Fri Nov 30, 2012 6:20pm EST (Reuters) - The Atlanta Braves borrowed from their starting rotation to boost their bullpen by trading Tommy Hanson to the Los Angeles Angels for hard-throwing reliever Jordan Walden, the Major League Baseball teams said on Friday. Both young pitchers have shown glimmers of greatness but slipped back last season.Hanson, 26, who broke i...

LAKE LOUISE, Alberta | Fri Nov 30, 2012 5:09pm EST LAKE LOUISE, Alberta (Reuters) - American Lindsey Vonn won a women's World Cup downhill in Lake Louise on Friday, according to provisional results. Fellow American Stacey Cook was second while Germany's Maria Hoefl-Riesch and Liechtenstein's Tina Weirather were joint third, also according to provisional ...

LOS ANGELES | Fri Nov 30, 2012 4:14pm EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Los Angeles judge on Friday dismissed murder charges against a 70-year-old professional tennis official accused of killing her husband, granting a request by prosecutors who said they were unable to proceed with the case. Los Angeles County prosecutors declined to discuss their reasons f...

MADRID | Fri Nov 30, 2012 3:07pm EST MADRID (Reuters) - Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho will confront the home fans who whistled him at their midweek King's Cup match by walking out alone onto the Bernabeu pitch 40 minutes before Saturday's La Liga match with Atletico Madrid. Stuttering Real go into the derby eight points behind second-placed Atletico an...

BEAVER CREEK, Colorado | Fri Nov 30, 2012 3:02pm EST BEAVER CREEK, Colorado (Reuters) - Italy's Christof Innerhofer won a men's World Cup downhill in Beaver Creek on Friday, according to provisional results. Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal was second and fellow-Norwegian Kjetil Jansrud was third, also according to provisional results.(Reporting by Patrick La...

Fri Nov 30, 2012 2:27pm EST (Reuters) - The New York Mets and David Wright have agreed on a seven-year contract extension that will ensure the six-time All-Star third baseman stays with the team through 2020, Major League Baseball's website reported on Friday. Wright, who turns 30 next month and is already the face of the National League franchise, would receive ...

By Michael Todt SUN CITY, South Africa | Fri Nov 30, 2012 1:41pm EST SUN CITY, South Africa (Reuters) - Former British Open champion Paul Lawrie put on a masterclass in ball-striking to claim a one-stroke lead after the second round of the $5 million Nedbank Golf Challenge on Friday. The Briton snatched three birdies on the back nine at the Gary ...

By Narae Kim SEOUL | Fri Nov 30, 2012 3:11am EST SEOUL (Reuters) - Former Major League Baseball All Star Park Chan-ho, who holds the record for the most wins by an Asian-born pitcher in the majors, announced his retirement on Friday and said it was time to give something back to the sport in South Korea. The 39-year-old, who finished up his playi...

Fri Nov 30, 2012 2:26am EST (Reuters) - The Golden State Warriors had to survive a video review after the final buzzer on Thursday but prevailed 106-105 in a thriller against the Denver Nuggets in Oakland. Denver forward Andre Iguodala's three-point shot at the end hit nothing but net, but upon review the ball failed to leave his hand before the buzzer and the ba...

By Alastair Himmer TOKYO | Fri Nov 30, 2012 2:22am EST TOKYO (Reuters) - Aspiring sumo wrestler Mainoumi once convinced doctors to inject silicone into his scalp to meet height requirements for the ancient Japanese sport. Such sacrifice is a rarity now in a sport beset by scandals and with popularity at an all-time low. With a history spanning ce...

Fri Nov 30, 2012 12:54am EST (Reuters) - The Atlanta Falcons avenged their only defeat of the season by downing fierce division rivals New Orleans 23-13 on Thursday, leaving the Saints' playoff hopes hanging by a thread. Having lost to the Saints in New Orleans three weeks ago, the Falcons turned the tables on home turf to improve to 11-1 on the season, all but w...

Fri Nov 30, 2012 12:02am EST (Reuters) - NBA Commissioner David Stern vowed to punish the San Antonio Spurs for sending Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green home early rather than play in Miami on Thursday against NBA champion Heat. Despite missing several top players, the Spurs nearly shocked the Heat in the nationally televised game, leading 9...

By Mark Lamport-Stokes THOUSAND OAKS, California | Thu Nov 29, 2012 9:56pm EST THOUSAND OAKS, California (Reuters) - Nick Watney's sharper short game has helped him to two titles in the past four months and put himself in good position to clinch a third by surging two shots clear at the World Challenge on Thursday. The soft-spoken American birdie...

