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CHICAGO — Chicago White Sox closer Liam Hendriks said he’s confident he’ll be back on the mound late next season after recovering from Tommy John surgery he had last month.

Hendriks, 34, spoke in the White Sox clubhouse Friday, wearing a brace on his right arm.

“There is no doubt in my mind I’ll be back,” Hendriks said. “I’ll be 35, with a brand-new elbow. Hopefully it gives me a couple extra years.”

Hendriks missed the first two months of this season while undergoing chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He ultimately returned to the mound, but then was sidelined by the elbow injury after making just five appearances.

Hendriks surprised everyone by his quick return from cancer but doesn’t think that led to his arm injury.

“We did not rush back,” Hendriks said. “I probably threw more bullpens than anyone in this clubhouse. I want to make sure that’s well known.

“It was in a little bit of pain before I went on my rehab assignment. It’s something I’ve dealt with before. I felt like I could throw through it.”

The White Sox struggled to close out games without Hendriks, eventually falling so far out of the playoff race they subtracted veterans from their roster at the trade deadline. The team has a $15 million option on Hendriks for next season. The club is responsible for his rehab even if it doesn’t pick up that option, in which case he would become a free agent.

“My goal is to pitch next year,” he said. “Thirteen months would be around Sept. 2 … Who knows if I’ll need that little showcase at the end of the season to be able to get a job.”

Hendriks will remain with the big league team the rest of this year and travel to most road games as he wants to mentor a young group of pitchers; the organization turned over its staff after trading six hurlers at the deadline.

Hendriks said he had a feeling surgery might be needed while throwing a batting practice session in Minnesota last month.

“My last live BP was 92 (mph) with pain,” he said. “That’s not quite the recipe we needed.”

Hendriks went as far as having pitching coach Ethan Katz record his last pitch during that BP session “in case it was my last pitch in a White Sox uniform.”

In the end, he’s glad to get past this latest setback.

“I took the ball for as long as I can,” he said. “It will be nice to brush my teeth without pain for the first time in a decade or so. That will be fun. I had to cut my hair because I can’t put it up in a ponytail anymore.”

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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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