KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Right-hander Kyle Wright and the Kansas City Royals agreed Tuesday to a $1.8 million, one-year contract that avoided salary arbitration. Wright will make the same salary he did last season, which he spent recovering from shoulder surgery. The Royals knew he would not pitch in 2024 when they acquired him in a trade with Atlanta, but they were willing to let him fully rehab his shoulder with an eye on putting him into the rotation for 2025. Wright went 21-5 with a 3.19 ERA with the Braves in 2022, his last full season before the injury. The Royals had one of the best rotations in the majors last season, headlined by All-Stars Seth Lugo and Cole Ragans. Both will be back along with Michael Wacha, who last month agreed to a $51 million, three-year deal to remain with the club. Six Royals remain on track to exchange proposed arbitration salaries with the team on Jan. 9: right-handers Hunter Harvey, Carlos Hernández and John Schreiber, left-hander Kris Bubic and outfielders Kyle Isbel and MJ Melendez.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Despite losing its starting quarterback after three games and head coach 10 days ago, UNLV had its best season in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The 24th-ranked Rebels picked up their 11th win and first bowl victory in 24 years Wednesday night when they pulled away in the second half and beat California 24-13 in the LA Bowl. “This is exactly how we wanted to finish it. I mean, not many people can say they got 11 wins in a season,” said linebacker Jackson Woodard, who the Defensive MVP of the game. Hajj-Malik Williams passed for two touchdowns and Kylin James ran for another for the 11-3 Rebels, who won for the first time in a bowl game since beating Arkansas in the 2000 Las Vegas Bowl. It also gave the Rebels 11 wins for the first time as an FBS program.
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — Backup Billy Atkins threw for 181 yards and a touchdown in his first start since 2022, leading James Madison to the program’s first bowl win after topping Western Kentucky 27-17 on Wednesday night in the Boca Raton Bowl. JMU was without starting quarterback Alonza Barnett III, who suffered an injury against Marshall on Nov. 30, and the Dukes turned to Atkins, who had just three pass attempts in the last two years. Atkins went 4 for 5 on a fourth-quarter drive, ending in a 21-yard touchdown pass to Taylor Thompson for a 24-17 lead with 9:20 left. After both teams went three-and-out, Khairi Manns ended a Western Kentucky drive with 3:02 remaining when he recovered his own strip sack and JMU marched down the field for a short field goal for a 10-point lead. It was the fifth game this season that JMU had three or more takeaways in a game.
The Colorado Buffaloes have landed ex-Liberty quarterback Kaidon Salter out of the transfer portal to possibly step in and replace Shedeur Sanders next season. Salter figures to compete with five-star high school recruit Julian “JuJu” Lewis for the starting job. Lewis is expected to join the 20th-ranked Buffaloes (9-3) in the spring semester. A dual threat, Salter is coming off a regular season for the Flames in which he ran for 579 yards and seven TDs while throwing for 1,886 yards and 15 touchdowns. His total yards per game (224.09 yards) was fourth-most in Conference USA. Salter led Liberty to an 8-3 mark this season. His former team will play in the Bahamas Bowl on Jan. 4 against Buffalo. Colorado offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur recently spoke of the need to bring in a player such as Salter as Lewis develops. Shurmur called Lewis a “great decision maker.”
WEDNESDAY SCORES
NCAA WOMEN TOP 25
No. 9 Duke 93, Wofford 58
No. 13 Kansas State 83, New Mexico State 39
No. 17 Georgia Tech 88, Rice 57
No. 18 Tennessee 90, Memphis 75
No. 19 North Carolina 77, Florida 57