Tentative deal between NFL and refs

UNDATED (AP) — The NFL’s regular officials are coming back.

The league and the referees’ union have reached a tentative contract agreement following three tumultuous weeks that included several blown calls by replacement officials. Although the contract must still be ratified by the union’s 121 members, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced the officials will be back on the field beginning with tonight’s game between the Ravens and Browns.

The contract ends a three-month lockout that led to replacement officials. Negotiations really began to heat up after a missed call cost the Packers a win on a Hail Mary pass in Seattle on Monday night.

NFL-COACHES FINED

League hands out $75,000 in coaches fines

NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL fined Patriots coach Bill Belichick $50,000 and Redskins assistant Kyle Shanahan $25,000 for their conduct toward replacement officials.

Belichick grabbed an official’s arm at the end of Sunday night’s game after the Ravens kicked a winning field goal. Shanahan was cited by the league for “abuse of officials” in Washington’s loss to Cincinnati.

On Monday, the league fined Broncos coach John Fox $30,000 and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio $25,000 for berating officials during a loss to Atlanta on Sept. 17.

And Steelers safety Ryan Mundy was fined $21,000 by the league for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Oakland WR Darrius Heyward-Bey. Mundy knocked Heyward-Bey unconscious after slamming into him during a pass into the end zone during the fourth quarter last weekend. No penalty was called.

Tigers pass White Sox…Yankees, Orioles win

UNDATED (AP) — There’s a new leader in the American League Central. The Tigers put themselves in position to take over first place when they beat Kansas City 5-4. It became a one-game lead once the Chicago White Sox were beaten by Cleveland 6-4.

The Tigers snapped a 4-4 tie when Andy Dirks broke up a potential inning-ending double play in the eighth inning, allowing the go-ahead run to score. Alex Avila had two RBIs for the Tigers, but Triple-Crown threat Miguel Cabrera went 0-for-4 and was robbed of a home run.

The White Sox fell for the seventh time in eight games. Shin-Soo Choo had a go-ahead RBI grounder in the seventh and Vinny Rottino hit his first homer for the Indians to cap the scoring. The Indians also took advantage of 12 walks by Chicago hurlers in knocking off the White Sox for the second straight night,

It marks the first time the Chisox haven’t owned at least a share of the division lead since July 24.

Just three games separate first-place Texas and No. 2 Oakland in the AL West. Yoenis Cespedes had one of two triples during a five-run first inning that carried the Athletics to a 9-3 win over the Rangers. Stephen Drew had four of Oakland’s 16 hits, including a double leading off the game before scoring on Cespedes’ triple into the right-center gap.

The New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles enjoyed lopsided victories, which keeps the Bombers 1 1/2 games ahead of the Birds in the American League East.

The Yankees scored six times in the third inning to break open an 8-2 win at Minnesota. Curtis Granderson hit a two-run triple and Robinson Cano (kuh-NOH’) poked a two-run double during the third-inning rally.

Chris Dickerson added a two-run homer to back CC Sabathia, who’s 14-6 after holding the Twins to two runs and six hits while striking out 10 in eight innings.

The Orioles kept pace and ended a two-game skid by slamming a team record-tying seven homers in a 12-2 laugher against Toronto. Chris Davis and Manny Machado each homered twice to support a strong outing by Miguel Gonzalez, who allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings.

The Angels stayed within two games of Oakland for the AL’s final wild-card berth. Torii Hunter furnished the tying and game-winning singles as Los Angeles downed Seattle 4-3. Hunter tied it with an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh before slapping the walk-off hit.

Erick Aybar hit a two-run double for the Angels, who’ve won five in a row to stay in the playoff hunt.

Tampa Bay made it seven straight wins as Carlos Pena and Ben Francisco hit back-to-back homers in the fifth inning of the Rays’ 4-2 win at Boston. Alex Cobb left after holding the Red Sox to a run and three hits in five innings.

Over to the National League, where the St. Louis Cardinals saw their lead for the second wild card shrink to 3 1/2 games over Milwaukee and Los Angeles.

Bud Norris gave up just two hits over 7 1/3 innings to pitch Houston past the Redbirds 2-0. Jose Altuve to help Norris end his career-worst 12-game losing streak which spanned 18 starts.

Ryan Braun socked his league-leading 41st homer and Norichika Aoki also went deep in Milwaukee’s 8-1 trouncing of Cincinnati. Shaun Marcum allowed only four hits in six innings for his first victory since returning from an elbow problem.

Matt Kemp’s four hits and four RBIs highlighted the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 8-2 rout of San Diego. He hit a two-run double and a two-run homer before falling a triple shy of the cycle.

Paul Maholm combined with three relievers on a six-hitter as Atlanta blanked Miami 3-0. Martin Prado hit a solo homer and an RBI single to help the Braves hand the Marlins their sixth straight loss and eighth in nine games.

