Reuters Sports News Summary

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs. European Ryder Cup captain Harrington favors neutral course setups

European Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington said on Tuesday he would prefer neutral course setups for the biennial event to reduce the home team's advantage. In the Ryder Cup, the home team captain dictates the course set-up to favor his players and Harrington, whose squad will face the United States at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin next September, feels there can sometimes be too much of an edge. Red Sox: Keeping Betts, Martinez 'difficult' but possible

The Boston Red Sox see a potential route to keeping pricey stars Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez while also dropping their overall payroll by some $22 million to get under Major League Baseball's Competitive Balance Tax (CBT) threshold, the team president said Monday. But that doesn't mean it would be easy, Sam Kennedy, also the franchise's CEO, said Monday at the annual press conference at the end of the season. Leading coach Salazar gets four-year ban for doping violations

Leading American athletics coach Alberto Salazar, who has coached some of the world's top distance runners including British Olympic track champion Mo Farah, has been banned for four years for doping violations. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) said Salazar's punishment was for "orchestrating and facilitating prohibited doping conduct" as head coach of the Nike Oregon Project (NOP), a camp designed primarily to develop U.S. endurance athletes. MLB roundup: Flaherty fuels Cards to NL Central title

Jack Flaherty pitched seven strong innings as the host St. Louis Cardinals captured the National League Central title with a 9-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday. The Cardinals (91-71) will play the Atlanta Braves in the NL Division Series on Thursday. The second-place Milwaukee Brewers will face the Washington Nationals in the wild-card game Tuesday. Ash Barty, Naomi Osaka ease into China Open last 16, Angelique Kerber knocked out

Top seeds Ash Barty and Naomi Osaka cruised into the last 16 of the China Open with straight sets victories in their second round matches in Beijing on Tuesday. World number one Barty, who received a bye into the second round, started her campaign with a 6-4 6-2 win over Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva, wrapping up the contest in 75 minutes. Rudolph fires 2 TD passes as Steelers rout Bengals

Quarterback Mason Rudolph seemingly came into his own Monday, passing for 229 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Pittsburgh Steelers past the visiting Cincinnati Bengals 27-3. The win elevated the Steelers from winless to within a game of first place in the AFC North at 1-3. The Bengals fell to 0-4 under first-year coach Zac Taylor. Djokovic cruises into second round in Tokyo

World number one Novak Djokovic blasted past qualifier Alexei Popyrin 6-4 6-2 on Tuesday to reach the second round of the Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo. Playing in his first singles match since retiring from his U.S. Open fourth-round match with Stan Wawrinka due to a left shoulder issue, the Serb showed he was fighting fit as he fired seven aces and won 84% of points on his first serve. Haves vs. Have nots as New Zealand face Canada in World Cup

The haves and have nots of world rugby will meet again on Wednesday when the three-time champion All Blacks face Canada in their World Cup Pool B clash with concerns the gap could be starkly displayed on the scoreboard. The All Blacks are all full-time professionals, earning hundreds of thousands of dollars with basics of the game drilled in them since they were five-year-olds. California to let college athletes be paid in blow to NCAA rules

California cleared the way on Monday for college athletes to profit from brand sponsorships and endorsement deals, as Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation making it the first U.S. state to give them that potentially lucrative opportunity. The legislation states that college athletes may profit from their "name, image or likeness." It could set up a showdown between the most populous U.S. state and the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the influential governing body for intercollegiate athletics, over the NCAA's longstanding rule that college athletes cannot be provided compensation. NFL notebook: Raiders' Burfict suspended for rest of year

Oakland Raiders linebacker Vontaze Burfict was suspended for the rest of the 2019 season on Monday for repeated violations of unnecessary roughness rules. The NFL announced Burfict's punishment for the helmet-to-helmet hit that prompted his ejection from Oakland's 31-24 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.