Nov 25, 2019 4 min read

Pirates trade Agrazal

The Detroit Tigers have acquired right-hander Dario Agrazal from the Pittsburgh Pirates for cash.

The Tigers announced the deal Monday. The 24-year-old Agrazal made 14 starts and one relief appearance for the Pirates last season. He went 4-5 with a 4.91 ERA.

The Tigers also announced they have requested unconditional release waivers on right-hander Drew VerHagen so he can pursue an opportunity in Japan. VerHagen pitched mostly in relief in 2019, going 4-3 with a 5.90 ERA.

Bengals going back to Dalton at QB

With the season slipping away, the Bengals are turning back to Andy Dalton to try to get that elusive first win.

Coach Zac Taylor announced Monday that Dalton was returning as the starting quarterback, ending a three-week experiment with rookie Ryan Finley running the offense. Finley completed only 47 percent of his passes and the offense failed to score more than 13 points in any game.

The move came a day after a 16-10 loss to the Steelers in which Finley fumbled twice.

The Bengals (0-11) are the NFL’s only winless team as they get ready to host the Jets (4-7), who have won three straight. The 11-game losing streak in one season is the longest in franchise history. Their best chance to avoid an 0-16 season is to go with an 11-year veteran quarterback instead of a rookie.

Panel suggests neutral status for Russia

Russian athletes should be forced to compete as neutrals at next year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo and other major events, a key World Anti-Doping Agency panel recommended on Monday.

WADA’s compliance review committee proposed a four-year ban on hosting major events in Russia and a ban for the same period on flying the Russian flag at major competitions.

That follows a lengthy investigation into lab data handed over by Russia in January. That was part of a deal to lift a suspension of the Russian anti-doping agency, and was meant to expose past cover-ups of drug use by Russian athletes.

Instead, the WADA panel says data on hundreds of positive tests were removed.

Russia was officially banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in fallout from investigations of a state-sponsored doping program which tainted the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

In the NBA

T.J. Warren scored 26 points to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 126-114 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night.

Jeremy Lamb had 19 points and Aaron Holiday added 16 points off the bench for the Pacers (10-6), who have won three straight and seven of nine games.

• Spencer Dinwiddie hit a fadeaway jumper with 1.9 seconds remaining to give the Brooklyn Nets their fourth straight victory, 108-106 over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Cleveland erased a 106-97 deficit with just over 2 minutes left and tied the game on Collin’s Sexton’s free throw with 21 seconds to play.

• Luke Kennard scored 20 points and Blake Griffin added 17 to lead the Detroit Pistons past the Orlando Magic, 103-88.

The Magic were held to 15 points in the third quarter and 33 in the second half. They are now 0-7 on the road this season. Orlando was playing a second straight game without Nikola Vucevic, out with a right ankle sprain.

In the NHL

Jakub Voracek scored midway through the third period to lift the Philadelphia Flyers over the Vancouver Canucks 2-1 Monday night.

Voracek one-timed Justin Braun’s pass off the right post and behind goalie Thatcher Demko. Voracek’s sixth of the season and second in two games snapped a 1-1 tie.