Morning Briefing Sept. 26, 2010
Jim Furyk ended a demanding round with an even-par 70 in the Tour Championship. It was just enough to give him a one-shot lead Saturday, and not nearly enough to allow him to think ahead to a possible $10 million payoff.
There were simply too many players right behind, too many possibilities going into the final round of the PGA’s FedEx Cup.
Furyk scrambled for two good bogeys on the back nine and two consecutive birdies late on another steamy day at East Lake in Atlanta to build a one-shot lead over Retief Goosen and Luke Donald going into the final round today.
n Russ Cochran shot a 5-under 67 in the SAS Championship to increase his lead to four strokes, the largest 36-hole margin the history of the Champions Tour’s event at Cary, N.C.
American League
Blue Jays 5, Orioles 4, 11 inn.: Lyle Overbay homered in the 11th, leading Toronto past visiting Baltimore.
Indians 7, Royals 1: Shin-Soo Choo had four hits for Cleveland in a win over visiting Kansas City.
Rangers 4, Athletics 3: Texas clinched the AL West title and its first playoff berth in 11 years, winning at Oakland on Jorge Cantu’s tiebreaking home run in the eighth.
Tigers 11, Twins 10, 13 inn.: Brandon Inge’s RBI single in the 11th lifted host Detroit past Minnesota.
Red Sox 7, Yankees 3: Jon Lester took a no-hit bid into the sixth, leading Boston at New York.
White Sox 6, Angels 2: At Anaheim, Calif., John Danks pitched eight impressive innings, leading Chicago past Los Angeles.
National League
Braves 5, Nationals 0: Alex Gonzalez hit a three-run homer, leading Atlanta at Washington.
Diamondbacks 5, Dodgers 2: At Phoenix, Cole Gillespie hit a three-run homer, leading Arizona past Los Angeles.
Rockies 10, Giants 9, 10 inn.: At Denver, Troy Tulowitzki’s RBI double in the 10th lifted Colorado past San Francisco.
Mets 5, Phillies 2: Lucas Duda hit a three-run double in the seventh and New York won at Philadelphia.
Cubs 7, Cardinals 3: Casey Coleman pitched seven effective innings and host Chicago beat St Louis.
Padres 4, Reds 3: Chris Denorfia’s RBI double in the ninth lifted San Diego past visiting Cincinnati.
Marlins 4, Brewers 0: Chris Volstad pitched into the seventh inning, leading Florida at Milwaukee.
Pirates 6, Astros 4: Pedro Alvarez hit a three-run homer and host Pittsburgh beat Houston.
Basketball
Diana Taurasi scored 15 points to help the United States beat France 81-60 at the women’s basketball world championship in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Both teams advanced to the second round, which begins Monday.
Football
The Seattle Seahawks and San Diego Chargers have been ridiculously inconsistent through two games. Or maybe ridiculously consistent.
Both have won in routs at home, lost in pedestrian (or worse) showings on the road.
That should favor host Seattle today (1 p.m., KREM, KVNI 1080, KXLY 920), but the Seahawks are vulnerable through the air. Chargers QB Philip Rivers has been rolling, with 15 straight games in which he’s thrown a touchdown pass. One of his key helpers, rookie RB Ryan Mathews, has been bothered by a high ankle sprain.
— The Associated Press