REUTERS - World number three Andy Murray has withdrawn from next week's inaugural $5.25 million Shanghai Masters because of a wrist injury, organisers said on Thursday.

The Briton, who also missed this week's Japan Open for the same reason, joined world number one Roger Federer in pulling out of the penultimate Masters series event of the season.

Murray sustained the injury in Cincinnati in August and, after a medical examination on Wednesday, was advised to rest his wrist for two to three weeks, according to a statement.

"I apologise for the inconvenience that my withdrawal may cause but I trust you understand, the situation is beyond my control and I would much rather participate in the tournament than be in the current position regarding my health," Murray said in a letter to organisers.

Murray and Federer, who cited fatigue when he pulled out of the event, are among five players who have already secured their places at November's season-ending World Tour Finals in London.

World number two Rafa Nadal, also competing at the China Open in Beijing this week, heads the field at the Shanghai Masters at the Qizhong arena from Oct. 11-18.

REUTERS - Derek Jeter and Hideki Matsui supplied the punch that supported pitcher CC Sabathia in the New York Yankees' 7-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins in the opening game of their AL Division series on Wednesday.

In the NL Division, the Los Angeles Dodgers triumphed 5-3 over the St Louis Cardinals, while World Series champions Philadelphia made a confident start to the postseason with a 5-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies in the other NLDS opener.

The Twins, who arrived in New York at 3 a.m. (0700 GMT) after their thrilling Tuesday night win over Detroit for the AL Central title, struck first with two runs in the third inning.

Yankees captain Jeter wiped out the deficit in the bottom of the third, however, smacking a hanging curve from Twins
rookie Brian Duensing down the left-field line to score the first postseason homer in the new $1.5 billion Yankee Stadium.

"That's Derek Jeter this time of the year," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of the shortstop, whose round-tripper brought home Melky Cabrera and was the 18th of his postseason career.

Nick Swisher doubled in a run in the fourth, and Alex Rodriguez stroked an RBI single in the fifth just before Matsui's powering homer rattled around in Monument Park behind the wall in dead center to put the game out of reach.

Sabathia yielded two runs, one unearned, in six and two-thirds innings, and gave up only eight hits while striking out eight with no walks.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said his team ran into double-trouble -- Sabathia's pitching and the Yankee lineup.

"Everyone is a stinking All-Star," moaned Gardenhire of the Yankees' star-studded batting order.

The best-of-five series resumes on Friday in the Bronx, where regular season leaders New York (103-59) will try to extend their record this year against Minnesota to 9-0.

DODGERS LEAN ON BULLPEN

The Los Angeles Dodgers faced stiffer resistance against St Louis in a laborious contest that left 30 players on base, an MLB playoff record for a nine-inning game.

Matt Kemp belted a two-run homer in the first, but the Dodgers had to rely on their bullpen to close out the game.

Jeff Weaver was credited with the win, one of five relief pitchers used, after relieving first-time playoff starter Randy Wolf in the fourth.

"Our bullpen is great, they've been doing it all year," Kemp said.

LEE OMINOUS

Philadelphia used a mid-game one-two punch to knock out the Rockies, breaking a scoreless tie with two runs in the fifth and three in the sixth.

The fifth-inning damage came on Raul Ibanez's RBI-double and a run-scoring single by Carlos Ruiz off starter Ubaldo Jimenez.

In the next frame, Ryan Howard stroked a run-scoring double, Jayson Werth belted an RBI triple, and a single from Ibanez made it 5-0 -- a daunting lead with Cliff Lee in ominous form.

Colorado finally scored in the ninth, but Lee bowed with a six-hit, complete game win in his first playoff start.

"We hit the ball very good and Cliff pitched a hell of a game," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.

AFP - Franck Ribery has been ruled out of France's World Cup qualifying matches against Austria and the Faroe Islands due to tendinitis in his left knee, the country's coaching set-up announced on Monday.
  
The Bayern Munich winger was ruled out of both matches after being seen by a specialist. No replacement has yet been named.
  
Ribery played from the start for Bayern against Cologne in the Bundesliga on Saturday but failed to shine in a drab 0-0 draw.
  
It was his second consecutive league start for the Bavarian giants after an injury-disrupted start to the season but he felt pain in his knee following the club's goalless draw at home to Juventus in the Champions League last Wednesday.
  
Having been strongly linked with a move to Real Madrid in the summer, Ribery has cut an increasingly frustrated figure over the opening weeks of the 2009/10 campaign.
  
His club manager, Louis van Gaal, repeatedly refused to name him in Bayern's starting XI due to his injury problems and he has also been unable to dislodge Barcelona's Thierry Henry from the left flank in the French first team.
  
