Reds snag Guardian

GOODYEAR, Ariz. (AP) — Reliever Scott Barlow and the Cincinnati Reds agreed to a one-year contract that includes a club option for 2026.

Cincinnati announced the deal on Thursday. Right-hander Julian Aguiar, expected to miss the entire season while recovering from Tommy John surgery last October, was placed on the 60-day injured list.

Barlow has pitched in 365 big league games, all in relief, over the past seven seasons. He has a 23-21 career record and 58 saves with a 3.49 ERA, and 461 strikeouts in 387 innings.

The 32-year-old right-hander was 3-3 with a 4.25 ERA in 63 appearances for Cleveland last season, when he struck out 68 batters in 55 innings before being released in mid-September. He began his career with Kansas City in 2018, was traded to San Diego during the 2023 season and then dealt to the Guardians the following offseason.

Leetonia seeks coaches

LEETONIA — The Leetonia Exempted Village School District is seeking a head varsity girls yrack coach and a head middle school girls track coach. Experience in shot-put and discus is a plus. Please contact Bob Vaia, athletic director at (330) 427-2115 ext. 31129 if you are interested.

Baseball brawl

WHEELING, W.Va. — Two former Major League Baseball pitchers are taking to the ring on April 18 at WesBanco Arena.

Barstool Sports president Dave Portnoy announced that Jon Rocker and Pat Mahomes Sr. will headline a boxing card as part of Rough ‘N’ Rowdy.

Video surfaced of the 54-year-old father of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the 50-year-old former Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves closer squabbling on Bourbon Street during Super Bowl week.

Mahomes Sr. pitched for the Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates in a career that ran from 1992 to 2003.

Buckeyes best Minnesota

COLUMBUS(AP) — Cotie McMahon scored 25 points and Elsa Lemmila finished with six points and a pivotal last-second block as No. 9 Ohio State beat Minnesota 87-84 in overtime on Thursday night.

Ava Watson scored 16 points, and Jaloni Cambridge and Taylor Thierry added 10 apiece for Ohio State (21-3, 10-3 Big Ten), which squandered a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter.

Sophie Hart scored 21 points for Minnesota (19-7, 7-7), well above her season average of 8.5 points. Alexsia Rose added 17 as Minnesota got double-digit scoring from five players.

Takeaways

Ohio State: The Buckeyes had 13 steals in the game, nine more than the Gophers. Ohio State scored 30 points off Minnesota miscues.

Minnesota: The Gophers were active on the glass and outrebounded the Buckeyes 35-27. The edge helped Minnesota to a plus-10 margin in second-chance points, kepping the Gophers in the game.

Key moment

Lemmila ended helped seal the win with a block of Annika Stewart in the corner with one second remaining.

Key stat

Ohio State shot 75% from the floor in overtime, hitting 6 of 8 shots. Ohio State ended up needing every point as Minnesota shot 50% from the floor.

Up next

Minnesota hosts Oregon on Sunday. Ohio State hosts Iowa on Monday.

Tkachuk brothers each score twice for USA

MONTREAL (AP) — Brady and Matthew Tkachuk each scored twice, and the brothers had a handful of big hits to help the United States beat Finland 6-1 on Thursday night in each team’s opening game at the 4 Nations Face-Off, a physical showdown played with edge throughout.

Everyone was finishing checks, including Jack Eichel dumping Finnish captain Aleksander Barkov into the U.S. bench. Brady Tkachuk bowled over 6-foot-6 Niko Mikkola with one of his game-high eight hits, and Matthew Tkachuk gave Patrik Laine an earful before a faceoff as the Americans began to take over.

The scoreboard made it look like more of a rout than it was for the first two periods, when quality chances were at a premium and space on the ice was hard to find. Matt Boldy scored the go-ahead goal on a textbook deflection of Minnesota Wild teammate Brock Faber’s shot late in the second, then the floodgates opened early in the third.

Many fans hadn’t even returned to their seats from intermission when Matthew Tkachuk sailed a long shot in past Juuse Saros 15 seconds into the period. Saros then gave up another softie to Jake Guentzel, and Brady Tkachuk beat the struggling Nashville Predators goaltender again to make it three U.S. goals in less than three minutes.

That onslaught quieted the very pro-Finland crowd full of Canadians eager to root against their country’s biggest hockey rival. Some even booed the U.S. anthem before the game, and there was plenty more where that came from for Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews several times he touched the puck.

