Apr 11, 2021

Sports Headlines for Sunday

Posted Apr 11, 2021 12:19 PM

Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Avisaíl García homered, doubled and drove in five runs as the Milwaukee Brewers beat St. Louis 9-5 and ended the Cardinals' four-game winning streak. Keston Hiura hit a three-run homer that capped a five-run burst in the seventh inning that made it 8-2. The Brewers won for the third time in four games. García's two-run homer off Carlos Martínez gave Milwaukee a 3-0 lead in the fifth. García drew a bases-loaded walk in the sixth and added a two-run double in the seventh.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Ryan O'Reilly scored with two seconds left in overtime to give the St. Louis Blues a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night. Mike Hoffman scored twice for the Blues, tying it with 41.6 seconds left in regulation after the Blues pulled goalie Ville Husso. O'Reilly skated around the net and stuffed a shot past Cam Talbot. Nico Sturm and Matt Dumba scored for Minnesota. The Blues have won three in a row — beating Minnesota 9-1 on Friday night — to move a point ahead of fourth-place Arizona for the last playoff spot in the West Division. The teams will meet for the third time in four nights on Monday in Minnesota. Husso stopped 28 shots, and Tabot made 27 saves.

CHICAGO (AP) — The Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox will have to wait at least another day to resume their series after their game was postponed because of rain. It will be made up as part of a split doubleheader May 14. The White Sox beat the Royals 6-0 in Chicago's home opener Thursday. Lance Lynn struck out 11 in a five-hitter in a game delayed for more than two hours because of the weather. The teams were off Friday. The series finale is scheduled for Sunday, but it also could be affected by rain.

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) — Christian Watson scored on a 100-yard kickoff return, Hunter Luepke ran for 95 yards that included a fourth-quarter touchdown, and second-ranked North Dakota State held off No. 24 Northern Iowa for a 23-20 victory. Tyler Hoosman had a pair of 1-yard scoring runs in the fourth quarter for Northern Iowa, the second with 2:47 remaining. The Panthers forced a three-and-out on the ensuing series but then could not convert on fourth-and-1 at their 13. The Bison (6-1, 5-1 Missouri Valley) have won seven straight against Northern Iowa (3-4, 3-4). Hoosman finished with 70 yards rushing on 23 carries.  

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Jaden Johnson threw for a pair of touchdowns and Celdon Manning ran for 99 yards and Missouri State beat Youngstown State 21-10 to earn at least a share of the Missouri Valley Football Conference title. For the FCS 15th-ranked Bears, the win marks the first conference title since 1990. The Bears put together a 5-1 spring record and now will await to see if they earned their way into the 16-team playoff. Joe Craycraft threw for 100 yards and Jaleel McLaughlin ran for 100 yards on 20 carries for Youngstown State.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota guard Gabe Kalscheur has announced he is transferring to Iowa State for his senior season. Kalscheur is the first of several expected departures from the Gophers following their coaching change. The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Kalscheur is a native of Minnesota. He was recruited by new Gophers coach Ben Johnson, who was an assistant at the time. Kalscheur also played at DeLaSalle High School under coach Dave Thorson, who was just hired as an assistant on Johnson's staff. In 88 games with the Gophers, all starts, he averaged 10.4 points and shot 34.5% from 3-point range.

Update on the latest sports

PGA-MASTERS

Matsuyama surges to top of Masters leaderboard

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — A new name is at the top of the Masters leaderboard.

Hideki Matsuyama (hih-DEH'-kee maht-soo-YAH'-mah) has a four-shot lead over Xander Schauffele (SHOW'-flee), Marc Leishman (LEESH'-man), second-round leader Justin Rose and Will Zalatoris (zal-ah-TOHR'-ihs) through three rounds at Augusta National. Matsuyama shot a 7-under 65 on Saturday to move to 11 under for the week. Matsuyama had five birdies, one eagle and no bogeys during a third round in which he played his last 13 holes at minus-7.

Matsuyama becomes the first Japanese player in Masters history to lead after any round.

Rose fell into a four-way mix for second with his second consecutive even-par 72. Schauffele fired a 68 on Saturday, Leishman a 70 and Zalatoris a 71.

Corey Conners is alone in sixth at 6 under, one ahead of Jordan Spieth (speeth) and Brian Harman.

MLB-SCHEDULE

Another DeGrom gem wasted by Mets

UNDATED (AP) — It seemed like old times for Jacob deGrom on Saturday as he threw a gem without receiving any support from the New York Mets.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner tied a career high by striking out 14 over eight innings of the Mets' 3-0 loss to the Marlins. DeGrom limited the Marlins to one run and five hits, including Jazz Chisolm Jr.'s second-inning homer.

