NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Mika Zibanejad had two goals and an assist, Artemi Panarin also scored and the New York Rangers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 in Game 1 of their second-round series. Vincent Trocheck had a goal and an assist, and Chris Kreider had two assists as the Rangers, won their seventh straight including the regular season. Igor Shesterkin stopped 22 shots to become the third goalie in franchise history to open a postseason with five straight wins. Jaccob Slavin, Martin Necas and Seth Jarvis each had a goal for Carolina. Frederik Andersen finished with 19 saves.
Radek Faksa broke a tie in his return to the Dallas lineup, 20-year-old Wyatt Johnston scored in another Game 7 and the Stars beat the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 on Sunday night to wrap up the first-round series. After being out with an undisclosed injury since leaving the bench late in Game 2, Faksa scored 44 seconds into the third period with a backhander from the circle to the left of goalie Adin Hill. Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger made 21 saves. Brett Howden scored for Vegas. The Stars, the No. 1 seed in the West, move on to play well-rested Colorado in the second round. Game 1 is Tuesday night in Dallas.
There’s the Bruins, looking to avenge a shocking upset in a Round 1 series last season. The rested Panthers having just gotten a few days off, the razor-sharp Bruins rolling in Elsewhere, after a Game 7 overtime win over Toronto Saturday, A second-round series between the Panthers and Bruins starts tonight at 8 in South Florida, the two best teams in the Atlantic Division squaring off with a trip to the NHL’s final four on the line.
NBA PLAYOFFS
Donovan Mitchell scored 39 points, Caris LeVert added 15 and the Cleveland Cavaliers avoided a potentially franchise-shifting loss by rallying for a 106-94 win over the Orlando Magic in Game 7. The Cavs will play Boston in the next round. Cleveland trailed by 18 in the first half and was in danger of being knocked out in the first round for the second year in a row. But Mitchell, who scored 50 in a Game 6 loss, put the Cavs on his back. Evan Mobley grabbed 16 rebounds as Cleveland won its first playoff series without LeBron James since 1993. Paolo Banchero scored 38 and added 16 rebounds to lead the Magic, who grew up in the series but couldn’t figure out how to win in Cleveland as both teams held serve on their floors.
Back when the New York Knicks would annually march on in the playoffs, they’d almost always run into the Indiana Pacers. With the teams set to renew their playoff rivalry Monday night at 7:30 in the Eastern Conference semifinals, it’s easy to think back to those rough and rugged tussles in the 1990s. But while the matchup may be old school, Jalen Brunson and the Knicks are bracing for an opponent who plays a new-age style. Tyrese Haliburton runs the NBA’s highest-scoring offense, with the Pacers scoring 123.3 points per game in the regular season.
The New York Knicks take on the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals tonight at 7:30.
MLB
Juan Soto hit a three-run double that snapped a seventh-inning tie and the New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers 5-2 to finish a weekend sweep with a rain-shortened win. Aaron Judge homered early for New York off Tarik Skubal, who struck out a career-best 12 in six innings. The game was called following a 56-minute delay in the middle of the eighth after the teams played through steady showers much of the day. New York loaded the bases against reliever Shelby Miller in the seventh before Soto lined Andrew Chafin’s sinker down the right-field line to break a 2-all tie. Victor González got the win and Dennis Santana earned his second save. The Yankees improved to a season-high 10 games over .500.
Randy Arozarena hit a tying homer off Edwin Díaz with two outs in the ninth inning, Jonny DeLuca lined a two-run triple in the 10th and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Mets 7-6 for a three-game sweep. New York took a 6-5 lead in the top of the 10th when Harrison Bader scored on an error by first baseman Yandy Díaz. A slumping Arozarena pulled the Rays even at 5 with a two-out solo homer on a full-count pitch from Edwin Díaz, who had converted 26 consecutive save chances dating to 2022 — the longest active streak in the majors. Arozarena, a 2023 All-Star, is hitting .143. He struck out three times in his first four at-bats.
