Brief Sports News
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Rangers infielder Rougned Odor said he expected to be suspended for punching Toronto’s Jose Batista during Sunday’s game in Arlington, Texas. Odor said he doesn’t regret it.
He addressed the media before Texas took on the Oakland Athletics on Monday night, saying he thinks a feud with the Blue Jays is over.
Texas manager Jeff Banister said that any suspension would be severe and that it was about two players who play the game with passion.
Odor took exception to what he considered a hard slide at second base. It escalated to punches, with Odor connecting with Bautista’s left jaw, knocking his sunglasses off.
MLB chief baseball officer Joe Torre said discipline is obviously coming for those involved in Sunday’s melee, ”hopefully” as soon as Tuesday.
Torre said of the punch, ”it certainly wasn’t pretty and I hate seeing that stuff.”
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Angels are closing in on a deal to sign two-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum,
a free agent trying to come back from hip surgery, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiations.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because no deal had been announced.
Lincecum tossed 41 pitches on May 6 for about three dozen scouts representing nearly every major league club in Scottsdale, Arizona, the spring training home of the San Francisco Giants. That’s the only team the 31-year-old right-hander has ever pitched for.
Lincecum won the NL Cy Young Award in 2008 and 2009.
The Angels have been hard-hit by injuries early in the season.
GOLF
BETHESDA, Md. (AP) – Tiger Woods says he’s ”progressing nicely” in his return from two surgeries on his back but he’s still not sure when he’ll return to competitive golf.
Woods said he’s getting stronger and hitting the ball better during practice at his home club in Florida, but added that he is not ready to play against the world’s best.
He says, ”If I knew, I’d tell you. It’d be fun to know.”
Woods spoke at Congressional Country Club, home of the Quicken Loans National, which he hosts and which benefits his foundation. He says it’s frustrating to have upcoming events on the schedule that he’s previously won but will be unable to play.
Woods, 40, hasn’t played since last August and has fallen outside the top 500 in the world ranking.
MANCHSTER FAKE BOMB SCARE
MANCHESTER, England (AP) – The discovery of a fake bomb inside Old Trafford brought embarrassment and potentially a $4 million bill to Manchester United, raising serious questions about the security arrangements in place at one of the world’s biggest sports teams.
It was also a stark reminder of the vulnerability of sports stadiums ahead of upcoming events like the European Championship in France and the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and the tense atmosphere that exists among sports fans and authorities after last year’s Paris attacks.
United took no chances when a mobile-phone device, taped inside a bathroom cubicle in a corner of Old Trafford, was discovered by a member of staff shortly before the Premier League match against Bournemouth on Sunday. Two stands were evacuated immediately, and soon after the game was called off and the rest of the 75,000-seat stadium was evacuated.
Army bomb-disposal experts blew up the device, described by police as ”incredibly lifelike,” before police said hours later that it had been left behind by a private company following a security training exercise using search dogs on Wednesday.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) – Lawyers for Joe Paterno’s relatives and the NCAA can have more time to look into newly disclosed allegations about claims of abuse against the late Penn State football coach’s former assistant Jerry Sandusky, a judge said.
Judge John Leete is presiding over a lawsuit by the Paterno family against the NCAA. He gave the parties 45 days to explore claims that a boy told Paterno in 1976 he was molested by Sandusky, and that two coaches witnessed Sandusky abusing children in the late 1980s. The information was made public this month when a Philadelphia judge ruled in a lawsuit by Penn State over insurance coverage for Sandusky-related claims.
Penn State’s lawyers ”will, as appropriate, approach victims in the Sandusky matter to ascertain their willingness to take part in voluntary discovery,” Leete wrote after a Monday conference in the case. ”The court will take all necessary steps to protect the confidentiality and anonymity of any such persons.”
Paterno’s relatives have rebutted the 1976 accusation, and an attorney for some Sandusky victims has said it is not irrefutably supported. Also, prosecutors have called the 1980s claims unreliable.
PRO BASKETBALL
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Terry Stotts, who coached the Portland Trail Blazers to the second round of the playoffs, has agreed to a three-year contract extension, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiations.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team has not announced the deal.
The Blazers hold a team option on Stotts’ current contract for the coming season. The extension, first reported by Yahoo Sports, goes into effect following the season and runs through 2020.
Stotts would not talk about contract negotiations when the team held exit interviews with players at the end of the season. But his players openly supported a new deal for him.
PRO FOOTBALL
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) – Mark Sanchez will miss the first few days of OTAs next week after undergoing surgery to repair a ligament in his left, non-throwing hand.
The Denver Broncos’ new quarterback injured his left thumb in a weight room mishap on Thursday while participating in team-wide strength and conditioning work.
He underwent surgery Saturday in Vail, Colorado.
With Sanchez expected to miss seven to 10 days, second-year pro Trevor Siemian and first-round draft pick Paxton Lynch will be taking the snaps when organized team activities begin May 24.
Sanchez, a seven-year pro acquired in a trade with Philadelphia earlier this offseason, is expected to return to action the following week.
