Free-agent closer Francisco Cordero reportedly has reached a preliminary agreement on a four-year, $46 million contract with the Cincinnati Reds.
The deal, which includes a club option for a fifth year, is subject to Cordero passing a physical exam, ESPN.com reported yesterday. The agreement was first reported by FoxSports.com.
The 32-year-old Cordero was second in the National League with 44 saves last season for Milwaukee and made the NL All-Star team.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Jonathan Tavernari hit five three-pointers while scoring a career-best 29 points, and Brigham Young beat No. 6 Louisville 78-76 in the Las Vegas Invitational. Top-ranked North Carolina advanced to the Las Vegas final with a 99-82 victory over Old Dominion.
Elsewhere, Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook had 15 points apiece and No. 2 UCLA breezed past visiting Yale 81-47 to remain unbeaten at 6-0 . . . Freshman star Eric Gordon scored 31 points, and No. 8 Indiana beat Illinois State 70-57 in the Chicago Invitational Challenge . . . Reserve guard Derrick Roland scored a career-high 15 points and No. 16 Texas A&M held Ohio State to one field goal in the first 11½ minutes of the second half in a 70-47 win in the championship game of the NIT Season Tip-Off in New York . . . Alan Voskuil 's 28 points sparked Texas Tech to a 73-63 upset of No. 14 Gonzaga in the semifinals of the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage . . . Chris Lofton scored 19 points, and No. 7 Tennessee held off West Virginia 74-72 in the semifinals of the StubHub! Legends Classic in Newark, N.J. . . . A.J. Abrams had career bests of 31 points and nine three-pointers to lead No. 15 Texas to a 102-87 victory over New Mexico State in the other StubHub! semifinal.
NHL
Radim Vrbata scored his second goal of the game on a power play with 1:07 left in regulation in a 3-3 tie, then added the clinching goal in the shootout to give Phoenix a victory over host Anaheim . . . Nicklas Backstrom scored in overtime to make Bruce Boudreau 's debut as the Washington Capitals' interim head coach a success with a 4-3 win over the host Philadelphia Flyers . . . Pascal Leclaire stopped 32 shots for his club record sixth shutout this season, and Columbus beat Minnesota 4-0 . . . Dallas Stars right wing Jere Lehtinen was scheduled to have surgery Monday to repair a sports hernia.
ACCIDENT
Former New York Giants linebacker Corey Widmer was recovering from serious injuries after a paragliding accident in the Chilean Andes. The 38-year-old Widmer told the Bozeman (Mont.) Daily Chronicle he severely fractured a vertebrae, which required the removal of two ribs to stabilize his back.
HORSE RACING
Helped by three stakes wins across the country, trainer Todd Pletcher broke his own North American earnings record when The Leopard won the $111,800 Generous Stakes by 2¼ lengths at Hollywood Park.
Pletcher had five victories on the day worth $585,612, pushing his season total to $26,850,873, which topped his 2006 mark by $30,000.
The trainer's other stakes victories were by A.P. Arrow in the $500,000 Clark Handicap at Churchill, and by Mini Sermon in the $150,000 Top Flight at New York's Aqueduct.
GOLF
The American duo of Boo Weekley and Heath Slocum held on to a one-stroke lead in the World Cup of Golf in Shenzhen, China, shooting a 3-under 69 in the second round to lead England and Scotland.
England's Justin Rose and Ian Poulter , and Scotland's Colin Montgomerie and Marc Warren both shot 68 to trail by a shot at 13-under 131.
Weekley and Slocum are surprise leaders. Weekley got the invitation to play only after 13 other American players ranked ahead of him declined. He picked Slocum, his high-school friend from the Florida Panhandle, as partner.
Sweden's Daniel Chopra shot a 7-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead over Australians Aaron Baddeley and Kurt Barnes after the third round of the Australian Masters in Melbourne.
Chopra, the winner of the PGA Tour's Ginn sur Mer Classic in late October in Florida, had a 12-under 204 total.
SOCCER
England's failure to qualify for next year's European Championship likely will cost the team a seeding in tomorrow's qualifying draw in Durban, South Africa, for the 2010 World Cup. England dropped one spot to 12th in the FIFA world rankings issued yesterday, leaving the English 10th among the European teams behind top-ranked Argentina and No. 2 Brazil.
Real Madrid is reportedly interested in American teenage star Jozy Altidore . Madrid said that sporting director assistant Carlos Bucero had traveled to New York amid reports the Spanish champions were interested in signing the 18-year-old New York Red Bulls striker.
Police in Asia have arrested 423 people in a soccer gambling crackdown that Interpol called an “excellent test” of international law enforcement cooperation ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
MOTORSPORTS
McLaren has raised the stakes in Formula One's latest spy scandal by releasing details of its allegations against rival Renault.
Renault has been summoned to a Dec. 6 hearing of the World Motor Sport Council in Monaco on charges of having “unauthorized possession of documents and confidential information” of McLaren cars between September 2006 and October 2007.
British newspapers quoted a memo leaked by McLaren's lawyers suggesting that Renault's activities were more serious than those that resulted in McLaren being fined a record $100 million for possessing Ferrari documents.
FIGURE SKATING
Two-time world champion Stephane Lambiel edged American Johnny Weir in the short program of the Cup of Russia in Moscow. Lambiel's clean quadruple jump helped him move 0.34 points ahead of Weir.
South Korea's Kim Yu-na took a step toward her second Grand Prix title of the year, holding the lead after the women's short program.
In pairs, China's Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao took the lead over Skate Canada winners Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany by winning the short program.
VOLLEYBALL
The United States improved to 3-2 at the volleyball Men's World Cup with a three-set win in Toyama, Japan, over winless Egypt.
– COMPILED FROM NEWS SERVICES
