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NFL Roundup: Romo, Cowboys crush Saints

Written By Unknown on Senin, 29 September 2014 | 21.22

Tony Romo threw three touchdowns passes, two to Terrance Williams, and DeMarco Murray ran for a pair of scores in another 100-yard game and the Dallas Cowboys beat the New Orleans Saints 38-17 on Sunday night in North Texas.

The Cowboys kept Drew Brees and the Saints scoreless in the first half after giving up an NFL-record 40 first downs in a 49-17 blowout loss in New Orleans last year.

Brees led two scoring drives early in the fourth quarter to cut a 31-3 deficit in half before the Cowboys regained control.

Dallas reached 3-1 for the first time under coach Jason Garrett after also starting 2-1 the three previous seasons. The Cowboys are tied with Philadelphia for the NFC East lead.

CHICAGO — Aaron Rodgers threw for 302 yards and four touchdowns, and the Green Packers shook off one of their worst offensive performances in years with a 38-17 victory over the Chicago Bears.

The Packers (2-2) scored on their first six possessions to build a 38-17 lead. They racked up 358 yards after being held to 223, their lowest total since 2008, a week earlier in a 19-7 loss at Detroit.

They intercepted Jay Cutler twice in the third quarter to pull away from the Bears (2-2). That gave Green Bay five straight wins at Soldier Field, including the NFC title game four years ago and a playoffs-or-bust finale for both teams last season.

HOUSTON — J.J. Watt had another highlight-reel play to help the Houston Texans overcome a tough day offensively for a win over the Buffalo Bills.

Houston (3-1) was down by three in the third quarter and Ryan Fitzpatrick had just thrown a second interception when the 6-foot-5, 289-pound Watt returned an interception 80 yards to put the Texans up 14-10.

The defensive end caught a touchdown pass in Week 2, giving him more TDs this year than Arian Foster and Andre Johnson combined.

Under heavy pressure all afternoon, EJ Manuel finished with 225 yards passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions for the Bills (2-2). Buffalo was driving late when Darryl Morris picked him off at the Houston 15 to secure the victory.

INDIANAPOLIS — Andrew Luck threw four touchdown passes and Reggie Wayne scored for the first time this season as the Colts routed division rival Tennessee.

Indy (2-2) extended its league-leading streak of consecutive wins over division foes to nine.

Luck was 29 of 41 for a season-best 393 yards. Wayne had seven catches for a season-best 119 yards and scored on a spectacular spinning 28-yard catch.

Tennessee (1-3) has lost three straight since an impressive season-opening win over Kansas City, and this one wasn't even close.

Indy led 14-0 after one and made it 20-3 with two Adam Vinatieri field goals. Tennessee closed to 20-10 at halftime, but Luck's two third-quarter TD passes made it 34-10 and the Titans never challenged again.

BALTIMORE — Steve Smith punished his former team with seven catches for 139 yards and two touchdowns, and the Baltimore Ravens beat the Carolina Panthers.

Smith spent 13 seasons with Carolina before he was released in a cost-cutting move during the off-season. The 35-year-old receiver showed the Panthers he can still make the big play, scoring twice in the second quarter to help put Baltimore (3-1) in front 21-7 at halftime.

Joe Flacco went 22 of 31 for 327 yards and three touchdowns, the other a 24-yarder to Torrey Smith.

Carolina (2-2) has lost two straight, both in lopsided fashion against AFC North foes.

PITTSBURGH — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers went from woeful to winners in 10 days.

Mike Glennon hit a diving Vincent Jackson for a 5-yard touchdown with seven seconds remaining to lift Tampa Bay to a stunning win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Buccaneers (1-3) lost to Atlanta by six touchdowns a week ago but bounced back. Glennon passed for 302 yards in his first start of the season, including a 41-yard catch-and-run by Louis Murphy that set up Jackson's score.

Ben Roethlisberger passed for 314 yards and three touchdowns but Pittsburgh (2-2) couldn't protect a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter. Antonio Brown caught seven passes for 131 yards and two scores, and Heath Miller added a career-high nine grabs.

The Steelers committed 13 penalties for 125 yards.

LONDON, ENGLAND — Ryan Tannehill threw for 278 yards and two touchdowns, leading the Miami Dolphins to a victory over the Oakland Raiders.

Tannehill, who was in the middle of a storm all week because his coach declined to confirm him as this week's starter, took advantage of a depleted Oakland defence to snap a two-game losing streak for the Dolphins (2-2).

The Raiders (0-4) scored on their opening drive but struggled after that. And starting quarterback Derek Carr was injured in the third quarter, replaced by third-stringer Matt McGloin.

Tannehill threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Mike Wallace and an 18-yarder to Dion Sims. Lamar Miller rushed for two more TDs, and cornerback Cortland Finnegan ran back a fumble 50 yards for another.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Matthew Stafford threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score and the Detroit Lions overcame Calvin Johnson being limited by an ankle injury to beat the New York Jets.

Jeremy Ross and Eric Ebron caught scoring passes for the Lions, who are off to a 3-1 start for the second straight season. Stafford finished 24 of 34 for 293 yards.

Johnson, who was in and out of the game, was clearly impeded by his injured ankle. He had just two catches for 12 yards. Golden Tate had a big game, catching eight passes for 116 yards.

A struggling Geno Smith had two more turnovers as chants of "We Want Vick!" echoed throughout MetLife Stadium at times. The Jets, who made it close on Chris Johnson's 35-yard run with 6:58 left, fell to 1-3 for the first time in Rex Ryan's six seasons as coach.

SAN DIEGO — Philip Rivers threw for 377 yards and three touchdowns, two to Eddie Royal, and the San Diego Chargers turned back an early scare from Blake Bortles and the winless Jacksonville Jaguars.

Royal had scoring catches of 47 and 43 yards, his second straight two-touchdown game. The Chargers (3-1) extended their winning streak to three.

Passing because the Chargers' running game is nonexistent due to injuries to Ryan Mathews and Danny Woodhead, Rivers had his second three-touchdown game of the season. He went 29 of 39.

Royal had five catches for 105 yards. Keenan Allen had 10 for 135, both career highs, and Malcom Floyd had a 24-yard touchdown catch.

MINNEAPOLIS — Teddy Bridgewater passed for 317 yards and a key two-point conversion before leaving with an ankle injury, and the Minnesota Vikings beat the Atlanta Falcons.

The rookie was 19 for 30 with no turnovers and ran five times for 27 yards and a score in his first career start, but his last carry was costly. His left foot rolled underneath him as he was sandwiched by two tacklers at the one-yard line. Matt Asiata powered his way in on the next play for his third touchdown, and Bridgewater stayed in to zip a crisp pass to Rhett Ellison to push the lead to 35-28.

As Bridgewater was taken away on a cart for X-rays, Christian Ponder took over at quarterback for the Vikings (2-1). The Falcons (2-2) lost three starting offensive linemen to injuries and wound up sticking tight end Levine Toilolo at right tackle in the fourth quarter.

SANTA CLARA, CALIF. — Frank Gore caught a career-best 55-yard touchdown and ran for 119 yards in his first 100-yard game this year, leading the San Francisco 49ers past Philadelphia to hand the Eagles their first loss.

The 49ers delivered a late goal-line stand as they avoided their first three-game losing streak under fourth-year coach Jim Harbaugh, containing the league's top passer in Nick Foles. He threw two incomplete passes from the one in the waning moments.

On a day the 49ers (2-2) gave up big plays on special teams, Gore came through. Colin Kaepernick also threw a touchdown pass to Stevie Johnson and Phil Dawson kicked four field goals.

Darren Sproles had a career-best 82-yard punt return for a touchdown, Malcom Jenkins ran an interception 53 yards for a score for the Eagles (3-1). Brad Smith recovered a blocked punt for a TD.

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NFL Week 4 must-see moments

Video

Smith, Jones, Gore show off hands

By Doug Harrison, CBC Sports Posted: Sep 29, 2014 12:03 AM ET Last Updated: Sep 29, 2014 9:33 AM ET

Romo leads Cowboys to 3rd straight win 0:12

Rodgers' 4 TDs lift Packers to 1st win 0:09

Here are our must-see plays from Week 4 in the NFL:

We feature three outstanding catches from Sunday's action.

First, Steve Smith Sr. of the Baltimore Ravens burns his former team, hauling in seven passes for 139 yards.

Released by Carolina in the off-season after 13 years, Smith catches a tipped pass off the right hand of teammate Owen Daniels and scampers to the end zone to complete a 61-yard play.

It wasn't a memorable trip to London for the 0-4 Oakland Raiders, but James Jones did give fans something to cheer about, catching Miami cornerback Brent Grimes off guard with a hesitation move on the first play from scrimmage and making a one-handed, highlight-reel grab.

San Francisco 49ers running back had 25 touches against Philadelphia on Sunday but his one catch was a beauty. After quarterback Colin Kaepernick ran left and threw all the way back to his right, Gore eluded an Eagles defender and raced to the end zone for a 55-yard catch and run, the longest of his career.

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Europe defeats U.S. to retain Ryder Cup

Europe added another chapter of Ryder Cup dominance on Sunday in Gleneagles, Scotland behind Rory McIlroy, two big rallies and a rookie who hit the shot of his life to give this week a finish it deserved.

Jamie Donaldson, unaware he already had done enough to retain the Ryder Cup, hit a 9-iron that settled 2 feet from the cup on the 15th hole. Keegan Bradley walked onto the green, saw Donaldson's ball next to the hole, removed his cap and conceded the birdie.

And the celebration was on.

The result in the record book was Europe 16 ½, United States 11 ½. It's an old story for the Americans.

Europe won the Ryder Cup for the third straight time, and the eighth time in the last 10 tries.

