The men in stripes are back

BALTIMORE (AP) —There was a sigh of relief across the NFL and two big cheers in Baltimore last night. The second cheer from Ravens fans was for their team’s 23-16 win over the Browns that came down to the final play. The first was for the return of the league’s regular officials, who received a standing ovation just before kickoff.

Gene Steratore’s officiating crew was the first to work an NFL game since the league ended its lockout late Wednesday night and reached a tentative contract agreement with the referees’ union. M&T Bank Stadium erupted in cheers after Steratore brought the captains of the Browns and Ravens together for the coin toss, turned on his microphone and said, “Good evening men. It’s good to be back.”

Joe Flacco was sharp for the Ravens, completing 28 of 46 for 356 yards. He also threw for a touchdown and ran for another as Baltimore improved to 3-1 with its ninth straight win over Cleveland.

Cary Williams returned an interception 63 yards for a score near the end of the third quarter to give the Ravens a 13-point lead.

The Browns had a chance to tie the game until rookie Brandon Weeden sailed a throw out of the end zone with no time left, one play before the Ravens were penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct on fourth-and-10.

The game ended about 24 hours after the league and the officials’ union reached a tentative eight-year agreement, halting the three-month lockout.

Commissioner Roger Goodell apologized to the fans for putting them through the lockout that forced the use of replacement official, but he maintained it was necessary to get the kind of deal the league needs for the future. Goodell also played down how much Monday’s Green Bay-Seattle game played into the final agreement, saying the pressure had been on both sides already.

Blue Jays play spoiler…Dickey gets No. 20…Reds, Tigers win

UNDATED (AP) — The Toronto Blue Jays are doing a terrific job as spoilers in the American League East race.

Fresh off a four-game split of second-place Baltimore, the Jays have opened a four-game series with the division-leading Yankees by trouncing New York 6-0. The outcome leaves the Yankees and Orioles separated by just one game with six remaining.

Brandon Morrow allowed four hits in seven innings to lower his ERA to 3.09. Brett Lawrie opened the scoring with a two-run homer before Edwin Encarnacion added a two-run double and three RBIs.

The Rangers and Tigers were able to pad their division leads.

Texas is four games ahead of second-place Oakland in the West following a 9-7 win over the Athletics. Ian Kinsler hit a leadoff homer before Mike Napoli capped the Rangers’ five-run first with a two-run blast. Matt Harrison allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings to become the Rangers’ first 18-game winner since Kenny Rogers in 2004.

The White Sox are two games behind Detroit after Evan Longoria homered in the ninth inning of Tampa Bay’s 3-2 win at Chicago. The White Sox wasted a nice outing by Jake Peavy, who held the Rays to two runs and only four hits in 7 1/3 innings.

The Tigers blew a 4-0 lead before Alex Avila’s RBI grounder in the bottom of the ninth gave Detroit a 5-4 triumph over Kansas City. Doug Fister set an AL record by striking out nine straight batters but had to settle for a no-decision after yielding two runs and five hits over 7 2/3 innings.

The Angels remain two games behind the A’s in the battle for the final AL wild-card slot. John Jaso hit a two-run homer and an RBI double as the Mariners whipped the Halos 9-4 in Anaheim. Los Angeles had won five straight and an AL-best 16 of 23 this month.

Over to the National League, where R.A. Dickey made a strong statement for the National League Cy Young award this afternoon by becoming the majors’ second 20-game winner.

Dickey allowed three runs over 7 2/3 innings and tied a career high with 13 strikeouts as the New York Mets downed Pittsburgh 6-5. David Wright’s tiebreaking, three-run homer helped Dickey become the first knuckleballer since Joe Niekro in 1980 to win 20 games in a season.

Dickey leads the league with 222 strikeouts and is second to Washington’s Gio Gonzalez in victories. His 2.69 ERA is just one-hundredth of a point higher than NL-leader Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers.

Gio Gonzalez picked up his 21st victory in Washington’s 7-3 win at Philadelphia, which reduced the Nationals’ magic number for clinching the NL East to three over Atlanta. Michael Morse homered twice and Bryce Harper smacked his 21st round-tripper to support Gonzalez, who allowed three runs in six innings.

