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Open playoff SAN DIEGO (AP) — In a week of epic moments at the U.S. Open, Tiger Woods delivered the biggest one yet. It didn’t bring him another major, just another chance. Down to his last stroke Sunday afternoon at Torrey Pines, Woods rapped a 12-foot birdie putt that bumped along toward the hole and swirled into the back corner of the cup without an inch to spare. In a career filled with clutch putts, this one put Woods into an 18-hole playoff Monday against Rocco Mediate, who was in the scoring room watching the 18th hole theatrics unfold on TV. They finished at 1-under 283, the first time since 2004 that someone broke par in a U.S. Open. Mediate closed with an even-par 71, missing a chance to eliminate Woods when his wedge to the 18th stayed atop the ridge and left him a 30-footer that he two-putted for par. Lakers win LOS ANGELES (AP) — Pack up the championship trophy and book a flight back to Boston, the NBA finals aren’t over yet. The Los Angeles Lakers are headed East to try a historic comeback of their own. Kobe Bryant scored 25 points, including a decisive dunk in the final minute — and Lamar Odom added 20 as the Lakers, playing with pride on their star-studded stage, prevented the Celtics from winning a 17th title with a 103-98 win in Game 5 on Sunday night to close to 3-2 in this restored rivalry. No team has overcome a 3-1 deficit in the finals to win a title. The first 28 failed, and now the Lakers, who blew a 24-point lead and lost Game 4 and nearly squandered a 19-point lead in Game 5, have a chance to do something extraordinary. They’ll have to win on the Celtics’ parquet floor Tuesday night to force a winner-take-all Game 7, where anything is possible. Earnhardt wins BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) — Dale Earnhardt Jr. ended his 76-race winless string Sunday, coasting to victory at Michigan International Speedway under a caution flag with little but fumes left in his gas tank. NASCAR’s most popular driver gave his new boss, Rick Hendrick, only his second victory of the season as he somehow squeezed enough gas out of his last fillup to go three laps beyond the regulation finish in the Lifelock 400. A spin by Patrick Carpentier on the 203rd lap brought out the final caution and probably saved the victory for Earnhardt, who ran out of gas moments after crossing the finish line behind the pace car. Mets split By The Associated Press Willie Randolph was set to depart New York for a West Coast road trip still in charge of the Mets, while the Yankees headed back to the Big Apple without their staff ace. Pedro Martinez pitched six sharp innings, pinch-hitter Robinson Cancel got his first major league hit in nearly nine years and the New York Mets beat the Texas Rangers 4-2 Sunday for a doubleheader split. Kevin Millwood led the Rangers to an 8-7 victory in the opener. Before the first game, Randolph said he had no idea what combination of results in the twinbill was needed to remain the club’s manager. “We wanted to make the trip a little more pleasant,” Randolph said afterward. “I’m glad I’m going.” He then quickly added, “Maybe I’m speaking a little too soon.” Things are just as uncertain for the Yankees and ace Chien-Ming Wang, who left the clubhouse on crutches after spraining his right foot running the bases in a 13-0 rout of Houston. An MRI exam is planned for Monday and manager Joe Girardi said Wang will miss at least one start. In other games Sunday, it was St. Louis 7, Philadelphia 6 in 10 innings; Cleveland 7, San Diego 3; Boston 9, Cincinnati 0; Colorado 5, the White Sox 3; the Chicago Cubs 7, Toronto 4; Detroit 5, the L.A. Dodgers 4; the L.A. Angels 2, Atlanta 0; Florida 9, Tampa Bay 3; Milwaukee 4, Minnesota 2; Oakland 5, San Francisco 3; Kansas City 8, Arizona 3; Washington 6, Seattle 2; and Pittsburgh 5, Baltimore 4 in 10 innings. TENNIS HALLE, Germany (AP) — Roger Federer just wanted to survive a couple of rounds at the Gerry Weber Open after his painful French Open loss to Rafael Nadal. The top-ranked Swiss did much more, beating Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-4 in Sunday’s final for his 10th grass title. That matches Pete Sampras’ Open era record of 10 grass-court titles and takes his unbeaten streak on grass to 59 matches. To further boost his confidence, Federer sailed through the Wimbledon warmup tournament without dropping a set or his serve. LONDON (AP) — Rafael Nadal claimed his first career grass-court title Sunday, defeating Novak Djokovic 7-6 (5), 7-5 in the Queen’s Club final to become the first Spaniard to win on grass in 36 years. It was the French Open champion’s third win in the past three tournaments over the second-seeded Djokovic, following semifinal victories in Hamburg and at Roland Garros. Andres Gimeno was the last Spaniard to win on grass, at Eastbourne in 1972. Nadal is also the first player to win at Roland Garros and Queen’s Club in the same year since Ilie Nastase in 1973. The win should give Nadal a confidence boost ahead of Wimbledon, particularly after his resounding straight-sets win over No. 1 Roger Federer in the French Open final. WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko recaptured the Warsaw Open title when he beat second-seeded Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-3 in the final Sunday. Davydenko won the clay-court tournament in 2006, and Robredo won it last year. The Russian broke Robredo three times in the first set, while giving up his serve once. He needed just one break in the second, saving five break points en route to his third ATP title of the year and 14th of his career. BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Second-seeded Maria Kirilenko of Russia won the Torneo Barcelona on Sunday with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Spanish wild card Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. The title was Kirilenko’s second of the year, following her win at Estoril, Portugal, in April. BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — Kateryna Bondarenko claimed her first WTA Tour singles title Sunday with a 7-6 (7), 2-6, 7-6 (4) victory over Yanina Wickmayer in the final of the DFS Classic. SOCCER CARSON, Calif. (AP) — The United States couldn’t wait to get started in its qualifying run for the 2010 World Cup. Clint Dempsey scored 53 seconds in to set the tone, Brian Ching added two goals and the United States cruised to a record-setting 8-0 rout of Barbados on Sunday in the Americans’ first qualifying game for the 2010 World Cup. Dempsey added a second-half goal for the Americans, who scored three times in the first half and five times in the second. It was the largest victory margin in the team’s history and only the second time the United States scored eight goals. The other was an 8-1 victory over the Cayman Islands in 1993. SUWON, South Korea (AP) — The U.S. women’s team beat Australia 2-1 in its opening match of the 2008 Peace Queen Cup on goals by Natasha Kai in the first half and Abby Wambach 13 minutes from the end of the game. After a ragged start, the top-ranked Americans got going thanks to midfielder Heather O’Reilly. She created the first goal after collecting a ball on the right wing, accelerating down the flank, beating a defender and sending a chip into the penalty area. Kai was making a cutting run and slipped in front of a defender to beat goalkeeper Melissa Barbieri to the ball. Kai poked it by her from 6 yards into the lower left corner. The goal was Kai’s team-leading 11th of 2008 and 19th of her international career.