BASEBALL
Games may be moved
Miami Marlins player representative Tom Koehler said Tuesday the team attended a seminar on the Zika virus that heightened concerns about playing two games in Puerto Rico against the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 30-31. A decision is expected by the end of the week regarding whether the games will be played as scheduled or moved, Koehler said. The Marlins were given a presentation last week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Representatives of Major League Baseball and the players’ union also attended. Marlins players voted on whether to play the games as scheduled, said Koehler, who declined to share the result. If moved, the games likely would be played in Miami, because the Marlins are the home team.
Pablo Sandoval will miss the rest of the season. The Boston Red Sox third baseman had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder on Tuesday. The Red Sox called the surgery a success but said he will miss the rest of the season. They said he is expected to make a full recovery in time for the 2017 season. Sandoval is in his second season of a $95 million, five-year contract. In his first season with Boston, he posted career-lows with a .245 average, 10 home runs and 47 RBI. He reported to spring training visibly overweight, then lost his starting job to Travis Shaw.
FOOTBALL
Armstead gets extension
Left tackle Terron Armstead has agreed to a five-year extension through the 2021 season, according to New Orleans Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis. Armstead, who was a third-round draft pick by the Saints out of Arkansas-Pine Bluff in 2013, has been a starter since late in his rookie season. Loomis says the 6-foot-5, 304-pound Armstead, who’ll turn 25 in July, is “one of the top players in the game today,” and “will be a valuable member of our team for many years.” Armstead started 13 games last season despite a nagging knee injury that sidelined him from numerous practices. When drafted, Armstead was known for his 4.71 40-yard-dash time at the NFL combine, which demonstrated exceptional speed for his size. Armstead’s rookie contract was due to expire after the 2016 season.
The Kansas City Chiefs waived safety Jimmy Wilson and linebacker Cameron Gordon on Tuesday as they massaged their roster following the NFL draft and the signing of undrafted free agents. Kansas City selected three defensive backs and a linebacker during last weekend’s draft. Wilson signed a $4.85 million, two-year contract with San Diego last year, but was cut in December after making just six starts. He was signed by Kansas City this offseason to provide depth at safety following the surprising retirement of Husain Abdullah. Gordon signed a futures contract with the Chiefs in January.
The Buffalo Bills have agreed to a five-year contract extension with starting left tackle Cordy Glenn. The Bills announced the deal Tuesday evening, about an hour after Glenn’s representatives, Sports Trust Advisors, revealed the agreement had been reached on its Twitter account. The new contract replaces the $13.7 million franchise tag Glenn signed in March. The Bills placed the franchise designation on Glenn in March to retain his rights and prevent him from entering free agency. Glenn was selected in the second round of the 2012 draft out of Georgia, and has started 61 games for Buffalo.
Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Don Shula has been admitted to a hospital for treatment of fluid retention and sleep apnea. Shula’s ailments were confirmed in a statement Tuesday by his wife, Mary Anne. He was admitted Monday, and she said the family “is looking for a speedy recovery.” Sleep apnea is a common, but potentially fatal, disorder in which patients “have one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths” while they sleep, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. The pauses can last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes and occur up to 30 times an hour. If left untreated, the chronic condition can increase the risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, obesity and diabetes. Shula, 86, led his teams to an NFL-record 347 victories in 33 seasons. He retired following the 1995 season and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997.
HOCKEY
Letang suspended
The NHL has suspended Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang for one game for an illegal hit on Washington’s Marcus Johansson. Letang will miss tonight’s Game 4 after the NHL Department of Player Safety ruled Tuesday that Letang made “significant head contact” on Johansson well after the Capitals forward had released the puck during a sequence in the first period during Pittsburgh’s 3-2 victory in the Eastern Conference semifinals on Monday night. Johansson was carrying the puck into the Pittsburgh zone when he made a pass to the boards as four Penguins converged on him. Letang drilled Johansson in the upper body. The forward briefly left the game before returning.
BASKETBALL
Curry wins award
Stephen Curry has won the Magic Johnson Award, given by the Professional Basketball Writers Association to an NBA player who combines excellence on the court with cooperation with the public and media. Curry led the NBA with 30.1 points per game and a record 402 three-pointers in leading the Golden State Warriors to a 73-9 record, best in league history. The reigning MVP beat out teammate Draymond Green, Portland’s Damian Lillard, New York’s Carmelo Anthony and Atlanta’s Paul Millsap on Tuesday in voting by the PBWA, made up of approximately 175 writers and editors who cover the league on a regular basis. The award was created in 2001 and named for Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson, whom the PBWA regards as “the ideal model for the award.”
OLYMPICS
Brazil’s president lights torch to start relay
BRASILIA, Brazil — Brazil’s embattled President Dilma Rousseff ignited the Olympic flame on Tuesday, as a nationwide torch relay got underway with protests highlighting the country’s deep political and economic crisis.
Rousseff presided over the flame ceremony in Brasilia, even though she faces impeachment and is unlikely to be in office when South America’s first Olympics open in less than three months.
“Brazil is ready to host the most successful Olympics in history,” Rousseff said in a speech to begin the torch relay, which will reach 329 Brazilian cities and end on Aug. 5 at the opening ceremony in Rio’s Maracana stadium.
However, security experts have been expecting protests during the relay, and on Tuesday a few hundred protesters gathered on a relay route controlled with a heavy police presence.
Rousseff is expected to be suspended from office next week as the country’s senate hears an impeachment case against her, which means Vice President Michel Temer is likely to be president during the games.
The Olympic flame arrived in a lantern on a flight from Switzerland and was taken to the Planalto presidential palace.
The first torchbearer was double gold-medal winning volleyball player Fabiana Claudino, who set off on the first leg through the capital after the torch was ignited by Rousseff. Claudino, who will also captain Brazil’s Olympic volleyball team, was followed by Brazilian mathematician Artur Avila Cordeiro de Melo.
The relay across Brazil will involve 12,000 torchbearers. Rio organizers hope it will spark excitement for the games, which has lagged as Brazil battles bribery and corruption scandals, its deepest recession in decades and the Zika virus outbreak.
Colonel Jose Vicente da Silva, a former head of public security, told The Associated Press in a recent interview that he expects demonstrations along the route.
“Wherever the torch goes, there will be a camera on it,” Silva said. “There will be banners for or against President Rousseff. There is a chance of big protests during the torch relay.”