Red Sox make qualifying offer to David Ortiz

Boston designated hitter David Ortiz and the New York Yankees’ trio of Nick Swisher, Hiroki Kuroda and Rafael Soriano are among nine free agents who have received $13.3-million qualifying offers.

Texas outfielder Josh Hamilton, Tampa Bay outfielder B.J. Upton, Atlanta outfielder Michael Bourne, Washington first baseman Adam LaRoche and St. Louis pitcher Kyle Lohse also got the offers Friday.

Players have until Nov. 9 to accept the one-year contracts. If a player turns the offer down and signs elsewhere, his former team would receive an extra selection immediately following the end of the first round of next June’s amateur draft.

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Baltimore Orioles shortstop Ryan Adams has been suspended for the first 25 games of next season after testing positive for a banned amphetamine.

NFL: Giants-Steelers still on

The game between the Super Bowl champion New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at East Rutherford, N.J., will be played despite transportation and power issues and growing concerns for weary and heartbroken residents displaced and devastated by super storm Sandy.

Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Friday and Christie assured him that game would not divert any major resources from relief efforts.

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Running back Jahvid Best’s season has ended before it began. The Detroit Lions announced Friday that Best would stay on the physically unable to perform list for the year. He hasn’t played in more than a year because of concussion problems.

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Chicago Bears safety Chris Conte has been fined $21,000 by the NFL for striking Carolina receiver Brandon LaFell in the head and neck area when LaFell was defenseless. Fined $15,750 for actions last week were Oakland defensive lineman Richard Seymour, Giants defensive lineman Chris Canty, New York Jets linebacker Marcus Dowtin and Tennessee rookie defensive tackle Mike Martin. ... New Orleans running back and return specialist Darren Sproles underwent surgery for a broken hand and won’t be able to play Monday night when the Saints take on the Philadelphia Eagles at the Superdome.

Etc.: Johnson wins pole in Texas

NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader Jimmie Johnson is on the pole again.

Johnson is the top qualifier for the race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth after a fast lap of 191.076 mph Friday. It’s his second week in a row as the polesitter, and he won last week at Martinsville to take over the points lead with three races left.

Brad Keselowski, only two points behind Johnson in the standings, qualified eighth at a track where he has never had a top-10 finish.

Johnson finished second at Texas in April, a race won by Greg Biffle. Biffle will start on the front row with Johnson on Sunday after qualifying second with a lap of 190.382 mph.

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On another big stage against another strong field, Louis Oosthuizen made it look easy.

Oosthuizen took advantage of the par-fives at Mission Hills in Shenzen, China, shooting a nine-under 63 in the HSBC Champions to build a five-shot lead and break a World Golf Championships record that previously belonged to Tiger Woods.

Along with opening a five-shot lead over Ernie Els — his South African mentor — Oosthuizen reached 16-under 128. That’s the lowest score to par through 36 holes in any World Golf Championships event since they began in 1999.

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Jay Haas matched the Champions Tour record with a 10-under 60 to open a five-stroke lead in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Scottsdale, Ariz. The 58-year-old Haas, who is 14 under for the tournament, became the eighth player in the history of the 50-and-over tour to shoot 60, and broke the course record on Desert Mountain’s Cochise layout. Tom Lehman was second after a 63, moving into position to win the season-long Charles Schwab Cup points race.

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Polish qualifier Jerzy Janowicz kept his great run going at the Paris Masters, advancing to the semifinals when a dizzy and fatigued Janko Tipsarevic stopped playing. The 69th-ranked Janowicz will face France’s Gilles Simon.

Fourth-seeded David Ferrer of Spain moved closer to his first Masters title after beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, 6-2, 7-5. Ferrer’s semifinal opponent will be Frenchman Michael Llodra, who beat American Sam Querrey, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

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Russia’s Nadia Petrova rallied to defeat Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3, in the season-ending Tournament of Champions in Sofia, Bulgaria — a victory that earned her first place in her group.

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The World Anti-Doping Agency accepted the decision that stripped Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles, saying Friday it was the “right and proper sanction” for the disgraced American cyclist. In Switzerland, Irish journalist and former rider Paul Kimmage filed a criminal complaint against International Cycling Union leaders Pat McQuaid and Hein Verbruggen, accusing them of protecting Armstrong while he won his titles.

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Julia Lipnitskaia of Russia took the lead after the short program at figure skating’s Cup of China in her senior Grand Prix debut at Shanghai. Last season’s world junior champion took a narrow lead over two-time world champion Mao Asada of Japan into the free skate, with Mirai Nagasu of the United States third.