Free-agent closer Alex Colome has agreed to a deal to join the Minnesota Twins, a source told ESPN's Jeff Passan on Wednesday.

The deal is for one year with a club option and $6.25 million guaranteed, according to the source. Colome's base salary for 2021 will be $5 million, while his base salary for the option year will be $5.5 million.

Colome spent the past two seasons as the closer for the Chicago White Sox, who picked up Liam Hendriks -- considered the top closer on the free-agent market -- in January.

Colome, 32, has a 2.95 career ERA and 138 saves across eight seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays, Seattle Mariners and White Sox.

He was named an All-Star in 2016 and finished first in saves in the American League in 2017 with 47 while with the Rays. He was traded to the Mariners during the 2018 season and then was acquired by the White Sox in November 2018. He went on to have one of his best years in 2019, when he converted 30 of 33 save opportunities and went 4-5 with a 2.80 ERA.

Colome made his first postseason appearances following the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, earning one save in two games and a 0.00 ERA as the White Sox were eliminated in the AL wild-card series against the Oakland Athletics.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Oliver Bromby claims 60m success while Tina Sutej soars to pole vault meeting record at the Czech Indoor Gala

Britain’s European indoor 800m silver medallist Jamie Webb continued his winning return to competition at the Czech Indoor Gala in Ostrava on Wednesday (February 3), clocking another PB of 1:46.45 to improve on his 1:46.95 set in Vienna a few days earlier.

Finishing strongly at the World Athletics Indoor Tour meeting, Webb secured success ahead of Czech Republic’s Filip Snejdr and Lukas Hodbod, who clocked respective indoor PBs of 1:46.63 and 1:46.93.

Prior to the Vienna Indoor Classic, Webb’s last race over 800m had been the 2019 World Championships semi-finals. He then sustained a leg injury and found out he had fractured his femur around the same time that Olympic Games postponement was announced last March.

“The femur injury bothered me for a long time,” he said, reflecting on last year.

“Things are going well. My second race, a second PB.

“I may have made some minor mistakes in the race, but I felt strong in the finish.”

Webb’s fellow Briton Oliver Bromby was another of the winners as he ran 6.65 in the 60m to also achieve a European Indoor Championships standard. Netherlands’ multiple European medallist Jamile Samuel won the women’s race in 7.28.

Slovenia’s Tina Šutej broke the meeting record to win the pole vault, achieving five first-time clearances up to 4.63m before she managed 4.70m on her second attempt. Romana Maláčová was second with 4.43m.

Three-time world indoor champion Pavel Maslák won the men’s 400m in 46.22 ahead of Ricardo dos Santos who ran a Portuguese indoor record of 46.64. The women’s race was won by Cynthia Bolingo in 52.89.

World and European indoor medallist Tomáš Staněk won the shot put with a throw of 20.94m.

Tuesday’s World Athletics Indoor Tour action had seen world silver medallist Yaroslava Mahuchikh soar over 2.06m at the Banskobystricka latka high jump meeting to move to joint third on the world indoor all-time list.

It is the highest indoor jump in the world for nine years.

The 19-year-old’s fellow Ukrainian Yuliya Levchenko was second with her 1.96m clearance.

World and European indoor gold medallist Gianmarco Tamberi won the men’s event with his clearance of 2.31m.

There have been no new coronavirus cases among Premiership players or management for the second successive round of testing.

Premiership Rugby has moved to twice-weekly testing as part of stricter Covid-19 protocols following the discovery of a more infectious variant.

The number of positive tests has been falling since 33 new cases at 10 clubs were found at the end of December.

Ireland captain Johnny Sexton is fit to play in his side's Six Nations opener against Wales on Sunday.

His involvement had been in doubt after he was forced off during Leinster's win over Munster on 22 January with a hamstring issue.

Ireland are ready for a return to action just two months after their protracted 2020 campaign ended.

"It feels like yesterday since we were finishing up the Autumn Nations Cup and a disappointing end to the Six Nations," said Sexton.

"In many ways it's been good. We've hit the ground running, it doesn't feel like we've gone backwards it feels like we've taken off from where we left the last campaign which is great."

An inconsistent year ended on a high note in December with a solid win over an in-form Scotland.

The victory eased some of the pressure building around head coach Andy Farrell, who remains both unbeaten at home and without an away win since taking over.

