Projo Sports Blog

HENLEY, England (AP) -- Yale University defeated Clyde/Edinburgh University's composite crew in the quarterfinal of the Remenham Cup for international women's eights at Henley Royal Regatta on Friday.

Yale next faces a British squad crew -- racing as Thames -- in the semifinal.

In the Ladies' Plate for intermediate eights, Brown University defeated MIT to set up a semifinal encounter with local club Leander.

In the quarterfinal of the Thames Cup for club eights, Four Score and Four of Hartford, Conn., lost to local club Henley after hitting the booms that mark the perimeter of the course.

The National University of Ireland, Galway, beat a composite from New York Athletic Club and Camp Randall, Madison, Wis., by two lengths in the Visitors' Cup for intermediate coxless fours.

In the Prince Albert Cup for student coxed fours, Yale beat Imperial College, London, to set up a semifinal with Reading University of England.

Belmont Hill School, Mass., lost its quarterfinal in the Princess Elizabeth Cup for schoolboy eights to Abingdon School, England.

In the Temple Cup for student eights, Kent School, Conn., lost by two lengths to Melbourne University. Melbourne will face Brown University in the semifinal.

PHOENIX (AP) -- Phoenix Mercury star Diana Taurasi said Friday that she's embarrassed after being cited for drunken driving a few hours after she helped lead her team to victory over the Seattle Storm.

An officer stopped Taurasi early Thursday for speeding, police spokesman Luis Samudio said. The officer smelled alcohol and gave the player several field sobriety tests, according to a police statement.

Taurasi, the WNBA's leading fan vote-getter for the July 25 All-Star game, was then driven to a mobile DUI van, where she gave a blood sample, then was cited and released. Authorities did not know her blood alcohol content.

The team said Friday that Taurasi notified the club immediately but would not comment further until it knows more of what happened.

But after Friday's practice, Taurasi told reporters that her DUI citation was "just something that's embarrassing and unfortunate for my family and the organization."

Taurasi said she couldn't comment on the specifics of the incident because it was a legal matter "but personally, I'm going to have to do some things to make it straight."

The former Connecticut star said she plans on playing in the Mercury's next game Sunday night in Los Angeles.

Taurasi scored 22 points and blocked four shots Wednesday night in the Mercury's 93-81 win over the Storm.

The Associated Press reports the Red Sox will play the Twins in the first game at Target Field in Minneapolis next April.

Target Field is the open-air facility being built to replace the Metrodome. According to AP, the Sox and Twins will play the first game there next April 12.

The season is slated to start a week earlier, and the Twins will play their opener in Anaheim against the Angels on April 5. There is no word as to where the Red Sox will open, but if teams are on the road in the season's second week they usually spend the first week at home.

The date was contained in a draft schedule for next season that recently was sent to teams and revealed Friday to The Associated Press. It was provided by a baseball official on condition of anonymity because Major League Baseball's central office asked that the schedule not be made public before it is finalized later this year.

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Manny Ramirez has apologized to fans and his teammates. He's not talking about steroids, though.

The slugger's 50-game suspension for violating baseball's drug policy ended Friday and he was set to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the San Diego Padres.

"Well, I want to say I'm sorry to the fans and to my teammates," Ramirez said at a news conference about four hours before the first pitch.

He refused to talk about the reason for his suspension.

"I don't want to get into my medical record," said Ramirez, who wore sunglasses and had his dreadlocks back in a ponytail.

"Showtime tonight!" he said as he walked off the dias.

Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman reports that the Red Sox are in serious discussions with Cuban shortstop whiz Jose Iglesias, 19, who defected last year.

According to Heyman, Iglesias compares to Ozzie Smith defensively.

"His hands and arm are deluxe,'' one American League executive said. "The question is how much he'll hit.''

Click here to read the story.

Free-agent defenseman Shane Hnidy signed a one-year contract with the Minnesota Wild Friday.

Hnidy, 33, tallied 12 points in 2008-09 with the Boston Bruins, with 45 penalty minutes.

Hnidy has played 477 games over nine NHL seasons with Ottawa, Nashville, Atlanta, Anaheim and Boston, totaling 57 points and 565 PIM.

Clay Buchholz, the best starter for the Pawtucket Red Sox, and Fernando Cabrera's, the team's top reliever, have been rewarded for their work this season. Both have been named to the International League All-Star team.

The All-Star game, which pits the International League's best against the top players from the Pacific Coast League, will be held July 15th in Portland, Ore.

Buchholz, 24, goes into Thursday night's game against Scranton/Wilkes Barre as the IL leader in earned run average, at 1.90. He has a 5-1 record in 14 appearances. At one point, he went 24 consecutive innings without allowing a run,

Cabrera, 27, has been perfect in save opportunities for the PawSox, 16-for-16. The 16 saves tie him for the league lead in that department. Cabrera is 0-1 with a 1.09 ERA in 29 appearances. He was signed by Boston as a free agent over the winter. He spent most of last year with Baltimore.

The All-Star game will be televised by ESPN2 and broadcast on the PawSox radio network beginning at 10:05 p.m. Eastern time.