Former pitcher Dennis Boyd says he used cocaine

Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd said he probably pitched under the influence of cocaine “at every ballpark” during his 10-year career.

“There wasn’t one ballpark that I probably didn’t stay up all night, until 4 or 5 in the morning, and the same thing is in your system,” Boyd said in an interview with Jon Miller of WBZ radio in Boston. “It ain’t like you had time to go and do it while you were in the game, which I have [done] that.”

Boyd was 78-77 with a 4.04 earned-run average in his career. In eight seasons with the Red Sox, from 1982-89, he was 60-56. In his last two seasons, he was 18-21 with Montreal and Texas.

“Some of the best games that I’ve ever, ever pitched in the major leagues, I stayed up all night. I’d say two-thirds of them,” he said Wednesday in Fort Myers, Fla., where Boston holds spring training, “and if I had went to bed, I would have won 150 ballgames in the time span that I played.”

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Two-time defending American League champion Texas avoided arbitration with another of its core players, agreeing to a $16-million, two-year contract with AL Championship Series most valuable player Nelson Cruz.

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The Kansas City Royals and outfielder Alex Gordon avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year contract worth $4,775,000.

ETC.

Support grows for Redknapp

Endorsed by a growing number of England players, Harry Redknapp should move closer to becoming the new coach of the national soccer team Friday when plans to recruit Fabio Capello’s replacement are finalized by the Football Assn.

The groundswell of public support for Redknapp gathered after Capello quit on Wednesday in a dispute over fired captain John Terry, with the Italian plunging England’s preparations for this summer’s European Championship into turmoil.

England Under-21 coach Stuart Pearce will take charge of England’s friendly against the Netherlands on Feb. 29, with the Euro 2012 opener not until June 11 against France.

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The Nevada State Athletic Commission announced Nick Diaz tested positive for marijuana after his interim welterweight title loss against Ultimate Fighting Championship opponent Carlos Condit on Saturday.

Diaz faces serious consequences — perhaps a yearlong ban — because he previously failed a test for marijuana in Nevada in 2007.

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World Boxing Assn. junior-welterweight champion Lamont Peterson will grant a rematch to former champion Amir Khan of England on May 19 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, promoter Richard Schaefer announced.

Staples Center was a possible venue for the bout, but Peterson insisted it be staged in Nevada, Schaefer said.

—Lance Pugmire

Cardiff, Calif., resident Greta Neimanas won a silver medal in the C5 500-meter time trial, and Jennifer Schubie of Homewood, Ala., the bronze in that event at the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships at the Home Depot Center. Sarah Storey of Britain won the gold. Allison Jones of Colorado Springs, Colo., won the bronze in the women’s C2 500-meter time trial. The cycling competition runs through Sunday.

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American Stacy Lewis and Australia’s Sarah Kemp shared the Women’s Australian Open lead at four-under-par 69 in Melbourne, leaving top-ranked Yani Tseng a stroke back in her bid to win the event for the third straight year.