The Braves were 6-2 winners against Miami as Tommy Hanson allowed one earned run and six hits in 5 1/3 innings for his first victory since July. Dan Uggla and Andrelton Simmons hit RBI doubles to spark a four-run fourth before left fielder Bryan Peterson dropped a line drive to bring home two more runs.

In other NL play, A.J. Ellis and Luis Cruz drove in two runs apiece as the Dodgers beat San Diego 8-4 to pull within three games of St. Louis for the second wild-card berth with six games remaining. Chris Capuano pitched into the sixth inning, limiting the Padres to a run and five hits.

The Brewers were one out from boosting their sagging playoff hopes before John Axford blew a 1-0 lead and lost 2-1 at Cincinnati. Todd Frazier tied the game with a homer and Dioner Navarro followed with a game-winning triple that dropped the Brewers four games behind St. Louis for the final NL wild-card berth with six games remaining.

San Francisco won its final home game of the regular season as Hunter Pence and Marco Scouter each hit two-run homers in the second inning of a 7-3 win against Arizona. Barry Zito won his fourth straight start and sixth consecutive decision, allowing three runs in six innings to improve to 14-8.

A bad Acta

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Cleveland Indians have fired manager Manny Acta and replaced him with bench coach Sandy Alomar on an interim basis with six games left in the season.

Acta was 214-266 in nearly three seasons with the Indians, who are just 21-50 in the second half this season. He had one season left on his contract.

New skipper for Houston

HOUSTON (AP) — Washington Nationals third base coach Bo Porter will become the Houston Astros’ manager once the postseason ends. The Astros have named him as their skipper for the 2013 season, their first as an American League club.

Porter replaces Brad Mills who was fired last month.

Europe looks to start fast, quiet Ryder Cup crowd

MEDINAH, Ill. (AP) — Leading off with its strongest team, world No. 1 Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell, Europe has begun defense of the Ryder Cup.

Loud chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” greeted the Northern Irishmen and the American duo of Jim Furyk and Ryder Cup Brandt Snedeker as they walked onto the first tee at Medinah Country Club.

McDowell, who delivered the winning point for Europe two years ago, hit the first shot and it sailed way left, coming to rest beneath a tree near the corporate hospitality tents that line the fairway. Furyk’s drive wasn’t much better, also bouncing into the gallery.

The other alternate-shot matches are Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley vs. Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia; Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson vs. Lee Westwood and Francesco Molinari; and Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods vs. Ian Poulter and Justin Rose.

Huskies rally to beat Cardinal

UNDATED (AP) — Stanford can expect to slide in the AP college football poll next Monday.

Kasen Williams took a quick screen pass from Keith Price and raced 35 yards for the go-ahead score with 4:53 left as Washington rallied to beat the eighth-ranked Cardinal 17-13. The Huskies trailed 13-3 until running back Bishop Sankey ran for a 61-yard touchdown late in the third quarter.

It was Washington’s first win over a Top 10 ranked opponent since its upset of then-No. 3 USC back in 2009.

Entire pre-season canceled; Tavares to Swiss club

NEW YORK (AP) — NHL season ticket holders won’t have to pay for exhibition games next month. The league has canceled the rest of the preseason, just a day before negotiations were set to resume in an effort to end the lockout. Negotiators are expected to spend tomorrow working on secondary economic issues as opposed to the core of the dispute, which is how to split more than $3 billion in annual revenue.

The NHL had already called off all the exhibition games scheduled in September. The regular season is supposed to begin on Oct. 11.

Meanwhile, the Swiss hockey club Bern says it has signed New York Islanders center John Tavares during the NHL lockout.

Tavares will join Islanders captain Mark Streit, arguably Switzerland’s best export to the NHL, at the club. Bern says the 22-year-old Canadian will arrive in Switzerland Tuesday and start training the next day.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Detroit 5 Kansas City 4
Texas 9 Oakland 7
Seattle 9 L.A. Angels 4
Toronto 6 N-Y Yankees 0
Tampa Bay 3 Chi White Sox 2

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Cincinnati 2 Milwaukee 1
N-Y Mets 6 Pittsburgh 5
Colorado 7 Chi Cubs 5
San Francisco 7 Arizona 3
Washington 7 Philadelphia 3
Atlanta 6 Miami 2
L.A. Dodgers 8 San Diego 4

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Baltimore 23 Cleveland 16