COLLEGE BASKETBALL-FRAUD CHARGES
The University of Miami president says a member of the coaching staff is being investigated as part of the federal probe of basketball recruiting at seven universities.
President Julio Frenk says the U.S. Attorney's Office has confirmed it is investigating a potential tie to a Miami coach and recruit. Frenk says school officials are "alarmed and disappointed" by the development.
An attorney for head coach Jim Larranaga says Larranaga has no involvement with any accusations in the investigation. The attorney says Larranaga will continue to lead the Hurricanes.
Among several allegations, federal prosecutors say at least three top high school recruits were promised payments of as much as $150,000, using money supplied by Adidas, to attend two universities sponsored by the athletic shoe company. Court papers didn't name those schools but contained enough details to identify them as Miami and Louisville.
Louisville has placed coach Rick Pitino and athletic director Tom Jurich on administrative leave.
Frenk says Miami has pledged full cooperation with the Department of Justice and the NCAA.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL-FRAUD CHARGES-COOPERATOR
Con man Louis Martin "Marty" Blazer III is obscure no more after shaking college basketball to its core working as a U.S. government undercover operative.
The one-time Pittsburgh financial adviser who wanted to attract deep-pocketed athletes for his firm was revealed as the man who arranged meetings and taped conversations with 10 people charged in the probe, including four college coaches.
Blazer pleaded guilty this month to fraud charges in a deal with prosecutors that could win him leniency because of his cooperation since late 2013.
He cooperated after the Securities and Exchange Commission caught him cheating clients of more than $2 million to invest in two low-budget movies and a country music venture.
He revealed he'd been paying bribes to secure deals with college basketball players since 2000.
MLB-SCHEDULE
Luis Severino cruised through his final postseason tuneup and Starlin Castro, Greg Bird and Aaron Hicks all homered during a four-run sixth inning, lifting the New York Yankees over the Tampa Bay Rays 6-1 Wednesday night.
New York (89-69) improved to a season-high 20 games over .500 and remained three behind division-leading Boston with four to play. The Red Sox beat Toronto 10-7 on Wednesday.
In other action:
— Rich Hill allowed two hits, over-threw a two-hitter over seven innings and Yasiel Puig, Curtis Granderson and Corey Seager homered to power the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 10-0 victory over the San Diego Padres. The Dodgers still own the best record in baseball and appear to be cruising into the postseason with renewed life in their bats and solid pitching. They tied the Los Angeles franchise record for wins in a season at 102, which was last done in 1974.
— The Twins aren't in the playoffs just yet. Minnesota missed a chance to secure a wild-card berth with a 4-2 loss to the Cleveland Indians, who improved to 30-3 since Aug. 24. Minnesota can still make the postseason if the Los Angeles Angels lose to the White Sox. Yan Gomes homered as the Indians stayed one game ahead of Houston for the league's best record and home-field advantage until the World Series.
Nicky Delmonico hit a two-run, game-ending home run in the 10th inning and the Chicago White Sox defeated the Los Angeles Angels on 6-4 Wednesday night. Delmonico, who had three hits and three RBIs, lifted his ninth homer to right field on a 2-1 pitch from Blake Parker (3-3), the fifth Angels reliever, after Avisail Garcia had led off the inning with a double. The loss eliminated the Angels from playoff contention and locked Minnesota into the second AL wild card, even though the Twins lost 4-2 at Cleveland.
— Aaron Altherr went 2-for-4 with a triple, drove in two runs and scored the go-ahead run as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Washington Nationals 7-5 Wednesday. For the Nationals, who clinched the NL East more than two weeks ago, Wednesday's most significant action occurred in St. Louis. That's where the Cubs beat the Cardinals to wrap up the NL Central and ensure they will play Washington in the NL Division Series starting Oct. 6.
— Paulo Orlando hit a two-run homer, his first of the season, as the Kansas City Royals rallied from a three-run deficit to beat the Detroit Tigers 7-4. The Tigers dropped their ninth straight and are 4-22 in September. They have been outscored 68-29 in the skid. The last time Detroit lost nine in a row was Sept. 1-9, 2005.
