TOKYO -- Japan's professional baseball league says it will play its 72 remaining preseason games in empty stadiums because of the threat of the spreading coronavirus.

The regular season is to open March 20.

The virus that originated in China is disrupting all of the country's sports schedules and has raised concerns about the Tokyo Olympics. The Games are to open July 24, followed by the Paralympics on Aug. 25.

Representatives of the baseball league's 12 teams made the move at a special meeting Wednesday.

"This was a bitter decision to make," Japan's Kyodo news agency quoted commissioner Atsushi Saito as saying. "Because we can't determine the situation, I won't say anything right now about [opening day]. If possible, we all want to go ahead on March 20."

Japan's top soccer league, the J-League, also halted all play until March 15.

Five deaths in Japan have been attributed to the virus outbreak. China has reported more than 2,700 deaths, and China is the host nation for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Houston's Alex Bregman was hit on the back by a breaking ball from St. Louis reliever Ramon Santos on Wednesday, making him the seventh Astros player plunked in five spring training games.

"It was a splitter," Bregman said. "It just got away from him."

Some opposing players have called for retaliation against the Astros following Major League Baseball's finding that Houston broke rules against electronic sign stealing en route to its 2017 World Series title and again in 2018.

Dustin Garneau was hit Sunday against Washington, and Jose Altuve was grazed Monday against Detroit, when Osvaldo Duarte and Alex De Goti also were hit. Aledmys Diaz and Jake Meyers were hit Tuesday against Miami.

Santos' 1-0 pitch in the fifth inning struck Bregman on the left shoulder blade. The two-time All-Star trotted to first, then was replaced by a pinch runner.

"I think I got hit, like, 10 times last year or something like that," Bregman said. "One of them got me good last year, but that one was just a split-finger."

Bregman hit his first homer of spring training Wednesday, a tying solo shot in the third on an 0-2 pitch from Angel Rondon. Houston hit four homers in a 7-5 loss to the Cardinals in a split-squad game for both sides.

Houston pitching coach Brent Strom was ejected by plate umpire Mike Estabrook in the fifth inning for arguing balls and strikes.

"I could tell it was brewing," Houston manager Dusty Baker said. "Some of those pitches were kind of close for a spring training game. He called a good game, but it was tight, a tight zone."

Britain's Kyle Edmund and Heather Watson recorded straight-set victories to reach the quarter finals at the Mexican Open, but Katie Boulter was beaten by China's Zhu Lin.

Edmund, 25, defeated Canadian fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4 6-4 to set up a meeting with France's Ugo Humbert or American Taylor Fritz.

Watson, 27, overcame Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko 7-6 (7-2) 6-2.

Meanwhile, Boulter fell to a 7-6 (7-2) 7-5 defeat by sixth seed Zhu.

After losing a disappointing first-set tie-break, 23-year-old Boulter responded well as she cemented an early break of serve in the second to establish a 3-1 lead.

But Zhu fought back to grab her second break point opportunity and draw level at 4-4 before seeing out the match with another break.

British number two Watson, ranked 69 in the world, saved two set points at 5-4 down before dominating a tie-break at the end of a topsy-turvy opening set where each player held serve just twice.

Watson made significantly fewer mistakes in the second set, racing into a 3-0 lead and eventually sealing victory with her first match point on Zhu's serve.

She will now face the winner of the all-American second-round match between Caroline Dolehide and Christina McHale for a place in the semi-finals.

British men's number two Edmund produced an impressive display to beat talented 19-year-old Auger-Aliassime.

Edmund, ranked 44th in the world, broke the Canadian world number 19's serve early in both sets and held on to his advantage relatively untroubled to continue his recent run of form.

A farewell tour - with the chance to perform one final time in Paris, London and New York - would not have been the Maria Sharapova way.

No longer competitive, and with a shoulder not fit for purpose, she would have hated making up the numbers at a benefit gig.

And so the end came in a well crafted essay published in Vogue and Vanity Fair - which very much is the Sharapova way.

The Russian leaves as one of only 10 women to have won each of the sport's four Grand Slam titles, and as a former world number one who made a huge impact on both sport and the celebrity world.

Some of those achievements have been tarnished by the positive test she returned for meldonium. Even if her physical problems were escalating, she was just not the same player after her return.

Her road to winning Wimbledon at the age of 17 in 2004 had many twists and turns. Conceived 40 miles from Chernobyl in the aftermath of the nuclear disaster, Sharapova was born in Siberia after her grandmother persuaded her parents it would be safer to leave.

