HORSE RACING
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission didn’t take long to deny the appeal of Maximum Security’s disqualification as Kentucky Derby winner for interference, saying hours after it was filed Monday that the stewards’ decision is not subject to appeal.
The commission’s letter to attorney D. Barry Stilz, who filed the appeal of behalf of owners Gary and Mary West, also denied a request to stay the disqualification ruling pending appeal.
West said he was disappointed by the KHRC decision, but added the matter is not settled. He said a suit would be filed in the appropriate court.
Also, Maximum Security’s co-owner said Monday he will not run the horse in the middle jewel of the Triple Crown. West told The Associated Press there is “really no need, not having an opportunity to run for the Triple Crown, to run a horse back in two weeks.”
Racing stewards disqualified Maximum Security after Saturday’s Kentucky Der by and elevated Country House to the winner’s circle following objections filed by two jockeys. Stewards determined Maximum Security impeded the paths of several horses in the race.
HOCKEY
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Tuukka Rask made 39 saves and recorded his sixth career playoff shutout as the Boston Bruins beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-0 Monday night to clinch their second-round series and advance to the Eastern Conference final.
Rask was supported by great defensive play in front of the net in the Bruins’ third straight victory for a 4-2 win in the best-of-seven series, which came despite being outshot 39-29 in Game 6.
Boston advances to face the Carolina Hurricanes, who swept the New York Islanders in four games.
David Krejci scored in the first period, and Marcus Johansson and David Backes had third-period goals for the Bruins, who gave up four power plays to the Blue Jackets but stonewalled Columbus on a number of chances.
AWARDS
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump awarded golfer Tiger Woods the nation’s highest civilian honor on Monday, describing the 43-year-old as a “true legend” who transformed golf and then fought through years of injury to return to the sport’s summit.
Trump awarded Woods with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He’s the fourth golfer to earn that distinction and certainly the youngest. While Woods dominated the sport for more than a decade, he won his first major in nearly 11 years at last month’s Masters Tournament, a comeback that captivated the sporting world.
“Tiger was back on top,” Trump declared during the Rose Garden ceremony.
BASEBALL
CINCINNATI (AP) - A swarm of bees settled above the backstop screen shortly before the first pitch, prompting an 18-minute delay to the start of a game between the Giants and Reds.
The game began after the swarm moved toward the upper deck.
It’s the second time the Giants have been involved in a bee delay in Cincinnati. A swarm went into the Giants’ dugout at Riverfront Stadium on April 17, 1976, forcing a 35-minute delay. The Reds won the game 11-0
There was a 17-minute bee delay before another game at Riverfront on May 11, 1987 against the Phillies. Reds starter Ted Power got stung on his hand.
NEW YORK (AP) - Atlanta Braves pitcher Kevin Gausman has been suspended for five games and fined for throwing a 97 mph fastball behind Miami’s Jose Ureña last week.
Gausman appealed the penalty imposed Monday by Chief Baseball Office Joe Torre. Gausman can continue to play until there’s a final ruling.
Gausman’s first pitch to Ureña in the second inning Friday was knee-high behind the batter, and plate umpire Jeff Nelson immediately signaled the ejection.
The game was Ureña’s first against the Braves since he was suspended for six games for intentionally hitting Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr. on an arm with a pitch last August, triggering a bench-clearing confrontation.
BALTIMORE (AP) - Boston Red Sox left-hander David Price has been placed on the 10-day injured list because of tendinitis in his pitching elbow.
Boston announced the move Monday, a day ahead of Price’s scheduled start at Baltimore.
The 33-year-old Price is 1-2 with a 3.75 ERA in six starts and has allowed three runs or fewer in his last four appearances.
The 2012 AL Cy Young Award winner with Tampa Bay, Price was slowed by elbow problems throughout 2017. He did not make his first start for Boston until May 29 due to a strained elbow and did not pitch for the Red Sox between July 22 and Sept. 17 because of elbow inflammation.
