NBA
Tyler Herro hit six of Miami’s franchise playoff-record 23 3-pointers to lead the Heat to a 111-101 victory over the Boston Celtics and tie their first-round playoff series at one game apiece. Herro had 24 points and 14 assists to lead Miami. Bam Adebayo had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and new Celtics nemesis Caleb Martin also had 21 for the Heat. Miami shot 53.5% from beyond the arc to bounce back after a Game 1 blowout. Jaylen Brown scored 33 points for top-seeded Boston. Jayson Tatum scored 28. The series moves to Miami for Games 3 and 4 on Saturday and Monday.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the New Orleans Pelicans 124-92 to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round Western Conference playoff series. Chet Holmgren had 26 points and seven rebounds and Jalen Williams added 21 points for the top-seeded Thunder. Oklahoma City shot 59% from the field and made 14 of 29 3-pointers. Jonas Valanciunas scored 19 points and Herb Jones and Brandon Ingram added 18 each for the Pelicans. New Orleans continued to struggle on offense without top scorer Zion Williamson. He remained out with a strained left hamstring.
The New York Knicks take a two game to none lead to Philadelphia tonight at 7:30.
NHL
Brad Marchand broke a tie midway through the third period and the Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 last night to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round playoff series. After Todd Bertuzzi tied it for Toronto with 8:35 left, Marchard put the Bruins back in front 28 second later. He took a pass from Danton Heinen and ripped a shot past goalie Ilya Samsonov’s ear. Marchand capped the scoring with an empty-netter and also had an assist. Jake DeBrusk and Trent Frederic also scored for Boston, and Jeremy Swayman made 28 saves. Matthew Knies also scored for Toronto, and Samsonov made 30 saves. Game 4 of the best-of-seven series is Saturday night in Toronto.
MeaCarolina holds a two games to nothing lead heading to N-Y to face the Islanders in game 3 tonight at 7:30.
Noah Hanifin broke a tie with an unassisted goal late in the second period and the Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights beat the top-seeded Dallas Stars 3-1 on Wednesday night to take a 2-0 lead in the first-round series. Hanifin was one of the three trade-deadline acquisitions for the Knights, the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. Jonathan Marchessault scored his second goal of this series, and his franchise-record 36th in the postseason while appearing in all 90 of Vegas’ playoff games. Jack Eichel assisted on Marchessault’s goal and added an empty-netter. Logan Thompson had 20 saves in his second career playoff start. Game 3 is Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Anze Kopitar fired a wrist shot past Stuart Skinner's glove and into the top corner on a breakaway to give the Los Angeles Kings a 5-4 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night in Game 2 of the first-round playoff series. Los Angeles rebounded from a 7-4 loss Monday night in the opener to send the series to Los Angeles tied 1-1. Game 3 is Friday night. Adrian Kempe scored twice in the first period for Los Angeles. Drew Doughty also connected in the first for the Kings, making it 3-1. Kevin Fiala scored in the third, and Cam Talbot made 27 saves. Dylan Holloway scored twice for Edmonton, tying it at 4 early in the third period.
The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield is moving its enshrinement ceremony from August 16th and 17th to October 12th and 13th. The museum says it follows requests from the basketball community contending with a busy summer schedule, including the Olympics. The Hall of Fame says moving the event to the fall will allow the event to avoid production conflicts. Among this year’s honorees are Chauncey Billups, Vince Carter, Bo Ryan and 10 others.
MLB
Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer in the first inning after Oakland starting pitcher Joe Boyle was called for a balk on the previous pitch and the New York Yankees beat the Athletics 7-3. Anthony Rizzo and Juan Soto also homered as the Yankees won for the fifth time in seven games and improved to 10-1 in their last 11 games in the Bronx against Oakland. After hitting his fourth homer, Judge singled in the third. It was the slugger’s fourth multi-hit game of the season and first since April 13.
Francisco Lindor hit a pair of two-run homers and the New York Mets avoided a three-game series sweep with an 8-2 win over the San Francisco Giants. Lindor went 4 for 5 with four RBIs and recorded the 16th multi-homer game of his career. Tyrone Taylor homered and added a two-run double, and Jeff McNeil had an RBI single as New York snapped a three-game skid. Tyler Fitzgerald homered for San Francisco, which was seeking its first three-game winning streak of the season.
