NBA
Dan Hurley is staying at UConn and has decided to turn down an offer to take over the Los Angeles Lakers, ending several days of speculation about his future and giving him an opportunity to try to guide the Huskies to a third consecutive NCAA championship. Hurley had the option of taking over one of the most famed franchises in pro sports, not to mention perhaps the chance to coach NBA all-time scoring leader LeBron James. But in the end, his stay in the coaching version of the transfer portal was brief — and back he goes to UConn, where Hurley has gone 68-11 over the last two title-winning seasons.
The Boston Celtics had the NBA Finals in mind when they went out and acquired Jrue Holiday. Boston shook up its core last offseason when it traded point guard Marcus Smart as part of the deal that netted it 7-footer Kristaps Porzingis. Then, after Milwaukee traded Holiday to Portland for Damian Lillard, the Celtics pounced, parting ways with former NBA Sixth Man of the Year Malcolm Brogdon and big man Robert Williams III to get Holiday. The hope was that bringing in a true point guard with a championship pedigree could be the Celtics’ missing piece. Two wins from their 18th championship, it looks as if he may be.
NHL
Evan Rodrigues had two goals in the third period, Niko Mikkola and Aaron Ekblad also scored and the Florida Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-1 to take a 2-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Final. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 18 shots for Florida, which was 1-8 all-time in Cup final games before this series started — and now is two wins away from capturing its first championship. But the win came with a price for Florida as the Panthers lost captain Aleksander Barkov when Edmonton forward Leon Draisaitl launched toward him midway through the third period and hit him in the head. Mattias Ekholm scored and Stuart Skinner stopped 25 shots for the Oilers, who now have to buck some serious history.
Game 3 is Thursday night at 8 in Edmonton.
MLB
Carlos Rodón pitched shutout ball into the seventh inning in his return to the mound where he hit his low point last September, winning his seventh straight start and leading the New York Yankees over the Kansas City Royals 4-2. Juan Soto rejoined the Yankees lineup after missing a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers because of left forearm inflammation. He went 1 for 3 with a run and a walk as the designated hitter. New York gave Aaron Judge his first game off this season.
Elsewhere, the Mets and Red Sox were off. The Mets are in Miami to face the Marlins, and the Red Sox take on the Phillies in Boston. Both games start tonight at 7:10.
Royce Lewis homered in the eighth inning to break open the game, and Chris Paddack bounced back from a rough outing with a sharp performance to lift the Minnesota Twins to a 5-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Monday night. Christian Vásquez, Carlos Correa and Trevor Larnach each drove in a run for the Twins, who have won two in a row after dropping five straight games. Rockies right-hander Dakota Hudson took the loss despite allowing just four hits in 6 2/3 innings. One of the two runs he allowed was unearned.
Colin Rea allowed just three hits and one run while working seven innings for his longest outing in eight years, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. Jackson Chourio and Willy Adames went deep for the Brewers. Milwaukee had gone without a homer in their last five games. Alejandro Kirk homered for the Blue Jays. The last time Rea had gone seven innings was on June 7, 2016, when he was pitching for the San Diego Padres in a 4-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves.
Austin Slater lined the game-winning single into left field with one out in the 10th inning, rallying the San Francisco Giants from two runs down in the inning to beat the Houston Astros 4-3. Slater’s second career game-winning hit came off Rafael Montero (1-2) after he also had one on April 8, 2022, against the Marlins. Randy Rodríguez (2-1) recorded the final out of the 10th for the win. Houston had gone ahead by two runs in the top half on a sacrifice fly by Victor Caratini that scored runner Joey Loperfido from second base and Alex Bregman’s RBI single.
Fernando Tatis Jr. homered to extend his career-best hitting streak to 16 games, the longest current streak in the majors, and Dylan Cease won for the first time in six starts as the San Diego Padres beat the Oakland Athletics 6-1. Jake Cronenworth also homered for the Padres, who have hit multiple homers in four straight games. The A’s have lost nine of their last 12 games and are a season-high 16 games under .500.
Gunnar Henderson homered on the first pitch, Ryan O’Hearn drove in three runs and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-2 to finish their first four-game sweep at Tropicana Field. Corbin Burnes allowed two unearned runs and five hits in seven innings as Baltimore improved to 22-10 on the road. Craig Kimbrel worked the ninth for his 15th save in 18 chances. James McCann also homered for Baltimore, which leads the majors with 104. It’s the most homers through the first 65 games of a season in Orioles history. Alex Jackson went deep for the Rays, who have dropped 13 of 17 at home and are 31-35 overall.
