Off the wire

BASEBALL Sabathia suspended

New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia was suspended five games Saturday for hitting a Tampa Bay batter, a penalty that won’t take effect until next year. Sabathia appealed the ban that was issued by Major League Baseball. Any games he misses will come at the start of the 2019 season. The Yankees will host Oakland in the AL wild-card game on Wednesday. Sabathia was penalized for hitting Rays catcher Jesus Sucre in the leg leading off the bottom of the sixth inning at Tropicana Field on Thursday. The 38-year-old lefty was ejected, and the benches cleared. Sabathia, 38, was cruising with a big lead when he got tossed. He needed two more innings to trigger a $500,000 bonus for pitching 155 innings this season. In the fifth, Sabathia hit Jake Bauers in the wrist with a pitch. In the top of the sixth, Rays pitcher Andrew Kittredge threw upand-in to Yankees catcher Austin Romine. Kittredge was suspended three games and fined. Sabathia also was fined an undisclosed amount. Kittredge said it was likely he would appeal after talking it over with his agent. The regular season ends today.

GOLF Tanigawa leads by 2

Ken Tanigawa made a 30-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th at Poppy Hills in Pebble Beach, Calif., on Saturday for a 5-under 66 and a two-stroke lead in the Pure Insurance Championship. Making his 18th PGA Tour Champions start after earning his tour card at Q-school, Tanigawa, 50, rebounded from a bogey on the par-4 17th with the eagle. Gary Hallberg, Marco Dawson and Tom Gillis were tied for second. Hallberg had a 5-under 67 at Pebble Beach, the site of the final round today in the event that pairs players with juniors from The First Tee program. Dawson and Gillis shot 68s at Poppy Hills. Tanigawa got through Q-school as a re-instated amateur and turned professional again at the start of the season. The former UCLA player had a 10-under 133 total. He opened with a 67 at Pebble Beach on Friday.

TENNIS Fognini advances

Top-seeded Fabio Fognini reached his fourth ATP final of the year when he beat Taylor Fritz of the United States 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-3 at the Chengdu Open on Saturday in Chengdu, China. If Fognini beats Australian qualifier Bernard Tomic in the final today, he will become the first Italian to win four ATP titles in a season. After dropping the first set in a tiebreak, Fognini cruised the rest of the way, breaking Fritz six times over the last two sets. Tomic dispatched Joao Sousa 6-4, 6-4, overwhelming the Portuguese player with his service game. Tomic landed 12 aces and won 83 percent of his first serves. He is in his first tour-level final since early 2016 in Mexico. His last title was in 2015 in Bogota.

Krunic stages comeback

Unseeded Aleksandra Krunic made a remarkable comeback to oust sixth-seeded Elina Svitolina in the first round of the China Open in Beijing on Saturday. Krunic dropped the first nine games of the match and was down 4-1 in the second set before prevailing 0-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4). In another stunner, fifth-seeded Petra Kvitova was upset by unseeded Daria Gavrilova of Australia 6-2, 6-1. Gavrilova saved six of seven break points and broke serve six times to oust the two-time Wimbledon champion. Last year’s semifinalist, Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, beat Magdalena Rybarikova 6-4, 7-6 (3), while No. 10 seed Julia Goerges of Germany beat Johanna Konta 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 to advance. Donna Vekic of Croatia and Danielle Collins of the United States also moved on.

MOTOR SPORTS Briscoe tames ‘roval’

Chase Briscoe won the first of two big NASCAR races on the new “roval” at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday. Briscoe grabbed his first career Xfinity Series victory on the hybrid track of speedway and road course. Briscoe beat Justin Marks, a part-time NASCAR racer who said the race would be his last one dabbling in these cars. Briscoe won in a Ford fielded by Stewart-Haas Racing in the leadup to today’s critical Cup playoff race. Saturday was also a playoff race for NASCAR’s second-tier Xfinity Series, but these drivers were really the testers for the big show, the Cup race. Four drivers will be eliminated from the playoffs today, in part because of the difficulty of the roval, an odd layout causing headaches for the Cup drivers. Briscoe, who had not even sniffed a victory in his 13 previous races, said he treated the roval as if it was a dirt track.

HORSE RACING Winner wins Pharoah

Game Winner pulled away in the stretch to win the1$300,000 American Pharoah by 4 lengths and earn an automatic berth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. The 2-yearold colt trained by Bob Baffert ran 11/16 miles in 1:43.77 on Saturday at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif. Sent off as the 1-5 favorite, Game Winner returned $2.60, $2.20 and $2.10 in the race named for the 2015 Triple Crown winner also trained by Baffert. Gunmetal Gray returned $2.80 and $2.10, while Rowayton was another length back in third and paid $2.10 to show. Both are trained by Jerry Hollendorfer. Ridden for the first time by Joel Rosario, Game Winner improved to 3-0 in his young career. The colt was coming off a victory in the Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 3, when he beat Rowayton by 11/2 lengths and heavily favored stablemate Roadster by 2 lengths. The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile will be run Nov. 2 at Churchill Downs.

BASKETBALL U.S. beats Belgium

Diana Taurasi scored 26 points, including 5 three-pointers, to help the U.S. beat Belgium 93-77 on Saturday in the semifinals of the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup at San Cristobal de la Laguna, Spain. Breanna Stewart added 20 points while Brittney Griner had 16 for the Americans, who will be trying to win a third consecutive gold medal at the worlds. The U.S., which has won 21 consecutive World Cup games, will play Australia for the title today. Belgium, making its first appearance in the World Cup, hung around for the first 25 minutes behind the stellar play of Emma Meesseman and some solid outside shooting. The game was tied at 52 midway through the third quarter before the U.S. closed the period with a 21-5 run.

Arrest in Sims death

An arrest has been made in the shooting death of LSU basketball player Wayde Sims. Baton Rouge police said Saturday that Dyteon Simpson, 20, has been charged with second-degree murder and is being held at East Baton Rouge Parish Prison. Sims was shot early Friday during a street fight caught on video near the Southern University campus. The department is crediting the Louisiana State Police fugitive task force, the state police crime lab, Southern University police and area citizens in assisting in the investigation leading to the arrest. LSU Athletic Director Joe Alleva thanked area law enforcement for its “diligence and pursuit of justice.” Sims was 20 years old. The 6-foot-6 forward grew up in Baton Rouge, where his father, Wayne Sims, also played basketball for LSU. He averaged 5.6 points and 2.6 rebounds a game last season.

Sabathia