The family then moved on to the Black Sea resort of Sochi, before heading to Florida when Sharapova was just six to try to carve out a professional tennis career. Mum stayed in Russia, and the family was not reunited for the best part of two years.

Sharapova had signed with Nike and IMG by the age of 11, and was a Wimbledon champion just six years later. She won three of her Grand Slams by the age of 21, and even though two French Open titles were to follow - arguably her greatest achievement on a surface on which she once said she felt like a "cow on ice" - her shoulder was becoming an increasing hindrance.

And then came the positive test for meldonium - a heart disease drug - at the 2016 Australian Open. In the evidence she presented at her tribunal, Sharapova said the drug was prescribed in 2005 by a doctor in Moscow to treat a mineral metabolism disorder, which had left her prone to colds and tonsil infections.

It had been legal to take meldonium until 1 January that year. Sharapova argued the initial two-year ban imposed was "unfairly harsh" as it was purely an administrative error. She appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas), and her time in exile was reduced to 15 months.

Sharapova's use of meldonium was cloaked in secrecy. Only her father and her agent knew she was taking it until she informed the Russian team doctor the year before her positive test. And although Sharapova tended to declare the use of other medicine and vitamins on her doping control forms, mentions of meldonium were strangely absent.

The original tribunal concluded her use of meldonium "on match days, and when undertaking intensive training, is only consistent with an intention to boost her energy levels". Cas saw it differently - concluding it would be wrong to call her an "intentional doper".

Either way, a significant PR operation was launched to salvage her reputation. Blame was cast elsewhere; interviews carefully stage-managed. Humility was almost totally lacking, and Sharapova leaves the sport with many questions still unanswered.

She will not miss her peers, and they will not miss her. There were some notable exceptions, but the sparse number of social media tributes that greeted her retirement was striking.

Only Sharapova will know if that rankles even someone who wrote in an autobiography that she has "no interest in making friends on my battlefield".

You had to admire her bloody mindedness, and her extreme desire to win. And, at times, it was hard not to enjoy her undiplomatic language and withering responses.

When quizzed about her high-pitched grunting being a distraction to other players, she once replied: "No-one important enough has told me to change."

And when told Agnieszka Radwanska had expressed her displeasure (shortly after exiting the Australian Open), Sharapova replied with a cutting: "Isn't she already back in Poland?"

The 32-year-old says she is now ready to compete on a different type of terrain.

Sponsors flocked to her for the majority of her career, with business magazine Forbes estimating she was the highest earning female athlete 11 years in a row.

You sense she has a shrewd business brain, although her "premium candy" line Sugarpova - perhaps a dubious product for an athlete to promote - may need a serious rebrand if it is ever to prosper in a more health-conscious world.

Sharapova may be going quietly into retirement, but it certainly will not be the last we hear of her.

MODOC, S.C. – Since the start of the inaugural Drydene Xtreme DIRTcar Series season back in November, it’s been quite a ride for Ross Bailes.

Bailes, of Clover, S.C., currently sits second in the overall points standings with one win and three top-10 finishes. That lone victory came in the tour’s second visit to Cherokee Speedway in January, behind the wheel of his new Rocket XR1 Chassis.

This Saturday, he’ll bring it to the series finale at Modoc Raceway, seeking a shot at the championship position Chris Madden is protecting without losing his current spot in points and bringing home at least a $10,000 points fund check.

Looking back on his Drydene Xtreme DIRTcar Series run, Bailes reflected a bit on his career goals of racing a Dirt Late Model at the national level and the opportunity the Series has given drivers like himself to shine when some other parts of the country are covered in snow.

“All of the [spotlight] is on this regional tour because that’s the only thing running,” Bailes said. “So, it’s good for the guys that can run well to get their name out there.”

Most drivers at the national level typically rely on the gap between November and February to rebuild equipment and recuperate. With a handful of races scheduled on the Xtreme tour in that time, regional drivers like Bailes have the opportunity to do that and win some money to get them rolling into next season.

“With the money [the series] is putting up, it’s kinda hard not to [run it],” Bailes said. “It also helps us rebuild our stuff over the winter. I’ve got a good shot at finishing second [in points], so if we can do that and get $10,000, that’ll help offset the cost of running the car in the winter.”

Fortunately, the weather has been mostly cooperative on race day and the forecast for Saturday is excellent.

“Luckily, with this deal, the weather hasn’t really been that bad,” he said. “If it’s real cold, then it’s not a very good time, but if the weather’s not too bad, I want to go racing as much as I can.”

