Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Japan, eyeing Olympics, lines up half-billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine

Japan is making an aggressive move to grab enough coronavirus vaccine to inoculate its population four times over, a push the government hopes will instill confidence that it can host a delayed summer Olympics next year. Like other rich countries, Japan is signing multiple deals because some of the vaccines could fail in clinical trials or require more than one dose, an approach some experts consider prudent.

Dodgers carry MLB’s best mark into series with Rangers

The Los Angeles Dodgers are the hottest team in baseball as they roll into the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex on Friday to begin a three-game interleague series with the hapless Texas Rangers. It will be Jackie Robinson Day all around the majors in tribute to the Dodgers player who first broke the color barrier in 1947.

MLB roundup: Reds post DH sweep of Brewers

Wade Miley allowed one hit over four strong innings, while Nick Castellanos and Jesse Winker provided offensive help as the visiting Cincinnati Reds completed a doubleheader sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers with a 6-0 win in Thursday’s nightcap. Castellanos and Winker each had an RBI double, while Reds righty Lucas Sims (2-0) pitched two hitless innings of relief to get the win to complete a 4-6 road trip. It was the first doubleheader in the history of Milwaukee’s Miller Park after both clubs mutually agreed to boycott Wednesday’s contest in the wake of the unrest and violence following Sunday’s police shooting of black 29-year-old Jacob Blake in nearby Kenosha, Wis.

NHL postpones games, joins waves of protests against racial injustice

The National Hockey League said it has postponed playoff games that were scheduled for Thursday and Friday, joining similar moves by other leagues in protest over the police shooting of a Black man in Wisconsin on Sunday. The decision impacts all the eight remaining playoff teams, starting with Thursday games between the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders, and the Vancouver Canucks and Vegas Golden Knights.

NBA ready to resume games after players’ racial injustice boycott

The National Basketball Association (NBA) said on Thursday it hopes to resume play in a day or two after a boycott by players protesting racial injustice and police brutality, while President Donald Trump denounced the league. NBA Executive Vice President Mike Bass said the league is “hopeful” it will resume games Friday or Saturday after the protest, which was sparked by the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and led to game cancellations in other sports as well.

Burnes, Holland get nods in Pirates-Brewers opener

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Milwaukee Brewers are set to play baseball Friday at Miller Park, but that doesn’t mean they are overlooking the civil unrest and Black Lives Matter protests that have spread across the country. The latest incident to raise voices about social injustice occurred when Wisconsin man Jacob Blake, who is Black, was shot in the back by police in Kenosha last Sunday and reportedly left paralyzed from the waist down. Several sports teams and leagues have postponed games this week.

Racial injustice hits home for U.S. athletes

When former NBA star Robert Horry’s son showed him the video of a police officer shooting Jacob Blake in the back in Wisconsin on Sunday, he said he felt compelled to remind the teenager of the dangers he could face when encountering the police. “It’s hard to tell your 14-year-old son that I worry about him when he walks out that door. I have a 22-year-old son and I worry about him because Black men are an endangered species,” he said fighting back tears.

Arizona’s Hall of Fame coach Olson dies aged 85

Hall of Fame basketball coach Lute Olson, who guided the Arizona Wildcats to their only NCAA championship in 1997, has died aged 85, the university confirmed on Thursday. Olson was hospitalized in 2019 after suffering a stroke and was moved into hospice care earlier this year.

MLS to investigate Salt Lake owner’s alleged racist comments

Major League Soccer (MLS) said on Thursday it will investigate allegations made in a report that Real Salt Lake owner Dell Loy Hansen used racist language. “We are deeply concerned about the allegations made in a report published this evening concerning the language used by, and the conduct of, Real Salt Lake owner Dell Loy Hansen,” MLS said in a statement.

A week to change my life’: Lawlor on European Tour debut

Brendan Lawlor shot a 12-over-par 84 in the first round of the UK Championship but the 22-year-old, who became the first golfer with disabilities to compete on the European Tour on Thursday, said scoring is immaterial in a week that will change his life. The Irishman has a rare condition called Ellis-van Creveld syndrome, a disability characterized by a shorter stature and shorter limbs. He was invited to compete in the Aug. 27-30 UK Championship by his sponsor, the tournament’s title partners.