Ceddanne Rafaela hit the first Red Sox home run in seven games, Rafael Devers added another, and Boston ended Minnesota’s 12-game winning streak by beating the Twins 9-2 on Sunday. Vaughn Grissom and Dominic Smith had two-run doubles, and Boston ended a three-game slide in which it scored just four runs. Ryan Jeffers homered and Trevor Larnach had an RBI single for Minnesota. The Twins 12-game winning streak was tied for the second-longest in team history behind a 15-win run in June 1991, the last season Minnesota won the World Series.
Eddie Rosario’s two-run homer in the seventh inning broke an 8-8 tie and the Washington Nationals beat the Toronto Blue Jays 11-8. After Jesse Winker doubled against Genesis Cabrera leading off, Erik Swanson came on and got two outs, but Rosario homered to right center to make it 10-8. Luis Garcia, Jr. had four hits including a home run and drove in four runs, and Winker added a three-run homer for Washington, which took two of three from Toronto. Hunter Harvey pitched 1 1/3 innings for the win and Kyle Finnegan worked the ninth for his 11th save. Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. hit his fifth career grand slam for the Blue Jays, who have lost four of five.
Bryce Harper launched a three-run homer, Alec Bohm extended his hitting streak to 18 games and the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the San Francisco Giants 5-4 for their fifth straight victory. J.T. Realmuto added three hits for the surging Phillies, who have won nine of 10 and 16 of 19. They own the best record in the majors at 24-11, which marks their best 35-game start since 1995. Philadelphia’s nine-game home winning streak matches the longest in the majors this year. The club has also won 10 in a row against NL West opponents, tying a franchise record. Thairo Estrada hit a two-run homer and Michael Conforto had an RBI double for the Giants, who have lost three straight and five of six.
Oneil Cruz hit a two-run homer to highlight a four-run sixth inning, powering the Pittsburgh Pirates past the Colorado Rockies 5-3 for a series win. Cruz sent a slider from Ryan Feltner 429 feet to right-center, bouncing his fifth of the season off the roof of a bar beyond the stands to put Pittsburgh ahead 4-3 on Sunday. He also had a double for his first game with multiple extra-base hits in 35 games this season. The Pirates took the final two of the three-game set, their first series victory since winning two of three against Baltimore from April 5-7. The Rockies have yet to win a series.
Eloy Jimenez homered and Garrett Crochet tossed six effective innings to help the Chicago White Sox to a 5-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday. Chicago had lost 14 of its first 16 road games this season, Paul DeJong added a run-scoring double for the White Sox, who won their first road series of the season. DeJong spent seven seasons in St. Louis from 2017-2023. Willson Contreras homered for St. Louis, which has lost four of five. Jimenez hit his fourth of the season off reliever Giovanny Gallegos (2-1) to snap a 1-1 tie leading off the seventh inning. The drive kick-started a four-run outburst.
Dean Kremer pitched six shutout innings, Anthony Santander hit his third career grand slam and the Baltimore Orioles completed a three-game series sweep of the Cincinnati Reds with an 11-1 victory. Jordan Westburg hit a two-run homer and Ryan McKenna added a solo shot for the Orioles, who have won four straight games and six of their last seven. Kremer allowed just one hit and walked on. He struck out six. It’s the third series sweep this season for the Orioles, who last swept the Reds in Baltimore in 2014. It was their first series sweep in Cincinnati.
Nick Gordon had four hits, including his first home run in three weeks, and the Miami Marlins beat the Athletics 12-3 to end Oakland’s six-game winning streak. Josh Bell had a pair of RBI singles and Jonah Bride drove in two runs as the Marlins won for the third time in 12 games and avoided a series sweep. Miami got 14 hits and had eight players with at least one RBI, a stark difference from a day earlier when the Marlins’ bats were mostly muffled in a 20-4 loss to the A’s. Brent Rooker, who homered twice in one inning during the blowout victory Saturday, had two hits and scored twice for Oakland. The crowd of 12,212 was the largest at the Coliseum since opening day.
