BASEBALL

Felix Hernandez signs minor-league contract

Longtime Seattle Mariners ace Félix Hernández reached a minor league deal with the Atlanta Braves on Monday that includes an invite to big league spring training.

The right-hander would get a $1 million, one-year contract if added to Atlanta’s 40-man roster.

Hernández, who turns 34 in April, is coming off his worst season in the majors. King Felix went 1-8 with a 6.40 ERA in 15 starts for the Mariners and lost his place in the rotation.

HOCKEY

NHL: Nazem Kadri and Nathan MacKinnon scored 1:54 apart as the Colorado Avalanche were propelled by another second-period spurt in a 6-3 win over the reeling Detroit Red Wings.

Leading 2-1 early in the third, Kadri helped Colorado put the game out of reach when he and Matt Nieto added goals within 53 seconds of each other. Ryan Graves added another goal late in the third, with Kadri getting an assist, and MacKinnon added an empty-netter.

COLLEGES

MEN’S BASKETBALL: Baylor (15-1) leaped over Gonzaga and into the No. 1 spot in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll on Monday, using wins over Iowa State and Oklahoma State to give the Top 25 its seventh team on top this season. That matches the record set in 1983 for the most No. 1s in the history of the poll, which dates to the 1948-49 season.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: South Carolina still sits atop The Associated Press women’s basketball poll, with Baylor in second place.

The Gamecocks received 22 first-place votes from a 30-member media panel Monday. The Lady Bears got six.

UConn moved up to third after previous No. 3 Stanford lost to Oregon by 32 points. The Ducks moved up to No. 4. Louisville was fifth, sandwiched between Oregon and Stanford. Louisville received the other two first-place votes.

• Shakira Austin had 22 points as No. 20 Maryland beat No. 17 Indiana 76-62 in College Park, Maryland.

Gorham High graduate Mackenzie Holmes had eight points and six rebounds for Indiana.

SOCCER

MLS: Toronto midfielder Michael Bradley needs surgery on his right ankle and likely will be sidelined about four months.

Bradley was hurt during Major League Soccer’s championship game on Nov. 10 when Seattle’s Román Torres attempted a shot and hit the ankle with his follow-through.

UEFA: Ireland’s top soccer official has resigned from the UEFA executive committee after months of being effectively suspended from taking part in decision-making.

John Delaney’s exit removes him from soccer leadership after he intended to take a key role in a possible British and Irish bid to host the 2030 World Cup.

GOLF

LPGA: Gaby Lopez ran in a 30-foot putt for birdie to defeat Nasa Hataoka in a seven-hole playoff that took an extra day to finish at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. It was Lopez’s second LPGA victory.

Lopez and Hataoka, ranked sixth in the world, returned to the 197-yard 18th hole at Tranquilo Golf Club at Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club amid morning shadows to finish what they started a day earlier.

– News service report