NASCAR-RICHMOND
Keselowski wins, first seed at the Chase…Newman and Biffle make the Chase
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) β Pole-sitter Brad Keselowski dominated, leading for 383 of the 400 laps of the NASCAR’s regular season Sprint Cup finale at Richmond International Raceway. It’s his fourth victory of the season. He will be the top seed in the 10-event Chase for the Sprint Cup championship that begins next Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway. Jeff Gordon ran second.
Ryan Newman and Greg Biffle were the last two drivers to qualify for the 16-driver Chase for the championship. Newman finished ninth and Biffle barely made it with a 19th finish.
Clint Bowyer (BOY’-ur) finished third at Richmond, but missed out on the Chase by seven points.
T25-SCHEDULE
Hokies upset Buckeyes…Signature victory for Sarkisian…Ducks win a wild one
UNDATED (AP) β Unranked Virginia Tech provided the major shocker on the second Saturday of the college football season. The Hokies went on the road and upset eighth-ranked Ohio State 35-21 before a mostly stunned record crowd of 107,517 at the enlarged Ohio Stadium horseshoe.
Michael Brewer completed 23 of 36 for 199 yards and two TDs for the Hokies. Keyshoen Jarrett had two interceptions and Donovan Riley returned another 63 yards for a TD in the final minute.
The defense then stymied Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett, the freshman taking over for injured three-year starter Braxton Miller.
In other AP Top-25:
β Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston threw for 256 yards and two touchdowns as the top-ranked Seminoles cakewalked to a 37-12 victory over FCS opponent The Citadel. The 18th consecutive win set a Florida State school record.
β Second-ranked Alabama upped its record to 2-0 with a 41-0 abbreviated game with Florida Atlanta. With both teams permission the game was called with 7:53 left because of lightning. For the Crimson Tide it was a good game for quarterbacks Blake Sims and Jake Coker. Sims passed for 214 passing yards while Coker hit for 202. Sims passed for two touchdowns and ran for a third in his second straight start. The Tide outgained the Owls 620-145
β Marcus Mariota threw for 318 yards and three touchdowns, including a pair to speedy redshirt freshman Devon Allen, and the No. 3 Oregon Ducks’ blur offense prevailed over No. 7 Michigan State’s stout defense 46-27.
β Fourth-ranked Oklahoma is 2-0 after a 52-7 win over Tulsa. Sterling Shepard had a career-high 177 yards receiving and Trevor Knight passed for 299 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another. It was Oklahoma’s sixth straight win overall and eighth in a row in the series against Tulsa.
β Cameron Artis-Payne ran for three touchdowns, all in the first half, and No. 5 Auburn used a dominant ground game to beat San Jose State 59-13. Auburn had six TDs and 358 yards on the ground.
β Ninth-ranked Texas A&M flattened Lamar 73-3. Kenny Hill threw for 283 yards and four touchdowns in less than three quarters. The game drew the largest crowd ever for a college game in Texas — 104,728 at College Station.
β Baylor backup quarterback Seth Russell threw for 438 yards and five touchdowns while playing only the first half, freshman KD Cannon caught three of those scores and No. 10 Baylor overwhelmed FCS team Northwestern State 70-6.
β Number-11 UCLA outlasted Memphis 42-35 in a barn-burner at the Rose Bowl. Brett Hundley passed for 396 yards and three touchdowns for the Bruins.
β Anthony Jennings threw three scoring passes to Travin Dural, running back Leornard Fournette scored his first touchdown, and 12th-ranked LSU overwhelmed Sam Houston State 56-0.
__ Andre Heidari kicked a career-long 53-yard field goal with 2:30 left, J.R. Tavai forced a fumble to end Stanford’s comeback bid and No. 14 Southern California held off the No. 13 Cardinal 13-10 in Pac-12 action. That is new coach Steve Sarkisian’s (sahr-KEE’-zee-enz) first major victory at USC, upending the two-time defending Pac-12 champions.
β Bo Wallace threw for 320 yards and a touchdown, and 15th-ranked Mississippi routed Vanderbilt 41-3 in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams. Ole Miss is 2-0.
β Everett Golson threw three touchdown passes and No. 16 Notre Dame said so long to Michigan with a 31-0 victory. It’s the Fighting Irish’s most dominant performance in the historic 42-game rivalry that’s now about to take a hiatus. Notre Dame broke off the series to make room for some ACC teams on its schedule.
β D.J. Foster rushed for a career-high 216 yards to help No. 17 Arizona State rout New Mexico 58-23. The Sun Devils jumped out to a 22-0 first-quarter lead behind rushing touchdowns from Deantre Lewis, Taylor Kelly and Kalen Ballage.
β Tanner McEvoy overcame a slow start to throw for three touchdowns and run for another as No. 18 Wisconsin pulled away from Western Illinois to win its home opener 37-3. McEvoy shook off a couple bad throws early to finish 23 of 28 for 283 yards with one interception.
