Friday's Sports Briefs
BASEBALL
NEW YORK (AP) — Washington outfielder Bryce Harper and Boston closer Craig Kimbrel were among just seven free agents who received $17.9 million qualifying offers from their former clubs Friday, when Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw agreed to a $93 million, three-year contract rather than test the market.
Left-handers Patrick Corbin (Arizona), Dallas Keuchel (Houston) and Hyun-Jin Ryu (Los Angeles Dodgers) also received qualifying offers as did outfielder A.J. Pollock (Diamondbacks) and catcher Yasmani Grandal (Dodgers).
Players have until Nov. 12 to accept. If a team makes a qualifying offer to a player who signs a major league contract with another club before the June amateur draft, his former club would receive a draft pick as compensation at the end of the first round.
Only five of 73 players given qualifying offers have accepted since the process began in 2012.
The Chicago Cubs exercised their $20 million option on left-hander Cole Hamels, who went 4-3 with a 2.36 ERA in 12 starts after he was acquired from Texas on July 27. The Cubs traded left-hander Drew Smyly to the Rangers, clearing his $7 million salary from the payroll. That is $1 million more than the Rangers would have owed the Cubs if Hamels' option had been declined, which would have triggered a $6 million buyout and allowed him to go free.
Kershaw terminated a $215 million, seven-year contract that had $65 million remaining at $32 million next year and $33 million in 2020. The new deal calls for a $23 million signing bonus, payable in equal installments on June 30 in each of the next three years, and annual salaries of $23,333,333. He can earn $4 million annually in performance bonuses,
Also Friday, the Dodgers made $17.9 million qualifying offers to two of their other free agents: pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu and catcher Yasmani Grandal.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Tigers claimed reliever Jose Fernandez and infielder Brandon Dixon off waivers.
The team announced the moves Friday.
The 25-year-old Fernandez made his major league debut this year with Toronto, posting a 6.10 ERA in 13 relief appearances. He is 11-9 with a 3.55 ERA in 195 minor league appearances.
The 26-year-old Dixon made his big league debut with Cincinnati, hitting .178 this year in 74 games. He hit .346 in 49 games with Triple-A Louisville.
ATLANTA (AP) — The Braves did not extend a qualifying offer to any of their free agents, including cleanup hitter Nick Markakis.
If Atlanta had made $17.9 million, one-year offer to Markakis by Friday's deadline, it would have been in line to receive a draft pick if he signed elsewhere. But the team opted against such a move, not wanting to give the outfielder — who turns 35 this month — the option of taking such a lucrative deal.
While Markakis was a first-time All-Star who hit .297 with 14 homers and 93 RBIs, his production tailed off in the second half of the season.
BASKETBALL
CLEVELAND (AP) — Cavaliers All-Star forward Kevin Love will be out at least six weeks — and maybe longer — after surgery on his left foot.
Love had the operation on Friday in New York at the Hospital for Special Surgery. The team said his timeline to return to basketball activity will be updated in approximately six weeks.
The 30-year-old injured the big toe on his left foot during Cleveland's first exhibition game. He rested the injury, and played in the season's first few games before the pain became intolerable. Love said earlier this week that he was having trouble walking because of pain.
CLEVELAND (AP) — The Cavaliers say an age-discrimination lawsuit filed by former assistant coach Jim Boylan is "frivolous" and a "shameless cash grab."
Boylan filed a claim Thursday. The team did not pick up its contract option last summer on the 63-year-old Boylan, who spent five seasons with the team working on staffs under David Blatt and Tyronn Lue.
In his lawsuit, Boylan's attorney provided the transcript of a voicemail left by Lue telling him the team was moving in a different direction. Boylan also contends general manager Koby Altman told him owner Dan Gilbert wanted a younger coach.
On Friday, the Cavs released a strongly worded statement contesting Boylan's lawsuit and said it will "seek immediate dismissal of this disappointing, unwarranted and baseless claim."
LOS ANGELES (AP) — UCLA's Cody Riley hurt his jaw at practice and will miss at least the first three weeks of the basketball season.
The school said Friday that Riley got hurt in practice Wednesday but didn't provide any details.
The redshirt freshman forward will be re-evaluated next week.
Riley was suspended all of last season after a shoplifting incident during a team trip to China. He decided to return to school after testing the NBA draft waters.
The No. 21 Bruins open the season Tuesday against Fort Wayne at Pauley Pavilion.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Sugar Bowl chief executive officer Paul Hoolahan is retiring in June after overseeing one of college football's premier postseason events for a quarter century.
