RYDER CUP
Europe leads 6Β½-5Β½ after Ryder Cup fourballs
GLENEAGLES, Scotland (AP) β Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson finished with 10 straight birdies to win Saturday’s first fourballs match for Europe. The United States responded by winning the next two matches and halving the fourth to cut the deficit to 6 Β½ to 5 Β½ on day two of the Ryder Cup.
Rose and Stenson birdied 12 of 16 holes to beat Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar 3 and 2. The Americans had nine birdies themselves.
The European duo’s 12-under score was a Ryder Cup record in fourballs. The 21-under total for the two pairings was also a record.
After Europe’s advantage stretched to 6-3, the Americans surged back.
Jim Furyk and Hunter Mahan beat Lee Westwood and Jamie Donaldson 4 and 3. Rookies Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed took down Thomas Bjorn and Martin Kaymer 5 and 3.
Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker earned a half-point against Rory McIroy and Ian Poulter.
MLB-SCHEDULE
Bucs stay hot…Nats, Angels clinch home-field
UNDATED (AP) β The St. Louis Cardinals blew a 6-2 lead last night before keeping their slim one-game lead over Pittsburgh in the National League Central.
Jhonny Peralta (JAH’-nee peh-RAHL’-tah) capped his three-RBI night by delivering a tiebreaking single in the 10th inning to lift the Cardinals past Arizona 7-6. Peralta had three hits and Matt Adams went 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
The Pirates kept pace with the Redbirds by downing the Reds 3-1 in Cincinnati. The game was tied 1-1 until Travis Snider and Andrew McCutchen hit consecutive RBI doubles with two out in the eighth. Gaby (GAB’-ee) Sanchez homered for the Bucs, who’ve won 17 of 21 since falling five games behind the Cardinals on Sept. 3.
Meanwhile, the Kansas City Royals have wrapped up their first playoff berth in 29 years while moving within one game of Detroit for the AL Central lead. Jeremy Guthrie scattered four hits in seven shutout innings as the Royals downed the White Sox 3-1 in Chicago. The Royals did their scoring in the first inning as Nori Aoki (ah-OH’-kee) hit an RBI triple before Lorenzo Cain and Billy Butler added run-scoring singles.
The Tigers were clobbered by Minnesota 11-4 as Oswaldo Arcia ripped a two-run homer and had three RBIs. Brian Dozier also homered and drove in three runs for the Twins, who reached Rick Porcello for four earned runs and six hits in 3 2/3 innings. Porcello is 0-4 with a 6.20 ERA this month.
Elsewhere in the majors:
β Josh Reddick socked a solo homer and had three RBIs in Oakland’s 6-2 victory at Texas. Scott Kazmir held the Rangers to one earned run and four hits in seven innings for his 15th win, helping the Athletics remain one game behind the Royals in the battle for home-field advantage in the AL wild-card game.
β Doug Fister tossed a three-hitter and Anthony Rendon (rehn-DOHN’) hit a solo homer in the first inning to put Washington ahead to stay in a 3-0 shutout of Miami in Game 1 of a doubleheader. The outcome gave the Nationals home-field advantage throughout the National League playoffs.
β The Marlins erupted in the nightcap as Kike (KEE’-kay) Hernandez hit a grand slam and J.T. Realmuto added a bases-loaded triple in 15-7 rout of the Nationals. Adeiny Hechavarria (ah-DAY’-nee eh-cheh-vah-REE’-uh) had four hits for the Marlins, who trailed 4-2 until a five-run fifth.
β The Los Angeles Angels wrapped up home-field advantage for the entire postseason when Baltimore lost 4-2 in Toronto. Rookie Dalton Pompey had three extra-base hits to help Drew Hutchison win for the first time in three starts.
β Homers by Kendrys Morales, Michael Saunders and Dustin Ackley powered Seattle past the Angels 4-3. Hisashi Iwakuma (hih-SAH’-shee ih-wah-KOO’-mah) worked 6 1/3 innings and carried a two-hit shutout into the sixth before allowing solo homers by Kole Calhoun and Mike Trout.
β Justin Turner and Juan Uribe (yoo-REE’-bay) hit two-run singles while the Dodgers scored six times in the sixth to beat Colorado 7-4. Dee Gordon was 3-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored.
