Off the Wire

Tampa Bay Rays left-hander Drew Smyly (Little Rock Central, Arkansas Razorbacks)
Tampa Bay Rays left-hander Drew Smyly (Little Rock Central, Arkansas Razorbacks)

BASEBALL

Smyly to go rehab route

photo

AP

In this April 12, 2015, file photo, Jordan Spieth poses with his green jacket after winning the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Ga.

Tampa Bay Rays left-hander Drew Smyly (Little Rock Central, Arkansas Razorbacks) will try and rehab a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder and not have season-ending surgery. Smyly was put on the 60-day disabled list May 9, retroactive to May 6. He also started the year on the DL after hurting the shoulder at spring training. Smyly hopes to resume playing catch in the next couple weeks. He said there should be a clearer picture in about eight weeks.

Pete Rose's role at the All-Star game in Cincinnati will be determined by Major League Baseball and the Reds after they determine what other obligations the banned career hits leader has. Rose began work as a studio analyst for Fox this month. The network will broadcast the game, which is being played in Rose's hometown July 14. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday that MLB is talking to the Reds about Rose's involvement. Rose agreed to a lifetime ban in 1989 after an MLB investigation concluded he bet on Reds' games while managing the team. He has applied for reinstatement, but Manfred has not given a timetable for a decision.

• Former Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington has been hired as a coach for the Oakland Athletics, returning to the club where he was a coach for 11 years. The A's announced the hiring of Washington on Thursday and said he would be with the team the remainder of the season. Washington's defensive expertise will be a key addition given the team's struggles so far. He can be in uniform but can't be on the bench during games. Washington said he heard from General Manager Billy Beane on Wednesday and would meet the club in Tampa, Fla., today. Oakland is last in the AL West and leads the majors in errors with 44 errors.

FOOTBALL

Court upholds settlement

A federal appeals court has upheld a judge's approval of a $50 million settlement in a lawsuit over publicity rights for retired NFL players. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday rejected arguments by several retirees -- including Jim Marshall, Joe Senser and Dan Pastorini -- that the class-action settlement on behalf of around 25,000 players was unfair. A key objection was that the settlement didn't call for direct payments to former players. Instead, it set up a $42 million fund to help retired players with issues like medical expenses, housing and career transition. The settlement also established a licensing agency for retirees to ensure compensation for the use of their identities. U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson ruled in 2013 that the settlement was fair, reasonable and adequate.

• A judge in New Jersey has dismissed domestic violence charges against Ray Rice, who was captured by a surveillance camera knocking his then-fiancee and current wife unconscious in a hotel elevator. Judge Michael Donio dismissed the charges Thursday after the Atlantic County prosecutor told him the former Baltimore Ravens running back had completed the terms of his pretrial intervention. Under terms of the program, Rice paid $125 in fines and received anger management counseling. Rice was charged with third-degree aggravated assault. His attorney described what happened in February 2014 as "little more than a misunderstanding." Videos released by TMZ showed him pulling Janae Rice out of an elevator at the Revel Casino Hotel after he struck her. An arbitrator overturned his indefinite suspension from the NFL.

• UAB President Ray Watts said he hasn't made a decision on whether to reinstate football. Watts issued a statement Thursday saying that he's still talking with "various stakeholders within the UAB community." He said those meetings will continue over the next week and he will make an announcement by June 1. UAB dropped the sport as well as bowling and rifle in December in a cost-cutting move. A study commissioned by the university indicates UAB would face an annual deficit of about $3.2 million if those sports are brought back. Alabama State Rep. Jack Williams said Thursday UAB supporters have raised pledges of about $15 million if the football program is restored. Williams said a donor was meeting with Watts to offer a $10 million guaranteed letter of credit toward a new stadium.

• Former NFL player Aaron Hernandez, sporting a new neck tattoo while making his first court appearance since being sentenced to life in prison for murder, pleaded not guilty Thursday to a charge he tried to silence a witness in a separate double murder case by shooting him in the face. The tattoo, on the right side of his neck, includes the word "Lifetime" above a drawing of a star. The bottom portion of the tattoo was obscured by the collar of his shirt. It is a violation of Massachusetts prison regulations to get a tattoo, to tattoo someone else or to possess tattoo paraphernalia while incarcerated. Possible sanctions include disciplinary detention for up to 10 days and loss of a privilege such as television or radio for up to 60 days. The Department of Correction did not immediately return calls seeking comment on whether Hernandez has been disciplined. Hernandez was convicted last month in Fall River in the 2013 killing of Odin Lloyd, the boyfriend of his fiancee's sister.

GOLF

Spieth tied for Colonial lead

Masters champion Jordan Spieth made a 20-foot birdie putt on the final hole with darkness falling Thursday, grabbing a share of the first-round lead in the rain-delayed Colonial. Spieth just missed the green on his approach at the 18th hole, and putted from off the back right fringe. The closing birdie shortly after 8 p.m. put him atop the leaderboard with Kevin Na, Boo Weekley and Ryo Ishikawa. After missing the cut at The Players Championship two weeks ago, the 21-year-old Spieth is playing the first of consecutive weeks at home in North Texas. He had a great chance for a birdie on the par-3 16th, but his 4-foot try slid by the hole. Play started three hours late Thursday after more than an inch of rain fell overnight at Hogan's Alley.

Massy Kuramoto had the only under-par round with a 1-under 71 on Thursday to take the first-round lead in the Senior PGA Championship in cool, damp conditions on the testy Pete Dye Course at French Lick Resort. Kuramoto, a 30-time winner on the Japan Tour, is the chairman of the PGA of Japan and plays on the side, something he does well enough to have won the 2014 Japan Senior Open. Kuramoto, 59, had a one-stroke lead over defending champion Colin Montgomerie, Billy Andrade, Barry Lane, Jean Francois Remesy and Bart Bryant. Sweaters and rain jackets were the uniform of the day and scoring on the rugged Dye Course's twisting fairways and small greens did not come easily.

• Defending champion Rory McIlroy shot a 1-under 71 on Thursday, leaving him six shots behind leader Francesco Molinari at the BMW PGA Championship after a mixed performance he blamed on mental fatigue. Playing for the fourth consecutive week, the top-ranked McIlroy failed to recapture the form that saw him surge to a record seven-shot victory at the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow last week. McIlroy had two birdies and two bogeys in his first five holes, missing a 12-foot putt for par at the first hole after failing to find the green with his approach. He went birdie-bogey-birdie from Nos. 12-14, and could not take advantage of par-5s on the final two holes. Molinari carded a flawless 65, closing his round with two consecutive birdies on the last two holes.

Sports on 05/22/2015

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