MLB:
First baseman Jeff Bagwell, outfielder Tim Raines and catcher Ivan Rodriguez will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown this summer after being named on more than 75 percent of the ballots. Bagwell and Raines were each selected on 86 percent of the ballots, while Rodriguez was named on 76 percent to join Johnny Bench as the only catchers elected on the first ballot. Closer Trevor Hoffman fell five votes shy of election, while outfielder Vladimir Guerrero came up 15 votes short.
Infielder Trevor Plouffe has finalized a $5.25 million, one-year contract with the Oakland Athletics and is expected to be the primary third baseman if he can stay healthy. Plouffe has averaged 17 home runs over the last five seasons, but three separate injuries limited him to 12 homers and 84 games last season. He had 22 homers and 86 ribbies while playing 152 games in 2015.
Elsewhere in the majors:
— Angels right fielder Kole Calhoun has agreed to a three-year, $26 million contract that includes a $14 million option for 2020. Calhoun hit .271 with 18 homers, 75 RBIs and 91 runs last season, one year after winning a Gold Glove.
— The Cleveland Indians have worked out a two-year, $5 million package with outfielder Brandon Guyer, who was acquired from Tampa Bay last Aug. 1. Guyer batted .266 with nine homers and 32 RBIs in 101 games last season, including a .333 average and 14 ribbies in 38 games for the Indians. He has led the majors in getting hit by pitches over the last two seasons.
— The Tigers have acquired outfielder Mikie (MY'-kee) Mahtook from the Rays for a player to be named or cash. The former first-round pick hit .195 with three home runs and 11 RBIs in 65 games for Tampa Bay last season after batting .295 with nine homers in 2015.
NBA:
In the NBA, the Knicks topped Boston 117-106, Houston won against Milwaukee 111-92, New Orleans beat Orlando 118-98, Detroit defeated Atlanta 118-95, Indiana trumped Sacramento 106-100, Golden State bested Oklahoma City 121-100, Charlotte beat Portland 107-85, Philadelphia defeated Toronto 94-89, and it was Washington over Memphis 104-101.
NHL:
In the NHL, Detroit beat Boston in a shootout 6-5, San Jose beat Los Angeles 3-2, Edmonton slid past Florida in overtime 4-3, Pittsburgh won against Montreal 4-1, and it was Winnipeg over Arizona 6-3.
The NHL has fined New York Rangers forward Chris Kreider $5,000 for ripping off Dallas Stars forward Cody Eakin's helmet and hitting him in the head with it during a fight Tuesday. The NHL announced the fine yesterday, saying it's the maximum amount allowed for the offense under the collective bargaining agreement.
The Minnesota Wild say they will spend at least four weeks without defenseman Jonas Brodin because of a broken finger suffered in last night's loss to New Jersey. Brodin has been among the Wild's most dependable blueliners this season, ranking second on the team with 68 blocked shots and third in ice time. He also has produced three goals and 16 points in 43 games to help Minnesota grab a share of the Western Conference lead.
NFL:
The New York Jets have hired former Rams assistant Dennard Wilson as their defensive backs coach. Wilson replaces Joe Danna on Todd Bowles staff, which has five other vacancies, including offensive coordinator after Chan Gailey retired after the season.
New Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott has hired Kelly Skipper to oversee LeSean McCoy and the NFL's top-ranked running attack. Skipper takes over as Buffalo's running backs coach after spending the previous two seasons holding the same job with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Atlanta Falcons All-Pro wide receiver Julio Jones was held out of Wednesday's practice after aggravating his sprained toe in Saturday's playoff win over Seattle. Jones is expected to play in Sunday's NFC championship game against Green Bay. He missed two games with the toe injury late in the regular season. Meanwhile, Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson sat out another practice as he tries to recover from broken ribs. Nelson had to miss last Sunday's 34-31 win over the Cowboys after getting injured in Green Bay's 38-13 rout of the Giants.
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown has apologized for livestreaming video from the team's locker room following its win over Kansas City. Brown posted a message late Tuesday on Facebook and Twitter saying that he let his "emotions and general excitement get the best of" him. Brown's 17-minute long livestream caught coach Mike Tomlin using a handful of profanities during his postgame speech, including a derogatory term for AFC championship game opponent New England. Tomlin said Brown will be disciplined internally but will be on the field on Sunday.
Former NFL star Aaron Hernandez is expected in a Boston courtroom for a pretrial hearing in his upcoming double murder trial. Hernandez is accused of killing two men he encountered at a Boston nightclub in 2012. Prosecutors say the former New England Patriots tight end followed the men and opened fire on their car at a stop light after one of them accidentally bumped into Hernandez and spilled his drink. Hernandez is due in Suffolk Superior Court Thursday, when a judge is expected to hear arguments on defense motions. Hernandez's trial is scheduled to begin next month. Hernandez has pleaded not guilty. He's already serving a life sentence in the 2013 killing of semi-professional football player Odin Lloyd.
