Auto Racing
FORT WORTH, Texas — Carl Edwards got the victory he desperately needed to earn a championship-contending spot in the NASCAR Sprint Cup finale, winning at Texas in a race shorted by 41 laps because of rain after the start had been delayed nearly six hours.
With his fourth career win at Texas, Edwards joined Jimmie Johnson as drivers locked into championship-contending spots in Homestead.
Edwards entered the second-to-last race before the Nov. 22 season finale eighth in points among the drivers still eligible for the championship. His three Joe Gibbs Racing teammates are among the six other drivers still in contention, and clearly not all of them can advance.
MLS
COMMERCE CITY — Tim Howard made two saves in the penalty shootout and the Colorado Rapids beat the Los Angeles Galaxy 3-1 on penalties Sunday to advance to the Western Conference championship.
Colorado won the regulation game 1-0, tying the two-game, total-goals series 1-1 and forcing the tiebreaker. Los Angeles won 1-0 at home last Sunday.
Colorado reached its first conference finals since winning the MLS Cup in 2010. The Rapids will play Nov. 20 in the first game of a two-leg series.
Shkelzen Gashi scored in the 36th minute. He took a pass just past the center circle, took a touch and smashed a shot off the left post and in.
In the shootout, Steven Gerrard put Los Angeles in front, but the Galaxy missed their next three attempts. Dos Santos sent it over the crossbar, Howard denied Ashley Cole after a slow approach and Howard sealed it by diving to his right to block Jeff Larentowicz’s roller.
NBA
BOSTON — Emmanuel Mudiay scored 24 of his season-high 30 points in the opening quarter, helping the Denver Nuggets to a big first half on their way to a 123-107 victory over the injury-depleted Boston Celtics on Sunday night.
Wilson Chandler added 22 points before leaving with a left hamstring injury. Danilo Gallinari scored 16, and Gary Harris and Jamal Murray each had 12 for the Nuggets, who lost 16 of the previous 18 meetings in Boston.
NBA
CLEVELAND — Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is campaigning with LeBron James in Cleveland, hoping to motivate African-American voters to the polls.
Clinton says: “What he does off the court is to care for every child as though that child is his own.”
James tells the crowd that their votes matter. He says: “It really does.”
Clinton’s team is worried about their chances in Ohio, where polls show her in a dead heat with her Republican rival, Donald Trump. She hosted a free concert in the state on Friday with rapper Jay Z and his wife, Beyonce Carter Knowles.
NHL
ST. LOUIS — Robby Fabbri and Jori Lehtera each scored in the first 3:35 and the St. Louis Blues beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-1 on Sunday night.
St. Louis entered with 26 goals in 12 games this season and hadn’t scored more than two goals in any of its past six games.
Jake Allen stopped 22 shots for St. Louis, and the Blues killed off five power-plays.
Matt Duchene got his sixth goal for Colorado. Semyon Varlamov stopped 20 of 25 shots, and Calvin Pickard had three saves in the third period for the Avs.
Associated Press