According to baseball-reference.com, New York has scored 67 runs in deGrom's 29 losses since the start of the 2017 season, an average of 2.31 per game.

Meanwhile, Marlins starting and winning pitcher Taylor Rogers beat deGrom for the second time in nine major league starts. Rogers limited the three hits while fanning 10 over six innings before Miami's bullpen retired the last nine Mets in order.

Elsewhere in the majors:

— Riley Smith won his first major league start and Tim Locastro had four hits as the Diamondbacks whipped the Reds, 8-3. Smith gave up just two runs on eight hits against the Cincinnati team that had won six in a row. Stephen Vogt contributed a two-out single for Arizona, which also got homers from Eduardo Escobar and Asdrubal Cabrera (as-DRO'-bul kah-BREHR'-ah).

— Mitch Keller pitched five efficient innings and the Pirates unloaded on Zach Davies in an 8-2 win over the Cubs. Keller struck out seven and held Chicago to one run as Pittsburgh ended a six-game slide. Colin Moran, Bryan Reynolds and Jacob Stallings all drove in two runs during Pittsburgh's seven-run second, and Phil Evans hit his team-high third homer.

— The Cardinals' four-game winning streak is over after Avisaíl (av-ih-sah-EEL') García homered, doubled and drove in five in the Brewers' 9-5 victory over St. Louis. García's two-run blast off Carlos Martínez gave Milwaukee a 3-0 lead in the fifth. Keston Hiura (HEER'-uh) smacked a three-run shot to cap a five-run burst that made it 8-2 in the seventh inning of the Brewers' third win in four games.

— Trent Grisham slammed a go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning of the Padres' sixth straight win over the Rangers, 7-4. Grisham put San Diego up 5-4 with his two-run homer off reliever Wes Benjamin. Eric Hosmer and Ha-Seong Kim also homered for San Diego.

— Brandon Crawford delivered the decisive hit for a second straight day, connecting for a three-run homer in the sixth inning as the Giants beat the Rockies, 4-3. Crawford also came through with a bases-loaded, two-run double in the seventh of a 3-1 win in Friday's home opener. Ryan McMahon had put Colorado ahead 3-1 with a two-run homer in the fifth.

— Freddie Freeman belted a two-run homer and drove in the go-ahead run with a grounder in the seventh inning to lead the Braves to a 5-4 win over the Phillies. Sean Newcomb had strikeouts on four of his six outs in relief of Ian Anderson, who allowed homers by Andrew McCutchen and Bryce Harper. Atlanta has won four straight since an 0-4 start.

— Austin Meadows and Randy Arozarena (ah-roh-zah-RAY'-nuh) homered off Domingo Germán (hehr-MAHN'), helping the Rays extend their mastery over the Yankees with a 4-0 victory. Six pitchers combined to limit the Yankees to five hits. The Rays have won 10 of 12 regular-season games between the AL East rivals since the start of 2020 and knocked off New York in the division series last year.

— Rafael Devers (DEH'-vurz) homered and the Red Sox scored twice in the 10th inning on a wild pitch and an RBI single by Christian Vázquez to beat the Orioles, 6-4. The game was tied at 4 until Michael Chavis scored on a wild pitch by Dillon Tate. Baltimore outfielder Trey Mancini hit his first home run since his return from cancer surgery that caused him to miss the 2020 season.

— Ramón Laureano hit a two-run homer and rookie Seth Brown connected for his big league home run in the Athletics' 7-3 victory at Houston. Brown sent a homer into the second deck in the eighth inning to give the Athletics five home runs in the last two games after they managed just three in their first eight. Jed Lowrie's two-run single put the A's ahead, 6-0 in the seventh.

— Mitch Haniger homered and hit the go-ahead sacrifice fly in the 10th inning to give the Seattle Mariners a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins. Taylor Trammell scored the winning run after homering earlier in the game. Nelson Cruz belted a two-run homer before Minnesota absorbed its third loss of the season, all in 10 innings.

— Aaron Civale (sih-VAH'-lee) allowed just three hits while dominating over 7 2/3 innings of the Indians' 11-3 thrashing of the Tigers. The right-hander gave up two singles and faced the minimum through six innings before Robbie Grossman homered off him in the seventh. Jordan Luplow (LOOP'-loh) hit one of Cleveland's five home runs, furnishing a three-run blast and a two-run double to finish with a career-high five RBIs.

— The Royals and White Sox were rained out in Chicago. It will be made up as part of a split doubleheader May 14.

MLB-NEWS

Bosox slugger on COVID-19 IL

UNDATED — Red Sox slugger J.D. Martinez has been placed on the COVID-19 injured list after exhibiting cold symptoms.