Both Ireland and Wales, having won a Grand Slam each in the past three years, have fallen behind England and France in the northern hemisphere's pecking order.

"It doesn't matter how much we talk about it or how good we say things are in camp, we have to put out performances that reflect that," said Sexton.

"We can believe one thing but until we go out and prove it on the pitch, play to our potential and get the results that we feel we need to get within this group, then we won't know our progress, we won't know how close we are to England and France.

"We don't play France for two weeks, we play Wales this week and all our focus is on that.

"We haven't honestly spoken a day past Sunday, everything has been geared towards this game."

Ireland travel to Cardiff having not won there since 2013 - although this time will be in the absence of fans.

Asked if an empty stadium levelled the playing field, Sexton said he did not believe the situation played entirely into Ireland's hands.

"You can look at it that way definitely," said the 36-year-old.

"You can also look at it sometimes when you play there the crowd are so passionate about the game. I remember that game in 2013, we got on top early and we were playing really well, the crowd got on top of the Welsh team at that stage.

"Sometimes when you start well with a full crowd and things are quiet, that can work in your favour.

"It is what it is, we're well-used to playing at empty stadiums at this stage, I don't think it's something we've really spoken about at all."

Winger Josh Adams has been released by Wales after being suspended for the first two matches of the 2021 Six Nations following a breach of Covid-19 protocols.

The players linked back up on Tuesday and the breach was raised.

"I would like to apologise unreservedly," said Adams.

Adams made his international debut in 2018 and has scored 14 tries in 29 Tests for Wales.

He was expected to start in the tournament opener against Ireland on Sunday but will miss that game at the Principality Stadium and the trip to face Scotland six days later.

The latest round of Covid-19 testing results for the national squad all returned negative.

"When out of camp, at the weekend, I made an error of judgement," said Adams. "I attended a small gathering of immediate family to celebrate a family milestone.

"It was wrong to do this. I'm aware that everyone needs to follow the rules and, being in the public eye, I have a responsibility to lead by example and I've fallen short on this occasion.

"I'd like to apologise to my team-mates and to our supporters for my mistake."

'Everyone has a responsibility'

Wales head coach Wayne Pivac is already without suspended wing Liam Williams for the opening match, which kicks off at 15:00 GMT on Sunday.

Louis Rees-Zammit and George North are in contention for the wing berths to face Ireland, while Hallam Amos is another option.

The Wales squad recorded no Covid-19 cases during the two-month autumn campaign.

"It was dealt with pretty swiftly," said Pivac.

"It's breached team protocols, the Six Nations protocols and lockdown rules. We've been through a thorough education process with the players and the management. It put others at risk potentially so it was dealt with by way of suspension.

"We are extremely disappointed with the breach and have acted robustly and swiftly to take all appropriate measures.

"All players and management have received detailed briefings and education regarding our protocols, and everyone has a responsibility to abide by the rules.

"On this occasion, Josh has made an error of judgement. He made a mistake and he has shown immediate remorse.

"We will work with Josh in relation to his integration back into camp following a further testing and re-education process."

Adams will return to the Wales squad on Monday, 8 February if he is given the all-clear but will not be eligible for selection against Scotland five days later and will instead help the rest of the squad prepare.

Pivac explained how the incident had been discovered.

"It came to our attention yesterday after training and we spoke to the player and he was upfront and honest and realised the mistake he had made," said Pivac.

"It was just close family at a family member's home not too far from his own home, but it was in breach of the rules.

"It was a milestone which he's very proud of but unfortunately it is in breach of the rules.

"It was not a great distance and it was a very quiet celebration, as far as I'm aware.

"There was no alcohol involved. It was a celebration in terms of family members getting together for something special that's happened and we'll leave that to the family."

Pivac is confident the incident has not put the fixture in danger with close contacts not applying, as Adams has not tested positive or shown any symptoms. The Six Nations has been informed and backs the decision.

"We're now going through that process we've gone through, the ordinary testing that we do at the start of the week, and it's been 100% negative," added Pivac.

"The next stage is to get the second lot of testing done, which is already in place and if that comes through negative I think we're all in the clear."

Pivac was asked whether he would consider changing the policy of allowing the players to go home from the bubble during games.

"The message went out at the start of the competition about how we'd deal with any breaches," said Pivac.

"We've dealt with it how we said we would and that should be a lesson to everybody.

