Tampa Bay Rays' Hellickson hit in head
DETROIT, April 11 (UPI) -- Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Jeremy Hellickson was taken to a Detroit hospital Wednesday after he was struck in the head with a batted ball before a game.
Rays manager Joe Maddon said Hellickson, the reigning American League Rookie of the Year, never lost consciousness and was not bleeding when he left the field at Comerica Park on a cart. He was taken to a hospital for observation as a precaution.
The accident occurred as the Tigers took batting practice. Hellickson was in the Rays' bullpen and was hit on the left side of his face above the eyebrow.
"The ball actually hit the brim of his cap [first]," Rays' pitching coach Jim Hickey told MLB.com.
Hellickson (1-0, 000 ERA) threw 8 2/3 scoreless innings against the New York Yankees Sunday, allowing three hits in his first start of the season, and was not in the rotation for the three-game series in Detroit.
His next start is Saturday against the Red Sox in Boston.
He went 13-10 with a 2.95 ERA last season.
No second surgery for Tigers' Martinez
DETROIT, April 11 (UPI) -- Detroit Tigers designated hitter Victor Martinez will not undergo a second surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left knee.
Martinez tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee during the offseason and underwent surgery to repair a microfracture in January.
A second surgery to reconstruct the ACL was scheduled last week, but his specialist decided that procedure was unnecessary and that Martinez should continue physical therapy.
The slugger will undergo an MRI in July.
Martinez hit .330 with 12 home runs and 103 RBI last season.
Cipolla advances on upset in Morocco
CASABLANCA, Morocco, April 11 (UPI) -- Flavio Cipolla ousted No. 2-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov in a second-round match Wednesday at the Grand Prix Hassan II tennis tournament in Morocco.
Cipolla needed just more than a hour to defeat Dolgopolov 6-4, 6-1. He lost just 13 points over his eight service games and didn't face a break point.
Cipolla dropped 13 points total in the second set when he won 68 percent of the points on serve and 65 percent when receiving.
Igor Andreev knocked off fourth-seeded Denis Istomin 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-2. He controlled the third set, losing three points on serve and finishing off 2-of-3 break-point chances.
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez earned a quarterfinal shot at Andreev with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Paul-Henri Mathieu. Garcia-Lopez fought off 3-of-4 break points while breaking Mathieu's serve four times.
Also Wednesday, Benoit Paire outlasted Matthias Bachinger 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-2 in a match that took more than 2 1/2 hours. There were a total of 31 break-point opportunities in the match but Paire was able to finish off two in the third set while not losing his serve.
Paire will go against Cipolla in the quarterfinals.
Uruguay reaches its highest soccer ranking
NYON, Switzerland, April 11 (UPI) -- The Netherlands slipped two positions to No. 4 in the latest FIFA men's soccer rankings, which still have Spain ranked as the world's top team.
The Netherlands was a 4-3 winner over Austria in its only match in the last month but a devaluation of points from matches in previous years saw it lose 172 points in the rankings.
That allowed Germany, which gained 13 points, and Uruguay, which is up 20 points, to pass the Netherlands.
Spain also saw a significant adjustment in points, going from 1,561 in March to 1,442 this month. But the Spaniards are still No. 1 with 97 more points than Germany (1,345) while Uruguay is third with 1,309 and the Netherlands totals 1,207.
The No. 3 ranking is an all-time best for Uruguay.
Spain was the only team in the Top 10 not to change its position this month.
Portugal (1,190) is up two places to No. 5, pushing Brazil (1,165) and England (1,132) both down one spot to sixth and seventh, respectively.
Croatia (1,114) and Denmark (1,069) are both up two to eighth and ninth while Argentina (1,066) drops from No. 8 to 10th.
Italy was ninth last month but drops out of the Top 10 to 12th in April.
The FIFA world rankings are determined by points awarded from match results in a three-year period, with more recent games given greater weight. Teams get additional points for playing relatively strong opponents. The next FIFA men's rankings are to be released May 9.
