Djokovic rallies to beat Murray in Shanghai final

SHANGHAI (AP) -- Novak Djokovic saved five match points in the second set before outlasting two-time defending champion Andy Murray 5-7, 7-6 (11), 6-3 on Sunday in the Shanghai Masters final.

In another entertaining matchup between the two U.S. Open finalists, Djokovic seemed headed for defeat when Murray was serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set.

But the second-ranked Serb saved one match point in that game before breaking back for 5-5. He then saved four more in a tense tiebreaker and carried his momentum into the deciding set, breaking the Briton twice to earn his fifth title of the year.

''I won the match. But, you know, as spectators could see, we were very close,'' Djokovic said. ''It was a very even match throughout the whole three sets. He was so close to the victory that I cannot say I was the better player.''

It was Murray's first loss in Shanghai in 13 matches.

Murray, who beat Djokovic in five sets at Flushing Meadows for his first Grand Slam title, saved two match points in the final game, but sent a backhand long on the third.

''It was a disappointing one to lose,'' Murray said. ''I've lost tougher matches than that before in the biggest events. So I'm sure I'll recover from it pretty well.

''It's not like I threw the match away. I didn't make, I don't think, any real glaring errors or anything.''

In a matchup of two of the game's best returners, both players struggled to hold serve early, trading breaks three times, and were tied 4-4 in the first set.

When Djokovic was broken for the fourth time in the 11th game, he lost his cool and shattered his racket by smashing it into the ground four times before slinging it disgustedly toward his sideline chair.

''We are professional tennis players and we're big rivals, but in the end we're humans. We shouldn't be ashamed of our emotions,'' Djokovic said. ''I don't see anything bad in showing your emotions - positive, negative emotions. We can't just be flat-faced throughout the whole match.''

The momentum seemed to shift with one audacious shot from the Serb, just as Murray appeared to be closing in on his third straight title at the tournament.

Trailing 5-4 and 30-0 in the second set, Djokovic chased down a lob from Murray and hit a perfect between-the-legs shot, then followed it up with a drop shot to win the point. He went on to save Murray's first match point with a forehand and broke back when the Briton missed a forehand of his own two points later.

In the 20-minute tiebreaker, Djokovic finally prevailed when he converted his fourth set point with a forehand winner.

Murray couldn't recover, and Djokovic broke for a 4-3 lead before winning the next two games to wrap up the win.

Djokovic also beat Murray in five sets in the Australian Open semifinals this year and improved his record against the Briton to 9-7.

''We had an incredible year so far with our matches, big matches in important events,'' Djokovic said. ''He definitely is a different player this year. You could see by the results he's achieved. He's more aggressive on the court and he's definitely a danger to anybody on any surface.''

Manning's 3 TD passes spur Broncos' come

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- It took a quarterback of Peyton Manning's caliber to pull off this kind of comeback.

After the Denver Broncos slogged through a nightmare of a first half, Manning showed that he's still one of the NFL's best.

Manning threw three touchdown passes in the second half and Tony Carter and Chris Harris scored off turnovers by Philip Riversas the Broncos overcame a 24-0 halftime deficit to shock the San Diego Chargers 35-24 on Monday night.

''It sure was special considering what was on the line,'' said Manning, a Super Bowl winner and four-time NFL MVP who's in his first season with the Broncos.

Manning was 13 of 14 for 167 yards in the second half for the Broncos (3-3) who tied the Chargers (3-3) atop the AFC West.

It tied for the fourth-biggest regular-season comeback in NFL history.

Manning had been 1-5 in his last six games against San Diego, all with Indianapolis.

Rivers was intercepted four times - three in the fourth quarter - and lost two fumbles. The four pickoffs and six turnovers were both career-highs.

A week earlier, the Chargers blew a 10-point lead in the third quarter in a 31-24 loss at New Orleans.

''When you lose it's rough, especially in a game where you had a big lead and so much at stake,'' Rivers said.

The Broncos seemed finished after an awful first half in which Manning served up an 80-yard interception return for a touchdown by Quentin Jammer and two special teams fumbles led to 10 points for the Chargers.

''I thought we had a good plan. It was so disappointing to have these special team mistakes,'' Manning said.

Manning began the comeback when he hit Demaryius Thomas on a 29-yard touchdown pass on the opening drive of the second half.

