LIVERPOOL, England -- With their title dreams extinguished, Liverpools players circled the pitch inside Anfield Stadium, heads bowed, to the backdrop of another passionately sung rendition of club anthem "Youll Never Walk Alone. Steve Nash Suns Jersey ." The final match of the Reds season could have been a celebration of the most unlikely championship triumph in Premier League history. It ended up being a tale of what might have been. Liverpool came up short Sunday in its bid for a first league title in 24 years, finishing two points behind champion Manchester City despite a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Newcastle. Brendan Rodgers team did their part on what proved to be an anticlimactic last day, passing the 100-goal mark for the league campaign after near-identical strikes in the space of two second-half minutes by Daniel Agger and Daniel Sturridge. That clinched a club-record 26th league victory. But Liverpool was also relying on a favour from West Ham at Etihad Stadium, which was always unlikely to happen. City won 2-0, keeping the trophy out of Liverpools grasp. "Im devastated for the fans," Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard said. "Although weve made them dream, Im devastated we didnt go that one step more." If there was any frustration inside Rodgers after the final whistle, he hid it well. For Liverpool had the destiny of the title in its hands just three weeks ago, when it beat Norwich 3-2 for an 11th straight win. Then came a decisive nine days when Rodgers side lost 2-0 at home to Chelsea before conceding three goals in the final 11 minutes to draw 3-3 at Crystal Palace. It meant there was more hope than expectation heading into the Newcastle match. "We finished the season winning 12 games out of 14," Rodgers said. "So the players have shown incredible level of consistency and quality in that period ... wed prefer to finish top, but its a great mark of progress this season." Anfield has seen previous last-game drama, with Arsenal winning 2-0 here in 1989 thanks to an injury-time goal from Michael Thomas to snatch the title from Liverpool. Twenty-five years on, Journeys famous song "Dont Stop Believin" blared out before kickoff. But all hope among Liverpool fans was gone by halftime, with their team 1-0 down thanks to Martin Skrtels own goal in the 20th minute and City having virtually guaranteed finishing first by going 1-0 up against West Ham. After a poor first half, Liverpool steeled itself to finish the season on a high, with Gerrard crossing for Agger to volley in after 63 minutes and then producing a similar delivery for Sturridge to tap in at the far post. It was all in vain. "When we went in front and there was no roar from the crowd, I realized the story was elsewhere," Rodgers said. Having started so positively, Newcastle imploded after the break in conceding two quick goals and then seeing Shola Ameobi and Paul Dummett both sent off. Ameobi received two yellow cards in 10 seconds for dissent as he argued with the referee about fouls in the build-up to Liverpools goals, before Dummett departed after a high challenge on Luis Suarez. Sunday was all about Liverpool, though, not Newcastle. From a seventh-place finish last season, Liverpool almost achieved what many considered impossible. "The word now is belief -- belief that we can be up there challenging," said Rodgers, who read out to his squad before the match a letter from a young fan called Ben -- sent before the start of the season -- which urged the players to believe they could win the title. "Probably at the time, the players and maybe the staff all thought the letter was maybe far-fetched," Rodgers added. "But I truly believe we could progress. "For us, its been a wonderful campaign of growth and development." The Premier League remains elusive to the 33-year-old Gerrard, who sees hope for the future. "I thought my days of title races had gone," he said, "but having played with this group of players this year the dream is back. Although Ive only got a couple of years left I still believe I can get there." Jalen Lecque Jersey . Then Klay Thompson put his foot on the gas. Thompson scored 19 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and Harrison Barnes scored 14 points in his season debut to help the Golden State Warriors to a 106-93 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night. Steve Nash Jersey . "This is my city," the Toronto native said upon his arrival Wednesday night. And the 35-year-old former league MVP says he is hoping to making 2014 a memorable