Fanfare 11/18/02

Baseball

Eric Chavez hit a home run and Torii Hunter made a spectacular catch in the ninth inning as the major league all-stars beat their Japanese counterparts 4-2 Sunday to win the seven-game exhibition series.

The major league all-stars won four straight after losing the first three games of the series, a comeback that has never been done in the major league playoffs or World Series.

The major leaguers haven't lost an all-star tour of Japan since 1990, and this was their fifth straight series win.

With a runner on second and one out in the ninth, Norihiro Nakamura hit a fly to center and Hunter made a running catch against the wall to save a run.

Mike Hampton will try to rejuvenate his career with the Braves after a whirlwind weekend that had the left-hander dealt from Colorado to Florida and then to Atlanta.

The Marlins will get reliever Tim Spooneybarger from the Braves for Hampton, a baseball source said on condition of anonymity Sunday. The source said details must be finalized, the trade must be approved by the commissioner's office, and the players must pass physicals.

Florida will also reportedly receive an unidentified minor leaguer from Atlanta.

Hampton, who went 21-28 for the Rockies the past two seasons, was part of a six-player swap between Colorado and Florida that was completed Saturday.

Football

The NFL has sent all 32 teams a memo warning that they are subject to fines if they supply players -- knowingly or not -- with banned supplements.

The memo mentioned that a team already has been disciplined, without saying which team.

But a source within the league, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that team is the Oakland Raiders. ESPN and CBS both first reported on the existence of the memo and that the Raiders were the team to which it referred.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello confirmed that the memo had been sent, but he would not comment on which team already was disciplined.

Golf

Ryder Cup memories came to life Sunday in St. Simons Island, Ga., as Paul Azinger holed another bunker shot and Curtis Strange got a small measure of revenge against fellow captain Sam Torrance.

The difference at the UBS Warburg Cup was the outcome: The United States won.

Behind strong performances from Hale Irwin and Tom Lehman in terrible weather, the Americans easily retained the UBS Warburg Cup and kept Arnold Palmer undefeated as a captain in all cup competitions.

The final score was 14 1/2-9 1/2 in matches between the United States and the Rest of the World.

Motorsports

Sweden's Kenny Brack won Sunday's Mexico Grand Prix, capturing his first victory of the year in the final race of the CART season.

Series champion Cristiano da Matta finished second while pole sitter Bruno Junqueira recovered from a bad start to finish third.

Soccer

The U.S. national team wrapped up its most successful year Sunday and took its first steps toward the next World Cup with a 2-0 exhibition victory over El Salvador in Washington, D.C.

Ben Olsen scored his first international goal in more than 2 1/2 years, and Sasha Victorine scored in just his second U.S. team appearance as coach Bruce Arena fielded mostly a young roster to get an early gauge on prospects for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

The United States finished 13-6-1 in 2002, setting a national record for victories in a calendar year.

Tennis

Top-ranked Lleyton Hewitt beat Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 7-5, 2-6, 2-6, 6-4 Sunday to defend his title in the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai, China.

Hewitt ended the 3-hour, 51-minute match with a backhand lob that bounced a foot inside the baseline.

-- From wire reports