"It came down to me to close it out, but it's all about the team," Donaldson said. "Everyone played their heart out to retain the Ryder Cup. And that's what it's all about."

"It came down to me to close it out," Donaldson said. "But it's all about the team."

That concept appeared lost on the Americans.

McIlroy played some of his best golf this year — even for a guy who won the last two majors — by trouncing Rickie Fowler to put the first point on the board. Donaldson finished off the Americans with a 9-iron that settled 18 inches from the cup on the 15th hole at Gleneagles and set off the celebration.

Not long after the closing ceremony, Phil Mickelson said the Americans have strayed from the winning formula at Valhalla in 2008 under Paul Azinger — their only victory in these matches dating to 1999. Even with U.S. captain Tom Watson sitting six seats away, Mickelson said that American team was invested in each other, which was different from Watson's style of doing it his way.

It was an awkward way to end another bad week for the Americans in the Ryder Cup.

Watson defended his philosophy, though he conceded he might have erred in using some players who were too tired, leading to a 10-6 deficit going into Sunday singles.

"The bottom line is they kicked our butts," Watson said. "They were better players this week."

Watson said he had a pit in his stomach watching the Americans blow a 10-6 lead two years ago at Medinah. The PGA of America brought him back as captain — at age 65, the oldest in Ryder Cup history — hopeful he could repeat some history. Watson was the last captain in 1993 to win on European soil.

It might not have mattered where this was played.

Graeme McDowell rallied from 3 down after five holes to close out his match against Jordan Spieth on the 17th hole. Justin Rose was 4 down after six holes when he won four straight holes with birdies against Hunter Mahan, and got up-and-down for birdie on the 18th to give Europe a half-point.

Rose went unbeaten for the week at 3-0-2.

That set the stage for Donaldson, a 38-year-old from Wales playing in his first Ryder Cup. He seized control over Keegan Bradley at the turn, and then it was a matter of when Europe could pop the champagne. Donaldson was so locked in on his task that he was unaware that he had retained the cup for Europe when he was 4 up with four holes to play. From 146 yards in fairway, he fired a 9-iron at the flag and let the club twirl through his hands.

It was close to perfect.

Watson walked over and shook his hand, and then put his arm around McGinley as they headed to the green. Bradley got onto the putting surface, and as soon as he saw Donaldson's ball next to the cup, he removed his cap and shook hands.

McGinley talked all week about a template of European success. The message was to embrace their role as the favorites, and to be proud that they had earned it. And the final instruction was to avoid complacency. Europe won the Sunday singles session for the second straight Ryder Cup.

"I didn't execute the plan. All these guys sitting at this table did," McGinley said with the 17-inch trophy on display. "I know how difficult it is to play in a Ryder Cup. I know when your heart is jumping out of your chest how incredibly excited and nervous you are. But we relish this challenge. We did it with a smile on our face, which is so important. And we did everybody proud."

The Americans had a few bright spots.

Patrick Reed went unbeaten as a rookie. Reed and Spieth had to settle for a half-point Saturday afternoon, in part because Reed missed a 2-foot putt. The gallery heckled him before he teed off against Henrik Stenson, and it inspired him. Reed rallied from an early deficit, putting his finger against his lips to hush the crowd, and he won the point on the 18th hole when Stenson missed a 4-foot putt. Reed went 3-0-1 and earned the most points for the Americans.

The three American rookies — Spieth, Reed and Jimmy Walker — contributed nearly half of the points for the U.S. team.

Going into the Ryder Cup, Watson had singled out Ian Poulter as the European with the best record and the man to beat. Poulter wound up playing only three matches and he didn't win any of them, settling for two halves.

It wasn't about Poulter, though. It was about Europe, a formidable team.

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Ryder Cup: Breaking down each day

Here is how each day broke down en route to Team Europe winning its third straight Ryder Cup:

Sunday

Singles
Europe 6 ½, United States 5 ½

Graeme McDowell, Europe, def. Jordan Spieth, United States, 2 and 1.
Patrick Reed, United States, def. Henrik Stenson, Europe, 1 up.
Rory McIlroy, Europe, def. Rickie Fowler, United States, 5 and 4.
Justin Rose, Europe, halved with Hunter Mahan, United States
Phil Mickelson, United States, def. Stephen Gallacher, Europe, 3 and 1.
Martin Kaymer, Europe, def. Bubba Watson, United States, 4 and 2.
Matt Kuchar, United States, def. Thomas Bjorn, Europe, 4 and 3.
Sergio Garcia, Europe, def. Jim Furyk, United States, 1 up.
Webb Simpson, United States, halved with Ian Poulter, Europe.
Jamie Donaldson, Europe, def. Keegan Bradley, United States, 4 and 3.
Jimmy Walker, United States, def. Lee Westwood, Europe, 3 and 2.
Zach Johnson, United States, halved with Victor Dubuisson, Europe.

Saturday

Fourballs
United States 2 ½, Europe 1 ½

Justin Rose & Henrik Stenson, Europe, def. Bubba Watson & Matt Kuchar, United States, 3 and 2.
Jim Furyk & Hunter Mahan, United States, def. Jamie Donaldson & Lee Westwood, Europe, 4 and 3.
Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth, United States, def. Thomas Bjorn and Martin Kaymer, Europe, 5 and 3.
Jimmy Walker and Rickie Fowler, United States, halved with Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter, Europe.

Foursomes
Europe 3 ½, United States ½

Jamie Donaldson & Lee Westwood, Europe, def. Zach Johnson & Matt Kuchar, United States, 2 and 1.
Sergio Garcia & Rory McIlroy, Europe, def. Jim Furyk & Hunter Mahan, United States, 3 and 2.
Jordan Spieth & Patrick Reed, United States, halved with Justin Rose & Martin Kaymer, Europe.
Victor Dubuisson & Graeme McDowell, Europe, def. Jimmy Walker & Rickie Fowler, United States, 5 and 4.

Friday

Fourballs
United States 2 ½, Europe 1 ½

Justin Rose & Henrik Stenson, Europe, def. Bubba Watson & Webb Simpson, United States, 5 and 4.

Rickie Fowler & Jimmy Walker, United States, halved with Thomas Bjorn & Martin Kaymer, Europe.

Jordan Spieth & Patrick Reed, United States, def. Stephen Gallacher & Ian Poulter, Europe, 5 and 4.

Keegan Bradley & Phil Mickelson, United States, def. Sergio Garcia & Rory McIlroy, Europe, 1 up.

Foursomes
Europe 3 ½, United States ½

Jamie Donaldson & Lee Westwood, Europe, def. Jim Furyk & Matt Kuchar, United States, 2 up.
Justin Rose & Henrik Stenson, Europe, def. Hunter Mahan & Zach Johnson, United States, 2 and 1.
Jimmy Walker and Rickie Fowler, United States, halved with Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia, Europe.
Victor Dubuisson & Graeme McDowell, Europe, def. Phil Mickelson & Keegan Bradley, United States, 3 and 2.

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Canadian Justin Morneau wins NL batting title

Justin Morneau played his first home game with the Colorado Rockies on April 4, a memorable 12-2 drubbing of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

After the game, the first baseman had his No. 33 jersey framed and sent to his good friend, fellow Canadian Larry Walker, who won the 1997 National League MVP award and three batting titles while playing for the Rockies.

Throughout the season, the picture hung on a wall in the living room of Walker's home in West Palm Beach, Fla. Each morning, it served as a reminder to check how Morneau performed at the plate the previous day.

That won't be necessary on Monday as Walker was fully aware what was at stake during Sunday's season finale in Los Angeles.

Morneau wasn't in the starting lineup for a second consecutive day but did enter the afternoon game in the eighth inning and grounded out as a pinch hitter. He ended the day with a .319 average and his first batting title in the major leagues.

"It hasn't sunk in yet," Morneau, who bested Pittsburgh's Josh Harrison (.315) and Pirates teammate Andrew McCutchen (.314), told reporters after a 10-5 Colorado loss. He's the third Canadian to win a batting title, joining Tip O'Neill, a two-time league leader in 1887 and '88, and Walker.

Morneau, 33, last played a full game on Friday when he homered against the Dodgers and went 2-for-3 to raise his average to .319. Harrison was at .318 after going 1-for-4 in Cincinnati.

On Saturday, Rockies manager Walt Weiss decided to sit Morneau in an effort to help secure the batting championship. Both he and Morneau faced harsh criticism for the player's absence for much of the weekend but Weiss, a former Colorado shortstop, stood firmly by his decision.

On Sunday morning, Houston Astros management told second baseman and American League batting leader Jose Altuve he would be held out of the lineup but reversed its decision before first pitch against the New York Mets. Altuve had two hits to win the title and finish the season with a .341 average.

"I think this is way better than just sitting on the bench," said Altuve. "If you want something, you've got to win it on the field."

Weiss added he was aware Pittsburgh might have had to play a tiebreaker Monday against St. Louis to decide the NL Central and statistics from that game would have counted, giving Harrison a chance to catch Morneau.

"The way I look at it," Weiss told reporters before Sunday's game, "the guy has experienced a career-threatening injury and if he's in a position to win a batting title, I'm going to try to make sure he does."

On July 7, 2010, Morneau suffered a concussion while playing for the Minnesota Twins when his head banged against the knee of then-Toronto Blue Jays second baseman John McDonald.

Concussions

Concussions and other injuries derailed Morneau's 2010 and 2011 campaigns and he struggled last season with Minnesota and Pittsburgh before signing a two-year, $12.5-million US deal, with a third-year option, in Colorado.

"He's a success story, he's bounced back," Walker, who "didn't think twice" about allowing Morneau to wear his No. 33 in Colorado this season, said in a phone interview with CBCSports.ca last week. Morneau played 152 games last season. "I think what he's gone through these last few years … it's been a pretty good year. I'm glad I told him to go to Colorado."

