Update on the latest sports
APMLB-SCHEDULE
Matz marvels as Jays beat Royals 5-1 in doubleheader opener
UNDATED (AP) — Steven Matz held the Royals without a hit into the sixth inning, and Jonathan Davis and Vladimir Guerrero (guh-REHR’-oh) Jr. homered, to give the Blue Jays a 5-1 victory in the seven-inning opener of their doubleheader Saturday.
Matz improved to 3-0 on the year by only allowing two walks and two hits while striking out five over six innings.
Mike Minor took the loss for Kansas City after giving up four runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. Andrew Benintendi drove in the Royals’ only run.
Elsewhere in the majors:
— Kris Bryant and Willson Contreras each homered twice, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Braves 13-4 on an afternoon when Atlanta returned Sean Kazmar Jr. to the major leagues for the first time in 13 years. Javier Báez and David Bote (BOH’-tee) also homered for the Cubs. who stopped a three-game losing streak. Chicago entered hitting a major league-worst .166 and then took an 11-0 lead in the fifth. Kazmar, a 36-year-old infielder, pinch hit in the fifth inning grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. Kazmar had not played in the major leagues since Sept. 23, 2008, with San Diego.
— Yan Gomes (yahn gohmz) homered and added an RBI single to help the Washington Nationals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-2 for their first back-to-back wins this season. Gomes also became the first major league catcher to throw out Arizona’s Tim Locastro on a steal attempt. That ended the center fielder’s MLB-record streak of 29 successful swipes to begin a career. Locastro then left the game with a dislocated finger. Erick Fedde tied his career high with nine strikeouts and got the win. Luke Weaver took the loss. Kole Calhoun and Eduardo Escobar homered for Arizona, which has lost four of its last five games.
— Manuel Margot hit a tiebreaking two-run homer, Tyler Glasnow overcame cramps and poor control to pitch five innings of one-run ball and the Tampa Bay Rays held off the struggling New York Yankees 6-3. The Yankees dropped to an AL-worst 5-9, the latest into a season New York is at the bottom of the league since a 9-17 start in 1991, per Elias Sports. Fans in the Bronx again booed the Bombers, but they were more restrained a day after some hurled baseballs and other items on the field late in an 8-2 loss to the Rays.
MLB-NEWS
Yanks’ Sánchez exits after being hit in hand by foul ball
UNDATED (AP) — Yankees catcher Gary Sánchez doesn’t anticipate missing significant time after being hit in his right hand by a foul ball. Sánchez was pulled from the game an inning later and sent for X-rays, which were negative. The club said he has a contusion on his right index and middle fingers and said he’s day to day.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Kyle Higashioka would start at catcher Sunday against Tampa Bay to catch Gerrit Cole, but he expected Sánchez to be available for the team’s next game Tuesday against Atlanta.
Sánchez’s throwing hand was unprotected when Tampa Bay’s Randy Arozarena (ah-roh-zah-RAY’-nuh) tipped a pitch that appeared to hit Sánchez on the knuckles in the fourth inning.
In other MLB news:
— Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich (YEH’-lihch) has been placed on the 10-day injured list. He has missed four straight games with a sore back. Yelich, the 2018 NL MVP, is hitting .333 with no home runs and 1 RBI. The offense is further weakened with two other starters on the injured list — second baseman Kolten Wong and outfielder Lorenzo Cain.
— The Tampa Bay Rays activated Gold Glove center fielder Kevin Kiermaier (KEER’-my-ur) from the 10-day injured list prior to their game at Yankee Stadium. Kiermaier has been out since April 5 with a strained left quadriceps. He was available off the bench, with Brett Phillips starting in center. The 30-year-old Kiermaier is 1 for 11 this season after batting .217 with three homers in 49 games for the AL champions in 2020.
— The Kansas City Royals have traded outfielder Nick Heath, who had been designated for assignment earlier in the week, to the Arizona Diamondbacks for minor league pitcher Eduardo Herrera. The 27-year-old Heath began his career as a catcher and infielder but converted to pitching two years ago with promising results but has yet to move beyond Class A.
NHL-SCHEDULE
Ovechkin scores 2, Capitals beat Flyers 6-3
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored twice to move within one goal of Marcel Dionne for fifth place on the NHL’s career goals list as the Washington Capitals downed the Philadelphia Flyers 6-3.
Dmitry Orlov, Evgeny Kuznetsov (kooz-NET’-sahv), Conor Sheary and Anthony Mantha each added goals while John Carlson recorded four assists for Washington, which increased its lead in the East Division to four points over the New York Islanders.
Ivan Provorov, James van Riemsdyk (van-REEMZ’-dyk) and rookie Wade Allison, who recorded his first NHL goal, scored for the Flyers.
Ovechkin now has 730 regular-season goals in his 16-year career. Dionne finished with 731 during 18 seasons with the Red Wings, Kings and Rangers.
Elsewhere on the ice:
— Tristan Jarry stopped 27 shots and the Pittsburgh Penguins jumped into second place in the East Division standings with a 3-2 win over Buffalo, eliminating the Sabres from playoff contention. Bryan Rust and Evan Rodrigues scored second-period goals in helping the Penguins improve to 10-2-2 in their past 14. Jared McCann also scored for Pittsburgh, which earned its 59th point to move one ahead of the idle New York Islanders and remain three behind the Washington Capitals. The New York Rangers’ win in over New Jersey earlier in the day combined with Buffalo’s loss made the Sabres the NHL’s fist team eliminated from playoff contention.