On the ensuing San Diego possession, Elvis Dumervil stripped the ball from Rivers and Carter ran 65 yards for a touchdown, holding up the ball in celebration as he approached the end zone.

Denver then sacked Rivers to force a punt and Manning capped the next drive with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Eric Decker to pull to 24-21.

Manning's 21-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Stokley gave Denver its first lead of the game, 28-24 with 9:03 left. Stokley outleaped defensive back Marcus Gilchrist to catch the ball, and then got both feet down before tumbling out of the end zone.

That score was set up by Carter's interception.

Harris sealed the victory with a 46-yard interception return for a touchdown with 2:05 left. It was his second pick of the game.

''This was as good a second half of football as I've been involved in,'' Broncos coach John Fox said.

As for Manning, ''He's real high on my list,'' the coach said. ''He performed very well and has performed well in the last four games. He's going to keep getting better and better.''

Manning finished 24 of 30 for 309 yards with one interception.

''Regular-season game, I think this is the best,'' said Stokley, who was a teammate of Manning's with the Colts. ''The second half was unbelievable. We needed to win big-time and to perform like he did, it was awesome.''

Fox said there ''were no mystery words of wisdom at halftime. ''Given how poorly we played in the first half, we just said we could play better in the second half and we broke out of it.''

Manning agreed.

''We came out in the second half, everybody was accountable and professional,'' he said. ''We had 30 minutes and I thought it was important to get off to a good start with that first drive. Hitting DT for the touchdown really set the tempo for the second half.''

Jammer intercepted Manning and returned it 80 yards for his first career touchdown, and Antonio Gates caught his second TD pass of the game in the second quarter, extending the Chargers' lead to 24-0.

Before Jammer's TD, the Broncos appeared on their way to their first score of the game with Manning's 55-yard pass to a wide-open Decker. But Decker tripped himself at the Chargers' 40, got up and was tackled at the 30-yard line.

Manning clapped both hands to his helmet in disbelief, one of several times the star quarterback expressed frustration.

''A piece of grass made a nice tackle,'' Manning joked. ''Those kind of plays happen. You do kind of wonder, is this not meant to happen? Obviously Decker was sick about it.

''It's about playing 60 minutes. There's no quit in this team,'' Manning said.

Three plays later, Manning threw a pass straight to Jammer.

Rivers was 25 of 41 for 242 yards.

''We've got to go play a complete game,'' San Diego coach Norv Turner said. ''We've shown through three quarters of a game what we can do.''

NOTES: Both teams are heading into their bye weeks. ... Gates had TD catches of 15 and 11 yards and Nick Novak kicked a 32-yard field goal for San Diego in the first half. ... Decker had six catches for 98 yards while Gates had six catches for 81 yards.

Ibanez hits for A-Rod, homers twice in Yankees win

NEW YORK (AP) -- Down by a run in an all-even AL division series, Joe Girardi approached Alex Rodriguez and told baseball's highest-paid player he was going to pinch hit for him.

Bold move, benching one of the game's great sluggers.

''I just had a gut feeling,'' the Yankees manager said. ''I just went to him and I said, 'You're scuffling a little bit right now, we have got a low-ball hitter and we've got a shorter porch in right field then left field obviously - Raul (Ibanez) has been a good pinch hitter for us, and I'm just going to take a shot.'''

The audacious decision worked.

Ibanez homered in the ninth, then again in the 12th, rallying New York to a stunning 3-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night for a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five series.

The slumping Rodriguez offered no complaint, telling Girardi: ''Joe, you gotta do exactly what you gotta do.''

Injured saves leader Mariano Rivera went to Rodriguez in the dugout after seeing Ibanez head for the on-deck circle.

''I told Alex not to worry, that Raul was going to hit a home run,'' Rivera said.

And Rivera was right next to A-Rod when Ibanez lined Jim Johnson's 1-0 pitch into the right field stands. Rodriguez threw his arms into the air and then exchanged high-fives with Rivera. When Ibanez returned to the bench, Rodriguez was the first player to greet him.

''There was no one happier than me, one of the best performances I have ever seen,'' Rodriguez said.

Yankees fans had been howling this week for Girardi to drop Rodriguez out of the No. 3 spot in the batting order. But Girardi was reluctant to move his fading slugger down in the lineup.

