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NEW YORK (AP) — David Ortiz, Ryan Howard, Tim Lincecum and Alex Rodriguez are among 13 first-time candidates on the Hall of Fame ballot of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, joining 17 holdovers. Steroids-tainted stars Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens make their 10th and final appearance on the BBWAA ballot along with Curt Schilling, who fell 16 votes shy of the necessary 75% in last year’s balloting. Schilling appeared on 71.1% of ballots, Bonds 61.8% and Clemens 61.6%. Justin Morneau, Jimmy Rollins and Jake Peavy also are new to the ballot along with Carl Crawford, Prince Fielder, Joe Nathan, Jonathan Papelbon, A.J. Pierzynski and Mark Teixeira, the Hall and BBWAA said Monday. Holdovers include Bobby Abreu, Mark Buehrle, Todd Helton, Tim Hudson, Torii H...

By DOUG FEINBERG, AP Basketball Writer PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas (AP) — Dawn Staley's top-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks turned up their defense in the fourth quarter to turn away UConn. Aliyah Boston had 22 points and 15 rebounds and the Gamecocks held the No. 2 Huskies to three points in the final 10 minutes of a 73-57 victory in the championship game of the inaugural Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. “Our players are determined. They are resilient,” said Staley, Ecco Women's Shoes  South Carolina's Hall of Fame coach. “We knew exactly what we had to do especially on the defensive side of the ball. We had to disrupt. UConn’s a team that's a well-oiled machine. If you allow them to run their stuff, they've made teams look stupid. We had the personnel to disrupt and ...

By DOUG FERGUSON, AP Golf Writer The PGA Tour is raising purses even higher in five of its biggest events, with two FedEx Cup playoff events now offering $15 million in a schedule that pushes prize money closer to the $500 million mark this year. The increases, which include $12 million purses in the three invitational tournaments, were approved at a board meeting two weeks ago in Houston and outlined in a memo PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan sent to players on Monday. “We are positioned to grow faster in the next 10 years than Hey Dude Shoes we have at any point in our existence,” Monahan said in the memo, which was obtained by The Associated Press. Monahan said the tour’s forecast is for 55% of revenue going back to the players in prize money, bonus ...

By TOM WITHERS, AP Sports Writer CLEVELAND (AP) — Doug Jones, a five-time All-Star reliever who had his best success closing for the Cleveland Indians, has died. He was 64. Jones spent seven seasons with the Indians and ranks third on the club's career saves list with 129. The club, which officially transitioned to Cleveland Guardians last week, said Monday it was “saddened by the loss of one of our organization's all-time greats.” The team said Jones died in Arizona. A cause was not immediately known. One of Jones' former Indians teammates, pitcher Greg Swindell, Skechers Womens Outlet  posted on Twitter that his friend had died. Swindell called Jones “one hell of a pitcher.” Known as “Jonesy,” Jones pitched in the majors for 16 seasons with Clevel...

By TIM REYNOLDS, AP Basketball Writer LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers has been suspended for one game and Detroit's Isaiah Stewart was suspended two games for their roles in an ugly incident during Sunday's Lakers-Pistons game. The NBA announced the suspensions Monday, and both will affect games on Tuesday. James will not play when the Lakers visit Madison Square Garden to play the New York Knicks. Stewart will miss the Pistons' home game against Miami on Tuesday and their game Wednesday at Milwaukee. James will forfeit about $284,000 in salary, while Stewart will lose about $45,000. Hey Dude Women's Shoes It is the first suspension in the 19-year career of James, who has won four NBA titles with three teams. The Lakers and Pistons meet again Sund...

By ROB MAADDI, AP Pro Football Writer TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tom Brady stepped up in the pocket to scramble, high-stepped a tackler, slid hard for a first down and got up pumping his arm and screaming. That's one way to erase the taste of losing. Brady threw for 307 yards and two touchdowns and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the New York Giants 30-10 on Monday night. The Super Bowl champion Buccaneers (7-3) snapped a two-game skid as Hoka Shoes  Brady avoided dropping three in a row for the first time since 2002. “We’re at a decent point but we can play a lot better than we’ve played,” Brady said. “Hoping our best football is ahead of us.” Brady started 10 for 10 before misfiring on a deep ball to Mike Evans. On the next play, the 44-year-old sc...