Cal Raleigh hit a game-winning grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Seattle Mariners stormed back from a four-run deficit in the eighth to beat the Chicago White Sox 8-4. Raleigh’s walk-off drive came against Jordan Leasure after the AL West-leading Mariners scored four times in the eighth to tie it. Dominic Canzone led off with a homer against starter Erick Fedde before Michael Kopech gave up three runs and four hits. Mitch Haniger knocked in two with a bases-loaded single, and Luke Raley drove in the tying run with a bunt single. Luis Robert Jr. and Corey Julks homered for the major league-worst White Sox.
WNBA
DiJonai Carrington scored a season-high 22 points, DeWanna Bonner added 17 and the Connecticut Sun eased past the Indiana Fever 89-72 for their 11th straight win in the series. Connecticut (10-1), which has won three games against Indiana (3-10) this season, hasn’t lost to the Fever since July 3, 2021. The Sun became the second team in the WNBA this season to reach 10 wins and the Fever are the second squad to lose 10 games. Indiana star Caitlin Clark finished with her fourth-fewest points of the season, going 3 of 8 from the field for 10 points, all in the first half. She picked up her fourth foul with 4:41 left in the third quarter and did not play in the final period.
NFL
The NFL’s longest-tenured head coach isn’t leaving Pittsburgh anytime soon. The Steelers have signed Mike Tomlin to a three-year extension that will carry through at least the 2027 season. Tomlin was about to enter the final year of the deal he agreed to in April 2021. The 52-year-old Tomlin is 173-100-2 with a Super Bowl victory since taking over for Hall of Famer Bill Cowher in 2007. Tomlin has yet to endure a losing season and despite speculation late last season that he was considering taking some time off, he remains intent on trying to help the Steelers stay in the mix in a highly competitive AFC.
GOLF
Tiger Woods was out early on Pinehurst No. 2 for the first official practice day at the U.S. Open. He hasn't played a U.S. Open on this course in 19 years and some changes to it make it feel new. There's nothing new for Adam Scott. The Australian is playing in his 92nd major in a row. But it wasn't easy. A week ago, Scott was the first alternate at one of the qualifying spots. He got in through the world ranking when the USGA went one spot lower because the late Grayson Murray is still listed in the ranking.
SOCCER
A returning Cristiano Ronaldo, a rampant Kylian Mbappé and a resurgent Germany. Throw in a Harry Kane-powered England and defending champion Italy and Euro 2024 is wide open. That’s without mentioning three-time winner Spain. The unpredictability of the European Championship is what makes it such compelling viewing. Even in its expanded format of 24 teams, there is always the potential for a surprise. This is the tournament that was won by rank outsider Greece in 2004. In 1992 it was won by a team that hadn’t even qualified for the finals after Denmark was granted entry at the 11th hour because war-torn Yugoslavia was banned. Don’t rule out a wildcard coming out of the pack.
Mohammed Rashid once worked as a forklift driver in a Chicago warehouse. Fast forward to these grim times and Rashid and his Palestinian soccer teammates carry a heavier weight. They know success on the field offers a little respite from the war raging in Gaza. Amid the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war, the Palestinian team has produced a stirring run to reach the third round in Asia of World Cup qualifying for the first time. The Palestinians have never come close to reaching the World Cup but the expansion of the 2026 tournament to 48 teams has given the team a better chance to make history. It plays Australia on Tuesday in Perth to complete the Asian second round.
PWHL
New York filled a necessary need on offense by selecting Princeton and Canadian national team forward Sarah Fillier with the first pick in the Professional Women’s Hockey League draft. Regarded by PWHL scouts as a “generational player,” Fillier is a three-time Patty Kazmaier college player of the year finalist. She graduated with a degree in psychiatry and completed her four-year career at Princeton ranking sixth on the school list with 93 goals and fourth with 193 points. From outside of Toronto, Fillier won gold at the 2022 Beijing Games and was a member of three Canadian world championship teams.
Elsewhere in the first round, Boston took Ohio State forward Hannah Bilka with the fourth pick.
NASCAR
NASCAR avoided one public relations nightmare last week when it granted Kyle Larson a waiver to participate in the playoffs even though he missed the Coca-Cola 600. However, teams remain frustrated with NASCAR’s slow pace at coming to a new agreement on the charters at the heart of the series' business model. Team owners told The Associated Press that NASCAR’s most recent proposal was one of the worst offers yet. Among the complaints: The France family that owns NASCAR would be able to buy charters.
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
The NCAA’s recent agreement with the major conferences that sets a path towards schools directly paying athletes could have major consequences for softball. At a time of significant growth and visibility in the sport, some coaches are concerned money could be steered away, threatening softball's stability once the rules fully take shape. Among the concerns are programs getting shut down because money is going to other sports and money being distributed so a limited number of athletes at the top. Much lies in the hands of decision makers to ensure the future of the sport.
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