By Mark Lamport-Stokes THOUSAND OAKS, California | Thu Nov 29, 2012 8:12pm EST THOUSAND OAKS, California (Reuters) - With his game markedly better than this time a year ago, tournament host Tiger Woods was happy enough after grinding out a two-under-par 70 in Thursday's opening round of the World Challenge. Though Woods did not strike the ball as...

Thu Nov 29, 2012 8:02pm EST (Reuters) - Federal mediators brought in to help resolve the National Hockey League's labor dispute have had little impact as the league and locked-out players wrapped up two days of meetings on Thursday with no progress to report. The NHL and union representing its players brought in U.S. federal mediators to assist in negotiations th...

By Mark Lamport-Stokes THOUSAND OAKS, California | Thu Nov 29, 2012 6:50pm EST THOUSAND OAKS, California (Reuters) - American Keegan Bradley struck a timely blow for users of the beleaguered belly putter by charging into contention with a three-under-par 69 in Thursday's first round at the World Challenge. Just one day after golf's rulemakers pro...

Thu Nov 29, 2012 6:16pm EST (Reuters) - Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo was suspended for two games for fighting with Nets forward Kris Humphries in Wednesday's 95-83 Brooklyn victory, the National Basketball Association said on Thursday. Three-time All-Star Ronda rushed at Humphries after the Nets player sent Boston's Kevin Garnett to the floor with a fou...

Thu Nov 29, 2012 3:13pm EST (Reuters) - John Parry became the fourth consecutive English winner of the European Tour's qualifying school when he romped to a four-shot victory at the PGA Catalunya course in Girona, northern Spain on Thursday. Parry, a former tour champion at the 2010 Vivendi Cup in Paris, shot a two-under-par 70 in the sixth and final round to rec...

LONDON | Thu Nov 29, 2012 2:15pm EST LONDON (Reuters) - American Serena Williams has been named WTA Player of the Year after one of the most successful seasons in her career. The 31-year-old won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open to take her grand-slam haul in singles to 15 while she also won Olympic gold in singles and doubles in London.After a relatively slow...

LONDON | Thu Nov 29, 2012 2:15pm EST LONDON (Reuters) - American Serena Williams has been named WTA Player of the Year after one of the most successful seasons in her career. The 31-year-old won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open to take her grand-slam haul in singles to 15 while she also won Olympic gold in singles and doubles in London.After a relatively slow...

By Gennady Fyodorov MOSCOW | Thu Nov 29, 2012 1:51pm EST MOSCOW (Reuters) - World discus champion and Olympic silver medalist Darya Pishchalnikova is under investigation by the sport's world governing body (IAAF) after failing a drugs test, the Russian anti-doping agency (RUSADA) said on Thursday. Pishchalnikova, who won the 2011 discus world tit...

LONDON | Thu Nov 29, 2012 1:49pm EST LONDON (Reuters) - Former England cricketer Andrew Flintoff admitted to feeling nervous as he weighed in ahead of his first professional boxing fight on Thursday. The 34-year-old all rounder will take on American Richard Dawson at the MEN Arena in Manchester on Friday after exchanging his cricketing whites for a pair ...

LONDON | Thu Nov 29, 2012 7:52am EST LONDON (Reuters) - American Serena Williams has been named WTA Player of the Year after one of the most successful seasons in her career. The 31-year-old won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open to take her grand-slam haul in singles to 15 while she also won Olympic gold in singles and doubles in London.After a relatively slow...

Thu Nov 29, 2012 3:00am EST (Reuters) - Australian Mark Webber has no interest in playing a support role for triple world champion Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull and is just as keen to beat the German as anyone else on the grid. Vettel claimed his third consecutive world title on Sunday with a sixth-place finish at the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix, edging out...

Thu Nov 29, 2012 12:56am EST (Reuters) - Alex Morgan's first-half hat-trick proved she has not lost her scoring touch as the United States women's soccer team blanked Ireland 5-0 in an international friendly on Wednesday. Morgan, who netted a game-winning Olympic semi-final goal last summer when the U.S. took gold, showed little rust as she wowed the crowd in Por...

LONDON | Wed Nov 28, 2012 6:16am EST LONDON (Reuters) - Finland's Valtteri Bottas will join Pastor Maldonado at Williams next season after the British team announced their 2013 driver line-up on Wednesday. Bottas, who was been the team's test driver since 2010, steps up in place of Brazil's Bruno Senna.Venezuela's Maldonado has been rewarded for winning ...

By Ben Everill LOS ANGELES | Wed Nov 28, 2012 3:19am EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - - Indiana guard George Hill delivered the kind of last-gasp, game-winning basket Kobe Bryant is famous for to give the Pacers a scrappy 79-77 win over the Lakers in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Bryant shrugged off "flu-like symptoms" to score 40 of the Lakers' points, tho...

