BASEBALL
Ventura resting
The Kansas City Royals are skipping right-hander Yordano Ventura's next turn in the rotation to rest his sore back, clearing the way for Liam Hendriks to make his first start for the club since arriving in a trade from Toronto. Royals manager Ned Yost said before Tuesday night's series opener against Minnesota that Ventura experienced some pain in his lower back after his last start Friday night in Texas. An MRI exam showed some fluid consistent with inflammation but no damage. Meanwhile, second baseman Omar Infante was held out of the lineup for Tuesday night's game against the Twins with shoulder inflammation. Christian Colon started in his place. "Everybody is dealing with something this time of year," Yost said. "My feet hurt, I'm just telling you. I don't know why. Everybody has something." The emergence of Ventura, who is slated to start today, has been one of the reasons Kansas City has climbed into first place in the AL Central. The hard-throwing rookie is 10-9 with a 3.40 ERA this season, stabilizing a rotation that has been dominant since the All-Star break.
• Major League Baseball has denied a protest filed by the Tampa Bay Rays this weekend in Toronto. Executive Vice President for Baseball Operations Joe Torre made the ruling Tuesday. Rays manager Joe Maddon disputed a play in Saturday's 5-4 loss to the Blue Jays in 10 innings. Wil Myers was called safe at first base on a pickoff throw by Toronto pitcher Mark Buehrle. After Buehrle returned to the rubber, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons came out to challenge the call. Myers was called out on a replay review, and Maddon told umpire crew chief Bob Davidson that he was playing under protest. The replay rules say challenges must come before the next play or pitch. The rules say the crew chief decides whether a manager's challenge is timely. Last week, San Francisco became the first team since 1986 to win an MLB protest. The Giants contended a rain-shortened loss at Wrigley Field should have instead been a suspended game.
• Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz was out of the lineup for a second consecutive game Tuesday, still bothered by a sore right foot. Ortiz left Sunday's game against Seattle in the sixth, two innings after fouling a ball off his foot. The veteran slugger is batting .265 with 30 home runs, the fifth highest total in the majors. With 93 RBI, he's one behind Jose Abreu for the AL lead. Manager John Farrell said Ortiz continues to improve and could return for today's series finale. On Monday, Farrell said he was "hopeful" Ortiz would be ready the following day. Instead, Ortiz skipped batting practice again to rest his sore foot. Mike Napoli was at DH again Tuesday and Allen Craig made his second consecutive start at first base.
BASKETBALL
Clearing congestion
The NBA is expanding the area that must be clear behind the basket and cutting the number of photographers along the baseline in an effort to improve player safety. The new regulations, calling for an extra foot of open space on both sides of the basket stanchion, were sent to teams Tuesday by league president of operations Rod Thorn and executive vice president of team marketing and business operations Amy Brooks in a memo that was obtained by The Associated Press. Thorn says clearing the congestion behind the playing area was planned even before Indiana's Paul George broke his right leg when he crashed into the stanchion last month during a USA Basketball exhibition game. "The conversations about this topic preceded Paul's injury by several years," Thorn said. "As a matter of fact, at our league meetings in July we informed our teams this was the direction we were going. But of course when an injury occurs like the one to Paul, it reaffirms the changes we have made and the need to continue to evaluate our policies." The "escape lanes," the unoccupied area on either side of the stanchion to the closest photographer spot, will increase from 3 to 4 feet. Only 20 camera positions, 10 on each baseline, will remain, down from 24 last season and 40 during the 2010-11 regular season. Each baseline can have six photo spots on one side of the basket and four on the other, and dance teams or other entertainers cannot be stationed along the baseline.
• Small forward Jared Dudley is going to the Milwaukee Bucks. The seven-year veteran was dealt by the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday in exchange for forward Carlos Delfino and backup center Miroslav Raduljica. The Clippers are also receiving a conditional 2017 first-round pick. Dudley averaged 6.9 points last year in his only season with the Clippers. The former Boston College star is averaging 8.7 points a game in his career. Delfino signed as a free agent last year with Milwaukee but never played a game because of a foot injury. The 7-foot-1 Raduljica averaged 3.8 points in 2013-14.
• The New Orleans Pelicans have signed veteran small forward John Salmons to a free agent contract. Salmons, whose acquisition was announced by the club Tuesday, has played 12 seasons in the NBA. He has averaged 9.4 points, 3 rebounds and 2.5 assists during his career. The 34-year-old Salmons entered the NBA with Philadelphia after being selected 26th overall in the 2002 draft. He has twice played with Sacramento and also spent time with Chicago, Milwaukee and most recently Toronto. Salmons, 6-foot-6, has appeared in 874 games with 429 starts. The Pelicans have been looking to add depth at small forward since Al-Farouq Aminu left for Dallas in free agency this offseason.
MOTOR SPORTS
Return to Labor Day
Darlington Raceway will return to its traditional Labor Day weekend date next season in one of the few significant changes to NASCAR's 2015 Sprint Cup Series schedule. To get Darlington back to Labor Day weekend after an 11-year absence, Atlanta Motor Speedway gave up the date. Atlanta now goes to the second race of the season on March 1. NASCAR goes from Atlanta to a West Coast swing through Phoenix, Las Vegas and Fontana, California. The season will still open at Daytona International Speedway with the Daytona 500 on Feb. 22. Daytona's second race date moves from its traditional Saturday night slot to Sunday, July 5. There were no changes to the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, which will again begin at Chicagoland Speedway and end at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Sports on 08/27/2014