■BASEBALL
Irabu joins Fighting Dogs
Former New York Yankees pitcher Hideki Irabu has reached an agreement to play for a team in a Japanese independent league. The 40-year-old Irabu will pitch for the Kochi Fighting Dogs of the Shikoku-Kyushu Island League, team officials said on Saturday. Irabu signed with the Long Beach Armada of the Golden Baseball League in April and posted a 5-3 record with an ERA of 3.58. He made 10 starts with 65 innings pitched and struck out 66 batters while walking only 19. Irabu started his career with the Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan’s Pacific League and joined the Yankees in 1997 on a US$12.8 million, four-year contract. After three seasons with the Yankees, Irabu played for the Montreal Expos and Texas Rangers before returning to Japan to play for the Hanshin Tigers in 2003, helping the team win the Central League pennant. A year ago, he was arrested for allegedly assaulting a bartender after drinking 20 mugs of beer at a bar in Osaka. Police said he admitted the assault.
■BOXING
‘Maco’ dies after bus crash
Panamanian super bantamweight Jose “Maco” Arboleda died from injuries suffered when the bus he took to training crashed over a cliff, media reported. Arboleda, who was 27, suffered stomach and lung injuries in the crash on Friday morning and died 22 hours later, the Panamanian newspaper El Siglo said on its Web site. He had a 23-4 record with nine knockouts and two draws.
■CYCLING
Ballan wins Tour of Poland
Italy’s Alessandro Ballan, of the Lampre team, won the 66th edition of the Tour of Poland in Krakow on Saturday after the seventh and final stage. The 136km stage, from Rabka to Krakow, was won by Germany’s Andre Greipel of the Columbia squad. World champion Ballan wasn’t assured of victory before Saturday’s mountainous finale, having only an 11-second lead over closest rival Advald Boasson Hagen of Norway, who had won the two of the earlier stages of the race. But the Norwegian failed to make any impression on the peloton and Ballan could breathe easy with Daniel Moreno Fernandez of Spain eventually edging Boasson Hagen for second spot overall, 10 seconds behind. “The fifth stage leading out of Krynica was decisive. I won that and took the yellow jersey,” Ballan said. “It was my first victory since the world championships last year and it’s an important victory because I have had some health problems and a mediocre season.”
■BASKETBALL
Dropout may play in Israel
The foreign odyssey of the basketball trailblazer Jeremy Tyler will probably begin in Israel. Tyler, a 211cm prospect from San Diego, is on the cusp of signing with Maccabi Haifa, which finished in second place in Israel’s top division last season. “We are very close,” said Sonny Vaccaro, an adviser to Tyler. “Everyone is in agreement. His agents need to formalize everything.” Tyler, 18, became the first player to drop out of high school to play basketball professionally outside the US. He had originally committed to Louisville, but instead took the road of Brandon Jennings, who played in Rome last season and became the No. 10 pick in the NBA draft. Tyler will play two seasons abroad before being eligible for the 2011 draft. He will team with the former Southern California forward Davon Jefferson, who starred for the team last season as it finished runner-up to the traditional power Maccabi Tel Aviv. “It’s a good situation,” Tyler said on Friday, “but I’m not sure at this point.”
■SOCCER
Mills hangs up his boots
Former Manchester City and England fullback Danny Mills retired from soccer on Saturday after admitting defeat in his battle to recover from a serious knee injury. Mills suffered the problem more than a year ago and has been told it will not recover sufficiently to allow him to resume his career. The 32-year-old, who also played for Norwich City, Charlton Athletic and Leeds United, won 19 caps for England and played at the 2002 World Cup. “Unfortunately, I have now got to the situation where I can no longer continue to play,” he told BBC Radio Five Live. “So, really as from today, I’ll be retiring from the professional game and looking to do other things. It has been difficult ... I’ve been around the world – America, Germany, Sweden, London — I’ve been everywhere trying to get it sorted. I’m likely to have another operation in three or four months’ time ... Basically, the knee just can’t cope with it any more.”
■RUGBY UNION
Richards resigns from ’Quins
The fall-out from Harlequins’ fake-injury scandal continued on Saturday with the resignation of the club’s director of rugby, Dean Richards. Richards’ departure comes after Harlequins were fined £215,000 (US$358,000) and winger Tom Williams was suspended for 12 months over an incident in last season’s European Cup quarter-final with eventual champions Leinster. Williams was found guilty of faking a blood injury so that he could be replaced in the dying minutes with his side trailing 6-5 by New Zealand kicker Nick Evans. Evans had left the field injured in the 47th minute, while his replacement, Chris Malone, also had to go off injured. TV footage appeared to show Williams winking as he left the pitch. Harlequins are reviewing the incident and a statement released on Saturday read: “During the course of this process, Dean Richards unreservedly tendered his resignation from his post as director of rugby. The board of Harlequins has accepted his resignation.”
■CRICKET
Mortaza to go under knife
Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza needs surgery on both knees and is expected to have an operation today, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said on Saturday. Mortaza visited Australian orthopedic surgeon David Young in Melbourne on Friday and was advised to have arthroscopic surgery on his knees, the BCB said in a statement. “The surgery is likely to be performed on Monday, after which an assessment will be made on the extent of the injury and the possible duration for recovery.” Mortaza fell awkwardly while bowling on the third day of the first Test against the West Indies at St Vincent last month, limped off the field and has been sidelined ever since.
■VOLLEYBALL
Puerto Rico stun Russia
Puerto Rico pulled off an upset against world champions Russia for their first win at the World Grand Prix women’s volleyball on Saturday. Aurea Cruz scored 28 points, while Sarai Alvarez scored 22 points to lead Puerto Rico to a 25-17, 25-22, 22-25, 28-26 success in the four-team round-robin competition. “This was a historical moment for Puerto Rico. It was the first time for me to play against Russia as the head coach of the women’s team, so this game had special meaning,” Puerto Rico’s Argentine coach Carlos Cardona said. “It is very significant for the country and for the team that we won today. It was our first win in the Grand Prix.” In the second match, Japan defeated South Korea 22-25, 25-13, 25-18, 25-10 for their second straight win in Osaka.
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
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
CUNNINGHAM CONNECTS: In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons snapped their record 15-game playoff losing streak by beating the Knicks to level their series at 1-1 Kawhi Leonard on Monday scored 39 points on 15-of-19 shooting as the Los Angeles Clippers evened their first-round NBA Playoffs series against the Nuggets with a 105-102 win in Denver. “It feels like he didn’t miss a shot,” James Harden said. “His shot-making ability is elite.” Good thing, too, because his teammates were a combined 26 of 66 for a 39 percent clip. “I made shots tonight,” Leonard said. “I just keep playing, try to stay in the zone no matter if I’m making or missing shots.” The fifth-seeded Clippers needed every bit of his brilliance to snatch the homecourt advantage in the series
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