PHOENIX (AP) — Tyler Skaggs pitched eight innings of three-hit ball in his return to Arizona’s rotation, and the Diamondbacks opened a 10-game homestand with a 5-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Friday night.

Skaggs (2-1), who turns 22 next week and is considered one of the top pitching prospects in the game, struck out five and walked one after he was recalled from Triple-A Reno for the second time this season.

Paul Goldschmidt drove in two runs with a double and single, raising his NL-leading total to 71 RBIs. A.J. Pollock had two hits and scored three times, and Aaron Hill had a two-run single.

Colorado’s Jorge De La Rosa (8-5) gave up three runs and seven hits in 5 1-3 innings.

He had allowed three runs combined in his previous three starts.

Nebraska All-American Chad Wright finished first in the discus at the XXIV Central American and Caribbean Athletics Senior Championships in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico on Friday.

Wright, who came in second in the discus at the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Championships a month ago, notched a throw of 199-5 (60.79) to win the event. In addition, he recently won the discus title at the 2013 Jamaican National Senior Championships.

Lincoln – University of Nebraska junior I-back Ameer Abdullah was honored Friday, as he was selected to the Paul Hornung Award Watch List, presented by Texas Roadhouse. Abdullah was one of 44 players chosen to the initial watch list by the Louisville Sports Commission, as the Hornung Award highlights the nation’s most versatile player.

As a sophomore, Abdullah earned second-team All-Big Ten honors at running back, totaling 1,137 yards and eight TDs while also catching 24 passes, including a pair of scores. Abdullah, who produced six 100-yard performances as a sophomore, averaged 13.1 yards per return on punts and 21.2 yards per return on kickoffs, as Nebraska went 10-4 and reached the 2012 Big Ten Championship Game.

The 2013 Hornung Award Watch List was compiled by a panel of college football experts based on a combination of 2012 statistics, career performance and expectations heading into the 2013 season. The 2013 Hornung Watch List features players from 41 schools, covering 10 conferences.

The winner will be honored at the official Paul Hornung Award Banquet sponsored by KentuckyOne Health, held at the Galt House in downtown Louisville in late January 2014.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Concussion research will be one of the primary functions of the Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior, which opens later this month at the University of Nebraska.

The center is housed in the new $55 million building attached to Memorial Stadium that holds 38 luxury suites and an additional 6,000 seats for the football stadium.

The center is the latest university-affiliated research facilities looking for better ways to diagnose and treat traumatic head injuries and make football and other sports safer. Center director Dennis Molfese said one of the projects is the development of a device that gives medical personnel the ability to accurately assess the severity of a concussion right on the sideline.

DENVER (AP) — Michael Cuddyer hit a solo homer and drove in three runs to help the Colorado Rockies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-5 on Thursday night.

Cuddyer, who recently had his team-record, 27-game hitting streak snapped, also added a two-run double as the Rockies avoided being swept by Los Angeles in the three-game series.

Carlos Gonzalez contributed an RBI double before leaving late in the game with an apparent injury. The Rockies had no update.

The Dodgers struggled to drive in runners against Jhoulys Chacin (8-3), a night after setting season highs in runs (10) and hits (17). The hard-throwing righty pitched out of trouble time and again, giving up four runs in 5 2-3 innings.

DENVER (AP) — Troy Tulowitzki went through a light round of batting practice on Thursday with minimal pain from his broken rib and thinks he could be back soon, maybe even before the All-Star break.

The Colorado Rockies’ shortstop has been on the disabled list since June 14 after hurting his rib diving for a ball in a loss to Washington.

Tulowitzki says he took “very easy swings” in batting practice before the game against Los Angeles. He still sent quite a few over the fence.

Although his mending rib doesn’t bother his throws, it affects his swing. Says Tulowitzki: “Once the ball has a little extra carry, and less pain, I should be ready.”

Tulowitzki leads the fan voting for the All-Star Game and will attend, even if he can’t play.

The National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association’s Great Plains Region recently awarded a collegiate rodeo competition to Mid-Plains Community College to be held during North Platte’s Rail Fest in September.

The “2013 Railtown U.S.A. Collegiate Rodeo” is scheduled to take place Sept. 20-21 at the Nebraskaland Days Wild West Arena in North Platte. Twelve men’s teams and nine women’s collegiate rodeo teams from Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota and Wisconsin compete in the Great Plains Region.

“When you consider that our rodeo program began only three years ago, the fact that we now have world champion Dustin Elliot as our head coach and now we have been awarded to host one of the 10 competitions in our region, I think that says a lot about the positive direction of our program,” said Marcus Garstecki, North Platte Community College Vice President.

DENVER (AP) — Hanley Ramirez had four hits, including a solo homer in the ninth, to help the Los Angeles Dodgers hold off the Colorado Rockies 10-8 on Wednesday night in a game outfielder Yasiel Puig left early with a bruised left hip after a leaping catch at the wall.

Juan Uribe (yoo-REE’-bay), Adrian Gonzalez and Matt Kemp also homered for the Dodgers, who have won 10 of their last 11 games to climb back into the thick of the NL West race.

Puig reached up to rob Nolan Arenado of a hit in the fifth, only to smack his hip on a padded column below the scoreboard in right.

Puig stayed down on the warning track for several minutes, before jogging around the outfield and remaining in the game.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Craig Stadler, Nick Price and two-time champion Allen Doyle have withdrawn from next week’s U.S. Senior Open at Omaha Country Club.

The U.S. Golf Association announced Wednesday that Stadler, who won the Champions Tour’s Encompass Championship last month, pulled out because of a foot injury.

Price, who tied for ninth in the 2011 Senior Open in his only appearance in the event, is out because of an elbow injury.

Doyle, who won consecutive Senior Open championships in 2005 and 2006, has an undisclosed medical condition.

The three vacancies in the field will be filled by sectional qualifiers.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Former Nebraska defensive lineman Cameron Meredith has been ticketed on suspicion of misdemeanor assault for allegedly breaking a man’s jaw and eye socket during a fight last month.

The Lincoln Journal Star reported Wednesday that witnesses told police Meredith and his friends got into a confrontation with another group of people in downtown Lincoln about 2 a.m. June 16th.

Meredith is accused of striking a 20-year-old man who was trying to break up the fight.

A message The Associated Press left on Meredith’s cell phone wasn’t returned.

As a senior last season, Meredith made 53 tackles and had five sacks. He appeared in 56 games in his career, setting a school record, and started his final 41 games.