Reuters U.S. Sports Schedule at 2 PM EST on Thursday, May 21

May 21 (Reuters) - Reuters U.S. sports schedule at 2 PM ET on Thursday: - - - - The duty editor is Steve Ginsburg, 202-898-8427 - - - - NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE Agent: Raiders QB Carr won't need surgery Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr could be throwing by the end of organized team activities, when he should be recovered from a right ring-finger injury, his agent says. (FBN-RAIDERS-NEWS/, moved, The Sports Xchange, 205 words) - - Cowboys work out retread RBs Tate, Felix Jones Jerry Jones claims the Dallas Cowboys are a better offense in 2015 without DeMarco Murray, but there are signs the team remains unsettled at the running position. (FBN-COWBOYS-NEWS/, moved, The Sports Xchange, 195 words) - - Giants LT Beatty has surgery, out 5-6 months New York Giants left tackle Will Beatty will miss five or six months following surgery Wednesday to repair a torn pectoral muscle. (FBN-GIANTS-NEWS/, moved, The Sports Xchange, 235 words) - - Redskins LB Kerrigan (knee) out indefinitely Washington Redskins outside linebacker Ryan Kerrigan is out indefinitely following arthroscopic knee surgery. (FBN-REDSKINS-NEWS/, moved, The Sports Xchange, 155 words) - - Saints, first-round OT Peat agree to terms First-round pick Andrus Peat agrees to terms of a four-year contract with the New Orleans Saints. (FBN-SAINTS-NEWS/, moved, The Sports Xchange, 155 words) - - NFL roundup News and notes from around the league. (FBN-NOTEBOOK/, expect by 7:45 PM ET, The Sports Xchange, 400 words) - - - - NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION Rockets at Warriors OAKLAND - The Houston Rockets look to even the Western Conference finals series with the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. Golden State took Game 1 behind MVP Steph Curry, but the Rockets expect Dwight Howard (knee) to give it a go in Game 2. (BKN-WARRIORS-ROCKETS-FIRSTLEDE/WRITETHRU (PIX), expect ASAP after 9:30 PM ET game, The Sports Xchange, by David Del Grande, 400-word first lede, 700-word writethru) - - Curry, James lead All-NBA team League MVP Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors and LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers are unanimous selections for the All-NBA First Team. (BKN-NEWS-ALLNBATEAMS/, moved, The Sports Xchange, 422 words) - - Hawks' Carroll questionable with sprained knee Atlanta Hawks forward DeMarre Carroll breathes a sigh of relief when tests reveal his left knee injury is only a bone bruise and hyperextension with no structural or ligament damage. (BKN-HAWKS-CAVALIERS-NOTEBOOK/, moved, The Sports Xchange, 450 words) - - Today's NBA schedule at a glance Houston at Golden State, 9 PM ET (PIX) - - - - GOLF PGA Tour: Crowne Plaza Invitational, Fort Worth, Texas Local favorite Spieth in high-profile company at Colonial Masters champion and local favorite Jordan Spieth is expected to attract huge crowds when he tees off in a high-profile grouping for today's opening round at Colonial Country Club in the company of 2009 champion Steve Stricker and fellow U.S. Ryder Cup player Hunter Mahan. Australian Adam Scott defends the title he won in a playoff last year. (GOLF-PGA/ (PIX), expect by 7 PM ET, 400 words) - - PGA: 10 players to watch at Colonial Homestate prodigy Jordan Spieth leads the players to watch at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial Country Club. (GLF-PGA-CROWNEPLAZA-ANALYSIS/, moved, The Sports Xchange, by Tom LaMarre, 500 words) - - Champions Tour: Senior PGA Championship, French Lick, Ind. Montgomerie set for title defense at French Lick Resort Scotland's Colin Montgomerie, who won last year's Senior PGA Championship by four strokes in Michigan, launches his title defense in the opening round at French Lick Resort in the second of the season's five major championships for senior golfers. (GOLF-SENIOR/, expect end-of-day lead by 7 PM ET, 250 words) - - Frustrated McIlroy settles for one-under at Wentworth VIRGINIA WATER, England - British fans, starved of top-notch golf for seven months, turn out in droves for the BMW PGA Championship first round and the main