NFL-49ers/RAMS
Niners rally to beat Rams
ST. LOUIS (AP) β The St. Louis Rams got off to a strong start against the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night, but it wasn’t strong enough.
The Niners stormed back from an early 14-0 deficit and beat the Rams 31-17 in St. Louis as Colin Kaepernick (KAP’-ur-nik) passed for 343 yards and three touchdowns. Brandon Lloyd, Anquan Boldin and Michael Crabtree each caught a scoring pass for the 4-2 49ers, who have won three in a row.
Austin Davis tossed a 22-yard pass to Lance Kendricks to give the Rams a 14-point lead in the first quarter. But Ahmad Brooks and Dan Skuta had two sacks apiece for a defense that sacked Davis five times and permitted one first down on St. Louis’ first six possessions of the second half. The defense also clinched the victory on Dontae Johnson’s 20-yard interception return for a touchdown in the final minute.
The 1-4 Rams had just 158 total yards after going up 14-0.
NFL-NEWS
Injured Cruz returns to NYC…Pats’ Mayo and Ridley out for Thursday night
UNDATED (AP) β Giants receiver Victor Cruz has been transferred to a New York City hospital after spending a night in Philadelphia following a major knee injury.
Cruz tore the patellar tendon in his right knee in third quarter in the Giants’ loss to the Eagles on Sunday night. The injury is expected to end his season.
Elsewhere:
β The New England Patriots have declared middle linebacker Jerod Mayo and running back Stevan Ridley out of their next game with right knee injuries. The Patriots are at home against the New York Jets on Thursday night.
β Browns Pro Bowl center Alex Mack will have surgery on his broken left leg and will likely miss the rest of the season. He was injured in Sunday’s win over Pittsburgh. Mack’s surgery is being scheduled and a timetable for his recovery will be determined after the operation.
β New York Jets starting cornerback Dee Milliner and left guard Brian Winters were placed on season-ending injured reserve Monday and will require surgery. Milliner tore his right Achilles tendon in Sunday’s loss to Denver, while Winters tore the ACL in his left knee.
β The Bills have given receiver Mike Williams permission to seek a trade. He was inactive for Sunday’s loss to New England after starting the four previous games. Buffalo acquired Williams in an off-season trade with Tampa Bay for a sixth-round draft pick.
MLB-ALCS
Game 3 rained out
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) β The major league playoffs took an unscheduled day off on Monday.
Nasty weather in Kansas City postponed Game 3 of the ALCS between the Royals and Orioles. The game is now scheduled for Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium.
Along with steady rain, wind gusts of 25 mph were buffeting the ballpark. The forecast for Tuesday is cold and windy but dry, with weather improving the rest of the week.
Kansas City leads the series 2-0 and has won all six of its playoff games after a 29-year postseason drought.
Wei-Yin Chen was scheduled to start Game 3 for the Orioles against former Baltimore pitcher Jeremy Guthrie. Chen is still slated to pitch Tuesday, but Royals manager Ned Yost says it’s possible he might bypass Guthrie and go with Game 1 starter James Shields. Such a move would allow Kansas City to use Shields in a potential Game 7.
MLB-NLCS
Giants, Cards tied up…Cards’ Molina iffy for Game 3
ST. LOUIS (AP) β San Francisco will be home to the next three games of the NLCS, after St. Louis evened the series at a game each with a dramatic ninth inning win in Game 2. Kolten Wong’s leadoff homer gave the Cardinals a 5-4 victory after the Giants tied the game with two outs in the top of the inning on a wild pitch.
Game 3 of the series is on tap Tuesday with John Lackey set to start for St. Louis against Tim Hudson. Lackey has posted wins in his last three playoff series. Hudson is coming off a one run, 7 1-3 inning-outing against Washington in Game 2 of the NLDS.
The Cardinals currently plan to keep catcher Yadier (YAH’-dee-ehr) Molina on their active roster for the series despite a strained left oblique muscle sustained in Game 2 on Sunday. He flew on the team charter to the Bay Area after leaving Busch Stadium for an MRI exam.
Manager Mike Matheny was encouraged Molina was able to throw Monday.