Matthew Tkachuk added another for good measure on the power play with 8:47 left, and that was enough for the “U-S-A! U-S-A!” chants to fill the bowl at Bell Centre. In the waning minutes, a few U.S. fans proclaimed, “We want Canada!”

Finland only gave fans one real opportunity to cheer, when late-added defenseman Henri Jokiharju beat Connor Hellebuyck clean on a shot 7:31 in to make it 1-0. Hellebuyck stopped the next 18 shots he faced to finish with 20 saves.

The same could not be said for Saros, who allowed six goals on 32 shots and could be replaced in net by Kevin Lankinen for Finland’s game against Sweden on Saturday.

The U.S. does not need to worry about making a switch there, but coach Mike Sullivan made some keen midgame adjustments that contributed to his team moving to the top of the 4 Nations standings one turn through round-robin play.

During the second period Sullivan moved Brady Tkachuk to left wing with Eichel and Matthew Tkachuk, and Kyle Connor to the second line alongside Matthews and Jack Hughes, and he flip-flopped his second and third defense pairs to put Noah Hanifin with Adam Fox, and Jaccob Slavin with Brock Faber.

Matthew Tkachuk, fresh off winning the Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers last season, finished with three points thanks to an assist on Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk’s second goal of the night. Defenseman Zach Werenski also had a three-assist game.

Dodgers ink Kershaw

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The return of three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw gives the Los Angeles Dodgers a 36-year-old leader valued for maturity after nearly two decades with the organization.

Los Angeles hopes the 10-time All-Star also has a few more on-the-field contributions remaining, including another World Series title.

The left-hander and the Dodgers finalized a $7.5 million, one-year contract on Thursday, adding another option to a pitching staff that eventually could include Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki and Tony Gonsolin.

“I want to be here,” Kershaw said, standing at his locker in the clubhouse. “I’m thankful that I get to be here.”

Kershaw expects to go on the 60-day injured list following offseason foot and knee surgery, but hopes to be close to ready when eligible to be activated. He’s been working out at Camelback Ranch, playing long toss and running after spending much of the offseason on crutches or in a walking boot.

“The foot surgery has been hard — it’s not a fun surgery,” Kershaw said. “It’s just not an easy process, but I finally started to turn the corner a few weeks ago. Being able to throw, all those things, it hasn’t felt this way in a while. So that’s good.”

Manager Dave Roberts said the club is looking forward to Kershaw’s presence on the field and maybe even more off the field. Roberts said Snell, a two-time Cy Young winner who agreed to a $182 million, five-year deal in November, requested a locker next to Kershaw’s so he could gain more pitching knowledge.

“That’s what he means to this clubhouse, this organization,” Roberts said. “Clayton being around has been uplifting and positive, for him and the other players.”

Kershaw’s 18th season with the Dodgers would tie him with Zack Wheat and Bill Russell for the most in franchise history. The pitcher is coming off an injury-interrupted 2024 in which he went 2-2 with a 4.50 ERA in seven starts, striking out 24 in 30 innings.

He did not pitch in the postseason for Los Angeles, which won the World Series for the second time in five years. Kershaw said his lack of October contribution is among the reasons he’s motivated to get back on a mound.

“It just didn’t feel like it was the right time,” he said of possible retirement. “Even though we won, being on the shelf for that, it wasn’t the way I scripted it out. Still super thankful to be a part of it last year and get to see everything, but I want to be out there when it happens.”

Kershaw said he didn’t consider signing with any other teams.

“I’m a Dodger,” he said. “I’m so thankful for this organization. I don’t think I put enough merit on it at times, what it means to be in one organization for your entire career. You look at people throughout all of sports that have been able to do that, and it’s special. I don’t want to lose sight of that.”

Los Angeles plans a six-man rotation and the longer break between starts could be beneficial for Kershaw. Roberts knows that juggling the rotation might be difficult at times because of all the options, but it’s a good problem to have.

“As we’ve seen, pitching plays itself out in a lot of different ways,” the manager said. “So knowing we’ve got him in our back pocket is pretty exciting.”

Kershaw is 212-94 with a 2.50 ERA in 429 starts and three relief appearances over 17 seasons. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Dodgers placed right-hander River Ryan on the 60-day injured list.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb