Off the wire

FOOTBALL Rookie OT out for 2019

Cincinnati Bengals rookie offensive tackle Jonah Williams is expected to miss the season after surgery for a torn labrum in his left shoulder. The team said in a statement that Williams is expected to make a full recovery. He was injured at a practice earlier this month. The Bengals drafted Williams at No. 11 overall in April, looking to upgrade an offensive line that has been a longstanding problem. They also took guard Michael Jordan in the fourth round and drafted center Billy Price in the first round last year. Cordy Glenn, last year’s left tackle, is expected to return to his former spot. “We look forward to Jonah being a major contributor in the future, and know that he won’t let this injury deter him from still being an important part of this team,” Coach Zac Taylor said in a statement.

BASEBALL Yankees release Morales

Kendrys Morales was cut by the New York Yankees on Tuesday. The veteran designated hitter and first baseman was reinstated from the 10-day injured list Tuesday and designated for assignment. New York also recalled left-hander Stephen Tarpley from Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Tarpley replaces struggling reliever Jonathan Holder in the bullpen. Holder was optioned to Class AAA after Monday night’s 10-8 victory over Toronto. Morales, who turned 36 last week, was acquired May 14 from Oakland for a player to be named or cash. At the time, an injury-depleted Yankees team was looking for someone who could provide pop and temporary help at DH and first base. But since then, Edwin Encarnacion was obtained from Seattle and Giancarlo Stanton came off the injured list — along with several other Yankees regulars. Morales became expendable. The switch-hitter from Cuba batted .177 with 1 home run and 5 RBI in 19 games for the Yankees. He had three hits against the Mets in his last game June 11 but was placed on the injured list two days later with a strained left calf. Morales is a .265 career hitter with 213 home runs in 13 major league seasons.

HOCKEY

Blues coach gets extension

The St. Louis Blues signed Coach Craig Berube to a threeyear contract extension Tuesday after he led St. Louis to its first Stanley Cup championship in his first season in charge. The Blues were in last place at the start of the year, but Berube led them on an 11game win streak in January and February to position them for the playoffs. The Blues beat the Boston Bruins in seven games to win the first championship in their 52-year history. Berube, who also spent two seasons coaching the Philadelphia Flyers, joined the Blues as an associate coach in 2017. His new deal will be formally announced at a news conference today.

Oprik, 38, retires

Washington Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik has decided to

retire after 15 NHL seasons and two Stanley Cup championships. The 38-year-old announced his retirement Tuesday. Orpik said his body is telling him “it is time to move on to something new” after 1,171 regular-season and playoff games. Orpik won the Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 2009 and Washington in 2018. The rugged blue liner was a respected leader in the Capitals’ locker room the past four seasons. Teammates nicknamed him “Batya,” the Russian word for “Dad.” The San Francisco native who went to Boston College was mostly known for his physicality and defense. But Orpik scored the Game 2-winning goal for Washington in the 2018 final on the way to the franchise’s first title.

BOXING

Former champion rescued

Former heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko said his boat trip off Spain with family and friends was cut short after a fire broke out on board. The 43-yearold Ukrainian said in a tweet Tuesday that the group was evacuated from the motor yacht in the Mediterranean Sea on Sunday night. Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service confirmed it responded to an emergency call, though a spokeswoman declined to provide the identities of those involved because of privacy rules. The spokeswoman told The Associated Press the yacht carrying nine people reported a fire in its engine room and was drifting 10 miles southwest of Port Adriano, which is on the island of Mallorca. Nobody was hurt.

OLYMPICS

2 Russian athletes banned

Two Russian biathletes have been banned for doping based on computer data from a laboratory in Moscow. The International Biathlon Union said it handed four-year bans to Alexander Chernyshov and Alexander Pechyonkin because of “aggravating circumstances (participating in an organized doping scheme).” The cases relied on information from the lab database, which held records of years of drug testing at a time when Russian officials routinely covered up cases. There was no immediate word on two other ongoing biathlon cases using the lab data. The athletes in those cases are Olympic gold medalists Evgeny Ustyugov and Svetlana Sleptsova. Another Russian, Ekaterina Glazyrina, was banned for two years in 2018 because evidence of her drug use was covered up prior to the 2014 Olympics.

Breakdancing gaining steam

Breakdancing has moved a step closer to the 2024 Olympics, and now organizers can look to book a street venue in Paris. IOC members have formally endorsed requests from Paris in February and their executive board in March to provisionally add breakdancing to the program, pending a final decision in December 2020. Paris wants to add four sports to its program, though the other three — skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing — will make Olympic debuts in Tokyo next year. Breakdancing will have 16 competitors in each of the men’s and women’s events.