attraction is world No. 1 Rory McIlroy. (GOLF-EUROPEAN/MCILROY (PIX), moved, by Tony Jimenez, 473 words) See also: Injured Gallacher out of BMW PGA Championship (GOLF-EUROPEAN/GALLACHER) - - Ford fights back tears as he remembers bad times VIRGINIA WATER, England - Matt Ford had to wait a long time to achieve his golfing dreams and the Briton still gets emotional when describing the trials and tribulations he endured before getting his tour card at the age of 36. (GOLF-EUROPEAN/FORD (INTERVIEW, PIX), moved, by Tony Jimenez, 581 words) - - New Zealand's Fox dialed in at SK Telecom SEOUL - New Zealand's Ryan Fox, the son of All Black great Grant, cards a four-under 68 to sit in a tie for the lead after the first round of the SK Telecom Open in South Korea. (GOLF-ASIA/KOREA, moved, 228 words) - - - - MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL Reyes joins Buffalo, could be back with Blue Jays next week Jose Reyes could be back at shortstop for the Toronto Blue Jays by the end of the weekend if his rehab stint at Buffalo goes smoothly. (BBO-BLUEJAYS-NEWS/, moved, The Sports Xchange, 150 words) - - Kipnis thriving as Tribe leadoff man CHICAGO - Second baseman Jason Kipnis continues to thrive as the leadoff batter for the Cleveland Indians. (BBO-INDIANS-NEWS/, moved, The Sports Xchange, by Jack McCarthy, 365 words) - - Tigers turning 'pen into strength DETROIT - The Tigers' bullpen, forecast to be a Detroit weakness when the season began, has turned into a strength. (BBO-TIGERS-NEWS/, moved, The Sports Xchange, by Rich Shook, 329 words) - - Today's MLB schedule at a glance - - American League Seattle at Baltimore, 12:35 PM ET (PIX) Houston at Detroit, 1:08 PM ET (PIX) Los Angeles Angels at Toronto, 7:07 PM ET (PIX) Oakland at Tampa Bay, 7:10 PM ET (PIX) Texas at Boston, 7:10 PM ET Cleveland at Chicago White Sox, 8:10 PM ET - - National League Arizona at Miami, 12:10 PM ET St. Louis at New York Mets, 1:10 PM ET (PIX) Philadelphia at Colorado, 3:10 PM ET (PIX) Los Angeles Dodgers at San Francisco, 3:45 PM ET (PIX) Milwaukee at Atlanta, 7:10 PM ET (PIX) Chicago Cubs at San Diego, 9:10 PM ET (PIX) - - MLB Roundup Running capsule recaps of all the games on the MLB schedule. (MLB-ROUNDUP/, expect first version ASAP after conclusion of the first game of the day, The Sports Xchange, 500 words) - - - - NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Ducks at Blackhawks CHICAGO - Even at 1-1 after an epic six-period showdown that went to the Blackhawks in Game 2, the Western Conference finals shift to Chicago where the Anaheim Ducks try to snap the home team's perfect 2015 postseason mark (5-0). (HKN-BLACKHAWKS-DUCKS-FIRSTLEDE/WRITETHRU (PIX), expect ASAP after 8:10 PM ET start, The Sports Xchange, by Tom Musick, 400-word first lede, 700-word writethru) - - New Maple Leafs coach Babcock promises 'pain' ahead TORONTO - Newly acquired Toronto Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock expresses a burning desire to snap the franchise's Stanley Cup drought but the only thing he promises the team's success-starved fan base in the near future is pain. (NHL-MAPLELEAFS/BABCOCK (PIX), moved, 402 words) - - Today's NHL schedule at a glance Anaheim at Chicago, 8 PM ET (PIX) - - - - SOCCER Figo pulls out of FIFA presidential race BERNE - Luis Figo and Michael van Praag pull out of the FIFA presidential election race, leaving Jordan's Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein as the only challenger to incumbent and runaway favorite Sepp Blatter. (SOCCER-FIFA/ELECTION-WRAPUP1, moved, by Brian Homewood, 581 words) See also: Blatter's blushes spared as just Prince Ali remains (SOCCER-FIFA/VANPRAAG (ANALYSIS, UPDATE 1) - - - - AUTO RACING Castroneves discusses Indy 500 preparations INDIANAPOLIS - Brazilian driver Helio Castroneves, a three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, discusses his chances of joining Rick Mears, A.J. Foyt and Al Unser in the elite fraternity of four-time winners of an event billed as "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing." (MOTORRACING-INDY/, expect by 4 PM ET, by Steve Keating, 400 words) - - Briscoe gets Indy 500 call for injured Hinchcliffe