MLB
Juan Soto hit a go-ahead double in the third inning and Kodai Senga combined with a standout bullpen for New York’s second shutout in four days, a 2-0 win over the Miami Marlins that extended the Mets’ winning streak to five. Signed to a record $765 million, 15-year contract in December, Soto drove a cutter to the opposite field in left-center off Valente Bellozo to score Francisco Lindor, who singled to start the inning for the second of his three hits. Soto has hits in nine of his first 10 games with the Mets. Tyrone Taylor added an RBI single in the eighth.
Andy Ibañez homered, Casey Mize pitched six effective innings and the Detroit Tigers beat the New York Yankees 6-2 for their fourth consecutive victory. Jake Rogers walked three times and scored two runs as the Tigers improved to 6-1 since they were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in their season-opening series. Ibañez hit a three-run drive off Carlos Rodón with two out in the third. It was his first homer of the season. Mize allowed one run and four hits. He struck out six and walked three.
George Springer had three RBI singles, José Berríos pitched seven innings of one-run ball and the Blue Jays beat the Boston Red Sox 6-2 on a chilly, misty Monday night at Fenway Park. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had two singles and scored a run in his first game after agreeing to a $500-million, 14-year deal with Toronto. Will Wagner added an RBI single, and Andrés Giménez had a sacrifice fly and stole two bases before scoring from second each time on a two-out single by Springer, who had four singles. Richard Fitts (0-2) gave up three runs in six innings.
Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran said in an upcoming documentary series that two years before his 2024 All-Star season, the pressures of the sport led him to intense bouts of depression and an attempted suicide. The 28-year-old opened up in the fourth episode of an eight-part Netflix series titled, “The Clubhouse: A Year With the Red Sox,” which will debut on Tuesday. The episode chronicles the journey of Duran, a seventh-round draft pick in 2018, to making his MLB debut in 2021. The national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org.
Justin Steele tossed three-hit ball over seven innings, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Texas Rangers 7-0 on a frigid night. Michael Busch doubled and scored in the second. He also chased Nathan Eovaldi with an RBI triple in the fifth that made it 3-0. Ian Happ had three RBIs. His two-run single highlighted a four-run sixth, and the Cubs won for the sixth time in seven games on a 34-degree night. Steele (3-1) won his third straight start since a loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Tokyo on March 19. Colin Rea worked two innings to finish Chicago’s first shutout this year.
Zach Eflin pitched six innings of one-run ball and Ryan O’Hearn homered, helping the Baltimore Orioles beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-1. Ryan Mountcastle had a crucial two-run single with two outs in the fifth, hitting a low slider from Zac Gallen into center field for a 5-1 lead. That ended a tough night for Gallen, who allowed five runs in 4 2/3 innings. O’Hearn hit a solo shot in the first, driving Gallen’s knuckle-curve over the right-field fence. Baltimore pushed its advantage to 2-0 in the third when Gunnar Henderson hit a leadoff double and scored on Adley Rutschman’s single.
Jake Cronenworth hit a two-run homer in the first inning, Fernando Tatis Jr. added a solo shot in the seventh and the San Diego Padres beat the Athletics 5-4. Michael King gave up three runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings, and Robert Suarez pitched a perfect ninth for his fifth save. Manny Machado had two RBI doubles for San Diego. Tyler Soderstrom hit solo shots in the third and seventh for the Athletics. His six homers this season are tied with New York Yankees star Aaron Judge for most in the majors.
Kyle Isbel went 3 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs, Michael Lorenzen allowed one run in six innings and the Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 4-2. Vinnie Pasquantino had an early RBI double for the Royals, and Carlos Estévez got three outs for his third save. Estévez gave up a two-out RBI single to Harrison Bader before retiring pinch-hitter Edouard Julien with two on to end it.
Jorge Polanco hit a two-run single in the eighth inning, and the Seattle Mariners stopped a three-game slide by topping the Houston Astros 4-3. Polanco’s winning single hit Houston reliever Bryan Abreu on its way to center field. The Astros had taken a 3-2 lead with two unearned runs in the top half of the inning. Mariners right-hander Logan Gilbert struck out seven while pitching 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball. Gregory Santos got the win, and Andrés Muñoz handled the ninth for his fourth save. Jose Altuve connected for a one-out solo drive in the sixth inning for Houston’s first hit of the game.