Chief Operating Officer Jeff Hundley has been named Hoolahan's successor.
Hoolahan, who announced his retirement on Friday, became the Sugar Bowl's sixth executive director in 1996 and has directed Sugar Bowl operations for five national championship games.
Hoolahan also helped forge deals locking the Sugar Bowl into four College Football Playoff semifinal games in 2015, '18, '21 and '24, and forged deals with the Southeastern Conference and Big 12 to bring each league's top non-playoff teams to the Sugar Bowl in years when the game is not designated as a semifinal.
HOCKEY
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed forward Yanni Gourde to a six-year, $30,996,000 million contract.
The deal announced Friday is worth $5,166,000 per season and locks up the 26-year-old through 2024-25.
Gourde has four goals and eight assists, tied for second on the team for points. He is also tied the team lead with three power-play goals and two game-winning goals.
HORSE RACING
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Game Winner's latest triumph included bumps along the way.
The colt shook them off before shaking the field to remain perfect and make his case as the year's best 2-year-old.
Game Winner overcame an early bump to surge down the stretch, then pulled away from long shot Knicks Go after another nudge to win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile by 2 1/4 lengths Friday at Churchill Downs. That gave trainer Bob Baffert an early Kentucky Derby favorite just five months after winning his second Triple Crown with Justify.
Other Breeders' Cup winners:
— Line of Duty survived a lengthy postrace review before stewards upheld his half-length victory over Uncle Benny in the $1 million Juvenile Turf. Line of Duty charged from outside down the stretch to pass Somelikeithotbrown and hold off Uncle Benny in a three-wide finish, giving the Irish colt his third consecutive win after two seconds.
— Newspaperofrecord rolled to another dominant victory, pulling away down the stretch for a 6 3/4-length win over East in the $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf. The Irish bred improved to 3-0 lifetime, winning each time by at least six lengths.
— Bulletin opened the Breeders' Cup by pulling away to a 2 3/4-length victory over Chelsea Cloisters in the $1 million inaugural Juvenile Turf Sprint, earning a graded stakes win in just his second career start. It gave co-owners Winstar Farm and China Horse Farm another significant win six months after claiming the Derby with Justify.
GYMNASTICS
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Simone Biles made history by picking up her record 13th career gold medal at the world gymnastics championships when she cruised to victory in the vault final on Friday.
Yet it's the silver she captured on uneven bars that the Olympic and world champion may cherish more.
For years Biles viewed bars with a mixture of skepticism and scorn. There was a point in time she admits she would have been OK with taking a "chainsaw" to every bars set in the country.
Those days are over. Helped in part by the influence of new head coach Laurent Landi, Biles now considers the event a challenge more than a chore. Maybe that's why the smile on the podium during the medal ceremony after she came in second to Belgium's Nina Derwael was so wide.
AUTO RACING
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Chevrolet will update the Camaro SS Coupe raced in the Xfinity Series and its Silverado used in the Truck Series for NASCAR competition next season.
The Camaro is getting its third update since its 2013 debut. The Silverado is being altered for the first time since 2014.
The most notable changes to both vehicles will be to the upper front fascia, fenders, hood and tail regions, which will all be updated to mirror the new production models.
SOCCER
LEICESTER, England (AP) — Air accident investigators in Leicester say flight data and voice recordings have been successfully downloaded from the black box on the helicopter which crashed and killed the owner of the city's soccer club.
Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who also owns Thai retail chain King Power, was among five people killed in the accident on Saturday outside Leicester's stadium after a Premier League match.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch says it was able to obtain information from the helicopter's black box despite it being subject to "intense heat" in the post-accident fire.
SKIING
MILAN (AP) — Italian skier Elena Fanchini has been cleared to train again after sitting out nearly a year with an undescribed tumor.
The Italian Winter Sports Federation says Fanchini was given the go ahead by its medical commission after recent exams concluded she was "completely healed."
The 33-year-old Fanchini will begin training with the Italian team immediately and plans to start racing again in January.
Fanchini says she was "always able to stay in shape over these months, although it was very difficult in recent weeks due to the serious treatments. But the help of many people who comforted me helped me get through this period."
Fanchini won a silver medal in downhill at the 2005 world championships and has won two World Cup races in her career — both in downhill.
She missed last season's Pyeongchang Olympics because of her condition.