In brief: Suspension reduced from 10 games to 4 for Cowboys’ Grady Hardy

Football: Dallas defensive end Greg Hardy’s suspension for his role in a domestic violence case has been reduced from 10 games to four.

Arbitrator Harold Henderson, who heard Hardy’s appeal, upheld NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s decision to suspend Hardy. But he said the length was “simply too much” since the league had decided last year that suspensions in domestic abuse cases would start at six games.

Hardy missed all but one game last season, but was paid his $13 million salary while on Goodell’s exempt list. Goodell suspended Hardy in April after the league was allowed to view evidence from a domestic violence trial that led to a conviction by a judge in North Carolina. The conviction was thrown out when the accuser, Nicole Holder, couldn’t be located to testify in Hardy’s appeal.

With the reduced ban, Hardy’s debut for the Cowboys will be against Super Bowl champion New England on Oct. 11. He joined Dallas on a one-year, $13.1 million deal that’s heavily based on incentives.

Hardy had 26 sacks in his last two full seasons with the Carolina Panthers.

• Source: Giants haven’t rescinded Paul’s franchise tag: Jason Pierre-Paul’s future with the New York Giants remains uncertain after a Fourth of July fireworks accident that reportedly resulted in the amputation of a finger, even though a person with knowledge of the contract tells the Associated Press the team has not rescinded its $14.8 million franchise tag offer.

Given the accident, it’s unlikely the Giants will sign Pierre-Paul to a long-term deal before the July 15 deadline. That would leave accepting the one-year offer as his only option if he wants to play in 2015, unless the Giants withdraw the offer and make him a free agent.

• FSU rusher suspended, charged with punching woman: Florida State indefinitely suspended leading running back Dalvin Cook after he was charged with punching a woman outside a bar.

The incident happened June 23 after the popular bar closed at 2 a.m.

Cook led Florida State last year with 1,008 rushing yards as a freshman.

It’s the second time in two weeks that an FSU player has been charged with punching a woman. Freshman quarterback De’Andre Johnson was caught on a surveillance video punching a woman at another bar near campus. He was kicked off the team.

Yang takes U.S. Women’s Open lead

Golf: Amy Yang rolled in four consecutive birdies in a round of 4-under 66 for a three-stroke lead after two rounds of the U.S. Women’s Open.

While the bulk of the field tried to solve the sloping greens at Lancaster (Pennsylvania) Country Club, Yang charged into the lead on her inward nine with birdies on Nos. 11-13. The 25-year-old South Korean was at 7-under 133.

Stacy Lewis, last year’s runner-up, and Japan’s Shiho Oyama were tied for second at 4-under 136.

• Spieth surges, but Thomas leads: Justin Thomas shot a 4-under 67 to take a 1-shot lead through two rounds at the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois.

Thomas, a 22-year-old seeking his first career win, is at 12-under 130 total.

Jordan Spieth shot a 7-under 64 to go from at risk of missing the cut to moving within five shots of the lead at TPC Deere Run.

Spokane native Alex Prugh shot a 69 to reach 5-under 137 and qualify for the weekend.

• Four share lead on Champions Tour: Lee Janzen, Fred Funk, David Frost and Brad Bryant share the lead after shooting a 7-under 65 in the first round of the Encompass Championship at North Shore Country Club in Glennview, Illinois.

Janzen, who won the 1993 and 1998 U.S. Opens, chipped in for a birdie on the 17th hole during a run of three straight birdies.

Rain washes out Sprint Cup qualifying

Auto racing: Rain returned to Kentucky Speedway, canceling qualifying for today’s Sprint Cup race.

With the starting grids set on practice times, Kyle Larson will be on the pole beside Brad Keselowski for the 400-mile Cup race at the 1.5-mile track in Sparta, Kentucky. It’s the second career pole for Larson, who had the fastest practice speed of 182.537 mph earlier in the day.

Cup drivers were able to get on the track in the morning for more than an hour before showers halted practice. Another session was held in the afternoon.

Practice and qualifying for Thursday’s Camping World Truck Series race in Kentucky was also washed out.

• Keselowski wins Xfinity at Kentucky : Brad Keselowski overcame a late-race mistake after a restart to reclaim the lead from Erik Jones with eight laps remaining, holding him off to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Kentucky Speedway.

Keselowski earned his third series victory on the 1.5-mile oval in Sparta, Kentucky. He had to bounce back from a hiccup after a Lap 169 restart that appeared to hand the race to Jones. Unfazed, Keselowski regrouped and guided his Ford past Jones’ Toyota on Lap 192 and went on to the win.

Kyle Busch was third after leading a race-high 88 laps.

Red Wings reach deal with Nyquist

Miscellany: Gustav Nyquist has agreed to a $19 million, four-year deal with the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings.

The 25-year-old Nyquist was the only Detroit player to file for arbitration, but the Red Wings avoided that by coming to terms on a deal. Nyquist had 27 goals and 27 assists last season.

• Nearly 1,800 still battle for World Series of Poker prize: The crowd of would-be World Series of Poker champions has narrowed to nearly 1,800 players, each hoping some of the $60.3 million prize pool ends up in their bank accounts.

The last 1,000 players will win at least $15,000. The final nine players are guaranteed at least $1 million.

Poker stars Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu remain in the no-limit Texas Hold ’em main event.

• Bailey opens Pan Am Games with stunt: The Pan Am Games opening ceremony kicked off in Toronto with a gravity-defying stunt from Olympic gold medalist Donovan Bailey.

Bailey – who won gold in the 4x100-meter relay at the 1996 Olympics – base-jumped off the 553-meter-high CN Tower, parachuting onto the roof of the Rogers Centre.

The prerecorded bit then transitioned to the live opening ceremony, with Bailey descending from the ceiling to pass the torch.

The Pan Am Games run through July 26.