Diamondbacks force Game 7
PHOENIX, Ariz., Nov. 4 (UPI) -- The Arizona Diamondbacks put a huge dent in the New York mystique Saturday night with a record avalanche of 22 hits, seven of them coming from Tony Womack and Danny Bautista in the first four innings, leading to a 15-2 crushing of the Yankees and forcing a seventh and final game in the World Series.
After giving away the lead in back-to-back bizarre games at Yankee Stadium, the Diamondbacks put on one of the most overwheling offensive displays in the history of baseball's premier event.
With the World Series deadlocked at three games each, Arizona and New York will play for the championship Sunday night. Curt Schilling, who has allowed the Yankees two runs over 14 innings during the Series, will face them again in Game 7.
"If we score more runs than they do tonight," Schilling said before the start of the sixth game, "and I get the ball in Game 7, then we will win the World Series. I believe that with all my heart."
Schilling, who complained of a slightly sore shoulder following his appearance in Game 4, will pitch on three day's rest for the second time in the Series after having never done so before in his career. He will be faced on the final night of the longest season in baseball history by Roger Clemens.
The Yankees came to Arizona riding the momentum created by consecutive ninth-inning, two-out rallies that led to extra-inning victories, the first time that has ever happened in a World Series.
Arizona, hoping to change that momentum, turned to lefthanded superstar Randy Johnson and he did the job. New York's Andy Pettitte, however, did not.
Pettitte gave up seven hits and six runs in two plus innings, after which reliever Jay Witasick was left in to absorb a 10-hit, nine-run pounding while retiring just four batters.
An eight-run third inning turned out to be the third biggest in World Series history. Johnson coasted through seven innings, allowing six hits and two runs while striking out seven.
"You have to tip your hat to our hitters," Johnson said. "They made it easy for me."
Johnson left open the possibility that he might be available Sunday night if his team needed him to record a key out.
"I came out after seven innings tonight," he said. "Let's leave it at that. Let's just say it's possible."
Johnson also said he did not want to make the same kind of prediction Schilling made.
"I'm not that bold," he said. "We're playing the world champions. But I like the fact that we will be playing in front of our home crowd."
At one stage in Saturday night's game, Arizona had a 15-run lead -- the largest ever in a World Series contest.
Top teams coast in college football
MIAMI, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- The teams at the top protected their rankings in college football Saturday, a state of affairs highlighted by some one-sided triumphs.
No. 1 Miami led the way with a 38-0 Big East victory over Temple. Ken Dorsey threw his 49th and 50th career touchdown passes to establish a school record.
Dorsey moved past Vinny Testaverde and Steve Walsh in the school's record book with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Beard 6:33 into the contest.
Four minutes into the second half, Dorsey built on the record by finding Andre Johnson with an 11-yard pass, giving the Hurricanes a 21-0 advantage.
The rest of the top-ranked teams also had an easy time Saturday.
Second-ranked Nebraska, which is on top in the Bowl Championship Series, whipped Kansas, 51-7; No. 3 Florida crushed Vanderbilt, 71-13; No. 4 Oklahoma bounced back from its loss to Nebraska by blanking Tulsa, 58-0; and No. 5 Texas waltzed past Baylor, 49-10.
The day's biggest upset came when Michigan State scored on the final play to down sixth-ranked Michigan, 49-10.
In key Pac-10 struggles, Washington bested Stanford, 42-28, and Washington State fought off UCLA, 20-14.
One of the top games of the day, however, took place in Oxford, Miss., where Arkansas won a wild 58-56 decision over Mississippi. The game involved seven overtimes, the most in NCAA history.
Steelers seeking to replace Baltimore
PITTSBURGH, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- The Pittsburgh Steelers will try to confirm a changing of the guard today when they host the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens in the highlight attraction on the NFL schedule.
Baltimore marched to the league title last year thanks to the best defense in pro football.
This year, the Steelers are ranked No. 1 in total defense and also have the lead in the AFC Central as they entertain the Ravens in a key division matchup.
A win for Pittsburgh would put the Steelers 2 1/2 games ahead of the Ravens in the division standings.
Also on the schedule today is a contest that did not look all that promising before the season but now has become one of the most interesting of the season.
The Chicago Bears, leaders of the NFC Central at 5-1, will be at home against the Cleveland Browns, who are battling Pittsburgh for the AFC Central lead.
The game took on such interest that the NFL moved it from a 1 p.m. EST start to a 4:15 kickoff so that it could be the featured contest in the double header television package.
Also on the schedule today, Carolina will be at Miami, Dallas travels to the New York Giants, Detroit will be in San Francisco, Indianapolis goes to Buffalo, Tennessee hosts Jacksonville, San Diego entertains Kansas City, Atlanta will be at home to New England, Philadelphia plays in Arizona, Washington looks for two in a row at home against Seattle, Tampa Bay plays at Green Bay and New Orleans hosts the New York Jets in an evening encounter.
Bulls win first of the season
CHICAGO, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Greg Anthony scored 17 points and hit a crucial three-pointer with 1:40 remaining Saturday night to bring the Chicago Bulls their first victory of the season, a surprising 84-79 decision over the York Knicks.
The Bulls won just 15 games last season and began rebuilding again in the offseason, acquiring teen-age 7-footers Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler on draft day. To help bring along their young players, the Bulls also acquired Anthony, an 11-year veteran.
