Baseball
* Terry Francona hired as Cleveland manager: Terry Francona has been hired as manager of the Cleveland Indians. Francona, who won two World Series titles with the Boston Red Sox, accepted the Indians’ offer on Saturday and will take over a team that collapsed in the second half this season after a promising first four months. The 53-year-old will be introduced as Cleveland’s 42nd manager during a Monday news conference at Progressive Field, the Indians said in a statement Saturday. Cleveland chose Francona over Sandy Alomar Jr., who served as the club’s interim manager for the final six games after Manny Acta was fired on Sept. 27. Francona and Alomar were the only candidates to interview for the Indians’ opening.
Football
* Coroner says South Carolina player died of heart condition: A coroner says a South Carolina high school football player died as a result of a sudden irregular heartbeat brought on by an enlarged heart. Darlington County Coroner J. Todd Hardee said Saturday that an autopsy revealed 18-year-old Ronald Rouse suffered a fatal sudden cardiac arrhythmia resulting from a congenital enlarged heart. Rouse was a 6-foot-3, 320-pound lineman for Hartsville High School who collapsed during the second quarter of the team’s homecoming game Friday night against Crestwood. School officials say Rouse called time out and collapsed, and then collapsed again after being revived and trying to walk off the field. He was treated by four physicians and two athletic trainers, who used a defibrillator to try shocking his heart. Rouse was pronounced dead at an area hospital.
Tennis
* Raonic ousts Murray in Japan Open semifinal: Milos Raonic ousted top-seeded Andy Murray 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4) Saturday to move into the final of the Japan Open in Tokyo. Raonic will meet Kei Nishikori today after he routed unseeded Marcos Baghdatis 6-2, 6-2 in just over an hour. The 17th-ranked Nishikori defeated Baghdatis for the first time after losing three previous matches. Nishikori and Raonic will play for the first time in the final, with the Japanese player seeking his first title of the season.
• Djokovic to face Tsonga in China Open final: Top-seeded Novak Djokovic will face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final of the China Open in Beijing. Djokovic beat unseeded Florian Mayer of Germany 6-1, 6-4 Saturday, while Tsonga led 6-1, 4-1 when Feliciano Lopez retired with a left wrist injury. In the women’s event, top-ranked Victoria Azarenka beat ninth-seeded Marion Bartoli 6-4, 6-2 to set up a final against Maria Sharapova. She cruised to a 6-4, 6-0 victory over seventh-seeded Li Na of China in the other semifinal.
— From wire reports