Washington’s magic number to clinch the NL East is four after homers by Bryce Harper, Ian Desmond and Kurt Suzuki powered the Nationals past the Phillies 8-4. The Nats are four games ahead of second-place Atlanta with seven to play.

The rest of the NL action was decided by six-love scores.

Matt Cain allowed four hits in seven innings of San Francisco’s 6-0 shutout of Arizona. Pablo Sandoval had two RBIs and Brandon Belt had three of the Giants’ 12 hits.

David Wright is the Mets’ all-time hits leader after going 2-for-4 in a 6-0 shutout of Pittsburgh. Wright entered the game tied with Ed Kranepool on the team’s hit list with 1,418.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
N-Y Yankees 8 Minnesota 2
Detroit 5 Kansas City 4
Baltimore 12 Toronto 2
Tampa Bay 4 Boston 2
Oakland 9 Texas 3
Cleveland 6 Chi White Sox 4
L.A. Angels 4 Seattle 3

NATIONAL LEAGUE
L.A. Dodgers 8 San Diego 2
Washington 8 Philadelphia 4
Atlanta 3 Miami 0
Milwaukee 8 Cincinnati 1
N-Y Mets 6 Pittsburgh 0
Houston 2 St. Louis 0
Colorado 6 Chi Cubs 0
San Francisco 6 Arizona 0

Tonight’s North Platte Community College volleyball match against the Hastings College JV has been cancelled.

The Colorado Rockies won their third consecutive game with a 6-0 triumph over the Chicago Cubs last night in Denver. The Rockies scored twice in the first inning and four times in the third to produce all the offense they would need. Charlie Blackmon hit a solo home run and Chris Nelson drove in a pair of runs to highlight that fourth-inning rally. Nelson, Jordan Pacheco, Tyler Colvin and DJ LeMahieu each had two hits. On the mound, Rockies starter Drew Pomeranz tossed five shutout innings, scattering three hits and fanning three. Alex White and Rob Scahill each threw two innings of scoreless relief to finish the victory. Today’s series finale is also the home finale for the Rockies this season. ESPN Radio 1410 has the action from Coors Field with pregame coverage starting at 1:30 and the first pitch at 2:05.

The No. 6 Nebraska volleyball team used a dominating offensive performance on Wednesday night to sweep the No. 24 Michigan State Spartans 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-22) in front of 4,106 fans at the NU Coliseum.

NU saw four different Huskers hit better than .400 in the match. Gina Mancuso recorded 12 kills on 25 swings for a .400 hitting percentage, while Hayley Thramer was four for 10 with no errors for a .400 hitting percentage, also contributing four blocks. Hannah Werth notched nine kills on 15 swings (.467) and Meghan Haggerty posted eight kills on 10 swings (.700).

Lauren Cook paced the offense with 39 assists, while she also led Nebraska defensively with 11 digs. Nebraska posted a .391 team hitting percentage and out-blocked the Spartans 7-3. NU also out-dug MSU 33-31.

The Huskers came out to a 4-1 lead on a kill by Werth. A hitting error by Michigan State put NU up 14-9, before Lara Dykstra opened the first set up with a service ace, giving Nebraska an 18-10 lead. Werth notched another kill, putting NU up 10 at 21-11. NU went on to take the first set 25-17, leading the match 1-0.

Mancuso and Werth led the Husker offense in the first set as both had four kills. Cook tabbed 11 assists as the Huskers hit .591 in the set. Nebraska out-blocked MSU 2-0.

A kill by Morgan Broekhuis gave Nebraska a 5-1 edge early in the second set. Haggerty recorded a kill as the Huskers went up 12-5. Another error by Michigan State powered NU to a 19-11 lead and forced MSU to use a timeout. Haggerty posted a kill as Nebraska went up 20-12. The Huskers went on to take the second set 25-16, leading the match 2-0.

Broekhuis posted five kills for the Huskers in the second set, while Haggerty recorded three. Nebraska notched a .321 hitting percentage in the set behind 13 assists from Cook. Nebraska again out-blocked the Spartans 3-1.

Michigan State came out fighting in the third set, posting three consecutive points and taking a 12-6 lead on a service ace. Nebraska closed the gap with the help of a two-hit error, making it 13-11, Spartans. Werth put NU within one at 16-15, while a double-stuff block by Allison McNeal and Haggerty tied the set at 16-16. A hitting error by Michigan State put NU up 20-18, but the Spartans came back to tie the set at 20-20. A block by Werth and Thramer gave Nebraska a 24-21 lead, while a kill from Broekhuis sealed the 25-22 third-set win and gave Nebraska the sweep.

Mancuso notched six kills in the third set, while Werth had four of her own. Cook tabbed 15 assists, guiding NU to a .324 hitting percentage in the set.

Nebraska will return to the NU Coliseum on Sunday to take on the Michigan Wolverines at 2 p.m. The match will air live on NET.

