Sports briefs
Wild Things win
Robert Chayka hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the top of the ninth inning Tuesday night, giving the Wild Things a 9-6 win over the host Florence Y’alls in the spring training opener for both teams.
Washington overcame a 6-0 deficit to win. The Wild Things did all their scoring after the sixth inning.
Tristan Peterson hit a three-run homer to cut Florence’s lead to 6-4 in the seventh. Jordan Schulefand had an RBI double in the eighth.
The teams will play tonight at Wild Things Park.
In the NFL
Upon further review, this year’s Super Bowl ended up setting a viewer record.
Nielsen released a revised number of 115.1 million for Fox Sports’ broadcast of the Kansas City Chiefs’ 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in February.
The previous record was the 2015 game between New England and Seattle at 114,442,000 viewers.
Nielsen revised this year’s original figure of 113.1 million by 2 million after a review that revealed encoding irregularities as well as issues with out-of-home measurement.
- Ex-Las Vegas Raiders player Henry Ruggs told a judge Tuesday he will admit that he drove drunk at speeds up to 156 mph, causing a fiery crash that killed a woman. His plea deal is expected to send the 24-year-old first-round NFL draft pick to state prison for three to 10 years.
Ruggs waived a long-delayed preliminary hearing with the agreement to admit that he drove under the influence of alcohol causing death, a felony, his lawyers said. A six-month sentence for a guilty plea to misdemeanor manslaughter will be folded in with the total.
Ruggs’ lawyers lost a bid to prevent prosecutors from presenting evidence that Ruggs had a blood-alcohol level of 0.16% – twice the legal limit in Nevada – after the predawn rear-end wreck that killed 23-year-old Tina Tintor.
- The Kansas City Chiefs are re-signing Jerick McKinnon and declined the fifth-year option on fellow running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
In college football
The College Football Playoff released a schedule for the 12-team format that will be used in the 2024 and 2025 seasons, which will feature New Year’s Day quarterfinal tripleheaders but no games played on Saturday.
For the 2024 season, the first-round games played at campus sites are slated to start with one Friday, Dec. 20. Three more games will be played on campuses on Saturday, Dec. 21.
The quarterfinals are scheduled to be held at bowl sites on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. The Fiesta Bowl will be played on the night of Tuesday, Dec. 31. The Peach, Rose and Sugar bowls will host quarterfinal games on Wednesday, Jan. 1, played in that order.
The semifinals are set for Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, at the Orange Bowl and Friday, Jan. 10 at the Cotton Bowl. The championship game will be Jan. 20 in Atlanta.
In auto racing
Toyota will finally expand its fleet in NASCAR by adding Jimmie Johnson’s two-car team next season. The addition of Legacy Motor Club will give Toyota eight Camry TRD’s in the Cup Series.
Toyota has long been the smallest manufacturer in NASCAR. It backs four cars at Joe Gibbs Racing right now, and two more at 23XI Racing.
Legacy, which is the bones of Petty Enterprises bought out by Maury Gallagher who then added seven-time NASCAR champion Johnson as co-owner, will leave Chevrolet.
In baseball
Colorado Rockies right-hander Germán Márquez will have Tommy John surgery and miss the remainder of the season.