AP National Sports

CINCINNATI (AP) — Pittsburgh emergency catcher Josh VanMeter had a rough time in his first try behind the plate since he was a teenager, and the Cincinnati Reds took advantage to end a nine-game losing streak, beating the Pirates 9-2 in the opener of a doubleheader. Tyler Stephenson fouled a ball hard off VanMeter’s mask,

By CHARLES ODUM AP Sports Writer ATLANTA (AP) — Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a fifth-inning homer for the game’s first run, Max Fried outpitched Corbin Burnes and the Atlanta Braves held on in the ninth to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 3-2. Fried allowed one run on four hits with eight strikeouts in seven innings to

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Erik Hurtado scored the tying goal for the Columbus Crew in a 2-2 draw with the New England Revolution. The Revolution are now 3-5-2 and the Crew are 3-3-4.

By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer PITTSBURGH (AP) — Danton Heinen’s first playoff goal in three years just past the midway point of the third period helped the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 7-4 victory over the New York Rangers. The win gives the Penguins a 2-1 lead in the first-round playoff series. Pittsburgh blew a

CHARLOTTE, N,C. (AP) — Andre Shinyashiki scored in his Charlotte debut in the expansion team’s 1-0 victory over Inter Miami on Saturday. Four days after coming over from Colorado in a trade, Shinyashiki scored off Yordy Reyna’s cross in the 68th minute. Kristijan Kahlina made six saves for Charlotte (4-6-1). Inter Miami dropped to 3-6-1.

By The Associated Press Susan G. Komen and Major League Baseball are teaming up in the fight against breast cancer, and Komen’s “Share a Moment with Mom” campaign will debut a Mother’s Day video. The video will be released on the organization’s social media channels and website. It will also appear in stadiums and feature

By GARY B. GRAVES AP Sports Writer LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Jockey Sonny Leon and trainer Eric Reed hit the ground running in every way imaginable for the Kentucky Derby. Rich Strike did both one better after his last-minute Derby entry, blowing past 80-1 odds and then Epicenter and Zandon in the stretch Saturday for

By BRIAN DULIK Associated Press CLEVELAND (AP) — Owen Miller hit a two-run double and Franmil Reyes homered and had two RBIs, helping the Cleveland Guardians beat the Toronto Blue Jays 8-2 and earn a doubleheader split. The Blue Jays won the opener 8-3 as George Springer and Raimel Tapia each drove in three runs

HARRISON, N.J. (AP) — Aaron Long scored the equalizer for the New York Red Bulls in a 1-1 draw with the Portland Timbers. The Red Bulls moved to 5-2-3 and the Timbers are 2-3-6.

NEW YORK (AP) — Sean Johnson made three saves for New York City FC and Tim Melia had two saves for Sporting Kansas City in a 0-0 draw. NYCFC moved to 4-3-2 and Sporting KC is 2-6-3.

ATLANTA (AP) — Ronaldo Cisneros’ goal helped lead Atlanta United FC to a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Fire. United is now 4-4-2 after the victory and the Fire dropped to 2-4-4.

ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta defender Miles Robinson was stretchered off the field after collapsing to the artificial turf with a non-contact injury to his left leg in Atlanta’s 4-1 win over the Chicago Fire. Atlanta coach Gonzalo Pineda said Robinson will have an MRI on his Achilles tendon. A serious injury to the 25-year-old central

NEW YORK (AP) — Sabrina Ionescu had 25 points and six assists and sparked a late run to help the New York Liberty beat the Connecticut Sun 81-79 in the season opener for both teams. Natasha Howard scored 16 points, Sami Whitcomb had 15 points and five assists and Jocelyn Willoughby added 13 points for

By TERESA M. WALKER AP Sports Writer NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Colorado goaltender Darcy Kuemper hurt an eye after being struck in the face by a stick late in the first period of the Avalanche’s 7-3 win over Nashville. Kuemper yanked his mask off and fell to the ice holding his head after being struck

By KEN POWTAK Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — José Abreu hit a go-ahead double in the 10th after the White Sox tied it an inning earlier, helping Chicago beat the Boston Red Sox 3-1 at windy Fenway Park for its fifth straight win. Leury García had two singles and a game-tying sacrifice fly in the

By TALES AZZONI AP Sports Writer MADRID (AP) — Rafael Nadal one day. Novak Djokovic the other. The list of victims of Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz keeps growing. And so does the hype over tennis’ newest sensation. The 19-year-old Alcaraz rallies to beat top-ranked Djokovic in three sets to reach the Madrid Open final. He

By TERESA M. WALKER AP Sports Writer NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Gabriel Landeskog scored twice in the second period, and the top-seeded Colorado Avalanche beat the Nashville Predators 7-3 for a commanding 3-0 lead in their first-round Western Conference series. Landeskog also had two assists. Nazem Kadri and Devon Toews each added a goal and

By KRISTIE RIEKEN AP Sports Writer HOUSTON (AP) — Jose Altuve homered early, and Michael Brantley tripled in a two-run eighth to help the Houston Astros run their winning streak to a season-best six games with an 3-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers. The win was manager Dusty Baker’s 2,004th, passing Bruce Bochy (2,003) for

By BETH HARRIS AP Racing Writer LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Anyone anticipating a return to normalcy in the Kentucky Derby got a dose of crazy on Saturday when an 80-1 shot came charging up the rail to win at Churchill Downs. As favorite Epicenter and Zandon engaged in a duel at the front, Rich Strike

NEW YORK (AP) — The Philadelphia 76ers were fined $50,000 by the NBA on Saturday for violating league injury reporting rules in failing to disclose Joel Embiid’s participation status in an accurate and timely manner. Embiid returned Friday night after missing the first two games of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Miami because of a