Mets’ Wright has moderate rib strain, will rest
Mets’ Wright has moderate rib strain, will rest
KISSIMMEE, Fla. — New York Mets third baseman David Wright has a moderate strain on the left side of his rib cage that will shut him down until next week, leaving his status for opening day uncertain.
Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said Wright would rest for three to five days. Only time will tell whether the 30-year-old star is ready to begin the regular season on April 1, the GM said Friday.
“Anything about his availability for opening day is speculative,” Alderson said. “Is it possible he’ll be out for a longer time? Sure.”
Wright, the Mets’ career hits leader, was a late scratch from the United States lineup against the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic on Thursday night. He returned to New York for tests and was examined by Dr. David Altchek at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan.
Alderson said Wright had a moderate intercostal strain on the left side. Wright got an injection, will rejoin the team in Port St. Lucie on Saturday and rest before starting up again.
Russians Volosozhar, Trankov win first world title
LONDON, Ontario — With the Sochi Olympics a year away, Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov are right on target.
Volosozhar and Trankov gave Russia its first pairs title in eight years at the World Figure Skating Championships on Friday, shattering two world records in the process. Their total score of 225.71 was almost eight points better than the previous mark, while their free skate score of 149.87 was exactly five points higher.
Volosozhar and Trankov’s upset of four-time world champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy at Europeans set up what was expected to be an exciting rematch at the worlds. But the Germans turned out to be something of a dud, finishing about 20 points back with a subdued and sloppy performance. Canadians Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, second after the short program, dropped to third with a labored effort that also had errors.
Americans Alexa Scimeca and Christopher Knierim were ninth, an impressive debut for a pair that’s been together not even a year. U.S. champions Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir were 13th, ensuring that the United States will be able to send two pairs to Sochi.
Clippers sign Summers
to a 10-day deal
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Clippers have signed forward DaJuan Summers to a 10-day contract.
He averaged 18.0 points and 7.6 rebounds for the Maine Red Claws of the NBA’s D-League this season.
Summers played in 81 games for Detroit and New Orleans from 2009-12 after being the 35th overall pick in the NBA draft as an early entry candidate out of Georgetown. He averaged 3.4 points and 1.0 rebounds in those games.
Djokovic, Del Potro reach semis at Indian Wells
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Novak Djokovic didn’t get much of a workout on his way to the BNP Paribas Open semifinals.
The world’s top-ranked man beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 6-1 in 54 minutes on Friday and didn’t mind the brevity.
Juan Martin del Potro had to go the distance to upset No. 3 seed Andy Murray 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-1 for the first time in five tries on hard courts and will play Djokovic in Saturday’s semifinals. The Argentine has lost to Djokovic eight times in 10 meetings.
No. 8 Caroline Wozniacki outlasted fourth-seeded Angelique Kerber 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 in a semifinal that included 14 service breaks, including seven in the final set. Wozniacki will play Maria Sharapova, a 6-4, 6-3 winner over No. 13 Maria Kirilenko, in Sunday’s final.