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baseball • Rather than ban home-plate collisions outright, Major League Baseball and its players on Monday adopted a rule limiting them this season.
In what both sides said was a one-year experiment, the rule allows collisions if the catcher has the ball and is blocking the runner's direct path to home plate, and if the catcher goes into the basepath to field a throw to the plate.
The new rule, 7.13, states "a runner attempting to score may not deviate from his direct pathway to the plate in order to initiate contact with the catcher (or other player covering home plate)." A runner violating the rule shall be declared out, even if the fielder drops the ball.
• Outfielder Nelson Cruz and the Baltimore Orioles have finalized an $8 million, one-year contract, a deal that puts him on track to become the team's regular designated hitter. The 33-year-old played for the Texas Rangers last season and served a 50-game suspension for doping.
• The Rangers extended manager Ron Washington's contract through 2015. Washington is the team's winningest manager with 611 wins over seven seasons.
Clowney excelsin 40-yard dash
NFL • Jadeveon Clowney made things tougher for Johnny Manziel and the other potential No. 1 picks Monday in Indianapolis.
The former South Carolina star ran the fastest 40-yard dash time of the defensive lineman. NFL.com reported the unofficial time at 4.47 seconds. NFL Network said it was 4.53. Either way, it was still tops at his position.
Clowney did 21 reps at 225 pounds in the weightlifting workout, putting him in the second half of the defensive ends.
From wire reports