Friday Sports in Brief

Sat, Feb 6, 2021
By The Associated Press

MLB

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Trevor Bauer is coming home to pitch for the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner announced his decision on Friday in a two-minute video posted to his Twitter account.

Bauer, who turned 30 last month, was born in North Hollywood, went to high school in Santa Clarita and played baseball at UCLA.

The right-handed free agent is 75-64 with a 3.90 ERA in nine major league seasons that included a career-best 17-9 with a 4.19 ERA for Cleveland in 2017. He was an All-Star the following year, going 12-6 with a 2.21 ERA.

ATLANTA (AP) - The Atlanta Braves are bringing back Marcell Ozuna, signing the slugger to a $65 million, four-year contract.

The Braves announced the deal for the 2020 NL home run and RBI leader on Friday night, less than two weeks before pitchers and catchers are set to report for spring training.

The 30-year-old Ozuna last season batted .338 with 18 homers and 56 RBIs, narrowly missing out on a Triple Crown. He started all 60 games, posting a career-best 1.067 OPS and finishing sixth in NL MVP voting.

NEW YORK (AP) - The Baseball Writers' Association of America has voted to remove the name of J.G. Taylor Spink, former publisher of The Sporting News, from the award given annually by baseball's Hall of Fame for meritorious contributions to baseball writing.

The BBWAA said Friday that 325 of 334 voters, 97%, had voted to remove the name following research into racism by Spink. The award voted on annually by BBWAA members will now be known as the BBWAA Career Excellence Award.

Spink was publisher of The Sporting News from 1914 until he died in 1962.

NBA

NEW YORK (AP) - Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant couldn't start a game and then couldn't finish it, removed in the third quarter because of the NBA's health and safety protocols.

Durant wasn't available at the beginning of Friday night's game against Toronto, eventually being cleared to enter in the first quarter. Once he did, it became his first appearance as a reserve in his 867 NBA games.

Durant helped the Nets rally to take the lead before he was informed in the third quarter that he needed to exit the game. Replays showed coach Steve Nash appearing to give the news to Durant, who walked toward the locker room area and threw a water bottle in frustration. The Nets then announced he was out for the rest of the night.

NFL

KANSAS CITY, Mo, (AP) - Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach Britt Reid, the son of head coach Andy Reid, was involved in a multi-vehicle crash late Thursday that injured two young children near the team's training complex adjacent to Arrowhead Stadium.

According to Kansas City, Missouri, police, the crash occurred about 9 p.m. on Interstate 435. A vehicle had run out of gas and called for help on the entrance ramp to the highway, and another vehicle parked nearby to assist them. Reid's pickup truck struck the left front of the first car before hitting the rear of the second car.

Two children in the second car, ages 5 and 4, were taken to the hospital. Their status was not immediately available.

TENNIS

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - Former Australian Open champions Naomi Osaka and Victoria Azarenka withdrawn from tuneup tournaments Saturday, two days before the year's first tennis major begins at Melbourne Park.

No. 3-ranked Osaka pulled out of her Gippsland Trophy semifinal against Elise Mertens, citing a "niggling injury."

Azarenka withdrew from the Grampians Trophy quarterfinal match against Anett Kontaveit with a lower back problem.

Serena Williams withdrew from the Yarra Valley Classic late Friday after qualifying for a semifinal against top-ranked Ash Barty.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) - Six Big Ten football games will be played at different sites than originally planned and dates for many matchups have been changed on the revised 2021 conference schedule released Friday.

The games with new locations: Michigan State at Indiana on Oct. 16; Wisconsin at Purdue on Oct. 23; Michigan at Michigan State on Oct 30; Purdue at Nebraska on Oct. 30; Indiana at Michigan on Nov. 6; and Nebraska at Wisconsin on Nov. 20.

Two rivalry games were moved back to their traditional spots at the end of the regular season. Iowa plays at Nebraska on Nov. 26 and Wisconsin visits Minnesota on Nov. 27.

MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - The Portland Pilots have parted ways with basketball coach Terry Porter.

Assistant Ben Johnson will serve as interim coach for the rest of this season, the team announced Friday.

Porter, known for his 17-year NBA career, went 43-103 in his five seasons with the Pilots. His teams won just seven total West Coast Conference games in that span.

The Pilots are 6-11 overall and 0-8 in the WCC this season. The team announced it was moving on a day after the Pilots fell 105-60 at home to BYU.

WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

The San Antonio region will host the entire NCAA women's basketball tournament.

The move Friday was made to help mitigate the risks of COVID-19 and matches that of the men's tournament, which the NCAA said last month will be played in the Indianapolis area.

The tournament will still feature 64 teams and will run from March 21 through April 4. The NCAA will use five sites for the opening round, including the University of Texas, which is 80 miles from San Antonio, as a venue.

SLED DOG RACING

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - There has been another dramatic change to the world's most famous sled dog race this year because of the pandemic, with officials announcing Friday that the ceremonial start has been canceled.

The Saturday event normally draws large crowds to downtown Anchorage to watch as mushers carrying Iditariders, or people who won auctions to ride in the sleds. It's a party atmosphere with beer tents and food stands lining downtown streets.

For the actual start of the race, which is always held the following day, the Iditarod has said there will be limited space for spectators outside a secure area, and encouraged fans to watch the start and finish on live television.

OBITUARY

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - Julio Canani, who trained three Breeders' Cup winners and thoroughbred racing's 2-year-old Eclipse champion filly in 2004, died Friday after a long illness.

He died at a hospital in Pasadena, his daughter Lisa told officials at Santa Anita in nearby Arcadia, where Canani was based. She gave his age as 83, although Canani's birthdate is listed as Nov. 13, 1938, which would have made him 82.

He had 1,137 winners and purse earnings of over $49 million during his career.

ATLANTA (AP) - Josh Evans, a defensive tackle who started for the Tennessee Titans in the 2000 Super Bowl, has died. Evans was 48.

Evans died Thursday night in Fayetteville, Georgia, one year after he was diagnosed with kidney cancer. His death was confirmed to The Associated Press by Willie Watkins Funeral Home in Riverdale, Georgia, which is handling arrangements.

Evans, a native of Langdale, Alabama, retired in 2005 following a nine-year career, including six seasons with the Houston Oilers and Tennessee Titans. He played his final three seasons with the New York Jets.

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