Quick Hitters
OXNARD, Calif. — The Dallas Cowboys have activated defensive end Randy Gregory off the nonfootball injury list after a year away from football on a substance-abuse suspension.
Gregory has played in just two of the past 32 regular-season games because of multiple suspensions. Commissioner Roger Goodell reinstated him not long before the Cowboys reported to training camp in California.
The former Nebraska and Arizona Western College standout participated in a walkthrough practice for the first time Wednesday. Gregory wasn’t expected to participate in the padded practice in the afternoon. Coach Jason Garrett said Dallas is “still going to be very deliberate with him.”
The 25-year-old was banned for the first four games of 2016 before a 10-game suspension was announced while he served the first penalty. Gregory was suspended indefinitely after getting his first career sack in the final game of the 2016 regular season.
Hamels solid in debut as Cubs throttle Pirates
PITTSBURGH — Cole Hamels had little trouble in his return to the National League, keeping the Pittsburgh Pirates in check over five innings to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 9-2 victory on Wednesday night.
Hamels (6-9), acquired in a trade with Texas last week, gave up one unearned run on three hits. The four-time All-Star struck out nine and walked two to pick up his first win for a National League team in more than three years.
Willson Contreras went 3 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs for the Cubs. Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist had three hits apiece while Kyle Schwarber and Javy Baez each added two hits and an RBI for Chicago. Reliever Brandon Kintzler worked 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief on his 34th birthday a day after arriving in a trade from Washington.
The Cubs wasted little time jumping on Pittsburgh rookie Nick Kingham (5-6), touching him for four runs in the first inning to give Hamels plenty of breathing room. Kingham needed 51 pitches to get through the first and didn’t come out for the second.
Francisco Cervelli went 3 for 3 with an RBI for Pittsburgh and Starling Marte added two hits but the Pirates never threatened after falling into the early hole to lose for just the fifth time in their last 21 games.
Chicago brought in the 34-yearold Hamels to give its patchwork starting rotation a boost. The lefthander struggled at times for the Rangers this season and came in having won just twice since Memorial Day. His new teammates did their best to put him at ease, staking him to a four-run lead before he even took the mound.
The Cubs batted around in the first despite having the ball leave the infield just once. A pair of Pittsburgh errors helped, so did a wild pitch and a hit by pitch by Kingham, who is a leading candidate to lose his spot in the starting rotation after the Pirates traded for Chris Archer.