Twins proving hard to eliminate
OAKLAND, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Having survived baseball's attempt to remove them from the sport, the Minnesota Twins survived Oakland's comeback attempt in the ninth inning Sunday and produced another magical achievement by reaching the American League Championship Series with a 5-4 victory over the Athletics.
A two-run homer by A.J. Pierzynski in the top of the ninth inning and an RBI double from David Ortiz gave Minnesota a 5-1 advantage going into the bottom half of the inning, insurance runs that turned out to be vital in the fifth and deciding game of the AL Division Series.
Oakland then produced three runs of its own, all of them coming on a homer by Mark Ellis, and had the winning run at the plate in the form of Ray Durham. But Eddie Guardado, with the playoff lives of his team riding on each pitch, enduced Durham to pop up on a 3-2 count and second baseman Denny Hocking caught the ball in foul territory to make the Twins a winner.
Minnesota, which already had pulled off a major upset by capturing the AL Central title, will host the opening game of the ALCS Tuesday night against the equally surprising Anaheim Angels. Anaheim eliminated the New York Yankees Saturday.
The Twins will play for the right to go to the World Series after being a target for contraction during the offseason. Lawsuits filed in the Twins' behalf prevented the franchise from being eliminated and the possibility of contraction was then removed as part of a new bargaining agreement that saved all of baseball in August.
Oakland won 20 consecutive games during the regular season and was a heavy favorite going into the best-of-five series. Instead of advancing, however, the Athletics became the first team in history to lose a deciding series game three straight years. Oakland was eliminated in a deciding series game by the Yankees each of the past two seasons.
Giants force Game 5
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Livan Hernandez remained unbeaten in the postseason with 8 1/3 quality innings Sunday night and Rich Aurilia homered and drove in four runs as the San Francisco Giants defeated the Atlanta Braves, 8-3, and force a decisive Game 5 in their National League Division Series.
Hernandez ran his lifetime postseason record to 6-0. After holding the Braves hitless through four innings, he surrendered three runs and eight hits, walking two and striking out six.
While with the Florida Marlins in 1997, Hernandez was named Most Valuable Player of the NL Championship Series against Atlanta. In that series, he took advantage of a generous strike zone to beat the Braves twice, allowing a run and five hits in 10 2/3 innings.
Five years later, with nowhere near the fastball he possessed in that series, Hernandez made all the key pitches. Staked to an early 8-0 lead, he gave San Francisco innings and never let Atlanta back in the game.
While Hernandez was adding to his stellar playoff resume, Braves starter Tom Glavine had yet another rough playoff outing. Glavine, who was pounded in Game 1, came back on three days rest and allowed seven runs and seven hits in 2 2/3 innings.
The teams head back to Atlanta for Game 5 Monday night. The Braves will send Kevin Millwood, who won Game 2, to the mound while the Giants counter with Game 1 winner Russ Ortiz.
Raiders only unbeaten team left
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y., Oct. 7 (UPI) -- If defense still wins championships, the Oakland Raiders may eventually find themselves in trouble.
For the time being, however, Oakland's offense has been enough to win all of its regular-season games. Sporting the No. 1 offense in the NFL, the Raiders became the league's only remaining unbeaten team Sunday with a 49-31 victory over the Buffalo Bills.
A new quarterback did Washington quite a bit of good Sunday, Deuce McAllister helped give New Orleans another win and Miami managed a victory even though Ricky Williams was held in check.
Philadelphia found it was not quite as dominating as it thought it was, St. Louis remained winless and San Diego tasted defeat for the first time this season.
When the Denver Broncos finished off an impressive 26-9 victory over San Diego, it left the Raiders as the only team in the league with an unblemished record.
Earlier in the day, Rich Gannon threw three touchdown passes and ran for another in Oakland's triumph over Buffalo. In addition, rookie cornerback Phillip Buchanon returned an interception 81 yards for a score in helping Oakland win another high-scoring contest.
The Oakland-Buffalo game was the ninth in the NFL this year to produce at least 70 points. There were only four such games in all of 2001.
Buffalo's Drew Bledsoe came into the game as the league's leading passer and he threw for 417 yards and two touchdowns against the Raiders.