β Nineteenth-ranked Nebraska had a hard time with McNeese State but won 31-24. Ameer Abdullah’s 58-yard touchdown after a short pass from Tommy Armstrong Jr. broke a tie with 20 seconds left to give the Cornhuskers their second win in as many games.
β Jake Waters ran for an 8-yard touchdown with 1:30 left and 20th-ranked Kansas State rallied past host Iowa State 32-28. Waters threw for 239 yards and ran for a career-high 138 yards for the 2-0 Wildcats.
β Mike Davis ran for 101 yards and two touchdowns as No. 21 South Carolina bounced back from an embarrassing opening-week loss to Texas A&M to hold off East Carolina 33-23.
β Tim Scott’s interception in the end zone with 14 seconds left preserved North Carolina’s 31-27 victory over San Diego State. The Tar Heels also are ranked 22nd in the AP poll.
β No. 23 Clemson had its most productive day in 33 years as the Tigers beat South Carolina State 73-7. Cole Stoudt completed 22 of his 31 passes for 302 yards as the Tigers racked up 735 yards against the outmatched Bulldogs, who were held to 44 yards. Things will be a bit tougher in two weeks when Clemson plays No. 1 Florida State.
β The winningest coach in the history of Toledo and Missouri football came out a winner as 24th-ranked Missouri beat Toledo 49-24. Gary Pinkel coached at Toledo between 1991 and 200 before taking over at Missouri. Maty Mauk threw for 325 yards and five touchdowns in the win.
β Louisville backup quarterback Reggie Bonnafon ran for two touchdowns and passed for another and the No. 25 Cardinals scored on nine straight possessions in a 66-21 victory over Murray State.
TENNIS-US OPEN
Shockers in New York
NEW YORK (AP) β There were two major upsets in the men’s semifinals at the U.S. Open. The bottom line is that the final on Monday will feature 14th-seed Marin Cilich (CHIHL’-ch) against tenth-seed Kei Nishikori (KAY nesh-ih-KOHR’-ee) of Japan. They beat respectively No. 2 Roger Federer and No. 1 Novak Djokovic (NOH’-vak JOH’-kuh-vich).
Here’s how it happened. In the first semifinal match Nishikori became the first man from Asia to reach a Grand Slam final with a 6-4, 1-6, 7-6, 6-3 win over top-seed Djokovic. Nishikori had played five-set marathons in his last two matches totaling more than 8 1/2 hours, yet he looked far fresher than a player known as one of the fittest on tour.
On paper the match was a mismatch as Djokovic had played in 24 previous Grand Slam semifinals. Nishikori is coached by 1989 French Open champ Michael Chang.
In the other semifinal, 17-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer was upset by Cilich 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. They had met five times previously with Federer winning all five encounters. Cilic was appearing in just his second Grand Slam semifinal. He missed last year’s US Open while sitting out a doping suspension.
Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina won their second Grand Slam doubles title, ending Martina Hingis’ run at the U.S. Open. The fourth-seeded Russians rallied from down a set and break to beat Hingis and Flavia Pennetta (FLAH’-vee-uh pehn-EHT’-uh) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Saturday night.
MLB-SCHEDULE
Cards boost lead to 4 over Brewers…Yanks feast on KC bullpen
UNDATED (AP) __Matt Adams and Oscar Taveras homered, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-3 to open a four-game lead in the NL Central.
Lance Lynn pitched six effective innings as St. Louis won for the seventh time in its last eight games. Trevor Rosenthal got three outs for his 43rd save in 48 chances.
The Brewers have lost 10 of 11.
In other baseball:
β Brandon McCarthy won for the second time in six starts, and the New York Yankees feasted on Kansas City’s bullpen in a 6-2 win after Royals starter Danny Duffy left because of an injury following his first pitch. The weak-hitting Yankees scored as many as six runs for the first time since Aug. 29.
β Philadelphia beat NL East-leading Washington for the seventh time in their last nine meetings, 3-1. A.J. Burnett pitched seven innings to beat the Nationals for the second time in 10 days. Ryan Howard had two RBIs for the last-place Phillies, who’ve won their last five against the Nats.
β Evan Gattis hit a leadoff homer in the 10th inning to give the Atlanta Braves a 4-3 victory over the Miami Marlins. The Braves moved within six games of the NL East lead.
β Jed Lowrie hit a game-ending RBI single in Oakland’s three-run ninth inning, sending the Athletics to a 4-3 victory over the Houston Astros.
β Albert Pujols (POO’-hohlz) homered and hit a tiebreaking, two-run double in the ninth inning for his 2,500th hit in the Los Angeles Angels’ 8-5 win over Minnesota.
