National Digest

Vick pleas RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Michael Vick apologized to the NFL and his Atlanta Falcons teammates Monday for “using bad judgment and making bad decisions” and vowed to redeem himself of charges in a dogfighting case. Shortly before making his first public statements, the star quarterback pleaded guilty to a federal dogfighting charge and awaited a Dec. 10 sentencing date that likely will send him to prison. Georgia wins SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Dalton Carriker homered to right in the bottom of the eighth inning as Warner Robins, Ga., beat Tokyo, Japan, 3-2, for the Little League title Sunday. It was the third straight American win after Columbus, Ga., and Ewa Beach, Hawaii won in 2006 and 2005, respectively. Close finish OSAKA, Japan (AP) — Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell edged defending champion Lauryn Williams in a photo finish to capture the women’s 100-meter gold medal Monday at the world championships. Campbell and Williams both clocked 11.01 seconds and it took officials at least five minutes to split them. Edwards gains BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) — Carl Edwards picked up another 10 bonus points to use in his pursuit of the Nextel Cup title with a dominating victory Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. Edwards passed Kasey Kahne for the lead with 166 laps to go and wasn’t challenged the rest of the way as he drove to his second victory of the season. He beat Kahne to the line by 1.405 seconds, then did his trademark backflip on the finish line to celebrate. The top 12 drivers in the standings will run for the Nextel Cup title, and they’ll be seeded based on the bonus points earned through “regular season” victories. Edwards now has 20 points, which would tie him with Kurt Busch for third place when the Chase for the championship begins Sept. 16 in New Hampshire. Stricker wins HARRISON, N.Y. (AP) — Steve Stricker, who had gone 6 1/2 years and 146 tournaments since his last victory, birdied four of his last five holes to close with a 2-under 69, turning a one-shot deficit into a two-shot victory over K.J. Choi and getting the inaugural PGA Tour Playoffs off to a rousing start — even with Tiger Woods sitting this one out. Along with the fourth victory of his career, Stricker moved to the top of the FedEx Cup standings with 2,050-point lead over Choi, who closed with a 70. Rory Sabbatini, who had a share of the lead at the turn, closed with a 68 to finish another stroke back and moved up to No. 3 in the playoff race. Woods skipped the first of four playoff events and tumbled to No. 4, nearly 5,000 points behind Stricker. TRACK & FIELD OSAKA, Japan (AP) — American Tyson Gay surged past Asafa Powell to win the 100 meters at the track and field world championships Sunday in 9.85 seconds. Gay had the season’s best time of 9.84 seconds and was undefeated in the year coming into Osaka. Now, he has his first gold medal at a major international championship. Powell, the co-holder of the world record, powered out of the blocks, leading most of the way until he was overtaken by Gay and Derrick Atkins of the Bahamas. Atkins took silver in a national record 9.91, and Jamaica’s Powell was third in 9.96. Carolina Kluft won a third consecutive heptathlon title at the world championships on Sunday. Kluft’s score of 7,032 points on Sunday placed her behind only legendary American Jackie Joyner-Kersee, who has the top six marks in the event. Kluft is now the next name on the list. GOLF PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Lorena Ochoa claimed her third straight LPGA title with a five-stroke victory in the Safeway Classic. Ochoa shot a 71 in the final round for a 12-under 204 at Columbia Edgewater Country Club for her sixth victory of the season. In-Bee Park (64), Christina Kim (69), Sophie Gustafson (75) and Mhairi McKay (72) all finished at 7-under 209. The last player to win three straight tournaments was Annika Sorenstam in 2005. Sorenstam won four straight in 2001, matching the LPGA record. Ochoa, who is from Mexico, won the Canadian Women’s Open in Edmonton, Alberta, the previous week. Before that, she won the Women’s British Open for her first major title. SNOQUALMIE, Wash. (AP) — Denis Watson eagled the second hole of a seven-man playoff to win the Boeing Classic. Playing No. 18 for the third time in an hour, Watson hit a 3-wood to about 18 feet, then made the putt, giving an emphatic fist pump as the ball dropped to end the largest playoff in Champions Tour history. Craig Stadler missed a long eagle putt from the front of the green, and R.W. Eaks missed his 12-footer for eagle. It was the second victory of the season for Watson, who won the Senior PGA Championship in May. Gil Morgan, Joe Ozaki, Dana Quigley and David Eger also finished at 9 under for the tournament after a wild final nine holes where the lead changed on almost every hole. ZAANDVOORT, Netherlands (AP) — England’s Ross Fisher won his first European Tour title Sunday, a one-stroke victory at the Dutch Open in which he birdied the final hole and survived a rules inquiry for his play on the 12th hole. Fisher started the day tied for the lead with David Carter and Steve Alker and closed with a 3-under-par 67 for a 12-under 268 total. He bogeyed Nos. 16 and 17 but made an 8-foot putt on the last hole and beat Joost Luiten of the Netherlands by a shot. Then came the inquiry and a return to the 12th hole, where tour officials investigated a report that Fisher had attempted to remove a bramble. Fisher explained that he thought it was a loose impediment and left it alone when he discovered it was attached to a bush. After a discussion and video review, officials declared he did not break any rule. AUTO RACING SONOMA, Calif. (AP) — A late-race collision between teammates Dario Franchitti and Marco Andretti on Sunday at Infineon Raceway left both drivers fuming and gave Scott Dixon a victory and a narrow lead in the IndyCar Series championship with two races remaining. Although Franchitti refused to openly criticize his 20-year-old Andretti Green Racing teammate, he said, “Marco was out there trying to win the race and we were out there trying to win a championship. Franchitti, who came into the race with an eight-point lead over Dixon in the championship, started from the pole and dominated the Motorola Indy 300, leading 62 of the 80 laps on the 2.26-mile, 14-turn road course. ZOLDER, Belgium (AP) — Sebastien Bourdais won Champ Car’s inaugural Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday for his sixth victory this season. Bruno Junqueira of Brazil was second on the 2.5-mile circuit at Zolder. Graham Rahal, Bourdais’ rookie teammate at Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, was third despite starting from 13th on the grid. ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) — Ferrari’s Felipe Massa won his third race of the year and his second consecutive Turkish Grand Prix on Sunday by beating teammate Kimi Raikkonen. Two-time defending Formula One champion Fernando Alonso of McLaren was third. Overall leader Lewis Hamilton of McLaren had been in third place but dropped to fifth after shredding a tire on the 43rd lap. Nick Heidfeld was fourth. HORSE RACING SAN MATEO, Calif. (AP) — Russell Baze, the winningest jockey in thoroughbred racing history, was suspended for 15 days and fined on Sunday for using his whip on an injured horse who later died. Baze, who has 9,826 career victories, was headed to an easy win aboard Imperial Eyes in the first race Thursday at Bay Meadows when the horse took a bad step and broke down in the deep stretch. According to a Bay Meadows spokesman, Baze urged Imperial Eyes forward after the horse recovered from the initial bad step, using his whip twice. Imperial Eyes still finished second, but had a broken bone in his left front leg. The 4-year-old gelding was euthanized after going into distress while his handlers contemplated surgery. Though Imperial Eyes’ trainer said he didn’t blame Baze for the horse’s death, saying Baze couldn’t have known the extent of the horse’s injury, the Hall of Fame jockey was repentant.