year. https://www.thesunslockerroom.com/Devin-Booker-City-Edition-Jersey/ NEW YORK -- For a pitcher with little buzz, Dillon Gee has transformed into a top starter. He nearly came away with his first professional shutout Sunday, limiting the Miami Marlins to three singles over eight innings in the New York Mets 4-0 victory. "Im not sure if Dillon is all that sexy of a pitcher," Mets captain David Wright said. "He just goes out there and gets the job done." Gee never topped 90 mph against the Marlins. Still, he didnt allow a runner past second base. "Hes not going to impress you with the radar gun. Hes not going to strike a lot of guys out," Wright said. "But what hes going to do is induce a lot of ground balls, pound the strike zone. And hes going to go out there and know how to pitch." Chris Young hit a two-run homer, and Wright had an RBI double and an outstanding sliding, over-the-shoulder catch of a foul popup with his back to the plate as the Mets took two of three in the series. Pitching a day before his 28th birthday, Gee (2-1) had the longest outing of a Mets pitcher since last August. He struck out six, walked four and threw 110 pitches -- his high since May 30, 2012, against Philadelphia. That was six weeks before season-ending surgery to repair a damaged artery in his right shoulder. He tried to talk Mets manager Terry Collins into letting him get a complete game. Gee has just four in 162 pro starts over eight years. "CG chances dont come along that often. It would have been nice," Gee said. Collins wasnt taking any chances, especially after Gee needed 23 pitches to navigate a 1-2-3 eighth. Coming in, batters were hitting .187 off Gee through the first six innings and .385 from the seventh on. "The one thing I didnt want to have happen is fourth time through the lineup, to have him hang a slider with a 113th pitch and have something go into the seats," Collins said. Gee is 12-6 with a 2.75 ERA since last May 30. Thats the eighth-best ERA in the major leagues, according to STATS, just ahead of Adam Wainwright and Madison Bumgarner. "Probably pretty under the radar, like I think a lot of players in this room," Wright said. "We dont necessarily have a lineup full or a pitching rotation full of household names." Carlos Torres followed with a perfect ninth that finished a thrree-hitter. Kelly Oubre Jr. Jersey. The Marlins felt flummoxed by Gee, who is 3-0 in five starts against them "Hes got a good sinker. He uses a cutter, curveball. Hes always got that changeup," Jarrod Saltalamacchia said. Tom Koehler (2-2), who was born in Bronx and grew up in New Rochelle, allowed four runs, five hits and four walks in five innings. New York went ahead in the second when Daniel Murphy walked, Young was hit by a pitch and Lucas Duda looped a ground-rule double down the left-field line that landed about a foot fair and bounced into the seats. Curtis Granderson walked leading off the three-run fifth and came home when Wright doubled to the base of the left-field wall, only his third extra-base hit since an opening day home run. After Murphy grounded out, Young had four straight fouls before sending a hanging slider into the left-field seats on the 11th pitch of his at-bat and the 22nd pitch to him from Koehler on the afternoon. "I kind of saw everything he had, and I think the advantage leans a little more toward my way," Young said. There was some superb glovework: Murphy made a barehand pickup of a three-hopper on the shortstop side of second to throw out Marcell Ozuna in the first; and Wright made the glamorous grab on Casey McGehees fourth-inning foul pop about 70 feet beyond third base. "Its kind of a panic slide because you dont want to go barrelling into that tarp," Wright said. New York completed a 6-4 homestand, leaving its record at 14-11. "Its impossible to beat your chest and kind of walk with a little pep in your step when youre not winning," Wright said. "You start taking care of business at home, you kind of gain that confidence and I think that that kind of shows on the field." NOTES: Mets pitchers are 0 for 41 at the plate this year, the longest hitless streak for any teams pitchers starting a season since at least 1974, according to STATS. The Braves began 2008 and 11 with 0 for 39 slides. ... Murphy has succeeded in 27 consecutive stolen-base attempts, six shy of Kevin McReynolds Mets record. ... New York is 6-0 when Recker starts this season. ... Jon Niese (1-2) starts the Mets series opener on Tuesday at Philadelphia, where Cole Hamels (0-1) makes his first home appearance this season. ' ' '