IN BRIEF

BASEBALL

Yankees starter Garcia
dropped into bullpen

Struggling New York Yankees starter Freddy Garcia is going to the bullpen.

Garcia was shifted to a relief role Sunday, a day after he gave up six runs to Detroit in 1 2/3 innings. The outing boosted his ERA to 12.51.

I'm not surprised," Garcia said. "You play here in New York, they expect (you) to pitch good. ... It's not like they wait for you to be good."

Rewarded with a $4 million, one-year contract after going 12-8 with a 3.62 ERA last season for New York, Garcia (0-2) has been the worst of a shaky rotation that was thought to be a strength for the Yankees entering the season.

Also: Third baseman Brandon Inge agreed to sign with the Oakland Athletics. Inge, 35, was released by the Tigers on Thursday after batting .100 with one home run and two RBIs in nine games this season.

GOLF

Dufner tops Els in playoff
to win first PGA Tour title

Jason Dufner beat Ernie Els with a birdie on the second hole of a playoff in the Zurich Classic at Avondale, La., winning for the first time in 164 starts on the PGA Tour.

After entering the fourth round with a two-shot lead, Dufner shot 2-under 70, and Els fired a 67 to match Dufner at 19-under 269.

Also: Stacy Lewis won the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic in Mobile, Ala., for her second LPGA Tour title, holding off hard-charging teenager Lexi Thompson by a stroke.

Lewis shot 3-under 69 for a 17-under 271 total. Thompson, a 17-year-old who led this event last year before shooting 78 in the final round, followed her second-round 66 with a final-round 65.

MISCELLANEOUS

Nadal adds to lore with
seventh Barcelona crown

Rafael Nadal became the first player in the Open era to win two tournaments seven times after beating David Ferrer 7-6 (1), 7-5 in the Barcelona Open final.

The second-ranked Nadal's 21st straight victory on clay followed up his eighth straight tournament title in Monte Carlo.

Also: Second-ranked Maria Sharapova cruised past top-ranked Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 6-4 to win the Porsche Grand Prix at Stuttgart, Germany.

Sharapova lost the finals of the Australian Open and Indian Wells this year to Azarenka, and the Russian had never beaten her rival from Belarus in four previous finals encounters.

American Paul Malignaggi (31-4) stopped previously unbeaten Vyacheslav Senchenko (32-1) in the ninth round to take the WBA welterweight title in Donetsk, Ukraine.

Kelsey Williamson won the 800 meters for UNLV in the Steve Scott Invitational at Irvine, Calif. Williamson finished in 2 minutes 7.3 seconds to beat out teammate Corey Honeycutt.

Secoral Yanez (400), Ashley Henry (high jump) and the Rebels' 4x100 relay recorded second-place finishes. Zadia Bryant was third in the triple jump in a personal-best 40 feet.

UNLV track assistant coach Khadevis Robinson helped the USA Blue team win the men's distance medley title at the Penn Relays at Philadelphia. Robinson's foursome finished in 9 minutes 19.31 seconds.

The UNLV baseball team lost to New Mexico 9-1 in a Mountain West Conference game at Albuquerque, N.M.

Trent Cook knocked in the only run for the Rebels (20-24, 5-13 MWC), who gave up a three-run homer to DJ Peterson in the first inning and three two-run shots in the eighth, including another by Peterson.

The UNLV softball team suffered a 5-3 loss to Colorado State at Eller Media Stadium. Paige Emerson had a two-run triple for the Rebels (19-24, 0-6).