— Milwaukee rookie Brandon Woodruff was chased in a five-run third inning and the Brewers' postseason hopes took another hit when they fell 6-0 to the last-place Cincinnati Reds. The Brewers have lost five of seven. They've dropped 2 ½ games behind Colorado for the second NL wild-card spot with only four games left.
— Reigning AL Cy Young winner Rick Porcello struggled in his final playoff tuneup, and David Price relieved him to solidify his role on the postseason roster as the Boston Red Sox beat Toronto 10-7 on Wednesday night to lower their magic number to two. Hanley Ramirez and Xander Bogaerts homered in a five-run third inning for Boston after Porcello (11-17) gave up three runs in the first. The Red Sox scored one in the first and three in the second and then took a 9-4 lead in the third to chase Marco Estrada (10-9) and snap a two-game losing streak.
— Josh Bell hit a two-run homer and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-3 to sweep a two-game interleague series. Bell's home run, his 25th of the season, came in the third inning off Baltimore starter Gabriel Ynoa and put the Pirates ahead 4-3. Bell also hit an RBI single in the first. Gregory Polanco also homered for Pittsburgh.
— Addison Russell hit a 3-run homer and John Lackey pitched six strong innings as the Chicago Cubs clinched their second consecutive National League Central title with a 5-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cubs reached the postseason for the third straight year for the first time since 1908.
Terry Collins was a winner in perhaps his final home game as manager of the New York Mets, who beat the Atlanta Braves 7-1 behind rookie pitcher Robert Gsellman. Travis d'Arnaud drove in three runs and pinch-hitter Dominic Smith launched a three-run homer for the Mets, who finished 37-44 at Citi Field this year.
— Ian Desmond hit a three-run homer as part of a six-run second inning and the playoff-chasing Colorado Rockies beat Miami 15-9 today, hours after Major League Baseball approved the sale of the Marlins to an investment group featuring Derek Jeter.
With three games remaining, the Rockies are in prime position to contend for their first postseason berth since 2009. They entered the day with a 1 1/2-game lead over Milwaukee, which played Cincinnati later in the evening. St. Louis trailed by 2½ games heading into its contest against Chicago.
— Mark Canha hit a game-ending home run in the ninth inning to lead the Oakland Athletics past the Seattle Mariners 6-5. Canha's fifth homer this season came on a 1-0 pitch from Shae Simmons. Oakland avoided a three-game sweep and snapped an eight-game losing streak against Seattle. The A's improved to 15-10 in September, clinching their first winning month since April of 2016.
7/8— David Peralta capped a three-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning by drawing a one-out, bases-loaded walk, giving the Arizona Diamondbacks a 4-3 win over the San Francisco Giants. Daniel Descalso jogged home with the winning run in the Diamondbacks' regular-season home finale. Arizona will be back in action at Chase Field next Wednesday in the NL wild card game. J.D. Martinez hit his 16th homer this month to start the Diamondbacks' rally.
— Justin Verlander struck out 11 to win his fifth straight start since getting traded to Houston, major league batting leader Jose Altuve reached 200 hits for the fourth season in a row, and the AL West champion Astros completed a dominating three-game sweep by routing the Texas Rangers 12-2 on Wednesday.
MARLINS SALE
The Miami Marlins are Derek Jeter's problem now.
Major league owners on Wednesday unanimously approved the sale of the woebegone franchise by Jeffrey Loria to an investment group led by Jeter and Bruce Sherman. The deal needed 75 percent approval.
A signed $1.2 billion agreement was submitted to Major League Baseball last month to sell the Marlins to a group led by Sherman, a venture capitalist who will be the controlling owner. Jeter, the former New York Yankees captain, plans to be a limited partner in charge of the business and baseball operations.
In other baseball news:
The last right-handed hitter with at least four consecutive 200-hit seasons was Michael Young, with five in a row for Texas from 2003-07. The others to do it were Kirby Puckett for Minnesota from 1986-89 and Al Simons from 1929-32 with the Philadelphia Athletics and 1933 with the Chicago White Sox. If Altuve finishes the season as the AL hits leader, he will be the first player ever to lead the AL or NL in hits outright in four consecutive seasons.
— Adrian Beltre is likely done for the season after playing 13 games with a strained left hamstring before the Texas Rangers were eliminated from playoff contention. Beltre is his 20th major league season and got his 3,000th career hit in July. He wasn't in the lineup for the series finale against the Houston Astros on Wednesday.
