WNBA
Caitlin Clark has been selected with the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft by the Indiana Fever. The former Iowa star became a household name among basketball fans during her record-breaking college career. Now she will try and help revive the Indiana franchise along with last season’s No. 1 pick, Aliyah Boston. Los Angeles took Cameron Brink second and Rickea Jackson fourth. Chicago drafted Kamilla Cardoso third and Angel Reese seventh.
BOSTON MARATHON
Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia ran alone for most of the Boston Marathon to win in 2 hours, 6 minutes, 17 seconds. Hellen Obiri repeated as the women's winner. She outsprinted Sharon Lokedi down Boylston Street to win by eight seconds. Switzerland’s Marcel Hug righted himself after crashing into a barrier when he took a turn too fast and still coasted to his seventh win in the men’s wheelchair race. Eden Rainbow-Cooper won the women's wheelchair race. Nearly 30,000 runners left Hopkinton for the 128th Boston Marathon. The sleepy New England town celebrated its 100th anniversary as the course's starting line.
MLB
Meanwhile, across town at Fenway, Will Brennan hit a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the seventh inning and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Red Sox 6-0 in Boston’s traditional Patriots’ Day game. José Ramirez and Gabriel Arias each added an RBI double for Cleveland, which has started 8-2 on the road. Brennan hooked his homer around the Pesky Pole in right off reliever Greg Weissert. Tim Herrin worked two innings of hitless relief for the win. Wearing their white jerseys with red letters that read “Boston” across the front, which was inspired by the first game back after the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013, the Red Sox were held to three hits.
The Blue Jays downed the New York 3-1 on a day when long-time Yankees radio broadcaster John Sterling announced his immediate retirement at age 85, just a few weeks into his 36th season in New York’s broadcast booth. Sterling had cut back his schedule in recent years and was not with the team for its trip to Houston and Toronto. He called 5,420 regular-season games, the last against the Blue Jays on April 7, plus 211 postseason games. Sterling broadcast 5,060 consecutive games from September 1989 through July 2019 after starting with the Yankees as a pregame host.
Chris Bassitt pitched into the seventh inning to win his second straight start, Alejandro Kirk reached base three times and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Yankees 3-1, handing New York consecutive losses for the first time this season. New York lost 8-7 at Cleveland on Sunday when the Guardians scored three runs in the 10th. The Yankees lost a series-opening game for the second time in six tries, with both defeats coming against the Blue Jays. Toronto won 3-0 in New York’s home opener on April 5. Bassitt allowed one run and four hits in 6 1/3 innings.
Harrison Bader drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning for the second day in a row, hitting a two-run double off an angry Aroldis Chapman that lifted the New York Mets over the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-3. New York overcame a 3-0, sixth-inning deficit and reached .500 for the first time since last June. The Mets have won eight of 11 following an 0-5 start under first-year manager Carlos Mendoza.
Cristian Pache hit a walk-off single with one out in the 10th inning after Bryce Harper made a leaping, run-saving catch in the top of the frame to lift the Philadelphia Phillies to a 2-1 win over the Colorado Rockies on Monday night. Colorado Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland appeared to injure his right, non-throwing shoulder while being used as a pinch-runner in the ninth inning. Harper also had an RBI single.
Austin Riley had three hits, including an RBI single in a four-run ninth inning as the Atlanta Braves pulled away for a 6-1 victory over the Houston Astros. Orlando Arcia and Marcell Ozuna also had RBI singles in the ninth to help break open a 2-1 game. Adam Duvall drew a leadoff walk from Josh Hader and moved to second on a wild pitch before Arcia delivered a run-scoring single. Ronald Acuña Jr. and Ozzie Albies singled before Riley hit his RBI single. Hader exited after striking out Matt Olson. Ozuna added another RBI single, and Michael Harris II drove in a run with a fielder’s choice to make it 6-1.
Sonny Gray struck out six and didn’t walk a batter over six scoreless innings to beat his former club, and Willson Contreras doubled twice and drove in a run for the St. Louis Cardinals in their 3-1 win against the Oakland Athletics. Nolan Arenado hit an RBI single in the first to stake Gray to an early lead against an Oakland team that had won three of four and drew a crowd of 5,508. Esteury Ruiz was called up by Oakland shortly before first pitch from Triple-A Las Vegas and hit a pinch homer in the eighth.
