Urías lined up to start Dodgers’ opener; Kershaw ‘excited’
GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Julio Urías is lined up to pitch for the Los Angeles Dodgers on opening day — and that’s just fine with teammate Clayton Kershaw.
Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts hasn’t announced his scheduled starter for March 30 against Arizona. Roberts, however, told reporters Tuesday that Urías will pitch Friday in a Cactus League game against Milwaukee as he returns to Dodgers camp from participating in the World Baseball Classic with Mexico.
That would put the left-hander on regular rest for the opener versus the Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium, with Kershaw on track for the second game of the season.
Kershaw, a three-time NL Cy Young Award winner, has made a franchise-record nine opening-day starts for the Dodgers (2011-18, 2021). Walker Buehler started the opener last season in Colorado.
“I’m excited for Julio to get to do it,” Kershaw said Tuesday. “I’m assuming Julio gets to do it. He deserves it. It is a special thing to get to do it. I think it should be whoever pitched the best the year before and he did that.”
The 26-year-old Urías went 17-7 with a 2.16 ERA in 31 starts last season and finished third in NL Cy Young Award balloting. He was 20-3 with a 2.96 ERA the year before.
Kershaw, who turned 35 on Sunday, is a ninetime All-Star with five ERA titles. But he’s been slowed at times by injuries in recent years. The left-hander was 12-3 with a 2.28 ERA in 22 starts covering 126.1 innings last season.
Kershaw pitched five innings Tuesday in a spring training game against the Cleveland Guardians. He allowed two runs on four hits with no walks and two strikeouts.
“It was his best of the spring and the last inning was his best inning,” Roberts said.
The 2014 NL MVP is 197-87 with a 2.48 ERA in 15 major league seasons.
“I wouldn’t have come back if I wasn’t excited about playing. I’m excited about our team. I’m excited about our chance to win,” Kershaw said. “Opening day at Dodger Stadium, you just can’t take that for granted.”
MLB plans to announce rules tweaks, week before opening day
MIAMI — Major League Baseball’s new pitch clock is going to undergo some timing adjustments before it is turned on for games that count.
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred called the changes “significant” but also described them as “clarifications” based on input from players. The alterations are likely to be
announced Wednesday, eight days before opening day.
“They’re important in my mind because they’re responsive to things players said to us,” he said before Tuesday night’s World Baseball Classic championship game between the United States and Japan.
Baseball’s 11-man competition committee, established in the labor agreement last March, adopted the pitch clock and shift limits last September over the opposition of the four players on the panel. MLB set the pitch clock at 15 seconds with no runners and 20 seconds with runners.
MLB also is limiting pickoff attempts and requiring two infielders to be on either side of second and all infielders to be within the outer boundary of the infield when the pitcher is on the rubber.
Players have talked about the need to accommodate certain plays that delay a pitcher from getting on the mound, such as after backing up first base.
“We have another set of issues that we want to see some regular-season games before we make a decision on them,” Manfred said. “I’ve met with six teams’ players already. Our feet are not in stone on this, on the one hand, and we are prepared to make adjustments based on input. On the other hand, we want to give it a chance to see exactly how it plays out after a period of adjustment in some regular-season games before we make any really significant alteration.”
Further adjustments may be made during the season.
Messi mania in Argentina as soccer star mobbed at restaurant
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — A steakhouse in the trendy Buenos Aires neighborhood of Palermo was mobbed by hundreds of frenzied soccer fans late Monday night when word spread that Lionel Messi was inside having dinner.
People rushed to the exclusive Don Julio restaurant eager to get a glimpse of the man who led Argentina to its third World Cup title. Messi eventually needed a police escort to leave.
Fans on the street corner chanted “Messi, Messi” and sang the words to “Muchachos,” which became the unofficial anthem for the Argentina squad that beat France in a thrilling final in Qatar.
The scene witnessed in the neighborhood of Argentina’s capital known for its bars and restaurants illustrates how Messi has now become like the late Diego Maradona, who led Argentina to its second World Cup trophy in 1986, and he can no longer walk through Argentina’s streets without being mobbed.
NBA suspends Grizzlies’ Dillon Brooks for 18th technical
NEW YORK — The NBA has suspended Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks for one game without pay for his 18th technical foul this season.
Joe Dumars, the league’s executive vice president and head of basketball operations, announced the suspension Tuesday. Brooks also was s uspended for a loss to the Clippers on March 5 after receiving his 16th technical foul in a loss to Denver on March 3.
Brooks earned his latest suspension Monday night with 7:26 left in the third quarter of the Grizzlies’ 112-108 win over Dallas. He dunked, and then danced his way back down the court.
He will sit out Wednesday night’s game against Houston and risks another one-game suspension if he picks up two more technical fouls.
Brooks also was fined $35,000 by the NBA last week for shoving a camera person while chasing a loose ball during a loss in Miami.
Dont’a Hightower retires from NFL after decade with Patriots
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Dont’a Hightower is making a quiet exit to a memorable career with the New England Patriots.
The veteran linebacker, who did not play last season, announced his retirement Tuesday in an essay posted on the Players’ Tribune website.
It ends a decade-long run in New England that began with the Patriots selecting him 25th overall in the 2012 draft. It included three Super Bowl rings (2014, 2016, 2018) and a pair of Pro Bowl selections (2016, 2019). He also was named a second-team All-Pro in 2016.
Hightower called his decision “a happy day.”