— Pavel Buchnevich celebrated his birthday with his first career hat trick and the New York Rangers beat the New Jersey Devils 6-3 for their third win over their Hudson River rivals in five days. Artemi Panarin (ahr-TEH’-mee pah-NAH’-rihn) had a goal and three assists and Ryan Strome had a goal and an assist in a three-goal first-period outburst as the Rangers improved to 12-4-3 in their last 19 games.
NHL-NEWS
Okposo to miss rest of season with broken cheekbone
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Buffalo Sabres forward Kyle Okposo (oh-POH’-soh) will miss the remainder of the season after having surgery to repair a broken bone in his left cheek. He was struck by teammate Matt Irwin’s shot in the first period of a 5-2 win at Washington on Thursday.
Okposo joins a growing list of injuries for the last-place team that is one loss from being mathematically eliminated from contention for the Stanley Cup playoffs and matching an NHL record 10-year playoff drought. The Sabres are already minus captain Jack Eichel (EYE’-kul), starting goalie Linus Ullmark and defenseman Jake McCabe.
Okposo is a 14-year NHL veteran who is completing his fifth season in Buffalo. He has two goals and 11 assists in 35 games this year.
NFL NEWS
Players on 5 more NFL teams say no to in-person work
UNDATED (AP) — Players on five more NFL teams will be skipping in-person voluntary workouts because of the pandemic. They are from both Los Angeles franchises, the Falcons, the Dolphins and 49ers. They posted through their union that they are joining 11 other groups who previously said they would not be on hand for the sessions.
This weekend players from the other 16 clubs are expected to announce plans. The offseason sessions begin Monday.
On Wednesday the league sent a memo to all 32 teams saying that the first four weeks of the voluntary program will be virtual. The plan then is to transition to in-person work at team facilities.
Elsewhere in the NFL:
— The attorney for a man who accused NFL star Aaron Donald of assaulting him at a Pittsburgh nightclub last weekend has apologized, saying it was a case of mistaken identity. DeVincent Spriggs’ attorney said his client had believed Donald was responsible, but after reviewing the tapes realized that it was not Aaron Donald.
INDYCAR-JIMMIE JOHNSON
Johnson makes IndyCar debut with slow but steady practice
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Jimmie Johnson has made his IndyCar debut with a slow but steady first practice session.
The seven-time NASCAR champion turned 22 laps in the first IndyCar practice of the season Saturday morning. He was slowest of the 24-car field but thrilled with the experience, calling it “amazing.”
Johnson will be a 45-year-old rookie when he takes the green flag tomorrow at Barber Motorsports Park.
He’s part of a stacked rookie class that includes former Formula One driver Romain Grosjean (groh-ZHAHN’), racing for the first time this weekend since he was badly burned in a November crash in Bahrain, and three-time defending Australian Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin.
GOLF-RBC HERTIAGE
Cink sets another scoring mark, keeps lead at RBC Heritage
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Stewart Cink maintained his five-stroke lead and set another scoring mark at the RBC Heritage with a 2-under 69, moving closer to a third victory at Harbour Town Golf Links.
The 47-year-old Cink cooled off from his pace from the first two rounds, when he shot a pair of 63s to break the event’s halfway scoring mark that was shared by Jack Nicklaus and Phil Mickelson.
Cink did enough in the third round to end at 18-under 195 and break the 54-hole mark of 197 held by Justin Leonard in 2002.
GOLF-PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
Couples, Karlsson tied for lead at Chubb Classic in Florida
NAPLES, Fla. (AP) — Fred Couples didn’t make a birdie until the 11th hole at the Chubb Classic. But he birdied the last two for a 69 and was tied for the lead with Robert Karlsson of Sweden on the PGA Tour Champions.
Karlsson shot a 66 on the Black course at Tiburon Golf Club. They didn’t have much breathing room. One shot behind was the group of Steve Stricker, Bernhard Langer and Alex Cejka.
Eight players were separated by four shots going into the final round. Karlsson is playing for only the second time this year.
F1-EMILIA-ROMAGNA GP
Hamilton takes pole for Emilia-Romagna GP ahead of Red Bulls
IMOLA, Italy (AP) — World champion Lewis Hamilton has edged out the Red Bull duo to claim the pole position for Sunday’s Emilia-Romagna (eh-MEEL’-yah roh-MAHN’-yah) Grand Prix in Italy. It’s Hamilton’s 99th career pole.
Hamilton edged Perez by .039 seconds and was .087 faster than Max Verstappen, who is expected to be his main challenger this season.
WOMEN’S HOCKEY-COACHING CHANGE
US women’s hockey coach steps down due to COVID-19 concerns
UNDATED (AP) — Assistant coach Joel Johnson is taking over the United States women’s national hockey team after Bob Corkum abruptly stepped down citing COVID-19 protocol concerns less than three weeks before the world championships open in Canada.
Corkum didn’t go into detail in saying he was “uncomfortable with the protocols” in a text to The Associated Press.
Corkum reached his decision Friday as he and players gathered in Maine for the start of training camp in preparation for the world championships in Nova Scotia, which run from May 6-16. Johnson served as Corkum’s assistant and previously coached the U.S. Under-18 and Under-22 teams.
