MLB – Major League Baseball – Opening Day
Yesterday
Seattle Mariners 3, Detroit Tigers 2
Minnesota Twins 6, Chicago White Sox 1
Chicago Cubs 10, Athletics 2
Mariners 3, Tigers 2 – Robles, Moore provide offense, Castillo bests Skubal in Mariners’ 3-2 win over Tigers
Victor Robles hit a two-RBI double, Dylan Moore homered and the Seattle Mariners beat the Detroit Tigers and American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal 3-2 on Wednesday. Luis Castillo went seven innings, giving up two runs on five hits with two walks and five strikeouts. Gabe Spier pitched a 1-2-3 eighth and Andres Munoz survived a rocky ninth for his third save and prevent a Tigers’ sweep of the three-game series. Skubal left with two outs in the fifth after giving up six hits and three walks while striking out eight.
Twins 6, White Sox 1 – Bader and Buxton homer to back López as Twins take series from White Sox 6-1
Harrison Bader and Byron Buxton hit home runs to back Pablo López’s solid start and the Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 6-1 after rain delayed the start by nearly 3 1/2 hours. Buxton, Carlos Correa and Ty France had two hits apiece for the Twins, who took the rubber match of the three-game series. Lopez pitched seven innings, giving up four hits and one run with a walk and five strikeouts. Jhoan Duran and Danny Coulombe each threw a scoreless inning to complete the win. Chicago’s lone run came on Brooks Baldwin’s home run to center in the seventh.
Cubs 10, Athletics 2 – Suzuki homers twice and knocks in 5 as Cubs rout A’s 10-2 for 3-game sweep
Seiya Suzuki homered twice and drove in five runs as the Chicago Cubs beat the Athletics 10-2 to complete a three-game sweep. Matt Shaw added two RBI singles for the Cubs, who outscored the A’s 35-9 in the first major league series played at Sutter Health Park, the club’s planned home for the next three years before a proposed relocation to Las Vegas. Suzuki hit an early three-run homer for the second consecutive game when he connected in the second inning off loser Jeffrey Springs. He went deep again leading off the fourth before adding a late RBI single. It was Suzuki’s fourth career multi-homer game. Brent Rooker hit a two-run homer off winning pitcher Jameson Taillon, who went six innings.
Today
Tigers, Cubs and White Sox are off
NBA – National Basketball Association
Last Night
Oklahoma City Thunder 119, Detroit Pistons 103
Indiana Pacers 119, Charlotte Hornets 105
Thunder 119, Pistons 103 – Gilgeous-Alexander scores 33 as Thunder top Pistons 119-103 for 11th straight win
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Detroit Pistons 119-103 for their 11th straight win. Chet Holmgren added 22 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks for the Thunder. Oklahoma City has a three-game lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers with six games remaining in the race for the league’s best record and homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. Tim Hardaway Jr. led the Pistons with 23 points. Detroit All-Star guard Cade Cunningham was out with a bruised left calf. The Pistons also were shorthanded because of their altercation with the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday.
Pacers 119, Hornets 105 – Haliburton scores 22 points to help send playoff-bound Pacers past Hornets 119-105
Tyrese Haliburton had 22 points and 10 assists and Aaron Nesmith had 16 points to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 119-105 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. Pascal Siakam added 15 points on his 31st birthday. Myles Turner also had 15 points and nine rebounds for the playoff-bound Pacers, who have won three of four. They clinched their second straight playoff spot Tuesday when Atlanta lost to Portland. Miles Bridges scored 18 points to lead Charlotte, which has lost six of seven. The Pacers blew the game open by closing the third quarter on a 19-6 run after Charlotte had cut the deficit to 68-67.
NHL – National Hockey League
Last Night
Colorado Avalanche 3, Chicago Blackhawks 2 – Shootout
Avalanche 3, Blackhawks 2 – SO – Avalanche rally to force OT and beat Blackhawks 3-2 in SO
Martin Necas tied it with 11 seconds left and Nathan MacKinnon and Artturi Lehkonen scored in a shootout to give the Colorado Avalanche a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night. Cale Makar pulled Chicago to 2-1 midway through the third period with his career-high 29th goal of the season, and Necas completed the comeback with his 27th. Necas deflected Makar’s point shot past goalie Spencer Knight. Scott Wedgewood stopped 22 shots for Colorado. Ilya Mikheyev opened the scoring for Chicago in the first with a short-handed goal, and Connor Murphy made it 2-0 midway through the second. Knight made 29 saves.
NHL – Ovechkin scores 892nd career goal. Needs 2 to tie, 3 to break Gretzky’s record
Alex Ovechkin moved three goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record with No. 892 in the Washington Capitals’ game at the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night. Ovechkin beat Frederik Andersen for a 10th time in 13 career games against the Danish netminder. The 39-year-old Russian has 39 goals this season and is on track to reach 40 for a record 14th time despite missing 16 games because of a broken left fibula. The first-place Capitals have seven games left this season.
NHL – NHL and Rogers announce a 12-year Canadian media rights deal through 2037-38
The NHL and Rogers Communications have announced a new 12-year national media rights deal to air games on multiple platforms in Canada. The agreement is valued at $11 billion Canadian dollars, or roughly $7.7 billion. The new deal runs through the 2037-38 season. In Canadian dollars, it is worth more than double the previous contract signed in November 2013 that cost Rogers $5.2 billion in the local currency. This is the league’s latest source of revenue after contracting with ESPN and Turner Sports in 2021 for the current U.S. TV and streaming rights deal for $4.5 billion over seven years combined.
NFL – Bears shift some of their focus for new stadium to suburbs, Chicago still in play
The Chicago Bears seemed to shift at least some of their attention for a new stadium back to the suburbs, with president Kevin Warren saying the team’s focus is split between a tract of land it owns in Arlington Heights and the Chicago lakefront. Warren says the Bears’ “focus now is both downtown and Arlington Heights.” Warren’s comments Wednesday at the NFL meetings marked a shift for the organization. Though the Bears finalized the purchase of a 326-acre property in Arlington Heights in February 2023, their main focus the past year has been on building an enclosed stadium next to their longtime home at Soldier Field. Their plan got a full-throated endorsement from mayor Brandon Johnson, but a tepid reception from Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and state legislators.
NCAAMBB – Maple hardwood, foundation of the Final Four, is ingrained with rich history
The maple hardwood that makes up the courts at the men’s and women’s Final Four is part of basketball’s foundation. Maple has been the go-to wood for courts for a century. That means decades of historic moments in basketball have happened on the same type of surface. That includes epic games and great players or coaches. The Michigan-based company that makes the Final Four courts is Connor Sports. They’re based in a tiny town on Michigan’s upper peninsula. Marketing director Zach Riberdy says it’s hard to describe “just how much of an impact one tree has” on the sport’s tradition.
NCAAWBB – No 1-&-done in women’s college hoops; NIL money makes that a good thing
Paige Bueckers is widely expected to become the first WNBA No. 1 overall draft pick from the University of Connecticut since Breanna Stewart nine years ago. Both became can’t-miss stars in college, both are UConn icons, both went to four Final Fours. Stewart did it while making nothing. Bueckers has done it while making millions. And she’s far from the only one cashing in right now. There’s no one-and-done path to the WNBA for women’s players because the NBA and WNBA have different rules regarding draft eligibility. For years, that impeded how and when women’s players could start making money. The name, image and likeness era of college sports has changed just about everything.
