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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals made seven-time All-Star catcher Salvador Perez the fourth captain in franchise history before their opener against the Minnesota Twins on Thursday, rewarding one of the club’s most popular players with the rare title.

Unlike football or basketball, the captain title is bestowed upon players who have either achieved a tremendous amount or displayed exemplary leadership over a lengthy period of time.

Perez fits both categories.

Along with his near-annual trips to the All-Star Game, the affable catcher has won four Silver Slugger awards, five Gold Glove awards and was the MVP of the 2015 World Series, when the Royals beat the Mets for their second championship.

He is also among the most popular players in the Royals’ clubhouse. Perez’s gregarious nature immediately puts young players at ease, which is a good thing for a club in the midst of a major youth movement, and he’s always willing to sign autographs and take photographs for fans that show up long before the first pitch.

“Salvy is a Royals icon, a Kansas City icon and a baseball icon,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo said. “This honor reflects not just his place in Royals history but just as importantly the work he puts in and the leadership he provides our organization.”

Hall of Fame third baseman George Brett and longtime star Frank White were the first Royals captains. They both held the title from 1989-90, when White retired, and Brett carried it on until his own retirement after the 1993 season.

Mike Sweeney was the last Royals captain, holding the honor from 2003 until leaving for Oakland for the 2008 season.

Aaron Judge of the Yankees was the only other MLB player with a captain title heading into this season.

Perez, 32, was batting third and behind the plate for the Royals’ opener against the Twins. He’s coming off a season in which he hit .254 with 23 homers and 76 RBIs while playing just 114 games.

Perez was the club’s nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award in 2001, and last year, he won the Lou Gehrig Award, which is presented annually to a Major League Baseball player who best exemplifies the character of the late Yankees star.

Game notes: Royals: OF Drew Waters (oblique strain) and LHP Daniel Lynch (rotator cuff strain) went on the IL before the game against Minnesota. OFs Jackie Bradley Jr. and Franmil Reyes and INF Matt Duffy had contracts selected from Triple-A Omaha. … LHP Richard Lovelady was traded to Atlanta and 1B Matt Beaty to San Francisco, both for cash considerations.

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Journalism opens as 8-5 favorite for Preakness

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Journalism opens as 8-5 favorite for Preakness

HALETHORPE, Md. — Journalism is the morning line favorite for the 150th running of the Preakness Stakes.

The Kentucky Derby runner-up to Sovereignty opened at odds of 8-5 on Monday night when post positions were drawn for the middle leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown. Journalism is again set to be ridden by jockey Umberto Rispoli and leave the starting gate from the No. 2 post.

Post time is set for 7:01 p.m. EDT on Saturday.

No. 7 Sandman is the 4-1 second choice in the field of nine, which does not include Sovereignty after his owners and trainer decided not to run the Derby winner two weeks after his triumph at Churchill Downs. The Preakness goes on without a true shot at a Triple Crown winner for a fifth time in seven years since Justify swept all three races in 2018.

Bob Baffert, who trained Justify and 2015 Triple Crown champion American Pharoah, is entering Goal Oriented looking for a record-extending ninth victory in the race. Fellow Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas can tie Baffert if he wins the Preakness back-to-back, this time with American Promise a year after Seize the Grey ended Mystik Dan’s Triple Crown bid.

There are three Derby horses running in the $2 million Preakness at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore: Journalism, American Promise and Sandman, the latter of whom will be ridden by John Velazquez for trainer Mark Casse. American Promise drew the No. 3 post and opened at odds of 15-1.

New to the Triple Crown trail, along with No. 1 Goal Oriented (6-1), are No. 4 Heart of Honor (12-1), No. 5 Pay Billy (20-1), No. 6 River Thames (9-2), No. 8 Clever Again (5-1) and No. 9 Gosger (20-1).

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U.S. shut out by Switzerland at hockey worlds

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U.S. shut out by Switzerland at hockey worlds

HERNING, Denmark — Switzerland, last year’s runner-up, shut out the United States 3-0 and handed the Americans their first loss at the ice hockey world championship Monday.

Damien Riat, Jonas Siegenthaler and Dean Kukan scored in the Group B game in Herning. Netminder Leonardo Genoni stopped 23 shots for the shutout.

“Give credit to Switzerland,” U.S. coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “But I know our group has a lot more in them. We’ll regroup and get ready to play Norway.”

Riat put Switzerland ahead with 7:14 remaining in the first period, redirecting the puck into the goal from the air. It was the first goal the U.S. conceded at the tournament.

The second followed 3:13 later by Siegenthaler from the blue line. Kukan’s came halfway through the final period from the top of the left circle.

“After the first goal we did a better job,” Swiss forward Kevin Fiala said. “We got into it more and more, and shut them out.”

Fiala recorded an assist in his first game at the worlds. He joined the Swiss late after his Los Angeles Kings were eliminated from the NHL playoffs in the first round.

U.S. goalie Joey Daccord made 24 saves.

The U.S., which beat Denmark 5-0 and Hungary 6-0 in its first two games, will next face Norway on Wednesday.

In other games, Martin Necas had two goals and David Pastrnak had a goal and two assists as the defending champion Czech Republic used a four-goal middle period to ease past Denmark 7-2.

Nick Olesen also had a goal and an assist for Denmark.

In Stockholm, Sweden topped archrival Finland 2-1 on goals from Leo Carlsson and Jonas Brodin for a third victory in regulation from three games.

Austria defeated Slovakia 3-2 in a penalty shootout.

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Leafs’ Domi fined $5K for hit to Panthers’ Barkov

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Leafs' Domi fined K for hit to Panthers' Barkov

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Max Domi was fined $5,000 — the maximum amount allowed by the league’s collective bargaining agreement — for boarding Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov as time expired in Game 4 of their second-round Eastern Conference playoff series Sunday.

Toronto was trailing 2-0 when the final buzzer sounded, and Domi hit Barkov from behind, sending him headfirst into the boards. Domi was given a minor penalty for boarding at the time while several other scrums broke out before officials moved players off the ice.

Florida’s victory evened the best-of-seven series at 2-all. Game 5 is set for Wednesday in Toronto.

Toronto coach Craig Berube didn’t comment on the Domi hit directly Monday, but he did say he thought Dmitry Kulikov‘s hit on Mitch Marner “was way worse”

On that play, the Panthers defenseman caught Marner up high with an elbow, leaving the Leafs forward momentarily dazed. No penalty was called on Kulikov.

It wasn’t the first elbowing incident to draw attention in the series.

In Game 1, Panthers forward Sam Bennett sent an elbow to the head of Leafs netminder Anthony Stolarz shortly before Stolarz left the game. He was later hospitalized for further evaluation and hasn’t been able to resume skating since. There is currently no timeline for his return.

The physical intensity of the series might continue to rise now that it’s down to being a best-of-three. Based on how Game 4 played out, the Leafs are prepared to push back when they host Florida on Wednesday.

“We expected [the physicality], and I think we’re fine with it,” Berube said. “We’re handling it. We’re physical. I thought we were the more physical team [in Game 4].”

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