“People always ask what makes the Patriots culture so different. Easy answer: it was about professionalism, period. You knew that you had to show up every single day — not just physically but more so mentally,” he wrote. “We had a saying, ‘If you do it right, you do it light.’ Being good was expected. Being great might even get you a thumbs up from (coach) Bill (Belichick). Luckily, I knew a thing or two about that from my time at Alabama under Coach (Nick) Saban.
“For nine seasons, I lived that mentality 24/7. Today, I’m totally at peace knowing that I gave this franchise every ounce of sweat I had left.”
Hightower appeared in 117 games in his NFL career, amassing 27 sacks and 353 tackles.
With his wife expecting their first child, he opted to sit out the 2020 season because of concerns about COVID-19. He returned in 2021, but his production was down. He played in 15 games, logging 64 tackles and 1½ sacks.
He became a free agent that summer but didn’t sign a new contract.
Arsenal in MLS All-Star Game at Washington, DC, on July 19
NEW YORK — Arsenal will play Major League Soccer’s All-Stars at Audi Field in Washington, D.C., on July 19, the first European opponent in the game since before the Coronavirus pandemic.
The Gunners, pursuing their first Premier League title since 2004, also were the All-Star opponent in 2016. They won 2-1 at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, California, on goals by Joel Campbell and Chuba Akpom. Didier Drogba, then playing for Montreal, scored for MLS.
MLS announced Tuesday it was returning to its most-used All-Star format.
The league began having its top players face a European opponent in 2005, then announced in November 2019 that it was changing to its All-Stars against those of Liga MX. The 2020 match in Los Angeles was canceled because of the pandemic, but the format was used the following two years, with MLS winning on penalty kicks in Los Angeles in 2021 and 2-1 last year at St. Paul, Minnesota.
Arsenal will become the third European club to appear in two MLS All-Star Games after Manchester United (2010 and ‘11) and Chelsea (2006 and ‘12). The previous European opponent was Atlético Madrid, which won 3-0 in 2019 at Orlando, Florida.
The Gunners have an eight-point lead over defending champion Manchester City in the Premier League. Arsenal has nine games remaining and City has 10.
MLS’s All-Star Game had an East vs. West format in 1996 and ‘97, from 1999-2001 and in 2004. Its American players met its international players in 1998, and MLS All-Stars played the U.S. national team in 2002 and Mexico’s Chivas in 2003.
Bills sign former Pats running back Harris
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills restocked their offensive backfield by signing free agent Damien Harris to a one-year contract on Tuesday.
Harris spent his first four NFL seasons with the division-rival New England Patriots, and his signing comes a day after Buffalo lost starter Devin Singletary, who agreed to a deal with Houston.
Harris led the Patriots with 2,094 yards rushing and 20 TDs rushing since being selected in the third round of the draft out of Alabama. He also had 40 catches for 281 yards.
His best season came in 2021, when Harris finished with 929 yards rushing and scored 15 times, the second-most rushing TDs in a single season in team history. Three of his eight career 100-yard rushing games have come against Buffalo, including a career-best three-touchdown outing in a 33-21 loss on Dec. 26, 2021.
At 5-foot-11 and 213 pounds, Harris is projected to compete with second-year running back James Cook, and Nyheim Hynes, who was acquired by Buffalo in a trade with Indianapolis, to fill Singletary’s job as the Bills’ lead running back.
Boston College extends Grant through 2028-29 season
BOSTON — Boston College coach Earl Grant has agreed to a two-year extension that will keep him under contract through the 2028-29 season.
Grant took over as Eagles coach prior to the 2021-22 season and finished 13-20. Boston College went 16-17 this past season, but it had three wins over nationally ranked teams for the first time in 14 years.
“My family and I have enjoyed being a part of this amazing community,” Grant said in a statement. “Boston is a great city and we are glad to call it our home. I am thankful for the efforts of my staff to help move the program forward.”
The Eagles finished 9-11 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, their most wins in the league play since 2010-11. Quinten Post also became the first Boston College player to be named Most Improved Player.
In announcing the extension, athletic director Blake James expressed optimism about the direction of the program.
“Earl has done an outstanding job leading our men’s basketball program over the last two seasons and we are looking forward to him doing so for many years to come,” James said.
Wofford promotes Dwight Perry to men’s basketball coach
SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Wofford has made Dwight Perry its full-time men’s basketball coach after he led the team when Jay McAuley took a leave of absence and later resigned last December.
The school announced the hire Tuesday.
Perry has spent the past four seasons with the Terriers on McAuley’s staff.
He helped Wofford finish 1716. He directed a 67-62 victory at Texas A&M on Dec. 20 and advanced to the Southern Conference Tournament semifinals earlier this month.
Athletic director Richard Johnson said Perry brought stability to the team after McAuley left. “We look forward to watching the program move forward under his leadership,” Johnson said in a school statement.
The Terriers have had six straight winning seasons. They last made the NCAA Tournament in 2019 when current Virginia Tech coach Mike Young was coach.
Navratilova says she is cancer-free, returns to her TV work
LONDON — Martina Navratilova returned to TV work at Tennis Channel for its coverage of the Miami Open on Tuesday, less than three months after saying she had throat cancer and breast cancer.
“It’s great to be back . ... Thrilled to be here,” said the 18time Grand Slam singles champion and member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. “So happy to be working. How many people can say that?”
The 66-year-old Navratilova said her sense of taste disappeared during the treatment for cancer and she lost 15 pounds. She did not appear on television during the Australian Open in January or the BNP Paribas Open this month.
“It puts you face-to-face with your mortality, No. 1, because at the beginning, I wasn’t sure if it was treatable, so that was hard,” she said, wiping away tears. “But once I got into the program, it was a little easier emotionally, but more difficult physically . ... But I’m still standing.”