Until he took him all the way out.

''You have to make some decisions sometimes that are tough decisions. I just had a gut feeling,'' Girardi said.

Rodriguez has 647 career home runs - he's chasing the record of 762 by Barry Bonds - and is making $29 million this year. But was just 1 for 12 with no RBIs and seven strikeouts in this series when Girardi pulled him.

''It kind of caught me off-guard, hitting for a guy who's half-a-billionaire,'' Orioles center fielder Adam Jones said.

It was the first time Rodriguez had ever been pinch hit for in a postseason game, according to STATS LLC.

''Sometimes you've got to do what your gut tells you, and my gut told me to make the move,'' Girardi said. ''I still have the utmost respect for Al and I still think he's a great player, he's just going through a little tough time right now.''

Ibanez remained in the game and connected on the first pitch from Brian Matusz in the 12th. He became the first player to homer twice in a postseason game in which he didn't start, STATS said.

Phil Hughes will try to clinch it for the Yankees on Thursday night in Game 4. Joe Saunders will start for Baltimore.

The Orioles had won 16 straight extra-inning games, and had been 76-0 when leading after seven, before the Yankees stung them.

''It was a great experience. We do it as a team. We stay after it,'' Ibanez said. ''I'm blessed to come up and have the opportunity like that. We do it together. It's about a team and about winning.''

The brash, young Orioles appeared poised to move within a win of their first trip to the AL championship series since 1997 before the Yankees' comeback.

Ibanez hit a 1-0 pitch into the seats in the ninth, setting off a raucous celebration in what had been a demoralized Yankee Stadium crowd.

Ibanez at first didn't know who he was hitting for and was a bit startled when Eduardo Nunez told him.

''Alex is one of the best hitters of all time, and he still is,'' Ibanez said. ''I mean, he's one of the greatest players in the history of the game. So for a minute I just thought something was going on, I didn't know what was happening, and then I just tried to put it behind me and get a good pitch to hit.''

After their 10-game July lead was cut to zero in early September, the Yankees repelled every Orioles charge. The teams were tied 10 times in the final month but New York ended up atop the division.

New York won the opener in Baltimore by scoring five runs in the ninth off Johnson, who had 51 saves in the regular season. The Orioles won Game 2 and rode Miguel Gonzalez's pretty performance to a 2-1 lead in the ninth.

''Jimmy is a big-hearted, talented guy that believe me, we'd be at home watching without people like Jim Johnson,'' Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. ''He's a special guy. We're real proud of him, and you'll see him again tomorrow night, I hope.''

The Yankees limited Baltimore to one hit after 20-year-old Manny Machado homered in the fifth. Ryan Flaherty homered earlier for the Orioles.

Robert Andino was doubled off second after leading off the Baltimore ninth with a single and advancing on a sacrifice.

Boone Logan got one out in relief of Hiroki Kuroda, who gave up two solo homers in 8 1-3 innings. Closer Rafael Soriano pitched 1 1-3 innings and David Robertson went two, finishing off his outing by bumping into and tagging Andino to end the top of the 12th.

Derek Jeter tied the score with an RBI triple in the third for the Yankees. Jeter, limping after fouling a ball off his foot, came out after eight innings. He says we will be able to play Thursday.

Girardi will wait and see.

''Well, we've seen what he's been able to do in his career and how he's been able to come back,'' Girardi said. ''Just got to keep our fingers crossed.''

NOTES: Rivera threw out the ceremonial first pitch. ... Flaherty and Machado are first pair of rookie teammates to homer in the same postseason game. At 20 years, 96 days, Machado is the second-youngest player to homer in the postseason behind Yankees OF-DH Andruw Jones, according to STATS. He did it in 1996 for Atlanta, when he was 19 years, 177 days.

A's rally past Tigers 4-3 to force Game 5

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Dog-pile celebrations and whipped cream pies became a regular occurrence this season for the Oakland Athletics.

Perhaps none was as improbable or memorable as this last one, which made sure a season filled with dramatic endings wouldn't end just yet.

Seth Smith hit a game-tying, two-run double off closer Jose Valverde in the ninth inning, Coco Crisp capped Oakland's rally with a two-out RBI single, and the A's staved off elimination for a second straight night with a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers in Game 4 Wednesday night.

