Reyna starts as U.S. wallops Grenada in Nations League

Gio Reyna started in his first match with the U.S. after his parents disparaged then-coach Gregg Berhalter for his lack of playing time at the World Cup, a 7-1 rout of 173rd-ranked Grenada in the CONCACAF Nationals League on Friday night at St. George's.

Ricardo Pepi and Weston McKennie had two goals each and Alejandro Zendejas scored his first international goal. Christian Pulisic and Brenden Aaronson also scored for the No. 13 Americans, who had never won by a 7-1 score.

Pepi ended a 10-match international scoreless streak when he put the U.S. ahead with a fourthminute header off Pulisic's cross. Pulisic and Luca de La Torre had two assists each for the Americans, who for the first time since Major League Soccer launched in 1996 failed to field at least one MLS player.

Berhalter used Reyna sparingly at the World Cup and the 20-year-old nearly was sent home by Berhalter for lack of hustle in training. The player's parents, former U.S. captain Claudio Reyna and former women's player Danielle Egan Reyna, notified the U.S. Soccer Federation of a 1992 domestic violence incident involving Berhalter and the woman he later married — Danielle Egan's former college roommate.

The USSF commissioned a law firm to investigate and appointed Anthony Hudson interim coach after Berhalter's contract expired Dec. 31. The law firm said there was no legal impediment to retaining Berhalter, who remains a candidate, and the USSF put off a coaching decision until after a new sporting director is hired, probably this summer.

In the first competitive U.S. match since the World Cup, Reyna started in central midfield rather than his wing role under Berhalter. He played until the 64th minute.

The U.S. improved to 5-0 against Grenada with a 22-3 (152) goals advantage.

BASEBALL Bauer speaks at news conference in Japan

The Trevor Bauer era in Japan began Friday at an introductory news conference, where he pulled a blue and white Yokohama DeNA BayStars jersey over a white shirt and red tie.

The 2020 Cy Young Award winner is in Japan on a one-year deal that could let him prove himself and return to Major League Baseball, where he was unable to find work this season even after an arbitrator reduced his unprecedented 324-game suspension for violating the league's domestic violence and sexual assault policy.

He was cut in January by the Dodgers, who still owe him $22.5 million this season.

Not a single Japanese reporter asked him about his suspension in the United States or the circumstances surrounding it.

The only question about it came from The Associated Press. Bauer disputed the fact the question suggested he was suspended from the major leagues.

“I don't believe that's accurate,” he said of the suspension. “But I'm excited to be here. I'm excited to pitch again. I've always wanted to play in Japan.”

He said afterward the suspension dealt technically with issues of pay, and he said he had contacted major league teams about playing this year. He would have been eligible, but he did not say if he had offers.

Bauer was released by the Dodgers three weeks after an arbitrator reduced his suspension imposed by MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred from 324 to 194 games.

The penalty followed an investigation into domestic violence allegations, which the pitcher has denied.

Manfred suspended Bauer last April for violating the league's domestic violence and sexual assault policy, after a San Diego woman said he beat and sexually abused her in 2021.

Bauer has maintained he did nothing wrong, saying everything that happened between him and the woman was consensual. He was never charged with a crime.

• The Texas Rangers aren't wasting any time in seeing what they have in Jacob deGrom.

The ace right-hander, who signed a five-year, $185 million contract with the Rangers in the offseason, will face Philadelphia's Aaron Nola when the 2023 Major League Baseball season opens Thursday.

All 30 clubs will be in action that day for the first time since 1968.

This will be deGrom's fourth career Opening Day start. The two-time Cy Young winner got the nod from 2019-21 while pitching for the New York Mets. Texas has been cautious with deGrom during spring training after the 34-year-old reported tightness in his left side right before team workouts began in February.

His work over the last month has been solid enough that the Rangers did not hesitate in making deGrom the seventh different pitcher to get the ball on opening day for the team in the last seven years.

“Early, we had to hold him back a little bit, but we think he's good to go,” new Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. “We have the day off after opening day, so we can cover him. We're not looking for him to take us real deep in the game or anything. So this just makes all of the sense in the world to us.”

