Sports

By MARK DIDTLER Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Isaac Paredes hit a grand slam during Tampa Bay’s six-run second inning, and Rays beat the Oakland Athletics 9-5 to extend their season-opening win streak to seven games. The Rays are the first major league team to win each of their first seven games by

By RICHARD WALKER Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kevin Porter Jr. and Jalen Green each had 26 points and the Houston Rockets beat the Charlotte Hornets 112-109 on Friday night. Kenyon Martin Jr. added 14 points, Alperen Sengun had 14 points and 21 rebounds and Jabari Smith Jr. scored 13 points. The Rockets won

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer The Eastern Conference play-in tournament matchups are set. The NBA’s scoring race seems over as well. Brooklyn will be seeded sixth in the East and gets the chance to face Philadelphia in Round 1. That means the Nets will be taking on a soon-to-be two-time scoring champion in Joel

By JOSH DUBOW AP Sports Writer SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The Sacramento Kings are resting their top three scorers for their game against the Golden State Warriors that has major playoff implications. Coach Mike Brown said De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis and Kevin Huerter all will sit out with Sacramento having clinched its playoff berth and

By TOM WITHERS AP Sports Writer CLEVELAND (AP) — Travis Kelce showed why he’s best known for catching passes from Patrick Mahomes, not throwing them. Kansas City’s star tight end threw a wild ceremonial first pitch before the Guardians’ season opener against the Seattle Mariners. Kelce bounced his pitch way in front of the plate

By TOM WITHERS AP Sports Writer CLEVELAND (AP) — Julio Rodríguez, the reigning AL Rookie of the Year, hit a two-run homer as the Seattle Mariners spoiled Cleveland’s home opener by beating the Guardians 5-3. Rodríguez connected in the sixth inning for the Mariners, who were down 3-0 in their first road game. The 22-year-old

BRAMPTON, Ontario (AP) — Abbey Murphy scored at seven seconds for the fastest goal in women’s world hockey championship history and the United States routed Switzerland 9-1 to improve to 2-0 in Group A play. In Group B, Finland improved to 2-0, beating Germany 3-0. In the late game in Group A, two-time defending champion

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — The notion that players who joined LIV Golf would risk being sharp and properly prepared for the majors doesn’t apply to Brooks Koepka. It never really mattered how much or how well Koepka was playing. The majors always seemed to bring out his best. Based

By DAVE CAMPBELL AP Sports Writer MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kyle Farmer bounced a bases-loaded single straight up the middle of a drawn-in Houston infield in the 10th inning, giving the Minnesota Twins a 3-2 victory over the over the whiff-prone Astros in their home opener Thursday. After Ryan Pressly struck out all three Twins batters

By NOAH TRISTER AP Baseball Writer BALTIMORE (AP) — Ramón Urías hit a tiebreaking double in the seventh inning, then made a sparkling play at third base in the eighth to help Baltimore outlast the New York Yankees 7-6 in the Orioles’ home opener. Ron Marinaccio allowed a leadoff walk in the bottom of the

KENNESAW, Ga. (AP) — Former Alabama assistant Antoine Pettway was hired as Kennesaw State’s basketball coach Friday. Pettway takes over for Amir Abdur-Rahim, who led the Owls to their first NCAA Tournament berth this season before being taking the South Florida job on March 29. Pettway, 40, served on the Alabama staff for 15 years.

By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer PITTSBURGH (AP) — Bryan Reynolds homered and drove in six runs and the Pittsburgh Pirates celebrated Andrew McCutchen’s homecoming with a 13-9 victory over the Chicago White Sox. Reynolds hit a two-run homer in the third and a bases-clearing triple in the fifth. McCutchen had two hits in his

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — No. 2 seed Ons Jabeur led the top seeds into the semifinals at the Charleston Open on Friday. No. 3 seed Daria Kasatkina and No. 4 seed Belinda Bencic also advanced to the last four with quarterfinal victories in the season’s first clay-court tournament. Top seed Jessica Pegula faces No. 12

By JOE REEDY AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — World Wrestling Entertainment has apologized for using an image from the Auschwitz concentration camp to promote one of its matches during the first night of WrestleMania 39 last weekend. The image was used in a promotional package for the match between Rey Mysterio and Dominik

By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer PHILADELPHIA (AP) — J.T. Realmuto snapped a tie game with a two-run home run in the seventh inning and Edmundo Sosa added a solo shot to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 5-2 win in their home opener over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday. Trea Turner had two hits

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — U.S. Amateur champion Sam Bennett is in contention at the Masters. The two-time All-American from Texas A&M followed his opening 68 with another round of 68 on Friday. He spent much of the day in second behind four-time major winner Brooks Koepka. Bennett plays with