Friday's Sports In Brief

AUTO RACING

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) Jeff Gordon did his best to shake off the disappointment over his elimination from the championship field by winning the pole for Sunday's season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Gordon turned a lap at 180.747 mph in qualifying to earn the top starting spot for a race that became meaningless to his season after he was eliminated from the field of four drivers competing for the championship.

Kurt Busch qualified second and was followed by Matt Kenseth and Brad Keselowski.

Kevin Harvick will lead the title contenders Sunday by starting fifth. Denny Hamlin will start eighth and Joey Logano is in the 12th slot. Ryan Newman was the worst qualifier at 21st.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) - Matt Crafton became the first driver to win consecutive Truck Series championships when he clinched the title with a ninth-place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

All he had to do was finish 21st or better in the 134-lap race contested by a field mostly full of up-and-comers. There was never any doubt.

Darrell Wallace Jr. earned his fourth win of the season.

Wallace and truck owner/driver Kyle Busch went bumper-to-bumper for a celebratory spinout. Busch finished fourth, and his Kyle Busch Motorsports team won the driver's championship.

Kyle Larson was second, Timothy Peters third and Ryan Blaney fifth. Blaney was runner-up to Crafton in the final standings.

BASEBALL

DETROIT (AP) - The Tigers finalized a $68 million, four-year deal with Victor Martinez, keeping the slugging designated hitter in the middle of Detriot's lineup after he finished second in the AL MVP race this year.

Martinez hit .335 with 32 home runs and 103 RBIs, helping Detroit to its fourth straight AL Central title. Detroit agreed to the lucrative deal less than six weeks before Martinez's 36th birthday, showing the Tigers still are willing to spend big in pursuit of their first World Series championship since 1984.

The switch-hitting Martinez has batted over .300 in eight of his last nine seasons, not counting 2012, when he missed the whole season with a knee injury. His bat carried the Tigers at times in 2014.

Martinez will make $14 million next season and $18 million annually over the following three years. He can list 10 teams he can't be traded to without consent, and after the 2015 season he would have the right to block any trade as a 10-year veteran who has been with his current club for five years.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A.J. Burnett believes his right arm has one - and only one - season left in it. The pitcher has no intentions of letting it go to waste.

Spurning a chance to remain with floundering Philadelphia, Burnett agree to an $8.5 million, one-year deal to return to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Burnett went 26-21 for the Pirates in 2012-13, helping the franchise return to the postseason in 2013 following a 21-year drought. He'll receive $4.25 million less from the Pirates than he would have gotten from the Phillies under the player option he declined.

Pittsburgh attempted to re-sign Burnett last winter but he opted for a more lucrative deal with the Phillies.

Dealing with a hernia all season, Burnett went 8-18 with a 4.59 ERA in 34 starts. His 18 losses led the majors. He underwent surgery on Oct. 3 to repair the hernia and said he'll be ready when the Pirates report for spring training in February.

PHOENIX (AP) - The Arizona Diamondbacks acquired right-hander Jeremy Hellickson from the Tampa Bay Rays.

The trade was the first major move by new Diamondbacks General Manager Dave Stewart. The Diamondbacks sent Tampa Bay two minor league prospects, infielder Andrew Velazquez and outfielder Justin Williams.

Hellickson, the American League Rookie of the Year in 2010, has a 40-36 career record and a 3.78 ERA in 115 appearances, 108 starts, in five seasons with the Rays. He began the 2014 season on the disabled list and went 1-5 with a 4.52 ERA. Hellickson won a Gold Glove Award in 2012.

TENNIS

LONDON (AP) - Novak Djokovic clinched another year-end No. 1 ranking and a semifinals berth in the ATP Finals with a comfortable win over Tomas Berdych.

Berdych was dispatched 6-2, 6-2 in a group match, giving Djokovic an unassailable points lead over second-ranked Roger Federer.

Djokovic, the Wimbledon champion, will finish the season No. 1 for the third time in four years. He's the seventh man to accomplish the feat at least three times.

Djokovic and Federer have swept their groups, and are on course to meet in Sunday's final.

Djokovic will take on Kei Nishikori in the semifinals at the O2 Arena, while Federer will face his Davis Cup teammate Stan Wawrinka.

GOLF

MEXICO CITY (AP) - Christina Kim shot a 3-under 69 to maintain a one-stroke lead in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational.

Kim birdied the par-3 16th to take the outright lead and parred the final two holes at tree-lined Club de Golf Mexico and was at 10-under 134.

Paula Creamer was second after a 65, the best round of the day that included birdies on seven of the first 14 holes.

Azahara Munoz (71), Suzann Pettersen (66) , Lydia Ko (69) and Pornanong Phatlum (68) were tied for third at 7 under.

Top-ranked Inbee Park was 10th at 4 under after a 70, and Michelle Wie had a 69 to reach 2 under. Lexi Thompson, the winner last year at Guadalajara, also was 2 under after a 72. Second-ranked Stacy Lewis followed her opening 76 with a 70 to reach 2 under. She was tied for 27th in the 36-player field.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) - Jeff Coston shot a 6-under 66 for a share of the lead with Frank Esposito Jr. in the Senior PGA Professional National Championship.

The 59-year-old Coston, a PGA teaching professional at Semiahmoo in Blaine, Washington, had eight birdies and two bogeys on PGA Golf Club's Wanamaker Course to match Esposito at 10-under 134. Coston won the 2006 tournament.

The 51-year-old Esposito, the PGA head professional at Brooklake Country Club in Florham Park, New Jersey, bogeyed the final two holes on the Wanamaker Course for a 70. Coston and Esposito matched the 36-hole record set by Reed Hughes in 2006.

The low 35 Sunday will earn spots in the Senior PGA Championship in Mat at French Lick (Indiana) Resort. The final two rounds will be played on the Wanamaker Course.