And if the Big 12 is ultimately doomed in the long-ter

NEW YORK -- The St. Louis Cardinals were disappointed that a long day did not result in them shaking hands twice following wins.They hope Adam Wainwright gives them a reason for handshakes.After getting a split of Tuesdays doubleheader, Wainwright will be on the mound when the Cardinals conclude their three-game series with the New York Mets.St. Louis had decent enough pitching Tuesday as Carlos Martinez and Jaime Garcia each allowed two earned runs in five innings. Other than Jedd Gyorko their offense went cold, especially in the second game when the Cardinals struck out 12 times and had four hits off Bartolo Colon and two relievers in a 3-1 loss in the nightcap.I dont think of it as a split, I think of it as a lost game right there, St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. We already shook hands on the one earlier, its a whole new game. We dont like losing any game, ever.Wainwright will be entrusted with helping the Cardinals win the first series of their 10-game road trip.Wainwright leads the majors with a 0.93 ERA this month, allowing three runs in 29 innings. He also has not a home run in his last 60 2/3 innings, going back to when Ryan Zimmerman homered off him May 28.If Wainwright can pitch seven more innings without allowing a home run, it will surpass the longest streak of his career. From Sept. 7, 2014-April 3, he had 67 innings without doing so.Wainwright last pitched in Thursdays 6-5 win over San Diego and did not get a decision after allowing two runs and seven hits in six innings as his teammates rallied from a 5-1 deficit. Although he did not get a decision, the Cardinals are 13-3 in his last 16 starts.Besides Wainwrights success this month, he is 51-28 with a 3.01 ERA after the All-Star break. His .646 winning percentage is third among active pitchers behind Clayton Kershaw and David Price while his ERA ranks behind Kershaw and Cole Hamels.The right-hander has actually struggled against the Mets, although he struck out Carlos Beltran to send the Cardinals to the 2006 World Series. Wainwright is 3-4 with a 5.13 ERA in nine appearances (seven starts) against New York and his ERA is the third-highest amongst active pitchers against the Mets behind Vance Worley and Chris Capuano.He last faced the Mets April 22, 2014 in New York when he allowed four hits in seven innings during a 3-0 win.Wainwright will be hoping to get some support from the home run. The Cardinals have 138 home runs and have homered in 17 straight games, two shy of the 2006 club record.Up and down the lineup you got guys who can on any given night go out and hit the ball over the fence, Gyorko said. Thats a luxury to have, that any guy in the lineup can change a game.The Mets have won 10 of their last 15 home games and trail Washington by 4 1/2 games in the NL East and Miami by a half-game in the wild card race.This is crunch time, New York manager Terry Collins said. Say whatever you want, this is the time where we gotta win games, string them together, win eight out of 10, I dont care what you say, we gotta win games. This is when the good teams win them.Logan Verrett will make his first career start against the Cardinals. He is 3-6 with a 4.14 ERA and 1-4 with a 4.97 ERA as a starting pitcher.He is in the rotation due to Matt Harveys absence and has lost his last six decisions. He last pitched Friday in a 5-3 victory at Miami and allowed two runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings of a no-decision.The Mets will be without third baseman Jose Reyes for the next few days. He sustained a Grade 1 intercostal strain on his final swing of the 3-2 loss in the opener.Wilmer Flores, who had three hits in the nightcap, will start at third base until Reyes returns. Flores is batting .340 (17-for-50) in 17 games this month.Hes done a great job, Collins said. Grant Dayton Jersey .C. -- Kemba Walker and the Charlotte Bobcats got off to a fast start, and the Sacramento Kings were never quite able to catch up. Francisco Cervelli Braves Jersey . -- Stanford squashed Oregons national championship hopes again, schooling the Ducks in power football. https://www.cheapbraves.com/ . Siddikur, whose previous win on the circuit came in Brunei three years ago, finished his bogey-free round with a birdie on the 18th for a total of 17-under 199. Indias Shiv Chowrasia, who has finished runner-up in this tournament twice, was in second place after a 66. Atlanta Braves Shirts . -- Linebacker Myles Jack ran for four touchdowns, defensive end Cassius Marsh caught a scoring pass, and No. Stitched Braves Jerseys . In the lead up - which seemed to begin the moment Mike Geiger blew the whistle in Houston last Thursday night - the Impact rumour mill went into overdrive. The speculation went into meltdown mode, of the golden nugget variety. Fifteen months ago, Oklahoma president David Boren provided a two-word diagnosis: psychologically disadvantaged.Thats how Boren felt about the state of the Big 12 when he told Oklahomas student newspaper that the league, smaller than the other Power 5 conferences, needed to explore ways to grow.So began the Great