Bo Naylor hit his first career grand slam, Austin Hedges had his first homer since June 14 and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Los Angeles Angels 7-1. Naylor’s two-out blast in the sixth inning came off Reid Detmers (3-3), who had loaded the bases on three walks. The four RBIs were a career high for the third-year catcher. Hedges hit a two-run homer in the second. Ramón Laureano added a solo shot in the fourth for the Guardians, who have the second-best record in the American League at 21-12. Cleveland left fielder Steven Kwan, who leads the AL with a .353 batting average, left the game after the third inning because of left hamstring tightness. Ben Lively (1-1) was the winner.
Jonah Heim hit a tying solo home run in the ninth inning and Nathaniel Lowe had a go-ahead RBI single in the 10th, leading the Texas Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals. With one out in the 10th, Corey Seager singled off James McArthur to put runners on first and third. Lowe followed with his third RBI of the series to score Leody Tavares. David Robertson pitched a scoreless 10th that included an intentional walk to Bobby Witt Jr. with two outs to seal the win for the Rangers with his first save of the season. Kirby Yates earned the win by tossing two scoreless innings of relief.
Cal Raleigh hit a tiebreaking solo home run in the ninth to give the Seattle Mariners a 5-4 win over the Houston Astros on Sunday. Raleigh sent an 0-2 pitch from Josh Hader (1-3) into the Crawford Boxes in left field with one out in the ninth.Luis Urías tied it at four in the eighth on an RBI single. Andrés Muñoz (2-2) pitched the final 1 1/3 innings for the win. Jon Singleton launched a two-run homer to right to give Houston a 4-3 lead in the seventh. Kyle Tucker cut the lead to 3-2 with a two-run homer to right in the sixth. Luke Raley hit a solo home run into the second deck in right field to lead off the sixth.
Javier Assad pitched six sparkling innings, and the Chicago Cubs beat Freddy Peralta and the Milwaukee Brewers 5-0 in the rubber game of their weekend set. Assad allowed four hits, struck out four and walked three, lowering his ERA to 1.66. The right-hander has permitted two or fewer runs in each of his seven starts this season. Chicago posted two straight wins against Milwaukee after losing 3-1 on Friday. The starting pitchers for the Cubs combined for 18 1/3 scoreless innings in the series. Peralta matched his career high with six walks in five innings. He allowed three runs on a sunny, cool day at Wrigley Field.
Shohei Ohtani went 4 for 4 with two home runs, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-1, on Sunday afternoon to sweep the three-game series. It was Ohtani's first multi-home run game as a Dodger and the 17th of his career. Teoscar Hernanez added a two-run homer and James Paxton (4-0) pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowed five hits and one run, walked two and struck out three to remain unbeaten on the season.
Ketel Marte and Joc Pederson homered to back Ryne Nelson’s return to the mound and the Arizona Diamondbacks snapped a three-game losing streak, defeating the San Diego Padres 11-4. The Diamondbacks roughed up Padres starter Matt Waldron, who gave up eight runs (seven earned) and eight hits in three innings. Marte’s two-run homer and Corbin Carroll’s two-run single came in a four-run first inning. San Diego, which had its four-game winning streak end, came back with three in the second on Jackson Merrill’s two-run homer and Kyle Higashioka’s RBI double against Nelson, who was activated from the injured list to make the start. But Arizona answered with two more runs in its half of the inning on RBI hits from Jake McCarthy and Christian Walker.
NFL
Three months before Tom Brady gets roasted by critics as Fox Sports' top NFL analyst, he took his share of barbs from comedians, former teammates and his longtime coach Sunday night during a made-for-streaming comedy live event on Netflix. And it is safe to say after the one liners and jokes Brady heard during three hours of “The Greatest Roast of All Time” at The Forum, he will do just fine. Brady sustained more blitzes and pressure than he did during an average NFL game as an impressive lineup of comedians, former teammates and opponents took the stage to roast Brady.
