Tuesday Sports in Brief

MLB

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Clayton Kershaw pitched six dominant innings, Cody Bellinger and Mookie Betts homered and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-3 to open a surreal World Series played amid the pandemic.

A neutral-site crowd limited by the coronavirus to 11,388 at Globe Life Field, the new $1.2 billion home of the Texas Rangers, saw the Dodgers chase a wild Tyler Glasnow and break away. Game 2 is Wednesday night.

The Dodgers, who posted the best record in the majors during the shortened season, plan to pitch Tony Gonsolin first against Rays ace Blake Snell, and top relievers Kenley Jansen, Blake Treinen and Brusdar Graterol should all be fresh for a bullpen game.

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - The proposed purchase of 95% of the New York Mets by an entity of billionaire hedge fund manager Steve Cohen has been approved by Major League Baseball’s ownership committee, and final approval is likely to take place in the next month.

Approval by the committee was disclosed Tuesday by a person familiar with the decision who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because no announcement was made. Committee approval was first reported by Sportico.

Baseball’s executive council will consider the deal next and is expected to forward it for a vote by all major league owners. The sale values the franchise at $2.4 billion to $2.5 billion.

-By Baseball Writer Ronald Blum.

NFL

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The New Orleans Saints will start having fans in the stands for home games after the mayor agreed with the team on a phased plan starting Sunday against Carolina.

The plan announced Tuesday will start with 3,000 tickets for Sunday’s game, increasing to 6,000 fans for November games with San Francisco and Atlanta and up to 15,000 in December for games against Kansas City and Minnesota barring any changes in local health and safety guidelines.

A limited number of tickets for players, the team and other required NFL obligations also were approved. Both the Saints and the mayor’s office reminded everyone to keep wearing masks and practicing physical distancing.

MIAMI (AP) - Tua Tagovailoa will make his first NFL start next week for the Miami Dolphins, who are turning to him to replace Ryan Fitzpatrick, a person familiar with the team’s decision said Tuesday.

The person confirmed the decision to The Associated Press on condition on anonymity because the Dolphins hadn’t made an announcement.

The change by coach Brian Flores will come after the Dolphins’ bye this week and has been long anticipated, but the timing is surprising because the team won its past two games to improve to 3-3. Tagovailoa will start at home against the Los Angeles Rams on Nov. 1.

-By AP Sports Writer Steven Wine.

NBA

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday confirmed their hiring of Tyronn Lue to replace Doc Rivers as coach.

Lue spent last season as an assistant on Rivers’ staff. Rivers coached the Clippers for the last seven seasons and is now guiding the Philadelphia 76ers.

The team will introduce Lue virtually on Wednesday.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The Indiana Pacers hired Nate Bjorkgren as their new coach Tuesday.

Bjorkgren’s hiring ends a two-month search that began when the Pacers fired Nate McMillan on Aug. 26, just weeks after giving McMillan a contract extension. Terms of the deal were not immediately available.

Bjorkgren joins the Pacers after spending the last two seasons on Nick Nurse’s staff in Toronto, where he helped the Raptors capture their first NBA championship in 2018-19. Bjorkgren was an assistant with the Phoenix Suns from 2015-17 and spent four seasons as a G-League head coach.

AUTO RACING

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Chase Briscoe earned job security for the first time in his career with a well-deserved promotion to the Cup Series to cap a season that has so far been storybook.

Briscoe on Tuesday was named the replacement for Clint Bowyer in the No. 14 Ford at Stewart-Haas Racing, the team co-owned by Briscoe’s childhood hero. Briscoe idolized fellow Indiana native Tony Stewart and dreamed of one day driving Stewart’s car.

The 25-year-old native of Mitchell, Indiana, is a third generation racer who watched his father compete against Stewart on Midwest dirt tracks. Now he’s a nine race winner in the Xfinity Series, the championship points leader, and just the third driver of the No. 14 at SHR since it was created for Stewart in 2009.

COURTS

Former Texas Tech women’s basketball coach Marlene Stollings, who was fired after USA Today published a report detailing players’ claims of physical and emotional abuse, filed a lawsuit against the school and athletic director Kirby Hocutt on Tuesday.

The lawsuit claims breach of contract, fraud, fraudulent inducement, defamation and sex discrimination. Stollings was fired on Aug. 6, a day after the scathing report was published.

The lawsuit says the school’s decision to fire Stollings was based on discriminatory biases against female coaches.

STORRS, Conn. (AP) - The University of Connecticut has agreed to pay a total of just under $250,000 to seven women, including four members of Geno Auriemma’s 2014 women’s basketball coaching staff, after the U.S. Labor Department found they had been underpaid when compared with men in similar positions.

A total of $249,539 will go to the women, who were identified by the Labor Department as two law professors and five women who hold the title of Specialist IA and Specialist IIA in the school’s athletic department.

UConn, responding to an email request from The Associated Press, identified those employees by title as its women’s associate head basketball coach (Chris Dailey), the team’s two assistant coaches in 2014 (Shea Ralph and Marisa Moseley), the director of women’s basketball operations (Sarah Darras) and the director of football operations (Sarah Lawless).

OBITUARY

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) - Former major league umpire Derryl Cousins, who worked three World Series during a career that lasted over three decades, has died. He was 74.

Craig Cousins said his brother died at home Monday after a bout with cancer.

Cousins got his spot in the big leagues during the umpires’ strike in 1979 and stayed on the job through the 2012 season. He called the World Series in 2005, 1999 and 1988 and also worked seven League Championship Series, five Division Series and three All-Star Games. He was a crew chief toward the end of his career.

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