After competing in the Can-Am World Finals with the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series in early November, Bailes had no immediate plans to follow the entire tour. But after a great runner-up finish in the Series-opening Blue Gray 100 at Cherokee, his interest was sparked. Since then, he’s been pleased with his performance.

“It’s been good,” Bailes said. “We [originally] weren’t planning to run [the entire series], but I drove Johnny’s [Pursley] car at Gaffney that first race and ran second, so I figured I might as well.”

In the weeks following the Blue Gray, Bailes purchased a brand-new Rocket and brought it out for the first time at Lavonia Speedway, where he picked up a top-ten. The following race, he won at Cherokee.

“We got that new Rocket together, and I think if we would have had time to test it before we went and ran, we’d be more in contention with Madden,” Bailes said. “Our first race out in it, we ran sixth, and then we won the next one in it. So, it hasn’t been bad.”

While Bailes is protecting his position and payday, he has only a two-point lead over Zack Mitchell, a three-point advantage over Kyle Strickler and five-point edge on Trent Ivey.

The series finale on Saturday at Modoc is scheduled for 40 laps and pays $7,000-to-win. The pits and grandstands open at 1 p.m. with hot laps at 4 p.m. and racing at 5 p.m.

JACKSON, Minn. – NASCAR star Kyle Larson will invade Jackson Motorplex on July 31 during a $10,000-to-win Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions event.

The four-tenths-mile dirt oval has named the race in honor of Larson, who will be joined by many of the top 410ci winged sprint car drivers in the country during Kyle Larson Night.

Larson will pilot the No. 57 sprint car owned by Paul Silva during the event.

“The All Star race has been a big success the last couple of years and we’re excited to add to that tradition this year with Kyle Larson competing,” said Jackson Motorplex General Manager Doug Johnson. “It is always entertaining to watch Kyle come back to his roots and race on dirt, especially when it’s in a top-notch field of drivers like the All Stars showcase.”

The event marks the only All Star Circuit of Champions race in Minnesota this season and will be only the fifth time the series has visited Jackson Motorplex.

Hot laps will kick off at 7:30 p.m. CT on Kyle Larson Night at Jackson.

CORONA, Calif. – Factory Connection Racing and Ryan Dungey have mutually agreed to end their relationship which began in December, when Dungey joined the GEICO Honda team as a part owner.

“When we joined with Ryan just under three months ago, we had high hopes for our partnership, and we’re sorry to see it end prematurely,” said Factory Connection Racing founder and owner Richard “Ziggy” Zielfelder. “That said, we understand the significant travel and time commitments that come with team ownership, and we respect Ryan for recognizing that it wasn’t something he was prepared to do long-term. In addition to being a great champion, Ryan is a true professional, and it has been a pleasure to work together during this brief period. We wish him all the best going forward, and we look forward to seeing him at the races.”

Dungey is a nine-time AMA champion, including seven premier class championships. He won 450 Class Monster Energy AMA Supercross titles in 2010, 2015, 2016 and 2017 and 450 class Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motorcross crowns in 2010, 2012 and 2015.

“After months spent with the Factory Connection Racing team and discussions with the teams owners, it’s tough to say we will be discontinuing our relationship,” Dungey said in a statement on social media. “I found this is to be a larger commitment than I can give it at this stage in my life. It’s not in my style to do a job half way, nor is it fair to the team to not get the full efforts that they deserve.

“My overall impression of the team is very high. I’m grateful for the time they gave me and how much Jeff Majkrzak and Rick Zielfelder helped me in my life journey. I hope for continued success for the team and the Honda organization.”

Kevin De Bruyne has said it is not unlike Pep Guardiola to spring a surprise on his players after the Manchester City coach left Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero and David Silva out of his starting XI to face Real Madrid in the Champions League.

City came from behind to beat 10-man Real Madrid 2-1 in the first leg of the teams' round-of-16 tie on Wednesday, with Guardiola also employing an unfamiliar formation in an effort to earn victory..

Striker Gabriel Jesus, who netted the equaliser on 78 minutes after Isco's goal for Madrid on the hour mark, started the match on the left wing, while De Bruyne spent periods of the game up front alongside usual midfield partner Bernardo Silva. Aguero, Sterling and David Silva all started on the bench at the Bernabeu.

"In four years with Pep, he sometimes surprises," De Bruyne said. "Sometimes players aren't told until the game what we need to do."

The City captain assisted Jesus' equaliser before providing the winner from the penalty spot on 83 minutes, moments before Madrid captain Sergio Ramos was shown a straight red -- the 26th of his career at the club.