Morneau, who was the American League MVP in 2006, also hit 17 home runs and 32 doubles while driving in 82 runs in 135 games this season.

The native of New Westminster, B.C., is the seventh Rockies player to win the batting crown. Morneau gives Colorado its ninth batting title in 22 years and back-to-back champions after Michael Cuddyer hit .331 last season to lead the NL.

Here's a list of the Rockies batting champions:

1993: Andres Galarraga, .370
1998: Larry Walker, .363
1999: Larry Walker, .379
2000: Todd Helton, .372
2001: Larry Walker, .350
2007: Matt Holliday, .340
2010: Carlos Gonzalez, .336
2013: Michael Cuddyer, .331

Morneau's feat marked just the third time since 1876 that the NL has been led with an average below .320. In 1988, the late Tony Gwynn hit .313 for the San Diego Padres.

Morneau said he was most impressed with his consistency throughout the season. He hit over .300 in five of the season's six months, including .361 in September.

Morneau's 2014 monthly production

MONTH	AVG	OBP	HR	RBI
April	.347	.371	6	22
May	.269	.333	4	11
June	.327	.343	3	25
July	.315	.373	0	5
August	.301	.359	1	6
September	.361	.422	3	13

And no one can say playing half his games in the thin air at Coors Field in Colorado was a major factor in winning a batting crown as Morneau hit .327 at home and .309 on the road."Sometimes you get hot for a while and hit .450," he said, "but I think I was consistent all season and I focused and concentrated on that."

"The Coors [Field] thing is what it is," Walker said. "[The Rockies] are a major league ball team I got to play on and where [it plays] I can't control. And thank God I did good [there] because if I didn't play good with all the benefits that you have from playing there, I probably wouldn't be talking to you right now because I would have been a minor leaguer for life."

Morneau, on the other hand, will be a Rockie for at least one more season.

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Playoff contenders chase: Mariners stay alive

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 28 September 2014 | 21.22

Austin Jackson had a shot at redemption and made enough contact to keep the Seattle Mariners in the American League wild-card race.

The centre-fielder hit into a fielder's choice in the bottom of the 11th inning Saturday night against Los Angeles Angels relief pitcher Vinnie Pestano, beating a double-play relay that scored Brad Miller from third base with the decisive run in a 2-1 victory.

Seattle's win, coupled with Oakland's 5-4 loss to the Rangers in Texas, moved the Mariners to within one game of the Athletics for the second wild-card spot with one day left in the regular season.

Which team will secure the 2nd AL wild-card spot?

Seattle would force a one-game playoff at home on Monday should it defeat the Angels and Oakland loses in Texas on Sunday.

The Mariners will have ace pitcher Felix Hernandez on the mound for the 4:10 p.m. ET start in Anaheim, Calif.

The 14-game winner will be further motivated by the fact he has a chance to win the league's earned-run average title after Major League Baseball made a scoring tweak from his previous start that has lowered his ERA from 2.34 to 2.18. Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox leads the AL with a 2.17 ERA.

CLINCHED DIVISION: Orioles, Angels, Nationals, Dodgers
IN PLAYOFFS: Tigers, Cardinals, Pirates, Giants, Royals
WILD CARD HOLDERS: A's
STILL ALIVE: Seattle

Meanwhile, Jackson had a chance to end matters in the bottom of the ninth inning on Saturday but Angels reliever Jason Grilli got the former Detroit Tigers outfielder to line out to right field with the bases loaded.

In Texas, Oakland starter Jeff Samardzija allowed five runs, including two homers, in his seven innings of work.

The A's needed to win or have Seattle lose in order to clinch a playoff slot for the third straight year.

Samardzija, a trade deadline pickup from the Chicago Cubs, faced spot starter Scott Baker after Derek Holland was a late scratch with a migraine headache.

Neftali Felix, the Rangers' eighth pitcher of the evening, recorded his 13th save of the season as Texas defeated Oakland for the fifth time in six games since last week.

Jake Smolinski and Robinson Chirinos went deep against Samardzija, who entered the game having gone 23 consecutive innings without surrendering an earned run.

Sonny Gray (13-10, 3.21 ERA) will take the mound for Oakland on Sunday against Texas rookie Nick Martinez (5-11, 4.61) at 3:05 p.m. ET.

This we know for sure:

Washington and the Los Angeles Angels have wrapped up home field advantage for the National and American League, respectively.
Those two teams will meet the winner of the one-game wild-card playoff in their respective leagues.
Baltimore will host the AL Central Division winner, still to be determined.
The Los Angeles Dodgers will meet the NL Central Division winner, still to be determined.

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Airplane banner begs Cristiano Ronaldo to return to Man United

Air Plea

Real Madrid star answers with goal against Villarreal

CBC Sports Posted: Sep 27, 2014 12:08 PM ET Last Updated: Sep 27, 2014 4:40 PM ET

No one can ever accuse a certain number of passionate soccer fans of not being resourceful.

On Saturday, a Manchester United fan group paid for a plane to fly over Villarreal's EL Madrigal Stadium pleading with Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo to return to the English club.

Have a look.

True to form, Ronaldo scored in the 40th minute, helping Real Madrid to a 2-0 win over Villarreal on Saturday.

Ronaldo left United for Madrid in 2009 on a then-record transfer of 93 million euros. He has since helped Madrid win its 10th European Cup and one Spanish league title.

The Portugal star won the Ballon d'Or award for the world's best player last year.

He is under contract with Madrid until 2018.

Should Cristiano Ronaldo consider a return to Man United?

With files from The Associated Press

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Canada's Bouchard falls to Czech Kvitova in Wuhan Open final

Petra Kvitova backed up her lopsided win over Eugenie Bouchard at Wimbledon with another emphatic victory over the Canadian to capture the inaugural Wuhan Open title on Saturday.

The third-seeded Czech player saved seven of eight break points she faced in the second set to close out a 6-3, 6-4 win over the sixth-seeded Bouchard in scorching conditions that lived up to Wuhan's reputation as one of China's "oven cities."

It was Kvitova's third title of the year and also secured her spot at the season-ending WTA finals in Singapore, alongside No. 1 Serena Williams, Simona Halep and Maria Sharapova.

She's also now a perfect 3-0 over the 20-year-old Bouchard, including her dominant 6-3, 6-0 win in the Wimbledon final that lasted only 55 minutes. It was the fewest games in a women's Wimbledon final since Steffi Graf beat Monica Seles 6-2, 6-1 in 1992.

"I knew that I have to play a little bit more aggressive than I played the matches before," Kvitova said. "I need to play a similar game as in Wimbledon, very aggressively going for the shots."

Bouchard had hoped to put up more of a fight than she did at Wimbledon. But she didn't have an answer for Kvitova's lefty serve out wide and couldn't match the Wimbledon champ's powerful groundstrokes, especially early in the match when she fell behind 3-1 in the first set.

Then, at the start of the second, she jammed her finger with her racket on a follow-through and had to take an injury timeout to have it taped while holding a bag of ice to her head to cool off in the 32-degree C heat.

"I have hit a million forehands in my life and I still can't hit one without hitting myself," she said. "With tape and adrenaline, [I could] still play as I normally would, but it's pretty painful now. It's surprising how such a small body part can actually be so painful."

Still, after returning to the court, she made Kvitova work hard to close it out. Serving for the match at 5-2, Kvitova wasted a match point and was forced to save five break points before dumping a volley into the net to drop serve. After Bouchard held to make it 5-4, however, Kvitova regained her composure and put the match away.

The 24-year-old Czech player will now look to carry her late-season momentum into the WTA Championships, which she won in her breakout season in 2011 after beating Sharapova to capture her first Wimbledon title. "I think that I'm feeling well. I'm prepared very well for the matches," she said. "I find my form finally."

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Ticats hold off charging Bombers for 3rd straight win

Kent Austin was relieved his Hamilton Tiger-Cats didn't experience deja vu against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

The Ticats coach/general manager watched his players hang on for a 16-11 win against the Bombers on Saturday, despite Winnipeg having a chance to pull out a late victory like it had on July 31 with a 27-26 final-play touchdown.

"Our defence needed to dig in," Austin said. "I was telling the guys after they got off the field that this was really good for our defence. We needed to finish that way. It's going to help us."

Rookie Mossis Madu ran 22 yards for his first CFL touchdown as Hamilton (5-7) extended its win streak to three games.

Hamilton has also won four of its last five games, a run that's come after quarterback Zach Collaros returned after missing five games with concussion-like symptoms.

'Scoring my first touchdown, it means so much. I'm still taking it all in.'- Tiger-Cats rookie RB Mossis Madu

Madu, replacing running back C.J. Gable who's on the six-game injured list, scored after the Bombers had turned the ball over on a blocked punt in the second quarter.

The Bombers have lost four straight and sit last in the West Division at 6-7.

"We knew it was going to be a battle from the get-go" said Madu, adding he predicted he'd score in the north end zone of Investors Group Field. "Scoring my first touchdown, it means so much. I'm still taking it all in."

The Bombers hurt themselves on the potential winning drive. With 2:04 remaining, Winnipeg started from its own 23-yard line. A couple of Hamilton penalties helped the Bombers get to mid-field. With 16 seconds left, Winnipeg quarterback Drew Willy had his offence on Hamilton's three-yard line and it was second down.

Costly penalty

However, the Bombers were called for a time-count violation and lost a down.

Willy said he had a hard time hearing the play call so he ran to the sidelines to get it and then ran back into the huddle too late.

"Obviously, I'll take full blame for that," Willy said. "Even if I don't get the play, it's my job to have a play ready in that situation so it doesn't come down to that kind of situation.

"I can call my own play if I don't get it. I need to be better mentally prepared for a situation like that."

