■ SAN DIEGO PADRES
Tadahito Iguchi strikes deal
The San Diego Padres have agreed to terms with free-agent second baseman Tadahito Iguchi, pending a physical scheduled for Monday. Iguchi hit .304 with the Philadelphia Phillies after being acquired from the Chicago White Sox at the trade deadline to fill in for injured Major League Baseball All-Star Chase Utley. Iguchi will replace Marcus Giles, who slumped badly and eventually lost his starting job during his one season in San Diego. Iguchi had some offers to play third base, according to his agent, Rocky Hall. "His No. 1 desire was to play in San Diego and at second base," Hall said.
■ LA DODGERS
Dodgers look for pitcher
Now that the Los Angeles Dodgers have Andruw Jones and Jeff Kent in the lineup next season, they can turn their attention to finding a starting pitcher. Their first choice appears to be free-agent Japanese right-hander Hiroki Kuroda. Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti made clear his desire to land the 32-year-old Kuroda at a Dodger Stadium news conference where Jones was introduced on Wednesday, a week after the sides agreed to a US$36.2 million, two-year contract. Several teams have expressed interest in Kuroda, who has a 103-89 record with a 3.69 ERA in 11 seasons with the Hiroshima Carp of the Central League. Kuroda was 12-8 in 26 starts for the Carp last season. He led the Central League with 15 victories in 2005, and had a league-best 1.85 ERA last year.
■ HOUSTON ASTROS
Tejada traded to Astros
Miguel Tejada was traded from the Baltimore Orioles to the Houston Astros for five players on Wednesday, giving the former American League MVP a fresh start on a team looking to boost its lineup. The Orioles got outfielder Luke Scott, pitchers Matt Albers, Troy Patton and Dennis Sarfate, and third baseman Michael Costanzo for the four-time All-Star shortstop. Two winters ago, Tejada caused a stir in Baltimore when he said was unhappy with the Orioles' direction and wanted to be traded. He later backed off that stance. "I feel very happy with this trade, because it's something that I've been really looking forward to," Tejada said by telephone from Miami. Houston general manager Ed Wade said the Astros couldn't pass up the opportunity to add Tejada. "The reality is when you are talking about a player of this magnitude, you have to go in with every expectation that the asking price is going to be very high and if you want to participate, it's going to be tough," he said.
■ DOPING
Report to name culprits
American Major League Baseball's long-awaited doping report exposes a "serious drug culture" within the league, "from top to bottom," identifies top players and calls for increased testing by an outside agency to clean up the game. The investigation conducted by former US Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell will include names of 60 to 80 players linked to performance-enhancing substances and plenty more information that exposes "deep problems" afflicting MLB, one of two sources with knowledge of the findings said. Both sources said the report would not address amphetamines. The two sources were familiar with discussions that led to the final draft but did not want to be identified because it was confidential until its scheduled release yesterday.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
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