Update on the latest sports
APMLB-SCHEDULE
Padres-Rockies postponed
DENVER (AP) — The game between the San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies was postponed due to a forecast that called for inclement weather. The Padres and Rockies were set to begin a three-game series at Coors Field. They will play Tuesday and then a traditional doubleheader Wednesday. Both games of the doubleheader will be seven innings. The forecast Tuesday is calling for more cold and rainy weather with a chance for snow.
MLB-METS-DEGROM
DeGrom on IL
NEW YORK (AP) — Jacob deGrom will be placed on the injured list by the New York Mets with tightness in his right side. The move will keep the ace from taking the mound until May 20 at the earliest. The Mets say an MRI on Sunday night was “clean of any issues.”
The team says it will place the two-time NL Cy Young Award winner on the injured list before Tuesday’s series opener against Baltimore, a move that will be retroactive to Monday.
A 32-year-old right-hander, deGrom is 3-2 with a major league-best 0.68 ERA.
Elsewhere in the majors:
— Two-time All-Star infielder Todd Frazier has been cut by the Pittsburgh Pirates after hitting .086 in 13 games. The team designated him for assignment Monday. The 35-year-old had just three hits in 35 at-bats with no home runs and four RBIs. The Pirates made the move to open a roster spot for outfielder Ben Gamel, who was claimed off waivers from the Cleveland Indians. The Pirates signed Frazier to a minor league contract after he spent last year’s pandemic-shortened season with the Texas Rangers and New York Mets. The 11-year veteran has a .241 career average with 218 home runs.
SPORTS-VIRUS OUTBREAK
More fans allowed at DC sports events
UNDATED (AP) — As coronavirus restrictions ease in the nation’s capital, the Washington city government says sports stadiums can have spectators at full capacity as of June 11.That will allow the Washington Nationals to let about 40,000 fans into its home games.The Major League Baseball team said Monday it was granted a waiver by the city to expand its ticket distribution at Nationals Park to up to 36% of capacity as of Friday.The Nationals currently are allowed 10,000 fans per game — about 25% of what their outdoor ballpark holds.
As of last month, the NHL’s Capitals and NBA’s Wizards have been allowed to host 10% of capacity at their indoor arena downtown, roughly 2,000 people. That will rise to 25%, about 5,000 spectators, on Friday.
In other outbreak related sports matters:
— New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced that Nassau Coliseum will have a fully vaccinated fan section when the New York Islanders open the Stanley Cup playoffs. Half of the arena will be used as a fully vaccinated fan section with attendees spaced approximately 3 feet apart with an unoccupied seat between each party. Individuals seated in those sections will have to prove they’ve been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
—The Nashville Predators have reached an agreement that will allow for a crowd of 12,135 inside Bridgestone Arena for home games played during the upcoming Stanley Cup playoffs. The Predators will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round, and all home games will see approximately 70% of the arena’s 17,159 seats filled. The NHL is allowing this capacity increase based on a calibration of outside air flow requirements used uniformly throughout the league to determine venue capacities for the playoffs.
NBA-WIZARDS-BEAL INJURED
Wizards’ Beal out at least 2 games with strained hamstring
WASHINGTON (AP) — Bradley Beal will miss at least two games because of a strained left hamstring as his Washington Wizards fight for a play-in berth and he duels Stephen Curry for the NBA scoring title.
The Wizards announced that Beal will sit out their games at the Atlanta Hawks on Monday and Wednesday. He’ll be re-evaluated Friday. The shooting guard was injured Saturday. An MRI exam on Sunday showed that Beal strained his hamstring. He is averaging 31.4 points this season. That trails Golden State guard Curry, who is putting in 31.9 a game. The Wizards are ninth in the Eastern Conference.
Elsewhere in the league:
—Celtics All-Star forward Jaylen Brown will miss the rest of the season with a torn ligament in his left wrist. The team says Brown learned of the injury to his scapholunate ligament this past weekend and is expected to have surgery later this week. Brown has missed the Celtics’ past three games with a sprained right ankle. Boston has lost two of three since then and entered Monday seventh in the Eastern Conference with four games left.
NFL-TEBOW-JAGUARS
Tebow to play for Jaguars – as tight end
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Tim Tebow and Urban Meyer are apparently getting back together, this time in the NFL.
The NFL Network reports the former Florida star and 2007 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback is expected to team up with his college coach by signing a one-year contract to play for the Jacksonville Jaguars. The league-owned network says the deal “could be official in the next week or so.”
The 33-year-old Tebow would be returning to the NFL after four years in the New York Mets’ organization and he’d be playing for Meyer for the first time since his senior year in 2009. This reunion would come with a twist: Tebow is switching to tight end.
In other NFL activity:
— Two people with direct knowledge have confirmed to The Associated Press the Indianapolis Colts have signed Eric Fisher to play left tackle. Kansas City selected Fisher with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 draft, but the Chiefs released their longtime starter in March. Fisher missed last season’s Super Bowl after tearing his Achilles tendon in the AFC championship game. The two-time Pro Bowler could replace Anthony Castonzo in Indy’s starting lineup. Castonzo retired in January.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-NHL
Cuomo says Islanders will have section for vaccinated fans
NEW YORK (AP) — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that Nassau Coliseum will have a fully vaccinated fan section when the New York Islanders open the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Half of the arena will be used as a fully vaccinated fan section with attendees spaced approximately 3 feet apart with an unoccupied seat between each party. Individuals seated in those sections will have to prove they’ve been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Young adults and children under age 16 not yet eligible for the vaccine may be seated with a vaccinated adult so long as they’ve received a recent negative COVID-19 test result.
Appropriate social distancing, masks and other health protocols will still apply throughout the Coliseum, which seats 14,500.
Entering this week, 66% of Long Island’s adults had received at least one vaccine dose and 53% had completed their vaccine series.
MEDINA SPIRIT-PREAKNESS
First-place Derby finisher heads to Baltimore, without trainer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit is headed to Baltimore for the Preakness Stakes while trainer Bob Baffert says he won’t attend the race to avoid being a distraction in the wake of scrutiny following the colt’s failed postrace drug test.
Medina Spirit’s Derby win by half a length over Mandaloun gave Baffert his record seventh victory in the sport’s premier race. That milestone is now in jeopardy following Baffert’s announcement that test results revealed the horse had more than twice the state-allowed amount of the steroid betamethasone. Baffert is appealing the positive test and a part of the original sample will be re-tested.
PGA-BYRON NELSON-JOHNSON
Johnson withdraws from Nelson with knee discomfort
MCKINNEY, Texas (AP) — One week before the PGA Championship, Dustin Johnson is having knee pain. The world’s No. 1 player withdrew from the AT&T Byron Nelson on Monday.
He cites occasional discomfort in his knee and says his trainers have advised him to stay home and get healthy. Johnson had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee after the 2019 season that caused him to miss three months. He says he was not happy about having to withdraw and pledged to return to Dallas. Johnson has gone six consecutive tournaments without a top-10 finish. That’s his longest such stretch since before his 2019 surgery.