β San Diego beat San Francisco 4-1 as Ian Kennedy held the Giants to an unearned run and four hits in seven innings. Seth Smith doubled home the tiebreaking double in the sixth before scoring on Rene Rivera’s two-run single later in the inning.
β Corey Kluber ends the season 18-9 with a 2.44 ERA after scattering five hits while striking out 11 in eight innings of Cleveland’s 1-0 shutout of Tampa Bay. Neither team scored after Jose Ramirez homered in the bottom of the first.
β Philadelphia turned a 4-0 deficit into a 5-4 win over Atlanta. Cody Asche (ASH’-ee) scored the tying run on a wild pitch in the sixth, one inning before Marlon Byrd supplied the go-ahead grounder.
β Chris Capuano allowed an unearned run and four hits in 6 2/3 innings as the New York Yankees downed Boston 3-2. Derek Jeter didn’t play after producing two hits and three RBIs in his Yankee Stadium farewell on Thursday.
β Jon Niese (nees) threw 5 1/3 shutout innings before leaving with an elevated heart rate in the New York Mets’ 3-1 loss to Houston. Jose Altuve (al-TOO’-vay) hit a tying single in a three-run sixth after Niese left the game.
β Javier Baez went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored as the Chicago Cubs dumped Milwaukee 6-4. Chris Coghlan added a solo homer for the Cubbies.
MLB-DIAMONDBACKS-GIBSON
Arizona fires Gibson
PHOENIX (AP) β The Diamondbacks have fired manager Kirk Gibson three years after he won the NL’s manager of the year award for leading Arizona to the playoffs.
Arizona is assured of at least a tie for the worst record in the majors this season, having lost 96 games entering the final series of the year.
The move comes as the Diamondbacks front office restructures under chief baseball officer Tony La Russa following a third disappointing season in a row. Arizona went 81-81 in 2013 and 2012. Former major league pitcher Dave Stewart was hired Thursday as the team’s new general manager.
MLB-WHITE SOX/KONERKO
Konerko to have jersey No. retired
CHICAGO (AP) β Chicago White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf says the team will retire Paul Konerko’s No. 14 and indicates they will erect a statue of the slugger at some point.
The White Sox haven’t officially announced when they will retire Konerko’s number. They do have a space between Luis Aparicio’s 11 and Ted Lyons’ 16 on the facade of the upper deck behind home plate.
MLB-ABREU
Abreu to retire after this weekend
NEW YORK (AP) β New York Mets pinch-hitter and backup outfielder Bobby Abreu (ah-BRAY’-oo) plans to retire after Sunday’s regular-season finale against Houston.
The 40-year-old Abreu was out of the majors last season and cut by the Phillies last March before joining the Mets. The two-time All-Star has a .291 career batting average with 288 home runs, 1,363 RBIs and 400 stolen bases.
TENNIS-SHENZHEN OPEN
Murray beats Monaco to reach Shenzhen Open final
SHENZHEN, China (AP) β Second-seeded Andy Murray rallied from a set down to beat Juan Monaco of Argentina 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 Saturday and reach the final of the Shenzhen Open.
From 3-3 in the second set, Murray won nine straight games to beat Monaco in 1 hour, 42 minutes and set up a meeting with fourth-seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain in Sunday’s final.
Robredo overpowered sixth-seeded Santiago Giraldo of Colombia 6-1, 6-4.
In the third set, Murray dropped just four points on serve and converted all three of his break points. In Sunday’s final, he will be bidding for his first title since his Wimbledon triumph in July 2013.
Robredo hit 10 aces and converted four of his seven break points to beat Giraldo in 70 minutes.
TENNIS-MALAYSIAN OPEN
Nishikori, Benneteau reach Malaysian Open final
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) β Top-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan beat Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 to reach the final of the Malaysian Open on Saturday.
Playing in his first tournament since reaching the U.S. Open final, Nishikori converted six of his 13 break points and fired eight aces to defeat Nieminen in 1 hour, 37 minutes.
Nishikori will face fourth-seeded Julien Benneteau of France in Sunday’s final. Benneteau beat second-seeded Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-4, 6-4.
Benneteau, who has a 0-9 record in ATP World Tour finals, will contest the title match at the Malaysian Open for the third straight year.
