ST. LOUIS (AP) – The defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals are one victory away from a return trip to the Fall Classic following last night’s 8-3 win that gives them a 3-1 lead over San Francisco in the NL Division Series. Tonight, the Cards give the ball to 18-game winner Lance Lynn against the Giants’ Barry Zito (ZEE’-toh), who was 15-8 in the regular season.

DETROIT (AP) – The Detroit Tigers secured their 11th trip to the World Series by finishing a four-game sweep of the New York Yankees 8-1 in the ALCS as Max Scherzer and three relievers combined on a two-hitter. Jhonny (JAHN’-ee) Peralta homered twice and Miguel Cabrera and Austin Jackson also went deep for the Tigers, who will be off until next Wednesday’s World Series opener.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – In a low-scoring defensive struggle last night, the San Francisco 49ers edged the Seattle Seahawks 13-6 to improve to 5-2 atop the NFC West. Alex Smith threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Delanie Walker late in the third quarter for the only touchdown of the game.

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) – Second-ranked Oregon raced to a 43-7 halftime lead and crushed Arizona State 43-21 to improve to 7-0. Kenjon Barner ran for 143 yards and three TDs and Oregon QB Marcus Mariota added 135 yards rushing, ran for one score, passed for one and also caught a TD pass.

TORONTO (AP) – Saying the league and its players are not speaking the same language, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman rejected three union counterproposals to the league’s proposed 50-50 revenue split and says both sides are far apart. No new talks are scheduled and the chance of a full 82-game NHL season is quickly dwindling.