IN BRIEF
BASEBALL
Padres hire ex-Red Sox official Hoyer as GM
Jed Hoyer was once co-general manager of the Boston Red Sox for 44 days after Theo Epstein walked away from the job.
Now Hoyer has a GM gig of his own.
The San Diego Padres have hired Hoyer, 35, as their general manager, a person with knowledge of the situation said Saturday.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the formal announcement won't be made until Monday.
Hoyer, who was in Boston's front office when the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004 and 2007, is due in San Diego today.
TENNIS
Witten, Gambill set for Las Vegas Invitational
Men's professional tennis returns to town as the Elite Tennis Series holds the Las Vegas Invitational beginning Monday at Darling Tennis Center.
The three-day tournament features eight ranked players, with the winner receiving $10,000. Among those scheduled to play are Jesse Witten, Jan-Michael Gambill and Ramon Delgado.
Admission is free, with play beginning at 10 a.m. Monday and 9 a.m. for Tuesday's semifinals and Wednesday's final.
Also: Robin Soderling withdrew from the Stockholm Open semifinals because of an elbow injury, allowing Marcos Baghdatis to advance to the final against Olivier Rochus.
Rochus outlasted Tomaz Bellucci of Brazil 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3 to reach today's final at Royal Tennis Hall.
The top-seeded Soderling has been bothered by a sore right elbow since July, when he withdrew from the quarterfinals in Washington.
Janko Tipsarevic will play Mikhail Youzhny and Francesca Schiavone will meet Olga Govortsova in the final of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, after all four players posted straight-set victories.
Tipsarevic advanced to his first final by beating Ukrainian qualifier Illya Marchenko 6-1, 6-4, and Youzhny beat Kazakh qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin, 6-2, 6-1.
Schiavone defeated Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-4, 6-0 to make her second straight final, and Govortsova ousted Alisa Kleybanova of Russia 6-2, 6-1 to reach her second career final.
Sabine Lisicki of Germany rallied to defeat Shahar Peer of Israel 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (5) and advance to today's Luxembourg Open final against Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland.
The unseeded Bacsinszky upset fifth-seeded Yanina Wickmayer 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the early semifinal, ending the Belgian's eight-match winning streak.
HORSE RACING
Venezuelan rides four Belmont stakes winners
Ramon Dominguez rode four stakes winners at rainy Belmont Park in New York, including a three-quarters of a length victory by Haynesfield in the $250,000 Empire Classic.
The card featured five stakes for New York-bred horses, but it was the jockey from Venezuela who stole the show.
The victory on Haynesfield gave Dominguez a sweep of the final four stakes races on the card. He rode Driven by Success in the Hudson, Rightly So in the Iroquois and Fenway Faithful in the Sleepy Hollow.
Also: British-bred April Pride and jockey Garrett Gomez rallied past pacesetter Century Park to win the $100,000 Harold C. Ramser Sr. Handicap at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif.
Century Park and jockey Tyler Baze went straight to the front and led throughout the turf mile with April Pride a distant fifth on the backstretch, but the filly moved up to second at the top of the stretch and overtook the leader in the final furlongs, winning by one length in 1:34.02.
UNLV ATHLETICS
Barlocchi-Bouras reach ITA region tennis finals
The Rebels men's doubles team of Luca Barlocchi and Mehdi Bouras advanced to today's championship match of the ITA Mountain Region Tennis Championships at Darling Tennis Center.
The sixth-seeded duo will meet the tournament's No. 4-seeded pair, Phillip Ellers and Alexi Golding of Utah. Barlocchi-Bouras moved into the finals with an 8-4 victory over the Idaho duo of Lachlan Reed-Adrien Simon.
Also: The Rebels women's volleyball team won its 21st consecutive match against Air Force, beating the Falcons 25-12, 25-22, 25-20 in Mountain West Conference play at Cox Pavilion.
Cursty Jackson had 13 kills to pace the Rebels (6-12, 4-6 MWC).
MISCELLANEOUS
ESPN's Griese makes 'offensive comment'
ESPN broadcaster Bob Griese apologized twice for a remark he made about NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya while announcing the Minnesota-Ohio State game.
During the broadcast, ESPN ran a graphic listing the top five drivers in NASCAR's Chase for the championship points race. Fellow analyst Chris Spielman asked where was Montoya, who is Colombian. Griese replied that he was "out having a taco."
As the game was wrapping up, Griese, a Pro Football Hall of Famer and former Miami Dolphins quarterback, apologized for the remark and said Montoya is one of the best drivers in NASCAR.
At halftime of ESPN's coverage of Florida-Mississippi State, Griese apologized again.
"Earlier today on our game I made an offensive comment regarding Juan Pablo Montoya as part of a NASCAR promo. It was regrettable, and I should not have said it. I really enjoy NASCAR, and I follow it closely and would like to take this opportunity to apologize to Juan, NASCAR and everyone else who heard my comment," he said.
In a statement, ESPN called the remark "inappropriate."
Bill "Big Whistle" Chadwick, the first U.S.-born official in NHL history who was later a TV analyst for the New York Rangers, died in Cutchogue, N.Y. He was 94.
For 16 seasons, from 1939 to 1955, and despite being blind in one eye, Chadwick was one of the best officials in the NHL. He invented and perfected the system of hand signals to signify penalties, and the system is now used throughout the world.
Carolina Hurricanes forward Tuomo Ruutu was suspended three games by the NHL for a boarding of Darcy Tucker that knocked the Colorado Avalanche winger unconscious.
Ruutu was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for boarding Tucker at 5:26 of the second period of Friday's game.
Las Vegan Rob MacCachren finished second to motocross legend Ricky Johnson in the 14-lap final of the Pro 2WD stadium off-road race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway's dirt track.
The finish was enough to allow MacCachren to win the season title of the Traxxis TORC Series by four points.
