Stock down

BASEBALL: Mets GM Sandy Alderson said the team is inclined not to trade oft-injured RHP Matt Harvey even as he has drawn interest from at least three teams . ... Mariners RHP Hisashi Iwakuma could be back as soon as May after surgery on his right shoulder . ... The Yankees traded 3B Chase Headley and RHP Bryan Mitchell to the Padres, adding payroll flexibility and room for infield prospects. The Yankees received OF Jabari Blash, who has played in 99 big-league games over two seasons . ... UmpDale Scott, who missed most of 2017 because of a concussion and suffered four concussions in the last five years, retired at 58 . ... Orioles minor-league 3B Steve Wilkerson was suspended 50 games after testing positive for amphetamine, a banned stimulant.

BOXING: Former world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury is free to box again after receiving a backdated two-year doping ban. UK Anti-Doping said Fury had elevated levels of nandrolone in a urine sample provided after a fight in Feb. 2015. His ban was backdated to Dec. 13, 2015.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Wisconsin LB Jack Cichy decided to enter the NFL draft, foregoing a chance to ask the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility because of a right knee injury. Cichy announced his decision in a story posted on The Players Tribune website . ... The original 1994 Heisman Trophy that was awarded to late Colorado RB Rashaan Salaam is going up for online auction. SCP Auctions said a portion of the proceeds from the sale will be donated to CTE research.

Thomas caught two of the four passes thrown his way for 11 yards. Both of the passes he couldn’t bring in would have produced big gains. Thomas, who has caught 39 passes for 373 yards and three touchdowns, hasn’t proven he deserves to play ahead of Marqueis Gray. If his production level doesn’t improve, don’t be surprised if Miami releases him during the offseason to avoid paying his $6.6 million salary in 2018.

On Twitter @omarkelly OLYMPICS: Despite Russia’s ban from the upcoming Olympics, officials in the country still expect more than 200 of their athletes to compete at the Pyeongchang Games. Under International Olympic Committee sanctions announced last week, all Russians must compete under the Olympic flag as “Olympic Athletes from Russia.”

SOCCER: Ashley Barnes scored in the 89th minute to lift Burnley to a 1-0 win over Stoke that lifted it into the top four of the English Premier League. Already sitting above Tottenham, Burnley leapfrogged Arsenal and Liverpool with its ninth victory . ... Sounders GK Tyler Miller was the Los Angeles FC’s first pick in the MLS expansion draft . ... The Sounders re-signed F Clint Dempsey to a one-year contact . ... FIFA banned Colombia midfielder Edwin Cardona for five matches for making a discriminatory gesture with his eyes toward a South Korean opponent. FIFA will allow Cardona to serve the ban in friendly games, so he should be available for Colombia’s World Cup opener against Japan on June 19.

ALSO: Victoria Azarenka was awarded a wild card for the Australian Open in January. Azarenka, who won the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013, has been involved in a custody dispute involving her year-old son Leo . ... Bruce Brown, whose 1966 surfing documentary “The Endless Summer” molded the image of the surfer as a seeker of adventure and fulfillment and transformed the sport, died Sunday at 80 . ... Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius, in jail for the murder of his girlfriend, was bruised in an altercation with another inmate over telephone use. has beaten New England at Hard Rock Stadium, was meaningful.

“I think it means a lot to probably, first, the players,” he said, “because they have to go out there and they have the physical battle they have to handle, they’ve got to handle the mental battle as well.

“Not everything’s gone quite right this year and the guys have done a great job of just plugging along, figuring out a way to get better. Find a way to win last week. Find a way to win this week.”

And Gase said his team has had a little more pep in its step these past two weeks leading up to the back-to-back victories over Denver and New England.

“I think anytime you get in a situation where you’ve lost five games in a row, no matter how you win that game, it’s nice to win a game,” he said. “And then confidence can really build throughout a week the next week. I think that’s really what happened for us.”

Miami’s last three games are against teams ahead of them in the AFC wild-card picture. The Dolphins are at Buffalo this week, visit Kansas City (7-6) on Christmas Eve and host Buffalo for the regular-season finale at Hard Rock Stadium.

Right now, Pittsburgh (11-2, AFC North), New England (10-3, AFC East), Jacksonville (9-4, AFC South) and Kansas City (7-6, AFC West) would be the top four seeds in the playoffs as the division champions. And Tennessee and Buffalo are the wild-card teams.

Miami trails Baltimore (7-6) and the Los Angeles Chargers (7-6) and is tied with Oakland (6-7).

The Dolphins have headto-head tiebreaker advantages over the Chargers and Titans. The Dolphins would lose head-to-head tiebreakers against Baltimore and Oakland.

The Dolphins would gain a head-to-head tiebreaker advantage over Kansas City and eliminate Buffalo if they win their final three games because they’d sweep the Bills, giving losses.

Gase, who led Miami to a six-game winning streak and its first playoff berth since the 2008 season last year, was pleased with a number of things from the New England victory. Miami held the Patriots to 0 for 11 on third downs, held them, to 25 rushing yards, won the turnover battle (2-0), and finally took an early lead, which allowed the defense to go to work.

Gase, still careful not to tread into postseason speculation, said his players have had more purpose recently. He said they’ve had a “different way” about them.

“There was no change in effort or execution or anything like that,” he said, “but it seemed like guys were walking around different, like they felt good about what we had going on and how they were going to perform.” them eight