Ohtani may not pitch again this year Chelsea’s James says medals stolen Track coach’s doping ban upheld

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Chelsea’s Reece James after the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Chelsea at the Emirates stadium in London, England, Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)

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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - SEPTEMBER 14: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Angels greets teammates in the dugout before a game against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on September 14, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) ** OUTS - ELSENT, FPG, CM - OUTS * NM, PH, VA if sourced by CT, LA or MoD **

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FILE - In this Aug. 21, 2015, file photo, Alberto Salazar watches a training session for the World Athletic Championships at the Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing. Salazar was excited about a performance-enhancing supplement he was trying out on his runners. The supplement ended up triggering a drawn-out investigation that led to Salazar’s four-year suspension from track and field. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

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Two-way star Shohei Ohtani won’t pitch Friday for the Angels because of a sore right arm that could sideline him as a pitcher for the rest of the season. “If there’s any kind of lingering soreness, you may not see him pitch,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said prior to Thursday’s game against the White Sox in Chicago. Ohtani (9-2, 3.36 ERA) felt soreness while playing catch Wednesday. Maddon said he raised the possibility of the likely AL MVP being shut down on the mound for the rest of the season during a meeting. Ohtani, 27, last pitched Sept. 10, when he was tagged for six runs on nine hits in 3 1/3 innings in a road loss to the Astros. Maddon said Ohtani would like to continue pitching in an attempt to get his 10th victory. “(Ten wins) always looks better than nine,” Maddon said. “But you can’t let that be the driving factor.” The arm discomfort won’t prevent Ohtani from continuing to serve as a designated hitter. Ohtani entered Thursday’s game against the White Sox ranked second in the major leagues with 44 home runs and 74 extra-base hits and fourth with a .599 slugging percentage.

Reece James said thieves broke into his home and stole his Champions League winner’s medal while he was playing for Chelsea on Tuesday. The England international on Thursday posted a video showing four people entering through the gates of his property, and he appealed for help to identify the culprits, writing on Instagram that there were already “firm leads.” “They managed to collectively lift a heavy safe containing some personal items of mine into their car,” James said. He said inside the safe were his Champions League winner’s medal and UEFA Super Cup winner’s medal earned with Chelsea this year. Also inside was a runner-up medal from this year’s European Championship with England. James said there was no one in his house during the break-in. “I am appealing to all my Chelsea and England fans to help identify and turn in these low-life individuals who will never be able to rest easy as the evidence is mounting against them,” James said. “... We have firm leads on who the perpetrators are. We are closing in on them.”

Track coach Alberto Salazar received no relief from the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which upheld his four-year ban for a series of doping-related violations that had long been pursued by American regulators. CAS announced the decision Thursday, confirming its three-judge panel has rejected two appeals — one from Salazar and endocrinologist Jeffrey Brown, who challenged their four-year bans, and a request by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for longer sanctions. The judges confirmed Salazar had broken anti-doping rules and had been banned in line with current guidance, but they also were critical of USADA’s handling of the case over several years. The court said “the way in which the case was conducted by USADA ... seemed to be out of proportion and excessive when compared to the severity ... of the (violations).” Salazar is the former marathon champion who, as coach of the Nike Oregon Project, trained a long list of championship distance runners including Mo Farah, Galen Rupp and Kara Goucher. None of his former runners have been charged with doping violations. —AP