"There were some good and some lesser moments," De Bruyne said. "In a quality game like this, you'll struggle sometimes.

"It's a very good start. We struggled in the first 15 minutes, but you have to go through the storm.

"It was an even first half. We started the second half really well. Their goal came at a bad moment for us -- we were dominating.

"Our response was brilliant. It was a beautiful goal from Gabriel Jesus."

Madrid travel to Manchester for the second leg on March 17.

"We're only halfway there," De Bruyne said. "We have an important game at home in three weeks. Now we have to recover for Sunday's final [in the Carabao Cup against Aston Villa]."

MADRID -- On Tuesday, Pep Guardiola hailed Real Madrid as "the kings" of the Champions League, and while the dethroning has not yet been confirmed, Manchester City landed a significant blow at the Santiago Bernabeu.

They came from behind to win their round-of- first leg 2-1 and head to the Etihad Stadium in two weeks' time as favourites to progress at the expense of the 13-times winners. It is nights like when City fans will concede they quite like the Champions League after all. This was their first win over Real Madrid and their most significant Champions League result.

It seemed unlikely when Isco gave the hosts a 60th minute lead. But the wheels came off during a frantic final half hour, and after Gabriel Jesus equalised, Kevin De Bruyne scored a second from the spot. Real Madrid ended the game with 10 men after Sergio Ramos was sent off for bringing down Jesus as the Brazilian looked set to score a third.

It is not over and City -- who survived the early loss of Aymeric Laporte to injury -- know all too well about Champions League disasters, but their night in the Spanish capital could not have gone much better.

"I'm happy for the victory and the performance as well," said Guardiola. "It's not over. There's one team in the world who can overcome everything and it's this club, but for our people hopefully we can make a good performance and go through."

Guardiola is often accused of overthinking these big games, and when his team was announced little more than an hour before kickoff, there were shocks everywhere. No Fernandinho, no David Silva, no Raheem Sterling and no Sergio Aguero. All left on the bench.

The travelling City fans high above the goal cheered each starter when his name was read out, but it seemed more out of obligation than genuine enthusiasm for their manager's selection. The first European game since their Champions League ban was handed down, they sang "F--- UEFA" with much more vigour.

Jesus, City's only recognised striker on the pitch, started on the left wing. At times, Bernardo Silva and De Bruyne looked like a front two. Sometimes it was 4-4-2, on other occasions it looked more like 4-2-4-0. It was the type of team that would be hailed as genius if things went right. And for most of a chilly evening in central Spain, they did.

"We had 10 free days, and in those days I watched the most amount of matches of Real Madrid," said Guardiola. "Their defensive game was different. That's why we changed, the space was there to attack, but never since I've been a coach have I gone to defend.

"[Zinedine] Zidane will look at what we've done and the second leg will be different. We have to adapt quickly and try to go there to win the game."

Even before Real Madrid took the lead, City had registered 10 shots to Real's five, Thibaut Courtois forced to make good saves to deny Jesus and Riyad Mahrez. Jesus had another effort cleared off the line and Mahrez whipped a shot past the far post after a driving run forward by De Bruyne. By the end, City had mustered 16 shots to Real's nine and won the on-target count eight to three.

Talk in the Spanish capital ahead of the game was that Zidane's team were not playing well and a run of just one win from their past four games in all competitions appeared to back it up. But when Isco scored, they looked ready to nick another big result in the competition they have made their own.

The goal, when it came, was nothing to do with Guardiola's elaborate system, and he will argue that he cannot account for individual mistakes. In the 60th minute there were three -- a mix-up between Nicolas Otamendi and Rodri and then Kyle Walker's failure to clear -- and when Vinicius Junior sprinted clear he looked up to see Isco on his own in the penalty area. Ederson was required only to pick the ball out of the net.

Then came the chaos that these knockout ties often throw up.

Jesus headed in a vital away goal after fine work from De Bruyne on the left before Sterling, on as substitute in the 73rd minute, ran at Dani Carvajal and was brought down in the penalty area. De Bruyne, the driving force behind the comeback, did the rest. He should probably take spot kicks more often.

At the final whistle the City players, wearing their Hacienda-inspired change kit, went over to salute the away supporters, who were already turning their little section of the Bernabeu into a scene reminiscent of the famous Manchester nightclub. They sang in protest at UEFA and in support of their owner, Sheikh Mansour, but the biggest statement was delivered by their team. Real Madrid's crown is slipping.

