SPORTS digest

Chiefs beat Raiders, control AFC West

KANSAS CITY, Mo.

Tyreek Hill had touchdowns receiving and on a punt return, Kansas City’s defense made life miserable for Oakland quarterback Derek Carr, and the Chiefs beat the Raiders 21-13 on a frigid Thursday night to take control of the AFC West.

Charcandrick West also had a touchdown run for the Chiefs (10-3). They moved into a first-place tie with Oakland (10-3) but holds the tiebreaker with two wins over their longtime divisional rival.

Carr was 17 of 41 for 117 yards passing, though the ugly stat line wasn’t entirely his fault.

Seth Roberts dropped just about everything thrown at him, Amari Cooper couldn’t adjust to a long throw for a would-be touchdown early in the fourth quarter, and several more passes were dropped to the rock-hard turf of Arrowhead Stadium on a night when wind chills approached single digits.

Alex Smith threw for 261 yards with a touchdown and an interception to help the Chiefs, returning home after back-to-back road wins, beat Oakland for the seventh time in their last eight meetings.

Racist graffiti written at player’s home

MOONACHIE, N.J.

Police are investigating a break-in and racist graffiti scrawled on the wall at the New Jersey home of an injured New York Giants player.

Moonachie police Sgt. Richard Behrens tells The Bergen Record police are investigating the break-in at Nikita Whitlock’s home as a hate crime. Whitlock, who’s black, showed the graffiti to reporters, including “KKK” and a swastika. The name “Trump” was also written on the wall in marker.

Whitlock is a fullback on the injured reserve list with a foot injury. He was suspended for 10 games without pay in September for violating the NFL policy on performance-enhancing substances.

Police believe Whitlock’s home was broken into Tuesday night. Whitlock says there was also an attempted break-in three weeks ago.

NHL Vegas team trademark denied

LAS VEGAS

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has denied the Vegas Golden Knights’ trademark application a little more than two weeks after the new NHL franchise unveiled its name and logo.

The office cites potential confusion with the team name for the College of Saint Rose in New York, which is also the Golden Knights.

In a statement, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly says the league is planning a response that will outline why it believes the name should be registered “in co-existence” with the college’s. He says “a number of other nicknames currently co-exist in professional and college sports.”

Daly says it’s not the league’s “intention to reconsider the name or logo” of the franchise.

The Las Vegas franchise is set to take the ice next season.

Pirates LHP Locke signs with Marlins

OXON HILL, MD.

Left-hander Jeff Locke has agreed to a one-year contract with the Miami Marlins worth $3,025,000, according to two people familiar with the negotiations.

In addition, the Marlins agreed to a $2.5 million, one-year contract with catcher A.J. Ellis and kept right-hander Dustin McGowan for a $1.75 million, one-year contract, one of the people said.

The 29-year-old Locke had spent his entire big league career with Pittsburgh and was 9-8 with a 5.44 ERA this year in 19 starts and 11 relief appearances, his highest ERA since 2012.

His best season was 2013, when he went 10-7 with a 3.52 ERA in 30 starts, earning a spot on the NL All-Star roster.

Locke became a free agent when Pittsburgh failed to offer a contract by the Dec. 2 deadline.

McGowan, 34, had a 2.82 ERA in his first season with the Marlins, striking out 63 in 67 innings.

Ellis, who turns 35 in April, hit .216 with 22 RBIs this year in 64 games with the Dodgers and Phillies, which acquired him Aug. 25 in the trade that sent Carlos Ruiz to Los Angeles.

Staff/wire report