MLB drops lawsuit against Florida clinic
MLB drops lawsuit against Florida clinic
MIAMI — Major League Baseball has withdrawn its lawsuit against a defunct Florida anti-aging clinic at the center of the scandal involving use of banned substances by players, including New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez.
A lawyer for MLB, Matthew Menchel, confirmed Wednesday the league dropped its case against Biogenesis of America, its owner Anthony Bosch and several other individuals. The lawsuit had accused Biogenesis and Bosch of conspiring with players to violate their contracts by providing them with banned performance-enhancing substances.
Fourteen players associated with the Coral Gables clinic were disciplined by MLB, including a season-long 2014 suspension imposed on Rodriguez. The Yankees star recently dropped his lawsuit against MLB and agreed to serve the suspension.
Although the lawsuit sought unspecified money damages, it also provided MLB a way to subpoena clinic records.
Reds, Homer Bailey agree on 6-year deal
GOODYEAR, Ariz. — The Cincinnati Reds agreed with starter Homer Bailey on a six-year, $105 million contract a day before his scheduled arbitration hearing.
Bailey was the Reds’ final player left in arbitration. The 27-year-old pitcher made $5,350,000 last season. He asked for $11.6 million arbitration and the Reds offered $8.7 million, their biggest gap with one of their arbitration-eligible players.
The deal announced Wednesday includes a $25 million mutual option for 2020.
The hard-throwing Texan went a career-best 13-10 with a 3.68 ERA in 2012, completing his breakthrough season by throwing a no-hitter in Pittsburgh. He threw the 16th no-hitter in franchise history last June, a 3-0 win over San Francisco at Great American Ball Park. Bailey went 11-12 with a 3.49 ERA last year.
Red Sox’s Ortiz wants 1-year extension
FORT MYERS, Fla. — David Ortiz wants a one-year contract extension with the Red Sox through 2015 and would like to have that situation resolved soon.
Boston’s designated hitter is in the final season of a $26 million, two-year contract.
Ortiz says he would like to get the issue out of the way so it doesn’t become a distraction.
Team owner John Henry says it’s conceivable that a resolution could be reached soon. He says he doesn’t know whether an agreement will be reached soon but wants Ortiz to finish his career with the Red Sox.
McDowell, Dufner open Match Play with rallies
MARANA, Ariz. — Graeme McDowell pulled off the biggest stunner on a day of comebacks in the Match Play Championship.
McDowell won the last three holes against Gary Woodland to force extra holes, and then beat him with a 6-foot birdie on the 19th hole on Wednesday. It was a classic case of this fickle event providing hope even when it appears to be hopeless.
Jason Dufner also escaped against Scott Stallings. The PGA champion rallied from 3 down with five holes to play to beat Stallings with a par in 19 holes.
Henrik Stenson was in a battle with Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand. They were all square with four holes to play. Stenson was trying to avoid being the third straight No. 1 seed to lose in the opening round.
Boston College stuns No. 1 Syracuse in OT
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Olivier Hanlan and Patrick Heckman hit 3-pointers in overtime, Lonnie Jackson made four straight free throws in the final 26.2 seconds, and lowly Boston College stunned top-ranked Syracuse 62-59 on Wednesday night, ending the Orange’s unbeaten season.
Boston College (7-19, 3-10 Atlantic Coast Conference), which had lost five straight, rallied from a 13-point second-half deficit to pull off the improbable upset.
Syracuse (25-1, 12-1) travels to No. 5 Duke on Saturday night.
The Eagles came to town with heavy hearts and a good dose of determination. Longtime basketball media contact and sports information assistant Dick Kelley died last week after a two-year battle with ALS. His funeral was Tuesday and the Eagles, who often visited his apartment, were wearing “DK” patches on their uniforms.
Bayern beats Arsenal in Champions League
LONDON — Toni Kroos and Thomas Mueller scored second-half goals to give defending champion Bayern Munich a 2-0 victory over Arsenal on Wednesday night in the first leg of their Champions League second-round matchup.
Kroos scored in the 54th minute when he curled the ball past goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, who entered after Wojciech Szczesny was given a red card for fouling Arjen Robben in the 37th. Mueller scored with a powerful header from close range in the 88th.
Both teams failed to convert penalty kicks in the first half. Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer batted away Mesut Ozil’s kick straight at him in the eighth minute after Ozil was fouled by Jerome Boateng. Bayern’s David Alaba hit a post in the 40th after Szczesny’s foul.
In the day’s other match, seven-time champion Atletico Madrid won 1-0 at AC Milan on Diego Costa’s header off Gabi’s cross in the 83rd minute.
The second legs of the total-goals series are March 11.
By wire sources