A game involving two teams vying for spots in the playoffs ended with the Giants beating the Tigers 5-4. Andrew Susac hit a two-run double in San Francisco’s four-run first against loser David Price. Buster Posey had a solo homer among his three hits. Madison Bumgarner pitched six innings for his fourth consecutive win, giving him a career-high 17 on the year. The Tigers, who have dropped three of four, got two home runs from Miguel Cabrera.
β The NL West-leading L.A. Dodgers remained two games ahead of the Giants by beating Arizona 5-2. Dee Gordon hit a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth inning and Adrian Gonzalez homered. The Dodgers have beaten the D-Backs 14 of 18 meetings.
β Bad defense cost Baltimore a game. In the bottom of the ninth Yunel Escobar scored on Nick Hundley’s passed ball with two outs, giving the Tampa Bay Rays a 3-2 win over the Orioles.
β Cleveland beat the Chicago White Sox 3-1. Corey Kluber pitched a five-hitter to win for the first time in a month.
β Cincinnati ended the New York Mets’ three-game win streak, 2-1. Todd Frazier and Chris Heisey (HY’-see) homered. Johnny Cueto (KWAY’-toh) went seven innings to raise his record to 17-8.
β In the conclusion of a rain-shortened game started Friday night, Josh Harrison hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the 11th inning and the Pirates beat the Cubs 5-3. Harrison finished with four hits and two RBIs, but the All-Star infielder limped off the field after making an over-the shoulder catch in short center field in the bottom of the 11th. The Pirates blanked the Cubs 5-0 in the regularly scheduled game. Francisco Liriano and three relievers combined on a six-hitter.
β Colorado needed 12 innings to outlast San Diego 7-6. Drew Stubbs had a tiebreaking RBI single in the 12th to win it.
βKyle Seager had three hits, including a home run, to lead the Seattle Mariners to a 402 victory over the Texas Rangers. Seager is hitting .362 with five home runs and 16 rbis in 69 at-bats against the Rangers this season.
MLB-NATIONALS
Soriano loses Nats closer job
WASHINGTON (AP) β Washington closer Rafael Soriano blew a three-run lead in the ninth inning Friday night and for manager Matt Williams, that was enough to force a change. With three weeks to go in the regular season, the NL East-leading Nationals have decided to go with a closer-by-committee approach. Soriano has a 6.98 earned run average since the All-Star break and has given up at least one run in seven of his past 12 outings.
In other baseball news:
β Yu Darvish’s season is over. Texas Rangers GM Jon Daniels says the 28-year-old left-hander won’t pitch again this year. The three-time All-Star has not pitched since Aug. 9 because of elbow inflammation.
BASKETBALL-WORLD CUP
U.S. wins again
BARCELONA (AP) β The U.S. men’s national team has advanced to the quarterfinals of the Basketball World Cup with an 86-63 win over Mexico. Stephen (STEF’-ihn) Curry had six 3-pointers and scored 20 points in the win while Golden State teammate Klay Thompson had 15. Curry was 7 of 10 from the field and 6 of 9 behind the arc.
The Americans will face either Slovenia or Dominican Republic on Tuesday.
FORMULA ONE-ITALIAN GRAND PRIX
Hamilton grabs the pole
MONZA, Italy (AP) β To nobody’s surprise, the two Mercedes cars have dominated qualifying today for today’s Italian Grand Prix. This time Lewis Hamilton won the pole and will start in front of teammate Nico (NEE’-koh) Rosberg. In the overall driver standings Rosberg tops Hamilton by 29 points.
The drivers from Red Bull, four-time defending World Champion Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo (rih-KAR’-doh), will start from the eighth and ninth spots.
GOLF-BMW CHAMPIONSHIP
Horschel leads the way
CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. (AP) β Billy Horschel has the lead after three rounds of the BMW Championship. He shot a third round 7-under-63 to stand 13-under-par. Ryan Palmer stands alone in second at minus-10 with Bubba Watson and Martin Kaymer (KY’-mur) at 8-under.
The top 30 finishers in the third FedEx Cup tournament advance to the Tour Championship next week for a shot at the $10 million bonus.
Keegan Bradley won’t be one of the final players as he has withdrawn from the BMW Championship because of a controversial drop on Thursday. Bradley, who won the 2011 PGA Championship and will be on the U.S. Ryder Cup team, withdrew because he wasn’t sure the drop was legal. As he approached the 18th green he took a free drop, which was approved by a PGA official, but after speaking with a fan near the green about where the ball landed he started to have doubts.
GOLF-CHAMPIONS TOUR
Toledo leads the way in Quebec
QUEBEC CITY (AP) β Defending champion Esteban Toledo (EHS’-teh-bahn toh-LAY’-doh) shot a 6-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead over Brad Faxon in the Champions Tour’s Quebec Championship.
The 51-year-old Toledo is the only Mexican winner in the history of the 50-and-over tour. He had a 10-under 132 total.