Nishikori has a 5-4 record in tour-level finals and is attempting to add to victories earlier this year in Memphis and Barcelona. He has a 2-1 lead over Benneteau in head-to-heads.
SOFTBALL BUS CRASH
College softball bus crashes in Oklahoma, 4 dead
DAVIS, Okla. (AP) β Oklahoma Highway Patrol officials say four members of a college women’s softball team have been killed and at least 15 others injured after a North Central Texas College bus collided with a semi-truck.
Capt. Ronnie Hampton says the collision happened about 9 p.m. on Interstate 35, south of Turner Falls.
Hampton says three women died at the scene and another died at a hospital. It’s not immediately known how many people were on the bus.
Posts on the North Central Texas College Facebook page requests prayers and say the school will release a statement later Saturday.
Southern Nazarene University sports information director David Noblett tells The Oklahoman that North Central was scrimmaging SNU earlier Friday
Authorities say the bus was returning to Gainseville, Texas. The crash remains under investigation.
NBA-CELTICS/RONDO
Rondo injured in fall at home
BOSTON (AP) β Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo (RAH’-zhahn RAHN’-doh) is injured once again.
He’s expected to miss six to eight weeks after undergoing surgery for a broken finger on his left hand. The team says Rondo was injured in a fall at his home on Thursday.
The four-time All-Star has appeared in just 68 of 164 games the last two seasons.
NBA-HEAT-DENG
Deng forgives Ferry
MIAMI (AP) β Miami’s Luol Deng (LOO’-ul dehng) says that he forgives Atlanta Hawks general manager Danny Ferry for making racially charged remarks about him, and hopes the two will work together to draw some sort of positive solution to the matter. Deng says he spoke with Ferry and believes he’s sorry for the remarks. Deng doesn’t believe that Ferry is a racist.
While the Hawks were considering pursuing Deng during his free agency, Ferry repeated comments about him that were made in a scouting report.
Ferry is taking an indefinite leave from the Hawks.
NBA-HORNETS-TAYLOR
Court date set for Taylor domestic assault charges
UNDATED (AP) β The Hornets have announced Jeffery Taylor will not be participating in any team-related activities while the NBA investigates the third-year forward’s arrest in Michigan on domestic assault charges.
East Lansing Police say the 25-year-old Taylor has been charged with one count of domestic assault, one count of assault and one count of malicious destruction of property. According the police, officers responded to an incident at the East Lansing Marriott at University Place around 1 a.m. Thursday.
Taylor has a pre-trial court date set for Oct. 8.
NASCAR-STEWART
Stewart: Ward’s death an accident
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (AP) β Tony Stewart says the crash that killed 20-year-old Kevin Ward Jr. on a dirt track in upstate New York was “100 percent” an accident.
Stewart spoke to The Associated Press from his home in Huntersville, North Carolina, in his first interview since a grand jury decided against charging the NASCAR star in Ward’s death. Stewart could still face a civil lawsuit.
Stewart says during his three-week hiatus from racing after the crash, he stayed in seclusion at his other home in Indiana and didn’t want to get out of bed or even leave his room. He asked for professional help to deal with his grief.
Stewart also says he doubts he’ll drive in sprint car races anytime soon, if at all.
NASCAR-DOVER
Harvick is pole-sitter
DOVER, Del. (AP) β Kevin Harvick has won the pole for Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Dover International Speedway, the first elimination event in the season-ending Chase for the Championship.
Harvick turned a lap at 162.933 mph in capturing his third straight Sprint Cup pole and seventh of the season. Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch and Aric Almirola are at risk of getting eliminated from title contention Sunday.
Harvick topped the Chase drivers who took the top four spots and six of 10. Kyle Busch starts second, followed by Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski.
COLLEGE ATHLETICS-CAL/GRADUATION RATES
Cal to boost academic requirements for athletes
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) β California is raising the academic requirements of incoming student-athletes as part of an effort to improve graduation rates for football players and other athletes. Chancellor Nicholas Dirks accepted the more than 50 recommendations made by a 20-member task force he put together last year in response to low graduation rates in football, men’s basketball and six other sports. The task force was formed after reports that Cal’s 44 percent graduation rate for football players who entered school from 2003-06 was the lowest of any major conference team, and that the 38 percent rate in men’s basketball was fourth worst.
