Farrell introduced as new Red Sox manager 

Getting ready in the City by the Bay

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Giants and well-rested Tigers will work out today at AT&T Park ahead of tomorrow’s World Series opener.

San Francisco earned its berth in the Fall Classic with last night’s 9-0 shutout of the St. Louis Cardinals in the decisive seventh game of the National League Championship Series.

Detroit has been off since completing a four-game ALCS sweep of the New York Yankees on Thursday.

The home team plans to send left-hander Barry Zito to the mound to face Tigers ace Justin Verlander in Game 1 of the best-of-seven title showdown.

San Francisco has home-field advantage thanks to the NL’s victory in this summer’s All-Star game.

Another Giant pennant

UNDATED (AP) — After a pair of playoff comebacks, the Giants are in the World Series.

San Francisco hammered visiting St. Louis 9-0 in last night’s seventh game of the National League Championship Series to earn a second trip to the Fall Classic in three years. Everybody in the Giants’ starting lineup had collected an RBI and/or scored a run by the end of the third inning.

Cards starting pitcher Kyle Lohse was chased in the third. He was charged with five runs and six hits.

Series MVP Marco Scutaro was the Giants’ offensive spark. The veteran second baseman went 3-for-4 with a walk and a run scored. Scutaro hit .500 in the series and had at least two hits in six of the seven games.

The Cardinals experienced an offensive meltdown over the last three games, scoring just once after averaging 5.6 runs during their first nine postseason games. The defending World Series champions went 1-4 in potential series clinchers.

It’s the 20th pennant for the Giants, who earned it by becoming only the seventh team to win a league championship series after trailing three games to one. San Francisco was down 2-0 in the best-of-five NLDS before winning three straight from the Reds in Cincinnati.

The Giants will host the AL champion Detroit Tigers for Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday.

Bears top Lions

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Bears generated just enough offense to complement another outstanding defensive performance.

Brian Urlacher, Julius Peppers and Zack Bowman each recovered one of Detroit’s six fumbles and the Bears improved to 5-1 by silencing the Lions 13-7. The Bears forced four turnovers to stop a Detroit team that actually outgained Chicago 340 yards to 296. D.J. Moore helped secure the victory by intercepting Matthew Stafford at the Chicago three yard line with 2:39 remaining.

The Lions never got into the end zone until the final minute. They also lost wide receiver Nate Burleson to a broken right leg.

The Bears were leading 10-0 when quarterback Jay Cutler suffered bruised ribs in the second quarter and had to leave the game. Cutler came back to start the second half and finished 16 of 31 for 150 yards and a touchdown as the Bears dropped the Lions to 2-4.

Brandon Marshall caught six passes for 81 yards and scored a touchdown on Chicago’s first possession. Matt Forte ran for 96 yards to lead the Bears’ ground game.

Miller sore but OK…Thompson done for the season

UNDATED (AP) — Ohio State coach Urban Meyer says star quarterback Braxton Miller has a sore neck yet is expected to return to practice on Tuesday.

Miller lay motionless for several minutes after being thrown to the turf by Purdue defensive back Josh Johnson late in the third quarter of the ninth-ranked Buckeyes’ dramatic 29-22 overtime win on Saturday. He was carted to the locker room and then taken to the hospital where he was treated and released.

Kenny Guiton came on for Miller and led Ohio State to its eighth victory in a row under first-year coach Meyer. Miller is listed as the starter at quarterback for Saturday’s game at Penn State.

In other college football news:

— Suspended defensive tackle Stacy McGee has been reinstated and should make his season debut for No. 8 Oklahoma on Saturday night against fifth-ranked Notre Dame. Coach Bob Stoops says McGee has been practicing with the scout team during his suspension and there’s no reason he wouldn’t be ready to play against the Fighting Irish. McGee played in 12 games for the Sooners last season and started three times.

— Eleventh-ranked Florida State will play out the season with their leading rusher on the sidelines. The Seminoles say versatile running back Chris Thompson is out for the rest of the season after injuring his left knee in Saturday’s win over Miami. Thompson missed much of the 2011 season with two broken vertebrae.

Tonight on ESPN Radio 1410 it’s the regular season finale for the North Platte Bulldog volleyball team. The Bulldogs welcome Grand Island to the Dawghouse just three days after defeating the Islanders at a triangular in Kearney. North Platte is a perfect 5-0 on their home floor this season. Coverage starts with the pregame show at approximately 6:45, leading up to the first serve at 7 PM.

Husker senior running back Rex Burkhead is questionable for Saturday’s crucial home clash with Michigan. Burkhead re-aggravated the left knee injury he initially suffered in the season opener against Southern Mississippi and that knocked him out of the Ohio State game. At his press conference yesterday, Husker head coach Bo Pelini called Burkhead ‘day-to-day’ and said this injury was less severe than it had been two weeks ago. The Huskers and Wolverines kick off at 7 PM Saturday night.