"You've got to treat these guys as adults, as they are, and as professional rugby players. It's a very long time to lock people away in a hotel.

"Everybody came back really refreshed, we had 100% negative results from our testing and have been very good apart from this one breach, which is unfortunate."

SAN TAN VALLEY, Ariz. – Corey Day shook as he paced around the pit area after the opening night of the Wild Wing Shootout Jan. 22 at Arizona Speedway.

The 15-year-old sprint car driver had just completed his first heat race in the most thrilling, memorable way — overtaking 10-time World of Outlaws champion Donny Schatz with a jagged slide job to finish third.

“It just didn’t feel real,” Day said. “Then it set in: ‘I just beat Donny Schatz. What the heck?”

The Clovis, Calif., kid introduced himself to the sprint car world in that very moment, sandwiched between Schatz and California role models Carson Macedo and Rico Abreu in the heat race. He finished 12th and eighth in his first two 410 sprint car features.

Day has all the intangibles to set sail on those desires.

First, it’s in his blood. His dad, Ronnie Day, was a stalwart on the California sprint car scene during the 1990s and early 2000s. His mentor and car owner, two-time World of Outlaws champion Jason Meyers, is one of the finest wheelmen to grace the sport.

If you need another good reason, ask Day anything and he’ll articulate himself well beyond his years.

His résumé may be short, but it’s compact and packs a punch. His 410 sprint car debut isn’t the first time Day delivered when facing a tall order with zero familiarity. In just his second year of racing micro sprint, Day won the Restricted A-Class at the Tulsa (Okla.) Shootout in his first attempt.

Not long after that, he landed a deal in the Driven Performance and D1 Chassis house car, one of the most prominent micro sprint rides in California. He also has a pair of Plaza Park track titles and a King of California championship — one of the most prestigious honors in the state.

Prior to the Wild Wing Shootout, Day had only six 360 sprint car races under his belt, with all of them coming late last season.

The inaugural winged sprint car weekend in the desert provided Day a taste of his desires, racing with the likes of Schatz, Macedo, Abreu and Aaron Reutzel.

“Being able to race with Donny like that — it’s surreal,” Day said. “I always watched him. That’s where I want to be — the World of Outlaws.”

Day may have a goal for his future, but for now school is taking much of his time. He missed the final night of the Wild Wing Shootout to get back home.

His weekdays are prioritized with online schooling since COVID-19 has forced education to be done through Zoom calls and message boards.

“I hate that,” Day said. “I’m always thinking about racing. And then I see all my friends [on Zoom], but you can’t talk to them. You can’t interact with them at all.”

Daryn Pittman, the 2013 World of Outlaws champion, is expected to driver Meyers’ No. 14 during the sanctioning body’s annual West Coast swing, but Day hopes to be back behind the wheel of the Meyers entry later in the season.

He hopes to race his family-owned car when the World of Outlaws is scheduled to visit California for six races beginning March 20 at Perris Auto Speedway.

Day has two goals for this year — land some kind of job when he turns 16 and create the kind of future he’s always desired.

“Hopefully by 2022, if not ’23, I hope to be running the All Stars, the Outlaws or something,” Day said. “Honestly, if I got an Outlaw ride right now, I’d take it. I eat, sleep and breathe racing. As soon as it can happen, that’s what I’ll do, and I’ll jump on that. … If everything is good about it.

“That’s my dream,” Day said. “But if it’s not going to work out, it’s not going to work out. Time will tell, for sure.”

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Chase Briscoe built his motorsports résumé by competing on dirt tracks throughout the United States, turning his grassroots racing team into a contender in the process.

However, outside of the March 28 NASCAR Cup Series race on dirt at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, don’t expect to see the Mitchell, Ind., native slinging mud much — if at all — this season.

Much like his friend and rival, Christopher Bell, did during his rookie year in the Cup Series, Briscoe told reporters during Daytona 500 Media Week on Monday afternoon that he’ll curtail his dirt racing to focus on his first season at NASCAR’s top level.

Briscoe explained that, in his eyes, taking a chance on racing for fun and putting his day job in jeopardy should he happen to get hurt wasn’t something he wanted to do — at least not in his first year at the wheel of the No. 14 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing.

