Shiffrin ends a drought for 78th Cup victory
Overall women's World Cup leader Mikaela Shiffrin held on to a big opening-run advantage to win a giant slalom on Tuesday in Semmering, Austria, the American's first triumph in the discipline in more than a year.
Carrying a lead of 0.72 seconds over Petra Vlhová from the first leg, Shiffrin lost nearly six-tenths of the advantage when her Slovakian rival posted the fastest time in the final run, but ultimately won by 0.13 seconds.
The result marked Shiffrin's fourth World Cup win of the season and 78th overall, leaving her four short of the women's record set by former teammate Lindsey Vonn.
Marta Bassino, who won the previous GS and remains in the lead of the discipline standings, was 0.31 behind in third.
It was the 15th GS win in total for Shiffrin, who was the 2018 Olympic champion, but the first since triumphing in Courchevel, France in December 2021. She had just one podium result from the seven previous giant slaloms in 2022.
Sofia Goggia, the Italian speed specialist who is runner-up to Shiffrin in the overall standings, does not compete at Semmering, enabling the American to extend her lead to 205 points.
Braves ink new catcher Murphy to six-year deal
The Atlanta Braves signed newly acquired catcher Sean Murphy to a $73 million, sixyear contract, locking up another key player with a longterm deal.
The contract includes a $15 million club option for 2029 that could raise the total value of the agreement to $88 million.
Murphy will make $4 million in 2023, $9 million in 2024 and $15 million each season from 2025 through 2028.
The 28-year-old Murphy was acquired from the Athletics shortly after the winter meetings in a three-team deal that also included the Brewers.
Murphy batted .250 with 18 homers and 66 RBIs this past season. He won a Gold Glove in 2021.
• Veteran right-hander Nathan Eovaldi and the Texas Rangers agreed to a twoyear, $34 million contract.
Eovaldi has pitched for five teams over 11 major league seasons. He spent the past 41/2 seasons with the Boston Red Sox and was 6-3 with a 3.87 ERA in 20 starts in 2022, after an All-Star season in 2021 when he was 11-9 with a 3.75 ERA in 32 starts.
Eovaldi, who has a career 67-68 record and 4,15 ERA, made his MLB debut with the Dodgers in 2011 and has also pitched for the Marlins, Yankees and Rays.
The agreement with Eovaldi comes after the Rangers signed two-time NL Cy Young Award winner Jacob DeGrom to a $185 million, five-year deal this month.
Texas also signed Andrew Heaney to a $25 million, two-year contract, acquired Jake Odorizzi in a trade with Atlanta, and retained All-Star left-hander Martin Pérez with a $19.65 million qualifying offer.
• The Pittsburgh Pirates agreed to a one-year, $8 million contract with veteran left-hander Rich Hill. The deal is pending a physical.
The Pirates would be Hill's 12th team as he enters his 19th big league season.
Hill, who turns 43 in March, made 26 starts for the Red Sox last season, going 8-7 with a 4.27 ERA in 124 1/3 innings.
He pitched for the Rays and Mets in 2021, appearing in 32 games and making 31 starts. The 158 2/3 innings Hill worked that season are the second-most of his career and his highest total since pitching 195 with the Cubs in 2007.
Hill has a 82-59 career major league record with a 3.85 ERA over 350 games, including 221 starts.
In three-plus seasons with the Dodgers (2016-19), he was 30-16 with a 3.16 ERA in 69 games (68 starts).
Hill appeared in two games for the Angels in 2014 and has also pitched for the Twins, Athletics, Yankees, Orioles and Cleveland.
HOFer Reed to coach Bethune-Cookman
Pro Football Hall of Famer Ed Reed has agreed to become the football coach at Bethune-Cookman, leaving his job with the Miami Hurricanes.
Reed played at Miami and spent the last three years in an administrative role with the Hurricanes.
He replaces Terry Sims at Bethune-Cookman. Sims was fired after going 38-39 in seven seasons.
The move will inevitably spark comparisons to the move Jackson State — like Bethune-Cookman, a historically Black college and university — made when it brought in Deion Sanders to lead its program. Sanders went 27-6 in three seasons at Jackson State before getting hired earlier this month by Colorado.
Reed gets his chance to lead an HBCU back to prominence. BethuneCookman claims three HBCU national titles, the last coming in 2013.
Reed was a five-time All-Pro safety, a member of the NFL 2000s All-Decade Team, the 2004 Defensive Player of the Year and made nine Pro Bowls. He had 64 career interceptions, led the league in that stat three times and scored 13 non-offense touchdowns in his career with the Baltimore Ravens.
Carr's hot shooting leads No. 6 Texas
Marcus Carr tied a Texas record with 10 3-pointers and scored 41 points as the sixth-ranked Longhorns (11-1) beat visiting Texas A&M-Commerce 97-72 on Tuesday night.
Carr scored 33 points in the first half against the Lions (4-10), matching a Texas record for a half set by Jim Krivacs in 1978.
Carr converted 13 of 19 shots in 30 minutes, including 10 of 15 3-pointers.
• The men's game between No. 14 Miami and Vermont scheduled for tonight has been canceled because the Catamounts had weather-related travel issues. It will not be rescheduled.
Miami (12-1) is on an eight-game winning streak and is at its highest spot in the AP Top 25 since being No. 6 in the poll released on Dec. 18, 2018.