SOCCER

The American men’s national team shake-up that began after a public spat erupted between two well-known soccer families accelerated Thursday when sporting director Earnie Stewart announced he is quitting the U.S. Soccer Federation to join PSV Eindhoven.

Men’s General Manager Brian McBride also is resigning, leaving coach Gregg Berhalter in limbo following the expiration of his contract on Dec. 31. Berhalter is under investigation for a 1991 domestic violence incident and Anthony Hudson, one of his assistants, led his first game as interim coach on Wednesday.

USSF President Cindy Parlow Cone said it likely will be many months before the coach situation is sorted out. Sportsology Group, a company that has worked with the Los Angeles Rams and several soccer teams, was hired to lead the sporting director search, review the sporting department and analyze coach candidates. The sporting director will then make the coach decision.

“We’re hopeful that we can fill these two positions by the end of the summer so that the men’s team has plenty of time in preparation for the World Cup in leading up to 2026,” Cone said. “Greg remains a candidate.”

• Brandon Vazquez scored to lead a U.S. lineup with seven starters making their international debuts, but the Americans lost 2-1 to Serbia late Wednesday night in their first match since the World Cup.

Veljko Simic scored the go-ahead goal in the opening minute of the second half for Serbia, which gave debuts to 14 players. Eight Americans in all debuted during a lively friendly that felt like spring training at BMO Stadium near downtown Los Angeles.

FIGURE SKATING

U.S. CHAMPIONSHIPS: Overwhelming favorite and reigning world champions Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier scored a personal-best 81.96 on Thursday for a commanding lead in the first day of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships at San Jose, California.

The tandem’s score was three points higher than their previous best and also less than three points shy of the world-record 84.41 set by Sui Wenjing and Han Cong at last year’s Beijing Olympics.

Knierim and Frazier led second-place pair Emily Chan and Spencer Howe by more than 15 points after the short program with the free skate competition set for Saturday at SAP Center.

GOLF

DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC: Patrick Reed fared better than Rory McIlroy after some pretournament friction as the Dubai Desert Classic in United Arab Emirates got off to a wet start with only 11 players managing to finish their weather-affected first rounds.

Play only began at the European tour event after a delay of six hours caused by heavy overnight rain that left the course unplayable at Emirates Golf Club. By the time the siren sounded to suspend play because of fading light, Reed was 4-under par after 16 holes and top-ranked McIlroy was 2 under having played 15 holes.

Reed and McIlroy traded verbal blows Wednesday after an interaction at the practice range on Tuesday that saw McIlroy snub Reed, who walked away before tossing a tee – featuring a logo of his 4 Aces team in the LIV Golf league – in the direction of McIlroy, one of the most vocal critics of the Saudi-run breakaway series.

Thomas Pieters was leading on 5 under, though he also had three holes to play. Three English players – Matthew Jordan, Daniel Gavins and Oliver Wilson – held the clubhouse lead after shooting rounds of 4-under 68.

PGA: Sam Ryder shot a 68 and stands at 12 under with a three-shot lead after two rounds of the Farmer’s Insurance Open in La Jolla, California.

Brendan Steele is second at 9 under with Tano Goya two strokes back in third.

BASEBALL

MLB: Dana Brown was hired as the general manager of the Houston Astros.

Brown replaces James Click, who was not given a new contract and parted ways with the Astros just days after they won the World Series. Brown spent the last four seasons as the vice president of scouting for the Atlanta Braves.

• Right-hander Austin Voth avoided a salary arbitration hearing with the Baltimore Orioles, agreeing Thursday to a $1.85 million, one-year contract.

Voth’s deal includes a $2.45 million team option for 2024 that can escalate by up to $500,000 based on starts this year: $100,000 for 12 and each additional three through 24.

AUTO RACING

DAYTONA 500: Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves has ruled out running next month’s NASCAR season-opening Daytona 500.

Castroneves has been chasing a seat since winning one of Tony Stewart’s summer all-star races last season to win a bet with the SRX head that promised Castroneves help finding a NASCAR ride. He’d tried to put a deal together with Trackhouse Racing, which said last week that it ultimately decided it did not want to run three cars.

Castroneves then tried to talk to Floyd Mayweather’s team, but said Thursday he couldn’t get a deal done with The Money Team Racing in time for next month’s Daytona 500.

NASCAR: Stewart-Haas Racing announced a multiyear contract extension with Chase Briscoe, making him the senior-most driver inside the NASCAR organization when two of his teammates retire at the end of the season.

HORSE RACING

BAFFERT BACK: Bob Baffert can once again enter horses at New York’s major tracks after the Hall of Fame trainer’s one-year ban by the New York Racing Association ended Wednesday, allowing him to enter horses as soon as Thursday.

“I was disappointed they even did it, but it’s water under the bridge,” Baffert told The Associated Press by phone.

He was suspended last June for repeated medication violations, although none of them occurred in New York. He was barred from Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga. A panel credited Baffert for time served for an initial suspension, which allowed him to return this week.

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