Joey Bart, Andrew McCutchen and Isiah Kiner-Falefa each drove in two runs, and the Pittsburgh Pirates handed St. Louis its fourth consecutive loss with an 8-4 victory over the Cardinals. Bart connected in the first inning for his first homer of the season. He also hit an RBI triple during Pittsburgh’s four-run seventh. Pirates right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski pitched five innings of one-run ball in his first win as a starting pitcher. Rookie Thomas Harrington pitched four innings for his first save in his second career game, helping the Pirates win back-to-back games for the first time this season.
James Wood hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning that helped the Washington Nationals hold off Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-4 for their third straight victory. Ohtani homered, tripled, singled and walked, finishing 3 for 4 with two RBIs. MacKenzie Gore pitched six solid innings for the Nationals, and Wood’s drive off reliever Anthony Banda gave them a 5-2 lead. Keibert Ruiz followed with an RBI double off Matt Sauer. Mookie Betts and Will Smith each had a run-scoring single for Los Angeles in the eighth to cut it to 6-4, but Kyle Finnegan got five outs for his fourth save. With two runners aboard in the ninth, Finnegan retired Betts on a game-ending grounder. After starting 8-0, the Dodgers have lost three of four.
President Donald Trump welcomed Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and the reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers to the White House on Monday to congratulate them for winning the World Series last season. Trump singled out several Dodgers for their achievements last season, praising Ohtani for becoming baseball’s first 50 home run-50 stolen base player, Japanese pitcher Yoshi Yamamoto and NL Championship Series MVP Tommy Edman. The trip came almost a month after a Department of Defense webpage describing Brooklyn Dodgers great and civil rights icon Jackie Robinson’s military service was restored after it had come down.
Hunter Greene came within one out of a complete game, outlasting Logan Webb in an old-fashioned pitchers’ duel between All-Star starters, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the San Francisco Giants 2-0 to stop their seven-game winning streak. Blake Dunn hit a two-run double off reliever Erik Miller in the eighth inning, and Tony Santillan shut the door in the ninth for Cincinnati. Greene gave up four hits, struck out seven and walked one. He retired the first two batters in the ninth, but then Jung Hoo Lee singled and Matt Chapman walked. Santillan retired Heliot Ramos on a line drive to left field for his fifth career save and first since 2022.
Offense is down again at the start of the big league season, with hits even harder to come by. The big league batting average was .239 through the first full week of play, down from .240 through the first full week of 2024. While the overall average generally goes up as weather warms in much of the country, last year’s average didn’t rise much and finished at .243 — among the eight lowest years since professional baseball leagues started in 1871. This year’s current average is just above the record low of .237 set in 1968’s Year of the Pitcher.
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Brayden Point had two goals and an assist, Nikita Kucherov added a goal and two assists, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the New York Rangers 5-1. Yanni Gourde and Brandon Hagel also scored, and Jake Guentzel had three assists for playoff-bound Tampa Bay, which was 3 for 4 on the power play. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 38 shots. Mika Zibanejad scored for the Rangers, who lost their second straight and remain six points behind Montreal for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. Both teams have five games remaining. Igor Shesterkin finished with 18 saves.
Alex Iafallo scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period and the Winnipeg Jets beat St. Louis 3-1, ending the Blues’ 12-game winning streak. Morgan Barron and Adam Lowry also scored for the Jets, who got their franchise-record 53rd win. Connor Hellebuyck had 14 saves to get his 44th win and ties his franchise record from 2017-18. Pavel Buchnevich scored and Joel Hofer had 23 saves for St. Louis, which holds the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference — two points ahead of idle Minnesota. Iafallo gave the Jets a 2-1 lead as he scored off a rebound at 7:05 of the third. Lowry added an empty-netter with 9 seconds left to seal the win.
Adam Klapka and Morgan Frost scored 2:48 apart midway through Calgary’s three-goal third period, and the Flames rallied to beat the San Jose Sharks 3-2. Matt Coronato also scored and Dustin Wolf had 29 saves for Calgary, which won for the seventh time in 11 games (7-2-2). Will Smith scored twice and Macklin Celebrini had two assists for San Jose, which has lost six straight (0-5-1). Georgi Romanov finished with 29 saves.
Matty Beniers and Brandon Montour scored 54 seconds apart late in the first period and the Seattle Kraken held off the Los Angeles Kings 2-1. Beniers scored his 19th goal of the season when he went hard to the net to put home a rebound into an open net to tie it at 18:35. Montour scored with 30.6 seconds left in the period, beating Darcy Kuemper on the goaltender’s glove side to set a career-high with 17 goals. Joey Daccord made 28 saves for Seattle. Quinton Byfield scored his 20th goal and Kuemper finished with 26 saves for Los Angeles, which snapped a four-game winning streak two nights after clinching a playoff spot for the fourth year in a row.
