NASCAR-QUALIFYING
Kenseth on Texas pole
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) β Matt Kenseth took the pole for Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway.
Kenseth topped the eight drivers eligible for the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship with a final-round lap of 199.299 miles per hour.
Jeff Gordon will be outside on the front as one of five Chase qualifiers starting in the top 10. The others are Kevin Harvick (fifth), Ryan Newman (seventh) and Joey Logano (10th). Logano won the April race at the Fort Worth track.
Tony Stewart turned a lap at 200.111 mph in the second of three qualifying rounds before dropping off to sixth in the final found on the high-banked 1 1/2-mile oval.
The Chase championship field will be cut from eight to four after the Phoenix event next week, with race winners earning spots in the Nov. 16 finale in Florida.
MLB-CUBS
Cubs land Maddon
CHICAGO (AP) β The Chicago Cubs have hired former Tampa Bay skipper Joe Maddon as their new manager. The move comes just hours after the team fired Rick Renteria, who went 73-89 in his only season on the job. Renteria has been offered another position with the club.
Maddon became available after he opted out of his contract with the Rays earlier this month. He had a 754-705 record in nine seasons in Tampa Bay, leading the club to four playoff appearances, two AL East titles and a five-game loss to Philadelphia in the 2008 World Series.
Cubs president Theo Epstein says Renteria deserved to come back next season but that Maddon’s departure changed things.
Maddon will be introduced at a news conference Monday.
MLB-GIANTS PARADE
Victory parade draws tens of thousands
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) β Tens of thousands of people endured a steady drizzle to honor the World Series champ San Francisco Giants today. Clouds of orange, black and white confetti was shot from sidewalk cannons along the parade route as players waved, snapped photos and mugged for the roaring crowds from the top of double-decker buses. It was the third time in five years the team has celebrated a Series win along the now-familiar parade route.
MLB-TRANSACTIONS
Indians and Tigers make moves…Brewers take Weeks off
UNDATED (AP) β Reliever Joakim (WAH’-keem) Soria’s $7 million option for 2015 has been picked up by the Detroit Tigers. He joined the team in July in a trade with Texas. Soria had 17 saves for the Rangers, then strained an oblique in August and pitched only 11 innings for the Tigers in the regular season. S
Detroit also made $15.3 million qualifying offers to right-hander Max Scherzer and designated hitter Victor Martinez, well ahead of Monday’s deadline. Detroit would receive draft-pick compensation if either of those free agent stars signs with another major league team before the amateur draft in June.
Elsewhere in the majors:
β The Brewers exercised right-hander Yovani Gallardo’s (gy-YAR’-dohz) $13 million option for next year and their half of third baseman Aramis Ramirez’s $14 million option. Milwaukee also announced Friday it had voided Rickie Weeks’ $11.5 million salary for 2015, making the second baseman eligible for free agency.
β A.J. Burnett and the Philadelphia Phillies both declined their $15 million mutual option, leaving the pitcher to decide whether to exercise his $12.75 million player option. The 37-year-old Burnett went 8-18 with a 4.59 ERA in 34 starts during his first season with the Phillies and has said he isn’t sure whether he wants to pitch next season
β Colorado has exercised the $2.25 million option for 2015 on closer LaTroy Hawkins. The 41-year-old right-hander was 4-3 with a 3.31 ERA and 23 saves in 26 chances for the Rockies this season.
β Cleveland has exercised their $3.5 million option for next season on utilityman Mike Aviles (ah-VEE’-lihs). He hit .247 with 16 doubles, five homers and 39 RBIs in 113 games this season. Aviles played six positions, during the season.
NBA-NEWS
Warriors, Thompson agree to new deal
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) β Golden State and shooting guard Klay Thompson have agreed to a four-year maximum contract extension worth about $70 million, a person with knowledge of the deal has told the Associated Press. The person says there is no opt out clause for either side in the new deal.
Thompson and the team had until the end of Friday to get a deal done or Thompson could become a restricted free agent next summer, when the Warriors would’ve had an opportunity to match any offer sheet he signed.
Thompson has become one of the NBA’s top two-way guards since being drafted by the Warriors with the 11th overall pick in 2011.
