Nationals to hire Matt Williams as manager, reports say

The Washington Nationals will name five-time All-Star third baseman Matt Williams to be their new manager, according to multiple reports.

Williams, 47, will replace Davey Johnson, who retired at the end of the regular season. It is Williams’ first managerial job at any level. He joined the Arizona Diamondbacks’ coaching staff in 2010 as a first base coach but was most recently the third base coach.

Williams, 47, starred for the San Francisco Giants and Cleveland Indians in addition to Diamondbacks, for whom he also served five years as a broadcaster.

Bench coach Randy Knorr reportedly stay on in the same capacity under Williams. Williams and Knorr were the top candidates for the managerial job.

A person familiar with the situation said the Chicago Cubs plan to interview former Seattle Mariners manager Eric Wedge for their opening.

The Dodgers have five players who are among three National League finalists at their positions for Rawlings Gold Glove awards: pitcher Zack Greinke, catcher A.J. Ellis, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, second baseman Mark Ellis and third baseman Juan Uribe. The Angels did not have a finalist. The awards will be announced Oct. 29.

NBA

Suns send Gortat to Wizards

Adding a front-court piece in hopes of finally returning to the playoffs, the Washington Wizards acquired center Marcin Gortat from the Phoenix Suns in a multiplayer trade.

Phoenix got injured center Emeka Okafor and a top-12-protected first-round draft pick in 2014 — giving the rebuilding Suns potentially four choices in the opening round.

The Suns also sent guards Kendall Marshall, Shannon Brown and Malcolm Lee to Washington so the deal will work financially. The Wizards are expected to waive all three.

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The Warriors and the often-injured center Andrew Bogut agreed to a contract extension. A person with knowledge of the deal told the Associated Press it was for three years and $36 million and could be worth up to about $42 million with incentives.

The Warriors also waived three training camp invitees and extended the contracts of three regulars.

The Warriors waived guard Seth Curry, center Dewayne Dedmon and forward Joe Alexander. They also exercised the fourth-year contract option on shooting guard Klay Thompson and the third-year contract options on forward Harrison Barnes and center Festus Ezeli for the 2014-15 season.

GOLF

Bradley leads CIMB Classic

Keegan Bradley had seven birdies — five in a six-hole stretch on his back nine — and shot a 6-under 66 to open a four-stroke lead at 13-under 131 in the CIMB Classic at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Ryan Moore was second, following his opening 63 with a 72. Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Chris Stroud shot 69 to reach eight under. Phil Mickelson was three under after a 70.

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Luke Guthrie handled another day of strong wind and kept his distance in the BMW Masters in Shanghai with a one-under 71, giving the American the lead going into the weekend. His eight-under 136 left him four shots clear of six players in the European Tour event.

Ricardo Gonzalez had a 67, the lowest round of the day. Also in a tie for second were Scott Jamieson (68), Paul Casey, Thongchai Jaidee and Craig Lee, who each shot 70.

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Suzann Pettersen had a hole-in-one and increased her lead to five strokes after the second round of the LPGA Taiwan Championship at Yangmei.

The defending champion aced the 133-yard second hole with a pitching wedge and finished with a three-under 69 in swirling wind conditions to reach seven under at Sunrise Golf and Country Club.

South Korea’s Sun Young Yoo and Spain’s Carlota Ciganda were tied for second. Yoo had a 69, and Ciganda shot 70.

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Kenny Perry birdied five of the first six holes and finished with a seven-under 65 to take the first-round lead in the Champions Tour’s AT&T; Championship in San Antonio.

The Charles Schwab Cup leader birdied the first three holes, dropped a stroke on the par-3 fourth, then birdied the next two holes. He added birdies on Nos. 12, 14 and 15.

Tom Pernice Jr. was a stroke back after a 66. Bernhard Langer and Anders Forsbrand followed at 67.

ETC.

Federer advances at Basel

Roger Federer raised his game to beat Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, 6-3, 7-6 (2), Friday in the quarterfinals of his hometown Swiss Indoors tournament at Basel. Federer will face 40th-ranked Vasek Pospisil in the semifinals on Saturday.

Earlier, top-seeded Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina used his powerful serve to beat Paul-Henri Mathieu of France, 6-4, 6-4. Del Potro will play Edouard Roger-Vasselin in the semifinals.

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Li Na reached the semifinals of the WTA Championships in Istanbul with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Victoria Azarenka, who was wincing in pain from a back injury.

Li will play 2011 champion Petra Kvitova, who rallied past Angelique Kerber, 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-3, in the season-ending tournament that features the top eight players in the world.

Defending champion Serena Williams will play Jelena Jankovic in a semifinal Saturday. Williams, who swept her group on Thursday.

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In Spain, defending champion David Ferrer will play former winner Nicolas Almagro in the semifinals of the Valencia Open after both Spaniards won on Friday.

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Denny Hamlin won the pole position Friday for the NASCAR race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

Hamlin led the way as 18 drivers broke Jimmie Johnson’s track qualifying record with a speed of 99.595 mph. Johnson, the points leader who set the mark in April, and Kyle Busch tied for second at 99.344 mph, with Johnson getting the second spot Sunday based on the owner points tiebreaker. Matt Kenseth will start fourth.

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Reggie Rogers, a first-round NFL draft pick whose career stalled after he was sentenced to prison for a car crash that killed three teenagers, has died. He was 49.

Coroner’s officials in Seattle didn’t have an immediate cause of death for Rogers, who died Thursday, because toxicology reports were pending. The Seattle Police Department was the investigating agency on the case, but a spokesman for the department declined to comment about Rogers, citing a policy to not identify victims.

The former University of Washington defensive lineman had a troubled life and was arrested this month for investigation of domestic violence assault.

In October of 1988, Rogers had an elevated blood-alcohol content when he ran a stop sign in Michigan and collided with another vehicle, killing three teenagers. Rogers was found guilty of negligent homicide and sent to prison.