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Sports Brief: 7/6/20

Sports

July 6th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Kevin Harvick took advantage of Denny Hamlin’s late crash and wound up winning his third Brickyard 400 title. The Cup points leader beat Matt Kenseth across the yard of brick by 0.743 seconds to win his fourth race of the season. Harvick won for the 53rd time to move within one of tying Lee Petty for 11th on NASCAR’s career list, and it gave Stewart-Haas Racing a sweep of the weekend following Chase Briscoe’s win Saturday in the Xfinity Series race.

UNDATED (AP) — Colleges might have to pay into the hundreds of thousands of dollars to have their football players and other athletes tested for coronavirus. Many athletic departments already are in financial binds because of declines in state funding and student fees stemming from the pandemic. Especially hard hit are the small-budget schools on the lower end of the Football Bowl Subdivision. Methods are being developed that would allow multiple athletes to be tested simultaneously. That would provide some cost savings. An individual coronavirus test now runs about $100.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich acknowledges he benefited from fortunate timing in his contract negotiations. The Brewers held a March 6 news conference to announce that the 2018 NL MVP had agreed to a nine-year, $215 million contract. Spring training was halted less than a week later because of the coronavirus pandemic. Yelich’s deal was finalized before the loss of revenue from Major League Baseball’s shortened season and labor unrest created at least some uncertainty about the game’s financial future. He says everybody is in a unique situation this season.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Yankees had their Sunday brightened by Masahiro Tanaka, who came to the ballpark and seemed well a day after being hit in the head by Giancarlo Stanton’s line drive. They’re hoping Yankee Stadium’s lights will do the same this week. The Yankees are planning to hold intrasquad night games Monday and Tuesday in the Bronx as they prepare for the July 23 start of a 60-game regular season condensed by the coronavirus pandemic. Tanaka is in concussion protocol after a CT scan came back negative. Manager Aaron Boone says it looks like the Japanese right-hander “dodged a bullet.”

UNDATED (AP) — The Oakland Athletics’ first full-squad workout was pushed back from Sunday following the July 4 holiday given the club hadn’t received results from position player intake testing done Friday, according to general manager David Forst. Manager Bob Melvin is eager to get everybody on the field together at the Coliseum while understanding he must be flexible during this fluid time.

UNDATED (AP) — Former Cy Young Award winner Félix Hernández has joined the list of major leaguers opting out of the 2020 season due to the coronavirus pandemic. The 34-year-old’s decision at least temporarily ends his bid to revive his career. The news comes amid growing unease in major league clubhouses with the season less than three weeks away. Stars Christian Yelich and Jose Altuve say they plan to play the 60-game season scheduled to start later this month. Reliever Sean Doolittle, who helped Washington win the World Series, plans to play but says that if he feels uncomfortable, he’ll opt out.

UNDATED (AP) — Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly says the NHL and NHL Players’ Association have agreed on protocols to resume the season but are still negotiating a collective bargaining agreement extension. The league’s board of governors and players’ executive committee and full membership must approve it for it to happen. If ratified, the agreement will end a pandemic-forced shutdown for 31 teams across North America that began in mid-March. Games would resume in late July or early August with 24 teams taking part in expanded playoffs, finishing with the Stanley Cup being awarded in October.