NCAA:
In college men's basketball, Massachusetts beat Saint Joseph's 62-57 last night. Zach Lewis scored a career-high 23 points. Lewis hit 8 of 19 from the field and 4 of 10 from 3. C.J. Anderson added 12 points to go with six rebounds and four assists for the Minutemen. James Demery led Saint Joseph's with 19 points.
Colgate knocked Boston University out of first place in the Patriot League with a 67-58 win last night. Will Rayman had 21 points, and Sean O'Brien added 20 for Colgate. Eric Fanning had 21 points and 12 rebounds and Justin Alston added 18 points and eight rebounds for BU.
Holy Cross rallied from a 17-point second half deficit to beat Army 85-76 last night. Karl Charles scored a career-high 24 points. Malachi Alexander added 18 points and Patrick Benzan had 16 for Holy Cross, which shot 57.4 percent and 45.5 percent from 3.
Unranked Oklahoma limped into Wednesday's men's basketball schedule with a 7-9 record and walked out with its biggest win of the season. Jordan Woodard hit a layup with 2.2 seconds left in overtime to give the Sooners an 89-87 victory at No. 7 West Virginia. Woodard scored 18 of his 20 points after halftime, including a jumper that tied it with 3.1 seconds remaining in regulation. Kristian Doolittle scored half of his 12 points in OT as Oklahoma sent the Mountaineers to their first home loss of the season.
In other top-25 finals:
— Jonathan Isaac finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds as 10th-ranked Florida State beat No. 15 Notre Dame, 83-80. Issac scored 17 points in the second half, nine coming during an 11-1 run that helped the Seminoles move into a first-place tie with the Irish and North Carolina in the ACC.
— No. 16 Virginia scored 15 straight points in the first half of a 71-54 stifling of Boston College. Devon Hall provided a team-high 15 points and Isaiah Wilsons added 11 and nine rebounds for the 14-3 Cavaliers.
— Sindarious Thornwell contributed 15 of his 20 points after halftime to send 24th-ranked South Carolina to a 57-53 win against No. 19 Florida. Gators leading scorer KeVaughn Allen scored just one point, while he and his teammates combined to go 0-for-17 from 3-point range.
— No. 20 Cincinnati owns a nine-game winning streak after Kyle Washington scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half to rally the Bearcats past Temple, 81-74. Troy Caupain had 18 points for Cincinnati, which trailed by six in the second half before going on a 17-5 run.
We now have an idea as to why Allonzo Trier was suspended from Arizona's 14th-ranked men's basketball team. The sophomore has admitted that he tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing drug earlier this season. Trier says the NCAA has agreed that he had no knowledge of taking the substance, adding that he can't play in games until the drug completely leaves his system. Trier averaged 14.8 points last season. He has been practicing with the team while he awaits reinstatement.
Tennis:
Defending champion Novak Djokovic is out of the Australian Open, beaten 7-6 (8), 5-7, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 by wild-card entry Denis Istomin in a second-round match today.
Istomin made the vital break in the fifth game of the deciding set, then held service the rest of the way in the marathon 4 hour, 48-minute match on Rod Laver Arena. Also on the men's side, Milos Raonic was a second-round winner. The third-seeded Raonic pounded out a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 decision over Gilles Muller.
Men's 13th seed Roberto Bautista Agut moved into Round 3, along with No. 15 Grigor Dimitrov and No. 18 Richard Gasquet. Women's fifth seed Karolina Pliskova has reached the third round of the Australian Open as she bids for her second straight Grand Slam finals appearance.
Pliskova won the first 10 games in her 6-love, 6-2 victory over 189th-ranked Anna Blinkova. Pliskova has dropped just four games in her first two matches. Other second-round winners on the women's side include sixth seed Dominika Cibulkova, ninth seed Johanna Konta, No. 14 Elena Vesnina and No. 17 Caroline Wozniacki.
FIFA:
The new technical director at FIFA is proposing a series of changes that he calls an effort to preserve soccer as the world's most popular sport. Former AC Milan and Netherlands forward Marco van Basten tells The Associated Press that he'd like to have players restricted to 60 games a year and replace penalty shootouts with eight-second run-ups. Van Basten also calls for introducing orange cards to send players off for 10 minutes and the elimination of offside calls, but he realizes his radical ideas will be scoffed at by traditionalists.
©2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
