AP Saturday Sports Roundup

DeGrom lifts Mets...Cubs' offense lacking against Lackey...Royals rally to beat Astros...Rangers taking 2-0 lead back to Texas

UNDATED (AP) — Clayton Kershaw was pretty good in Game 1 of the Dodgers' NL division series against the Mets last night, but Jacob deGrom was better.

DeGrom tied a Mets postseason record with 13 strikeouts while scattering five hits in seven scoreless innings to lead a 3-1 triumph over Los Angeles. He matched the team mark set by Tom Seaver in Game 1 of the 1973 NLCS.

Daniel Murphy put the Mets in front with a solo homer in the fourth off Kershaw, who allowed just three other hits while fanning 11 over 6 2/3 innings. Kershaw stayed out of trouble until the seventh, when he walked the bases loaded to end his night. Pedro Baez came on and promptly gave up David Wright's two-run single.

The Dodgers didn't score until Adrian Gonzalez laced an RBI single off Tyler Clippard. Jeurys Familia replaced Clippard after the RBI hit and retired the next four batters to pick up the save.

Game 2 is today in Los Angeles with Zack Greinke throwing for the Dodgers against rookie Noah Syndergaard.

The St. Louis Cardinals cooled off the Chicago Cubs by taking Game 1 of the National League Division Series.

Chicago had won nine straight dating to the regular season before John Lackey silenced them in the Redbirds' 4-0 shutout of the Cubs. Lackey was working on a no-hitter until Addison Russell led off the sixth with a single. Lackey gave up just one other hit over 7 1/3 innings before the Cards' bullpen completed the team's first postseason shutout since Oct. 18, 2013.

Matt Holliday put the Cardinals ahead with an RBI single in the first inning before a pair of rookies contributed in a three-run eighth. Tommy Pham hit a solo homer to make it 2-0, two batters before Stephen Piscotty launched a two-run blast.

Losing pitcher Jon Lester gave up three runs and five hits while striking out nine in 7 1/3 innings.

Kyle Schwarber had two of the Cubs' three hits.

Game 2 is Saturday in St. Louis. Jaime Garcia will take the mound for the Cardinals against Kyle Hendricks.

Kansas City became the first home team to win a game in this postseason. The visitors had been 5-0 until the Royals rallied for a 5-4 win over the Astros in Kansas City, tying the AL division series at a game apiece. The Royals scored twice in the sixth before Ben Zobrist delivered a tiebreaking, RBI single in the bottom of the seventh.

Colby Rasmus and George Springer staked the Astros to a 4-1 lead by the third inning. Rasmus put Houston ahead with an RBI double that scored Springer giving the Astros a three-run cushion in the top of the third. Springer had provided a two-run single in the second.

Salvador Perez smacked a solo shot for the Royals before they got another run back on a double-play grounder in the third. Eric Hosmer highlighted the Royals' game-tying rally in the sixth, lining an RBI single and scoring the tying run when Perez worked out a bases-loaded walk.

Neither starting pitcher was very sharp. Kansas City starter Johnny Cueto was reached for four runs and seven hits in seven innings, with Houston's Scott Kazmir gave up three runs and five hits over 5 1/3.

Kelvin Herrera picked up the victory with help from Wade Davis, who earned the save. Davis allowed a one-out walk to Preston Tucker before picking off pinch-runner Carlos Gomez for the second out.

Will Harris was the loser.

The series shifts to Houston for Game 3 on Sunday. Edinson Volquez goes for the Royals against Dallas Keuchel, who won a league-high 20 games during the regular season before beating the Yankees in the wild card game.

Before the Royals' victory, the Rangers made it five straight playoff wins for the road team by winning a 14-inning marathon in Toronto, 6-4 over the Blue Jays. Hanser Alberto and Delino DeShields delivered RBI singles with two out in the top of the 14th. Rougned Odor scored the tiebreaking run after he over-ran second base and was almost tagged out.

Texas blew a 3-1 lead and trailed 4-3 with two out in the eighth before pinch-hitter Mike Napoli laced an RBI single to force extra innings.

Alberto finished with two RBIs and DeShields was 3-for-7 with two runs scored to help the Rangers get within one victory of the championship series.

John Donaldson homered for the Blue Jays, who will try to avoid a sweep when they take on the Rangers Sunday in Texas.

Colby Lewis is slated to start for the Rangers in Game 3 against Marco Estrada.

Blue Jays reliever Brett Cecil tore his left calf muscle during the game and might be done for the postseason. The Jays' top lefty in the pen was injured while tagging Napoli in a rundown that ended the eighth inning.

MLB-MARINERS

M's dump skipper

SEATTLE (AP) — Lloyd McClendon is out after two years as manager of the Seattle Mariners. New general manager Jerry Dipoto has made the decision so he can bring in his own field boss to take over Seattle's on-field operations.

The Mariners were 76-86 this season.

NHL-SCHEDULE

Isles lose in Brooklyn debut

UNDATED (AP) — The New York Islanders were 3-2 losers in their first regular-season game at Nassau Coliseum 43 years ago. They've duplicated that in their first regular-season game at Brooklyn.

Patrick Kane scored on a 4-on-3 power play at 1:49 of overtime to give the Chicago Blackhawks a 3-2 win over the Isles. Kane had a pair of goals to help the defending Stanley Cup champs pick up their first win of the season.

Captain John Tavares notched the Islanders' first goal in their new building, just as captain Ed Westfall did against the Flames in the team's Coliseum debut in 1972. Marek Zidlicky scored a game-tying goal early in the third period before Corey Crawford blanked New York the rest of the way.

