Sports shorts Raiders’ Marshawn Lynch suspended following contact with referee

Oakland running back Marshawn Lynch was suspended for one game without pay by the NFL on Friday for shoving a game official during the Raiders’ victory over Kansas City on Thursday night.

Lynch was ejected from the game after he shoved line judge Julian Mapp. The scuffle started when Oakland quarterback Derek Carr was hit late on a run by Kansas City’s Marcus Peters midway through the second quarter. Raiders offensive linemen Kelechi Osemele and Donald Penn immediately confronted Peters, and Lynch sprinted onto the field from the bench to join the fray. Mapp tried to break up the fight, but Lynch pushed him and grabbed his jersey. Lynch also got a personal foul.

NFL vice president of football operations Jon Runyan wrote a letter to Lynch, saying:

“You made deliberate physical contact with one of our game officials as he was diffusing an active confrontation between players. You were disqualified for your inappropriate and unsportsmanlike actions. Your conduct included pushing the game official and grabbing his jersey . ... You were not directly involved in the active confrontation that the game official was attempting to diffuse, nor were you a participant in the play that initiated the confrontation. You were the only player from either team who ran from the sideline to midfield to insert himself into a situation in which he was not directly involved.”

Lynch will be eligible to return to Oakland’s active roster on Oct. 30, the day after the Raiders’ game against the Bills.

Dusty Baker’s time as the manager of the Washington Nationals is over after two seasons, two NL East titles and zero playoff series victories.

The Nationals announced Friday that they would not be bringing Baker back. His two-year deal with the club is expiring.

The contracts for the members of Baker’s coaching staff also are finished. The team said it will work with its new manager to fill those positions.

The moves come the week after Washington was eliminated from its NL Division Series against the Cubs with a 9-8 loss at home in Game 5. The Nationals also were bounced from the postseason in the NLDS round in 2016 also with a Game 5 loss at home by one run, that time against the Dodgers.

Columbus Crew SC says the team will not issue a refund to season ticket holders for 2018 after the team’s owner announced a possible move to Austin, Texas.

Anthony Precourt, whose Precourt Sports Ventures has owned the Major League Soccer club since 2013, said Tuesday the team is no longer sustainable and will make the move unless a new, privately-financed stadium is built in downtown Columbus.

Precourt says the team needs more fan and financial support to compete in the growing league, and a move to a stadium in an urban center is the only way to accomplish that goal.

He says the team will stay in Columbus for 2018, but its future beyond that is unknown.

Precourt tweeted Thursday that he takes “full responsibility” for the situation.