Nola, by contrast, has been a fixture for the Phillies. The 29-year-old will make his sixth opening day start for Philadelphia. Only Hall of Famers Robin Roberts (12) and Steve Carlton (10) have started more season openers in Phillies' history.

Eight Cy Young winners in all will take the mound on March 30, including Corey Kluber, who will make his first start for Boston when the Red Sox face Baltimore.

The youngest opening-day starter will be Cincinnati's Hunter Greene. The hard-throwing 23-year-old will match up with Mitch Keller and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Greene struck out 164 hitters in 125 2/3 innings as a rookie last season. Greene also pitched 7 1/3 no-hit innings against the Pirates last April, only to take the loss.

Greene is out of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame High.

• Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins will get a second opinion on his injured left knee but the team believes Hoskins will miss all of the 2023 season.

General manager Dave Dombrowski said while Hoskins will be re-evaluated, he would be “shocked” if the 30-year-old Hoskins did not require surgery to repair a torn ACL.

Hoskins injured the knee Thursday while fielding a grounder. The Phillies will turn to Darick Hall to replace Hoskins. Hall, 27, hit .250 with nine home runs and 16 RBIs in 41 games as a rookie in 2022.

TENNIS Alcaraz wins in straight sets in the Miami Open

Carlos Alcaraz picked up a straight-set win at the Miami Open on Friday to keep his world No. 1 ranking over idle Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic is not participating in the Miami Open because he still cannot travel to the United States as a foreign citizen who is not vaccinated against COVID-19.

Alcaraz, who beat Casper Ruud in the 2022 U.S. Open final for his first No. 1 ranking, defeated Facundo Bagnis 6-0, 6-2 to advance to the third round in Miami.

Rafael Nadal dropped out of the top 10 on Monday for the first time in 18 years. Alcaraz, a 19-year-old from Spain, rose into that spot a day after ending Daniil Medvedev's 19-match winning streak by beating him in straight sets in the final at Indian Wells, California.

Ruud, who's ranked No. 4, won his match against Ilya Ivashka 6-2, 6-3. He'll face No. 26 Botic van de Zandschulp on Sunday in the third round.

No. 1 American and No. 9 seed Taylor Fritz began his tournament campaign with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Emilio Nava. Fritz is 17-1 in his opening rounds of hard court tournaments since the start of 2022, with his only loss coming at the 2022 U.S. Open to No. 303 Brandon Holt.

Fritz will next face No. 24 Denis Shapovalov, who defeated Guido Pella on Friday.

On the women's side, Bianca Andreescu — the 2019 U.S. Open champion — came from a set down to oust No. 7 seed Maria Sakkari 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. Andreescu improved to 2-1 over Sakkari, with both wins coming in Miami.

Andreescu will face Sofia Kenin in the third round.

No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka beat Shelby Rogers 6-4, 6-3 and extended her record to 4-0 versus Rogers. Sabalenka will face No. 31 Marie Bouzková in the third round.

NFL 49ers acquire K Gonzalez

The San Francisco 49ers have found their potential replacement for longtime kicker Robbie Gould after agreeing to acquire Zane Gonzalez from the Carolina Panthers on Friday.

The teams will exchange a conditional swap of late-round picks in the 2025 draft to complete the deal which will be finalized once Gonzalez passes a physical.

Carolina re-signed kicker Eddy Piñeiro on Thursday and planned to release Gonzalez before reaching the deal with San Francisco.

The Niners had been seeking a kicker since deciding not to bring back Gould as a free agent. The 40-year-old Gould joined the 49ers in 2017 and made 87.5% of his field goals over six seasons.

• Veteran defensive tackle John Jenkins signed a freeagent contract with the Las Vegas Raiders on Friday. He most recently played for the Miami Dolphins the past two seasons.

Jenkins also played for the New Orleans Saints (2013-16), the Seattle Seahawks (2016), the Chicago Bears (2017, 2020) and the New York Giants (2018).

He has 212 career tackles.