Elsewhere on ice:

— Detroit beat their former head coach as Justin Abdelkader registered a hat trick in the Red Wings' 4-0 shutout of Toronto. Dylan Larkin scored in his NHL debut and Jimmy Howard turned back 22 shots in his 21st career shutout. Mike Babcock is now 0-2 since moving to the Maple Leafs' bench.

— Mats Zuccarello scored twice and the Rangers improved to 2-0 with a 4-2 comeback win at Columbus. The Blue Jackets led 2-1 until Oscar Lindberg, Kevin Hayes and Zuccarello tallied in the final 2:36.

— Andrew Ladd and Blake Wheeler each had a goal and an assist while Winnipeg scored three times in the second period of a 3-1 triumph at New Jersey. Mark Scheifele also scored, Mathieu Perreault set up two goals and Michael Hutchinson stopped 20 shots in the season opener for both teams.

— Mike Smith handled 39 shots and Max Domi collected a goal and an assist in his NHL debut as Arizona whipped the Kings 4-1 in Los Angeles. Domi and Tobias Rieder scored 1:52 apart to put the Coyotes ahead 4-0 early in the second period.

NHL-NEWS

New deal for Anaheim defender...Richards a free agent

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Defenseman Simon Despres has agreed to a five-year, $18.5 million contract extension with the Anaheim Ducks. The 24-year-old was a first-round pick by the Penguins in 2009, and rose through Pittsburgh's minor-league system before the club traded him to Anaheim for defenseman Ben Lovejoy.

In other hockey news:

— Center Mike Richards and the Los Angeles Kings have settled their dispute over the termination of Richards' contract after his arrest in June in Canada for possession of a controlled substance. He becomes a free agent.

NASCAR-CHARLOTTE

Kyle Busch tops in practice

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Kyle Busch was the fastest in the final practice for Saturday night's Sprint Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Busch turned a lap of 189.354 mph. Kurt Busch was second, followed by Joey Logano, Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brad Keselowski.

Kyle Busch will start the race on the front row alongside Matt Kenseth. The winner will automatically qualify for the next round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.

NFL-BILLS

McCoy update

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy says he could miss another three games because of a pulled left hamstring. That's the timetable McCoy says he was provided by the team's medical staff after he aggravated the injury in a 41-14 win at Miami on Sept. 27.

He called the new injury a "grade-two pull" and acknowledged he might have come back from the injury too soon. McCoy was hurt on Aug. 18, and returned for Buffalo's season opener against Indianapolis on Sept. 13.

In other NFL news:

— Marshawn Lynch will miss a second straight week for the Seattle Seahawks due to a hamstring strain. The running back injured his hamstring in the second quarter of the team's 26-0 victory over the Chicago Bears in Week 3. Lynch returned to limited participation in practice yesterday but is not ready to play Sunday against the Bengals.

— Brian Hoyer is Houston's starting quarterback again after replacing Ryan Mallett in Thursday's 27-20 loss to Indianapolis. Hoyer lost the job after the season opener, but he came in to replace Mallett the last two games.

— Buffalo Bills defensive end Jerry Hughes has been fined more than $30,000 by the NFL for incidents in last weekend's loss to the New York Giants. He was docked over $23,152 for abusive language toward an official and more than $8,600 for unnecessary roughness for head-butting.

NBA-SEFOLOSHA

Hawks player cleared of wrongdoing

NEW YORK (AP) — Atlanta Hawks' player Thabo Sefolosha missed the playoffs earlier this year with a broken leg he says he suffered during a fracas with New York City police outside a nightclub. A Manhattan jury has now found Sefolosha not guilty of misdemeanor obstructing government administration, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Prosecutors say he disobeyed police orders to clear the street after another NBA player was stabbed outside the club on April 8. Sefolosha says he was moving up the block and trying to give a beggar money when officers grabbed him.

PRESIDENTS CUP

Day 3

INCHEON, South Korea (AP) — Branden Grace delivered two big shots in gathering darkness today that kept the International team within one point of the Americans going into a final day at the Presidents Cup that finally has some drama.

Team USA leads 9.5-8.5 with 12 singles matches remaining.

Grace and Oosthuizen became the first International tandem to win all four team matches in this event, and every point mattered at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea.

Jordan Spieth and Phil Mickelson won their fourballs matches. Bae Sang-moon and Hideki Matsuyama had the best rout of the week.

The Americans and Internationals split both sessions of matches on a long day.

Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth gave the Americans their only victory of the foursomes round, beating Jason Day and Charl Schwartzel 1-up. The U.S. halved two other matches, and Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace picked up a 3-and-2 win over Patrick Reed and Rickie Fowler.

LPGA-MALAYSIA

Korda in lead

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Jessica Korda took a two-stroke lead Saturday in the LPGA Malaysia, shooting a bogey-free 6-under 65 in sweltering conditions.

Korda missed a birdie chance on the par-4 18th when her 6-footer slid by on the left side, leaving the 22-year-old American at 12-under 201 at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club. Fellow American Stacy Lewis and South Korea's Ha Na Jang were tied for second.

CHAMPIONS TOUR

Langer has two-shot lead

CARY, N.C. (AP) — Bernhard Langer shot a 7-under 65 in windy conditions to take a two-stroke lead in the Champions Tour's SAS Championship.

Gene Sauers, John Riegger and Scott Dunlap carded 67s, and Kenny Perry was another stroke back with Tom Lehman, Duffy Waldorf, Kevin Sutherland, Rod Spittle, Greg Kraft and Olin Browne.