Big 12 Runaround.When it ended Monday afternoon in North Texas, after a truncated meeting of the Big 12s board, we all felt like shrinks who dont get paid for their services. The Big 12 isnt expanding. Talk about a circular conversation.I made one recommendation -- to bring this process to closure one way or the other, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said Monday. We shouldnt kick the can down the road.Given the past 15 months, that might not be so easy. In that time, Boren talked and talked, and then he talked some more. He was pro-expansion, then lukewarm and, eventually, seemed to back away from the whole thing. In a perfect twist for this wandering process, Boren became chair of the Big 12 board this spring after Kansas State president Kirk Schulz left for Washington State.Someone suggested Ive had a brain transplant, Boren said Monday. Rumors to that effect are not true.The Big 12 hired two consulting firms to explore how expansion could impact the league, particularly in the long-term. For a league that had lost four members since 2010 -- two of which, Texas A&M and Nebraska, have football teams currently ranked in the AP Top 10 -- and appears vulnerable to further pillaging when its grant of rights agreement expires in 2025, getting bigger made sense.After the leagues spring meetings in Arizona, expansion appeared somewhat likely. At the Big 12 board meeting a month later in Irving, Texas, the league announced that its football title game was returning in 2017 and that it wouldnt explore a conferencewide TV network. The Big 12 announced record revenue distribution, celebrated its solidarity and civility behind a well-respected commissioner in Bob Bowlsby. Expansion seemed dead, and we all seemingly could get on to other business.But this is the Big 12, folks. Nothing can be wrapped up so neatly.In July, the Big 12 announced that expansion was back on the table. Candidates surfaced and lobbying began, especially in Texas. The Big 12 eventually narrowed the pool to 12 schools. Of those, six -- Houston, BYU, Cincinnati, Connecticut, South Florida and Central Florida -- generated the most attention.In the end, none received enough support from the Big 12 presidents. The Big 12 remains a 10-team league with a footprint, other than Texas, that covers a sparsely populated area of the country. It is still the only Power 5 league without its own television network. It is still a league that has seen its football recruiting suffeer in recent years and could have benefited from members in new regions.ddddddddddddWere there any great candidates out there? No, not with the potential toxicity swirling around BYU. But think about some of the recent Power 5 expansion additions: Maryland, Rutgers, Colorado, Utah, TCU, West Virginia, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, even Louisville.How many of those were or are considered home runs? None. But some have added value, including TCU, a conference nomad which quickly became one of the better Big 12 football programs. If the Big 12 really wanted to give this process its due, it should have looked for the next TCU, projecting 5-10 years out rather than talking in circles. And if the Big 12 is ultimately doomed in the long-term, adding members would have brought a short-term financial windfall, which could help current members who wont find soft landing spots if the conference dissolves.In not expanding and, equally important, not extending its grant of rights, the Big 12 possibly signed its own death warrant Monday. It remains the most vulnerable league. The loss of one more heavyweight, Texas or Oklahoma, likely would TKO the conference. A very bad strategic move, a source close to the process told ESPN.com. Painfully incremental decision-making.Theres still a very valid and underplayed argument that the Big 12 is the best place for Texas and Oklahoma. If Texas went to the Big Ten or SEC, it would no longer be the biggest voice in the room, and it would have to change its behavior and its expectations. It would have to accept (gasp!) equal revenue sharing and no Longhorn Network. Oklahoma also could make a move but would likely have to accept being No. 3 or No. 4 instead of clearly in the top tandem.Texas and OU seem happy for now, because, in the end, neither favored Big 12 expansion. How will they feel in eight or nine years?Most expansion explorations are quick and stealthy. After the Big Tens first expansion study in 2010 generated more buzz than commissioner Jim Delany anticipated, Delany didnt go public with his pursuit of Rutgers and Maryland and shocked everyone in November 2012. ACC commissioner John Swofford is the king of expansion guile, twice pillaging the Big East.The Big 12, meanwhile, spent a lot of time and money to keep the status quo.It was a deliberate process, one that included a lot of people, Bowlsby said. It was a lot more public than a lot of these other processes have been.Meanwhile, theres an imprint in all of our couches, in the shape of a former Oklahoma governor and senator and current university president.Psychologically disadvantaged? The Big 12s issues go much, much deeper. ' ' '