MLB: Tribe hires Acta
Manny Acta was hired by the Indians yesterday to be their manager, taking the job about three months after he was fired by the Nationals.
Acta, who signed a three-year contract with a club option for 2013, was chosen after Cleveland had second interviews with former Mets manager Bobby Valentine and Indians Triple-A manager Torey Lovullo. The team had been expected to interview Dodgers hitting coach Don Mattingly this week.
* Tony La Russa reportedly will return as manager of the Cardinals. Sources told ESPN.com the team fired Hal McRae as hitting coach and will replace him with Mark McGwire.
NCAA: Gators back on top
Florida regained the top spot in the Associated Press poll from Alabama. The Crimson Tide needed a blocked field goal on the last play to beat Tennessee 12-10 on Saturday, while Florida pulled away from Mississippi State in the fourth quarter for a 29-19 victory. The Gators received 30 first-place votes to Alabama’s 23. No. 3 Texas got seven first-place votes after its 41-7 victory at Missouri.
* Florida, Alabama and Texas held on to the top three spots in this week’s BCS standings. Iowa moved up to fourth followed by Southern Cal, TCU and Boise State, which fell from fourth to seventh.
* Oklahoma Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford will have season-ending surgery on Wednesday and expects to enter the NFL draft in April.
NASCAR: Hamlin rolls
Denny Hamlin passed Jimmie Johnson with 138 laps to go and held off the Chase leader yesterday at Martinsville, Va. Helped by a long green-flag run, Hamlin pulled away after a restart with 52 laps to go, ending Johnson’s remarkable run of five trips to Victory Lane in the last six races at the shortest circuit in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series. Johnson held on for second and padded his lead in the series standings.
TENNIS: Baghdatis wins
Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus beat Olivier Rochus of Belgium 6-1, 7-5 to win the Stockholm Open. . . . Mikhail Youzhny of Russia beat Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia, 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-4, and Francesca Schiavone of Italy defeated Olga Govortsova of Belarus, 6-3, 6-0, to win Kremlin Cup titles in Moscow.
GOLF: Matteson survives
Troy Matteson won the Frys.com Open in Scottsdale, Ariz., with a birdie on the second playoff hole to beat Jamie Lovemark and Rickie Fowler. Matteson bogeyed the final two holes of regulation to fall into the playoff.
* Phil Blackmar shot a 7-under 64 to win his first Champions Tour title by one shot over Jay Haas, Tom Kite and Andy Bean at the AT&T Championship in San Antonio . . . Michael Jonzon shot a 4-under 67 to win the Castello (Spain) Masters.
OBIT: Kevin Widemond, 23
Kevin Widemond, a U.S. basketball player who played for Ovarense Dolce Vita, died yesterday of cardiac arrest in Portugal after collapsing during a break in a game. He was 23.