INDIANAPOLIS - Australian Ryan Briscoe is drafted into the Indianapolis 500, filling in for the injured James Hinchcliffe, but will have only one full practice session to get up to speed at the famed Brickyard. (MOTOR RACING-INDY/BRISCOE (PIX), moved, by Steve Keating, 358 words) - - Indy 500 starting grid The starting lineup for the 99th Indianapolis 500 on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (CAR-IRL-NEWS/, moved, The Sports Xchange, 380 words) See also: 500 preview: Who's the favorite? (CAR-IRL-PREVIEW/, expect by 8 PM ET, The Sports Xchange, 425 words) - - Bruton Smith's Hall call long overdue Make no mistake, O. Bruton Smith was often a NASCAR nemesis. And make no mistake that his inclusion in the sport's Hall of Fame is long overdue. (CAR-COLUMN/, expect by 3 PM ET, The Sports Xchange, by Jonathan Ingram, 1,200 words) - - Hamilton fastest, Verstappen shines in wet Monaco MONACO - Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton is the fastest but teenage rookie Max Verstappen stands out with an eye-catching practice performance on a rainy day at the Monaco Grand Prix. (MOTOR RACING-PRIX/ (PIX, UPDATE 1), moved, by Alan Baldwin, 387 words) - - Verstappen steals the show on Monaco debut MONACO - Too young to rent a car, or drive unaccompanied on public roads, 17-year-old Formula One prodigy Max Verstappen has his bosses purring with a sensational performance in practice for the Monaco Grand Prix. (MOTOR RACINGRO-PRIX/VERSTAPPEN (PIX), moved, by Alan Baldwin, 378 words) - - - - TENNIS Sharapova ready to go distance again in Paris PARIS - Maria Sharapova has begun hitting the ball beautifully at the perfect moment as she eyes a defense of her French Open crown but old nemesis Serena Williams is lurking in the Parisian shadows. (TENNIS-OPEN/WOMEN (PREVIEW), moved, 521 words) - - Vulnerable Nadal facing fight for claycourt crown PARIS - For the first time in nearly a decade Rafa Nadal, the undisputed king of clay, will walk into Roland Garros this weekend facing legitimate claims to his French Open crown. (TENNIS-OPEN/MEN (PREVIEW), moved, 514 words) - - - - MIXED MARTIAL ARTS Cormier gets second title shot in UFC 187 main event LAS VEGAS - After Jon Jones handed him his first professional loss in a much-hyped fight at UFC 182 on Jan. 3, Daniel Cormier figured he'd work his way back into contention for another shot at the Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight title. But he never could have guessed he'd get that opportunity less than six months later. (FIGHTING-MMA-PREVIEW/, moved, The Sports Xchange, by Dave Doyle, 491 words) - - - - WRESTLING Cuban, U.S. wrestlers grapple in Times Square NEW YORK - Olympic and world champion wrestlers from Cuba and the United States grapple in the "Salsa in the Square" matches in Manhattan's Times Square in the spirit of renewed relations between the countries. (WRESTLING-CUBA/ (PIX), expect by 7:30 ET, by Larry Fine, 350 words) - - - - JURISPRUDENCE Ex-NFL star Ray Rice's domestic violence charges dismissed A New Jersey judge dismisses domestic violence charges against Ray Rice brought against the former National Football League star for knocking unconscious the woman he later married after Rice completed a pretrial intervention program. (USA-NFL/RAYRICE (UPDATE 2, PIX), moved, by Steve Ginsburg, 357 words) - - Ex-NFL star Hernandez due in court on witness intimidation charge BOSTON - Convicted murderer and former National Football League star Aaron Hernandez is due in court to face charges that he shot a man prosecutors believe witnessed a double homicide of which Hernandez is also accused. (USA-PATRIOTS/HERNANDEZ (PIX), moved; will be led by 3 PM ET, 300 words) - - - - OLYMPICS Rugby joins SportAccord exodus Rugby joins equestrian, curling and table tennis in cutting ties with SportAccord, the latest round of walkouts after its president sharply criticized the International Olympic Committee. (OLYMPICS-SPORTACCORD/ (UPDATE 2), moved, by Karolos Grohmann, 449 words) - - - - NORTH AMERICAN SPORTS Roundups of off-field developments in the major North American professional sports leagues. (Expect by 8 PM ET, by The Sports Xchange, 400 words)