Friday Sports in Brief
NHL
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — The New Jersey Devils have selected American center Jack Hughes with the first pick in the NHL draft.
Hughes is from Orlando, Florida, and becomes the eighth American selected No. 1, and first since 2016, when the Toronto Maple Leafs chose Auston Matthews.
The 5-foot-10, 170-pound play-making center was the NHL Central Scouting Bureau's top-ranked North American prospect. Hughes was chosen ahead of Finland's Kaapo Kakko, who was the top-ranked European prospect.
Hughes scored 74 goals and added 154 assists to set the USA Hockey National Team Development Program's two-year record with 228 points in 110 games.
MLB
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Texas Rangers third baseman Asdrúbal Cabrera plans to appeal a four-game suspension from Major League Baseball for throwing equipment on the field that hit an umpire.
MLB handed down the suspension Friday, a day after umpire crew chief Bill Miller was hit on the foot by a small shin guard or batting gloves thrown from the dugout by Cabrera after he was ejected in the sixth inning of a 4-2 win over Cleveland.
Cabrera tossed the shin guard and gloves after his ejection, a couple of pitches to the next batter after Cabrera was upset about a called third strike by home plate umpire Doug Eddings.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Oakland Athletics pitcher Frankie Montas has been suspended 80 games by Major League Baseball after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance.
The penalty was announced Friday. The 26-year-old right-hander is 9-2 with a 2.70 ERA in 13 starts.
The A's are 40-36, meaning Montas could return for the final week of the regular season. Montas, however, becomes ineligible for postseason play this year.
The commissioner's office said Montas tested positive for Ostarine, a PED. He is the sixth player this year suspended under the major league drug program.
In a statement released by the players' union, Montas said he never intended to use a banned substance. He said he unknowingly took a contaminated supplement that he bought over the counter at a nutrition store in the United States.
BASKETBALL
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Hall of Famer Joe Dumars is back in the NBA, hired as a special adviser to Sacramento Kings general manager Vlade Divac.
The Kings announced the hiring Friday of Dumars, the former president of basketball operations for the Pistons from 2000-14. He played his entire 14-year NBA career with Detroit.
Most recently, the 56-year-old Dumars had been the president of the basketball division for the sports agency Independent Sports & Entertainment (ISE). He said he is eager to be part of the Kings with Divac "at such an exciting time for the franchise."
TENNIS
LONDON (AP) — American tennis player Anna Tatishvili has appealed her fine of about $50,000 for what the Grand Slam Board ruled was a violation of its first-round performance rule at the French Open last month.
Tatishvili was docked a first-round loser's full prize money after losing to 29th-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-0, 6-1 in Paris.
It was Tatishvili's first competition since October 2017 because of an ankle injury. She has been ranked as high as 50th and is currently outside the top 700 because of her long absence from the tour, but used a special ranking to make the field at Roland Garros.
The Grand Slam Board introduced the performance rule before the 2018 season. The aim is to deter players who enter tournaments while injured from retiring during first-round matches to collect prize money. Players can be fined their first-round check if they do not "perform to a professional standard."
GYMNASTICS
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan State University on Friday authorized what officials said would be an independent investigation into the handling of sexual assault complaints against now-imprisoned former sports doctor Larry Nassar, the school's latest attempt to rebuild trust with his victims and the campus community.
The board of trustees voted unanimously to hire Chicago-based law firm Mcdermott Will & Emery to investigate and release a public report. The move came about 2½ years after trustees said an internal review was being led by Patrick Fitzgerald, a former Chicago federal prosecutor with the New York-based firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
That review came under criticism because the firm was also assisting the university in anticipation of civil lawsuits and facilitating cooperation with law enforcement following Nassar's 2016 arrest. No report was made public.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Longtime assistant Mike Martin Jr. has been promoted to head coach at Florida State, taking over the program where his father became the career wins leader in all NCAA sports.
FSU announced his hiring Friday. On Wednesday, the Seminoles ended their 23rd College World Series appearance, and 17th under Martin Sr., who won 2,029 games over 40 seasons.
Martin Jr. has spent all 22 of his years in coaching as an assistant to his father, focusing on hitting and recruiting. The former All-america catcher has put together eight straight top-10 recruiting classes and his offenses have a combined .300 batting average since 1998.