Willy then threw the ball into the end zone, but none of his receivers were very close. He said the pass was intended for Clarence Denmark.

"We were just on different pages. I'll take the blame for it," Willy said. "It's tough, for sure. I wish we could have beat them the same way we did the first time. I thought we were on a roll there in the end. To get to the three-yard line and not finish the game, it's quite disappointing."

Willy, playing after injuring his throwing shoulder Sept. 13, took some punishing hits that had him getting up slowly a few times.

He was sacked five times in the game, including four times in the first half.

Defensive lineman Ted Laurent had two sacks, linemates Eric Norwood and Justin Hickman each had one and linebacker Simoni Lawrence also dropped Willy.

"I told the guys in meetings we had to dominant this week," Laurent said. "That was our motto of the whole week, dominate."

Shoulder tested

Willy, who was also knocked to the turf a number of times, said he'll know more in the morning how his shoulder feels, but he doesn't expect it'll stop him from travelling to play Ottawa next Friday.

"There's one thing that you don't want someone to say about you, is that you're not tough," Willy said. "Just get up. You've got to keep fighting. It's a physical game. You don't want to show the other team that they're getting to you so hop up, get up and run the next play."

Bombers head coach Mike O'Shea was impressed with Willy's performance.

"I thought he played a gutsy game," O'Shea said. Willy completed 27 of 41 pass attempts for 303 yards and a TD.

Bomber receiver Cory Watson had caught a five-yard touchdown pass in the end zone with 5:52 remaining to make it 16-11.

A two-point convert failed with an incomplete pass to Watson in front of 28,534 fans at Investors Group Field.

Collaros, who was sacked three times, was 20 of 36 for 182 yards.

Ticats kicker Justin Medlock made field goals from 44, 37 and 39 yards, but went wide from 47 yards out.

Winnipeg also scored off a safety when Collaros was sacked in the end zone by defensive lineman Bryant Turner.

Lirim Hajrullahu connected on a field goal from 20 yards.

"Our defence did a heck of a job keeping us in the game the whole time and really winning it for us," Collaros said. "We made just enough plays offensively. I have to get better. We as a unit have to get better. It's better, though, to correct mistakes with a win as opposed to a loss so we'll take the win and get better next week."

The Tiger-Cats had led 10-5 at halftime.

Winnipeg was penalized 15 times for 130 yards, compared to Hamilton's 10 flags for 97 yards.

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Idle Justin Morneau maintains NL batting lead

Justin Morneau might sit his way to a National League batting title.

Colorado Rockies manager Walt Weiss kept the Canadian first baseman off the field Saturday night against the Dodgers in Los Angeles.

Earlier in the day, Pittsburgh third baseman Josh Harrison went 1-for-4 to give him a .318 batting average entering Sunday's final day of the major league regular season. Teammate Andrew McCutchen went 1-for-3 and is at .314.

Did Weiss sit Morneau, who tops the league at .319, to protect his lead?

Some would say yes but Weiss, a former Rockies shortstop, told reporters on Saturday that he wanted to get September call-up Kyle Parker in the lineup for one of the weekend games.

So, Parker started in right field while outfielder Michael Cuddyer, who won the NL batting crown last season with a .331 average, manned first base.

It's possible Morneau could sit again for Sunday's 4:10 p.m. ET contest, depending if the New Westminster, B.C. native is still the batting leader. The Pirates wrap up their series at Cincinnati in a 1:10 p.m. start.

"We'll see where he stands at that point," said Weiss of the 33-year-old Morneau. "He has worked very hard to put himself in this position.

"People talk about backing into a batting title and all of that stuff. I don't think there is such a thing. It takes six months to win it."

Scheduled to start against Colorado on Sunday is Dodgers right-hander Zack Greinke, who sports a 16-8 record and 2.74 earned-run average this season. He's also owned the left-handed hitting Morneau, holding him to a .200 average (9-for-45).

In Cincinnati, the Reds are expected to start 19 game winner Johnny Cueto, who boasts a 2.29 ERA this season, against Harrison and McCutchen. Harrison is 6-for-14 (.429) in his career versus Cueto while McCutchen is 16-for-56 (.286) with four home runs.

Morneau, who was the American League MVP in 2006, is vying for his first batting crown. If successful, he would be the seventh different Colorado player to win. Fellow Canadian Larry Walker did it in a Rockies uniform in 1998, 1999 and 2001.

Recently, Walker sent Morneau a picture of a bat he received after winning one of his batting titles.

"I was gonna send a picture of all three of them," Walker told CBCSports.ca earlier this week, "but only one of them is still shiny, one's really tarnished and I don't know where the third one is."

In a more serious tone, the native of Maple Ridge, B.C., said it would only be human nature for Morneau to find out how Harrison and McCutchen fared on Sunday before Colorado faced the Dodgers.

"If he sees an 0-for-4 [beside Harrison's name] it might ease his mind," Walker said. "If he sees a 2-for-3, it might pump him up more and bring back that competitive edge that he's wishing he had if he was in a pennant race."

That's providing Morneau even steps to the plate on Sunday.

Was it wrong for Walt Weiss to sit NL batting leader Justin Morneau on Saturday?

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Ryder Cup: Europe take lead after Day 1

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 27 September 2014 | 21.22

For the first time in eight years, Europe is ahead after the first full day of play at the Ryder Cup.

Europe grabbed a 5-3 lead after Friday's two sessions at Gleneagles — even though big guns Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter contributed only half a point.

But it was an improbable half point that felt like a win, gave the home side a momentum boost and could prove decisive in the final outcome as Europe bids for its eighth victory in 10 Ryder Cups.

The last time the Europeans led after the opening day was at the K Club in Ireland in 2006. They went on to win 18 1/2-9 1/2. The Americans led after the first full day in each of the last three Ryder Cups.

Trailing the United States 2 1/2-1 1/2 after the morning fourballs, the Europeans won three of the alternate-shot matches in the afternoon. More dramatic was the late rally by McIlroy and Garcia, who came from two shots down with two to play to halve with Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker.

McIlroy made a 30-foot birdie putt at the 17th and Garcia hit a beautiful approach from the rough on the 18th to set up another birdie.

The No. 1-ranked McIlroy and No. 3 Garcia had lost their fourballs match in the morning, beaten 1-up by Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley. Until the late comeback, it looked like McIlroy would become the first No. 1 player to lose two Ryder Cup matches on the same day since Tiger Woods in 2002.

'That was probably as good as a win, to come back from where they were'- Paul McGinley, Europe captain

"Sergio and I battled for all 36 holes out there today," McIlroy said. "It was a long day for both of us, and just glad that we were able to contribute something to the cause today."

He called the half-point a "mini-victory."

SATURDAY PAIRINGS
Europe	Times (ET)	USA
Rose/Stenson	2:35 am	Watson/Kuchar
Donaldson/Westwood	2:50 am	Furyk/Mahan
Bjorn/Kaymer	3:05 am	Reed/Spieth
McIlroy/Poulter	3:20 am	Walker/Fowler

"It definitely is a huge halve in terms of momentum for the European team going into tomorrow," McIlroy said. "It was huge. For Sergio and I, it's just nice to be able to walk away from today with at least something."

The afternoon began with Lee Westwood and Jamie Donaldson pulling Europe level by beating Jim Furyk and Matt Kuchar 2 up. Westwood, playing in his ninth Ryder Cup, enjoyed his role as mentor to the Welsh rookie.

"I love it, kind of watching somebody take to it like a duck to water," he said.

Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson won their second match of the day, beating Hunter Mahan and Zach Johnson 2 and 1. Rose said he wouldn't complain if he's picked to play in both sessions again on Saturday.

"There's so many good players on this team but you can only field eight a day," he said. "So if that's what's called of us, we'll be up for it."

Graeme McDowell and French rookie Victor Dubuisson secured the final point, defeating Mickelson and Bradley 3 and 2. It's the first time Mickelson and Keegan have lost together in the Ryder Cup after four straight wins.

"Very fortunate to be playing alongside a player who I think really is Europe's next superstar," McDowell said of the 24-year-old Dubuisson, the youngest player on the team. "I really believe that. He was awesome today. He didn't miss a shot."

Fourball matches

In the morning, the Americans seemed to strike a big psychological blow by taking down McIlroy and Poulter. Three rookies played a huge part in the U.S. effort.

In a stunning performance, 21-year-old Jordan Spieth and 24-year-old Patrick Reed — the youngest pairing in Ryder Cup history — beat Poulter and Scottish rookie Stephen Gallacher 5 and 4.

U.S. captain Tom Watson had singled out Poulter as the one player the Americans wanted to target — even more than McIlroy. Poulter had won seven consecutive Ryder Cup matches and was the catalyst of Europe's remarkable comeback in Medinah two years ago. This was Poulter's heaviest ever Cup defeat.

"We couldn't manage to get it done today, so it's a shame," said the Englishman, who went without a single birdie. "We don't hole enough putts, that simple."

Watson said he was proud of his rookies, but decided not to send them out for the afternoon foursomes, something which proved to be a mistake.

"I said, `I know you're going to be mad at me, but you'll be playing tomorrow for sure,"' Watson said.

Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley provided the most excitement through the first round.

Mickelson recovered with a clutch third shot out of the greenside bunker on 18, which settled just feet from the cup to give the American pair a shot at birdie.

Fighting a stiff wind, Mickleson smoothly found the cup for birdie, beating McIlroy and Garcia on the final hole.

Rowdy crowd

Golf galleries are not usually known for their rowdiness, but the Ryder Cup has again proven that the fairways and tee boxes make for a great atmosphere when fans cheer on their countrymen.

As Ian Poulter and Stephen Gallacher approached the first tee this morning, the gallery sounded more like a mob at a darts match.

Celebrity spotted!

Hall of Fame basketball player, and golf enthusiast, Michael Jordan was at Gleneagles to take in the Ryder Cup.