"I want you to get a feel of enjoyment rather than think of runs…"

As Harmanpreet Kaur made her way into the nets for a second round of hits at a windswept Junctional Oval on Tuesday, India head coach WV Raman tried to put things into perspective for the captain of India. On the eve of their face-off against New Zealand at the ongoing T20 World Cup, it appeared as though it was not so much the leader of his side Raman was trying to reach; veiled in a veneer of instructions, his words registered as encouragement for a talisman of the Indian batting line-up eager to break out of the funk.

The reminder to enjoy, to play with freedom of mind came from Raman after the first round of shots yielded mixed results for Kaur. Paired up with Jemimah Rodrigues against a pool of bowlers that included wrsitspinner Poonam Yadav, left-arm spinner Rajeswari Gayakwad, pacer Arundhati Reddy and a local Under-14 male medium-pacer, a visible discomfort against Gayakwad had Raman float words of encouragement from the adjacent nets, standing almost parallel to Kaur.

The next four balls elicited greater purpose. Reddy and the U-14 quick were drilled straight down the pitch and towards cover respectively before a typically flighted delivery from Yadav was met with a similar fate as Kaur sashayed down the track to unfurl an exquisite cover drive. Gayakwad followed in from round the wicket only for Kaur to go down on one knee to tonk it towards deep-square leg.

"Kaun bola left-arm spinner ko nahi maar sakte [Who said it's not possible to go after a left-arm spinner?" Raman chimed in, walking towards the nets left of Kaur where Smriti Mandhana, yet to fully recover from a cold, had been taking throwdowns, coughing intermittently.

"She's been looking good in the nets. It's just about that one knock," Mandhana would tell reporters ahead of the session, confirming she had recuperated from the viral fever that had ruled her out in the game against Bangladesh on Monday. "I'm sure she'll go out there and bat and get that big one for us. It's really not a worry because the way she has been batting in the nets, and I hope she gets one [big knock] for us, and gets it tomorrow."

The rest of the session brought Kaur varied luck. Yadav's wristpin - much slower through the air than Gayakwad's left-arm spin - and the mixed pace from the two quicks brought out some of the best of Kaur's belligerence. The lofted drives - over mid-on, mid-off and midwicket - in particular and even those struck along the ground had an air of authority that Kaur herself seemed to be searching for against the only left-armer in the mix. Save for one length ball she lofted over the bowler's head, Gayakwad's dominance would elicit mild grunts every time Kaur stepped out but was beaten by an arm ball, failed to connect a sweep, or found an under-edge that scurried towards fine-leg.

"Sab balance ka khel hain [It's all about getting the balance right]," Raman would remind Kaur as the fourth round came to a close with another straight drive off Reddy. It's advice that may have, in part, got to do with the two times Australia left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen dismissed her at this venue last month during the tri-series, the latter in the final which India lost by 11 runs.

New Zealand do not have a left-armer in their squad, so Raman's suggestion could also be down to the seeming hurriedness that underpinned Kaur's two cheap dismissals in the World Cup so far: stumped in the seventh over and caught at backward point in the 11th against Australia and Bangladesh respectively.

In their first two matches India put on totals in excess of 130 - and ended up on the winning side - despite single-digit contributions from Kaur. It speaks for the welcome sense of security that has buoyed Kaur in a line-up she's no longer the undisputed face of explosiveness. "Nowadays Smriti [Mandhana] and Shafali [Verma], not just me," she would tell the T20 World Cup's social media channels when asked who the 'biggest six hitter' in the team was.

A win over New Zealand could catapult India into the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup for a second straight time. There's precedence in the previous two world tournaments how even a semblance of form from Kaur can translate into a match-defining fifty or hundred and catch New Zealand off guard.

Since her blockbuster 103 against the same opponents in the 2018 T20 World Cup opener, though, Kaur hasn't struck a half-century in the 27 limited-overs international innings, 21 of those in the shortest format. The want of consistent runs may have played a part in Diana Edulji, the former India captain who gave Kaur several opportunities early in her career, floating the suggestion that "maybe Harman should give up captaincy and play her natural game. Something seems to be troubling her…"

As the fight for the knockouts berth enters its defining leg, greater coherence among India's batters will be called for; applause for every right move will ring far and wide, every wrong step debated by fans and critics alike. So, while the buzz around the fearless teen brigade continues to gather force, Kaur's focus needs to be to dull the noise in her head and do exactly what her coach asks of the premier match-winner in his side: "get a feel of enjoyment rather than think of runs…"