BASEBALL
Ex-Hog Benintendi activated
The Boston Red Sox have activated rookie outfielder and former Arkansas Razorback Andrew Benintendi from the 15-day disabled list. The AL East leaders made the move before Tuesday night's game against Baltimore. Benintendi had been on the DL since Aug. 25 with a sprained left knee. Benintendi made his big league debut Aug. 2 and played 21 games before he was injured. He was hitting .324 with 6 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run and 10 RBI.
Donaldson day to day
Toronto Blue Jays slugger Josh Donaldson is day to day with a sore right hip, but the reigning AL MVP hopes to return today. With Donaldson out of the lineup for a second consecutive day Tuesday, Jose Bautista moves from cleanup to the second spot his teammate usually occupies. Donaldson jammed his hip sliding into a base in Sunday's loss to Boston. The three-time All-Star third baseman sat Monday amid a career-worst seven game hitless streak. He's 0 for 23 with seven strikeouts in that span. Donaldson has played in 138 of Toronto's 143 games. He's batting .284 with 34 home runs and 92 RBI. Entering Tuesday's game, Toronto trails Boston by two games in the AL East. The Blue Jays lead the wild-card standings, one game ahead of Baltimore.
Scully through on Oct. 2
Vin Scully said the last ballgame he will broadcast is the Los Angeles Dodgers' regular-season finale -- regardless of whether they reach the playoffs. The 88-year-old announcer told the Los Angeles Times his Hall of Fame career will end Oct. 2 in San Francisco. Scully had already said this will be his final season in the booth after 67 years, but until Tuesday had not announced whether he planned to call any potential postseason games on radio. Scully says if he stayed on the air, he would be "saying goodbye like in grand opera, where you say goodbye 12 different times." His decision was not a surprise to the team, Dodgers spokesman Joe Jareck says. Scully has two farewells coming up: First, on Sept. 25 during the Dodgers' final home game of the regular season and then a week later at San Francisco.
Lawsuit dismissal sought
Al-Jazeera America is asking a judge to dismiss defamation lawsuits filed by two Major League Baseball players over statements made in the broadcaster's documentary about performance-enhancing drugs in sports. Lawyers for the news organization and for Ryan Zimmerman of the Washington Nationals and Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies appeared Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Washington. The suits, which were consolidated into one Tuesday, refer to the documentary "The Dark Side: Secrets of Sports Doping," broadcast by Al-Jazeera America in December 2015. The suit alleges a pharmacist who appeared in the documentary made false statements when he said Zimmerman and Howard took banned performance-enhancing drugs. Major League Baseball investigated the allegations and said it found no violations of its drug agreement. After more than two hours of arguments Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson said she would issue a written ruling on whether the case should be dismissed. But she did not say when she would rule.
FOOTBALL
Romo return up in air
Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo had X-rays on his back last week, and after Sunday's game, owner and General Manager Jerry Jones said the results revealed no setbacks or reason for concern. He added that Romo "expects to be back sooner rather than later." But Tuesday morning, Jones said "nobody but the man upstairs knows when" Romo will actually be able to return. "And that hasn't changed," Jones said on a Dallas radio show. "But he certainly is getting better. He'll have progress by any tangible judgment. He'll have progress this week. He'll have progress next week. What has always been the case is, is it going to be six (weeks), is it going to be 10, is it going to be eight? That's always out there. That hasn't changed." Romo suffered a compression fracture to his L1 vertebrae during Dallas' third preseason game on Aug. 25. His recovery time was projected at 6-10 weeks. The Cowboys declined to place Romo on injured reserve because they believe he could return sooner than expected. Had Romo been placed on IR, it would have prevented him from playing in the first eight weeks of the season.
Saints release Spiller
The New Orleans Saints have released running back C.J. Spiller, who signed a four-year, $16 million free-agent contract just last season. Spiller was a healthy scratch Sunday, when the Saints opened the regular season with a 35-34 loss to Oakland. On Monday, Saints Coach Sean Payton said Spiller was scratched because there wasn't room for him in the Raiders game plan, adding that Spiller's role could change "week to week." But when the NFL posted Tuesday's transactions, Spiller's contract had been terminated. When the Saints acquired Spiller, they hoped his versatility and his speed would allow him to fill roles similar to those of ex-Saints Reggie Bush and Darren Sproles. But Spiller needed arthroscopic knee surgery last preseason and has contributed relatively little to New Orleans' prolific offense. In 2015, Spiller gained 112 yards rushing and 239 yards receiving in 13 games, his lone significant highlight being a late-game, 80-yard touchdown catch in a victory over Dallas. Spiller's best NFL season was 2012, his third as a pro, when he had 1,244 yards rushing and 459 yards receiving.
OLYMPICS
Medical data of female Olympians hacked
GENEVA — Confidential medical data of gold medal-winning gymnast Simone Biles, seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams and other female U.S. Olympians was hacked from a World Anti-Doping Agency database and posted online Tuesday.
WADA said the hackers were a “Russian cyber espionage group” called Fancy Bears.
They revealed records of “therapeutic use exemptions” (TUEs), which allow athletes to use otherwise-banned substances because of a verified medical need.
Williams, who won a silver medal in mixed doubles at the Rio Olympics last month, issued a statement via her agent in which she said she was granted TUEs “when serious medical conditions have occurred,” and those exemptions were “reviewed by an anonymous, independent group of doctors, and approved for legitimate medical reasons.”
Williams revealed in 2011 she had been diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome, an energy-sapping disease.
Another athlete named was women’s basketball gold medalist Elena Delle Donne, who had thumb surgery on Tuesday and posted a post-op pic on Twitter, along with a statement saying she takes prescribed medication approved by WADA.
In a statement, USA Gymnastics said Biles — who won five medals, four gold, in Rio last month — was approved for an exemption and had not broken any rules. She wrote on Twitter that she has taken medication to treat ADHD since she was a child.
WADA previously warned of cyberattacks after investigators it had appointed published reports into Russian state-sponsored doping.
WADA said it “extended its investigation with the relevant law enforcement authorities.”
The International Olympic Committee said it “strongly condemns such methods which clearly aim at tarnishing the reputation of clean athletes.”
“The IOC can confirm however that the athletes mentioned did not violate any anti-doping rules during the Olympic Games Rio 2016,” the Olympic body said.
Sports on 09/14/2016