Anaheim 3 Edmonton 2
Cutter Gauthier scored two goals in the second period and Lukas Dostal made a season-high 47 saves in the Anaheim Ducks’ 3-2 victory over the short-handed Edmonton Oilers. Mason McTavish also scored for the Ducks, who took three of four from Edmonton this season. The Oilers played without stars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl due to injury. Adam Henrique and Jeff Skinner scored, but the Oilers lost back-to-back games in Southern California with a playoff berth in sight. Olivier Rodrigue made 18 saves in his first NHL start.
Wayne Gretzky was the “Great One” for his dominance on the ice in the high-scoring hockey days of the 1980s, a playmaker who just happened to score 894 goals while amassing more assists than anyone in the sport has points. Alex Ovechkin burst into the NHL coming out of a lockout that cost a season and led to rule changes designed to make the league more competitive and entertaining after an era of clutching and grabbing caused a drag on the scoreboard. Ovechkin broke Gretzky’s career goals record as a hard-shooting, pure scorer in a totally different era, in the process making viewers appreciate just how different of players the two all-time legends are.
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Duncan Robinson scored 12 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, Tyler Herro scored 20 and the Miami Heat pulled away to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 117-105 on Monday night. Kel’el Ware had 19 points and 17 rebounds for the Heat, and Davion Mitchell had 12 points and nine assists. Quentin Grimes and Lonnie Walker IV each scored 29 for Philadelphia, which lost its 12th straight.
Zach LaVine scored 43 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter, DeMar DeRozan added 37 Monday as the Sacramento Kings rallied for a 127-117 victory over the Detroit Pistons and strengthened their bid for a first-round home game in the play-in tournament. Domantas Sabonis also had 19 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists for the Kings who have won three straight and have a one-game lead over Dallas for ninth place in the Western Conference. Cade Cunningham scored 35 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 19 for Detroit which has lost four of its last five games.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Florida and Walter Clayton Jr. somehow overcame Houston’s spirit-crushing defense Monday night to will out a 65-63 victory in an NCAA title-game thriller not decided until Clayton’s own D stopped the Cougars from taking a game-winning shot at the buzzer. Clayton finished with 11 points, but what he’ll be remembered for most was getting Houston’s Emanuel Sharp to stop in the middle of his motion as he tried to go up for the game-winning 3 in the final seconds. Clayton ran at him, Sharp dropped the ball and watched it bounce there while the clock ticked to zero. Florida won its third national title and denied Houston its first.
Kelvin Sampson watched his Houston team come within seconds of the first NCAA title for both himself and the program. It slipped away in painful fashion on the final play. Houston was unable to get off a shot on the final play and lost to Florida 65-63 in the title game. The 69-year-old Sampson could only watch it unfold as he stood motionless on the sideline with his hands on his hips. Sampson then walked to the locker room with his head down after Houston lost a 12-point second-half lead.
A thrill-a-minute NCAA title for the Florida Gators in San Antonio has reminded us all of what’s so good about the games these college athletes play. In another court a few hours earlier and 1,700 miles away, lawyers, a few athletes and a judge debated issues that will impact the future of games like these and what comes next for a multibillion-dollar college-sports industry that is struggling with change. Those two scenes on Monday illustrated what’s at stake, and maybe even whether March Madness, which Florida wrapped up with a 65-63 title-clinching victory over Houston, will look the same in coming years.
There’s no doubt who’s going first in the WNBA draft next Monday with Paige Bueckers the consensus top pick. After that it gets interesting with Olivia Miles' decision to enter the NCAA transfer portal instead of the draft. The Washington Mystics, with a new coach and general manager, control the direction of the draft with the third, fourth and sixth pick. Here’s a look at how the first round could look on April 14.
U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken has asked attorneys in the landmark $2.8 billion House settlement to come up with solutions for issues raised at a hearing in Oakland, California, before she grants final approval. She asked both sides to come back in a week with how they might be able to address some of her concerns. Objectors to the settlement who testified at the hearing questioned the fairness of roster cuts and how they are accomplished, the process for how NIL valuations are established and the administration of athletes who will participate in the settlement in coming years.
GOLF
Xander Schauffele has all the evidence he needs to believe he can reach the career Grand Slam. He picked up two majors last year in the PGA Championship and the British Open. But he's a little under the radar coming into the Masters. Schauffele was out of competition for two months earlier this year while dealing with a rib injury. He hasn't recorded a top-10 finish in the three tournaments he has played since coming back. But the 31-year-old Californian has always been filled with self-belief. He says winning those two majors last year reminds him how he's capable of playing.
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