With five games left in the regular season, the Minnesota Lynx have guaranteed themselves home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

“We have a scenario now that if we win our home games, we win an WNBA championship,” coach Cheryl Reeve said after the Lynx won 94-70 at Connecticut on Saturday.

“It’s huge. Having the atmosphere of your home court plays a massive part in the games that you play,” said Alanna Smith, who led a balanced offensive attack with 18 points, a total matched by DiJonai Carrington off the bench. “Playing in front of your home crowd and getting that energy from your fans is huge. We know they’re going to bring that energy.”

The Lynx are 18-2 at Target Center this season.

And, at 31-8 overall, Minnesota has established a franchise record for wins in a season.

“You get so week to week in the league. It’s really strange. I don’t know how the players are, but I know we have never really looked at our record. When you clinch and you look at the record you go, ‘Holy cow, we have 31 wins,’” Reeve said. “What does it mean? That this group is really special, that thus far in two years they’ve won 61 games together.”

Napheesa Collier had 17 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. The starting backcourt of Kayla McBride and Courtney Williams each finished with 15 points, including a combined 8 for 12 on 3-pointers. Williams had eight rebounds and McBride six assists.

Carrington’s 18 points are her most in 10 games since being acquired Aug. 3 from Dallas.

“You have to guard her from the 3-point line to the midrange to the paint, so it just creates a problem for any defense. She just provides us, as well, with strong penetration. The ability she has to put the ball on the floor, and no matter who’s in front of her does not matter, she’s getting to the rim,” Smith said of her former Stanford teammate. “We have a lot of players in the team that do that and so we’re really lucky. … She’s added so much to what we already have. It’s certainly made us so much better.”

Owners of the league’s top defensive rating, Minnesota needed to regain that dominance after being outscored 60-33 in the second half of Thursday’s 93-79 loss to Seattle. The Lynx led that one by 21 in the first half.

“Defensively, we were significantly better than any game outside of maybe two of the last 10,” Reeve said.

Connecticut shot just 36.2%, including just 4 of 15 in the fourth quarter when the Lynx pulled away.

Up 12 midway through the frame the Lynx quickly erased any hope for the Sun.

Smith scored on a drive, McBride drained her fifth 3-pointer, and, after a Connecticut free throw, Collier scored on a cutting layup for an 82-64 cushion. Smith made her fourth 3-pointer and Collier converted a Williams pass for a 23-point lead.

Connecticut (10-29) entered winners in four of its previous five outings, albeit all over teams outside a current playoff spot.

Related Articles

Seattle blitzes Lynx with 60-point second half

Timberwolves and Lynx hire Florida Panthers CEO to same position

Lynx top Fever in Napheesa Collier’s return

Jessica Shepard’s historic triple-double leads Lynx past Fever

Lynx lose in Atlanta, take back-to-back losses for first time this season

It was a tale of two starters on Saturday evening for the Minnesota Twins.

With six starters and five rotation spots, the Twins opted to piggyback Taj Bradley and Mick Abel, both of whom were acquired in trades at the deadline. The results could not have differed more.

Bradley was dominant in his five innings, giving up just one hit, touching 98.9 mph and getting 14 whiffs, including at least three on four different pitch types. Abel followed and needed 39 pitches to get through his first inning of work and departed after four straight hits to begin his second.

Those hits marked the beginning of a seven-run inning for the San Diego Padres in which they broke open what had been a tied game on their way to a 12-3 victory over the Twins at Target Field on Saturday night.

Abel, who gave up six runs in three innings in his Twins debut last weekend, didn’t fare much better on Saturday, pitching out of the bullpen for the first time in his major league career. His outing, which began in the sixth inning, started with Brooks Lee committing an error. Abel then gave up hits to three of the next four batters he faced, allowing San Diego to tie the game.

The next inning, he did not record an out, giving up another pair of runs before making way for reliever Brooks Kriske, who couldn’t stop the bleeding.

His outing stood in stark contrast to Bradley’s.

Bradley was also roughed up in his first start as a Twin, giving up seven runs in five innings pitched against the Chicago White Sox. But he settled down in his final three innings of work last weekend and looked good again on Saturday.

Bradley worked over a pair of walks in the first inning, getting out unscathed. Starting in the first inning and lasting until the fifth, Bradley retired 13 of 14 hitters he faced before catcher Elías Díaz hit a solo home run, tying the game 1-1 at the time.

It didn’t stay like that for long, as Byron Buxton launched an opposite-field two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth to give the Twins the lead back. The Twins had scored the first run of the game in the third inning when Trevor Larnach knocked in James Outman. But starting in the sixth, San Diego scored 11 unanswered runs.

Related Articles

Twins’ rotation suddenly full — and about to be even fuller

Byron Buxton slides his way into 20/20 club in Twins win

Former Twin Luis Arraez receives warm welcome back: “He did great things for us”

In first rehab start, David Festa sets tone for Saints pitchers

Twins leaning into more aggressive base running approach

The Twins spent much of August with just three starters on the roster, piecing together bullpen games twice every turn through the rotation. Now, they’re dealing with the opposite — though this one is a good problem to have.

The Twins currently have six starters at the major-league level and they expect to get two more — Pablo López and David Festa — back from injuries in the coming days. The end result is rotation management that “could change a little bit here and a little bit there week to week,” manager Rocco Baldelli said.

“There’s not a grand plan,” he said. “It’s probably a series-to-series decision. … I think we could see piggybacks. I think we could see a lot of different things to make it all work and to get these guys the work that they need.”

Last weekend in Chicago, the Twins called up both Mick Abel and Taj Bradley, a pair of pitchers whom they received in trade deadline deals. Days later, Simeon Woods Richardson returned from the injured list, joining Abel, Bradley, Zebby Matthews, Bailey Ober and all-star Joe Ryan on the roster.

This time around, the Twins have opted to use Abel, a rookie who debuted earlier this season for the Philadelphia Phillies and is among their top pitching prospects, out of the bullpen in a piggyback situation. They chose that over the alternative, which would have been optioning him to Triple-A, where he could start.

“I think the main part of it is his development, and seeing what he can do at the major league level, and seeing the adjustments that he makes at this level and, I’ll be honest, I don’t think it matters that much if he’s starting or relieving,” Baldelli said. “As long as he’s getting the opportunities to go out there and face major league hitters, I think he’s going to continue to pick up a lot, make good adjustments and be OK.”

Things will get even more complicated when López and Festa return.

López has made two rehab starts already for the Triple-A Saints and is scheduled to pitch in Toledo, Ohio, for the Saints once again on Sunday night as he comes back from a teres major strain that has kept him out since early June. Should everything go well with that, it’s possible that he returns next weekend.

Festa, who has been out for more than a month with shoulder inflammation, also made a rehab start with the Saints and is moving closer towards his own return. When that happens, the Twins could potentially have eight different starters on the roster.

“It’s good to have all these guys getting healthy, and all being here and ready to pitch at the same time,” Baldelli said. “That’s a good thing for us, but we’ll have to make it work.”

Briefly

The Twins will send Ryan to the mound for the third game of the series against the San Diego Padres on Sunday. It will begin at 12:05 p.m. because it is a Roku game. … López is expected to pitch around five innings and 75 to 80 pitches on Sunday with the Saints.

Related Articles

Byron Buxton slides his way into 20/20 club in Twins win

Former Twin Luis Arraez receives warm welcome back: “He did great things for us”

In first rehab start, David Festa sets tone for Saints pitchers

Twins leaning into more aggressive base running approach

Addison Barger hits go-ahead double in 8th as Blue Jays rally to beat Twins 9-8