''This club, we've been battling the whole year, giving 100 percent, and these walkoffs have been our MO this year,'' Crisp said.

The A's rode a major league-leading 14 walkoff wins in the regular season to an improbable AL West title. Those paled in comparison to No. 15, which set up a win-or-go-home Game 5 against Justin Verlander and the Tigers.

Josh Reddick led off the ninth with a single just under the glove of diving second baseman Omar Infante. Josh Donaldson followed with a double off the wall in left-center and both runners scored on Smith's double. Two outs later, Crisp lined a single and Smith scored easily when right fielder Avisail Garcia couldn't handle the ball.

That set off a raucous celebration near first base as the A's poured out of the dugout to mob Crisp, who was the recipient of a whipped cream pie that became a custom in this remarkable season in Oakland. This marked the second time the A's erased a two-run deficit in the ninth inning to win a postseason game, the other coming in Game 5 of the 1929 World Series.

Crisp ended three games with RBIs this season, tied for most in the majors. And like the others, this one ended with Reddick nailing him with a whipped cream pie during a postgame television interview.

''He's been our walkoff leader all year,'' Reddick said. ''Once we got into that situation, I think everybody in the dugout knew he was going to come through for us. Once we get one or two runners on with that situation we have a really good feeling that we're going to win the ballgame. He's been clutch for us in the ninth inning.''

Ryan Cook retired four batters for the win.

The A's, who have the lowest payroll in baseball, need just one more surprising result to win their second postseason series since 1990. Rookie Jarrod Parker will take the mound in Game 5 on Thursday night against Verlander, the reigning AL Cy Young winner and MVP.

''That's why this is the greatest game of all,'' Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. ''It looked like we were going to get it. We didn't do it. We didn't quite get the 27 outs, that's part of the game. You get tested all the time in this game. And this is a good test.''

The Tigers looked to be in prime position to advance to their second straight ALCS and have a rested Verlander for Game 1 when they took a 3-1 lead into the ninth behind a strong start from Max Scherzer and a homer from Prince Fielder.

Now the A's are one win away from repeating last week's three-game sweep of Texas that gave them the AL West title on the final day of the regular season. After losing the first two games in Detroit, the A's won 2-0 in Game 3 and are looking to become the eighth team to rally from two games down to win a best-of-five series.

''There's no ending yet,'' Oakland closer Grant Balfour said. ''I'm hoping that the ending comes at the end of October. I hope there's a period at the end of the story. It's an unbelievable story. It just keeps going. And we're going to take it out there tomorrow and give it everything, just like we have the last two games. If we can do that then I like our chances.''

The San Francisco Giants will have a shot to do it as well earlier Thursday when they face Cincinnati in Game 5 of their NL division series.

Scherzer, who was dealing with shoulder, deltoid and ankle injuries late in the season, looked in top form against the A's. He allowed just one baserunner in the first four innings and struck out seven of the first 15 batters he faced.

The A's finally got to Scherzer for an unearned run in the sixth. Crisp reached when Fielder misplayed a hard grounder to first base into a two-base error. Crisp advanced on a wild pitch and scored on Stephen Drew's double to right-center. But the A's ran themselves out of a potential big inning when Drew was easily thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a triple.

Octavio Dotel and Phil Coke both retired a batter to get out of the sixth and Al Alburquerque pitched a perfect seventh in his first appearance since his memorable kiss of the baseball on a comebacker by Yoenis Cespedes in Game 2. Joaquin Benoit escaped a first-and-second jam in the eighth by striking out Brandon Moss, but Valverde couldn't close it.

''This is the toughest moment in my whole career,'' Valverde said. ''I had everything. These guys hit it. There's nothing I can do.''

NOTES: This is the seventh postseason walkoff win for the A's in franchise history and first since Ramon Hernandez won it with a squeeze bunt in the 2003 division series against Boston. ... A.J. Griffin allowed two runs in 5-plus innings. He was the third Oakland rookie pitcher to start a game this series, the most ever by a team in a single postseason. The A's used just two rookie starting pitchers in 147 postseason games before this year: Joe Bush in the 1913 World Series and Barry Zito in the 2000 division series. ... Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera has reached base in all 15 postseason games with the Tigers but has no RBIs this series.