Update on the latest sports
APHORSE RACING-PREAKNESS
Medina Spirit cleared to run, Preakness back to semi-normal
BALTIMORE (AP) — Saturday’s Preakness offers another step toward normalcy, with fans returning to Pimlico Race Course and, for the first time since 2018, a Triple Crown on the line.
The Preakness is expected to be run in front of 10,000 fans – down from the usual 100,000 –- as Medina (meh-DEE’-nah) Spirit looks to give trainer Bob Baffert a record-breaking eighth victory in the race. The colt was cleared to run in the second leg of the Triple Crown after passing three rounds of pre-race drug testing.
Medina Spirit tested positive for the steroid betamethasone after winning the Kentucky Derby testing, and Baffert’s camp agreed to rigorous testing and monitoring of his horses as a condition of entry to the Preakness.
NHL-PLAYOFFS
One-of-a-kind NHL playoffs set to begin
UNDATED (AP) — A strange NHL regular season has given way to a one-of-a-kind playoff tournament for the Stanley Cup that starts Saturday night with the Washington Capitals hosting Boston.
For the first time in almost 30 years, the league’s four divisions will play it out for two rounds before four teams reach the semifinals. It’s a return to the divisional playoff format the NHL used from 1982-93.
But these four divisions were realigned only for 2021 in a way that meant teams never played anyone in the other three divisions. And for the first time in NHL history, the four champions that emerge will be reseeded for the next round.
After a 56-game regular season with fits and stops because of the pandemic and weather postponements, the playoffs will be another unique chapter. So unique that by the time Calgary and Vancouver finish their regular seasons, some first-round playoff series will be two games old.
The game that will kick off the playoffs Saturday will follow a regular-season game between Vancouver and Edmonton in the afternoon.
MLB-SCHEDULE
White Sox lefty Rodon tries to extend perfect start
UNDATED (AP) — White Sox left-hander Carlos Rodón tries to extend his perfect start when he faces Mike Minor and the Kansas City Royals.
Rodón is the first White Sox pitcher to win his first five starts since Chris Sale began the 2016 season with nine in a row. Rodón was slated to go on Thursday, but he was pushed back because of back and hamstring tightness. He tossed six innings of five-hit ball during a 3-0 win at Kansas City on May 7.
Minor is looking for his first win since April 23.
In other highlights of Saturday’s schedule:
— Adam Wainwright pitches for the NL Central-leading St. Louis Cardinals at San Diego in a rematch of last year’s first-round playoff won by the Padres. Wainwright is coming off 8 1/3 innings of three-hit ball Sunday in a 2-0 win over Colorado, but the 39-year-old right-hander is 0-1 with a 6.52 ERA in two starts away from home this season. He allowed two runs and six hits in Game 2 of the first-round series at San Diego last year, getting a no-decision in the 11-9 loss. Chris Paddack takes the ball for a Padres team depleted this week by COVID-19 positives and contact tracing health and safety protocols.
— It’s an Anderson party in Milwaukee, where Braves right-hander Ian Anderson faces Brewers left-hander Brett Anderson. Ian Anderson is coming off a no-decision against Philadelphia, allowing three runs in six innings last weekend. Brett Anderson pitched three scoreless innings Sunday at Miami in his return from a strained right hamstring.
Pittsburgh also is sending an Anderson to the mound, with Tyler Anderson going against Johnny Cueto and the San Francisco Giants.
