Sports

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Rachel Balkovec, hired by the New York Yankees as the first woman to manage a minor league affiliate of a Major League Baseball team, was hit in the face by a batted ball during a drill and will be sidelined for up to a week. Balkovec was struck Tuesday. She will

SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — The Texas Rangers have renewed the contract of All-Star outfielder Adolis Garcia for the 2022 season. The team signed their 28 other pre-arbitration eligible players to one-year deals. Garcia hit .243 with 31 homers and 90 RBIs last year, his first full big-league season. The 29-year-old right fielder from Cuba played

By FRED GOODALL AP Sports Writer TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Piece by piece, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are reassembling an impressive array of playmakers around Tom Brady. Free-agent running back Leonard Fournette finalized a three-year, $21 million contract with the team, joining receivers Chris Godwin, Russell Gage and Breshad Perriman, Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Sports Writer The Washington Commanders have signed defensive end Efe Obada and brought back depth cornerback Danny Johnson. The team announced the contracts more than a week after adding guard Andrew Norwell and re-signing a handful of players. Obada had 3 1/2 sacks and 12 tackles in 10 games with Buffalo

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Rachel Balkovec, hired by the New York Yankees as the first woman to manage a minor league affiliate of a Major League Baseball team, was hit in the face by a batted ball during a drill and will be sidelined for up to a week. Balkovec was struck Tuesday. She will

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments are seeing double-digit viewer increases over last year. The men’s tournament is up 12% over last year. The tournament is also off to its best start in five years, averaging 9.12 million viewers through the second round. The women’s tournament is up 15% overall through

By DAVE CAMPBELL AP Pro Football Writer EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — Hiring a new general manager and head coach created an expectation that major roster moves by the Minnesota Vikings would follow. They have instead kept their best and costliest players largely intact. Owner and president Mark Wilf spoke out against starting over. General manager

By JIM VERTUNO AP Sports Writer SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Arizona point guard Kerr Kriisa is a bit wild and more than a handful. Not just for opponents, but sometimes for the top-seeded Wildcats. The Estonian sophomore is the cocky and feisty sort who can drive opponents crazy, taunt their fans and question game officials.

MONTREAL (AP) — A Quebec judge has sentenced once-celebrated baseball writer Jonah Keri to 21 months in jail for repeated abuse of his ex-wife. Quebec court Judge Alexandre Dalmau’s sentence was considerably higher than the one sought by the Crown, which was for a minimum of one year in jail. Before his July 2019 arrest

By DAVID BRANDT AP Sports Writer PHOENIX (AP) — Trevor Story and Nick Castellanos are among the newest $100 million men during a Major League Baseball offseason full of big contracts. There’s been a robust market for the sport’s star players, even with a 99-day lockout that froze negotiations from December until mid-March. Story and

By TIM BOOTH AP Sports Writer RENTON, Wash. (AP) — Quandre Diggs says being in a comfortable environment played heavily into his decision to re-sign with the Seattle Seahawks rather than going elsewhere in free agency. The Pro Bowl free safety signed a three-year deal worth up to $39 million. Diggs says he didn’t want

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi quarterback Matt Corral showed off his right arm and his apparently healthy right ankle for NFL teams. Corral threw Wednesday for representatives of almost every NFL team at the Ole Miss pro day, including at least four head coaches. Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin, Atlanta’s Arthur Smith, Carolina’s Matt Rhule and Mike

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana High School Athletic Association on Wednesday commended Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb’s veto of a bill banning transgender females from participating in girls school sports after the association previously held back from taking an explicit stance on the proposal. IHSAA Commissioner Paul Neidig expressed reservations that the proposed legislation only addressed

By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer Danielle Shepherd last weekend became just the second woman in at least two decades to lead an IMSA sports car team to victory. Shepherd earned her victory in the Twelve Hours of Sebring in just the second race of her new job. The 28-year-old was promoted during the

By TOM CANAVAN AP Sports Writer JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) — Saint Peter’s University wasn’t just little-known nationally before this year’s NCAA Tournament. The Jesuit-run school doesn’t even have a high profile locally. One could drive right past it on John F. Kennedy Boulevard in Jersey City, New Jersey, without even noticing. But that’s the

By CHUCK KING Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Eager to get back to where he was, Justin Verlander says he still needs to get sharper. The Houston ace was pulled after another scoreless outing, taken out after 2 2-3 innings Wednesday when he reached a team-imposed pitch limit. Verlander missed all of

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs traded Tyreek Hill to Miami for a package of draft picks Wednesday, and the Dolphins are giving the three-time All-Pro wide receiver a $120 million, four-year contract extension that makes Hill the highest-paid player at his position in NFL history.