For the third time this season, Nebraska junior quarterback Taylor Martinez was named the Big Ten’s Offensive Player of the Week. Martinez led one of the largest fourth-quarter comebacks in school history on Saturday, as the Huskers came back from 12 points down to beat Northwestern 29-28. He completed 27 of 39 passes for 329 yards and three touchdowns, while rushing for 65 yards and a score. The passing yardage total was the second-best single-game mark of Martinez’s career.

The bracket for the NJCAA Region IX Division II volleyball tournament at North Platte’s McDonald-Belton Gymnasium has been released. With the addition of a fourth team to the tournament, a round-robin format will be used. All four teams will play against each other once, with the top two teams after round-robin play playing in the championship match. The Lady Knights face Southeast when the tournament opens Thursday night at 7 PM. They’ll play twice the next day; against Dawson at 11 AM and Central at 7 PM. The championship match is Saturday at 1 PM.

The Denver Broncos secondary should be bolstered after the bye week. Cornerback Tracy Porter expects to return to the lineup Sunday to face his old team, the New Orleans Saints. Porter missed Denver’s last game, two Monday’s previous in San Diego, because of an undisclosed illness. The Broncos host the Saints on Sunday Night Football this week. It’s already Denver’s fourth appearance in a prime time game this season.

The Colorado Rockies have hired Mark Wiley for the newly created position of director of pitching operations. Wiley has spent 43 years in the game of baseball, including the 2006 and 2007 campaigns with the Rockies as a special assistant of baseball operations. He has spent the last five seasons with the Miami Marlins, the first two as pitching coach and the last three as special assistant to the GM. Wiley will be charged with coordinating the development of pitchers throughout the Rockies organization. The team’s search for a manager is still ongoing.

Can the Giants do it again?

UNDATED (AP) — Major League Baseball is going to have a third winner-take-all game in four postseason series, and it’ll be played tonight in San Francisco.

The Giants pushed the NLCS to a decisive seventh game by beating the visiting Cardinals 6-1. It’s San Francisco’s second straight win with their backs to the wall and fifth elimination-game victory of the playoffs. They spotted the Reds a 2-00 lead in the best-of-five NLDS before sweeping the final three games in Cincinnati.

The Giants send Matt Cain to the mound. The veteran right-hander got the win in the decisive fifth game of the NLDS but lost to St. Louis in Game 3 of the NLCS in his last appearance.

The Cards are going with Game 3 winner Kyle Lohse.

Panthers boot general manager

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Panthers have fired general manager Marty Hurney following the team’s 1-5 start this season.

Panthers owner Jerry Richardson says in release that it was an “extremely difficult decision” and that “Marty made every effort to bring success to the Panthers and took the team to a Super Bowl and two NFC championship games.” He says “unfortunately, we have not enjoyed the success we hoped for in recent years.”

Carolina has not made the playoffs since 2008.

Hurney, the Panthers’ GM since 2002, took responsibility for the team’s failures in the release saying, “I am responsible for everybody in coaching, the players, the scouts and everybody in football operations. After six weeks, we are 1-5 coming off a 6-10 season.”

Longstanding rivals close out Week 7

CHICAGO (AP) — The Bears will be trying to solidify their spot atop the NFC North tonight when they host the division-rival Lions. Chicago is 4-1 coming off its bye week. The Lions halted a three-game losing streak last week by rallying for an overtime victory against Philadelphia and are 2-3.

Emotions boiled over the last time these two teams met at Soldier Field while the Bears were beating the Lions 37-13, and it’s a good bet sparks will be flying again tonight.

Taking care of the ball will be one of Detroit’s biggest priorities. Chicago’s opportunistic defense is tied with undefeated Atlanta for most takeaways in the league, with 13 interceptions and four fumble recoveries. The Bears overall defense is tops in the conference while their offense is dead last. The Lions have the second-best defense in the NFC and their offense is ranked 11th in the 16-team conference.

Wildcats pass Ducks

NEW YORK (AP) — Kansas State has moved ahead of Oregon for No. 3 in the new BCS poll, behind SEC rivals Alabama and Florida.

The Wildcats’ big victory Saturday at West Virginia was enough to nudge them past the Ducks, who are No. 2 in both polls but are getting held back by computer ratings that lag behind the other highly ranked teams.

The Crimson Tide is still solidly in first, and Florida grabbed a firmer grip on second with a 44-11 victory over South Carolina on Saturday.

The Gators are tops in the computer ratings and Kansas State is second. The Wildcats beat West Virginia 55-14 for their third Big 12 road victory.

Fourth-place Oregon is coming off a 43-21 win at Arizona State and sits sixth in the computer ratings.

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYOFFS CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
St. Louis at San Francisco 7:07 p.m.
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Detroit at Chicago 7:30 p.m.
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PRESEASON
Milwaukee at Toronto 6:00 p.m.
New York at Philadelphia 6:00 p.m.
New Orleans at Dallas 7:30 p.m.
Sacramento at Phoenix 9:00 p.m.
Utah at Portland 9:00 p.m.
Golden State at L-A Clippers 9:30 p.m.