Tuesday Sports in Brief

BASEBALL

SEATTLE (AP) - Seattle Mariners infielder Tim Beckham has been suspended 80 games as part of baseball’s joint drug agreement after testing positive for stanozolol, a banned performance-enhancer, Major League Baseball announced Tuesday.

Beckham’s suspension is effective immediately and ends his season.

In a statement released through the players’ association, Beckham says he took a product from a “trusted source, who had advised it was safe to take. Regrettably, the product was tainted.” Beckham says he appealed but an independent arbitrator upheld the suspension.

“I accept full responsibility for putting myself in this situation,” Beckham said.

Beckham was hitting .237 with 15 home runs and 47 RBIs in 88 games this season, his first in Seattle.

TORONTO (AP) - The Toronto Blue Jays will extend protective netting at Rogers Centre next season, joining other teams that have taken measures after foul balls injured fans.

The team also announced Tuesday that it will extend the nets next season at its spring training home in Dunedin, Florida.

There was no announcement on the length and height of the new netting at Rogers Centre. Baseball’s first retractable roof stadium, which opened as SkyDome in 1989, has single rows of “In the Action” seats beyond the first and third base dugouts that jut out from the main stands. The lower level of seating curves into each outfield corner, and foul territory narrows to inches approaching the wall.

The stadium is used for concerts and other events beside baseball.

FOOTBALL

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) - The new stadium at Hollywood Park being built for the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers has reached another milestone - its first corporate sponsor.

The LA Stadium and Entertainment District at Hollywood Park announced that American Airlines will be a founding partner. The airline will be the naming rights partner for American Airlines Plaza, which will be a 2½-acre, two-level open-air space that will serve as the main entrance into the 70,000-seat stadium and 6,000-seat performance venue.

The announcement took place Tuesday in front of the stadium, which is 75 percent complete and slated to open next July.

SOCCER

DERBY, England (AP) - Wayne Rooney will be leaving Major League Soccer after less than two seasons to return to play in England and be closer to his family.

The 33-year-old former England captain will remain at D.C. United until the end of the season before joining second-tier Championship team Derby County as player-coach from January.

Rooney has signed an 18-month contract that can be extended until the end of the 2021-22 season.

“I am very excited about the opportunity that Derby County have provided me with,” Rooney said. “I am sure I can make a big contribution and can’t wait to meet everyone, especially the supporters. I am equally excited to begin my coaching career at Derby County working with both the first team and academy.”

Rooney, who is the record goal scorer for Manchester United and England, had another two years remaining on the contract he signed with D.C. United after joining from Everton in 2018.

BERN, Switzerland (AP) - Swiss prosecutors on Tuesday charged former members of the German soccer federation (DFB) and a former FIFA official with fraud over the true purpose of a 6.7 million euro ($7.5 million) payment before the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Former DFB president Theo Zwanziger, its general secretary Horst R. Schmidt and Swiss ex-FIFA general secretary Urs Linsi are accused of jointly committing fraud, while Wolfgang Niersbach - Zwanziger’s successor as DFB president - is charged with being complicit in fraud.

Proceedings over allegations of money laundering were abandoned last month.

NBA

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons has explained a social media post that seemed to imply he’d been racially profiled by security staff at a Melbourne casino by saying he and his friends felt “singled out.”

Simmons posted a video on Instagram in which he asked why he and two black friends were asked for identification but another person in their group who is white was not. He deleted the post Tuesday morning, when it started making news and after the casino issued a statement saying its security staff routinely did ID checks on anyone who appears younger than 25.

The 23-year-old Simmons, who recently became the highest-paid Australian athlete when he signed a five-year, $170 million contract extension with the 76ers, apparently wasn’t recognized by security at one of the casino’s entry points Monday night. But he was allowed in at a second entry point after providing identification.

WNBA

UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) - The Connecticut Sun have traded rookie Kristine Anigwe to the Dallas Wings for veteran Theresa Plaisance.

The 6-foot-5 Plaisance averaged six points and just over four rebounds in 22 games this season for Dallas. She has hit 23 3-pointers this season, second for a center behind the Sun’s Jonquel Jones (31).