— San Francisco pitcher Matt Cain says he'll retire after his start at home on Saturday against San Diego. The 32-year-old told his teammates on Wednesday in a closed meeting before the game at Chase Field against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Cain, 3-11 this season, made his big-league debut with the Giants in 2005. He pitched in two of the Giants' three winning World Series appearances since 2010. The right-hander has a career record of 104-118 with a 3.69 ERA. He pitched the first perfect game in Giants' history in 2012.
NFL-NEWS
The NFL is asking a federal appeals court to dismiss Ezekiel Elliott's entire lawsuit in its bid to lift an injunction that blocked the star Dallas Cowboys running back's six-game suspension over a domestic violence case in Ohio.
The league wrote in a filing Wednesday to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans that the players' union case filed on behalf of Elliott had resulted in "hopelessly doomed proceedings."
The court requested arguments from both sides over U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant's jurisdiction.
The Texas judge granted Elliott's request for an injunction while the case plays out in federal court. The NFL asked the appeals court for an emergency stay of Mazzant's ruling, and oral arguments are set for Monday.
In other football news:
— San Francisco 49ers safety Eric Reid said he hopes that the criticism President Donald Trump directed at NFL players protesting during the national anthem will help bring awareness to the issues former teammate Colin Kaepernick hoped to raise. Kaepernick sat during the national anthem last year because of police brutality and racial discrimination and the protest grew with a handful of other players like Reid joining Kaepernick. It became much more extensive after Trump's comments.
— New York Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. had little regret about the dog-like celebration that angered the team. He claims the NFL rules about post-score revelry are confusing. Beckham says he met with an unhappy co-owner John Mara to discuss his vulgar celebration. Beckham had gotten down on all fours and pretended to urinate like a dog after catching a touchdown pass. He would not discuss what was said. Coach Ben McAdoo says the team has a plan should Beckham step over the line.
New York Jets running back Matt Forte is dealing with turf toe in his left foot and it could sideline him for the team's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. He was injured during the Jets' 20-6 win over Miami last Sunday. Forte says the injury isn't as severe as the turf toe he dealt with as a rookie in Chicago in 2008.
NBA
Dwyane Wade has made it official, signing his deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers and reuniting with LeBron James.
Wade tells The Associated Press that he "wanted the challenge of being back on that big stage," and he wanted to play with James again. James says having Wade as his teammate again is like walking into class on the first day of school and seeing a best friend.
NHL-NEWS
The Sabres have claimed forward Jordan Nolan, a day after he was waived by the Los Angeles Kings. Nolan has six seasons of NHL experience and is the son of Ted Nolan, who spent two separate stints coaching the Sabres.
Selected by Los Angeles in the seventh round of the 2009 draft, the 28-year-old Nolan was a member of the Kings' 2012 and '14 Stanley Cup-winning championship teams. Nolan has been used in mostly defensive roles in Los Angeles and has scored 20 goals and 22 assists for 42 points in 292 career NHL games.
Ted Nolan coached the Sabres in the late-90s and was the NHL's coach of the year in 1997. He then returned to coach Buffalo in November 2013, before being fired following the 2014-15 season.
In other NHL news:
— Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan insists the franchise's decision to visit the White House doesn't mean the team is wading into the increasingly charged intersection of sports and politics. Sullivan defended the organization's decision on Wednesday. He stressed it didn't serve as a signal that the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions are picking a side in the increasingly heated debate between President Donald Trump and NFL players who protest during the national anthem.
GOLF-PRESIDENTS CUP-WOODS
Tiger Woods made it back from his fourth surgery in time for the Presidents Cup. Just not to play.
Not even Woods knows when or even if he can return. He even acknowledged Wednesday a scenario that he doesn't return to competition because he's at a stage where he's only hitting 60-yard shots.
This was all about driving a cart as an assistant captain at Liberty National golf club in New Jersey..
Woods is back on a golf course for the first time since the Dubai Desert Classic, where he shot 77 in the first round and withdrew the next day citing back spasms. He had fusion surgery on his back in April, and he had reason to wonder if he would be able to join the U.S. team in a coaching capacity.
