Sports briefs 8/2/04

Baseball

Montreal Expos right-hander Zach Day will be sidelined four to six weeks after breaking a bone in his right middle finger while attempting a bunt in Sunday's game against the Florida Marlins that was eventually rained out. Day, attempting to bunt in the third inning, was hit on the hand and fouled the ball off. He struck out in the at-bat, but didn't return to pitch in the bottom half of the inning. Day was examined in the Expos' clubhouse, and it was determined that he broke his finger. It's a continuing trend of bad luck for Day (5-10), who entered with the least run-support - 2.47 run per game - of any starting pitcher in the majors.

Horse racing

Azeri held off a charging Sightseek down the stretch and won the $250,000 Go For Wand Handicap at Saratoga Race Course. The 6-year-old chestnut mare, ridden by Pat Day and trained by D. Wayne Lukas, took an early lead and held it the entire race. Sightseek, winner of last year's Go For Wand and a 3-5 post time favorite, moved up on the outside to almost pull even with the leader, but Azeri found a final burst of speed and won the race for fillies and mares 3 years old and up by 1 3/4 lengths. The win provided some redemption for Azeri, who had 15 victories in 20 previous starts but none in her last three races. Azeri, the 2002 Horse of the Year, also avenged a loss to Sightseek in June's Ogden Mill Phipps Handicap at Belmont.

Motorsports

Buddy Rice won a last-lap showdown with Tony Kanaan, taking the Michigan Indy 400 by .0796 of a second for his third IRL victory of the season. Rice's average speed -- 182.123 mph -- was the fourth-fastest in IndyCar history. Kanaan led most of the way before Rice overtook him with about 10 laps to go in the 200-lap race. Kanaan's Andretti Green teammate, Dan Wheldon, finished third, 3.63 seconds behind the winner.

Tennis

Three weeks, three titles for Lindsay Davenport. Davenport defeated French Open champion Anastasia Myskina 6-1, 6-1 in the Acura Classic final Sunday, extending her winning streak to 14 consecutive matches. She also completed a California slam for the second time in her career, equaling her feat of 1998, when she won hardcourt tournaments at Stanford, Carlsbad and Los Angeles before winning her first U.S. Open title.

Roger Federer won his third straight title Sunday, beating Andy Roddick 7-5, 6-3 in the final of the $2.5 million Tennis Masters Canada. The top-ranked Federer, who won his eighth event of the year, extended his winning streak to 23 matches and raised his career record against the No. 2-ranked Roddick to 7-1. Roddick defeated Federer in the semifinals of this event last year and went on to win the tournament. Since then, Roddick is 0-3 against Federer, including a four-set loss in the Wimbledon final.

-- From wire reports