RGIII debut a hit in the Big Easy

In opening week NFL results:

— Maybe the Washington Redskins knew what they were doing when they traded up to take Baylor QB Robert Griffin III with the second pick in the draft. Griffin completed 19 of 26 passes for 320 yards and two touchdowns in the Redskins’ 40-32 upset of New Orleans. Griffin is the first QB to break in with more than 300 passing yards, two TDs and no interceptions in his debut.

— Top draft pick Andrew Luck didn’t have much luck in his NFL debut. Luck was picked off three times and was outplayed by Jay Cutler as the Chicago Bears routed Luck’s Indianapolis Colts 41-21.

— The San Francisco 49ers have ended the Green Bay Packers’ streak of five straight opening day victories–and they did it at Lambeau Field, no less. The Niners defense harassed quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense most of the day in pulling off a 30-22 upset.

— Michael Vick atoned for his four interceptions by tossing a late touchdown pass that lifted the Philadelphia Eagles to a 17-16 road win over the Cleveland Browns. Vick threw for 317 yards and two TDs.

— Detroit rallied to nip St. Louis 27-23. Matthew Stafford hit Kevin Smith with a five-yard TD pass with 10 seconds left to win it.

— The defending AFC champion Patriots rolled the Titans 34-13 for their ninth-straight season-opening win. Tom Brady threw for 236 yards and two touchdowns,

— After a weak preseason, the New York Jets came out firing in a 48-28 rout of Buffalo. Mark Sanchez tossed three TD passes, two to rookie Stephen Hill.

— Matt Ryan threw for three touchdowns and ran for a fourth score in Atlanta’s 40-24 drubbing of Kansas City.

— Houston trounced Miami 30-10. Arian Foster ran for two touchdowns and Texans quarterback Matt Schaub threw for 266 yards and a TD.

— Rookie Blair Walsh booted a 55-yard field goal as regulation time expired and another in overtime to lift Minnesota past Jacksonville 26-23.

— Tampa Bay’s rejuvenated defense came up with two interceptions against Cam Newton, and the Buccaneers won their debut under coach Greg Schiano 16-7 over the Carolina Panthers.

— Kevin Kolb replaced injured John Skelton and led Arizona on the deciding touchdown drive, throwing 6 yards to Andre Roberts for a score with 4:59 to play, and the Cardinals held on to beat the Seattle Seahawks 20-16.

Monday night’s doubleheader has a strong AFC North matchup of Cincinnati at Baltimore, followed by a not-so-strong AFC West matchup of San Diego at Oakland.

Week 1 action began Wednesday night when the Super Bowl champion New York Giants were stunned 24-17 by visiting Dallas.

Working out the kinks…An NFL first in the Motor City

UNDATED (AP) — Replacement officials are working NFL games for the first time in 11 years and things did not go as smoothly as the league would have liked. These officials are from Division II and Division III college, Arena League and even the Lingerie Football League.

Replacements in a game between Arizona and Seattle needed several minutes to determine whether the Seahawks had any timeouts left after calling one in the closing seconds.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll called timeout with 30 seconds left, but the officials had announced three plays earlier Seattle used its last one when receiver Doug Baldwin was injured.

After huddling, then meeting with two different people from the sideline, the officials determined the previous stoppage had been on an incomplete pass, so the Seahawks were not charged with a timeout. NFL rules require teams to use a timeout for an injured player with the clock running in the final two minutes.

Shannon Eastin made history on the opening Sunday of the 2012 season. The 42-year-old became the first woman to be an official in a regular-season game when she worked as the line judge for the Detroit Lions’ game against the visiting St. Louis Rams.

Eastin has been a referee at college football’s second-highest level and has 16 years of officiating experience.

The NFL is using replacement officials while the regular officials are locked out in a labor dispute.

Yanks alone at the top…But fear Teixeira could be out awhile…Angels surge into wild card hunt

UNDATED (AP) — The Yankees regained sole possession of first place in the American League East by clobbering the Orioles 13-3 to gain an important split of their four-game series in Baltimore. Both teams have 22 games left.

Curtis Granderson blasted his 35th homer and collected five RBIs. Derek Jeter also homered for the Bronx Bombers.

The two teams finished 9-9 in head-to-head meetings this season. If the O’s had won this one they would have had home field for a playoff if they finished tied for the division title with New York.

Now, if the two are tied at the end of the regular season, their record within the division will be the tiebreaker.

The Yankees fear first baseman Mark Teixeira aggravated a leg injury Saturday night, and the severity of his strained left calf will determine if he returns to play this season. Teixeira returned Saturday night from a 10-day absence, then hurt himself on the final play.

Yanks manager Joe Girardi doubts whether Teixeira will play “anytime soon.”

Also in the AL:

— Zack Greinke pitched seven strong innings of five-hit ball, Mike Trout hit a leadoff homer for the second straight day and the L.A. Angels completed their second straight series sweep with a 3-2 win over slumping Detroit. The Angels have surged within one game behind Baltimore in the wild card chase.

— James Shields improved to 14-8 by twirling a two-hitter, and B.J. Upton blasted three solo home runs to lead Tampa Bay past visiting Texas 6-zip. The Rays took two of three from the West-leading Rangers and remain two games behind the first-place Yankees in the AL East race.

— Mike Moustakas stroked a go-ahead single in the 10th inning to lift Kansas City to a 2-1 win over the Central-leading Chicago White Sox. The Royals plated both their runs with two outs in the 10th off Brett Myers.