MLB-DIAMONDBACKS/HALE
Diamondbacks take Hale
PHOENIX (AP) β The Arizona Diamondbacks have named Chip Hale as their new manager and given him the task of improving a ball club that was a major league-worst 64-98 this season.
Hale spent 10 seasons in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ organization, the final three as the major league third base coach. He spent the last three years as Oakland’s third base coach after one year in that capacity with the New York Mets.
Hale replaces Kirk Gibson, who led Arizona to the 2011 NL West title in his first full season before three straight non-winning campaigns.
T25-GEORGIA/GURLEY
Gurley practices
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) β Georgia running back Todd Gurley continues to practice while remaining on indefinite suspension.
The school is investigating possible violations of NCAA rules committed by Gurley. He was held out of the Bulldogs’ 34-0 win at Missouri on Saturday, but he participated in Monday’s practice.
T25-FLORIDA STATE-WINSTON
Fisher: Winston in place to stay
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) β Coach Jimbo Fisher says Florida State’s Jameis (JAY’-mihs) Winston has committed no crime and is adamant the quarterback will not miss any games this season due to an ongoing sexual assault investigation.
Fisher says recent reports about the investigation haven’t revealed any new facts.
Florida State announced last week it will use an independent official in the student code of conduct hearing. No hearing date has been set.
A female student said Winston sexually assaulted her in December 2012. Florida State Attorney Willie Meggs declined to press charges against Winston last December due to inconsistencies and flaws in the evidence.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL-N.C. STATE SUSPENSIONS
Wolfpack suspends seven
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) β North Carolina State coach Dave Doeren has suspended seven players for this week’s game against Louisville for their involvement in a BB gun incident.
Doeren said the players were playing a game with the BB guns at an off-campus residence last week and mistakenly didn’t recognize someone could get hurt.
Among the suspended players is linebacker Jerod Fernandez who leads the team in tackles and starting safety Josh Jones.
NHL-SCHEDULE
Briere’s last-second goal gives Avs a win…Ducks thump Sabres
UNDATED (AP) β Daniel Briere (bree-EHR’) couldn’t have picked a better time to score his 300th NHL goal.
Briere scored off a rebound with four-tenths of a second left in Colorado’s 2-1 win at Boston. It was the first win of the season for the Avalanche, who opened with back-to-back losses to Minnesota and hadn’t scored a goal in their first 143 minutes until Jamie McGinn tallied 3:28 into the second period.
The Bruins have dropped three straight since a season-opening win against the Flyers.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
β Tampa Bay dealt Montreal its first loss as Steven Stamkos (TAM’-kohs) notched his eighth career hat trick in the Lightning’s 7-1 rout of the Canadiens. Victor Hedman had a goal and three assists for the Lightning.
β The Anaheim Ducks rolled to a 5-1 win at Buffalo as rookie William Karlsson notched his first two NHL goals and Ryan Kesler scored on a penalty shot. The Ducks outshot the Sabres 17-3 in the first period and 44-12 for the game.
β Craig Anderson earned his 27th career shutout by making 30 saves in Ottawa’s 1-0 triumph at Florida. Clarke MacArthur provided the only scoring with a power-play goal late in the second period.
BREEDERS CUP-WISE DAN
Breeders Cup Mile loses defending champ
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) β Two-time defending Breeders’ Cup Mile champion Wise Dan has withdrawn from this month’s race at Santa Anita because of an ankle injury.
Owner Morton Fink informed Breeders’ Cup officials that the reigning two-time horse of the year will not run after developing a non-displaced fracture in the right front fetlock.
The seven year old horse has won 23 of 31 career starts including all four this year.
PISTORIUS TRIAL
Psychologist: Pistorius a ‘broken man’
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) β Oscar Pistorius is a “broken man” after killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp because he lost her, his reputation, friends, income and sense of self-worth, according to a psychologist.
Dr. Lore Hartzenberg was called by the Olympic runner’s lawyers to testify ahead of Pistorius’ sentencing for culpable homicide. Her testimony was almost immediately characterized by the chief prosecutor as unbalanced.
The punishment for culpable homicide can range from a suspended sentence and a fine to as many as 15 years in prison. The judge found Pistorius not guilty last month of both premeditated murder and murder in the killing of Steenkamp.