Jorge Polanco and Mitch Haniger homered, and Seattle’s slumping offense produced a season high in runs as the Mariners beat the Cincinnati Reds 9-3. The Mariners had their highest scoring game since August 26, 2023, when they scored 13 times against the Kansas City Royals. George Kirby (2-2) returned to form for Seattle, allowing two runs on five hits with six strikeouts and no walks in six innings. Jeimer Candelario and Jake Fraley added solo homers for the Reds.
Michael Lorenzen pitched five spotless innings in his Texas debut and three relievers completed a five-hit shutout as the Rangers topped the Detroit Tigers 1-0. Lorenzen, signed to a $4.5 million, one-year contract as a free agent late in spring training, gave up three hits and walked five while notching four strikeouts against his former team. Lorenzen represented the Tigers at the All-Star Game last season before he was traded to Philadelphia. The right-hander had been on the injured list due to a neck strain. Jose Leclerc allowed one baserunner in two innings. David Robertson got three outs and Kirby Yates earned his first save as Texas finished its first shutout this season. Jonah Heim doubled in the fifth and scored the only run on Marcus Semien's grounder.
Cedric Mullins saved a run with an exceptional diving catch in deep left-center, then homered and drove in three runs for the Baltimore Orioles in a 7-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins. Jordan Westburg drove in two runs during his third career three-hit day, which came two days after his second. Ryan O’Hearn and Gunnar Henderson also homered for the Orioles, who have won five of their six series openers. Reliever Dillon Tate got the win and Craig Kimbrel worked the ninth for his fourth save. Ryan Jeffers and Jose Miranda each had three hits and two RBIs for Minnesota.
Mike Trout’s two-run homer highlighted a five-run outburst in the eighth inning and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3. Trout gave the Angels a 2-1 lead with his seventh homer of the season, off Pat Maton (0-1). Matt Thaiss extended the Angels’ lead to 5-1 with three-run double. Taylor Ward added a two-run homer in the ninth inning. Reliever Luis Garcia (1-0) worked an inning and earned the win. Harold Ramírez hit a two-run homer and had three RBIs for Tampa Bay.
Seth Lugo pitched seven crisp innings, Vinnie Pasquantino homered and the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 2-0. Lugo allowed four hits in his third straight win. Kansas City improved to 5-0 against Chicago already this season. The surprising Royals have allowed a major league-low 48 runs during their 11-6 start, and the White Sox have scored 34 runs so far — also the lowest total in the big leagues. Andrew Benintendi had two of Chicago’s four hits in its fifth consecutive loss.
Jung Hoo Lee had two hits, including a tying single in the seventh inning, and the San Francisco Giants overcame an early three-run deficit to beat the NL-worst Miami Marlins 4-3. The Marlins fell to 3-14, and their frustration boiled over in the bottom of the eighth when plate umpire Laz Díaz ejected manager Skip Schumaker. Kyle Harrison allowed three runs in six innings to get the win. The rookie left-hander gave up eight hits, walked one and struck out two. Down 3-1, the Giants rallied with a three-run seventh against relievers George Soriano and Andrew Nardi.
Jackson Merrill went 3 for 5 and singled home two runs during a six-run rally in the fifth inning as the San Diego Padres defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 7-3. Milwaukee's Jackson Chourio went 2 for 4, hit a two-run homer and scored twice for the Brewers. The Padres trailed 3-1 before their unusual outburst in the fifth. The rally featured no extra-base hits, but did include six singles, a walk, a passed ball, catcher’s interference and a pitch-clock violation.
Luis García Jr. hit a three-run homer, CJ Abrams also went deep and the Washington Nationals defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-4 on Jackie Robinson Day around the major leagues. García went opposite field against Tyler Glasnow with two outs in the fifth inning. Glasnow gave up six runs and eight hits in five innings to take his first loss with the Dodgers. Washington starter Mitchell Parker won his major league debut. The left-hander allowed four hits and two runs in five innings. Shohei Ohtani scored twice for the Dodgers, but he flied out to center field as the potential tying run at the plate in the eighth.
