ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis is looking to bounce back from yesterday’s 3-2 loss to visiting Washington in the opener of their National League Division Series. The defending World Series champion Cardinals are going with 7-7 Jamie Garcia for Game 2 in the best-of-five playoffs matchup. The Nationals are countering with 12-8 Jordan Zimmerman.

BALTIMORE (AP) — Baltimore sends rookie Wei-Yin Chen to the home mound tonight for Game 2 of the Orioles’ American League Division Series against the Yankees, who will hand the ball to veteran lefty Andy Pettitte. New York won last night’s opener 7-2.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Terry Francona was introduced today as the 42nd manager in Cleveland Indians history. The two-time World Series winner with the Boston Red Sox signed a four-year contract because he says he wants to stick around long enough to help the struggling Indians turn things around. Francona was hired over the weekend.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The euphoria in Pittsburgh following the Steelers’ last-second win over Philadelphia is fading fast. The Steelers say star safety Troy Polamalu will not play Thursday night at Tennessee after aggravating a calf injury early in Sunday’s game with the Eagles. And linebacker LaMarr Woodley is doubtful for this week’s game due to a hamstring injury.

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — There’s no official word from the Redskins, but backup quarterback Kirk Cousins says Robert Griffin III looks fine a day after suffering a concussion in a loss to Atlanta. Washington’s star rookie quarterback will have to go through the NFL’s return-to-play protocol and be declared symptom free before he’s allowed back on the field.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
N-Y Yankees at Baltimore 7:07 p.m.

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Washington at St. Louis 3:37 p.m.

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Houston at N-Y Jets 7:30 p.m.

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PRESEASON
Utah at Golden State 9:30 p.m.

Yanks and Nats take openers…Tigers and Reds gain 2-0 leads

UNDATED (AP) — After waiting out a lengthy rain delay, the New York Yankees pinned a 7-2 loss on the Orioles in Game 1 of their AL Division Series.

It was a lot closer than the score might indicate.

Russell Martin’s leadoff home run in the top of the ninth inning snapped a 2-2 tie and triggered a five-run outburst.

Yankee ace CC Sabathia allowed two runs and eight hits in 8 2-3 innings to help the Bronx Bombers take the edge off Baltimore’s first home playoff game since 1997.

The two teams will be back on the field in Camden Yards tonight for Game 2 in the best-of-seven series. Yanks starter Andy Pettitte will bring 42 games of playoff experience into tonight’s outing. Orioles rookie Wei-Yin Chen will be making his postseason debut.

The Tigers overcame three A’s leads and beat the Athletics 5-4 to grab a 2-0 advantage in their best-of-five AL Division Series.

The outcome was in doubt until the last swing of the bat. Detroit’s Don Kelly snapped a 4-4 tie with a ninth-inning sacrifice fly after the Athletics intentionally walked Prince Fielder to load the bases. Kelly was inserted as a pinch runner in the eighth inning and scored the tying run on a wild pitch.

Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera doubled twice for the Tigers, hit a fly ball in the seventh inning that resulted in a two-run error by A’s outfielder Coco Crisp and singled in the ninth.

The Tigers will go for the sweep on Tuesday in Oakland, where they’ll also play games 4 and 5, if necessary.

The Nationals rallied to a 3-2 victory over the Cardinals in Game 1 of their National League Division Series. Tyler Moore’s two-run pinch-hit single in the top of the eighth proved to be the game winner. It’s the first postseason victory for a Washington-based baseball team since 1933.

The Nationals overcame a wild start by 21-game winner Gio Gonzalez, then watched their bullpen shut down St. Louis in the late innings. Gonzalez walked seven and hit a batter in his five innings. But the Cardinals managed just three hits all day.

Game 2 of this series is scheduled for this afternoon in Busch Stadium. The Nats send Jordan Zimmermann to the mound against Jaime Garcia.

The visiting Reds routed the Giants 9-zip to grab a 2-0 lead in their NLDS. Bronson Arroyo and two relievers combined on the two-hitter.

Arroyo limited San Francisco to one hit over seven dominating innings. Ryan Ludwick homered and Ryan Hanigan drove in three runs for Cincinnati. They’ll play Game 3 in the Queen City on Tuesday.

Falcons fly to 5-0…Brees gets TD record and a victory

UNDATED (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons are 5-0 for the first time in franchise history. Michael Turner ran for a 13-yard touchdown with 2:46 left to give the Falcons a hard-fought 24-17 win at Washington. The Redskins eighth straight home loss leaves them at 2-3.

Winning quarterback Matt Ryan completed 34 of 52 pass attempts for 345 yards. Tight end Tony Gonzalez caught 13 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown.

Redskins signal caller Robert Griffin III left the game early in the third quarter after being hit in the head. Coach Mike Shanahan said RGIII suffered a mild concussion and he will be re-evaluated Monday.

Besides Atlanta, the only other undefeated team is Houston. The Texans play at the New York Jets on Monday night.

