FOOTBALL
Brady nearly perfect in Pats' 25-21 win over Bucs: FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Tom Brady put to rest worries about his knee. His nearly perfect arm was never a concern.
Two days after spraining his left knee, the New England star completed his first 11 passes before missing his last one and threw his first touchdown pass to new top wide receiver Danny Amendola. Brady played the first two series, then rested as the Patriots went on to a 25-21 exhibition victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Friday night.
Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman worked two possessions and had a much rougher time against the team they'll face in the third game of the regular season. He was sacked three times and completed only two of three passes for 8 yards before rookie Mike Glennon took over.
Bills' defense, Manuel combine to beat Vikes 20-16: ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Rookie EJ Manuel took another step toward securing the Buffalo Bills' starting job, and the defense stuffed the Minnesota Vikings in a 20-16 preseason victory Friday night.
Manuel went 10 of 12 for 92 yards and a touchdown through three series in the second half. He out-shined veteran Kevin Kolb, who went 13 of 21 for 111 yards and an interception in the first half.
Jerry Hughes had two sacks starting in place of defensive end Mario Williams (soreness). Backup linebacker Jamie Blatnick recovered a fumble for a touchdown for Buffalo (2-0).
The Vikings (0-2) struggled on offense without their star player, Adrian Peterson, who continues to be rested through the preseason. They combined for 74 yards offense and four first downs in the first half.
Minnesota made the score respectable with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
Cal picks freshman Goff to start at quarterback: BERKELEY (AP) — Freshman quarterback Jared Goff was picked to start for California by new coach Sonny Dykes.
Goff has been competing since the spring with redshirt freshman Zach Kline and junior Austin Hinder.
"We have had a fiercely-contested competition for our starting quarterback position," Dykes said in a statement. "It's important to name a starter and give them the reps they need to be prepared to play. We feel that right now Jared Goff gives us the best chance to be successful as a team, but we are very fortunate to have three outstanding quarterbacks we feel we can be successful with."
Goff was a top recruit out of Marin Catholic High School in Novato, Calif. He graduated high school early and was able to participate in spring practice for Cal.
"I'm honored to get the chance to start for Cal and am looking forward to going out and helping the team win," Goff said. "I'm super excited and ready to get rolling. My competitors are great quarterbacks as well. It was a tremendous competition that has helped all of us become better quarterbacks."
The Golden Bears open the season at home against Northwestern on Aug. 31.
BASKETBALL
Venture capitalist buys minority stake in Warriors: OAKLAND (AP) — Silicon Valley venture capitalist Mark Stevens has purchased the minority stake in the Golden State Warriors previously held by new Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive.
The agreement announced Friday makes Stevens an executive board member, joining the ownership group led by Joe Lacob and Peter Guber. Terms of the purchase were not released.
Stevens is the managing partner of the investment company S-Cubed Capital in Menlo Park, Calif. He also is a special limited partner and former managing partner at Sequoia Capital, a global venture capital firm.
NBA rules required Ranadive to relinquish his stake in the Warriors after leading a group that purchased a controlling interest in the Kings in May.
TENNIS
Nadal beats Federer, Djokovic upset at Cincy: MASON, Ohio (AP) — Rafael Nadal rallied for a vintage win over rival Roger Federer, reaching the semifinals of the Western & Southern Open on Friday night.
Nadal's 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 victory left him 21-10 against Federer, including wins in all three of their matches this season.
It completed a day of upsets in the men's bracket.
No. 1 Novak Djokovic lost to top-ranked American John Isner. Djokovic has never won Cincinnati, losing in the final four times. It's the last one Djokovic needs to become the first player with titles in all nine Masters events.
No. 2 Andy Murray also lost, beaten in two sets by Tomas Berdych. Berdych will play Nadal in the semifinals, while Isner takes on Juan Martin del Potro.
Top-ranked Serena Williams moved on in the women's bracket.
GOLF
Europe builds a lead on American soil: PARKER, Colo. (AP) — Europe took an important step Friday toward winning the Solheim Cup on American soil.
Carlota Ciganda salvaged a par after a ruling that took about 30 minutes as she and Suzann Pettersen rallied to win a key fourballs match that staked Europe to a 5-3 lead. Stacy Lewis was on the losing end of that match. She got into a heated discussion with a rules official as a long day at Colorado Golf Club was winding down.
Pettersen and Caroline Hedwall won both their matches for Europe.
Michelle Wie displayed a solid short game and Cristie Kerr came to life with her putter to help the Americans keep it close.
It's the second straight time that Europe has led after the opening day, winning in 2011 in Ireland. It has never won the Solheim Cup away from home.
Rookie Reed takes 1-stroke lead at Wyndham: GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — PGA Tour rookie Patrick Reed shot a 6-under 64 on Friday to take a one-stroke lead in the Wyndham Championship.
He had an 11-under 129 total.
John Huh had the best round of the day — a 62 — to move to 10 under. John Deere winner Jordan Spieth was 9 under after a 66. Spieth is a PGA Tour rookie, and Huh is in his second year.
Charlie Wi, Bob Estes, Rory Sabbatini, Brian Harman, Jim Herman and first-round co-leader Ross Fisher were 7 under.
Wi had a 65, Estes, Harman, Herman and Sabbatini shot 66, and Fisher had a 69.
Organizers moved up the third-round tee times Saturday to try to dodge a threat of rain, with players going off in threesomes at the first and 10th tees.
