Sports

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Left-hander Jeffrey Springs became the first of the 33 players who exchanged proposed arbitration salaries with their teams to reach a deal, agreeing to a $31 million, four-year contract with the Tampa Bay Rays that could be worth $65.75 million over five seasons. The 30-year-old began last season in the

By TALES AZZONI AP Sports Writer MADRID (AP) — Barcelona has defeated 10-man Real Sociedad 1-0 to reach the semifinals of the Copa del Rey. Ousmane Dembélé scored the winner early in the second half to give the hosts the victory at Camp Nou Stadium. The result ended a nine-game winning streak for Sociedad. The

SCHLADMING, Austria (AP) — Loïc Meillard beat his teammate Gino Caviezel to lead a Swiss 1-2 finish at a floodlit World Cup giant slalom. The pair stepped in to give the Swiss ski team a victory despite the absence of its standout performer as Marco Odermatt sat out the race to rest a sore knee.

By JOSH DUBOW AP Pro Football Writer SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Brock Purdy’s NFL career started with the moniker of “Mr. Irrelevant” and the weeklong trip to Newport Beach to celebrate the player picked last in the draft. With one more win, Purdy’s rookie season in the NFL will end on the brightest stage

By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is humbled by being a finalist for the NFL Most Valuable Player Award. But Hurts is keeping his focus on leading the Eagles to the Super Bowl. The Eagles will host the NFC championship game against the San Francisco 49ers on

By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer PITTSBURGH (AP) — Former Notre Dame and Boston College quarterback Phil Jurkovec has come home to Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh native transferred to the Panthers in December after spending the last three years with the Eagles. Jurkovec says he wants to help Pitt take another step forward after winning a

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota sidelined leading scorer Dawson Garcia and top reserve Pharrel Payne for the game against Indiana due to injuries that further depleted the last-place team in the Big Ten. Garcia has a bone bruise in his right foot. Payne was placed in the concussion protocol. The timetable for the return of both

By KAREN MATTHEWS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s attorney general has warned Madison Square Garden that it may be violating anti-bias laws with its practice of barring lawyers from firms involved in litigation against MSG from its venues including Radio City Music Hall and the Garden itself. The attorney general’s office says

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — The late Grant Wahl will be honored with this year’s Colin Jose Media Award, given to journalists who made long-term contributions to soccer in the United States. Wahl died at age 49 on Dec. 10 after collapsing while covering the World Cup quarterfinal between Argentina and the Netherlands at Lusail, Qatar.

By CIARÁN FAHEY AP Sports Writer BERLIN (AP) — Gio Reyna again came off the bench to score a late winner for Borussia Dortmund in a 2-1 victory at Mainz in the Bundesliga. Reyna also scored Dortmund’s late winner in a 4-3 win against Augsburg on Sunday, and repeated the feat in Mainz after coming

PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) — Washington State coach Jake Dickert has agreed to a contract extension that will keep him tied to the Cougars through the 2027 season. Financial terms of the extension were not immediately available. Dickert’s previous deal was reached after the 2021 regular season and went through 2026. Dickert just completed his first

By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer GENEVA (AP) — UEFA wants qualifying for the men’s World Cup and European Championship to be more interesting and had decided that teams will no longer play in six-team groups after Euro 2024. UEFA expects “less predictable and more dynamic” play when 2026 World Cup qualifying begins in March

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis will miss at least the next couple of weeks after spraining his right medial collateral ligament and right ankle in a 150-130 victory over the Detroit Pistons. The Bucks announced the severity of Portis’ injuries Wednesday and said he would be re-evaluated in two weeks. Portis is

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry’s on-again, off-again season is now off again. Coach Mike Sullivan says the two-time All-Star will miss at least two games with an upper-body injury. Jarry was scheduled to start against Florida on Tuesday night but reported an upper-body issue when he arrived at PPG Paints Arena. Casey

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Heather Davis has been hired as chief executive officer to lead Major League Soccer’s Portland Timbers and the National Women’s Soccer League’s Portland Thorns amid the fallout from a series of scandals. Davis served as CEO on an interim basis after club owner Merritt Paulson stepped away last fall. She is

By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer GENEVA (AP) — The IOC has made clear it wants Russians to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics as neutral athletes. That’s in defiance of Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s call to exclude Russians entirely in Paris in 18 months’ time. The International Olympic Committee cites its “unifying mission” during

SCHLADMING, Austria (AP) — Swiss skier Loïc Meillard led his teammate Gino Caviezel as they went 1-2 in the opening run of a floodlit World Cup giant slalom. The pair gave the Swiss ski team a strong position to win the event even with overall champion Marco Odermatt sitting out the race. Meillard was 0.64

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes went through a morning walkthrough Wednesday and intends to practice as usual, raising expectations that the All-Pro quarterback will not be slowed by his sprained right ankle in this weekend’s AFC title game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Mahomes said the