Gannon completed 23 of 38 passes for 357 yards while Charlie Garner, who ran for a 36-yard touchdown and caught a 69-yard scoring pass, gained a combined 177 yards.
In the NFC, meanwhile, the Washington Redskins demonstrated that they are back and the New Orleans Saints showed they never went away.
With Washington looking for a quarterback, first-round draft choice Patrick Ramsey passed for two touchdowns in his NFL debut as Redskins rolled to a 31-14 victory over the struggling Tennessee Titans.
Washington Coach Steve Spurrier watched Shane Matthews struggle in the first three games before naming Danny Wuerffel the starter for this game. But Wuerffel lasted just one possession and left with a sprained right shoulder, turning things over to Ramsey, the 32nd pick in April's draft who held out through most of training camp.
Ramsey completed 20 of 34 passes for 268 yards, including touchdown passes of 19 yards to Rod Gardner and 23 yards to Kevin Lockett. Washington rolled up 441 total yards and 26 first downs.
New Orleans was coming off its first loss of the year, but got back on track when McAllister ran for 123 yards and two touchdowns in a 32-29 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Saints' victory came despite a 268-yard, three-touchdown performance by Pittsburgh quarterback Tommy Maddox -- who was given the start by Coach Bill Cowher over Kordell Stewart.
Other NFL results: Miami 26, New England 13; Denver 26, San Diego 9; New York Giants 21, Dallas 17; Arizona 16, Carolina 13; Jacksonville 28, Philadelphia 25; San Francisco 37, St. Louis 13; Kansas City 29, New York Jets 25; Tampa Bay 20, Atlanta 6; Indianapolis 28, Cincinnati 21; Baltimore 26, Cleveland 21.
Howell wins first tour event
WILLIAMSBURG, Va., Oct. 7 (UPI) -- There was a first-time winner on the PGA Tour Sunday, but the champions on the LPGA and Senior Tours were quite used to receiving trophies.
Charles Howell III claimed his first PGA Tour win, holding off Brandt Jobe at the Michelob Championship. The tour's reigning Rookie of the Year, Howell erased a three-stroke deficit with a 4-under-par 67. The low round of the day at Kingsmill Golf Club left the wiry, 23-year-old at 14-under 270.
Howell, who won the individual NCAA championship at Oklahoma State in 2000, had finished in the top 10 just once in his previous 23 starts. His best finish on the tour was a runner-up showing at Milwaukee last season.
Also seeking his first PGA Tour victory, Jobe bogeyed two of the last three holes for a 1-over 72. He began the day with the lead but settled for his first career runner-up effort, tying Scott Hoch at 12-under 272.
In Kahuku, Hawaii, Hale Irwin enjoyed a profitable afternoon by clinching the $1 million Charles Schwab Cup bonus with his third straight win at the Turtle Bay Championship. Irwin needed to finish no worse than fifth and have Bob Gilder place outside the top 10 to win the second-ever Charles Schwab Cup annuity. He got both.
The all-time winningest player in Senior PGA Tour history, Irwin sank a 12-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to defeat Gary McCord at The Links at Turtle Bay Resort.
And in Vallejo, Calif., Annika Sorenstam became the first LPGA Tour member in 24 years to win nine titles in a season, claiming the Samsung World Championship with a typically spectacular performance.
Three days shy of her 32nd birthday, Sorenstam carded a bogey-free 7-under-par 65 for a six-stroke victory over Cristie Kerr. Her four-round total of 22-under 266 was the best on tour in relation to par this season.
Women's soccer team wins big
CARY, N.C., Oct. 7 (UPI) -- The American women's national soccer team kept its undefeated record intact at the U.S. Cup Sunday, defeating Italy, 4-0.
Kristine Lilly, Heather O'Reilly, Joy Fawcett and Brandi Chastain scored for the Americans, who won their eighth U.S. Cup in as many tries. They have gone 24
0 in the tournament, outscoring opponents, 112-10.
Lilly opened the scoring in the 66th minute, heading Julie Foudy's feed off Mia Hamm's corner kick into the middle of the net.
Earnhardt keeps Talladega streak alive
TALLADAGA, Ala., Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. reasserted his dominance on restrictor-plate race tracks Sunday, winning the EA Sports 500 for his third straight victory at Talladega Superspeedway.