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Dalton Pompey erupts to power Blue Jays past Orioles, 4-2

A victory over the Baltimore Orioles means the Blue Jays will finish with a winning record for the first time since 2010.

Now the bad news: with Kansas City clinching a playoff berth Friday, Toronto takes over as the owner of the longest active playoff drought in baseball, at 21 years.

Rookie Dalton Pompey had three extra-base hits, Drew Hutchison won for the first time in three starts and the Blue Jays beat Baltimore 4-2 Friday night.

The Blue Jays had reason to hope their drought would end this year. They led the AL East into June and were still in wild card contention until going 9-17 in August.

On mobile? Check out tweet on blue Jays here

"Obviously it's not the way we wanted this year to go after the position we were in," Hutchison said.

Born and raised in suburban Toronto, Pompey started the season at Class A and rose through the minor leagues before being called up in September.

"It's been a dream come true for me," he said.

Pompey's exciting September, however, is little consolation for a lack of October baseball since the Blue Jays won the second of back-to-back World Series titles in 1993.

Hutchison (11-13) allowed two runs and five hits in five innings, walked one and struck out eight. He's 4-1 with a 2.29 ERA in eight career starts against Baltimore.

The right-hander, who won just one of his first six home starts this season, finished the year by going 4-0 with a 1.36 ERA in his final five home outings.

Pompey tripled and scored in the second, doubled home a run in the third and hit an RBI triple in the fifth. He also ended the second inning with a spectacular diving catch in foul territory along the left field line to retire Alejandro De Aza.

"It's exciting talking about him, the plays he's made and the way he's swung the bat," Hutchison said.

On mobile? Check out tweet on Pompey here

Baltimore's loss means the Orioles will not finish with the best record in the American League. Baltimore came in three games behind the Los Angeles Angels, who will have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

"We're where we need to be," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said.

Baltimore right-hander Chris Tillman lost for the first time in 16 road starts, preventing him from becoming the first pitcher since Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2008 to complete a season without losing away from home.

Tillman (13-6) came in 8-0 with a 4.19 ERA in his 15 previous road starts.

Tillman, who's expected to start Baltimore's division series opener next Thursday, allowed four runs and a career-high 11 hits, walked none and struck out five. The outing snapped a 20-start streak in which he had allowed three runs or fewer.

Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman, who was suspended for five games after throwing at Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph during a game in Baltimore last week, relieved Hutchison and pitched the final four innings without incident to earn his first career save.

TRIPLE THREAT

Pompey is the 11th different Blue Jays player to hit two triples in one game. He's the third rookie to achieve the feat, and the first since Shannon Stewart in 1997.

SCOUTING MISSION

Injured Orioles C Matt Wieters is headed to Detroit this weekend to help scout the Tigers, who are likely to be Baltimore's opponent in the ALDS. "He seems real enthused about it," Showalter said.

HAVING A BALL

Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph said he surrendered the ball from Derek Jeter's walkoff hit in Thursday's game at New York to a bat boy, who told Joseph that Jeter had requested the memento. Joseph sounded slightly regretful about surrendering the ball so easily. "Rookie mistake," he said.

UP NEXT Orioles LHP Wei-Yin Chen (16-5) faces Blue Jays LHP J.A. Happ (10-11) on Saturday. Chen is 8-3 with a 3.35 ERA in 16 road starts, but 1-2 with a 6.32 ERA in three career starts against Toronto.

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Eskimos' John White sparkles in shutout over Roughriders

The Edmonton Eskimos were more than pleased to have John White back in the mix.

The running back returned to the lineup and scored both of the game's touchdowns as the Eskimos moved into second place in the CFL's West Division with a rare 24-0 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday.

It was just the second win in the last five outings for the Eskimos (9-4), who moved into a tie for second with the Riders. Both teams are two points back of the first-place Calgary Stampeders.

"That was a nice win," said Eskimos head coach Chris Jones, who turned 48 years old a day earlier. "Any time you can shut somebody out in the CFL, you've done some good things defensively and on special teams."

While the Edmonton defence did its job, Jones said the insertion of White into the lineup after missing six weeks with a hand injury was the real boost to his squad.

"Getting our running back back, it helped us, certainly," he said. "White's a really dynamic back. He's extremely explosive and even when guys are not blocked, he can make people miss and get vertical."

White rushed for 192 yards on 17 carries.

"It's business, strictly business, all business," said White. "Right off the hop, I knew what it was going to be and that's what happened."

"We were excited to get John back on the sideline," said Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly. "For him to come back and be so strong in his first game is a big benefit for us."

It was only the second loss in the last 10 games for the Roughriders, who dropped to 9-4, and the first time they have been blanked since a 56-0 loss to Winnipeg on July 5, 1986.

"A loss is a loss to me. Whether it is by one point or 10 points, in the end you have lost the game. I'm really not into the history part of it," said Riders head coach Corey Chamblin. "We already got our butts kicked outside, there is no reason for me to go in (the locker room) and do it again. This team has won enough football games and done a good enough job this year. I know the men I have in that room. At the same time, that one hurt."

Saskatchewan defensive lineman John Chick said he hopes his team at least learned a lesson or two.

"It's not a good feeling. It was a frustrating day," he said. "It's not like the sky is falling or we have to start over. Sometimes you are going to get punched in the mouth. You just have to come back and get ready for the next one. We'll just go back to work like usual. We still have great players in this locker room, have had a good season and are headed in the right direction. It's a tough loss, but sometimes you need those."

Edmonton took an early lead four minutes into the contest after a third down gamble by Saskatchewan misfired with back-up quarterback Seth Doege stuffed short on a big tackle by Eskimos linebacker Dexter McCoil at the Riders' 36-yard-line. On the next play, White made a couple of nice moves as he blazed his way into the end zone to make it 7-0.

The Eskimos competently marched the ball down the field on their next possession, but had to settle for a 27-yard Hugh O'Neill field goal.

Saskatchewan had no first downs and just 11 total yards of offence in the first quarter.

The Roughriders conceded a safety early in the second quarter and the Eskimos added a single on a missed field goal soon afterwards to put Edmonton ahead 13-0.

Saskatchewan finally got its initial first down of the game five minutes into the second quarter, but then promptly lost the ball as quarterback Tino Sunseri, still subbing in for the injured Darian Durant, was intercepted by Ryan Hinds.

Edmonton gained another point on a punt single with three minutes remaining in the first half.

The Eskimos made it 17-0 with a 45-yard O'Neill field goal five minutes into the third quarter, a score that held up into the fourth as the game hit a major lull.

Saskatchewan was finally in a scoring position after a 25-yard passing play to Weston Dressler took them to the Edmonton 35. On the next play, however, Doege was picked off at the five by Eskimos defensive back Aaron Grymes.

Edmonton finally provided a couple more plays for the highlight reel as a 31-yard passing play to Fred Stamps led to a 10-yard pass from Reilly to White for his second touchdown of the game.

Over the final three weeks of this regular season the teams will meet twice, with both games taking place in Saskatchewan.

The Riders return home to face the Calgary Stampeders next Friday, while the Eskimos hit the road for a game in Toronto next Saturday.

Notes: The Roughriders have not had much success at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium over the years, coming into the game with just a 11-40 regular season record in the building. Riders return man and slotback Weston Dressler has been solid in his return from an NFL stint, leading the CFL with a career-best 223 combined yards last week at Saskatchewan also added NFL returnee and Edmonton-area native long-snapper Chad Rempel on Thursday. Rempel made his debut for the Roughriders in Friday's game....The attendance for the game was 42,161, the largest in the CFL this season.

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Justin Morneau back on top in batting title race

A three man battle with three, now two, days left on the schedule.

The pride of British Columbia Justin Morneau of the Colorado Rockies is going swing for swing with a pair of Pittsburgh Pirates for the National League batting crown. With each player having three games remaining at the start of play Friday, Pittsburgh's Josh Harrison had taken over the lead hitting.319, with Morneau second at .317, followed by Andrew McCutchen, at .314.

Morneau is bidding to become the third Canadian to win a Major League batting title after Larry Walker (1998, '99 and 2001), and 19th century star Tip O'Neill, a two-time league leader in 1887 and '88.

Thursday while Morneau and the Rockies had an off-day, Harrison picked up three hits to edge ahead of Morneau by two percentage points. McCutchen, with one hit, gained ground as well.

Here's how each player fared on Friday as the Pirates met the Reds in Cincinnati and the Rockies played later in Los Angeles against the Dodgers.

Josh Harrison: Flew out; lined out, struck out; singled. 1-for-4

Andrew McCutchen: Popped out; struck out; grounded out; doubled. 1-for-4.

Justin Morneau: Walked, homered, flew out, singled. 2-for-3.

So here's how they stand with two games left to play.

Player	AB	Hits	Average
Justin Morneau, Colorado	501	160	.319
Josh Harrison, Pittsburgh	512	163	.318
Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh	542	170	.314

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Canada's Bouchard falls to Czech Kvitova in Wuhan Open final

Petra Kvitova backed up her lopsided win over Eugenie Bouchard at Wimbledon with another emphatic victory over the Canadian to capture the inaugural Wuhan Open title on Saturday.

It was Kvitova's third title of the year and also secured her spot at the season-ending WTA finals in Singapore, alongside No. 1 Serena Williams, Simona Halep and Maria Sharapova.

"I knew that I have to play a little bit more aggressive than I played the matches before," Kvitova said. "I need to play a similar game as in Wimbledon, very aggressively going for the shots."

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Eugenie Bouchard gets Petra Kvitova rematch in Wuhan

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 26 September 2014 | 21.22

Wimbledon finalists blitz semifinal opponents to set up rematch in Wuhan Open

CBC Sports Posted: Sep 26, 2014 9:56 AM ET Last Updated: Sep 26, 2014 9:56 AM ET

Call it Wimbledon Redux in Wuhan.

