AP National Sports

By JOSH DUBOW AP Pro Football Writer The Las Vegas Raiders signed quarterback Nick Mullens to be the backup to Derek Carr and brought back defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins for a fifth season with the team. Mullens has made 17 starts for San Francisco and Cleveland since being signed by the 49ers as an undrafted

By CHUCK KING Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — As either a player, coach or manager, Dusty Baker of the Houston Astros has been through every baseball work stoppage. Experience gleaned from late starts and shortened seasons has prompted an unorthodox approach to spring training that’s expected to carry over into the regular

PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) — Seattle Mariners’ top prospect Julio Rodríguez will be on the opening day roster following a torrid spring training performance. Manager Scott Servais says it’s time for Rodríguez to play in the big leagues. The big spring was making the decision to start the 21-year-old in the majors easy for the Mariners,

By BETH HARRIS AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tommy Davis, a two-time National League batting champion who won three World Series titles with the Los Angeles Dodgers, has died. The team says Davis died Sunday in Phoenix. No cause was given. Born in Brooklyn, Davis was a standout high school player who was

By BARRY WILNER AP Pro Football Writer The NFL is opening a pathway for African players with a developmental camp in Ghana. Following a camp this past weekend with Cleveland Browns linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, who is of Ghanaian descent, the league announced a three-day camp will take place in the capital of Accra in June.

FREIBURG, Germany (AP) — Bundesliga club Freiburg has appealed the result of its 4-1 loss to Bayern Munich after the Bavarian powerhouse briefly had an extra player on the field. But the club insisted it feels “extremely uncomfortable” about lodging the appeal. Bayern briefly had 12 players on the field toward the end of the

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer Albert Pujols will be in the starting lineup for the St. Louis Cardinals against the Pittsburgh Pirates when he begins his final big league season Thursday in what should be an emotional return to Busch Stadium. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol announced that Pujols will be the designated hitter for

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Syracuse forward Cole Swider will forgo his final year of eligibility and declare for the NBA draft. Swider announced his decision on social media and said he would sign with an agent. The Rhode Island native transferred to Syracuse last year from Villanova and started all 33 games for the Orange.

By EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer NEW ORLEANS (AP) — If the nine months that led to Monday night’s national title game proved anything, it’s that college sports are changing. Whoever shapes all these changes will help define whether the next decade in this multibillion-dollar ecosystem of sports, entertainment and education grows into an efficiently

By JAY COHEN AP Baseball Writer PHOENIX (AP) — Connor Dawson is a psychologist, gatekeeper, analyst and strategist. And a hitting coach, too. It’s a tough job. The 28-year-old Dawson is one of two new hitting coaches for the Milwaukee Brewers, hired along with Ozzie Timmons after Andy Haines was let go in October. Haines

By STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is in Lisbon this week for a Champions League quarterfinal match against Benfica and he has happy memories of the place. It’s where he received the phone call that changed his life. Klopp was visiting the Portuguese capital with his family in the autumn of

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer Iga Swiatek has moved up one spot to the top of the WTA rankings and is the first tennis player from Poland to be No. 1 in the sport. The 20-year-old Swiatek took over from Ash Barty at the top. Barty announced last month she would be retiring at

By CIARÁN FAHEY AP Sports Writer BERLIN (AP) — More than 81,000 supporters packed Westfalenstadion to capacity on Saturday for Borussia Dortmund’s match against Leipzig. It was the first time since Feb. 29, 2020, that Dortmund played in a full stadium at home. Even the ultras returned as the hygiene measures were canceled. Supporters lit

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Netherlands national soccer team coach Louis van Gaal says he is being treated for an aggressive form of prostate cancer but still plans to lead the team at the World Cup in Qatar in November. Van Gaal tells Sunday night Dutch talk show “Humberto” that players in the national team

By SKIPPER PATRICK Associated Press KANSAS CITY (AP) — Two free throws by calm Joe Quigg with six seconds remaining in the third overtime broke up a bitterly contested game and gave the North Carolina Tar Heels a 54-53 victory over Kansas and the NCAA major college basketball championship for 1957. The Tar Heels, extending