PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Jonathon Niese struggled against Venezuela's All-Star lineup Wednesday, allowing four runs in the New York Mets' 14-10 loss to the World Baseball Classic squad playing its final tuneup for the World Baseball Classic.
Niese gave up an RBI double to Carlos Gonzalez in the first and was replaced after giving up a second run on a walk and two hits in the third inning. Two more runs scored after his exit. He gave up six hits, walked two and struck out one in 2 1-3 innings.
Miguel Cabrera homered twice for Venezuela's starting lineup that featured five 2012 All-Stars at the top of the order. Elvis Andrus, Asdrubal Cabrera, Miguel Cabrera, Pablo Sandoval and Gonzalez combined for 10 hits. Cabrera connected in the fourth and fifth innings.
Marlon Byrd capped a seven-run fifth inning for the Mets with a three-run homer.
• Baseball
Giambi homers: Jason Giambi drove in two runs and Justin Masterson outpitched Hyun-Jin Ryu on Wednesday, leading the Cleveland Indians to a 4-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The 42-year-old Giambi signed a minor league deal with Cleveland just ahead of the start of spring training with hopes of playing one more season in an 18-year career. He singled and hit a sacrifice fly to pace the Indians offense.
Verlander solid: Torii Hunter hit his first home run with the Detroit Tigers, Justin Verlander allowed one hit in four innings and the Detroit Tigers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-1 on Wednesday.
Hunter, who left the Los Angeles Angels as a free agent last winter, homered off Blue Jays reliever Michael Schwimer. The homer raised Hunter's spring batting average to .261.
Reds top Canada: A struggling Cincinnati Reds lineup turned Canada's tuneup into a trouncing.
Ryan Ludwick and Miguel Olivo hit three-run homers Wednesday night and the Reds piled up 18 hits for a 12-2 victory over the team that Canada will take to the World Baseball Classic.
• Basketball
Cavs win: Kyrie Irving scored 20 points and made all the big plays down the stretch, rallying Cleveland to the victory over Utah.
The Cavs trailed 100-92 with less than three minutes left before Irving took over. He scored eight points, made a steal and assisted on Wayne Ellington's dunk as Cleveland stormed back to stun the Jazz.
Knicks beat Pistons: Raymond Felton scored 26 points, and New York pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat Detroit despite Carmelo Anthony's absence.
Anthony sat out after injuring his right knee Monday, but New York went on a 16-0 run in the fourth to put away the game. The Pistons were without big man Greg Monroe, who has a sore left ankle, and Detroit coach Lawrence Frank missed the game because of a personal matter.
• Elsewhere
Returning medal: A Polish wrestler says he is returning his Olympic medal in protest over the sport's proposed removal from the program of the 2020 Games.
Andrzej Supron, who won silver in the Greco-Roman lightweight division at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, says he is "surprised and outraged by the suggestion to remove this ancient sport from the games."
He says he is sending the medal back to IOC President Jacques Rogge.
Supron is also a former world and European champion.
Blue Jackets' moves: The Columbus Blue Jackets have reassigned center Nick Drazenovic to their American Hockey League affiliate in Springfield, Mass.
The 26-year-old Drazenovic did not have a point in four games with Blue Jackets. He had 16 goals and 30 assists in 47 games with Springfield this season.
A native of Prince George, British Columbia, Drazenovic was signed by the Blue Jackets as a free agent on July 1, 2011, after spending four seasons in the St. Louis Blues organization. He was the Blues' sixth pick, 171st overall, in the 2005 draft.
IU hires Inge: Indiana has hired William Inge as its new co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.
He replaces Mike Ekeler, who took a job coaching linebackers at Southern California two weeks ago. Indiana assistant head coach Doug Mallory will be the defensive coordinator and continue to coach safety for head coach Kevin Wilson.
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