Sports Shorts

Derek Stepan had the kind of NHL debut every player dreams of. The 20-year-old became the first player in the 85-year history of the Rangers and the fourth in the NHL since 1927 to score three goals in his first NHL game, powering New York to a season-opening 6-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night.

Colt McCoy, the final member of the big four QBs in this year's draft, may be getting his shot under center. The former University of Texas star appears to be the last QB standing for the Cleveland Browns. Jake Delhomme, who suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 1, is scheduled for an MRI today after re-injuring the same ankle in yesterday's 20-10 loss to Atanta. Meanwhile Seneca Wallace, who started in place of Delhomme since Week 1, is scheduled for his own MRI after also going down with an ankle injury vs. the Falcons. So now it's down to McCoy, who hasn't taken a snap this season, to start against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. The Browns figure to sign another QB if there's no improvement from Wallace or Delhomme.

Spraying champagne in the visitors' clubhouse after completing the first postseason sweep in franchise history was merely a ritual for the Philadelphia Phillies. They won't really celebrate unless they win the World Series. The Phillies moved a step closer toward becoming the first NL team in 66 years to win three consecutive pennants by beating the Cincinnati Reds in three straight games in the division series. Now they'll wait to face the winner of the San Francisco-Atlanta series in the NLCS. Game 1 is Saturday at Citizens Bank Park.

World number two Novak Djokovic easily defended his China Open title for his second win on the ATP tour this year. Djokovic recorded a 6-2 6-4 win over Spain's David Ferrer in a final that had been carried into a reserve day because of heavy rain in Beijing. Caroline Wozniacki celebrated taking over from Serena Williams as the new world number one by beating second seed Vera Zvonareva in the women's event. The 20-year-old Dane came through 6-3 3-6 6-3 to earn a sixth title of 2010. She officially succeeded injured American Williams as the top ranked player in women's tennis on Monday, and got off to a fine start in the final in Beijing against Russian Zvonareva.

Tony Stewart still needs help to catch Sprint Cup Series points leader Jimmie Johnson, but he jump-started his climb back into contention for the series championship Sunday at Auto Club Speedway. Stewart beat resilient Clint Bowyer to the finish line by .466 seconds in Sunday's Pepsi Max 400 to win his first race at the 2-mile track, his second of the year and the 39th of his career. In sharp contrast to Stewart's victory, which left him 107 points behind third-place finisher and Chase leader Jimmie Johnson, a handful of Chase drivers took big hits in the championship battle.