Earnhardt was able to lead the final 38 laps of the NASCAR Winston Cup race to finish 0.118 seconds ahead of Tony Stewart in front of an estimated crowd of 200,000. Ricky Rudd was third, followed by Kurt Busch and Jeff Green.
It turned out to be a race that was not about determining who had the fastest car, but who had the most fuel in his tank on the last lap. The top-five drivers were able to stretch their fuel to the end, but nobody could pass Earnhardt's Chevrolet.
Stewart was not unhappy with the second-place finish. He took over the lead in the Winston Cup standings by 72 points with six races remaining.
Earnhardt won the race at an average speed of 183.671 miles per hour.
If NASCAR's intention in switching to a smaller fuel cell was meant to make the racing safer, it may have proven its point in an event that went flag-to-flag without a caution period.
However, the 13-gallon fuel tank that nearly doubled the amount of pit stops did not necessarily accomplish its goal of breaking up the field into several packs of cars rather than one big pack running nose-to-tail, side-by-side.
After each pit stop, the smaller groups of cars were able to reform into one big pack about three or four laps after the last cars pitted during the sequence. It was by sheer circumstance that the racers were able to avoid any incidents during the race.
Da Matta wins CART title
MIAMI, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Cristiano da Matta of Brazil captured the CART championship Sunday with a victory in the inaugural Grand Prix of Americas at the Bayfront Park street course.
Da Matta finished ahead of Newman/Haas Racing teammate and fellow Brazilian Christian Fittipaldi to notch his seventh win of the season. He also earned a $1 million bonus for the series championship, the fourth in team history.
The 29-year-old Da Matta, who started sixth in his Toyota/Lola, was mobbed by his team after crossing the finish line at the end of the 105-lap race.
Da Matta also received congratulations from his nearest title competitors, Bruno Junqueira of Brazil, who finished fifth, and Scotland's Dario Franchitti, and hugs from team owners Carl Haas and actor Paul Newman.
Underdogs win in Moscow
MOSCOW, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Underdogs Paul-Henri Mathieu and Magdalena Maleeva needed to rally Sunday to become surprise Kremlin Cup champions.
Mathieu upended No. 7 Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0, and Maleeva knocked off third-seeded Lindsay Davenport of the United States, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), in the finals of the $2.2 million indoor event.
The 20-year-old Mathieu became the first qualifier to triumph on the ATP this year. He upset top seed Marat Safin of Russia on Saturday to reach his first career semifinal.
Florida tumbles in coaches poll
ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Miami remained No. 1 Sunday while Florida tumbled eight spots in the latest college football coaches poll.
Miami (5-0) earned 60 of a possible 61 first-place votes and 1,524 points overall in the nationwide poll. The Hurricanes routed Connecticut, 48-14, Saturday to extend the nation's longest winning streak to 27 games.
Ranked eighth last week, Florida (4-2) fell to Mississippi, 17-14, ending any chances of winning a national title in its first season under coach Ron Zook. The Gators slipped to 16th in the poll.
The rest of the top eight remained the same.
Texas (5-0) picked up one first-place nod and 1,423 total points, but stayed at No. 2. The Longhorns edged Oklahoma State, 17-14, Saturday and will take on No. 3 Oklahoma next week.
Virginia Tech (5-0), Ohio State (6-0), Georgia (5-0) and Oregon (5-0) sit in spots four through seven while Notre Dame (5-0) and Tennessee (4-1) move up one place each to eighth and ninth, respectively.
Michigan (4-1) is ranked 10th, followed by North Carolina State (6-0), Florida State (5-1), Washington State (5-1), Iowa State (5-1) and LSU (4-1).
New England, Columbus tie in Game 1
FOXBORO, Mass., Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Adin Brown made seven saves Sunday as the shorthanded New England Revolution held on for a 0-0 tie with the Columbus Crew in the opener of their MLS Cup semifinal series.
The result left the series deadlocked at one point apiece and that ensured a decisive Game 3 on Saturday at Gillette Stadium. The first team to five points will earn a berth in the championship game.
Columbus hosts Game 2 Wednesday night.