Anthony's three-pointer snapped a tie and gave the Bulls a 79-76 lead. Marcus Fizer had a steal and dunk to give Chicago a five-point edge with 1:22 left and New York got no closer than three points thereafter.
Ron Mercer scored 14 of his 17 points in the first half for the Bulls (1-2), who started 1-13 last season.
Other NBA results: Washington 90, Philadelphia 76; Atlanta 90, Miami 83; New Jersey 95, Charlotte 85; Orlando 99, Cleveland 69; Minnesota 90, Houston 88; Milwaukee 105, Boston 99; Sacramento 106, Denver 94; Utah 91, Seattle 74; San Antonio 106, Portland 90.
Maple Leafs drop Avalanche below .500
TORONTO, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Alexander Mogilny scored the go-ahead goal with 12:47 remaining and Darcy Tucker and Mats Sundin tallied in the final minute Saturday night to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 4-1 victory over Colorado that knocked the Avalanche below the .500 mark.
A high-priced free-agent acquisition, Mogilny had four goals in his first three games with Toronto. But he had not scored since Oct. 8, a span of 10 games.
Just over seven minutes into the third period, Mogilny took a pass from Shayne Corson and motored down the right side into the Colorado zone. When he reached the top of the faceoff circle, he deked around defenseman Martin Skoula and ripped a shot from the top of the slot that beat goaltender David Aebischer.
Moments after he was bloodied by a hit by Shjon Podein, Tucker scored into an empty net with 36 seconds left. Off the ensuing faceoff, Sundin powered a shot from the right faceoff dot past Aebischer for his sixth goal.
Other NHL results: Boston 2, New Jersey 1; Los Angeles 4, Atlanta 1; Calgary 6, Montreal 2; Ottawa 3, Buffalo 0; New York Islanders 2, Philadelphia 1; New York Rangers 5, Florida 3; Pittsburgh 2, Tampa Bay 1 in overtime; Nashville 4, Dallas 1; St. Louis 4, Washington 1; San Jose 5, Vancouver 1.
New York Marathon set for today
NEW YORK, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- The New York City Marathon will take place today with heavy hearts not caused by just the 26.2-mile run.
While the course does not go through lower Manhattan -- the race starts on the Verrazano Bridge in Staten Island and winds through Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx before ending at Tavern on the Green in Central Park -- the World Trade Center and terrorism will not be far from the minds of the participants.
As in past years, the favorites on the men's side are from Kenya and the world's elite marathoners are no strangers to the terror that struck New York City on Sept. 11. That list includes 1999 winner Joseph Chebet.
Chebet is dedicating this year's race to a close friend, Vincent Kimutai, who was killed in 1998 while in a building next to the United States embassy in Nairobi when it was bombed by members of Osama bin Laden's Al Queda group.
Security is expected to be extremely tight for the race, which begins just before 11 a.m. EST and will include over 30,000 runners on what is expected to be a cool but clear day with temperatures in the mid-50s.
Scott Verplank leads Tour Championship
HOUSTON, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Scott Verplank maintained a one-shot lead Saturday atop a crowded leaderboard after the third round of the $5 million Tour Championship.
Tiger Woods, who began the week with back problems and has been unable to mount a charge, shot a 2-under 69 and will start the final round six shots off the pace.
Verplank shot a 3-under 68 on another day of low scoring at the Champions Golf Club to reach 13-under 200. Verplank bogeyed the par-4 18th to have his advantage trimmed to one shot over David Duval -- the British Open champion who stormed into contention with a 63.
Duval eagled the par-5 fifth, bogeyed the sixth and then birdied seven of the next 10 holes.
Duval was one stroke better than a six-player logjam at 202 that included South Africa's Ernie Els, Bob Estes and Kenny Perry, all of whom shot 65.
Bernhard Langer of Germany (69), Mike Weir (68) and Sergio Garcia of Spain (66) also were two shots off the pace.
Davenport becomes No. 1
MUNICH, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Lindsay Davenport moved to the top of the tennis world Saturday by rallying past Kim Clijsters in three sets to advance to Sunday's final at the season-ending $3 million Sanex Championships.
Davenport outlasted Clijsters, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) to overtake fellow American Jennifer Capriati for the world No. 1 ranking in women's tennis.
The second seed, Davenport is seeking her fourth straight title and has a 15-match winning streak.
In today's final, Davenport will seventh-seeded Serena Williams, who crushed unseeded Sandrine Testud of France, 6-3, 6-0.
Davenport also finished with the top ranking in 1998 and joined four other players who have twice been No. 1 for the year.
Khorkina adds two gymnastic gold medals
GHENT, Belgium, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- All-around women's champion Svetlana Khorkina of Russia and Jordan Jovtchev of Bulgaria both won two gold medals Saturday night on the first of two evenings of apparatus finals at the World Gymnastics Championships.
Khorkina captured both of the women's events contested -- the balance beam and uneven bars -- while Jovtchev won the floor exercise and rings.
Khorkina demonstrated two extremely difficult vaults with good landings for a total score of 9.412. Oxana Tchusovitina of Uzbekistan won the silver with 9.349 and Andreea Raducan of Romania captured the bronze with 9.243. Tchusovitina, 26, won the silver medal at the world championships 10 years ago.
On the uneven bars, Khorkina won her second straight world title and backed up the gold medal she won in the event at the 2000 Olympics.
She scored 9.437, edging Renske Endel of the Netherlands (9.425). Katie Heenan of the United States won the night's only medal for an American, capturing the bronze with 9.212.
