S CAROLINA-CROWE
South Carolina pitcher Wil Crowe to miss rest of season
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) β South Carolina sophomore right-hander Wil Crowe has a torn ligament in his right elbow and will miss the rest of the season.
The school said Tuesday that Crowe had an MRI which showed a torn ulnar collateral ligament. A date for Crowe’s surgery hasn’t been determined.
Crowe was a freshman sensation for the Gamecocks, going 8-3 with a 2.75 ERA in 2014. He struggled during the current season, registering a 3-4 mark with a 4.91 ERA. He’s got 59 strikeouts in 51 1-3 innings.
The 6-foot-2, 240-pound Crowe is from Sevierville, Tennessee. He was the Gatorade Player of the Year in Tennessee in 2013 and was drafted in the 31st round of that year’s Major League Baseball draft by Cleveland, but opted to play at South Carolina.
NASCAR-CIRCLE SPORT-PENALTY REDUCED
Appeals panel reduces penalty against Circle Sport Racing
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) β An appeals panel has reduced the penalty levied against Circle Sport Racing car owner Joe Falk and crew chief Slugger Labbe.
The three-person National Motorsports Appeals Panel reduced Falk’s penalty from a loss of 25 points to 10, and Labbe’s original $50,000 fine was cut to $20,000. Labbe’s three-race suspension was upheld; the crew chief already has missed two races under the punishment.
The decision was announced on Tuesday.
The team was given a P4 penalty for an illegal rear truck trailing arm on Brian Scott’s car at California last month. The panel reduced the penalty to a P2 infraction and said that some of the broken rules initially cited in the penalty “are subject to interpretation.”
DUKE-WINSLOW DECLARES
Duke freshman Winslow to enter NBA draft
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) β Justise Winslow is entering the NBA draft after one season at Duke.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski announced the forward’s decision Tuesday.
Winslow says in a statement issued by the school that “my dreams and aspirations have literally come true” while winning the national title in his only season in college.
He says he believes “it is time to take the next step on my career path and play at the highest level.”
The announcement came less than a week after the same decision from teammate Jahlil Okafor, the first freshman selected as the Atlantic Coast Conference’s player of the year.
Winslow averaged 12.5 points and 6.5 rebounds while helping Duke win its fifth national title.
LABRADOR RETRIEVER RETIRING
No more fetching: Minor league team says bat-dog is retiring
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) β One of the Labrador retrievers that fetches baseballs and bats for the minor-league Greensboro Grasshoppers is kicking her paws up and retiring after this season.
In one of those only-in-the-minors stories, team president Donald Moore said Tuesday the dog β named Miss Babe Ruth β “deserves to slow down” after nearly a decade of bringing balls to umpires and retrieving the Grasshoppers’ bats.
She will turn 10 this fall and made her debut as a 9-month-old puppy in August 2006. There is a statue of the dog outside the team’s ballpark.
The team has two other dogs β Master Yogi Berra and Miss Lou Lou Gehrig β that will continue the team’s canine bat-fetching tradition.
The Grasshoppers are one of the Miami Marlins’ Single-A farm teams.
MARLINS-BRAVES
Stanton snaps slump, drives in 4, Marlins beat Braves 8-2
ATLANTA (AP) β Giancarlo Stanton broke out of a slump with three hits and four RBIs, Dee Gordon and Ichiro Suzuki each scored two runs and the Miami Marlins beat the Atlanta Braves 8-2 on Tuesday night.
It was Miami’s first win in five tries this season, and fifth in its last 13 games, against the Braves.
Stanton, who signed a record 13-year, $325 million contract in November, began the game hitting just .130 with three RBIs in 23 at-bats. But he was dialed in against the Braves.
Tom Koehler (1-1) gave up six hits, two runs and two walks with three strikeouts in 5 1-3 innings for the win.
Trevor Cahill (0-1), making his first start for Atlanta, allowed five hits, four runs and three walks with two strikeouts in 2 1-3 innings in the loss.