In other Week 5 action:

__ In the Sunday night game, New Orleans QB Drew Brees tossed four TD passes in the Saints’ 31-24 win over San Diego, their first win of the season. In the process, Brees set an NFL record with touchdown passes in 48 straight games, breaking the mark set by Johnny Unitas a half-century ago. The record-setting scoring strike was a 40-yard pass to Devery Henderson in the first quarter. Brees finished 29 of 45 for 370 yards.

__ With their coach Chuck Pagano being treated for leukemia, the Indianapolis Colts gutted out a 30-27 win over Green Bay. Rookie QB Andrew Luck hit Reggie Wayne with a 4-yard TD pass with 35 seconds left for the winning score. The Colts are 2-2.

__ The San Francisco 49ers put it all together in their 45-3 rout of Buffalo. The Niners amassed a franchise-record 621 yards total offense, with Alex Smith throwing for 303 and three TDs. Frank Gore ran for 106 yards and a TD.

__ The New York Giants roared back from an early 14-0 hole to wallop Cleveland 41-27. Victor Cruz caught three TDs. Ahmad Bradshaw ran for a season-high 200 yards for the 3-2 Giants.

__Minnesota is a surprising 4-1 after routing Tennessee 30-7, dropping the Titans to 1-3. Percy Harvin had one TD rushing and caught a TD pass.

__ Pittsburgh won Pennsylvania bragging rights after beating visiting Philadelphia 16-14 on Shaun Suisham’s 34-yard field goal as time expired. The Steelers are 2-2.

__ In a low-scoring tussle, Baltimore used three Justin Tucker field goals to beat Kansas City to improve to 4-1.

__ After suffering back-to-back overtime losses, the visiting Dolphins hung on to beat the Bengals 17-14. Rookie Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill threw for 223 yards.

— Charles Tillman and Lance Briggs returned interceptions for touchdowns — their second in six days — and the Chicago Bears used stifling defense to overwhelm the Jacksonville Jaguars 41-3.

__ Seattle improved to 3-2 by rallying for a 16-12 road victory at Carolina. Russell Wilson threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Golden Tate with 35 seconds left in the third quarter.

Wild finish at Talladega

TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — A spectacular last-lap crash allowed Matt Kenseth to grab the checkered flag at Talladega Superspeedway. Defending NASCAR champion Tony Stewart triggered a 25-car pileup as he tried to protect the lead. His bid to block a long line of traffic on the last lap backfired, and his car was sent sailing through the air in a chaotic crash that collected 10 of the 12 title contenders.

Jeff Gordon finished second and Kyle Busch was third.

Points leader Brad Keselowski was seventh, increasing his advantage over Jimmie Johnson to 14 points.

AP source: talks resuming this week

NEW YORK (AP) — The NHL and the players’ association are expected to resume labor negotiations this week in New York.

The sides are likely to meet Wednesday and Thursday in New York, a union spokesman told The Associated Press in an email. The plans and the agenda are expected to be worked out Monday.

Officials on both sides were in contact over the weekend, leading to the meetings.

The lockout is entering its fourth week. The NHL canceled the first two weeks of the regular season Thursday, wiping out 82 games from Oct. 11-24.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Detroit 5 Oakland 4
N-Y Yankees 7 Baltimore 2

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Washington 3 St. Louis 2
Cincinnati 9 San Francisco 0

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Atlanta 24 Washington 17
Baltimore 9 Kansas City 6
N-Y Giants 41 Cleveland 27
Indianapolis 30 Green Bay 27
Miami 17 Cincinnati 13
Pittsburgh 16 Philadelphia 14
Chicago 41 Jacksonville 3
Seattle 16 Carolina 12
San Francisco 45 Buffalo 3
New England 31 Denver 21
Minnesota 30 Tennessee 7
New Orleans 31 San Diego 24

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PRESEASON
Charlotte 100 Washington 88
Atlanta 92 Miami 79
New Orleans 85 Orlando 80
Golden State 110 L-A Lakers 83

Jim Tracy has resigned as manager of the Colorado Rockies. After meeting with the front office over the weekend, Tracy tendered his resignation after three-plus seasons at the helm. Tracy’s tenure began with great success. He took over in May of 2009 and piloted the Rockies to a stunning turnaround that ended with a franchise record for wins, a Wild Card berth, and the National League’s Manager of the Year award. But the Rockies went from 92 wins to 83 in 2010, 73 in 2011, and a franchise low 64 wins this past season. After the 2011 season, Tracy and the Rockies agreed on an ‘indefinite extension’ that would have allowed Tracy to have a role with the organization as long as he wanted. But after a season of failure on the field and front office turmoil off the field, the 56 year-old Tracy decided now was the time to depart.

The quarterback was different, but the result remained the same for the Denver Broncos against the New England Patriots. The Patriots defeated the Broncos 31-21 in Foxborough yesterday, their third win over Denver in the last two seasons. The final score doesn’t indicate just how dominant the Patriots were through the first three quarters as they built a 31-7 lead. But the Broncos scored twice in the fourth quarter and were trying to make it a three-point game when Willis McGahee fumbled in the red zone with just under four minutes left. Peyton Manning threw for 354 yards and three touchdowns, one each to Joel Dreessen, Eric Decker and Brandon Stokely, in the loss. The Broncos fall to 2-3 on the season. They’re in action on Monday Night Football next week, in an AFC West battle in San Diego against the Chargers.

