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Sports at a glance

High ratings for Penn State

NEW YORK — Television viewers flocked to the showdown between LSU and Alabama over the weekend.

The Nielsen company says the Southeastern Conference game was seen by 16.6 million people, making it the top-rated regular season college football game in eight years. More than 20 million people were watching on CBS toward the end of the game.

The contest between Penn State and Minnesota earlier in the day was a winner for ABC in the noon slot.

NBC won the week in prime time behind the dominant force of “Sunday Night Football.” ESPN was the week’s most popular cable network.

Astros accused of cheating

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Major League Baseball has expanded its investigation into the Houston Astros after The Athletic website reported the team stole signs during home games in 2017 by using a camera positioned in center field.

The report Tuesday quoted pitcher Mike Fiers, who played for the Astros that season, and three other unidentified people with the club. The Astros won the World Series that year — two sources told The Athletic that Houston used the system into the playoffs while another source said the system ended before the postseason.

The website said the process was started by a struggling hitter and a coach, neither of whom was identified. The camera at Minute Maid Park was connected to a television monitor in the tunnel between the Astros’ dugout and clubhouse, The Athletic said, and team employees or players would communicate expected pitches by banging a trash can to signal off-speed pitches.

Legendary QB dead at 88

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Zeke Bratkowski, the quarterback who backed up Bart Starr during the Green Bay Packers’ 1960s dynasty, has died at his Florida home. He was 88.

The team announced his death late Monday but did not disclose further details.

The Packers Hall of Famer was a quarterback in Green Bay from 1963-1968 and again in 1971. One of Bratkowski’s most notable performances in relief of an injured Starr came in 1965, a 13-10 overtime playoff win over the Baltimore Colts that sent the Packers to the title game against Cleveland. They beat the Browns for what would be the first of three straight championship seasons, and Bratkowski played briefly in both Super Bowl wins in the two years that followed.

He spent 14 years in the NFL, passing for more than 10,000 yards and 65 touchdowns.

Kaepernick holding tryout

Colin Kaepernick plans to audition for NFL teams on Saturday in a private workout arranged by the league to be held in Atlanta.

The exiled former Pro Bowl quarterback posted on Twitter: “I’m just getting word from my representatives that the NFL league office reached out to them about a workout in Atlanta on Saturday. I’ve been in shape and ready for this for 3 years, can’t wait to see the head coaches and GMs on Saturday.”

The NFL hasn’t confirmed Kaepernick’s workout details.

A person familiar with the plans told The Associated Press the league’s decision to invite all 32 teams to watch Kaepernick “came out of the blue with no prior communication.” The person said Kaepernick’s team was given a 2-hour window to accept the invitation and was denied a request to schedule the tryout on a Tuesday or another Saturday.

Kaepernick hasn’t played since 2016 with the San Francisco 49ers.

The Associated Press

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