Fast Break

Baseball

Blue Jays pitcher dies

Toronto Blue Jays’ pitcher Joe Kennedy died early Friday morning in Tampa, a Hillsborough County sheriff’s official said. He was 28.

Kennedy passed out at home and was brought to a hospital, Hillsborough County sheriff’s spokeswoman Debbie Carter said. She had no further details.

Kennedy’s agent, Damon Lapa, told ESPN.com that Kennedy died while at home with family in Florida. He did not return phone calls from the Associated Press.

The left-hander was 43-61 in seven major league seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays, Colorado Rockies, Oakland Athletics, Arizona Diamondbacks and Toronto Blue Jays. Kennedy compiled a 43-61 record with a 4.79 ERA, pitching 908 2/3 innings over 222 career appearances.

Prep footballState semifinals on tap today

Four teams, two each from the Greater Spokane League and Northeast 1B League, are playing today for berths in next week’s Gridiron Classic state championships.

Ferris (12-0) plays host to last year’s runner-up, Bothell (12-0), at 1 p.m., followed by Odessa (11-0) vs. Tri Cities Prep (9-3) at 4 in an Albi Stadium doubleheader.

Almira/Coulee-Hartline (11-1) faces last year’s B-8 runner-up Lummi (10-1) in the second of five Tacoma Dome semifinal games at 11:30 a.m.

Lewis and Clark (9-2) completes the Tacoma Dome lineup at 8 p.m. against Edmonds-Woodway (12-0).

Men’s soccer

Gonzaga plays at SMU today

They have admitted their at-large bid was a surprise, now the Gonzaga Bulldogs are in Dallas today making their second appearance in the NCAA Division I tournament.

The Bulldogs (9-6-4) received the news Monday after they thought they saw their season come to an end last week with a 1-0 double-overtime loss to third-ranked Santa Clara.

“I thought we had a very slim chance,” GU coach Einar Thorarinsson said.

The Bulldogs will take on Southern Methodist at 5. The Mustangs, 13-4-2, are led by junior midfielder Bruno Guarda, Conference USA’s Player of the Year the past two seasons.