NEW YORK (AP) - The New York Mets have obtained right-hander Wilmer Font from the Tampa Bay Rays for a player to be named or cash.
The 28-year-old was 1-0 with a 5.79 ERA in 10 appearances, striking out 18 in 14 innings.
New York has three relievers on the injured list.
Font is 3-3 with a 6.51 ERA in five starts and 32 relief appearances over five seasons for Texas, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland and Tampa Bay.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Dodgers outfielder A.J. Pollock will be out for at least six weeks after undergoing surgery to clear up an infection in his right elbow.
Pollock was in the Los Angeles clubhouse Monday, four days after the surgery. He said doctors inserted a catheter into his left biceps in order to deliver antibiotics to the affected area in his right arm.
The infection is near where he had surgery in 2016 to repair a broken elbow. It started when Pollock received a small cut during the Dodgers’ series at the Chicago Cubs in late April. During the surgery, doctors removed metal hardware that had stabilized the elbow.
NEW YORK (AP) - Mets announcer Ron Darling says he has thyroid cancer and hopes to return to SNY’s broadcast booth in about a month.
Darling issued a statement April 13 saying he planned to have surgery to remove a large mass from his chest and hoped to return to work in May.
In a statement Monday, Darling says that after the removal of the mass and additional tests, the thyroid cancer diagnosis was made.
“My doctors have said they are optimistic that the cancer is treatable and that I would be back on air talking baseball in the next month or so,” he said.
Darling, a right-hander, was 136-116 from 1983-95 and helped the Mets win the 1986 World Series.
NASCAR
DOVER, Del. (AP) - Martin Truex Jr. won a Monday race at Dover International Speedway for the second time in his career, pulling away from the field down the stretch to reach victory lane for the second time in three races.
Truex won his first career NASCAR Cup race on June 4, 2007, at Dover and 12 years later used another Sunday rainout to take the checkered flag. Truex, the 2017 Cup champion, won at Richmond three weeks ago and is getting hot in the No. 19 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Alex Bowman finished second for the second straight week in the No. 88 Chevrolet. Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick and Chase Elliott rounded out the top five.
FOOTBALL
The XFL reached multiyear agreements with ESPN and Fox Sports on Monday to broadcast its games beginning in 2020.
The league also announced its season will start Feb. 8, the weekend after the NFL season ends with the Super Bowl.
This is the second time Vince McMahon has launched a football league. The first version of the XFL - a joint venture of WWE and NBC - lasted one season in 2001.
The only similarities this time are the name and that teams are in New York and Los Angeles. McMahon has created a separate company to run the XFL and has gone with established football executives to run it, including Oliver Luck as commissioner.
COLLEGE ATHLETICS
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump said Monday he is looking into offering a waiver that would allow athletes attending the nation’s military academies to play professional sports immediately upon graduation.
Trump made the announcement Monday while presenting the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy to the U.S. Military Academy football team during a Rose Garden ceremony. The Army Black Knights completed an 11-2 season, including wins over the Air Force and Navy. Army earned the trophy for the second consecutive year.
Trump said that, under the plan he envisions, athletes would “serve their time after they’re finished with professional sports.” He said that should make recruiting a little easier for the military academies.
SOCCER
ZURICH (AP) - FIFA is introducing gender parity for its awards by adding a women’s goalkeeper category and a female team of the year.
The announcement on Monday ensures men and women will be in line for accolades in the same categories at the FIFA Best ceremony in Milan on Sept. 23.
There were already both men’s and women’s players and coaches of the year awards.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) - A jury began deliberating on Monday at the trial of a business manager and another defendant accused of secretly bribing assistant college basketball coaches.
The deliberations in federal court in Manhattan followed closing arguments by lawyers for Christian Dawkins and youth basketball coach Merl Code, who deny conspiring to pay off coaches from major programs to get help landing NBA-bound players as clients. The jury had heard the government’s closings last week.
Jurors ended the day without reaching a verdict. They were to resume deliberating on Tuesday.
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