Kiwis regain America’s Cup momentum
Sailing: Dean Barker and Emirates Team New Zealand regained the momentum in the America’s Cup when they pulled ahead of defending champion Oracle Team USA on the fourth leg to win Race 10 by 17 seconds Sunday on San Francisco Bay.
Team New Zealand, which almost capsized during a 52-second loss Saturday, leads 7-1 and needs two more wins to claim the Auld Mug for the second time in 18 years.
Today’s a lay day and the Kiwis could clinch on Tuesday, when the next two races are scheduled.
Oracle Team USA, owned by software tycoon Larry Ellison, needs to win eight more races to keep the oldest trophy in international sports. It entered the series with a two-point penalty for the biggest cheating scandal in the Cup’s 162-year history.
Oracle led wire-to-wire to win Race 9 by 47 seconds earlier Sunday to seemingly regain the momentum.
Nebraska out of AP poll; Tide still No. 1
College football: Nebraska has dropped out of The Associated Press college football poll after its latest humbling loss, and the top of the rankings was unchanged after No. 1 Alabama passed its first big test of the season.
The Cornhuskers, No. 23 last week, are unranked the day after UCLA won in Lincoln, Neb., 41-21.
The Tide received all but one of 60 first-place votes from the media panel after beating Texas A&M 49-42. The Aggies are 10th. The rest of the top five is Oregon, Clemson, Ohio State and Stanford.
Washington is ranked 17th.
Ex-Mariner breaks Japan’s HR record
Baseball: Former major leaguer Wladimir Balentien – who played for the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds – hit his 56th and 57th home runs, breaking the Japanese single-season record set by legendary slugger Sadaharu Oh 49 years ago.
Balentien hit the record-breaking three-run homer in the first inning of Sunday’s game, sending the ball over the left-field wall at Tokyo’s Jingu Stadium to give his Yakult Swallows an early lead over the Hanshin Tigers. He then added a solo shot in the third for No. 57 to help the Swallows to a 9-0 win.
Oh set the mark of 55 in 1964.
In June, Japanese baseball officials acknowledged that they introduced a new ball this season without notifying players. The new ball has resulted in a dramatic increase in home runs.
Serbia beats Canada, reaches Cup final
Tennis: Serbia reached the Davis Cup final after Janko Tipsarevic won the decisive singles match against Vasek Pospisil to clinch a 3-2 victory over Canada in Belgrade, Serbia.
Tipsarevic beat Pospisil 7-6 (3), 6-2, 7-6 (6) to send Serbia into the final against the Czech Republic, which beat Argentina at home.
The finals will be played in Serbia in November.
American Horner wins Vuelta at age 41
Cyling: American veteran Christopher Horner completed the biggest victory of his career, winning the Spanish Vuelta at 41 to become the oldest champion of one of cycling’s three-week grand tours.
Horner successfully navigated the final flat stage to arrive in Madrid with his RadioShack-Leopard teammates after effectively clinching the race in the mountains over the last three days.
Michael Matthews of Australia won the 21st and final stage in a sprint.
Gomez wins world triathlon title
Triathlon: Javier Gomez of Spain won the men’s world triathlon title for a third time after winning the Grand Final race in London. Gomez overtook Jonathan Brownlee of Britain in a sprint finish in Hyde Park to win in 1 hour, 48 minutes and 16 seconds.
Serbia tops France; both reach quarters
Basketball: Nemanja Nedovic led Serbia to a 77-65 victory over France at the European championships in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Both teams have already qualified for the quarterfinals.
Belgium beat Latvia 60-56 to send Ukraine into the quarterfinals.
Ukraine needed the help, as it lost 70-63 to Lithuania in a later game.
Former Chicago Bears star Casares dies
Miscellany: Rick Casares, a star running back for the Chicago Bears who was once their all-time leading rusher, has died. He was 82.
The Bears reported he died in Tampa, Fla., on Friday.
He was a five-time Pro Bowl pick and a member of the 1963 championship team.
• Wise Dan wins Woodbine Mile: Wise Dan successfully defended his title in the $1 million Ricoh Woodbine Mile in Toronto.
The 1-5 favorite romped to a comfortable 3 1/2-length victory.
• Ledecky USA swimmer of year: Olympic and world champion Katie Ledecky has been selected USA Swimming athlete of the year.
The 16-year-old from Bethesda, Md., won four gold medals and broke two world records at the world meet in Barcelona this summer.
• Lorenzo wins San Marino Moto GP: Defending champion Jorge Lorenzo claimed a second consecutive MotoGP victory after leading almost from start to finish at the San Marino Grand Prix in Misano Adriatico, Italy.
World championship leader Marc Marquez was second.