BASEBALL
The Red Sox have agreed to a multi-year deal with utility player Enrique Hernandez, according to a report from MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.
Hernandez, 29, played six seasons for the Dodgers, appearing at every position except catcher. Primarily a second baseman and outfielder, he hit .230 with five homers and a .680 OPS in 2020 for the World Series champions.
• First baseman Ryan Zimmerman is returning to the Washington Nationals after sitting out the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, agreeing in principle to a $1 million, one-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Friday.
The contract would include additional bonus provisions.
Zimmerman, 36, has played 15 seasons in the majors, all for the Nationals, who selected him with their first pick in the 2005 amateur draft shortly after the club moved to Washington from Montreal.
• Jurickson Profar is staying with the San Diego Padres, agreeing to a $21 million, three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.
• The Cubs added a veteran catcher, agreeing to a $1.5 million, one-year contract with Austin Romine.
TELEVISION
NBCSN: NBC will shut down the NBC Sports Network at the end of the year.
NBC Sports Network is best known for carrying NHL and English Premier League games as well as NASCAR and IndyCar races. It also carries a significant amount of programming during the Olympics.
NBC will parcel out events between USA Network and its Peacock streaming service.
GOLF
PGA: Sungjae Im shot a 7-under 65 at The American Express to take a one-stroke lead in La Quinta, California.
Brandon Hagy was in position to join Im at 11 under, but he bogeyed his final hole. Nick Taylor (66), Si Woo Kim (68), Tony Finau (66) and Abraham Ancer (65) also were 10 under.
EUROPEAN TOUR: Tyrrell Hatton moved five shots ahead of Rory McIlroy in the second round of the season-opening Abu Dhabi Championship.
The Englishman eagled the second hole and later added four consecutive birdies before play was halted because of fading light after his tee shot on the 14th. He was at 12 under overall when play was stopped.
McIlroy, who has four holes remaining in his second round, was tied for second place with Romain Langasque, Jason Scrivener (70) and Jazz Janewattananond (69).
LPGA: Danielle Kang continued to sail along at the season-opening Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, shooting a 6-under 65 to stretch her lead to two shots in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
A five-time LPGA Tour winner ranked fifth in the world, Kang had a 13-under 129 total.
Nelly Korda, at No. 4 the top-ranked player in the 25-woman, winners-only field, was second after a 66.
CHAMPIONS TOUR: Jerry Kelly and Darren Clarke shared the second-round lead in the Mitsubishi Electric Championship after first-round leader Retief Goosen stumbled late in La’upulehu-Kona, Hawaii.
Kelly birdied the 18th for a 5-under 67 to match Clarke at 13-under 131 with a round left in the first PGA Tour Champions event of the year.
Clarke had a 68, rebounding from a bogey on the 11th with four straight birdies.
Goosen followed his opening 63 with a 71. He bogeyed the final two holes.
SOCCER
ENGLAND: U.S. national team forward Jordan Morris was loaned from Major League Soccer’s Seattle Sounders to the Welsh club Swansea of the second-tier English Championship for the remainder of the 2020-21 season.
• Wolverhampton managed only one shot on goal against sixth-tier Chorley, but Vitinha’s spectacular long-range strike in the 12th-minute was enough to send the visitors to the round of 16 in the FA Cup.
SKIING
MEN’S WORLD CUP: After four second-place finishes, Swiss skier Beat Feuz finally got his first win in the classic downhill on the Streif course in Kitzbuhel, Austria.
His victory, however, was bittersweet because teammate Urs Kryenbuhl crashed badly on the final jump and was taken to a hospital by helicopter.
Approaching the finish at nearly 150 kph (93 mph), Kryenbuhl lost his balance in the air and smashed sideways into the icy slope. The Swiss team said Kryenbuhl was conscious and recognized one of his coaches. There was no further update on his condition.
WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: Italian skier Sofia Goggia won her third straight downhill, finishing 0.20 seconds ahead of Ester Ledecka on a shortened course in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.
American Breezy Johnson extended her streak of placing third in every downhill this season. She laughed and held up three fingers after seeing she was in third place for the fourth time, 0.57 behind the winner.
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