Connor Wong homered twice and Rafael Devers connected for a homer in his return to Boston’s lineup, sending the banged-up Red Sox to an 8-0 win over the Cleveland Guardians. Wong hit leadoff homers in the second and sixth innings off Carlos Carrasco. Devers, who missed the previous five games with a bone bruise in his knee, homered in the fifth as the Red Sox cooled off baseball’s hottest team with a four-hit shutout. The Guardians had their winning streak stopped at five straight and dropped to 17-7. Cooper Criswell pitched five scoreless innings in his fourth career start.
Santiago Espinal had three RBIs, reliever Fernando Cruz pitched out a jam in the seventh inning and the Cincinnati Reds held on for a 7-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. Will Benson had a solo homer in the third inning. Espinal singled home two as part of a four-run sixth and drove in another with a sacrifice fly in the seventh. Reds starter Nick Lodolo went five innings, allowing three runs and six hits while striking out four and walking three.
William Contreras had three hits and the Milwaukee Brewers used one big inning to edge the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2. The Brewers took advantage of a sloppy second inning by the Pirates to turn an error, two walks and two hit batters and an RBI single by Contreras into three runs. Sal Frelick had two hits for Milwaukee, which snapped a two-game skid. Bryan Hudson (2-1) worked 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Joel Payamps overcame a pair of errors in the ninth for his third save. Bryan Reynolds hit a two-run homer for the Pirates.
Dansby Swanson hit a three-run homer during Chicago’s four-run first inning and the short-handed Cubs beat the Houston Astros 4-3. Chicago was playing without injured slugger Cody Bellinger and used Swanson’s big swing and a solid start by Jameson Taillon to earn its second straight win. It will try to sweep the three-game set against the struggling Astros on Thursday. Taillon allowed two runs, one earned, and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. Houston lost for the seventh time in eight games. It has scored a total of 21 runs during the slide.
Mike Trout hit his first leadoff home run since 2012, and the Los Angeles Angels defeated the Baltimore Orioles 7-4 to snap a five-game losing streak. Zach Neto had two hits and drove in two runs as the Angels’ six through nine hitters combined for eight of their 11 hits and five RBIs. Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson hit a towering 414-foot home run in the seventh inning, and Adley Rutschman had three hits. Griffin Canning gave up three runs on five hits in five innings and struck out four for his first win of the season. Carlos Estévez retired the side for the save. Baltimore’s Grayson Rodriguez was the losing pitcher.
Curtis Mead hit his first homer of the season and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Detroit Tigers 7-5 to avoid a three-game sweep. Ben Rortvedt collected his second RBI of the game with a single and scored on Mead’s two-run drive off Will Vest that put the Rays ahead in the sixth. It was Mead’s first homer since Sept. 22. Tampa Bay had lost three in row and five of seven. Chris Devenski got the win in relief and Garrett Cleavinger worked the ninth to get his second save in as many chances.
Willi Castro hit a 3-run home run on his 27th birthday and Joe Ryan pitched six innings for his first win of the year as the Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 6-3 Wednesday. Castro’s homer capped a four-run second inning against Chicago left-hander Garrett Crochet. Castro’s second career home run on his birthday drove in Austin Martin and Christian Vásquez. Minnesota has won the first three games of the four-game series against the White Sox, whose 3-21 record is the worst in the majors. Kevin Pillar and Korey Lee hit solo homers for Chicago.
Alec Marsh and four relievers combined for a six-hitter as the Kansas City Royals beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 Wednesday night. Maikel Garcia and Salvador Perez each had two hits and an RBI for Kansas City, which bounced back from a loss in the series opener on Monday to win two straight. John Schreiber (2-0) picked up the win in relief. James McArthur earned his sixth save. Yariel Rodríguez (0-1) gave up three runs on six hits in four innings. He struck out two and walked two. George Springer homered for Toronto.
Adolis García and Evan Carter hit Texas’ first back-to-back home runs this season in the fourth inning and the Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners 5-1. Jonathan Hernández got the win in his first appearance of the season. He retired four of the five batters he faced. Hernández was sidelined with a lat strain until being activated from the 15-day injured list on Tuesday. Mariners starter Bryce Miller gave up the two homers and four hits in four-plus innings to fall to 3-2. The Mariners left nine runners on base and were 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position.