The team is awaiting coronavirus test results. If he tests negative twice, Martinez can return to the lineup for the series finale Sunday at Baltimore.

Martinez has been of the hottest hitters in MLB to start the season, batting .433 with seven doubles, two home runs and 12 RBIs.

In other baseball news:

— The Braves have placed right-hander Chris Martin on the 10-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation retroactive to Wednesday. The Braves recalled right-hander Jacob Webb from the team's alternate training site.

— The Mets have placed third baseman J.D. Davis on the 10-day injured list with a bruised left hand. Davis was hit in the hand by a 91 mph fastball Tuesday and hasn't played since.

— Blue Jays outfielder Teoscar (tay-AHS'-kur) Hernández is on the COVID-19 list after he was exposed to someone with a positive coronavirus case outside of the team. Left-hander Ryan Borucki also went on the injured list with vaccine side effects, which included a fever and fatigue.

— Cubs first base coach Craig Driver has tested positive for COVID-19. The club says contact tracing determined no one in the traveling party was a close contact.

— Tigers starter Julio Teheran has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained right shoulder. Teheran was scratched from Friday's start against Cleveland when he felt tightness in his triceps while warming up.

NBA-SCHEDULE

Lakers clobber Nets

UNDATED (AP) — The Los Angeles Lakers won a matchup of short-handed teams.

Andre Drummond provided 20 points and 11 rebounds as the Lakers steamrolled the Nets, 126-101. Dennis Schroder (SHROO'-dur) scored 19 points before he and Kyrie Irving were ejected in the third quarter. The Lakers had led most of the way and were ahead 66-62 when Irving fouled Schroder with 9:41 left in the third.

The Lakers were missing LeBron James, Anthony Davis, while the Nets played without James Harden.

Brooklyn fell into a first-place tie in the Eastern Conference when the 76ers hammered the Thunder, 117-93. Joel Embiid (joh-EHL' ehm-BEED') had 27 points and nine rebounds just a night after being held to 14 points on 5 of 16 shooting.

Furkan Korkmaz (FUR-kahn KOHRK'-mas) added a season-high 20 points as Philadelphia handed Oklahoma City its sixth consecutive loss.

Checking out Saturday's other NBA action:

— The Jazz extended their team-record home winning streak to 24 games as Donovan Mitchell scored 14 of his season-high 42 points in the fourth quarter of their 128-112 decision over the Kings. Mitchell's ability to penetrate the lane on almost every possession powered a 19-4 run in the fourth quarter. Mike Conley had 26 points, and Joe Ingles added 20 for Utah.

— Stephen Curry scored 23 of his 38 points in the third quarter and the Warriors withstood another injury to rookie James Wiseman to beat the Rockets 125-109. Curry has his sixth straight 30-point game, the longest streak of his career. The two-time MVP made eight 3-pointers and had five assists and eight rebounds.

— The severely short-handed Raptors scored a franchise-record 87 first-half points en route to a 135-115 blowout victory over the Cavaliers. Gary Trent Jr. scored a career-high 44 points, shooting 17 of 19 field goals overall and 7 of 9 from 3-point range. The Raptors were without their top three scorers in Pascal Siakam (see-A'-kam), Fred VanVleet and Kyle Lowry, who are averaging a combined 57.5 points.

NBA-TIMBERWOLVES-OWNERS

Wolves owner selling team to A-Rod, Lore

UNDATED (AP) — Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor says former baseball star Alex Rodriguez and e-commerce mogul Marc Lore signed a letter of intent to buy the team.

The agreement also includes the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx and opens a 30-day window for negotiations to be finalized.

Under the conditions of the deal, Taylor would keep control of the club for the next two years and bring on Rodriguez and Lore as partners until a handover in 2023.

NHL-SCHEDULE

Bolts grab piece of Central lead

UNDATED (AP) — Another day, another change atop the NHL's Central Division standings. The Tampa Bay Lightning have pulled into a first-place tie with the Carolina Hurricanes, two points ahead of the Florida Panthers.

Andrei Vasilevskiy (va-sih-LEHV'-skee) made 36 saves to lead the Lightning to a 3-0 victory over the Predators.

Ross Colton, Austin Cernak (CHUR'-nak) and Yanni Gourde (YAH'-nee gohrd) scored for Tampa Bay, which has won two straight and four of its last six.

Pekka Rinne (PEH'-kuh REE'-nay) made 31 saves as Nashville snapped its three-game winning streak.

Adam Erne (UR'-nee) scored in regulation and provided the game-winning tally in the seventh round of a shootout to push the Red Wings past the Hurricanes, 6-5. Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha, Valtteri Filppula (val-TEHR'-ee FIHL'-poo-luh) had goals in regulation to help Detroit end Carolina's three-game winning streak. Larkin also scored in the shootout and Thomas Greiss (grys) finished with 30 saves.