SYDNEY | Wed Nov 28, 2012 12:40am EST SYDNEY (Reuters) - Former Australia international David Campese has been pilloried by current and former Wallabies for suggesting a woman should not report on rugby for one of Australia's biggest newspapers. Campese, 50, won 101 caps for his country as a fullback and winger in one of the sport's most glittering caree...

By Mark Lamport-Stokes THOUSAND OAKS, California | Tue Nov 27, 2012 8:12pm EST THOUSAND OAKS, California (Reuters) - With a widely expected ban on anchoring long putters likely to be announced by the game's ruling bodies on Wednesday, players have expressed sharply contrasting views ahead of this week's World Challenge. While 14-times major winne...

Tue Nov 27, 2012 7:41pm EST (Reuters) - The New York Giants bolstered their depleted running back position by signing Ryan Torain and Kregg Lumpkin on Tuesday after Andre Brown broke his leg in Sunday's win over Green Bay. Brown fractured the fibula in his left leg during a 38-10 thrashing of the Packers, leaving Ahmad Bradshaw and rookie David Wilson as New York...

By Mark Lamport-Stokes THOUSAND OAKS, California | Tue Nov 27, 2012 6:48pm EST THOUSAND OAKS, California (Reuters) - Twelve months after ending a two-year victory drought at the tournament he hosts, Tiger Woods is excited about his prospects for 2013 as he prepares to defend his World Challenge title this week. His one-shot triumph over fellow Am...

Tue Nov 27, 2012 6:31pm EST (Reuters) - Super Bowl contenders have started to emerge from the pack with a handful of teams poised to clinch playoff spots this weekend as the National Football League's (NFL) regular season enters the home stretch. Heading into final month of the schedule, 26 of the league's 32 teams are within two games of a playoff spot with only...

Tue Nov 27, 2012 5:33pm EST (Reuters) - Philadelphia Phillies All-Star catcher Carlos Ruiz was suspended 25 games after testing positive for an amphetamine, Major League Baseball (MLB) said on Tuesday. The suspension of Ruiz, who set career-highs in batting average (.325), runs batted in (68) and home runs (16) last season, is effective at the start of the 2013 r...

By Larry Fine NEW YORK | Tue Nov 27, 2012 4:30pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - The ageing New York Yankees, struggling to inject youth into their roster, appear poised to sign two of their evergreen core members for one more go-round in a drive for a sixth World Series ring since 1996. Left-handed starting pitcher Andy Pettitte, 40, and all-time Major...

By Gennady Fyodorov MOSCOW | Tue Nov 27, 2012 8:01am EST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Former world and Olympic shot put champion Svetlana Krivelyova is being investigated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over a possible breach of doping rules at the 2004 Athens Games where she won bronze. Valentin Balakhnichyov, president of the Russian athleti...

LONDON | Tue Nov 27, 2012 4:13am EST LONDON (Reuters) - British sailor Ben Ainslie has ruled out chasing more Olympic glory and will not compete at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, the four-times gold medalist said on Tuesday. The 35-year-old became the first sailor to win medals at five successive Games earlier this year when he was victorious in the F...

Tue Nov 27, 2012 2:52am EST (Reuters) - Evan Longoria pledged his loyalty to the Tampa Bay Rays by signing a multi-year contract extension that could keep him in uniform through 2023, the team said on Monday. The 27-year-old's original deal was through 2016, but the third baseman has signed a six-year extension worth $100 million with an option for one additional...

Tue Nov 27, 2012 2:48am EST (Reuters) - Frustrated by two failed bids to get squash into the Olympics, world number one Nicol David and her fellow players have embarked on a campaign to raise the sport's global profile in an attempt to win over IOC chiefs in Hong Kong this week. One sport will be added to the program for the 2020 Games with squash up against kara...

Tue Nov 27, 2012 1:20am EST (Reuters) - Even an eye-catching NFL debut by running back Bryce Brown failed to halt Philadelphia's downward slide as the Carolina Panthers beat the nose-diving Eagles 30-22 on Monday. Brown, a rookie who had never even started in college, lit up the Panthers for 178 yards rushing and two touchdowns but it was not enough to avoid a se...

Tue Nov 27, 2012 1:20am EST (Reuters) - Even an eye-catching NFL debut by running back Bryce Brown failed to halt Philadelphia's downward slide as the Carolina Panthers beat the nose-diving Eagles 30-22 on Monday. Brown, a rookie who had never even started in college, lit up the Panthers for 178 yards rushing and two touchdowns but it was not enough to avoid a se...