France host the Faroe Islands in Guingamp on Saturday before welcoming Austria to the Stade de France in Paris the following Wednesday.
  
They will also be without Bordeaux playmaker Yoann Gourcuff, who has been ruled out for up to 10 days with a hamstring injury.

Reuters - Olympique Marseille lost 2-1 at home to Monaco in Ligue 1 on Sunday to end a miserable week for the Provence club.

Marseille, thrashed 3-0 at Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday, paid dearly for a poor first half.
 
Monaco, who proved sharp on the break, moved up to fourth in the standings with 15 points from eight games, Marseille slipping to fifth.
 
Olympique Lyon led the table on 20 points after beating RC Lens away on Saturday.
 
At the Stade Velodrome, Nene opened the scoring with a free kick from the edge of the box that took a deflection off Gonzalez's head in the 20th minute.
 

The visitors doubled the tally on 41 minutes when Park Chu-young outpaced the Marseille defence on the break to fire the ball past a helpless Steve Mandanda.
 

HIGH PRESSURE
 
Monaco found themselves under high pressure shortly after the hour with a Bruno Cheyrou strike smashing the woodwork and keeper Stephane Ruffier tipping a Stephane M'Bia header over his bar.
 
Senegal striker Mamadou Niang pulled one back with four minutes left, flicking the ball past Ruffier after being perfectly set up by Hatem Ben Arfa.
 
Earlier, Toulouse lost 1-0 at home to FC Lorient in Ligue 1 in a game marked by an emotional tribute to their fan who died this week.
 

In an emotional pre-match ceremony, Lorient and Toulouse players laid a wreath before the East curve in memory of Brice Taton, who passed away on Tuesday after being beaten by Partizan Belgrade fans at a Europa League game on Sept. 17.
 
The fans held a one-minute round of applause before kickoff.
 
Both teams failed to find their range until the 88th minute, when Olivier Monterrubio converted a penalty kick following a handball in the box by Etienne Didot.
 
Pierre-Alain Frau struck twice to give Lille a 3-2 win at promoted Boulogne.

REUTERS - Sebastian Vettel won the Japanese Grand Prix to keep his Formula One title hopes alive on Sunday while Jenson Button had his overall lead trimmed to 14 points with two races remaining.
 
The 22-year-old Red Bull driver's third victory of the season left the German 16 points adrift of Brawn's Button, who inched closer to the crown with a hard-fought eighth place.
 
"Finally we made it, I was screaming on the radio ... it's good to be back on first position also on Sunday," said Vettel, the first German from outside the Schumacher family to win three races in a single season.
 
Button's closest rival, Brazilian team mate Rubens Barrichello, crossed the line in seventh on a sunny afternoon at Suzuka.
 
Italian Jarno Trulli was second for Toyota in the team's home race, equalling their best result, while McLaren's Lewis Hamilton hung on for third ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.
 
Germany's Nico Rosberg was fifth for Williams, with compatriot Nick Heidfeld sixth for BMW-Sauber.
 
Button would have clinched the title had he scored five points more than Barrichello but that had looked highly unlikely since Saturday, when both were handed five-place grid penalties.
 
Button's chances of sealing the championship in Japan seemed even more remote when he ended the first lap in 11th place, but he passed BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica and was then gifted two more places when McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen and Force India's Adrian Sutil collided just ahead of him.
 
Brawn, who emerged from the remains of the Honda team only weeks before the season started, were left a tantalising half-point away from becoming the first team to secure the constructors' title in their debut season.
 
They now have 155 points to Red Bull's 120.5, with a maximum 36 still to be won.
 
Vettel had led comfortably from pole position but his advantage evaporated when the safety car was deployed late in the race, after Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari crashed, and stayed out until four laps from the finish.
 
The Spaniard was unhurt in the accident.

AFP - Frenchman Sebastien Loeb took another step towards a sixth consecutive world rally championship title by winning the Rally of Spain, his sixth victory of the season, here on Sunday.
   
In finishing one-two, Loeb and Spaniard Dani Sordo assured the constructors world title for Citroen.
   
Loeb finished the weekend 12secs ahead of Citroen teammate Sordo, and a massive 54sec ahead of title rival Mikko Hirvonen of Finland.
   
Hirvonen, driving a Ford Focus, finished third to retain the championship lead but he now has only a one-point lead going into the 12th and final race at the Rally of Britain in Wales on October 23-25.
   
Hirvonen's presence has injected some much needed excitement into this year's championship and the Finn has pushed Loeb hard but with the race going right to the wire the Frenchman's experience could prove crucial.
   
Loeb looked to have closed to within one point of Hirvonen after winning the Rally of Australia in early September but the Finn was awarded the victory after stewards found that Loeb's Citroen anti-rollbars did not conform to FIA technical configurations.