BASEBALL
Sale, Rizzo All-Stars
Chicago White Sox pitcher Chris Sale and Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo were voted by fans onto the rosters for Tuesday's All-Star game, and Los Angeles Angels shortstop Erick Aybar will replace Kansas City outfielder Alex Gordon. Rizzo received 8.8 million votes among the 52.5 million ballots and Sale 6.7 million, Major League Baseball said Thursday. Voting was conducted on MLB.com, team websites and Twitter. Rizzo joined Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro on the National League roster. MLB did not release voting totals for players other than the winners. The others on the American League ballot were all pitchers: Houston's Dallas Keuchel (Arkansas Razorbacks), Cleveland's Corey Kluber, the Angels' Garrett Richards and Detroit's Rick Porcello. The losing NL players were Miami third baseman Casey McGehee, Colorado first baseman Justin Morneau, Washington third baseman Anthony Rendon and Atlanta outfielder Justin Upton. Aybar joins fellow shortstops Derek Jeter and Alexei Ramirez on the AL roster. Gordon has been bothered by a sprained right wrist and received an injection Thursday. There was no immediate announcement on a replacement for St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina, who will have surgery today to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb and is likely to be sidelined for at least eight weeks.
• Masahiro Tanaka has a partially torn UCL and will undergo nonsurgical rehab, New York Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman said Thursday night. Tanaka got off to a fast start for the Yankees, going 11-1 through his first 14 major-league starts. But he has struggled over his past four starts, seeing his ERA balloon from 1.99 to 4.25. In a best-case scenario, the Yankees ace will miss six weeks, Cashman said. If rehab doesn't work, Tanaka likely will need Tommy John surgery. Tanaka has seen three doctors, and all three diagnosed the pitcher with a partially torn ligament in his throwing arm, according to Cashman. All three also agreed to hold off on surgery for now. Tanaka was placed on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday. He flew from New York to Seattle on Thursday morning to be examined.
• Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips is expected to miss six weeks after he has surgery today to repair torn ligaments in his left thumb. He is expected to miss six weeks. Phillips injured his thumb diving for a ground ball in the eighth inning Wednesday night and an MRI on Thursday morning revealed torn ligaments in his left thumb. The Reds second baseman was hitting .272. The team placed former MVP Joey Votto on the disabled list earlier in the week with soreness in his left thigh.
• The Royals placed left-hander Jason Vargas on the disabled list after an appendectomy and recalled reliever Louis Coleman, a former Northwest Arkansas Natural,from Class AAA Omaha before Thursday night's game against Detroit. Vargas began experiencing pain early Wednesday in Tampa and underwent the procedure later in the day. He remained in Florida after the Royals beat the Rays to wrap up their series. Vargas is off to the best start of his nine-year major-league career. He is 8-4 with 3.31 ERA in 19 starts, solidifying a rotation that lost Ervin Santana to free agency last season. Coleman was a dominant reliever for the Royals last season, but he has a 6.41 ERA with the team this season. He has been in Omaha trying to rediscover his form.
• Angels left-hander C.J. Wilson has been put on the 15-day disabled list with a right ankle sprain. The move Thursday came a day after Wilson allowed 6 runs and 8 hits in 3 2/3 innings against Toronto. He was limping at one point in a game the Angels won 8-7. Right-hander Cory Rasmus was recalled from Class AAA Salt Lake and right-hander Drew Rucinski was brought up from Class AA Arkansas, where right-hander Cam Bedrosian was optioned. Wilson (8-6, 4.33 ERA), eligible to return July 25, has allowed 19 runs and 31 hits in 16 2/3 innings over his past 4 starts. His only victory in that stretch was 8-6 over Minnesota on June 24.
• Left fielder Carl Crawford has been reinstated from the disabled list by the Los Angeles Dodgers after missing 40 games because of a sprained left ankle. Crawford was injured on May 27 at Dodger Stadium while running down a double in the corner by Cincinnati's Chris Heisey. The 13-year veteran and four-time All-Star entered Thursday batting .267 with 4 home runs and 18 RBI in 44 games. The Dodgers cleared a roster spot for Crawford on Thursday by designating backup first baseman Clint Robinson for assignment. Robinson was 3 for 9 with 2 RBI in 9 games after his contract was selected from Class AAA Albuquerque on June 25.
BASKETBALL
Shelly Sterling on stand
Donald Sterling was elated when Shelly Sterling came back with a $2 billion offer to sell the Los Angeles Clippers to former Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer in May, she said in court Thursday. He was "happy and proud" that his wife secured the offer before a June 3 meeting of the NBA's owners because he was worried the owners would vote to seize the team, she said. "Every day we talked about what I was doing.... He was on the same page I was," she said. That all changed the next day, when it came time to finalize the sale's details. "He started screaming and cursing. He was uncontrollable," she said. Shelly Sterling returned to the stand Thursday in the fourth day of a probate hearing that will determine whether she acted legally when she took control of the Sterling Family Trust and sold its NBA team without her husband's approval. She also testified that her husband had given her permission to sell the team because "he couldn't do it."
TENNIS
Karlovic out
Second-seeded Ivo Karlovic of Croatia and Samuel Groth of Australia advanced to the semifinals of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships on Thursday. The 153rd-ranked Groth defeated defending champion Nicolas Mahut of France 6-3, 6-4, and Karlovic edged Dudi Sela of Israel 7-6 (3), 7-5. The pair will meet Saturday after inductions for the 2014 class into the International Hall of Fame, which is highlighted this year by Lindsay Davenport in the recent player category. The fourth-seeded Mahut made his ninth appearance on Newport's grass courts, the most of any player in the field. He was denied his 50th career victory on grass. Groth, 26, earned his first career ATP Tour semifinal berth. Mahut, who collected the most grass-court victories on the tour last year with 12, entered the week ranked 59th. He had won seven straight matches at Newport.
HOCKEY
Blues re-sign Ott
The St. Louis Blues have re-signed forward Steve Ott to a two-year contract. Ott, 31, who was acquired in the Ryan Miller deal from Buffalo, had 3 assists and 37 penalty minutes in 23 regular-season games. In 6 playoff games, he added two assists and 14 penalty minutes. Ott had been the Sabres captain before the trade on Feb. 28. He's an 11-year veteran and former 2000 first-round pick of the Stars.
• The Detroit Red Wings have re-signed left wing Daniel Cleary to a one-year contract. Cleary, 35, finished last season with 4 goals, 4 assists and 53 penalty minutes in 52 games. Cleary has spent the past nine seasons with the Red Wings, helping them win the Stanley Cup in 2008. Cleary was bothered by knee problems last season and did not play after January.
HORSE RACING
Charly wins at Belmont
Scarly Charly, heavily favored on a big class drop, beat Box Office by one length Thursday in the $77,000 allowance feature at Belmont Park. The 5-year-old gelding trained by Mike Hushion finished seventh at 69-1 to Palace Malice, racing's top older runner, last time out in the Metropolitan Handicap on the Belmont Stakes undercard. This was an easier spot, and the 3-5 favorite came through with his second victory in nine starts. Manuel Franco was aboard for the mile in 1:35.94 on the fast track. Scarly Charly paid $3.50, $2.70 and $2.20. Box Office returned $4.50 and $2.90, and Sinistra paid $3.10 to show.
Sports on 07/11/2014