Nico Hoerner scored the tying run from second base on a wild pitch in the ninth inning, then delivered the go-ahead single in the 11th as the Chicago Cubs rallied past the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-2. Michael Busch homered for the Cubs leading off the second on an 0-2 pitch from Merrill Kelly. It was the rookie’s sixth of the season and fifth straight game with a home run, tying the franchise record. Busch walked in the 11th and Garrett Cooper singled, moving automatic runner Nick Madrigal to third against Kevin Jarvis and loading the bases. Hoerner followed with a single to right field, advancing all three runners one base. Chicago was unable to tack on, but Keegan Thompson pitched two scoreless innings for the win.
Chicago Cubs rookie Michael Busch has homered for the fifth straight game to match a franchise record. Busch led off the second inning with his sixth home run of the season, a 419-foot drive to center field on an 0-2 pitch from Arizona Diamondbacks starter Merrill Kelly. Four other Cubs players have gone deep in five straight games — including current third baseman Christopher Morel, who did it last year. The others are Sammy Sosa and Hall of Famers Hack Wilson and Ryne Sandberg. The 26-year-old Busch was acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in a January trade. The first baseman is batting .327 with 12 RBIs and a .731 slugging percentage.
Ken Holtzman, MLB’s winningest Jewish pitcher who threw two no-hitters for the Chicago Cubs and helped the Oakland Athletics win three straight World Series championships in the 1970s, has died. The Cubs announced Holtzman's death Monday on social media. He was 78. Holtzman’s brother Bob Holtzman told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he died Sunday night after being hospitalized for three weeks. He had been battling heart issues. Holtzman grew up in the St. Louis area and starred at the University of Illinois before becoming a two-time All-Star. The left-hander posted a 174-150 record and 3.49 ERA from 1965 to 1979 with the Athletics, Cubs, New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles.
NHL
Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist, Igor Shesterkin made 26 saves for his fourth shutout of the season, and the New York Rangers beat the Ottawa Senators 4-0 to clinch the Presidents’ Trophy for the NHL’s best regular-season record. Jack Roslovic, Adam Fox and Alexis Lafreniere also scored and Chris Kreider had two assists as the Rangers won their league-best 55th game and finished with 114 points -- both franchise records -- and will have home ice advantage throughout the playoffs. New York won for the fifth time in seven games and went 26-7-1 in their last 34 games. They previously won the Presidents’ Trophy in 1991-92, 1993-94 — when they won the Stanley Cup for only time since 1940 — and 2014-15.
Kyle Palmieri and Brock Nelson each had a goal and an assist and the Patrick Roy-led New York Islanders clinched one of the two remaining playoff berths in the Eastern Conference with a 4-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils. Jean-Gabriel Pageau, and Kyle MacLean also scored as the Islanders secured third place in the Metropolitan Division and earned their fifth postseason berth in the six seasons. Semyon Varamov made 22 saves for his fifth straight win and helped New York extend its point streak to eight games (7-0-1). Timo Meier scored and Jake Allen had 14 saves for New Jersey in its final game of the season.
Sam Reinhart got his 55th goal of the season with 1:02 left in overtime, and the Florida Panthers clinched home ice for at least Round 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs by beating the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 in the next-to-last regular season game for both teams. Reinhart took a pass from Aleksander Barkov and delivered the winner. Anton Lundell and Kevin Stenlund also scored for Florida, and Matthew Tkachuk had an assist — his 60th of the season. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 27 shots for Florida. Tyson Jost and Jack Quinn scored for Buffalo, which got 39 saves from Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
John Carlson scored another big goal, Charlie Lindgren stopped all 16 shots he faced and the Washington Capitals beat the Boston Bruins 2-0. They moved one win in their season finale at Philadelphia away from making the playoffs. Nic Dowd sealed this victory with an empty netter in the final seconds. The Bruins failed to clinch the Atlantic Division title. They can still do that by beating Ottawa tonight.
Sidney Crosby scored his 42nd goal and added an assist as the Pittsburgh Penguins preserve their playoff hopes with a 4-2 win over Nashville. Erik Karlsson also had a goal and an assist for the Penguins, and Reilly Smith and Emil Bemstrom also scored. Alex Nedeljkovic made 28 saves while making his 12th straight start for the Penguins. Pittsburgh remains one point out of a playoff spot with one game remaining. Filip Forsberg scored his franchise-record 48th goal for the Predators. Nashville has already locked up a playoff spot.
