NCAA puts Baylor basketball on 3 years' probation for calls

WACO, Texas (AP) - The NCAA put Baylor on three years of probation Wednesday after an investigation turned up hundreds of impermissible telephone calls and text messages sent to prep recruits by coaches and assistants on the basketball teams. The violations were considered to be major infractions, and they were announced less than a week after the Lady Bears won the national ...

NBA Capsules

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Chris Paul scored 31 points, including the game-winning shot on a layup with 8.8 seconds left, lifting the Los Angeles Clippers to a 100-98 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night that kept them in position for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Duffy leads Royals past Athletics

OAKLAND (AP) - Danny Duffy pitched six sharp innings and the Kansas City Royals beat the Oakland Athletics 3-0 in a rain-shortened game on Tuesday night.

Mavs gets much-needed win over Kings

DALLAS (AP) - The Dallas Mavericks finally won a game without Lamar Odom, who is no longer an option for them.

NBA Capsules

MIAMI (AP) - Paul Pierce scored 27 points, Kevin Garnett added 24 points and nine rebounds, and the Boston Celtics made their first eight shots of the fourth quarter to hold off the Miami Heat 115-107 on Tuesday night.

Fox, MLB file objections to Dodgers sale

Cespedes making quick impression in big leagues

OAKLAND (AP) - With one monster 462-foot home run, Yoenis Cespedes showed off a power stroke reminiscent of Oakland's Bash Brothers back in the day. That swing spoke volumes to those who questioned whether the prized Cuban defector could dominate in the major leagues for the Athletics as he did in his Caribbean homeland. Cespedes shrugs off his ...

Sharks learn from losses to Blues

Reds 2B Phillips gets $72.5 million through 2017

Sports News Brief

CYCLING 5 OF TOP 15 PRO TEAMS COMMIT TO TOUR OF UTAH RACE: SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Five of the world's top 15 international cycling teams have committed to the 2012 Tour of Utah. Utah's event is set for Aug. 7-12 and is the first major weeklong stage race following the Tour de France and London Olympics. <p ...

Posey back on track after leg injury

Indians sign Carlos Santana to 5-year deal

Parcells unlikely Saints' next coach

Bobby Petrino fired at Arkansas after 4 seasons

Faried scores 27 points, Nuggets rout Warriors

DENVER (AP) - Two days after one of the worst performances of his young career, rookie Kenneth Faried put together his best one yet - and both came against the same team.

ON THE HUNT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - At around age 10, Hunter Pence acquired a Barry Bonds poster from his elementary school fair. It was then that Pence started choking up on his bat just as Bonds did in that prized picture that wound up on his wall.

Cespedes, Moss homer to push A’s past Rangers

OAKLAND (AP) - Sure, it's the Texas Rangers in town. The very team the Oakland Athletics rallied to beat in Game No. 162 last October for a stunning sweep to steal away the AL West crown from the two-time reigning AL champions.

Derby winner arrives in Pimlico for Preakness

BALTIMORE (AP) - Orb has settled into the place reserved for royalty at Pimlico Race Course - stall 40.

Tiger wins Players by not throwing it away

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus have never had a conversation longer than a couple of minutes, and rarely about golf. Maybe it's because they already think along the same lines when it comes to winning tournaments.

NHL Playoff capsules

BRUINS 3, MAPLE LEAFS 1

NBA Playoff capsules

HEAT 88, BULLS 65

Sports news briefs

&bull; Greinke could make debut on Wednesday: LOS ANGELES &ndash; Zack Greinke will pitch on Wednesday. Whether he does it against the Washington Nationals at Dodger Stadium or the San Jose Giants in Rancho Cucamonga, where the Dodgers' Single-A team plays, remains to be seen. Greinke signed a six-year, $147 million contract with the Dodgers in the offseason but has been on the disabled list since April 12, the day after he broke his clavicle ...

Spurs tops Warriors for 2-1 series lead

OAKLAND (AP) - Tony Parker scored 25 of his 32 points in a sizzling first half, Tim Duncan added 23 points and 10 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs quieted the hot-shooting Golden State Warriors in a 102-92 victory Friday night to take a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinals.

Thunder one victory away from Kelly Cup Finals

STOCKTON - The Stockton Thunder earned a late third period goal by Maxime Boisclair and used a key save by Olivier Roy on a penalty shot with 1.4 seconds left in regulation to hold on for a 3-2 win over the Idaho Steelheads and take a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference Finals in front of 4,417 fans at Stockton Arena on Friday.

Hansen increases bid for Kings to $625M

SEATTLE (AP) - If this is Chris Hansen's final salvo in his attempt to purchase the Sacramento Kings, it's coming with an additional $75 million price tag to what already could be the richest franchise sale in NBA history.

Cain helps Giants beat Hudson and Braves

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Matt Cain pitched eight strong innings and San Francisco beat Tim Hudson for the first time in seven years in the Giants' 8-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Friday night.

Seattle’s Iwakuma shuts down A’s in win

SEATTLE (AP) - Bob Melvin is still trying to figure out what happened to the consistency Oakland had the first month of the season.

British rookie trying to catch on with 49ers

SANTA CLARA (AP) - Lawrence Okoye was one of the last players to leave the "pitch" Friday afternoon - one of several things that set the big Brit apart from other newcomers at the San Francisco 49ers' rookie minicamp.

NHL capsules

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Dustin Penner scored the tiebreaking goal in the final second of the second period, and the Los Angeles Kings advanced to the second round with a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues in Game 6 on Friday night.

Sports news briefs

&bull; Garcia goes 1 up on Tiger at Players Championship: PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Sergio Garcia had one of those stretches where it felt like every putt was going to drop. He needed every one of them Friday for a 7-under 65 to match his best score on the TPC Sawgrass and take a one-shot lead over Tiger Woods among early starters at The Players Championship.