Friday's Sports In Brief
May 21, 2016 - 8:20 AM DOPINGThe leader of the U.S. Olympic Committee says the latest anti-doping headlines make it ''increasingly difficult to defend the current system.''
In a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press, USOC CEO Scott Blackmun spoke about America's preparation for the Rio de Janeiro Games - plans being jarred by ongoing concerns about the Zika virus, along with a growing feeling among U.S. athletes that not everybody will be on a level playing field when the Olympics start in August.
In his first comments on the anti-doping crisis, Blackmun said ''it is increasingly difficult to defend the current system following a breakdown of this magnitude.''
BASEBALL
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Jake Arrieta won his 19th straight decision and Kris Bryant provided the power as the Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants 8-1.
The Cubs won in Arrieta's 22nd consecutive start going back to last season, with their ace going 19-0 over that stretch. They won on the road for the 24th time in 29 games as they snapped San Francisco's eight-game winning streak.
Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward left the game in the bottom of the first inning after crashing into the wall on a diving catch.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - CC Sabathia came off the disabled list to pitch six innings and become the eighth player in the modern era to win 100 games or more with two teams, and the New York Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics 8-3.
The win was Sabathia's 100th in New York pinstripes. He also had 106 victories with Cleveland to join an illustrious list of players that includes Hall of Famers Nolan Ryan and Greg Maddux to win 100 or more with two teams.
NEW YORK (AP) - Matt Harvey wants to keep plugging away at his problems on the mound. Whether that ends up helping or hurting the New York Mets early this season remains to be seen.
The struggling Harvey will make his next scheduled start for the Mets next week at Washington, manager Terry Collins said. Following the shortest outing of his career Thursday night in a 9-1 loss to the Nationals, the Mets left open the possibility of skipping Harvey's upcoming turn in the rotation.
But in a meeting with staff members Friday, Collins said, Harvey insisted he'd prefer to fight through his troubles.
NBA
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - After agreeing to a deal with Frank Vogel on Thursday, the Orlando Magic completed a whirlwind eight days by formally announcing their new head coach.
The team confirmed reports that Vogel had been hired and will be formally introduced on Monday.
Vogel replaces Scott Skies, who surprised the organization when he resigned on May 12. Vogel comes to Orlando as a proven head coach with playoff experience having led the Indiana Pacers the last five full seasons with the team making the postseason in each of those seasons.
The 42-year-old Vogel did not have his Indiana contract renewed following this
NHL
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Ryan Callahan provided an early spark, Andrei Vasilevskiy made two big saves in the closing minutes to avoid a total third-period collapse and the Tampa Bay Lightning held on for a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins to even the Eastern Conference finals at two games apiece.
Callahan tipped a shot past goalie Matt Murray just 17 seconds into the game. Andrej Sustr, Jonathan Drouin and Tyler Johnson also scored and the Lightning rebounded from being badly outplayed in the previous two games.
The best-of-seven series heads back to Pittsburgh for Game 5 on Sunday.
Vasilevskiy had a 4-0 lead entering the third period, but the Penguins didn't give up. Phil Kessel and Evgeni Malkin scored to give Pittsburgh hope, and Chris Kunitz's power-play goal trimmed the deficit to one with just under 7 minutes remaining.
AUTO RACING
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) - As rumors swirled that Kevin Harvick planned to leave Stewart-Haas Racing, he took Kasey Kahne aside and promised him he wasn't after his job.
The speculation turned out to be baseless.
Harvick said Friday SHR held a two-year option on him that the team always planned to exercise. Ultimately, his contract was restructured and announced this week as an extension.
It finally put to rest rumors that Harvick planned to jump ship and replace Kahne at Hendrick Motorsports.
GOLF
IRVING, Texas (AP) - Ben Crane made a 14-foot birdie putt on his last hole for a 7-under 63 and a one-stroke lead after two rounds at the Byron Nelson.
At 12-under 128, Crane was one stroke ahead of Jordan Spieth, Sergio Garcia, Brooks Koepka and Bud Cauley.
Spieth had a 65. He's playing only his second tournament since squandering a five-stroke lead on the back nine at the Masters. The world's No. 2-ranked player missed the cut last week at The Players Championship.
The last time Crane led a tournament was at Memphis two years ago, the last of his five PGA Tour victories.
Koepka had a 64, Cauley shot 65, and Garcia 66.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Kenny Perry shot a 2-under 70 to maintain a one-stroke lead over Bernhard Langer and Billy Andrade in the Regions Tradition.
Perry had three birdies and a bogey to reach 10-under 134 at Greystone in the first of the year's five PGA Tour Champions majors. The 2014 Regions Tradition winner has missed only one green in regulation.
Conditions changed after his bogey-free opening 64. Tournament officials opted for a two-tee start because of weather concerns, with Perry and Langer starting on the 10th tee. The course received 0.14 inches of rain overnight and in the morning, forcing a 30-minute delay to start.
Langer had a 69, and Andrade shot 68.
Gene Sauers (70), Scott McCarron (66) and Kevin Sutherland were 8 under.
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) - So Yeon Ryu had six birdies in an eight-hole stretch and shot a 7-under 64 to take the second-round lead in the Kingsmill Championship.
Ranked 11th in the world but sixth in the race for the four spots on South Korea's Olympic team, Ryu opened with a bogey on the 10th hole, then used the birdie run to make the turn in 5-under 30.
The 2011 U.S. Women's Open champion added birdies on the par-4 fourth and par-5 seventh and closed with two pars to reach 7-under 135 on the soggy River Course.
Fourth-ranked Stacy Lewis, No. 6 Amy Yang and first-round leader Mika Miyazato were a stroke back. Lewis had a bogey-free 66, Yang had a 67, and Miyazato followed her opening 65 with a 71.
Top-ranked Lydia Ko was 1 under after 68.
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