Sat, Nov 15, 2014 page18

• SPORTS BRIEFS

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  BASEBALL

  Kershaw, Trout win MVPs

  Clayton Kershaw has become the first pitcher to win the National League MVP award in nearly a half-century. The Los Angeles Dodgers ace beat out Miami slugger Giancarlo Stanton and Pittsburgh outfielder Andrew McCutchen for the honor announced on Thursday. Bob Gibson in 1968 was the previous pitcher to be the NL MVP. Detroit pitcher Justin Verlander won the AL MVP in 2011. Kershaw unanimously won the NL Cy Young Award on Wednesday. He led the majors in wins and ERA while going 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA and throwing a no-hitter. Kershaw got 18 of 30 first-place votes and 355 points in balloting by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Stanton got eight first-place ballots and 298 points. McCutchen got four first and 271 points. Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout unanimously won the American League MVP earlier in the day.

  SOCCER

  Australia hits back at FIFA

  Football Federation Australia yesterday hit back at a FIFA report that alleged taxpayer money went to buy votes during its bid for the 2022 World Cup, insisting it conducted a clean bid campaign. Australia’s top soccer body rejected assertions of impropriety in canvasing support for its failed bid by FIFA’s Ethics Committee and said it had been “disappointed” by the process. A FIFA investigation into Qatar’s successful bid for the 2022 World Cup cleared the host of any wrongdoing, but accused Australia of breaking ethics rules, trying to buy votes and then attempting a cover-up. FFA chairman Frank Lowy said his organization ran a competitive bid in-line with the rules, which was monitored throughout by the federal government and other independent bodies.

  GOLF

  Berger tied for OHL lead

  Daniel Berger had five birdies in a seven-hole span on his final nine for a share of the lead in the OHL Classic in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, on Thursday. Making his sixth US PGA Tour start, Berger birdied Nos. 1, 3, 5, 6 and 7 and finished with two pars for a six-under 65 on Mayakoba Resort’s El Camaleon course. Will MacKenzie, Robert Garrigus, Steve Wheatcroft, Hudson Swafford and Tony Finau also shot 65, and 50-year-old Davis Love III was a stroke back in a group that included Aaron Baddeley, Charley Hoffman and Pat Perez. The six-player tie is the largest after 18 holes since six players also topped the leaderboard in last year’s St Jude Classic.

  GOLF

  Kim grabs lead at Ochoa

  American Christina Kim, seeking her first LPGA title since 2005, fired a seven-under-par 65 to grab a one-stroke lead after Thursday’s first round of the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Mexico City. The 30-year-old US standout took a one-stroke lead over Spain’s Azahara Munoz with New Zealand teen Lydia Ko, this season’s LPGA Rookie of the Year, alone in third on 68. Kim’s bogey-free round included eagles at the par-five second and 17th holes in Mexico City, where she led after the first round for the first time since 2008. Kim has only two top-10 finishes this year, but one was a runner-up effort at the ShopRite LPGA Classic. “It seems like every Sunday I have been playing well, just shoot myself in the foot the first couple rounds,” Kim said. “So before we started, T.J. [Jones, her caddie] said: ‘Let’s pretend it’s Sunday and go from there.’ It has been a lot of fun.”
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