Baseball: Indians’ Perez sidelined
Chris Perez couldn’t even finish his first bullpen session without trouble. Now he has to save opening day.Cleveland’s All-Star closer will miss at least one month and possibly six weeks with a strained left side muscle he injured throwing off the mound for the first time in spring training. Perez said yesterday he had thrown about 30 pitches Thursday when he pulled up with what he thought was a cramp. Instead, he strained an oblique muscle.
NCAA: Surgery set for UConn’s Calhoun
Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun is set to have back surgery today to help alleviate pain caused by narrowing of his spinal column, a procedure that he hopes could lead to his return to the court this season. The Hall-of-Fame head coach is expected to be hospitalized for two nights.
* In Lawrenceville, N.J., Novar Gadson scored 19 points to lead Rider over Fairfield 65-62. Daniel Stewart added 14 points and Jonathon Thompson 13 for the Broncs (13-18, 10-8 MAAC). Fairfield (17-13, 12-6) was led by Ryan Olander with 17 points. … In Poughkeepsie, Devin Price scored 32 points to pace Marist to an 89-77 win over Niagara … In Albany, Kyle Downey had 28 points and five assists and OD Anosike tallied a double-double to lead Siena over Canisius 86-75.
* In Columbus, Ohio, Jared Berggren scored Wisconsin’s final five points and the 16th-ranked Badgers beat No. 8 Ohio State 63-60. Jordan Taylor had 19 points and Ryan Evans 10 for the Badgers (21-8, 10-6 Big Ten). Deshaun Thomas had 23 points for Ohio State (23-6, 11-5). … In Coral Gables, Fla., Durand Scott scored 17 points to lead Miami past No. 15 Florida State 78-62, snapping a six-game losing streak to the rival Seminoles. Miami had lost 11 of 12 against Florida State. … Russ Smith scored 18 points, Kyle Kuric added 17 and No. 17 Louisville held on to beat visiting Pittsburgh 57-54. … In Minneapolis, Christian Watford scored 12 points for 23rd-ranked Indiana, and the Hoosiers blew out Minnesota 69-50.
NHL: Malkin, Pens on roll at home
Evgeni Malkin scored his 37th goal of the season, Brad Thiessen made 21 saves in his NHL debut and the Penguins beat the Blue Jackets 4-2 and won for the ninth time in their past 10 home games. Rick Nash, mentioned in trade rumors involving the Rangers, scored a short-handed goal in perhaps his final game with Columbus. … Teemu Selanne scored a power-play goal and had an assist to move into 20th place on the NHL’s career scoring list, and the Ducks beat the slumping Blackhawks 3-1. … Loui Eriksson‘s goal at 3:52 of overtime sent the Stars to their fourth consecutive victory, 3-2 over the Canucks.
GOLF: Huh holds off Allenby
In Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, John Huh parred the eighth hole of a playoff to beat Robert Allenby and win the Mayakoba Golf Classic. The 21-year-old Huh parred all eight holes in the playoff that matched the second-longest in PGA Tour history.
lIn Singapore, Angela Stanford won the HSBC Women’s Champions on the third playoff hole for her first victory since 2009 and her fifth on the LPGA Tour.
TENNIS: Melzer wins Memphis
Austria’s Jurgen Melzer won the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships by beating Milos Raonic of Canada 7-5, 7-6 (4) yesterday in Memphis . .. Timea Babos of Hungary won her first WTA title with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Alexandra Cadantu of Romania at the Monterrey (Mexico) Open . . . In Buenos Aires, David Ferrer won the Copa Claro, rallying past defending champion Nicolas Almagro 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in an all-Spanish final. Juan Martin del Potro beat Michael Llodra 6-4, 6-4 in the Open 13 final in Marseille, France.