Lucas Raymond scored 4:35 into overtime after he a game-tying goal with 1:17 left in regulation, lifting the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-4 comeback win over the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night that keeps their playoff hopes alive. Detroit drew iron on two shots in overtime before Raymond’s shot from the right circle got past Sam Montembeault. Brendan Gallagher scored two goals and Montembeault stopped 30 shots for the Canadiens, who scored two early goals and were ahead 4-1 late in the second period.
Warren Foegele scored twice and Adam Henrique and Dylan Holloway each had a goal and two assists as the Edmonton Oilers beat the San Jose Sharks 9-2. Connor McDavid had a goal and added his 100th assist of the season, becoming just the fourth player in NHL history to hit the milestone. Corey Perry, Cody Ceci, Evan Bouchard and Zach Hyman all scored to help the Oilers snap a two-game losing streak. Stuart Skinner finished with 19 saves. Danil Gushkin and Fabian Zetterlund scored for the Sharks, who have lost four of their last five. Devin Cooley was pulled with 6:11 left in the second period after giving up eight goals on 22 shots. Georgi Romanov came on and stopped 16 of the 17 shots he faced in his NHL debut.
Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and an assist, and the Minnesota Wild beat Los Angeles 3-1 on Monday night, ending the Kings’ eight-game home winning streak. Matt Boldy and Ryan Hartman also scored for the Wild, who had been outscored 13-3 in their previous two games against the Kings. Filip Gustavsson made 23 saves. Blake Lizotte scored and Cam Talbot allowed three goals on 29 shots as the Kings lost firm control of their path to third place in the Pacific Division. They are one point ahead of Vegas, which has a game in hand.
Connor McDavid has achieved something only three other people in the NHL have ever done. The Edmonton Oilers captain, who missed his team’s last three games with an undisclosed injury, recorded his 100th assist of the season in Monday’s game against the visiting San Jose Sharks. Wayne Gretzky did it 11 times, while Bobby Orr and Mario Lemieux each got there once.
NBA
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are back in the play-in tournament. So is Stephen Curry, as he and Golden State will be fighting for their season. And Jimmy Butler returns as well, after this round last year was the first step on Miami’s way to the NBA Finals. The postseason gets underway Tuesday with a pair of Western Conference matchups. The Lakers visit New Orleans and Golden State goes to Sacramento. The Eastern Conference takes the stage Wednesday, when Philadelphia plays host to Miami and Atlanta visits Chicago.
OLYMPICS
The biggest moments for many of this generation’s Olympic athletes came in front of mostly empty stands. That was three years ago at the COVID-19 Summer Olympics or two years ago at the COVID-19 Winter Olympics. Now that they’re preparing for the Paris Olympics, the Americans heading back to the Games know they can never take for granted the screaming fans and a hug from Mom or Dad. BMX rider Alise Willoughby is among the many who say it's important to be able to share these once-in-a-lifetime moments with people close to her. Willoughby and about 100 other U.S. athletes are doing interviews and photo shoots this week at the Team USA media summit at a hotel in New York.
April 17 marks the 100 days countdown to the Paris Olympics ambitious opening ceremony. The first Games in a century in France's capital will be judged not only for the sporting spectacle. Another yardstick will be their impact on disadvantaged Paris suburbs away from iconic city-center landmarks hosting much of the action. By promising socially positive and also less polluting and less wasteful Olympics, the city synonymous with romance aims to rekindle love for the Games. The idea that the July 26-Aug. 11 Olympics should benefit disadvantaged communities was built into the city's preparations from the outset.
PREMIER LEAGUE
Wrexham and its Hollywood owners are halfway to the promised land. Playing in the lucrative Premier League might not be such a fanciful notion after all for a club that not so long ago was financially stricken and languishing in the fifth tier of the English game. Wrexham has achieved two successive promotions since coming under the ownership of celebrities Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney since 2021. The latest was achieved on Saturday. Two more promotions and Wrexham will be mixing it with the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United in the Premier League. Wrexham has some exciting things to look forward to in the short term as well.
Terry Primm has been introduced as the new Siena College women’s basketball coach. Primm has spent the past three seasons with Siena under Jim Jabir, who retired after a second stint with the Saints. At a ceremony Monday, Primm thanked Jabir for his leadership and says he has high hopes for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference program.
Primm is the program’s 10th head coach. Siena also made a change on the men’s side, hiring former Syracuse assistant coach and standout player Gerry McNamara to replace the fired Carm Maciariello.
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