OKLAHOMA CITY — Valerie Arioto doubled in the tiebreaking run and followed it with a grand slam to power the United States to an 8-4 victory against rival Japan on Saturday night at the World Cup of Softball.
The Americans (3-1) bounced back from a loss to Canada earlier in the day to secure a crucial win for their hopes of reaching Monday night’s championship game and pursuing a fifth straight World Cup title.
Arioto, who also drove in the tiebreaking runs in America’s 5-2 win against Australia a night earlier, came up with two more two-out hits against the 2008 gold medalists.
Off-balance Johnson struggles
CHICAGO — Shawn Johnson‘s first competition since the Beijing Olympics was a rough one. Johnson fell off the balance beam and pitched forward on the landing of her uneven bars routine at the Cover Girl Classic, a qualifier for next month’s national championships. She scored 13.55 on uneven bars and 13.3 on balance beam, the only two events she performed. She will now have to wait to see if her petition for nationals is approved.
Brandie Jay of Fort Collins finished second in the vault and ninth in the all-around.
Isner, Fish in Atlanta final
ATLANTA — John Isner overwhelmed Gilles Muller in the third set to win 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-1 and reach the Atlanta Tennis Championships final for the second straight year.
Isner, the No. 3 seed, will meet top seed Mardy Fish in today’s final. Fish beat Ryan Harrison 6-2, 6-4.
Fish, No. 9 in the world, beat Isner in the 2010 Atlanta final and has not lost a set in this tournament. Isner can improve his No. 35 ranking by beating Fish.
• Gilles Simon of France rallied to beat Mikhail Youznhy of Russia 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 to set up a German Open final against Nicolas Almagro.
Almagro defeated fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 6-1.
The fifth-seeded Simon will be looking for his second title of the year in today’s final in Hamburg against the third-seeded Almagro.
The two have split their previous two matches, but Almagro won the one on clay.
• Vera Zvonareva defeated Ukraine’s Mariya Koryttseva 6-1, 6-2 to set up an all-Russian final at the Baku Cup in Azerbaijan. The top-seeded Zvonareva will take on Ksenia Pervak, the No. 7 seed.
Red Bulls, FC Dallas draw.
Thierry Henry scored his league-leading 11th goal in the 85th minute Saturday, lifting the New York Red Bulls to a 2-2 draw with visiting FC Dallas in Major League Soccer.
Henry’s goal, coming after Marvin Chavez‘s second goal put FC Dallas up 2-1 in the 79th minute, came off a direct kick from newly acquired Dax McCarty. Henry blasted it in from just to the left of the box, beating goalkeeper Kevin Hartman to the wide side.
The tie put the Red Bulls (6-5-12) only a point behind Eastern Conference leader Philadelphia.
• Justin Braun scored three goals as Chivas USA extended its unbeaten streak to five matches with a 3-0 victory over visiting Houston.
• Alvaro Saborio had two goals as host Real Salt Lake got all of its scoring in the second half in a 4-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes.
• Eddie Gaven scored in the 79th minute to lift the Columbus Crew to a 1-0 victory over visiting Portland.
• Kei Kamara and Omar Bravo scored two goals each as Sporting Kansas City beat Toronto FC 4-2 in Kansas.