— Omar Vizquel’s sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth provided what proved to be the game-winning run in the Blue Jays’ 4-3 victory at Boston. Toronto entered the series in last place in the AL East but left Fenway Park two games ahead of the Red Sox. The Blue Jays have won four straight overall and six in a row against Boston.

— Justin Morneau hit his second homer of the game in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift Minnesota to an 8-7 victory over Cleveland. The Twins have won two in a row and move within one game of the Indians in an attempt to get out of last place in the AL Central.

— Jonny Gomes hit a three-run home run, Tommy Milone worked six strong innings and the Oakland Athletics finished off a three-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners with a 4-2.

In NL Play:

— San Francisco ran its lead in the NL West to five and a-half games by blanking the L.A. Dodgers 4-0. Barry Zito (ZEE’-toh) tossed six and a-third innings, allowing just four hits. Zito and six relievers combined on the shutout. Buster Posey hit his 20th home run.

— Ricky Nolasco tossed a four-hitter and visiting Miami blanked Washington 8-0. It’s the second time in two weeks the veteran right-hander shut out the major league-leading Nationals. Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton homered for the third straight day.

— Atlanta creeps within 5 ½ games of East leader Washington with a 3-2, 10-inning victory over the Mets in New York. Brian McCann homered and drove in the go-ahead run in the final frame, giving the Braves their fifth straight victory.

— Allen Craig’s RBI single with two outs in the 10th inning lifted St. Louis past Milwaukee 5-4 as the Cardinals avoid a three-game sweep by the visiting Brewers. The Cards ended a three-game skid and still hold their slim lead for the second NL wild-card spot.

— Matt Dominguez hit a three-run homer and the Houston Astros slowed Cincinnati’s run to the NL Central title with a 5-1 win over the Reds. Tyler Greene added a solo shot for the winners.

— San Diego clubbed Arizona 8-2. Chase Headley hit a grand slam to extend his career-bests to 27 homers and an NL-high 102 RBIs. Headley and Carlos Quentin connected on the Padres’ first back-to-back homers this season.

— Alfonso Soriano hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning to give the Cubs the go-ahead runs and Chicago completed a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 4-2 win. Josh Vitters and Anthony Recker hit solo home runs for the Cubs in the fourth. Andrew McCutchen went deep for the Pirates.

15th Grand Slam for Serena…Djokovic bounces back big time

NEW YORK (AP) — Serena Williams beat No. 1-ranked Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 for her fourth U.S. Open championship and 15th Grand Slam title overall. Williams improved to 26-1 since a first-round exit at the French Open in late May, winning Wimbledon and the London Olympics.

It was the first three-set women’s final at the U.S. Open since 1995, and Williams came through with a late charge. She is the first woman to win Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in the same season since she did it a decade ago.

Williams trails Steffi Graf’s all-time record of 22 Grand Slams. Martina Navratilova is next on the list with 18 Slams.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic found his game overnight and went out and beat No. 4 seed David Ferrer 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 to earn a berth in the U.S. Open final. The second-seeded Serb trailed 5-2 in the opening set Saturday when bad weather forced them off the court at Flushing Meadows.

Djokovic will play Andy Murray for the title this afternoon in New York. The third seed beat No. 6 seed Tomas Berdych in four sets Saturday. Murray, the Olympic champ, is stalking his first major.

PGA champ goes back to back in playoffs

CARMEL, Ind. (AP) — Fresh off a victory in the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston, Rory McIlroy beat Lee Westwood and Phil Mickelson by two strokes at the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick near Indianapolis. McIlroy closed with a 5-under-par 67 to finish minus 20 for the tournament. Westwood carded a 69 and Mickelson signed for a 70.

Tiger Woods shot a 68 and finished three shots back in a tie for fourth place with Robert Garrigus, who had a 69.

McIlroy became the first player since Woods in 2009 to win in consecutive weeks on the PGA Tour. He joins Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only players to win at least six tour events before turning 24.

The top 30 in the FedEx standings will play in the Tour Championship Sept. 20-23 at East Lake in Atlanta.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
N-Y Yankees 13 Baltimore 3
Toronto 4 Boston 3
Tampa Bay 6 Texas 0
Minnesota 8 Cleveland 7
Kansas City 2 Chi White Sox 1, 10 Innings
L.A. Angels 3 Detroit 2
Oakland 4 Seattle 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Philadelphia 3 Colorado 2 (first game)
Philadelphia 7 Colorado 4 (second game)
Atlanta 3 N-Y Mets 2, 10 Innings
Houston 5 Cincinnati 1
Chi Cubs 4 Pittsburgh 2
Miami 8 Washington 0
St. Louis 5 Milwaukee 4, 10 Innings
San Diego 8 Arizona 2
San Francisco 4 L.A. Dodgers 0
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Atlanta 40 Kansas City 24
N-Y Jets 48 Buffalo 28
Chicago 41 Indianapolis 21
Minnesota 26 Jacksonville 23, OT
Houston 30 Miami 10
New England 34 Tennessee 13
Philadelphia 17 Cleveland 16
Detroit 27 St. Louis 23
Washington 40 New Orleans 32
Tampa Bay 16 Carolina 10
San Francisco 30 Green Bay 22
Arizona 20 Seattle 16
Denver 31 Pittsburgh 19