when he gets on base a lot of things can happen. Maybe I can bunt him over so Yordan [Alvarez] can drive him in.”

Altuve is a nine-time All-Star. The 2017 AL MVP is hitting .274 with three homers and nine RBIs this season.

Espada said he and Altuve often share different ideas about the team and that they had been talking about this as a possibility for a while before he made the move.

“He’s always looking for ways to get everyone involved and he’s playing left field, comes in, maybe give him a little bit more time to get ready between at-bats, just a lot of things that went into this decision,” Espada said. “He’s been around, he knows himself better than anyone else here, so hopefully this could create some opportunities for everyone here and we can score some runs.”

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