■BASEBALL
No guns in the clubhouse
Major League Baseball has a new message for players and employees this spring training: Keep guns, long knives and explosives out of the clubhouse. Signs have been placed in spring training locker rooms stating “individuals are prohibited from possessing deadly weapons while performing any services for MLB.” The rules apply to employees of the commissioner’s office, other central MLB businesses and to teams, including players. New MLB Players’ Association head Michael Weiner said the rules were put in place last season but the signs were not posted until now. Titled “Major League Baseball’s Weapon-Free Workplace Policy,” they say the MLB “shall prohibit the possession or use of deadly weapons in any facility or venue owned, operated, or controlled by it.” Included are “firearms, explosives, daggers, metal knuckles, switchblade knives, and knives having blades exceeding 5 inches.”
■SOCCER
F-Marinos eye Nakamura
Japan’s Yokohama F-Marinos have made a renewed approach to unsettled Espanyol midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura, Japanese media reported yesterday. The 31-year-old snubbed his boyhood team in favor of Espanyol last June but has failed to establish himself in the Spanish top flight. Yokohama want to try again to lure Nakamura away from La Liga before the start of the J-League season on March 6. “It’s a delicate process,” Yokohama President Akira Kaetsu told the Sankei Sports newspaper. “We don’t have much time.” F-Marinos manager Kazushi Kimura said Nakamura could struggle to make an impact for Japan at this year’s World Cup if he did not get regular first-team soccer. “The situation needs to be sorted out quickly — for the player’s sake,” Kimura told the Nikkan Sports. “While he is not playing, he’s losing his match sharpness.”
■SOCCER
Hoffenheim rally for draw
Carlos Eduardo’s late penalty completed Hoffenheim’s comeback from two goals down in a 2-2 draw at home with Borussia Moenchengladbach in the Bundesliga on Friday. The draw left both teams in the middle of the standings. Hoffenheim captain Per Nilsson gave away a penalty in the 30th minute when he handled the ball at the edge of the area and Filip Daems scored from the spot. Moenchengladbach’s second came after 51 minutes when Raul Bobadilla connected with a cross at the far post and headed toward the net. The ball was going inside but Roberto Colautti pushed it across the line, just in case. Hoffenheim did not give up and stepped up the pressure. Eduardo shook off Michael Bradley and played the ball square to Ibisevic, who slotted home to cut the deficit in the 69th. Moenchengladbach got a lucky break shortly afterward when the referee failed to spot Dante’s handling of the ball. In the 76th, Bradley had a point-blank attempt blocked by Hoffenheim goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand. Hoffenheim got its penalty when Daems blocked Ibisevic’s cross with his arm and Eduardo drove the ball home in the 88th.
■SOCCER
Injury sidelines Drenthe
Real Madrid’s left-sided Dutch midfielder Royston Drenthe will be out for between two and three weeks with an injury to his left leg, the club announced on Friday. Drenthe, who can also play as a left-back, underwent scans following training on Friday. The scans revealed a muscle tear in his left leg that will require “two to three weeks” to fully heal, according to a Real medical bulletin.
Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday homered for the fifth consecutive game, tying a Los Angeles Dodgers franchise record. Yankees star Aaron Judge was the last player to homer in five consecutive games, accomplishing that feat last year. Ohtani, who leads the National League with 37 home runs, homered in the first inning off Minnesota Twins starter Chris Paddack. He hit a slow curveball 134m to center. He carried the bat midway down the first-base line and then did a bat flip. He did not hit a home run later in the game with the Dodgers trailing, but his presence was felt. With two outs
US top seed Taylor Fritz dropped an early yesterday morning marathon to Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina of Spain, while the UK’s Emma Raducanu and Canada’s Leylah Fernandez reached the semi-finals of the ATP and WTA DC Open. World number four Fritz, two points from victory in the ninth game, dropped the last five games in falling to the 26th-ranked Spaniard 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 7-5 after three hours and five minutes in a match ending just before 2am. Davidovich-Fokina advanced to the semi-final against US fourth seed Ben Shelton, who beat sixth-seeded hometown hero Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (7/2), 6-4. Fritz, who had 20 aces and six
Ben O’Connor won Thursday’s monster Alpine stage to the ski resort of Courchevel as three-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar responded to attacks from Jonas Vingegaard and dropped him to cement his grip on the yellow jersey. With just three stages left before the race ends in Paris, Pogacar looks poised to retain his title, with a comfortable lead of more than 4 minutes over Vingegaard, a two-time champion. Stage 18 featured three extremely difficult ascents, including the 26.4km climb of the Col de La Loze to the finish. At 2,304m, La Loze is the highest summit in this year’s Tour. Two
Taiwan’s world No. 6 shuttler Chou Tien-chen yesterday defeated India’s H.S. Prannoy to advance to the quarter-finals of the China Open in Changzhou. It was former world No. 2 Chou’s eighth win in 14 matches against Prannoy, who had earlier this week lamented the age divide between him and up-and-comers, although he is only two years younger than 35-year-old Chou. The Taiwanese, who is seeded sixth at the tournament, rebounded from a close 21-18 loss in game 1 on Court 2 at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium. He bounced back to take the next games 21-15, 21-8 and set up a tough quarter-final
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