A's will sign ex-Giants lefty Wood
After three seasons in the Bay Area with the San Francisco Giants, veteran pitcher Alex Wood is extending his stay.
Wood, 33, agreed to sign with the Oakland Athletics, according to a report by Fansided's Robert Murray. The immediate terms of the deal, which is pending a physical, weren't immediately publicized.
Wood is poised to start his 12th MLB season with the A's. He was an AllStar in 2017 and helped the Dodgers to their 2020 World Series title. For the past three seasons, Wood has appeared in 81 games, going 23-21 with a 4.41 ERA primarily as a starter.
Wood was a key part of San Francisco's 107-win season, exhibiting a knack for stepping up after the team had lost a game. In Game 3 of the 2021 NLDS, he shut out the Dodgers in a 1-0 Giants win.
As a Giant, Wood started all 52 of his games in 2021 and 2022. But struggles last season, particularly with his command, led to him being used in a bullpen role.
Strict third-timethrough-the-order rules have applied to Wood for much of his career, capping his ceiling at mid-rotation starter. He's known to be liked in clubhouses and should bring some veteran presence to the Athletics. TIGERS LOCK UP PROSPECT >> The Detroit Tigers made an unusual bet on a player with no major league experience, agreeing to a sixyear contract with 22-yearold Colt Keith that guarantees the infield prospect $28,642,500.
His deal includes three team options that could make it worth $64 million over nine seasons.
Hockey
NECK PROTECTION MANDATED >> USA Hockey is mandating neck laceration protection for all players under the age of 18, the latest development in the wake of the death of a player in England from a skate to the neck that has reignited the debate over cut-proof gear in the sport.
The new rule goes into effect Aug. 1, a timeline that accounts for supply chain and production delays with neck guards. The decision comes three months after American Adam Johnson died after taking a skate blade to the neck during a game in the Elite Ice Hockey League.
RANGERS' CHYTIL OUT FOR SEASON >>
New York Rangers forward Filip Chytil will miss the rest of the NHL season after experiencing an injury setback.
Chytil, 24, has not played since early November because of suspected concussion issues that led him to go home to his native Czechia to skate with Jaromir Jagr, among others, in an attempt to get back.
Motor sports
PENSKE WINS ROLEX 24 >> Roger Penske snapped a 54-year losing streak at the Rolex 24 at Daytona when Felipe Nasr held off two-time defending race winner Tom Blomqvist in the final 45 minutes of the most prestigious endurance race in the United States.
The win for Team Penske at Daytona International Speedway was its first since “The Captain” restarted his sports car program in 2018, first with Acura and then last season as a two-car Porsche factory team. Penske's only other overall win at the Rolex came in 1969.
NFL
BILLS PROMOTE BRADY
>> Josh Allen's vote of support, coupled with a desire
to maintain continuity, led to Joe Brady taking over as the Buffalo Bills' offensive coordinator on a full-time basis.
The team announced the decision less than a week after Buffalo's season ended with a 27-24 loss to Kansas City in the divisional playoff round.
Brady closed the season as the Bills' interim coordinator after Ken Dorsey was fired in mid-November.
Women's basketball
STANFORD WINS >> Cameron Brink had 25 points and 19 rebounds in 25 minutes and No. 6 Stanford dominated on the glass to beat Arizona 96-64.
It was the 60th consecutive win for the Cardinal (19-2, 8-1 Pac-12) when scoring at least 80 points including 13 this season.
Brink, a 6-foot-4 senior forward, was 8 of 12 from the field and made all eight free throws, getting her 11th double-double of the season (and 43rd of her career) early in the second quarter and sitting the final 14-plus minutes.
Golf
KORDA WINS >> Nelly Korda rallied to win her hometown LPGA Drive On Championship and delay Lydia Ko's LPGA Hall of Fame entry, outlasting the New Zealander on the second hole of a playoff after overcoming a three-stroke deficit with an eagle-birdie finish.
In calmer conditions after wind gusts to 30 mph at Bradenton Country Club,
Korda won with a 3-foot par putt on the par-4 18th after Ko's 4-footer caught the lip and spun out.
Soccer
LIVERPOOL WINS >> It was business as usual for Liverpool in its first game since Jurgen Klopp announced his shock decision to walk away at the end of the season.
The Merseyside club advanced to the fifth round of the FA Cup after a 5-2 win against second-tier Norwich.
UNITED SCARE >> The cup represents Erik ten Hag's last realistic chance of a trophy in his second season at the club and it took second-half goals from Antony and Rasmus Hojlund to secure the Premier League team's place in the next round.
United had quickly raced in front through goals from Bruno Fernandes in the seventh minute and Kobbie Mainoo in the 13th.
Skiing
GUT-BEHRAMI WINS >> Olympic champion Lara GutBehrami is halfway to Lindsey Vonn's Cortina record after claiming a World Cup super-G for her sixth career victory on the Olympia delle Tofane course — which again was the site of multiple crashes.
Too bad the 32-year-old Gut-Behrami can't say for sure yet whether she'll still be competing in two years at the Milan-Cortina Olympics.
In a race when many of the top favorites struggled with a tricky courseset, Gut-Behrami edged Stephanie Venier, Friday's downhill winner, by 0.21 seconds. Romane Miradoli finished third, 0.41 behind. SWISS STAR WINS >> Swiss ski star Marco Odermatt restored the pecking order in men's World Cup super-G racing with a dominant victory, a day after he missed the podium for the first time in 13 races.
Racing in sunny conditions on the same course where he placed fourth in Saturday's overcast superG, Odermatt outpaced the field with an all-attacking run to lead runner-up Raphael Haaser of Austria.