Japan walks off Mexico, will play USA for championship
Japan rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth Monday to defeat Mexico, 65, in their World Baseball Classic semifinals at Miami. The win means Japan will play the United States on Tuesday for the championship.
Down 5-4, Shoehei Ohtani led off with a line-drive double to right field. Masataka Yoshida followed with a walk and Munetaka Murakami banged a double to left-center to bring home the tying and winning runs.
Mexico had two leads in the game, the first coming on Luis Urias’ three-run homer in the fourth.
That lead was erased when Yoshida launched a three-run home in the bottom of the seventh.
Alex Verdugo doubled home Lars Nootbaar for Mexico and Isaac Paredes singled home Jarren Duran in the eighth for a 5-3 lead. J
apan cut the lead to 5-4 with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth.
More baseball
The Colorado Rockies reached agreement on a oneyear, $7.75 million contract with Jurickson Profar, who is expected to play left field and possible bat leadoff.
College basketball
St. John’s hired the Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino, who returns to the Big East Conference to help a storied program that’s been mired in mediocrity for much of this century. Following a successful run at nearby mid-major Iona, 70-year-old Pitino was plucked away to replace Mike Anderson, fired March 10 after four seasons in charge of the Red Storm without making the NCAA tournament.
Pitino has been to seven Final Fours and won two NCAA championships, one each at Kentucky (1996) and Louisville (2013). He has a .740 winning percentage in 34 full seasons as a college basketball coach. He has guided five schools to the NCAA tournament, including Boston University (1983) and Iona (2021-2023).
• Ed Cooley was announced as the new men’s coach at Georgetown, hired away from Big East rival Providence in the hopes of rebuilding a once-proud program that dropped to new lows under former star player Patrick Ewing.
Pro football
The Detroit Lions’ remake of their secondary continued when safety C.J. Gardner- Johnson agreed to a one-year, $8 million deal for 2023. Last week the Lions signed cornerbacks Cameron Sutton and Emmanuel Moseley.
• Magic Johnson has joined Josh Harris’ bid to buy the NFL’s Washington Commanders, according to an report by The Associated Press
• The Houston Texans reached agreement with tight end Dalton Schultz and running back Devin Singletary, according to ESPN. Houston also made left tackle Laremy Tunsil the highest paid offensive lineman in the NFL after agreeing to a three-year, $75 million extension.
• Former Steeler Josh Dobbs, ae free agent quarterback who spent most of last season with Cleveland, agreed to a one-year contract and will be the Browns’ No. 2 quarterback behind Deshaun Watson next season.
• The Atlanta Falcons bolstered their group of cornerbacks by signing Mike Hughes to a two-year deal and re-signing Cornell Armstrong.
Pro basketball
Ja Morant’s eight-game NBA suspension is over and the two-time All-Star guard was expected to rejoin the Memphis Grizzlies and be on the bench — but not play — Monday night against Dallas. It was unclear exactly when he’ll play, with the earliest being Wednesday.
• Charlotte Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball said he anticipates being ready for training camp in September after suffering through an injury-plagued 2022-23 season in which he sprained his left ankle three times and fractured his right ankle, all of which limited him to 36 games.
Skiing
Mikaela Shiffrin earned another piece of World Cup history — the first Alpine skier with $1 million to top the season-ending race prize money list. Shiffrin’s win in a giant slalom Sunday was her 13th World Cup victory since October and lifted her total prize money ($1.04 million). Her previous best prize total was $958,000) in the 2018-19 season.
Soccer
Marcus Rashford, Mason Mount and Nick Pope have withdrawn from the England squad for the Euro 2024 qualifiers against Italy and Ukraine because of injuries.
College football
Nebraska opened spring practice with running back Anthony Grant suspended indefinitely to work on academics and other issues, first-year coach Matt Rhule announced Monday.
College volleyball
After helping the Pitt women’s volleyball team reach its second consecutive NCAA Final Four as the volunteer assistant coach, Michael Fisher has been promoted to the director of operations, head coach Dan Fisher announced.
Tennis
Teenage sensation Carlos Alcaraz, the 19-year-old tennis superstar from Spain, regained the world’s No. 1 ranking from Novak Djokovic after trouncing Daniil Medvedev on Sunday night.
College administration
St. Francis College in Brooklyn, N.Y., one of he smallest NCAA Division I schools, announced that its board of trustee had voted to eliminate its athletic department A member of the Northeast Conference for more than 40 years, fielded 21 NCAA teams, including men’s and women’s basketball.