Morning Briefing March 22, 2010

Baseball

Joe Mauer is staying home.

The AL MVP agreed to an eight-year, $184 million contract extension with Minnesota on Sunday that includes a full no-trade clause, a massive deal that shows the Twins are no longer spending like a small-market club.

The deal covers the 2011-2018 seasons and is the fourth largest — both in total value and average salary — in major league history. Starting next season, the All-Star catcher will make $23 million a year.

Minnesota closer Joe Nathan will miss the 2010 season because of a right elbow injury that will require surgery.

The Seattle Mariners pounded Jered Weaver for eight hits and six runs — five earned — over 4 1/3 innings in a 12-6 preseason win over the Los Angeles Angels at Tempe, Ariz.

Former Angel Chone Figgins was tough on his former teammates, going 3 for 4 with two hits off Weaver, including a run-scoring triple.

Kobe Bryant scored 20 of his 24 points in the second quarter, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the visiting Washington Wizards 99-92 in NBA action.

Suns 93, Trail Blazers 87: Amare Stoudemire scored 18, leading Phoenix past visiting Portland.

Rockets 116, Knicks 112: Kevin Martin scored 28, leading Houston at New York.

Cavaliers 104, Pistons 79: J.J. Hickson and Anthony Parker combined for 20 points in the third quarter and host Cleveland beat Detroit.

Pacers 121, Thunder 101: At Indianapolis, Danny Granger scored 32, leading Indiana past Oklahoma City.

Hawks 119, Spurs 114, OT: Marvin Williams scored 26, leading Atlanta past visiting San Antonio.

Kings 102, Clippers 89: Carl Landry scored 24, leading Sacramento at Los Angeles.

Tiger Woods acknowledged “living a lie,” saying he alone was responsible for the sex scandal that caused his shocking downfall from global sporting icon to late-night TV punchline.

“It was all me. I’m the one who did it. I’m the one who acted the way I acted. No one knew what was going on when it was going on,” Woods told the Golf Channel in one of two interviews Sunday night.

A second one was aired on ESPN, which will also televise the first two rounds of the Masters in April.

Hockey

Teemu Selanne scored his 600th career goal to help the Anaheim Ducks beat the visiting Colorado Avalanche 5-2 in NHL action.

Bruins 2, Rangers 1: Tuukka Rask made 23 saves, leading host Boston past New York.

Wild 4, Flames 3: At St. Paul, Minn., Chuck Kobasew scored twice and Minnesota beat Calgary.

Sabres 5, Hurricanes 3: At Raleigh, N.C., Jochen Hecht scored twice, leading Buffalo past Carolina.

Panthers 5, Lightning 2: At Sunrise, Fla., Scott Clemmensen made 29 saves, leading Florida past Tampa Bay.

Predators 3, Blues 2: Dustin Boyd scored twice, leading Nashville at St. Louis.

Coyotes 3, Stars 2, SO: Adrian Aucoin’s shootout goal lifted Phoenix at Dallas.

Oilers 5, Sharks 1: Devan Dubnyk made 27 saves, leading host Edmonton past San Jose.

Thrashers 3, Flyers 1: Ondrej Pavelec made 44 saves, leading Atlanta at Philadelphia.

Jessica Wong scored late in the third overtime to lift Minnesota Duluth (31-8-2) to a 3-2 victory over Cornell (21-9-6) in the NCAA Women’s Frozen Four championship game at Minneapolis.

Kenton Miller scored twice and the Spokane Chiefs defeated the Portland Winterhawks 4-2 in Western Hockey League playoff action in front of 5,143 at the Rose Garden.

Blake Gal and Mitch Wahl also scored for Spokane, which took a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference first round series.

“We played a real solid second and third period tonight,” Spokane coach Hardy Sauter said. “Our penalty kill came up real big when we needed it and guys played with confidence.”

James Reid made 39 saves for the Chiefs, who host Game 3 on Wednesday at the Spokane Arena.

— The Associated Press