Lars Nootbaar drove in two runs and Kyle Gibson pitched six effective innings, lifting the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the finale of three-game series. Gibson allowed one run and five hits. Gibson struck out six and walked two. Former Cardinal Jordan Montgomery went seven innings in his second start for Arizona since signing a one-year, $25 million deal as this season began. He allowed three runs, two earned, and six hits and struck out four and walked one. The Cardinals took a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning. With one out, Brendan Donovan singled and Willson Contreras doubled. Nolan Arenado’s single scored Donovan. Contreras scored on a wild pitch before Montgomery retired the next two hitters.
Shohei Ohtani had three doubles to improve his major league-leading batting average to .371, rookie Landon Knack got his first victory and the Los Angeles Dodgers routed the Washington Nationals 11-2 on Wednesday night. The Dodgers had a season-high 20 hits en route to their third straight victory, with Mookie Betts and Will Smith each having four hits and Andy Pages homering. Nick Senzel homered for Washington. The Nationals didn’t have a baserunner after the second inning. Ohtani went 3 for 6, hitting RBI doubles in the eighth and ninth innings. He leads the majors in slugging percentage, OPS, extra-base hits and doubles.
Michael Harris II doubled home Ronald Acuña Jr. in the 10th inning and the Atlanta Braves edged the Miami Marlins 4-3 after blowing a two-run lead in the ninth to complete a three-game sweep. A.J. Minter struck out Jazz Chisolm Jr. with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the 10th to earn the win for the Braves, who have won nine of their last 10. The Marlins tied it in the ninth with two runs off Raisel Iglesias, who blew his first save in eight chances this season. Tanner Scott took the loss for the Marlins. Jesús Sánchez snapped Miami's 21-inning scoreless streak with a homer in the second.
Xander Bogaerts had a season-high three hits, Matt Waldron gave up one run in six innings and the San Diego Padres beat the Colorado Rockies 5-2 on Wednesday night. Ha-Seong Kim and Jackson Merrill had two RBIs to help the Padres beat the Rockies for the 11th time in their past 14 meetings. Kim had two hits, including a bloop double to right field that drove in the game’s first two runs and spurred a four-run first inning. Waldron (1-2) rebounded from his worst outing of the season, a loss against to Toronto in which he allowed five runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings. Robert Suarez picked up his ninth save of the season, retiring the Rockies in order on seven pitches.
NFL
Jayden Daniels handled the media with the same poise and command he displays in the pocket. Asked a few times about speculation that he doesn’t want to play for Washington and whether he prefers going to another team, Daniels understandably took a diplomatic approach one day before the NFL draft. The 2023 Heisman Trophy winner from LSU is expected to be one of the top three players selected Thursday night. After USC quarterback Caleb Williams goes to Chicago first overall, Daniels is the odds-on favorite to be the No. 2 pick, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
The first round of the NFL Draft begins tonight at 8. the New England Patriots have the third pick, along with the New York Giants at 6th, the Jets 10th, and the Eagles 22nd.
PGA TOUR
Players who stayed loyal to the PGA Tour in the divide with Saudi-funded LIV Golf are starting to find out how much that loyalty could be worth. The tour began contacting all 193 players eligible for $930 million in the Player Equity Program. It's a first-of-its-kind ownership plan for players. The top tier is 36 players who have access to $750 million in equity. One British newspaper reported that Tiger Woods would be getting $100 million. It did not say where it got that number. Emails informing players of their equity take are starting to go out Wednesday afternoon.
INDYCAR
Josef Newgarden has been stripped of his win in IndyCar’s season-opening race at St. Petersburg because Team Penske manipulated its push-to-pass system during the race, making Pato O’Ward the winner. O’Ward, who drives for McLaren, had originally finished second. Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin, who finished third, was also disqualified. Will Power, the third Penske driver, was docked 10 points. Additionally, all three entries have been fined $25,000 and will forfeit all prize money associated with the race. Newgarden, a two-time IndyCar champion and reigning Indianapolis 500 winner who is in a contract year with Penske, fell from first in points to 11th with the disqualification.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Reggie Bush has been reinstated as the 2005 Heisman Trophy winner more than a decade after Southern California returned the award. Bush gave up the trophy in 2010 following an NCAA investigation that found he received what were impermissible benefits during his time with the Trojans. Heisman Trust President Michael Comerford said the trust considered the enormous changes in college athletics over the last several years that now make some forms of athlete compensation permissible. Bush amassed more than 2,000 yards from scrimmage and scored 18 touchdowns in 2005. He received the fifth most first-place votes in Heisman history.
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