Thursday’s Sports In Brief

BASEBALL

NEW YORK (AP) — Trevor Bauer was reinstated Thursday by Major League Baseball’s independent arbitrator, allowing the pitcher to resume his career at the start of the 2023 season.

The 31-year-old Los Angeles Dodgers star was given an unprecedented two-season suspension without pay by baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred on April 29 for violating the league’s domestic violence and sexual assault policy after a San Diego woman said Bauer beat and sexually abused her last year, an accusation the pitcher denied.

The players’ association filed a grievance on behalf of the former Cy Young Award winner, and a three-person panel headed by independent arbitrator Martin Scheinman started hearing the case on May 23.

Scheinman upheld a 194-game suspension rather than Manfred’s intended 324-game penalty but reinstated Bauer immediately, assigning 50 games to cover part of the lengthy time Bauer was put on administrative leave while MLB investigated during the 2021 season and early this year.

Bauer will lose more than $37 million in salary for the final 144 games of last season and for the first 50 games of next season, through May 23. The lost salary next year is effectively a clawback from part of his administrative leave, when he continued to receive pay.

Bauer, who hasn’t played since the allegations surfaced and MLB began investigating, repeatedly has said that everything that happened between him and the woman was consensual.

An email sent after business hours Thursday seeking comment from the woman’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, wasn’t immediately returned.

Bauer sued his accuser in federal court, a move that came less than three months after prosecutors decided not to file criminal charges against the pitcher.

BALTIMORE (AP) — The Baltimore Orioles acquired catcher James McCann and $19 million from the New York Mets on Wednesday night for a player to be named.

McCann was an All-Star in 2019 for the Chicago White Sox, but hit just .195 with three home runs and 18 RBIs for the Mets last season.

McCann is due $12 million in each of the next two seasons as part of the $40.6 million, four-year contract he signed with New York in December 2020. The Mets agreed to pay the Orioles $11 million in 2023 and $8 million in 2024.

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Infielder Brandon Drury agreed to a $17 million, two-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels.

Right-hander Oliver Ortega was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Drury, who hit a career-best 28 homers last season for Cincinnati and San Diego. He won the Silver Slugger award as a utility player.

PRO FOOTBALL

Fans will have to Google it beginning next season if they want to access the NFL’s “Sunday Ticket” package.

The NFL announced an agreement for Google to distribute the package of out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on YouTube TV and YouTube Primetime Channels.

The seven-year deal is worth a little more than $2 billion per season. The package has been on DirecTV since 1994. The satellite provider has paid $1.5 billion per year on an eight-year contract that expires at the end of this season.

The NFL had been seeking $2.5 billion per season for the package. It could still reach that total because the league retains commercial rights to bars and restaurants and is in the midst of selling those rights.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Peyton Bowen, the highly rated defensive back who backed off a verbal commitment to Notre Dame and said he was going to attend Oregon, ended up signing with Oklahoma.

Bowen’s flip from the Fighting Irish to the Ducks during a ceremony at his high school in Denton, Texas, was one of the biggest stories Wednesday as college football’s three-day early signing period began. He was one of several high-profile recruits to make a last-minute pivot to Oregon.

But the five-star safety was never officially announced as part of Oregon’s top-10 class. Bowen posted a statement on social media, saying he regretted some of his actions and apologizing to the fans of the schools he jilted.

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — No. 1 Georgia bolstered its depth at wide receiver for the 2023 season when two wide receiver transfers from Southeastern Conference teams committed to play for the Bulldogs.

Missouri’s Dominic Lovett and Mississippi State’s Rara Thomas announced their decisions on their Twitter accounts. The sophomores ranked among the SEC’s top 15 in yards receiving in 2022.

GOVERNMENT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House passed a bill that ensures equal compensation for U.S. women competing in international events, a piece of legislation that came out of the U.S. women’s soccer team’s long battle to be paid as much as the men.

The Equal Pay for Team USA Act, passed late Wednesday, will require all athletes representing the United States in global competition to receive equal pay and benefits in their sport, regardless of gender. It covers America’s 50-plus national sports and requires the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee to handle oversight.

The bill passed the Senate with unanimous support. It now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk.

RUGBY

DUBLIN (AP) — Italy’s rugby federation opened an investigation after a Black player at Benetton Treviso was given a rotten banana as a holiday gift.

Benetton also suspended a player for the duration of the probe as a “precautionary” measure, the club said in taking action a day after Cherif Traore aired his frustrations on social media.

Traore, a 28-year-old prop who was born in Guinea, described the anonymous gift from a Secret Santa event as an “offensive gesture” that later prompted apologies from teammates.

WEIGHTLIFTING

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Three-time Olympic weightlifting champion Lyu Xiaojun of China has tested positive in a doping case.

The International Testing Agency said Lyu tested positive for EPO, an endurance boosting hormone banned in sports, on Oct. 30 while he was training. The Chinese star is provisionally suspended while a disciplinary case is prosecuted.

HOCKEY

The NHL postponed two games scheduled for Friday because of a major winter storm that began rolling across the eastern two-thirds of the U.S. and Canada, bringing blizzard conditions and bone-chilling temperatures.

Buffalo’s home game against Tampa Bay was postponed Wednesday, and a day later the NHL postponed Detroit’s visit to Ottawa until Feb. 27.

SKIING

MADONNA DI CAMPIGLIO, Italy (AP) — Daniel Yule of Switzerland won the World Cup night slalom at Canalone Miramonti for the third time.

Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen was second, 0.08 seconds back.