Eugenie Bouchard and Petra Kvitova will stage a rematch of this year's Wimbledon championship final when they meet in the final of the inaugural Wuhan Open on Saturday.

Bouchard, from Westmount, Que., relied Friday on relentless groundstrokes in defeating former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, 6-2, 6-3 at Wuhan, China.

Kvitova prevailed 6-3, 7-5 over Elina Svitolina in the other semifinal at the Optics Valley International Tennis Center.

The two-time Wimbledon champion saved five of six break points before dispatching the Ukranian.

Bouchard is now in a position to win her second WTA title, plus avenge a 6-3, 6-0 loss to Kvitova in her first major final.

Bouchard succumbed to the Czech southpaw in just 55 minutes, making it the most lopsided women's final at the All England Club in 22 years.

The winner at Wuhan also qualifies for the prestigious season-ending WTA Finals at Singapore.

With files from The Associated Press

Comments on this story are moderated according to our Submission Guidelines. Comments are welcome while open. We reserve the right to close comments at any time.

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Ryder Cup: 5 reasons to watch

The 40th Ryder Cup is set to tee off from beautiful Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, Scotland on Friday. The tournament, which pits the U.S. against the whole of Europe, unofficially concludes the golf season.

The weekend of match play is underlined with the usual national pride. But we wanted to give you five other reasons to watch this year's Ryder Cup:

Rory McIlroy

What can you say about the No. 1 player in the world?

McIlroy has had a stunning year, which included one of the hottest three week stretches golf has ever seen.

The Northern Irishman stormed Royal Liverpool in late July to win the Open Championship for his third major title. Two weeks later, McIlroy won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

McIlroy would then come from behind to claim his fourth career major a week later, winning the PGA Championship for a second time, joining only Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only golfers in the last century to win four majors at 25 years or younger.

Since mid-August, McIlroy has remained hot, posting three top-10 finishes in four tournaments. The PGA Tour's money leader is in perfect form to carry Europe on his back to victory.

American Underdogs

The United States comes into the 40th Ryder Cup as the underdog in more ways than one.

The Americans have struggled in recent tournaments, claiming the title just once over their last six opportunities.

Prior to 1979, the U.S. dominated, hoisting the cup 18 times in 22 tries. But since the British roster was expanded to include all of Europe, the team from across the pond has outplayed its American counterpart, going 9-for-16.

Adding to the American's recent misery has been their inability to find success when playing overseas.

Phil Mickelson, who will play in his 10th consecutive Ryder Cup, is focused on ending a 21-year drought since the Americans last won in Europe. The last time U.S. players hoisted both their passports and the Ryder Cup was 1993 at The Belfry in England.

The 'Template'

Ask the Europeans about the "template" and they'll remained tight-lipped. Ask captain Paul McGinley and he says he sees his job "as enhancing that template and trying to make it a bit better and rolling it out again."

The template has been passed on to every European captain and has been credited with much of the success Europe has had against the U.S. over the past 18 years.

But what is it?

Many believe the template is the camaraderie the European teams and players seem to have year after year.

McGinley casts aside that notion, believing winning brings a team closer together: "When things are going well, it looks like you're bonding and the other team is not."

McGinley's boys will go back to the well once more. Question is, will the template work again?

Gleneagles Hotel

This year's Ryder Cup host has been called the "Riviera of the Highlands."

Unfortunately for the players, Gleneagles does not share the Mediterranean's blue seas and warm sun.

However, Gleneagles is a stunning contrast to regular links courses, which feature fescues that eat golf balls and chew-up club heads.

This course is not what golf fans usually see when they tune into watch the Open Championship. Instead, this Jack Nicklaus-designed, American-style parkland layout provides more room for error - but not too much.

Gleneagles still has some traditional highland headaches compared to its American cousins. The course is made up of narrower fairways, more similar to that of the European Tour setup.

Also, September has been fertile for Scotland's countryside, making for unusually thick rough, threatening some of the great recovery shots we've become accustom to seeing during the tournament.

Ryder Fashion

The Ryder Cup is notorious for its fashion. Rarely do designers hit a hole in one, rather settling for a mulligan.

This weekend, look forward to over the top colour combinations, tartan jacket and pant pairings, and the prerequisite sweater vest.

Unlike tennis players, who somehow make wild colours and headbands look cool, the Ryder Cup players look like they are in need of a makeover.

Regardless, if the outfits are going to look ridiculous, the uglier the better.

This year, Rickie Fowler has brought a little edge to the tournament. Prior to arriving in Scotland, the 25-year-old shaved a big 'USA' into the side of his head. The 10th-ranked player in the world later tweeted the patriotic look.

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Wild card contenders: Brewers latest to drop

Another day. Another one bites the dust.

Only three Major League baseball teams carried tragic numbers into games today. That's the combination of losses for those on the outside looking in, combined with wins by teams holding the second wild card position that would serve to eliminate a team from a shot at the post-season.

Seattle, Milwaukee and Cleveland began play today with tragic numbers of 2, 1 and 1. respectively.

CLINCHED DIVISION: Orioles, Angels, Nationals, Dodgers
IN PLAYOFFS: Tigers, Cardinals, Pirates. Giants
WILD CARD HOLDERS: Royals, A's
STILL ALIVE: Seattle, Cleveland

Milwaukee had an afternoon start in Cincinnati and needed to win today and three more games after that while hoping that the San Francisco Giants, playing later tonight, would lose their remaining four games.

Didn't happen.

The Brewers, who sat atop the National League Central standings for 150 games this season, dropped a 5-3 decision to the Reds. Their long shot dream was over.

Next up, Seattle in Toronto. The Mariners were not only trying to stay alive in the wild card chase, but were attempting to avoid a four-game sweep at the hands of the Jays. Riding the powerful bat of two homer man Logan Morrison they accomplished that, winning 7-5.

So the Mariners kept their tragic number at two and will survive until Friday at least. They trail the Kansas City Royals and the Oakland A's who occupy the two American League wild card positions. The Royals beat the Chicago White Sox to clinch at least a tie for a wild card spot. The A's lost 2-1 in Texas on an Adrian Beltre walk-off homer and now are the second wild card team, one game behind Kansas City.

Cleveland's Indians now can't catch the Royals but might be able to match the A's, with their razor-thin tragic number reduced to one game.

Retiring commissioner Bud Selig has had a career full of praise and criticism during his reign at the helm of Major League baseball, but the addition of first one, now two wild cards in each league, has done a lot to keep baseball's final week full of hope in numerous cities.

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Blue Jays can't sweep Mariners out of town, fall 7-5

With his team eliminated from post-season contention, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons turned to a rookie pitcher and a new-look lineup for Thursday's series finale against Seattle.

The results were mixed.

Daniel Norris turned in a decent performance in his first big-league start but the Mariners fought back for a 7-5 victory to avoid a four-game sweep and keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

Gibbons rested regulars like Jose Reyes, Dioner Navarro and Jose Bautista and inserted several late-season callups into the lineup. Dalton Pompey of Mississauga, Ont., was the leadoff man while the bottom half of the order featured Toronto native George Kottaras, Kevin Pillar, Anthony Gose and Ryan Goins.

Pompey had a decent game with a run, a hit and two walks while Norris gave up one hit and two earned runs over 3 1/3 innings.

"That's a big thing, a lot of guys don't get that chance to come up at the end of the season," Gibbons said. "When (players) go into a new season and they get called up for the first time, it can be a little intimidating.

"(Playing now) is going to help them all, regardless of the results."

Logan Morrison belted a three-run shot for Seattle (84-75) and added a solo homer as the Mariners ended a five-game losing skid. Seattle entered play three games behind the Kansas City Royals and Oakland Athletics in the race for the two American League wild-card spots.

"We're still in the ring, still fighting," said Seattle manager Lloyd McClendon.

Fernando Rodney gave up a solo homer to Kevin Pillar in the ninth inning before picking up his major league-leading 47th save.

Norris retired the first eight batters he faced. On a limit of about 60 pitches, he was pulled after giving up a one-out walk to Kendrys Morales in the fourth inning.

The 21-year-old left-hander, who made four relief appearances earlier this month, excelled in the minor leagues this year but has noticed a dip in his fastball speed since being called up.

"It's obvious my stuff is not really there," he said. "It's tough to try to pitch without your stuff but sometimes that's the competitor (in you) that has to come out.

"I think that's what I tried to do today, was go out there and compete without your big guns."

Todd Redmond relieved Norris and gave up an RBI single to Kyle Seager that cut Toronto's lead to 2-1. Morrison followed with a no-doubt blast to right-centre field that brought three more runs across.

Pompey showed some flashes of his potential throughout the game. He walked in the fifth inning, took second on an errant pickoff attempt, stole third and scored on an Edwin Encarnacion sacrifice fly.

Adam Lind drove in Munenori Kawasaki later in the frame to tie it before Seattle went ahead to stay in the sixth. Morrison took an Aaron Loup (4-4) pitch over the wall for his 11th homer of the year.

"I don't have any idea how I hit that guy. He's filthy," Morrison said. "I blacked out. I don't know what happened. Obviously playing every day has helped my timing. I know this is the type of player I can be."

Mike Zunino added an insurance run by going deep off Dustin McGowan for his 22nd homer of the year. Reliever Yoervis Medina (5-3) worked an inning of relief for the win.

Seattle used nine pitchers while Toronto used six. The Mariners had three errors but outhit the Blue Jays 10-5.

Notes: Announced attendance was 17,173 and the game took three hours two minutes to play. ... It was Morrison's second career multi-homer game. ... The Blue Jays will wrap up their regular season with a weekend series against the Baltimore Orioles. Drew Hutchison (10-13, 4.51 ERA) will start on Friday night against Baltimore's Chris Tillman (13-5, 3.26).

