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After finally earning a win against the Americans on U.S. soil, Mexico’s players used all of those words Sunday to describe the 5-0 romp that gave them their fifth Gold Cup championship. Oh, and one other noun: pride. “I believe this is a great win for Mexico because we showed the pride we have in our hearts today,” Giovani Dos Santos said. “This is a huge step for us in the process.”

hursday before the grand jury investigating gun charges against former teammate Plaxico Burress(notes) and was expected to return Friday. Pierce did not comment as he left the courthouse. His lawyer, Michael Bachner, said, “We expect the grand jury testimony to continue tomorrow. At that point, after that, we’ll make a statement.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP)—Allstate Corp. said Monday it is ending its sponsorship of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard after five years as the lead sponsor of the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Northbrook, Ill.-based insurance company announced a day after this year’s race that it would not renew the sponsorship, which began in 2005, when its contract expires at the end of the year.

Michael Vick could be on his way back to the NFL if a team signs him before, during or following a four-game suspension levied by Commissioner Roger Goodell. ESPN.com reported Thursday that Goodell issued a conditional reinstatement for the suspended former Falcons quarterback that will allow Vick to attend training camp if he signs with a team, but will still suspend Vick for the first four games of the 2009 season.

The San Francisco Giants’ batters rarely see a first pitch they don’t like. “They’re a first-pitch-swinging team,” Pirates manager John Russell said Sunday, after watching the Giants turn some first-pitch hits into a 4-3 victory. The Giants scored all their runs in the sixth inning, rapping out four consecutive doubles off left-hander Zach Duke. After Randy Winn dumped a leadoff double into right field, Pablo Sandoval whacked Duke’s first pitch into left-center.

PITTSBURGH — The last time the Giants won a game at the confluence of the Ohio, Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, Noah Lowry was the winning pitcher and Ryan Klesko hit a grand slam. Not quite as far back as the French and Indian War. But almost. Sunday afternoon’s skirmish at PNC Park was a pivotal one for the Giants. Reeling from a pair of offensively limp losses out of the All-Star break, the Giants broke through in the sixth inning for four consecutive doubles and cheered Matt Cain’s healthy reemergence in a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

With his federal dogfighting sentence completed Monday, Michael Vick begins another tough challenge. He must resurrect his football career and put in order the finances he ruined as a result of running a dogfighting ring. Vick spent 18 months in prison in Leavenworth, Kan., and the past two months under home confinement in Hampton, Va. Federal Judge Henry Hudson prohibited him from giving interviews or speaking publicly. Vick worked a construction job, trained for a possible NFL return and shuttled back and forth to a bankruptcy court to try to set up plans to pay off his many creditors.

Michael Vick was released from federal custody Monday, with the sentence for his role in a dogfighting operation in Virginia expiring after he was imprisoned in Leavenworth, Kan., then on home confinement in Hampton, Va. There still is no indication, however, about whether he’ll be reinstated by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.