BASEBALL
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Reds broadcaster Thom Brennaman has been suspended from working Cincinnati’s games after using an anti-gay slur on air Wednesday night, prompting the team to apologize for the “horrific, homophobic remark.”
Brennaman used the slur moments after the Fox Sports Ohio feed returned from a commercial break before the top of the seventh inning in the first game of a doubleheader at Kansas City. Brennaman did not seem to realize he was already on air. He later apologized.
The Reds took the 56-year-old Brennaman off the broadcast in the fifth inning of the second game.
Brennaman spoke directly to the camera before handing off play-by-play duties.
“I made a comment earlier tonight that I guess went out over the air that I am deeply ashamed of,” he said. “If I have hurt anyone out there, I can’t tell you how much I say from the bottom of my heart, I am very, very sorry.”
Major League Baseball was aware of the incident but did not have an immediate comment.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Albert Pujols tied Alex Rodriguez for second place on the career RBI list with a single in the sixth inning of the Los Angeles Angels’ game against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night.
Pujols’ hit off Andrew Suárez drove in Anthony Rendon as part of the Angels’ two-run inning. It’s the 2,086th RBI of Pujols career.
Former home run king Hank Aaron holds the record with 2,297.
NHL
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) - Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and two assists, Nazem Kadri also scored twice and the Colorado Avalanche routed the Arizona Coyotes 7-1 to close out the first-round playoff series in five games.
Colorado, the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, took control of the series with a Game 4 blowout and skated into the next round with three first-period goals in Game 5.
Kadri scored two goals for the second straight game, both in the first period, and finished with five in the series. Samuel Girard also had a goal in the first and MacKinnon scored twice in 58 seconds of the second to put Colorado up 5-0.
TORONTO (AP) - Patrice Bergeron broke a tie with 3.5 seconds left in the second period, David Pastrnak returned with two assists and the Boston Bruins beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 on Wednesday to win the first-round playoff series in five games.
The Bruins trailed 1-0 entering the final 5 minutes of the second period before scoring twice on the power play, first from David Krejci with 4:40 left after Bergeron drew a penalty on a breakaway chance.
Then came Bergeron’s score as the teams appeared headed to the second intermission tied at 1. He tracked down a loose rebound from Pastrnak that hit the boards, then quickly sent the puck back toward the net from the left side.
The puck slipped under a standing Petr Mrazek, bounced off his left skate and straight into the net for the 2-1 lead.
TORONTO (AP) - The Tampa Bay Lightning eliminated Columbus from the Stanley Cup playoffs in five games on Wednesday, rallying from a two-goal, third-period deficit before beating the Blue Jackets 5-4 on Brayden Point’s goal 5:12 into overtime.
Point also delivered the winner in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series, a five-overtime thriller that wound up being the fourth-longest game in NHL history.
Kevin Shattenkirk and Anthony Cirelli scored in the final eight minutes of regulation to wipe out a 4-2 deficit. Earlier, Columbus scored four consecutive times to overcome an early two-goal deficit of its own.
Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 37 of 41 shots for Tampa Bay, which was swept from the first round by the Blue Jackets last season.
GOLF
NORTON, Mass. (AP) - Brooks Koepka ended a forgettable season Wednesday when he withdrew from The Northern Trust with what he described as nagging hip and knee injuries.
Koepka was No. 97 in the FedEx Cup standings. He would have needed a good week at the TPC Boston to reach the top 70 and advance in the PGA Tour’s postseason.
Koepka started the year ranked No. 1 the world, but he has not won in more than a year. He missed three months at the end of last year with a knee injury he suffered in South Korea, and then he didn’t play for three months when golf shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic. And when he did play, he didn’t play up to his standards.
His best chance at winning was two weeks ago at the PGA Championship. Even there, he was getting treatment on his hip. He faded badly in the final round and was never a factor.
TENNIS
Two players - Argentina’s Guido Pella and Bolivia’s Hugo Dellien - said their fitness trainer tested positive for COVID-19 and that is why they were dropped from the tennis tournament that will precede the U.S. Open at its Flushing Meadow site.
Pella and Dellien posted separate videos on Instagram after the Western & Southern Open announced Wednesday that two players - who the tournament’s statement did not identify - were placed under quarantine and removed from the tournament field after being exposed to someone who tested for the illness caused by the coronavirus.
The Western & Southern Open normally is held in Cincinnati but was moved to New York this year as part of an unusual doubleheader of sorts with the U.S. Open because of the coronavirus pandemic.
SOCCER
NEW YORK (AP) - The United States will open qualifying for the 2022 World Cup on the road next June, possibly back in Trinidad and Tobago where it was eliminated from reaching the 2018 tournament.
The Americans will close their 14-match round in March 2022 at Costa Rica, where they have lost seven straight qualifiers.
The U.S. qualified for seven straight World Cups before missing the 2018 tournament. The Americans are among five nations with direct berths in the final round of qualifying - known as the octagonal - joined by Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras and Jamaica.
COLLEGE ATHLETICS
College athletes who play fall sports, including football, will be given a free year of eligibility no matter how much they compete over the next 10 months if an NCAA recommendation is approved later this week.
The NCAA Division I Council voted Wednesday to recommend all athletes whose fall seasons are being altered by the pandemic should get the year of eligibility back. The council also recommended the NCAA should pursue staging fall sports championships during the spring. No recommendation was made for the size of the fields and how they should be picked, which will ultimately determine whether conferences choose to participate.
Other fall sports include men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, field hockey and cross country.
COURTS
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - A Florida appeals court ruled Wednesday that police violated the rights of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and others when they secretly video recorded them paying for massage parlor sex acts, barring the tapes’ use at trial and dealing a potentially deadly blow to their prosecution.
The state 4th District Court of Appeal ruled Kraft’s rights were violated under the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Prosecutors will likely appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court, but if it stands the misdemeanor charges brought against Kraft and other customers would have to be dropped for lack of evidence. Palm Beach State Attorney Dave Aronberg had no immediate comment on the decision.
Kraft spokesman Ron Berkowitz said in an email that the ruling upholds that the videos “should never have been taken.”
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