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Derek Jeter drives in winning run in final Yankee Stadium at-bat

The perfect script.

Derek Jeter capped his Yankee Stadium farewell with a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth inning, the latest — and perhaps last — storybook moment in his charmed and illustrious career, to give New York a 6-5 victory Thursday night over the Baltimore Orioles.

Serenaded with adoring chants that echoed through the Bronx night, Jeter tipped his cap several times at shortstop and drove in three runs. He launched an early double off the left-centre wall and saved the best for last, a sharp, opposite-field single to right that knocked in the winning run.

During the raucous celebration that followed, Jeter said he's played his final game at shortstop, but he'll likely play in some capacity this weekend in Boston.

It appeared Jeter's tiebreaking grounder in the seventh would be the swing that sent the Yankees to a victory when they built a 5-2 cushion against the AL East champions.

Not bad — but not Jeter.

Nope, he's always had a flair for the most electrifying kind of drama, and this night was destined to be no different.

As if it was planned all along, closer David Robertson (4-5) gave up a two-run homer in the top of the ninth to Adam Jones and a tying shot to Steve Pearce with two outs.

That only set the stage for Jeter one more time.

Jose Pirela hit a leadoff single in the bottom of the ninth against Evan Meek (0-4) and advanced on Brett Gardner's sacrifice. Jeter lined the next pitch through a huge hole on the right side, and pinch-runner Antoan Richardson slid home ahead of Nick Markakis' throw.

An elated Jeter jumped and raised both arms between first and second. Yankees players rushed out to engulf him as former teammates such as Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams, Andy Pettitte, Tino Martinez and Hall of Fame manager Joe Torre lined up near the New York dugout waiting to greet the retiring captain.

"It was above and beyond anything that I've ever dreamt of," Jeter said.

Jeter went back out to shortstop, crouched down at the edge of the outfield grass and bounced on his toes a couple of times before rejoining the group.

He tipped his cap again and was doused over the head with a sports drink by Gardner and CC Sabathia.

In one twist that hardly fit, Jeter's home finale was the only game he ever played at Yankee Stadium with his team already knocked out of the playoff race.

When the Yankees were eliminated with Wednesday's loss, it put all the attention Thursday entirely on the captain's farewell — a feeling that must have been unsettling even for a 40-year-old mega-star as accustomed to the spotlight as Jeter.

"He's uncomfortable with what's going on. He wants the focus to be on the team," said Orioles skipper Buck Showalter, who was Jeter's first manager when the shortstop broke into the big leagues in May 1995.

"His signature is winning. What other accolade can you pick? His teams won," Showalter said. "Take a good look, because there are not going to be many like this come your way again."

Jeter ended last season on the disabled list, so the only other time in his 20-year career (2,745 regular-season games) that he appeared in a game with New York already out of post-season contention was in Boston on Sept. 26, 2008.

Last year, Rivera chose to sit out the final three games in Houston after an emotional Yankee Stadium goodbye.

Heavy rain soaked the city all afternoon, but the sky cleared in the evening and the tarp was removed from the infield an hour before the first pitch. A rainbow, in fact, appeared over the stadium.

The game began right on time, but it didn't start well for the Yankees.

Roll call by the Bleacher Creatures was interrupted just as they got to a roaring chant of "De-rek Je-ter!" Markakis hit a leadoff home run for the Orioles, awkwardly silencing the sellout crowd of 48,613 that included rap star Jay-Z and other famous faces.

Alejandro De Aza followed with another long ball to right, the first time Baltimore had started a game with consecutive homers since hitting three in a row against Texas on May 10, 2012.

Jeter, however, hit an RBI double in the first against rookie Kevin Gausman, who was 4 years old when Jeter made his major league debut. The ball banged off the left-centre wall — just missing a home run by a couple of feet. He scored on a grounder, and the fans were back into it.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Orioles: Pearce (right wrist) made his first start since Friday. ... Showalter said he'll use a lot of pitchers during the regular-season finale Sunday in Toronto, but his starter is still to be determined. Candidates include RHPs Ubaldo Jimenez and Miguel Gonzalez.

Yankees: Sabathia (right knee surgery) said he's been playing catch and feels good. He said he's sure he'll be ready to pitch in spring training next March.

UP NEXT

Orioles: RHP Chris Tillman (13-5) gets the ball Friday night in Toronto, a tuneup for his scheduled start in Game 1 of the playoffs next Thursday at Camden Yards.

Yankees: Jeter is a .265 career hitter with 14 homers in 142 games at Fenway Park.

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Justin Morneau turns to 3-time batting champ in heated NL race

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 25 September 2014 | 21.22

Justin Morneau awoke recently following a 1-for-3, two-run performance and realized he needed to seek help.

While that effort, in particular, wasn't cause for concern, it kept the Colorado Rockies first baseman one percentage point behind Pittsburgh outfielder/infielder Josh Harrison with eight days remaining in the regular season as they battle for the National League batting title.

Morneau decided to call a friend, a good one in former Rockies outfielder and fellow Canadian, Larry Walker, who won the NL batting crown in 1998, 1999 and 2001.

Will Canada's Justin Morneau win the NL batting title?

He wanted to know how he should approach the game during the final week of the season with his team far removed from playoff contention. Walker told Morneau not to change, period.

"He wants to win this thing," said Walker of Morneau in a phone interview. "Your number one objective is to go out there and win because you want to celebrate with your teammates [and win a division] but that's out of the equation for him, so it's a different mindset for him when taking the field.

"I told him nothing's different. The game hasn't changed. You still go out there to try to win. You can't lose that frame of mind."

Walker, who had a on-base percentage of .400 in 17 major league seasons, also told Morneau to take some walks in games "because a 1-for-4 could turn into a 1-for-3 or 1-for-2, which is a big difference this time of year" when each at-bat is critical.

On Wednesday night, Morneau went 0-for-3 but managed to draw a walk to keep his .317 average from falling another percentage point. In Atlanta, Harrison's average dipped to .316 with a 1-for-5 showing while teammate Andrew McCutchen collected two hits to raise his average to .313.

Morneau is having to fight through a tough first season in Colorado as Wednesday's 4-3 loss at San Diego dropped the Rockies' record to 66-93 while Harrison and McCutchen are motivated by the fact Pittsburgh clinched its second consecutive playoff berth on Tuesday.

"It's a lot more fun to take the field knowing that the games are important and more meaningful," said Walker, who along with Tip O'Neill are the only Canadians to win a batting title. "You tend to [struggle with] the concentration part when you're just going through the motions and there's no reward at the end of the day."

Still, Walker believes Morneau, the 2006 American League MVP, has been in the game long enough to experience a lot of situations and keep mentally strong.

Morneau, who could win the ninth batting title by a Rockie, was one of the most feared hitters in the major leagues from 2006 to 2009 before concussions and other injuries derailed his 2010 and 2011 campaigns. He struggled last season with Minnesota and Pittsburgh before signing a two-year, $12.5-million deal, with a third-year option, in Colorado.

"He's a success story, he's bounced back," said Walker of Morneau, who has 16 home runs and 80 RBIs in 133 games this season. "I think what he's gone through these last few years … it's been a pretty good year. I'm glad I told him to go to Colorado."

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MLB playoff chase: The fall season is here

You don't need a calendar to understand baseball's fall season has arrived.

Summer came to a close on the weekend and now in the final week of the Major League Baseball's regular season, teams are dropping from contention faster than the leaves are tumbling.

On Tuesday night, the Toronto Blue Jays saw their "tragic number" turn up when, despite a 10-2 win over Seattle, they were eliminated when the Kansas City Royals defeated the Cleveland Indians, 7-1. Entering play Wednesday, Toronto trailed the second wild card team by six games with five games remaining.

Three teams began Wednesday with a tragic number of one. One more loss by the New York Yankees, Cleveland and Milwaukee Brewers, or a win by the second wild card team, would eliminate each of them.

In an afternoon game at Yankee Stadium, New York fell to American League East champion Baltimore, 9-5, so another team was down and out.

In the evening, the Indians were trying to stay alive against the Royals in Cleveland, while the Brewers were in Cincinnati against the Reds.

Four of the five playoff teams have been decided in the National League, with Milwaukee holding a mathematical chance to tying the San Francisco Giants for a wild card spot. They made good on the first part of the equation, shutting out the Reds, 5-0 on a two-hitter by Kyle Lohse.

In the AL, the Anaheim Angels and Baltimore Orioles have locked up the West and East titles, respectively, and will host the best-of-five American League Divisional Series.

At the start of Wednesday, AL three teams had hopes of joining them along with Detroit, the AL Central leader, plus Kansas City and Oakland, the current wild card holders. But already that number has been reduced to two and the Seattle Mariners extended their losing streak to five games and saw their tragic number slip to two.

The Mariners loss, their third in Toronto with one more game tomorrow afternoon, allowed the Detroit Tigers to clinch at least a wild card spot. The Tigers are battling Kansas City for the AL Central title.

Playing at home, the Indians lost an early lead but came back to down the Royals, 6-4, to keep their tragic number at 1. Each has four games remaining.

Check back tomorrow, the flurry of teams falling by the wayside may continue.

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Mark Buehrle, small ball, allows Jays to blanks Mariners

Mark Buehrle figured his streak of 200-inning seasons was destined to end after he failed to reach the fifth inning three times in four starts in late July and early August.

"I kind of did the math and said, `You have eight starts and you need X amount of innings,"' Buehrle said. "I didn't like my chances."

Turns out those chances were better than the veteran left-hander could have guessed.

Buehrle pitched eight shutout innings to reach 200 innings for the 14th consecutive season, Ryan Goins drove in the only run of the game and Toronto pushed Seattle closer to playoff elimination, beating the slumping Mariners 1-0 Wednesday night.

