Ichiro leads Japan to second WBC title

The World Baseball Classic belongs to Japan.

Again.

Seattle Mariners star Ichiro Suzuki (4 for 6) hit a two-out, two-run single in the top of the 10th, and Japan beat reigning Olympic champion South Korea 5-3 Monday night to win its second straight WBC title before a boisterous crowd of 54,846 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

The Japanese won the inaugural tournament three years ago, beating Cuba 10-6 in the finals at Petco Park in San Diego.

South Korea had tied the game at 3 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth on Lee Bum-ho’s run-scoring single off Japanese closer Yu Darvish (2-1), who got in trouble by issuing one-out walks to Kim Hyun-soo and Kim Tae-kyun, the 3-4 hitters in the lineup.

Darvish struck out Choo Shin-soo before Lee lined a 1-1 pitch into left field, with pinch runner Lee Jong-wook scoring easily from second.

NBA

Garnett sparks Celtics

Ray Allen scored 20 points and the Boston Celtics, sparked by an alley-oop dunk from Kevin Garnett, pulled away for a 90-77 win over the Los Angeles Clippers in Boston.

Garnett played 18 minutes, hitting all five field-goal attempts while scoring 12 points. He added two rebounds and two assists in his third game back since missing 13 with a sprained right knee.

•Hawks hot at home: Flip Murray scored a season-best 30 points, and Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson each added 20 as the Hawks won their season-high eighth straight home game, beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 109-97 in Atlanta.

It was the Hawks’ eighth win in nine games and Atlanta is 28-7 at Philips Arena. It was the fifth straight loss for the Timberwolves.

•Wade grabs record in Heat win: Dwyane Wade scored 27 points to top his own Miami single-season record, plus added eight assists as the Heat easily beat the Memphis Grizzlies 94-82 in Miami.

Wade now has 2,064 points this season, 24 more than his previous best, set in the 2005-06 championship season.

•Magic rally past Knicks: Dwight Howard had 29 points and 14 rebounds, Hedo Turkoglu led a big fourth-quarter rally, and the Orlando Magic earned a victory over the Knicks 106-102 in New York .

Turkoglu scored 12 of his 16 points in the final period for the Magic.

•76ers rally over Blazers: Andre Miller had 27 points and 10 rebounds and Thaddeus Young and Andre Iguodala scored 25 points each as the Philadelphia 76ers rallied in overtime to beat the Trail Blazers 114-108 in Portland.

Bowling Green legend dies: Howard “Butch” Komives, who led the nation in scoring at Bowling Green in 1964 and went on to play 10 seasons in the NBA, has died. He was 67.

Komives died Sunday in Toledo, Ohio, after battling health problems for the last decade. A cause of death was not released.

NHL

Hurricanes earn OT win

Former Spokane Chief Ray Whitney scored 1:37 into overtime to lead the surging Carolina Hurricanes to a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers in Sunrise, Fla.

Tuomo Ruutu and Patrick Eaves also scored for Carolina, which improved to 8-1-2 in its last 11 games and moved past Pittsburgh into fifth place in the Eastern Conference.

•Flyers top Devils: Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne scored early in the third period to lift the Flyers past the New Jersey Devils 4-2 in Philadelphia.

Carter scored his 40th goal and Gagne his 30th 2:06 apart to hand Martin Brodeur only his third loss in 12 games since returning from bicep surgery.

•Flames defeat Red Wings: Mike Cammalleri scored a goal and added two assists as the Calgary Flames took advantage of shaky goalie Chris Osgood and beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-3 in Calgary, Alberta.

Jamie Lundmark, Curtis Glencross and Craig Conroy, into an empty net, also scored for Calgary.

•Wild lose Koivu: Just as the Minnesota Wild were finally welcoming Marian Gaborik back, they lost another top-line player to injury.

Center Mikko Koivu hurt his right knee in Sunday’s win over Edmonton and will miss at least the next week, if not the remainder of the regular season.

Football

Steelers, Titans open

The Super Bowl champion Steelers will open the 2009 NFL season in Pittsburgh on Sept. 10 against the Tennessee Titans.

In announcing the opening weekend’s nationally televised games, the league also said the Chicago Bears will play at Green Bay in the first Sunday night game. Both the Titans-Steelers and Bears-Packers games will be on NBC.

The Monday night doubleheader on ESPN on Sept. 14 will feature Buffalo, with Terrell Owens, at New England. That game will be followed by San Diego at Oakland.

•Owens misses workout: T.O. was a no-show for the start of the Bills voluntary off-season conditioning program.

That didn’t stop his new teammates from eagerly awaiting Terrell Owens’ arrival – whenever that might occur – and even getting in a laugh or two.

“I’m really excited about meeting the guy,” center Geoff Hangartner said. “I’ve heard he’s a great teammate.”

Skiing

Austrian coach arrested

Former Austrian Nordic skiing coach Walter Mayer was arrested on suspicion of selling doping substances three years after triggering a major scandal at the Turin Olympics.

Vienna state prosecutor spokesman Walter Jarosch said that Mayer was detained Sunday in connection with an investigation into the illegal sale of EPO and other banned drugs.

If charged and convicted of selling illegal performance- enhancing substances, Mayer could face up to five years in prison.