Off the wire

BASEBALL

Hamilton on DL again

The Texas Rangers put outfielder Josh Hamilton on the disabled list for the second time this season on Thursday. The cause is inflammation in the left knee, which had forced him to miss the previous four games. Hamilton will be eligible to return on Aug. 31, at San Diego. Hamilton has been dogged by lower-body problems since the club acquired him from the Los Angeles Angels in April. If Hamilton returns on Aug. 31, he will have missed 47 of 85 games since joining the major league roster in May. Hamilton was also on the disabled list twice last season with the Angels.

Chase Utley's acquisition put the Los Angeles Dodgers close to becoming the first baseball team with a $300 million luxury-tax payroll. The trade Wednesday that sent the six-time All-Star second baseman from Philadelphia to the NL West leaders raised the Dodgers' projected payroll for tax purposes to about $298.5 million, according to calculations by Major League Baseball. Performance bonuses for other players and end-of-season award bonuses could make the Dodgers the first team to reach the $300 million mark. Luxury tax payrolls are based on average annual values of contracts for the 40-man roster and include about $13 million per team in benefits, such as the health and pension plan, and payroll, unemployment and Social Security taxes paid by clubs. Los Angeles is well above the $189 million tax threshold and will pay at a 40 percent rate for exceeding the mark for the third consecutive year. Its projected tax bill is about $44 million, which would top the record $34 million paid by the New York Yankees after the 2005 season. The Dodgers' luxury tax payroll includes about $40 million for players no longer with the organization. Los Angeles paid $11.4 million in tax in 2013 and $26.6 million last year, when its tax payroll was $277.7 million. The Dodgers' regular payroll -- salaries plus prorated shares of signing bonuses and earned bonuses -- is about $285 million, up from a record $257 million last year.

• All four games at the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pa., were washed out Thursday, setting up a delayed start with all 16 teams in the tournament playing today. Officials made the decision to call off the opening schedule as storms rolled in shortly after noon, with up to an inch of rain expected. Opening ceremonies were canceled and won't be rescheduled. Eight games are now set for today. Little League officials believe that is the most played in one day at the world series.

TENNIS

Djokovic rallies

Top-ranked Novak Djokovic rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the final set to a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 victory over David Goffin on Thursday, reaching the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open at Mason, Ohio. Serena Williams also advanced while losing only two games in her match. Djokovic will next face fifth-seeded Stan Wawrinka, who beat him for the French Open title. Wawrinka pulled out a 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) win after Ivo Karlovic double-faulted on match point, his second serve hitting the top of the net. Also, qualifier Alexandr Dolgopolov reached the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Jerzy Janowicz. Dolgopolov had never made it past the first round in four previous Cincinnati appearances. On the women's side, Williams needed only 54 minutes to beat Karin Knapp 6-0, 6-2. She lost just 12 points while winning the first nine games. A right forearm injury forced Swiss teen Belinda Bencic to withdraw after she dropped the first set against seventh-seeded Lucie Safarova. The 12th-seeded Bencic said she didn't think the injury was very serious.

HORSE RACING

Zippy strolls Avenue

Newman Racing's Tricky Zippy won the $100,000 Union Avenue for New York-breds by 4 3/4 lengths Thursday at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Making his stakes debut in his first start for trainer Jimmy Jerkens, the 3-year-old filly ran 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:15.78 under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez. The winner paid $7.70, $3.80 and $3. Willet, the 2013 Union Avenue winner and 8-5 favorite, returned $3.40 and $2.80, and Miss Da Point paid $5.30 to show.

SOCCER

Howard returns

Goalkeeper Tim Howard is back with the U.S. national team. The U.S. Soccer Federation announced Thursday that Coach Jurgen Klinsmann had called up Howard and veteran defender DaMarcus Beasley for exhibitions next month against Peru and Brazil. Klinsmann said that for now Howard is the No. 2 goalie behind Brad Guzan, who started while Howard took a year off from the national team for family reasons after his stellar performance at the 2014 World Cup. Howard said last month he was ready to come back. Beasley is a four-time World Cup veteran who retired from international play last December. But the defender returned to the squad for the Gold Cup this summer, and after the tournament he and Klinsmann acknowledged he might continue to play for the U.S. The Americans meet Peru on Sept. 4 in Washington, then host Brazil in Foxborough, Mass., four days later. On Oct. 10, they face Mexico at the Rose Bowl in a playoff to determine CONCACAF's representative at the 2017 Confederations Cup.

BOXING

Crawford defends title

Terence "Bud" Crawford will make his first defense of his WBO junior welterweight title against No. 2 contender Dierry Jean of Canada on Oct. 24 in Omaha, Neb. Top Rank announced the matchup on Thursday. Crawford is 26-0 with 18 knockouts and also holds the WBO lightweight title. He won the vacant WBO junior welterweight championship in April with a sixth-round technical knockout of Thomas Dulorme in Arlington, Texas. Jean is 29-1 with 20 knockouts. The native of Montreal has won four consecutive bouts since losing a 12-round decision to world champion Lamont Peterson last year. The fight is set for the CenturyLink Center and will be televised live on HBO.

• WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder will fight Frenchman Johann Duhaupas in the first prime-time heavyweight title bout televised by NBC in 20 years. The Sept. 26 fight, previously reported by multiple media outlets, was officially announced Thursday at a news conference at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala. It will be part of the Premier Boxing Champions series. NBC hasn't hosted a heavyweight title fight in prime time since May 20, 1985, when champion Larry Holmes defeated Carl Williams. An Alabama native, Wilder is 34-0 with 33 knockouts, including a June victory over Eric Molina in Birmingham. Duhaupas is 32-2 with 20 knockouts and will make his U.S. debut. Super lightweight Omar Figueroa, 25-0-1 with 18 knockouts, will face former world champion Antonio DeMarco in the 12-round undercard. Demarco is 31-5-1 with 23 knockouts.

GOLF

Underwriters sue

Insurance underwriters claim they shouldn't be responsible for payouts to golf fans for two holes-in-one made during the PGA Tour's Greenbrier Classic in July at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., because the shots weren't long enough. The tournament's underwriters filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against The Greenbrier Classic's nonprofit financial arm, Old White Charities. Fans in the 18th-hole grandstands were told they would receive payouts of $100 for the first hole-in-one during the tournament, $500 for a second and $1,000 for a third. George McNeill and Justin Thomas each made aces from 137 yards with pitching wedges on the par-3 18th on July 2, prompting total payouts of $192,000 to fans. The underwriters said Old White Charities had agreed to a minimum distance of 170 yards. A message left for Old White Charities wasn't immediately returned Thursday.

Sports on 08/21/2015

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