Reuters Sports News Summary

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Angels SS Simmons opts out of final week

Los Angeles Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons opted out of the final week of the season, the team announced Tuesday. "Earlier today, Andrelton Simmons informed the Club that he has chosen to opt out of the remainder of the season," the team in a statement. "This year has presented unique challenges for many and the Angels respect Andrelton's decision."

Andreescu pulls out of French Open, to take rest of 2020 off

Canada's Bianca Andreescu has pulled out of the French Open and will take the rest of the season off to focus on her recuperation, the world number seven said on Tuesday. Andreescu, who did not defend her 2019 U.S. Open crown in New York this year, has not played on tour since the WTA Finals in Shenzhen last year where she retired with a knee injury that also kept her out of the Australian Open in January.

Cycling: French police release two from custody in Arkea-Samsic doping probe

French police have released two people who were being questioned as part of an investigation into suspected doping by the Arkea-Samsic team at this year's Tour de France, the Marseille prosecutor's office said on Wednesday. During a raid on the team's hotel in Meribel after the competition's 17th stage, investigators found health products, including substances and items that could be linked to doping.

MLB roundup: Indians punch playoff ticket with walk-off home run

Jose Ramirez belted a three-run homer in the 10th inning as the host Cleveland Indians clinched a postseason berth in dramatic fashion with a 5-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday. Chicago appeared poised to prevent Cleveland from punching its ticket to the postseason for the fourth time in five seasons after scoring twice in the top of the 10th inning. Adam Engel ripped an RBI triple off Phil Maton (3-3) before coming around to score on Nick Madrigal's RBI single to stake the White Sox to a 3-1 lead.

MLS regular season to end with Decision Day on November 8

The MLS announced the remainder of the regular-season schedule on Tuesday, culminating with all 26 teams taking the pitch Nov. 8 on "Decision Day 2020." The schedule will feature exclusively intraconference games during the final two weeks of the regular season.

Matthew gets six captain's picks as Europe change Solheim Cup qualification

Team Europe captain Catriona Matthew said a modified qualification criteria for next year's Solheim Cup will see her picks increased from four to six. The change to qualification follows the disruption of the Ladies European Tour (LET) calendar due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, leaving fewer opportunities for players to score points ahead of the biennial event at the Inverness Golf Club in Toledo, Ohio.

Texas State coach Kaspar resigns amid allegations of racism

Texas State men's basketball coach Danny Kaspar resigned on Tuesday in the midst of an investigation into allegations he repeatedly made racist statements to student-athletes. Former Texas State point guard Jaylen Shead, now at Washington State, said in a social media post in June that Kaspar pushed players to run faster in practice by yelling "chase that chicken." Shead also said that if he was in front of other players in sprints, Kaspar said he was "running like the cops are behind him."

Exclusive: Brits on bikes as fitness app data shows pandemic boom

Active travel is booming in Britain as millions of commuters, shoppers and schoolchildren get on their bikes to avoid confined spaces on public transport during the COVID-19 pandemic, data from the fitness tracker app Strava showed on Wednesday. The city of Liverpool saw the greatest year-on-year rise in cycling, with an increase of more than 220% for people taking at least one trip by bike.

Olympics: Japan may ask foreign athletes for activity plans - Yomiuri

Japan will consider asking foreign athletes participating in the delayed Olympic Games next year to submit plans laying out their base camp locations, training sites and host towns as part of COVID-19 countermeasures, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Wednesday. While athletes will not have to undergo a two-week quarantine period they will be required to be tested for the novel coronavirus upon arrival, the Yomiuri said citing a draft plan from the government and organizing committee sources.

League fines teams, coaches for failing to wear masks properly during games

The National Football League (NFL) handed a handful of coaches and teams hefty fines for failing to wear masks properly during Week 2 games. The league fined the Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders, New Orleans Saints, San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks $250,000 each, while the head coach of each team received an additional $100,000 fine for mask noncompliance, a source confirmed to Reuters.