Sports News Brief

TENNIS SERENA WILLIAMS ON US FED CUP TEAM; VENUS IS NOT: WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) - Serena Williams is on the U.S. Fed Cup roster for matches against Ukraine on April 21-22, but her sister Venus is not. "She just played Miami and Charleston, so she's trying to gauge now her recovery, how much she can play," U.S. Fed Cup captain Mary Joe ...

SKI REPORTS

Royals Broxton wild as A's rally for win in 12

Blues will start Halak in goal vs Sharks

Stanford's football coordinators work to replace starters

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 ...

Blackhawks surge past Kings, take 3-1 series lead

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Marian Hossa scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period, and the Chicago Blackhawks moved to the brink of the Stanley Cup finals with a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals.

George Karl out as coach of Nuggets

DENVER (AP) - The starless Denver Nuggets just lost their biggest name on the bench.

11 years later, Williams back in French Open final

PARIS (AP) - Done with a dominating performance in the French Open semifinals, Serena Williams climbed the stairs leading from the locker room to the players' lounge, looking to give her mother a hug.

Love, Appleby among 6 tied for lead at St. Jude

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Davis Love III is busy still trying to play his way back into shape after back surgery in February. Playing with Brandt Snedeker and Dustin Johnson, he did a bit better than just keep up.

Beaten by Gatlin, Bolt shows signs of slowing down

ROME (AP) - After five dominating years, Usain Bolt is showing signs of slowing down.

Brazil at historic low No. 22 in FIFA rankings

ZURICH (AP) - Brazil has dropped to a historic low of No. 22 in the FIFA rankings a year out from hosting the World Cup, and the United States has moved up one spot to No. 28.

Woods tops Forbes list of money makers

Tiger Woods is back on top of Forbes' list of highest-paid athletes.

MLB asks for FedEx, phone records in drug lawsuit

NEW YORK (AP) - Major League Baseball's lawyers issued subpoenas to Federal Express, AT&T Mobility and T-Mobile USA in an attempt to gain records for its investigation of players suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs.

Colon wins 4th straight, Athletics beat Brewers

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Bartolo Colon is working harder this year - and it shows.

R.A. Dickey leads Blue Jays past Giants

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - After managing just two runs in two starts against R.A. Dickey and his fluttering knuckleball the past three weeks, the San Francisco Giants are glad they won't have to face that dancing pitch again anytime soon.

Bergeron scores in 2nd OT to give Bruins win

BOSTON (AP) - Patrice Bergeron scored 15:19 into the second overtime to lead the Boston Bruins to a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins and a 3-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference finals on Wednesday night.

MLB interviewing players as part of drug probe

NEW YORK (AP) - One by one, for three weeks already, players accompanied by their lawyers have been summoned to interviews as part of baseball's latest investigation into performance-enhancing drugs - and the process is a long way from finished.

Back in NBA Finals, James can get back at Spurs

MIAMI (AP) - Before reaching the top of basketball, LeBron James was run over by the San Antonio Spurs.

Nadal, Djokovic to meet in French Open semifinals

PARIS (AP) - The ease with which Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic swept aside their quarterfinal opponents at the French Open was remarkably similar.

After losing set 6-0, Sharapova makes French semis

PARIS (AP) - For one full set, Maria Sharapova was about as bad as can be.