BASEBALL
Woodruff stays with Brewers
Brandon Woodruff is staying with the Milwaukee Brewers after all. The right-hander has finalized a backloaded $17.5 million, two-year contract with Milwaukee that includes a mutual option for the 2026 season. The deal was completed three months after the Brewers allowed the injured pitcher to test free agency rather than tendering him a contract for 2024. Milwaukee also announced the signing of catcher Gary Sanchez on Wednesday to a one-year contract with a mutual option for 2025. Sanchez hit 19 home runs last season while playing for the San Diego Padres and New York Mets. The 31-year-old Woodruff is expected to miss most, if not all, of the upcoming season while he recovers from shoulder surgery. But the new contract could keep the two-time All-Star with the Brewers when he returns to the mound, whether that's this year or next year.
Former All-Star MVP retires
Eric Hosmer announced his retirement from baseball Wednesday following a 13-year career that included winning four Gold Gloves and helping lead Kansas City to victory in the 2015 World Series. Hosmer, 34, was released by the Chicago Cubs on May 25 after hitting .234 with two home runs in 31 games. The first baseman decided not to pursue any other playing opportunities. Kansas City selected Hosmer third overall in the 2008 amateur draft and he made his major league debut three years later. He spent seven seasons with the Royals before signing an eight-year, $144 million contract with San Diego before the 2018 season. Hosmer played five seasons for the Padres before being traded to Boston in 2022, then finishing up with the Cubs last year. He had a .276 career batting average and 198 home runs. Hosmer was named the MVP in his lone All-Star Game appearance in 2016.
BASKETBALL
Brawl results in suspensions
Four players from Texas A&M-Commerce and four from Incarnate Word were suspended Wednesday by the Southland Conference for "flagrant unsportsmanlike actions" after a brawl broke out during postgame handshakes following an overtime game. It was still unclear what led to the melee after Commerce's 76-72 road victory Monday night. Video showed players from both teams caught up in a lengthy scuffle that spread over much of the court. Several punches were thrown and personnel from both teams tried to get players under control. Commerce forward Jerome Brewer, Jr., guard Ant Abraham, and forward Kwo Agwa were suspended for three games each, while guard Prince Davies got a one-game suspension. Incarnate Word point guard Elijah Davis got a three-game suspension, and guard Alex Anderson, center Gabe Beny Til, and forward Marcus Glover will each miss two games.
TENNIS
Gauff advances in Dubai
Coco Gauff rallied from a slow start and a second-set argument with the chair umpire to beat Karolina Pliskova 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 and reach the quarterfinals of the Dubai Championships on Wednesday. The third-seeded Gauff ended Pliskova's 11-match winning streak. The 19-year-old American built a 4-2 lead in the second set before a lengthy back-and-forth with chair umpire Pierre Bacchi. Gauff complained to Bacchi that he called her serve at deuce out only after Pliskova returned it into the net. Gauff had to repeat her first serve and went on to hold for a 5-2 lead. Gauff will next face Anna Kalinskaya after the Russian beat ninth-seeded Jelena Ostapenko 6-4, 7-5. Top-ranked Iga Swiatek advanced to the last eight by beating Elina Svitolina 6-1, 6-4.
Teen collects win in Rio
Joao Fonseca became the first player born in 2006 to win an ATP tour-level match when the 17-year-old Brazilian beat seventh-seeded Arthur Fils 6-0, 6-4 at the Rio Open on Wednesday. Fonseca defeated the No. 36-ranked Frenchman in front of raucous fans at the clay court tournament in Rio de Janeiro. He knelt on the court in tears to celebrate. His opponent in the round of 16 will be Christian Garin of Chile.
Miami director fined
Miami Open tournament director and former Top 10 player James Blake was fined $56,250 for violating tennis's rules about betting sponsorship, the International Tennis Integrity Agency announced Wednesday. The London-based ITIA said the violation was unintentional and Blake "co-operated fully with the investigation and did not contest the charge." If Blake breaks the rules again during an 18-month probationary period that began on Feb. 9, the agency said, he would be subject to an 18-month suspension and an additional fine of $131,250. He retired as a player in 2013 after winning 10 singles titles, getting to a career-best No. 4 in the ATP rankings and reaching the quarterfinals at three Grand Slam tournaments.
MOTOR SPORTS
Former X-game medalist dies
Freestyle motocross competitor Jayden Archer, the first rider to perform a triple backflip in competition, has died while practicing in Melbourne. He was 27. The accident occurred Wednesday but there were few details released. Victoria state police said Thursday they would not comment on individuals or incidents due to privacy concerns. Archer had been a member of the Nitro Circus crew for more than a decade. The group confirmed his death in an Instagram post. Australian media reported that Archer, a two-time X Games medalist, was planning to attempt a world-first quadruple backflip later this year.
HOCKEY
Capitals' center injured
Washington Capitals center Nic Dowd, one of the top candidates to change places ahead of the NHL trade deadline, is day to day with an upper-body injury. Dowd left the Capitals' 6-2 win against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night after the first period. He's the second player in recent weeks to go down with an injury after being part of trade talks, following Pittsburgh's Jake Guentzel, who's out until early March. A faceoff specialist and penalty killer with some offensive ability who is signed through next season at the bargain basement salary cap hit of $1.3 million, Dowd could fetch a high price from a contender before the March 8 trade deadline. The 33-year-old has 16 points on eight goals and eight assists and is a veteran of 506 regular-season and playoff games.
Coco Gauff of the U.S. celebrates after beating Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic in a match of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
Iga Swiatek of Poland returns the ball to Elinaof Svitolina of Ukraine during a match of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
Coco Gauff of the U.S. serves to Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic during a match of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
Iga Swiatek of Poland celebrates after beating Elinaof Svitolina of Ukraine during a match of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
Iga Swiatek of Poland celebrates after beating Elinaof Svitolina of Ukraine during a match of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan returns the ball to Magdalena Frech of Poland during a match of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan returns the ball to Magdalena Frech of Poland during a match of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
Elena Rybakina of Kazakhistan serves to Magdalena Frech of Poland during a match of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)