"He was as good as you're ever going to see him," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said of Buehrle.

Buehrle (13-10) allowed three hits, walked one and struck out 10, one shy of his season high. He left to his second standing ovation of the night after Chris Taylor's leadoff single in the ninth.

"That was vintage Buehrle," Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said.

Buehrle didn't argue his hook, but had already mentioned to Gibbons he had plenty left in his tank.

"I told him (earlier), `Hey, if we go 12 tonight, I think I can throw all 12,"' Buehrle said. "I just felt that good."

Aaron Sanchez came on and picked off pinch runner James Jones, then got the final two outs for his third save in as many chances.

The Mariners lost their fifth straight and have dropped nine of 12. Seattle had inched closer in the wild card race when Oakland lost to the Angels Wednesday afternoon, but the defeat dropped them three games back with four to play.

Buehrle's 200-inning seasons

YEAR	TEAM	IP	W	ERA
2001	Chicago White Sox	221 1/3	16	3.29
2002	White Sox	239	19	3.58
2003	White Sox	230 1/3	14	4.14
2004	White Sox	245 1/3	16	3.89
2005	White Sox	236 2/3	16	3.12
2006	White Sox	204	12	4.99
2007	White Sox	201	10	3.63
2008	White Sox	218 2/3	15	3.79
2009	White Sox	213 1/3	13	3.84
2010	White Sox	210 1/3	13	4.28
2011	White Sox	205 1/3	13	3.59
2012	Miami	202 1/3	13	3.74
2013	TORONTO	203 2/3	12	4.15
2014	TORONTO	202	12	3.39

Buehrle had 194 innings on the season coming in, and reached 200 by striking out Dustin Ackley looking for the final out of the sixth. Country music played as Buehrle's achievement was noted on the scoreboard, and the crowd of 16,836 rose for a standing ovation. Buehrle accepted congratulations from his teammates before coming out of the dugout for a brief curtain call.

"He's a pretty special guy, on and off the field," Gibbons said of Buehrle before the game. "We could use a few more of him."

Hall of Famers Don Sutton and Gaylord Perry each had 14 consecutive seasons of 200 innings or more from 1966 to 1980, but both pitchers saw their streaks snapped by the 1981 player's strike.

Buehrle retired the first six batters in order before Corey Hart led off the third with a ground rule double that bounced on the right field foul line and into the seats. Gibbons came out to challenge but the call stood. Hart went to third on Taylor's one-out fly ball, but Austin Jackson was caught looking to end the inning.

Mariners rookie Taijuan Walker (2-3) pitched his first career complete game, ending Seattle's four-game streak of starting pitchers failing to complete five innings. He allowed four hits, walked one and struck out six.

"That young man threw a tremendous ball game," McClendon said. "His last two outings have really given us a glimpse of the future."

The Blue Jays didn't put a runner in scoring position through the first seven innings, and still hadn't when they broke the deadlock in the eighth. Kawasaki drew a one-out walk and scored from first when Goins dropped a bloop single in front of Jackson in centre, who was playing deep to prevent a double.

"It's very unfortunate," McClendon said. "It landed in a spot where nobody could get it, and it was on turf where it bounced high."

FAST PACED

At a brisk 1 hour, 59 minutes, this was the fastest game of the season for both teams, and the first big league game to finish in less than two hours since San Diego lost 1-0 at Houston on June 27, 2012.

TIMES CHANGE

The only season that Buehrle failed to reach 200 innings was 2000, his rookie year. Back then, a barrel of oil cost $30, Hilary Clinton was elected to the Senate, and Tiger Woods was the youngest Grand Slam winner in golf history.

UP NEXT

Mariners RHP Tom Wilhelmsen (3-2) will face Blue Jays LHP Daniel Norris (0-0) in Thursday's series finale. Norris will be making his first major league start, while Wilhelmsen is coming out of the bullpen to make his second start of the season. He replaces RHP Chris Young, who was dropped from Seattle's rotation after going 0-3 with a 8.35 ERA in his previous five starts.

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Kraft Hockeyville: Flames down Coyotes in OT

Sven Baertschi knows he has to back up a smart decision and a pivotal goal with many more of both to be a regular in the NHL.

The Calgary Flames forward scored with nine seconds remaining in the second period Wednesday to deadlock a pre-season game against the Arizona Coyotes. After a scoreless third, Curtis Glencross scored the overtime winner for Calgary in a 4-3 victory in Sylvan Lake, Alta.

Baertschi came off his final major junior season to join the Flames playing out the string in 2012. Calgary's first-round pick and the No. 13 selection in 2011 inflated expectations with three goals in his first five games with the team.

The 21-year-old Swiss forward has played more games in the American Hockey League than with the parent club in the two seasons since then.

When Brian Burke joined the Flames a year ago as president of hockey operations, he wasn't complimentary of Baertschi with comments like "big holes" and "lack of commitment."

"I realized a little while ago now, coming into the league, it's a different game and every decision you make has got to be the right decision," Baertschi said. "I've been working on it really hard and doing a lot of video. It's the little details out there I want to do right.

"I think I'm making some really good decisions with the puck. I'm not being selfish out there, but I'm trying to hold onto the puck a little longer. It's something I've been working on all summer, so it's paying off now.

"I want to prove I can play in this league."

Sylvan Lake won this year's Kraft Hockeyville contest, which included a grant of $100,000 for arena upgrades, as well as the right to host an NHL pre-season game. The community of 13,000 is just west of Red Deer.

With a capacity of just under 1,000, the Sylvan Lake Multi-Plex was full and speckled with a few blue Oilers jerseys among red Flames shirts.

Local products Glencross and defenceman Kris Russell added to the sense of occasion by combining on the overtime winner.

Glencross, who grew up in Prevost, re-directed Russell's shot from the blue-line for a power-play goal at 3:50. Russell is from nearby Caroline.

The roof of the aging Sylvan Lake Arena next door to the Multi-Plex collapsed in January. The city intends to raise $2 million for a multiplex redevelopment project.

'I'm sure there were lots of other great cities that could have this game and since it's very close to our market, I think we owed this game to the fans.'- Flames head coach Bob Hartley

"Russ and I both skated in the old barn quite a bit back in the day," Glencross said. "He made a great shot and I got lucky enough to get my stick on it."

Deryk Engelland and Brian McGrattan also scored for the Flames, who are 2-1-0 in the pre-season.

"I told the players this morning 'remember those people coming to the game, they had to fight real hard to get this game,"' Flames head coach Bob Hartley said.

"I'm sure there were lots of other great cities that could have this game and since it's very close to our market, I think we owed this game to the fans."

B.J. Crombeen had a goal and an assist and Matt Kassian and Joe Vitale also scored for Arizona. Defenceman Chris Summers had two assists, but was serving a holding penalty when Glencross scored the winner.

Calgary killed off three Arizona power-play chances in the third period and to start overtime.

Arizona goalie Mike McKenna stopped 25 of 28 shots through two periods in his first pre-season action. Brendan Burke turned aside seven of eight in the third and overtime. Burke is the son of Arizona goaltending coach Sean Burke, who played 18 seasons in the NHL.

After 11 saves on 14 shots, Calgary's Joni Ortio was replaced after two periods by Doug Carr, who stopped all 12 he faced in the third and extra period.

McKenna got a piece of Baertschi's sharp-angled shot as the second period wound down, but the puck trickled under the goaltender's arm and into the net.

"A game like tonight, I think I was really comfortable and didn't make too many bad decisions," Baertschi said.

"For me, one of the things I've been working on is figuring out when to pass and when to shoot. That's a big part of decision making. At that point, I knew I didn't have any support coming from behind and it went in and I was happy."

Arizona led 3-2 at 3:06 when Brandon Gormley's shot from the top of the face-off circle deflected off Crombeen's leg and into Calgary's net.

Flames enforcer McGrattan scored at 1:59 when he banked in a goal-mouth pass from Markus Granlund.

With Calgary trailing 2-0, Edmonton native Engelland threaded a high wrist shot through traffic to halve the deficit with a power-play goal at 19:06.

Arizona's Vitale batted a rebound out of the air by Ortio at 12:58. Kassian, another Edmontonian invited to Arizona's camp on a try-out contract, also scored on a rebound from the slot at 8:56.

The Coyotes finished one spot out of a playoff berth last season at 37-30-15, while the Flames were well out of the post-season at 35-40-7.

"We all know and it doesn't really mean nothing right now, but we played 49 games last year decided by one goal," Hartley said.

"I keep repeating to our guys, we have to keep making big strides and learning to win those types of games. Come Game 1 of the regular season, whatever we will have done here as a result will not count, but if we can learn those little details we'll be a better team."

Wednesday's pre-season game was the first of three in as many days for the Flames, who host the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday in Calgary and play in Vancouver on Friday.

The Coyotes are in San Jose on Friday to face the Sharks and are in Vancouver on Monday.

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Eugenie Bouchard rolls into Wuhan Open semifinals

Canadian fends off feisty Alize Cornet of France, 6-3, 7-5

CBC Sports Posted: Sep 25, 2014 10:15 AM ET Last Updated: Sep 25, 2014 10:15 AM ET

Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., fended off Alize Cornet of France, 6-3, 7-5 to reach the semifinals of the Wuhan Open in Wuhan, China, on Thursday.

Bouchard, seeded sixth in the tournament, led 5-2 in the second set, but Cornet fought back before the ninth-ranked Canadian closed it out.

World's No. 3 Petra Kvitova, seeded third in Wuhan, also won, 6-3, 6-4 over Carolina Garcia of France.

The Czech southpaw, who prevailed over Bouchard in the final at Wimbledon, took only one hour 21 minutes to whisk aside Garcia.

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