“I would love to go do more dirt stuff, but I think it’s risk vs. reward, for me especially,” Briscoe said. “My whole life, really, these last seven years … all I’ve tried to do is get to the Cup Series. Now that I’m finally here, I don’t want to necessarily risk going and getting hurt and throwing away this opportunity, because it’s the opportunity of a lifetime. I’m probably going to hold off on the dirt stuff during the season. Once the Chili Bowl and the end of the season comes around, I’ll definitely start running some more stuff, but during the season I’m just going to focus on the Cup Series.

“I’m really trying to do the best I can do,” Briscoe added. “While I do think that going and running other things certainly helps, there’s also that risk of getting hurt and that extra risk is something that I probably don’t need to be taking right now. I don’t know. I might try to run the Indianapolis race (the BC39 for USAC midgets) depending on how the season is going and how we’re looking points-wise. It’s something I would definitely like to do more of, because having grown up doing that, it’s obviously one of my passions.

“Even as a team owner, it’s something I really enjoy doing, it just financially has to make sense.”

In the past, Briscoe has fielded sprint cars and midgets under the Chase Briscoe Racing banner for a mix of top talent, including veterans such as Dave Darland, Thomas Meseraull and Dale Blaney, as well as young gun Logan Seavey.

Briscoe owns a 600cc micro sprint that competes on occasion at North Carolina’s Millbridge Speedway and tipped he might use that car to prepare for the Bristol dirt race.

While his team isn’t necessarily open for business currently, Briscoe added that he does have a passion for team ownership and maintains an interest in giving back to the grassroots levels of the sport.

“I would love to be able to go find young kids that don’t have the means to go race in top-tier stuff and go give it to them, so maybe in the future that will be something that is a possibility, but as far as me racing this year, I’m not going to do too much,” Briscoe noted. “I still have my mini sprint that I’m going to have Dillon Welch drive out at Millbridge, pretty much all season long. That’s fun for us to do.

“I might hop in it a time myself before the Bristol dirt race, just to have the test day and try to get back in the dirt routine, but, other than that, I won’t do any dirt racing.”

A Liga MX referee faces a hearing on Thursday to protest his recent firing, which he says is racially motivated.

Adalid Maganda was officially let go by the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) on Tuesday. A statement announcing the decision slammed the referee for poor performance, moonlighting in non-sanctioned matches during the pandemic, and a lack of familiarity with VAR, among other issues.

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Maganda last worked on Jan. 10, calling a Liga MX match between Toluca and Queretaro in which he drew ire from players and fans alike for missing key calls.

However, Maganda fired back, accusing Arturo Brizio, Mexico's head of the refereeing committee, of a personal vendetta in which skin color played a part in the decision.

"[Brizio] is doing harm to referees in Mexico," Maganda said on Tuesday, in an interview with Futbol Picante on ESPN Deportes. "This man, with all due respect, is not right for this job. He's right for a job on TV [giving referee analysis], but not to lead the committee."

Maganda stated he was not given proper training on VAR, claiming that while the FMF offered courses for referees as the technology was rolled out, Brizio never included him on the list of those who should receive the lessons.

Though Brizio's video review of Maganda's last match appeared to defend and uphold many of the referee's decisions, he was not selected to work in any Liga MX matches since then. He was ultimately fired on Monday.

The 36-year-old referee is perhaps best known in Mexico for staging a hunger strike to save his job from a previous firing in 2018. Maganda, who identifies as Afro-Mexican, alleged Brizio had referred to him by his skin color in a meeting with other members of the committee at the time. Following a brief protest outside the FMF offices in Toluca, Maganda was reinstated.

"Mr. Brizio is very elitist," Maganda told El Pais in 2018. "He doesn't like short people, or people of color."

Though Maganda was brought back into the fold after his hunger strike, he said he was given little opportunity to prove himself, at one point finding himself not selected to work by the committee between March 13 and Aug. 31 of 2020. He said the inactivity drove him to referee an amateur match after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"What does a referee need? To work so you don't forget the pitch, and that was the last option I had," Maganda said.

Though he did not contract the disease from the experience, he was further sanctioned by the FMF, sitting out several more weeks of matches before receiving assignments as a fourth official for various Liga MX games. His assignment as referee of the match between Toluca and Queretaro marked the end of a drought spanning back to March 8, when he was appointed to call Tampico Madero vs. Venados in Mexico's second division, the Liga de Expansion.

If he is not reinstated on this occasion, Maganda said he felt Mexico could put hosting rights for the 2026 World Cup at risk.

