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Lions release receiver Titus Young

DETROIT, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Detroit Lions wide receiver Titus Young, who feuded with the coaching staff this past season, has been released, the team said Monday.

Young missed the Lions' final six games in 2012 after getting into a fight with wide receivers coach Shawn Jefferson along the sidelines during Detroit's Nov. 11 loss to Green Bay.

The 23-year-old receiver was sent home from practice by head Coach Jim Schwartz shortly thereafter and eventually placed on injured reserve for the rest of the season.

Young ended the season with 33 catches for 383 yards and four touchdowns after a dazzling 2011 rookie campaign during which he hauled down 48 passes for 607 yards and six touchdowns.

Athletics obtain Lowrie from Astros

OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 4 (UPI) -- The Oakland Athletics have obtained shortstop Jed Lowrie as part of a five-player swap with the Houston Astros announced Monday.

Lowrie, a five-year veteran, went to the A's along with pitcher Fernando Rodriguez for infielder Chris Carter and a pair of minor league prospects including pitcher Brad Peacock and catcher Max Stassi.

Lowrie batted .244 with 16 home runs, 18 doubles and 42 RBI in 97 games for the last-place Astros last season while dealing with wrist and hand injuries.

"You look at last year, what (Lowrie) did in Houston, he's always had good power for a guy that plays in the middle of the infield," A's General Manager Billy Beane told MLB.com. "It's just hard to find that kind of power [in a guy] that can play the middle infield."

Carter, meanwhile, compiled a .239 average with 16 homers and 39 RBI over 67 games for the American League West champion A's last season.

"This trade gives us power, pitching and catching," added Astros GM Jeff Luhnow said of Carter, Peacock and Stassi.

Cause of Super Bowl outage probed

NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- New Orleans utility Entergy and the manager of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome say they're probing the cause of a partial power outage during Super Bowl XLVII.

Half of the stadium lights went out with 13:28 to go in the third quarter and the Baltimore Ravens holding a 28-6 lead over the San Francisco 49ers, leading to a 34-minute delay in Sunday's NFL championship tilt.

The Ravens held on for a 34-31 victory over San Francisco after the power was restored.

Entergy and Superdome management company SMG said in a joint statement the cause of an "abnormality" in the power flow remained unclear Monday, but it was determined it originated where the Superdome equipment intersects with Entergy's feed into the facility.

"A piece of equipment that is designed to monitor electrical load sensed an abnormality in the system," the statement indicated. "Once the issue was detected, the sensing equipment operated as designed and opened a breaker, causing power to be partially cut to the Superdome in order to isolate the issue."

Entergy and SMG said they will "continue to investigate the root cause of the abnormality."

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters the outage was not related to the halftime show staged by pop singer Beyonce.

Tigers ink Max Scherzer to contract

DETROIT, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Pitcher Max Scherzer and the Detroit Tigers have agreed to a one-year deal, the team announced Monday.

Scherzer, who compiled a 16-7 record last season and played a key role in the Tigers' run to the World Series, has avoided arbitration with the contract.

The signing is worth $6.7 million, CBS Sports reported.

The five-year veteran was second in the major leagues last year with 231 strikeouts -- second only to teammate Justin Verlander -- and recorded a 3.74 earned run average.

Over 142 career games, Scherzer has amassed a 52-42 mark with a 3.88 ERA and 829 strikeouts.