May 26, 2018 4 min read

Pot bust at house owned by NFL player

An Ohio home owned by a Cincinnati Bengals player has been searched and a man living there arrested and charged with marijuana trafficking.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reported the home in West Chester outside Cincinnati is owned by Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick. It was raided April 10, about two weeks after Butler County records show Kirkpatrick bought it.

Kirkpatrick’s agent says 36-year-old Jarrod Blair was a tenant at a rental property Kirkpatrick owns. He says Kirkpatrick isn’t a target of the investigation and is assisting West Chester police.

Blair has been charged with drug trafficking and drug possession. Court records don’t show if he has an attorney.

Kirkpatrick purchased a home in Cincinnati’s Indian Hill neighborhood for $1.9 million in June 2017. He was a Bengals’ first round pick in 2012.

Keselowski wins Xfinity race

Brad Keselowski walked into the interview room and said, “Oh, that’s nice – air conditioning.”

Keselowski overcame a humid afternoon and an hour-long rain delay Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway to become the first repeat winner on the Xfinity Series this season.

“I don’t know if I have ever been that hot in a race car,” Keselowski said. “It was smoking out there.”

Ten drivers won the previous 10 Xfinity races.

“Yeah it has been a tale of two cities compared to the Cup Series where there have been multiple repeat winners,” Keselowski said.

The Cup driver has 38 Xfinity victories, also winning the rain-delayed Phoenix race in March.

Keselowski won in overtime after the yellow flag came out for debris on the track with two laps remaining in the scheduled 200-lap race. He took off in Team Penske’s No. 22 Ford on a restart with two laps remaining and held off Cole Custer and Christopher Bell, who finished second and third respectively.

Gronkowski preps for Belmont

Gronkowski has completed his first official workout since arriving in the United States ahead of his expected start in the Belmont Stakes.

The colt breezed four furlongs in 47.99 seconds at Belmont Park on Saturday for Chad Brown, who has taken over training duties from Europe-based Jeremy Noseda.

Gronkowski has been in the U.S. a couple of weeks. The colt, named for New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, has four wins in six starts in Britain. The human Gronkowski has purchased an interest in the colt that missed the Kentucky Derby because of a slight infection.

Gronkowski is being pointed toward the June 9 Belmont, where Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Justify will try to become horse racing’s 13th Triple Crown winner.

Brown says the colt came to him in outstanding condition and shows the signs of being a very good racehorse.

Fan hit by bat

A Southern California woman’s recent injury by a baseball bat has renewed attention to fan safety at games.

The Sun of San Bernardino reports Saturday that 27-year-old Cloey Heckendorn was hit in the head during the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes’ game on Mother’s Day.

The Chino Hills resident was looking at her phone from her seat behind the third-base dugout when a bat from Los Angeles Dodgers’ third baseman Justin Turner slipped and flew toward her.

She was taken to the hospital where she got 10 staples.

Quakes general manager Grant Riddle says Heckendorn later got a bat signed by Turner.

Heckendorn says she plans to consult an attorney about suing.

Minor-league teams have not incorporated recent changes in netting that the majors have. A Minor League Baseball spokesman declined to comment.