Sun coach Curt Miller says the 27-year-old Plaisance is one of the best stretch post players in the league and someone his team has been targeting for several seasons.

Anigwe, a 6-4 center drafted ninth overall out of Cal, averaged 2.0 points and 1.8 rebounds in 17 games with the Sun.

AUTO RACING

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr. has pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle while intoxicated, but will spend no time in jail.

Court records show Unser received a 363-day suspended sentence, and 363 days of probation. He is required to complete 480 hours of community service.

An Avon, Indiana officer pulled Unser over on May 20 after clocking his vehicle going 59 mph in a 45 mph zone and drifting from his driving lane. The officer later noticed Unser’s eyes were red and glossy and his speech slurred. Unser fell to the ground and rolled down an embankment after being asked to get out of his car.

Unser is the son of Indy 500 racing legend Al Unser and the nephew of three-time Indy winner Bobby Unser. Unser Jr. competed in the Indianapolis 500 19 times, winning the race in 1994 and 1992.

RUNNING

NEW YORK (AP) - All four defending champions are returning for the New York City Marathon.

Mary Keitany, Lelisa Desisa, Manuela Schar and Daniel Romanchuk will compete in the marathon on Nov. 3. The New York Road Runners also announced Tuesday that U.S. Olympians Des Linden and Jared Ward will highlight the American field.

Kenya’s Keitany will go for her fifth career title in New York. Last year, she recorded the second-fastest time through the five boroughs, finishing in 2 hours, 22 minutes, 48 seconds.

SAILING

COWES, England (AP) - Dylan Fletcher and his British crew became the first SailGP team to break the 50-knot speed barrier, flying their foiling 50-foot catamaran at 50.22 knots (57.8 mph/93 kph) Tuesday during training on the Solent for this weekend’s regatta.

The British crew initially reported that it hit 49.54 knots off Egypt Point on the Isle of Wight. But SailGP data analyst Scott Babbage interrupted the debrief to inform the sailors that the higher-frequency data pulled off the F50 showed they hit 50.22 knots.

Tom Slingsby’s Australian team had been just shy of hitting 50 knots during training in New Zealand before the league launched earlier this year.

Russell Coutts, a five-time America’s Cup champion and SailGP’s co-founder, said on his Facebook page that the league would only recognize speeds during racing as official.

SPORTS MEDIA

NEW YORK (AP) - Jemele Hill, the ESPN host who left the sports network a year after tweeting that President Donald Trump was a white supremacist, has a book deal.

Hill’s memoir will be published in 2021, Henry Holt and Company announced Tuesday. The book is currently untitled.

In 2017, Hill tweeted that Trump was a white supremacist and “the most ignorant, offensive president” of her lifetime. Then-White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called for Hill to be fired and Trump himself said Hill was bad for ratings. In 2018, she and ESPN amicably parted ways. Hill now is a staff writer for The Atlantic and hosts a podcast on Spotify.

She said in a statement Tuesday that she hoped the book would give people a better understanding of her.

NEW YORK (AP) - Steve Nash will take on an expanded role in his second year with Turner Sports, contributing to NBA coverage.

The network announced Tuesday that Nash is returning to B/R Football’s UEFA Champions League broadcasts on TNT and B/R Live. He’ll also be a contributor to TNT’s NBA coverage when the upcoming season begins in October.

The two-time NBA MVP will offer features and player profiles during coverage on Tuesdays in January.

SPORTS BETTING

The Washington Redskins will become the first NFL team to have a gambling-focused telecast of their games, offering cash prizes to viewers who correctly predict in-game outcomes during the preseason.

The telecasts on the regional cable network NBC Sports Washington will follow a formula established by the Redskins’ NBA neighbors, the Washington Wizards. The Wizards, however, offered the free-to-play contests during the regular season, while the Redskins will have them only during the four preseason games, when NBC Sports Washington has TV rights.

The network will continue to offer a traditional telecast on its main channel, while the gambling-focused telecast will air simultaneously on its secondary channel, NBC Sports Washington Plus. Damon Phillips, the network’s general manager, says Wizards games saw increased ratings and fan engagement when the in-game contests were available.

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