MLB
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Mike Brosseau homered off Aroldis Chapman with one out in the eighth inning and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees 2-1 Friday night to reach the AL Championship Series for the first time in 12 seasons.
The first career postseason homer for the 26-year-old utilityman came after a 10-pitch at-bat against the Yankees’ vaunted, hard-throwing closer, who entered the game in the seventh inning. Brosseau drove a 100 mph fastball into the left field seats at Petco Park for just the third hit for the Rays.
The Rays won the AL Division Series 3-2 and will stay in San Diego to face the Houston Astros in the AL Championship Series starting Sunday night. The Rays are in the ALCS for the first time since 2008, when they beat the Boston Red Sox in seven games. They lost to the Philadelphia Phillies.
NBA
DALLAS (AP) - Mavericks forward Kristaps Porzingis had surgery to address a lateral meniscus injury in his right knee, and the team said Friday there was no timetable for a return.
The 7-foot-3 Latvian injured the knee in the opener of a first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers in August. Porzingis played the next two games before being sidelined the remainder of a series won in six games by the Clippers.
The Mavericks ended a three-year run of missing the playoffs behind the European pairing of Porzingis and 21-year-old sensation Luka Doncic.
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) - The NBA is returning to Chinese state television after a one-year absence.
CCTV announced Friday that it would air Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat - the first time that the league would appear on the network since the rift that started when Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted support for anti-government protesters in Hong Kong.
State television made an on-air announcement that the game would be broadcast; the network’s web site had a preview of the game, including a photo of the Lakers’ LeBron James and Miami’s Jimmy Butler.
NFL
NEW YORK (AP) - All New York Jets players and coaches have tested negative for COVID-19, and Sunday’s game against Arizona will be played on time.
The Jets posted a statement on social media Friday night, hours after their training facility was closed due to a presumptive positive coronavirus test for one player.
“This evening, we received negative PCR COVID-19 test results for all players, coaches and personnel,” the team said. “Following a presumptive positive COVID-19 test and out of an abundance of caution to ensure everyone’s health and safety, we sent all players and personnel home this morning. We also initiated all NFL mandated protocols including player isolation, subsequent testing, and contact tracing.
NEW YORK (AP) - The NFL has launched a series of initiatives associated with LGBTQ History Month, which includes National Coming Out Day on Sunday and Spirit Day on Thursday.
Included are a dedicated website (NFL.com/PRIDE); a PSA celebrating former NFL players who have come out voicing support; expanded partnerships with GLAAD and The Trevor Project; a pride-themed NFL shield; and an assortment of LGBTQ content airing on NFL Network throughout October.
GOLF
NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. (AP) - Nelly Korda withdrew from the Women’s PGA Championship on Friday because of back pain.
Korda, the No. 2 player in women’s golf, opened with a1-over 71 at Aronimink Golf Club and was four shots out of the lead. She said in an Instagram post she hoped her back would feel better Friday morning.
“Unfortunately it is not and I will now go see a specialist,” Korda said.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - Wichita State University is conducting an internal investigation into allegations that men’s basketball coach Gregg Marshall mistreated players, the school and Marshall have confirmed.
Stadium, a multiplatform sports network, said the inquiry began after the university learned it was conducting an investigation in which it interviewed 36 players and former coaches.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
SEATTLE (AP) - Washington’s baseball program has been placed on probation for one year after the NCAA ruled the school had committed recruiting violations by paying for the travel of parents accompanying prospects on official visits, the NCAA committee on infractions announced Friday.
Washington will also be fined $5,000 and have its official visits for the 2020-21 academic year reduced from 25 to 18.
Washington self-reported the violations in early 2019 to the NCAA.
SOCCER
NEW YORK (AP) - The match between the Colorado Rapids and the LA Galaxy scheduled for Saturday has been postponed after a Rapids player tested positive for the coronavirus.
It is the fourth Rapids match to be postponed because of positive tests for COVID-19.
Twelve staff members and five players have tested positive since Sept 24. Matches against Sporting Kansas City, the Portland Timbers and LAFC were postponed earlier.
LONDON (AP) - The Premier League is going pay-per-view in Britain for the first time in 13 years to broadcast some of the matches fans cannot attend due to the pandemic and to raise additional revenue for clubs.
Only 200 of the 380 games a season are contracted to be aired domestically despite global audiences being able to watch all of them live.
FIGURE SKATING
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Two-time U.S. ice dance champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates have withdrawn from Skate America scheduled for later this month.
The duo won a second U.S. title at the national championships in January.
“After much consideration, we have decided to withdraw from Skate America,” Chock and Bates said in a statement Friday. “Our training and preparation have been affected by the pandemic and at this time we are 100% focused on our preparation for the 2021 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.”
SKIING
OBERHOFEN, Switzerland (AP) - The International Ski Federation removed its top administrator from her job on Friday citing a “complete loss of confidence.”
Sarah Lewis, an expected candidate in the FIS presidential election postponed to June, had been secretary general of skiing’s governing body for 20 years.
FIS announced the decision by its ruling council in a terse statement that gave no further details.
OBITUARY
LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y. (AP) - Whitey Ford, the street-smart New Yorker who had the best winning percentage of any pitcher in the 20th century and helped the Yankees become baseball’s perennial champions in the 1950s and ’60s, has died. He was 91.
A family member told The Associated Press on Friday that Ford died at his Long Island home Thursday night. The cause was not known.
Nicknamed the “Chairman of the Board,” Ford was a wily left-hander who pitched from 1950-67 in the major leagues, all with the Yankees. He was among the most dependable pitchers in baseball history.
He won 236 games and lost just 106, a winning percentage of .690. He would help symbolize the almost machinelike efficiency of the Yankees in the mid-20th century, when only twice between Ford’s rookie year and 1964 did they fail to make the postseason.
NEW YORK (AP) - Jimmie Lee Solomon, a top executive for Major League Baseball under Commissioner Bud Selig who established youth academies and helped launch the annual Futures Game of top prospects, has died. He was 64.
Solomon was among the highest-ranking Black officials in baseball when he left in 2012. His daughter, Tricia Solomon, said Friday that he was found dead at his house in Houston and the cause was not immediately known.
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