In other NBA news:
β The Cavaliers have signed starting center Anderson Varejao (VAR-eh-zhow) to a contract extension. Terms of the deal were not immediately known. Varejao was in the final year of a six-year contract he signed in 2008. He was eligible to become a free agent this summer, but the Cavs decided to lock him up for a few more seasons.
β Alec Burks has agreed to a new four-year, $42 million dollar contact with Utah a person with knowledge of the deal has told the Associated Press. The deal could be worth $45 million with incentives. He averaged 14.0 points and 3.3 rebounds and is off to a nice start this season with 16.5 points on 50 percent shooting in the Jazz’s first two games.
NHL-NEWS
Canucks’ Burrows suspended 3 games
NEW YORK (AP) β Vancouver Canucks forward Alexandre Burrows has been suspended for three games without pay by the NHL for his late, illegal check to the head of Montreal Canadiens defenseman Alexei Emelin (YEH’-mih-lihn).
T25 MEN’S BASKETBALL
Pre-season poll released
UNDATED (AP) β Kentucky is No. 1 in The Associated Press preseason Top 25 men’s basketball poll for the second straight season. Kentucky received 52 first-place votes from the 65-member panel to become the fourth team to earn consecutive preseason No. 1s.
Arizona is No. 2 in the poll, receiving five first-place votes, with Wisconsin No. 3 getting eight first-place votes but 35 points less than Arizona in overall points. Rounding out the top five are Duke and Kansas. The second five are North Carolina, Florida, Louisville, Virginia and Texas.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
AD resigns at Michigan
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) β The University of Michigan is looking for an athletic director as Dave Brandon has resigned. He was under pressure as the football team is in the midst of a dismal season and there has been controversy over the school’s handling of everything from its concussion protocol to student seating at games. Football coach Brady Hoke’s future has been in doubt for a while thanks to his team’s lack of progress.
PGA-CIMB
Second round complete
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) β Billy Hurley III made six birdies on his front nine en route to a 5-under 67 that gave him a two-shot lead after the second round of the PGA’s CIMB Classic. Hurley matched his score from Thursday for a 10-under total of 134, two strokes ahead of fellow American Kevin Streelman in the jointly sanctioned PGA Tour and Asian Tour event.
A group of seven players was one stroke further back at 7 under, including defending champion Ryan Moore.
CHAMPIONS TOUR-SCHWAB CUP
Haas leads by 4
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) β Jay Haas birdied four of the last six holes for an 8-under 62 and a four-stroke lead in the Champions Tour’s Charles Schwab Cup Championship. First-round leader Tom Pernice (pur-NEES’) Jr. was second after a 67 with Kenny Perry six shots off the lead.
The 60-year-old Haas won two weeks ago in North Carolina to become the 18th player to win a Champions Tour event at 60 or older. He has 17 victories on the 50-and-over tour after winning nine times on the PGA Tour.
LPGA-TAIWAN
Park leads the way
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) β Inbee Park shot a 10-under 62 in the second round of the LPGA Taiwan Championship to take a three-stroke lead after 36 holes. At 18-under 126, she matched the lowest 36-hole score in relation to par in LPGA history. The 10-under round matched the best to par on the tour this season.
HORSE RACING-BREEDERS’ CUP
Retiring Napravnik wins aboard Untapable
ARCADIA, California (AP)β β Untapable won the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff by 1 1/4 lengths, making Rosie Napravnik (nah-PRAV’-nihk) the first female rider to win the race in its 31-year history. Napravnik then stunned the crowd at Santa Anita and a national television audience by announcing she will retire Sunday.
It’s Untapable’s fourth Grade 1 stakes victory this year.
In other results on the first day of Breeders’ Cup action:
__ Goldencents defended his title in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, winning by 1ΒΌ lengths despite tiring in the stretch. It was jockey Rafael Bejarano’s fifth Breeders’ Cup victory
β Hootenanny won the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf by three-quarters of a length, snapping trainer Wesley Ward’s 0 for 16 skid.
β Lady Eli won the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf by 2 3/4 lengths as the 2-1 favorite.