Following the events in 2018, Maganda claimed contact from FIFA, with instructions to get in contact with them if any other incidents arose from alleged discrimination. He told ESPN on Tuesday he plans to do that if the situation is not resolved in his favor.

"If they take away hosting for Mexico, it'll be [Brizio's] fault," Maganda said. "FIFA will do that, for acts of racism."

Pakistan women 127 for 6 (Javeria 56*, Imtiaz 29, Shangase 3-20, Sekhukhune 2-15) beat South Africa women 68 for 4 (du Preez 24*, Amin 2-14) by eight runs via DLS method

After being swept 3-0 in the ODI series and losing the first two T20Is, Pakistan women ended their South Africa tour with a consolation victory in a rain-hit third T20I in Durban. After being put into bat, the visitors made 127 for 6 in their 20 overs, with captain Javeria Khan top-scoring for them with an unbeaten 56 off 50 balls. Rain then interrupted South Africa women's chase and they were behind the asking rate when a second spell of rain forced an end to the match.

Left-arm fingerspinner Anam Amin had jolted South Africa early by getting Anne Bosch (13) and Marizanne Kapp (1). When Lara Goodall fell, they slipped to 45 for 4 in the tenth over and there would be no way back for them. Du Preez who top-scored for South Africa with 24 not out off 23 balls was the only batter to strike at over 100 in the chase.

In the first innings, Pakistan went through the powerplay unscathed before losing the wickets of Ayesha Zafar and Muneeba Ali in successive overs. Tumi Sekhukhune and Nondumiso Shangase made further inroads to reduce Pakistan to 66 for 5 in the 13th over. However, Javeria Khan and Kainat Imtiaz propped them up with a 61-run stand off 43 balls.

Khan, who had missed the first two T20Is due to a finger injury, batted through the innings in the third while Imtiaz was dismissed off the last ball. Khan was particularly severe on Shabnim Ismail, taking her for 21 off 15 balls. Shangase was the pick of the bowlers for South Africa with 3 for 20.

Graeme Smith, CSA director of cricket, praised the South Africa team for their 2-1 series win and Pakistan for visiting the country in the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.

"All in all we are very proud of head coach Hilton (Moreeng) and his team," Smith said in a media release. "The women's game is continuing to make great strides and this is really exciting for all South Africans.

"Finally I must also thank the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for undertaking the trip to our country during these difficult times. As we have seen with Covid-19, the sporting landscape has changed dramatically and we feel honoured to have hosted them during an incident-free tour."

The NFL has made it through the 2021 season on schedule amid its strict COVID-19 protocols. NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith doesn't see that changing Sunday with Super Bowl LV.

On Wednesday, in an appearance on ESPN's Keyshawn, JWill & Zubin Show, Smith was asked whether the players' union would agree to move the Super Bowl if Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes or Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady were to test positive for COVID-19 ahead of the game.

"I don't see any scenario where we would agree with the league to move the Super Bowl," Smith said of any possible postponement. "I mean, look, we've had a difficult season. We've had teams in Cleveland, where I think JC Tretter, our union president, was breaking down film because they didn't have a coach; we saw the Denver Broncos head into a [game] without a number of quarterbacks. I think it wouldn't be fair to the rigor and the discipline that we've insisted that players have this year to move the Super Bowl. My hope, and certainly everybody's hope, is that our players will continue to double down, do the great job that they've done all season, and we'll get this fantastic game kicked off on time."

On Monday, the Chiefs placed two players, wide receiver Demarcus Robinson and backup center Daniel Kilgore, on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Both players were put on the list as close contacts and will be eligible to play Sunday as long as they produce five consecutive days of negative tests.

The NFL had to reschedule games involving the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens this season because of COVID-19 outbreaks with both teams but was able to complete its regular season within the scheduled 17 weeks.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said this season that the NFL would not postpone a game for competitive reasons, not even if a team had multiple players from the same position group unavailable, as long as the rest of the team was not at risk from COVID-19.

Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski missed his team's wild-card victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Browns also played a game against the New York Jets this season in which none of their top four wide receivers were available due to COVID-19 protocols. The Broncos had to start practice squad wide receiver Kendall Hinton at quarterback in a game this season against the New Orleans Saints after all three of the team's regular QBs were unavailable due to COVID-19 protocols.