For the first time in the history of the USA Today Coaches Poll, there are zero Big Ten teams in the top 25. Nebraska fell out of that poll after the 63-38 shellacking they took from Ohio State in Columbus on Saturday. The Buckeyes, the conference’s lone unbeaten team, are ranked in the AP poll, but are not eligible for the Coaches Poll due to their current NCAA sanctions. The Huskers are also out of the AP poll, where two Big Ten teams appear – Ohio State at number 8 and Michigan at number 25. The Huskers have a bye week to lick their wounds after allowing the most points in the Bo Pelini era. They’ll likely spend the bye scheming to stop mobile quarterbacks. They had no luck with Ohio State’s Braxton Miller, and in their next two games, they’ll see Northwestern’s Kain Colter and Michigan’s Denard Robinson.

The Denver Broncos will be without linebacker D.J. Williams until mid-November after the NFL added three games to his suspension Friday.

Williams was punished for violating the league’s policy and program for substances of abuse following his conviction in August of driving while ability impaired.

He already was serving a six-game suspension to start the season for violating the league’s banned-substances policy after the NFL said he supplied a “non-human” urine sample during an offseason drug test.

Williams, the team’s leading tackler in four of the last five seasons, won’t be eligible to return to the Broncos until Nov. 12.

The Broncos were flying to New England for their game against the Patriots when the new suspension was handed down.

Saturday
BASEBALL
Division Series
AL: Oakland at Detroit, 5:07 p.m.

NL: Cincinnati at San Francisco, 8:37 p.m.

TOP 25 FOOTBALL
No. 2 Oregon vs. No. 23 Washington, 9:30 p.m.

No. 3 Florida State at N.C. State, 7 p.m.

No. 4 LSU at No. 10 Florida, 2:30 p.m.

No. 5 Georgia at No. 6 South Carolina, 6 p.m.

No. 7 Kansas State vs. Kansas, 11 a.m.

No. 8 West Virginia at No. 11 Texas, 6 p.m.

No. 9 Notre Dame vs. Miami at Chicago, 6:30 p.m.

No. 12 Ohio State vs. No. 21 Nebraska, 7 p.m.

No. 14 Oregon State vs. Washington State, 5 p.m.

No. 15 Clemson vs. Georgia Tech, 2:30 p.m.

No. 15 TCU vs. Iowa State, 2:30 p.m.

No. 17 Oklahoma at Texas Tech, 2:30 p.m.

No. 18 Stanford vs. Arizona, 2 p.m.

No. 20 Mississippi State at Kentucky, 11:21 a.m.

No. 22 Rutgers vs. UConn, 11 a.m.

No. 24 Northwestern at Penn State, 11 a.m.

No. 25 UCLA at California, 9 p.m.

NBA PRESEASON
Dallas at Alba Berlin (Germany), 1 p.m.

Real Madrid (Spain) at Memphis, 7 p.m.

Montepaschi Siena (Italy) at San Antonio, 7:30 p.m.

Denver vs. L.A. Clippers at Las Vegas, 9:30 p.m.

MOTORSPORTS
Formula One, Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka, 12 a.m.

NHRA, Auto-Plus Nationals Qualifying, Mohnton, Pa., 10 a.m.

NASCAR Sprint Cup, Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 Qualifying, Talladega, Ala., 11:15 a.m.

NASCAR Camping World Trucks, Fred’s 250, Talladega, Ala., 4 p.m.

Sunday
BASEBALL
Division Series
Times TBA
AL: Oakland at Detroit

AL: New York at Baltimore or Texas

NL: Cincinnati at San Francisco

NL: Washington at St. Louis or Atlanta

NFL
Baltimore at Kansas City, 12 p.m.

Atlanta at Washington, 12 p.m.

Philadelphia at Pittsburgh, 12 p.m.

Green Bay at Indianapolis, 12 p.m.

Cleveland at N.Y. Giants, 12 p.m.

Miami at Cincinnati, 12 p.m.

Seattle at Carolina, 3:05 p.m.

Chicago at Jacksonville, 3:05 p.m.

Buffalo at San Francisco, 3:25 p.m.

Tennessee at Minnesota, 3:25 p.m.

Denver at New England, 3:25 p.m. (LISTEN LIVE on ESPN Radio 1410)

San Diego at New Orleans, 7:20 p.m.

NBA PRESEASON
Boston at EA7 Emporio Armani Milano (Italy), 11 a.m.

Washington at Charlotte, 12 p.m.

Miami at Atlanta, 1 p.m.

Orlando vs. New Orleans at Mexico City, 1:30 p.m.

Golden State vs. L.A. Lakers at Fresno, Calif., 9 p.m.

MOTORSPORTS
Formula One, Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka, 1 a.m.

NHRA, Auto-Plus Nationals, Mohnton, Pa., 10 a.m.

NASCAR Sprint Cup, Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500, Talladega, Ala., 1 p.m.