Jason Robertson scored his 10th and 11th goals of the season to carry the Stars past the Panthers, 4-1. Joel L'Esperance (lehs-pah-RAHNS') and Robertson beat Sergei Bobrovsky (boh-BRAHF'-skee) in the first two minutes before Jamie Benn made it 3-0 midway through the opening period. Anton Khudobin (koo-DOH'-bihn) stopped 20 shots and blanked the Panthers after Aleksander Barkov beat him on a power play with 1 1/2 seconds left in the second.

Elsewhere on NHL ice:

— Ryan O'Reilly scored with two seconds left in overtime to give the Blues a 3-2 victory over the Wild on Saturday night. Mike Hoffman scored twice for the Blues, including the tying goal with 41.6 seconds left in regulation after St. Louis pulled goalie Ville Husso. The Blues have won three in a row to move a point ahead of fourth-place Arizona for the last playoff spot in the West Division.

— The Blackhawks rallied from an early two-goal deficit to beat the Blue Jackets, 4-3. Alex DeBrincat (deh-BRIHN'-kat) had a goal and an assist to support Kevin Lankinen, who stopped 23 shots as Chicago dealt Columbus its ninth loss in 11 games. Carl Soderberg, Wyatt Kalynuk (KAL'-ih-nuhk) and Dylan Strome (strohm) also scored in the Hawks' third win in eight games.

— Sean Couturier (koo-TOOR'-ee-ay) scored the game-winner in the Flyers' 3-2 win over the Bruins. Couturier tallied seven minutes into the third period, leaving Philadelphia four points behind Boston for the fourth and final playoff berth in the East Division. Travis Konecny (kah-NEHK'-nee) scored a first-period goal and set up Shayne Gostisbehere's (GAHS'-this-behrz) power-play tally about six minutes later.

— Auston Matthews increased his NHL-leading goals total to 31 by scoring three more for the Maple Leafs in a 6-5 victory against the Senators. Jack Campbell made 27 saves and became the first NHL netminder to open a season with 10 straight wins. Mitch Marner added a goal and three assists in Toronto's sixth win in a row.

— Andrew Copp, Nikolaj Ehlers (nih-koh-ly EE'-lurz) and Mathieu Perrault (peh-ROH') each had a goal and an assist in the Jets' 5-0 victory over the Canadiens. Connor Hellebuyck (HEH'-leh-buhk) made 19 saves for his second shutout of the season to backstop Winnipeg's third straight win. Jake Allen made 20 saves to drop to 1-5-4 in his last 10 starts.

NHL-NEWS

Contenders make moves, get head start on NHL trade deadline

UNDATED (AP) — Some of the NHL's top teams got a head start on the trade deadline by making moves. Defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay got arguably the most sought after player available by acquiring defenseman David Savard from Columbus in a three-team trade Saturday. It cost the Lightning three draft picks to make it happen.

NHL-leading Colorado paid a smaller price for backup goaltender Devan Dubnyk (DOOB'-nihk) in the form of a depth defenseman and a fifth-round pick going to San Jose.

Florida sent a third-round pick to Buffalo for defenseman Brandon Montour (MAHN'-tohr) in a move that fills the void left by Aaron Ekblad's season-ending injury.

NASCAR-MARTINSVILLE

Rain pushes Cup race to Sunday

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) — Rain forced the postponement of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway after just 42 laps Saturday night, setting up a doubleheader Sunday.

The day will start at noon with the completion of an Xfinity Series race before finishing up the Cup race.

Denny Hamlin passed pole-sitter Joey Logano just four laps into the race and led the rest of the way until light drizzle intensified and the drivers were told to come down pit road for a red flag delay. Conditions on the track were good, but pit road was very wet.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL-VANDERBILT-PIPPEN

Vandy's Scotty Pippen Jr. declares for draft with no agent

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Vanderbilt guard Scotty Pippen Jr. has declared for the NBA draft without signing with an agent to keep his options open.

The son of six-time NBA champ Scottie Pippen ranked second in the Southeastern Conference both in scoring at 20.8 points and with 4.8 assists a game. He ranked 16th nationally in scoring per game.

HORSE RACING-GRAND NATIONAL

Blackmore becomes 1st female jockey to win Grand National

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Rachael Blackmore has broken down one of the biggest gender barriers in sports by becoming the first female jockey to win the grueling Grand National horse race.

The 31-year-old Irishwoman rode Minella Times to victory at odds of 11-1 at Aintree in the 173rd running of the famous race in Liverpool, England.

Female jockeys have only been allowed to enter and race in the National since 1975 when the Sex Discrimination Act was passed.