PGA TOUR
Taylor Pendrith took advantage of Ben Kohles’ final-hole meltdown to win the CJ Cup Byron Nelson on Sunday for his first PGA Tour title. Kohles overtook Pendrith with birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 for a one-shot lead, then bogeyed the 18th after hitting his second shot into greenside rough. After having to chip twice from the rough and already looking stunned, Kohles missed a 6-foot putt that would have forced a playoff. Pendrith two-putted for birdie on the 18th, holing a 3-footer for a 4-under 67 and 23-under 261 total at the TPC Craig Ranch. The 32-year-old Canadian won in his 74th career PGA Tour start. Playing just north of his birthplace of Dallas, Kohles shot 66 to finish a stroke back. He’s winless on the tour.
NASCAR
Kyle Larson beat Chris Buescher to the line at Kansas Speedway on Sunday in the closest finish in NASCAR history. The official winning margin for the Cup Series race Sunday was a thousandth of a second. A caution flag forced a green-white-checkered finish, and Larson pulled behind Buescher on the backstretch of the final lap, then came around him through the final corner. The two cars banged doors as they headed for the stripe. Martin Truex Jr. finished fourth and Denny Hamlin, who had the lead on the final restart, faded back to fifth. The win was Larson's second of the season.
KENTUCKY DERBY
The second jewel of horse racing’s Triple Crown could be absent of 150th Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan and other contenders who contributed to the thrilling three-wide photo finish. Mystik Dan trainer Kenny McPeek and ownership were non-committal about sending the colt to Baltimore for the Preakness on May 18 and instead might opt for the relocated Belmont Stakes in June at Saratoga. The Preakness still could feature quality, rested horses, including some by Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert as he seeks a follow-up to National Treasure's win last year.
SOCCER
Rafael Navarro scored early, Cole Bassett had an assist and a late goal and Zack Steffen notched his first clean sheet with Colorado as the Rapids beat New York City FC for the first time 2-0 at rainy Citi Field. The Rapids (5-3-3), who were 0-3-3 all time in the series, grabbed the lead in the 16th minute and held it until halftime on a goal by Navarro. Bassett and Kévin Cabral set up Navarro’s fifth score this season. Bassett provided some insurance in the 86th minute when he used an assist from Calvin Harris, who subbed in for Omir Fernández in the 69th minute, to score his fourth goal of the campaign. Steffen had three saves. Matt Freese saved two shots for NYCFC (4-5-2).
LA Galaxy 0 Seattle 0
Real Madrid needs fortress Bernabeu to live up to its reputation. Paris Saint-Germain could do with some magic from the departing Kylian Mbappé. Otherwise we could be set for a repeat of the 2013 Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. The German teams showed in the first legs of the semifinals that they could yet block a Madrid vs. Mbappé showdown at Wembley Stadium. That has felt like an ideal finale with Mbappé widely expected to move to the Spanish giant when he leaves PSG as a free agent at the end of the season. But Bayern and Dortmund don’t appear to have read that script.
LACROSSE
The Albany FireWolves have advanced to the National Lacrosse League finals after a 13-10 win over the San Diego Seals Sunday night. They will take on the defending champion Buffalo Bandits in a best-of-three series starting May 17th at 7 at MVP Arena in Albany. The Bandits made the finals by finishing off a sweep of top-seed Toronto with a 10-8 win Sunday.
FORMULA ONE
Lando Norris needed 110 starts and a mistake by Max Verstappen to earn his first ever Formula 1 race and end Verstappen’s dominance at the Miami Grand Prix. Verstappen started from the pole and was out front when he hit a chicane and knocked a cone out of place on the circuit. It forced the three-time reigning F1 champion to pit and gave Norris the lead. The 24-year-old driver for McLaren then controlled the race to give the organization its first win since a Daniel Ricciardo victory in 2021. It also made him the second British driver in F1 history to be feted on the podium by “God Save the King.”
© 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
