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baseball • One year after writers failed to elect any players to the Baseball Hall of Fame, four candidates are polling strongly as voters make their selections public. By Tuesday afternoon, the website baseballthinkfactory.com had collected 155 full ballots — over a quarter of the electorate, based on last year — and found that, within that sample, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Frank Thomas and Craig Biggio had cleared the 75 percent threshold needed for election.

Results will be announced Wednesday, with the induction ceremony in July in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, decorated stars with ties to steroids, fared little better than they did last season, when they made their debut on the ballot with less than 38 percent apiece. Bonds had 41.3 percent so far, and Clemens 40.6 percent.

Manchester United loses third straight

soccer • Manchester United slumped to a third consecutive loss for the first time in 13 years when Sunderland added to manager David Moyes' troubles by winning the first leg of their League Cup semifinal 2-1 Tuesday night.

The setback against the Premier League's last-place team completed a hat trick of 2-1 losses at the start of 2014 for Moyes, in his first season as Alex Ferguson's successor. United, which won the Premier League last season before Ferguson retired, trails first-place Arsenal by 11 points.

Three UTEP players kicked off team

college basketball • UTEP kicked three players off its team Tuesday, saying they had bet on at least one sporting event. The players were not believed to have bet on UTEP games or participated in point-shaving to influence the outcome for bettors, said Richard Adauto, the university's executive vice president. The three players are McKenzie Moore, Justin Crosgile and Jalen Ragland. Coach Tim Floyd said he learned about the alleged gambling when he received a "random tip."

From wire reports