— Hilary Winter, Nebraska Sports Information

The first season of the Tim Miles era will receive plenty of national exposure, as a total of 29 regular-season Nebraska basketball games are set to be televised or shown live on the Internet, as the Big Ten Conference released its television package for the upcoming season Wednesday afternoon.

The Huskers’ broadcast package for the upcoming season includes a minimum of 22 appearances on BTN or BTN.com, four appearances on ESPNU, one appearance on either ESPN or ESPN2 and one contest on ESPN3.com.  In addition, Nebraska’s game at Oregon on Saturday, Dec. 15, will be shown regionally on FSN/Root. The only games that will not be broadcast during the 2012-13 season are the Huskers’ games in the Sun Bowl Invitational in El Paso, Texas, Dec. 22-23.

The broadcast schedule begins on Wednesday, Nov. 7, with the Huskers’ exhibition opener against Midland University, and that contest will be broadcast by either BTN or BTN.com.  It is the first of nine games on BTN or BTN.com prior to the start of Big Ten action, as Nebraska’s first six regular-season games, including all four games of the Joe Cipriano Nebraska Classic, will be shown on BTN or BTN.com.

In Big Ten action, all 18 games will be televised nationally on one of the Big Ten’s television partners, including 14 appearances on BTN, which is available in over 90 million homes.  The Huskers play host to Iowa on Thursday, Feb. 21, on ESPN or ESPN2, and will also make three appearances on ESPNU (Jan. 19 at Penn State, Jan. 26 vs. Northwestern and Feb. 9 against Penn State) in conference play.

In addition, the Big Ten finalized start times for nearly all of Nebraska’s regular-season games, except for contests scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 6 (vs. Wisconsin) and Sunday, Jan. 13 (at Michigan State), which will be determined one week prior to game time. Both contests will be on BTN.

— Jeffrey Griesch, Nebraska Sports Information

Reports: NFL, referees closing in on new deal

Two days after a controversial call cost the Green Bay Packers a win, the NFL and the referees’ union are reportedly nearing an end to a lockout that put replacement officials on the field since the start of the season.

According to several reports, the NFL and the union are close to a new deal that would allow the league’s regular officials to return to work, possibly as early as this weekend.

ESPN reported Wednesday that “an agreement in principle is at hand,” and The New York Times reported that the sides “”were closing in” on a way to end the impasse. ESPN cited unidentified sources from both sides; the Times cited a person briefed on the negotiations.

A person familiar with the situation tells The Associated Press that the NFL and its locked-out officials were meeting Wednesday. The sides met for about 14 hours starting Tuesday into early Wednesday. They broke for a few hours before reconvening in an attempt to resolve the dispute and end the firestorm over the use of replacement refs.

Afternoon action

UNDATED (AP) — There are two day games in baseball and each has playoff implications. In Minneapolis the Twins are playing host to the Yankees. In that tight American League East race the Yankees top the Orioles by 1 1/2 games. Baltimore is home this evening to Toronto.

The other day game is in San Diego as the Padres entertain the Dodgers, who are 4 ½ games back of St. Louis in the National League wild-card race. Milwaukee is also 4 ½ back while Arizona is 5 ½ games behind the Cardinals for the lone remaining NL berth. The Braves clinched the other NL wild-card spot last night. On tap tonight the Cards are at Houston, Milwaukee is in Cincinnati and Arizona is at San Francisco.

In the AL wild-card race the Orioles have a half-game lead over the Athletics with the Angels 2 games back of the A’s and the Rays 3 back.

On tap tonight, the Athletics are at Texas in a key AL West contest as entering play the Rangers lead the A’s by 4 games. The Angels are home to Seattle while the Rays are in Boston.

As a new day of play begins the White Sox and Tigers are tied for the lead in the American League Central. Each is 82-72. The Sox are home to the Indians tonight while the Tigers are home to Kansas City.

The remaining NL games tonight have Philadelphia at home to Washington, Miami in Atlanta, the Mets play host to Pittsburgh and the Cubs are at Colorado.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

N-Y Yankees at Minnesota 12:10 p.m.
Kansas City at Detroit 6:05 p.m.
Toronto at Baltimore 6:05 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Boston 6:10 p.m.
Oakland at Texas 7:05 p.m.
Cleveland at Chi White Sox 7:10 p.m.
Seattle at L.A. Angels 9:05 p.m.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

L.A. Dodgers at San Diego 5:35 p.m.
Washington at Philadelphia 6:05 p.m.
Miami at Atlanta 6:10 p.m.
Milwaukee at Cincinnati 6:10 p.m.
Pittsburgh at N-Y Mets 6:10 p.m.
St. Louis at Houston 7:05 p.m.
Chi Cubs at Colorado 7:40 p.m. (LISTEN LIVE on ESPN Radio 1410)
Arizona at San Francisco 9:15 p.m.