Sports in Brief

Published 4:00 am Saturday, November 17, 2012

Baseball

• Cabrera, Blue Jays reach deal: The busy Toronto Blue Jays struck again Friday with their latest big deal: All-Star game MVP Melky Cabrera is set to join them in his return from a drug suspension. A person familiar with the negotiations said the free agent outfielder and the Blue Jays have reached agreement on a two-year contract worth $16 million. The 28-year-old Cabrera was leading the National League in hitting at .346 for the San Francisco Giants when he drew a 50-game suspension Aug. 15 for a positive testosterone test.

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Basketball

• Bynum says he had setback with other knee: Injured Philadelphia 76ers all-star center Andrew Bynum said Friday he has suffered a “setback” in his return from a knee injury. Bynum, acquired by Philadelphia in a four-team trade before the season, has yet to play for the Sixers and spoke before a game against Utah. He has been recovering from a bone bruise on his right knee and his return has been pushed back three times since the beginning of training camp. The Sixers were hoping Bynum would be cleared to return to basketball activities by Dec. 10. That date is now in question because of issues with his left knee.

• NCAA rules UCLA’s Muhammad eligible: The NCAA ruled UCLA freshman guard Shabazz Muhammad eligible to play Friday, and the star freshman guard is set to make his Bruins debut Monday night. The NCAA said Friday that UCLA’s sanctions against Muhammad were sufficient after the school required him to sit out three games and repay $1,600 in impermissible benefits. The NCAA and UCLA found that Muhammad accepted travel and lodging during three unofficial visits to Duke and North Carolina. Muhammad will be in the lineup when the No. 13 Bruins (3-0) return to action Monday night in New York against Georgetown at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

• Saint Louis coach Majerus won’t return: Saint Louis men’s basketball coach Rick Majerus will not return to the team because of a serious heart condition. The 64-year-old Majerus ended the school’s 12-year NCAA tournament drought last season with a 26-win team that won its opening game and took top regional seed Michigan State to the wire. The Billikens were ranked for the first time since the 1994-95 season. “Coach Majerus’ health is of the utmost importance, and our thoughts and prayers are with him as he faces his challenges,” athletic director Chris May said Friday in a statement.

• Bond set for ex-WNBA star Holds- claw: A judge in Atlanta on Friday set bond at $100,000 for ex-WNBA star and Olympic gold medalist Chamique Holdsclaw, who was in jail on assault and weapons charges. She is accused of firing a shot into a car belonging to 29-year-old Jennifer Lacy, who plays for the Tulsa Shock. Police say the 35-year-old Holdsclaw also used a bat to smash the car’s windows. Holdsclaw was in custody at the Fulton County Jail. No one was injured in the assault.

Tennis

• Czech Republic, Spain tied in Davis Cup: Tomas Berdych beat Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3 to give the Czech Republic a 1-1 tie with Spain after the opening singles matches Friday in the Davis Cup final in Prague. Earlier, Spain’s David Ferrer topped Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. The fifth-ranked Ferrer has won a tour-best seven titles this season. The Czech Republic is trying to win its first Davis Cup title as an independent nation since the former Czechoslovakia split in 1993. Spain, playing without injured star Rafael Nadal, is bidding to win its fourth title in five years.

Football

• Ref fined for obscenities: Referee Tony Corrente has been fined one game check by the NFL for uttering some obscenities with his microphone on during a Nov. 4 game in Indianapolis between the Colts and Miami Dolphins. The fine was issued Friday by NFL officiating director Carl Johnson. A referee of Corrente’s experience — 18 seasons — earns approximately $9,000 a game. In the fourth quarter of the game, Corrente inadvertently left his microphone open during a conference with members of the officiating crew. During that conference, Corrente used obscenities that were heard by the crowd and the CBS television audience.

— From wire reports

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