Sports

By WARREN MAYES Associated Press ST. LOUIS (AP) — Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a three-run homer Monday night, leading the Atlanta Braves to an 8-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Acuña, who was an All-Star selection last season, finished with a 3-for-4 night with a double and a single. He also drew a walk

By MARC BOWMAN Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Brady Singer pitched five effective innings, MJ Melendez hit a two-run homer and the Kansas City Royals broke loose early to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 9-5 for their first victory of the season. Nicky Lopez had a two-run triple and Bobby Witt Jr. delivered

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Rangers outfielder Josh Smith was taken to a hospital after he was hit in the face by a pitch in the third inning of a 2-0 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. Smith, a left-handed hitter, was struck on the right side of his face by a 1-0 slider from Danny Coulombe.

HARVEY VALENTINE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Luke Raley homered twice, Drew Rasmussen pitched six shutout innings and the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Washington Nationals 6-2 for the first 4-0 start in team history. Isaac Paredes had a homer and a single for the Rays, who have outscored iopponents 27-5 in four games. Raley

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Texas outfielder Josh Smith was taken to a hospital after being hit in his face by a pitch in the Rangers’ game against the Baltimore Orioles. The left-handed hitter was struck on the right side of his face in the third inning by a 1-0 slider from reliever Danny Coulombe. The

By TIM BOOTH AP Sports Writer SEATTLE (AP) — Los Angeles Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon was suspended for five games and fined by Major League Baseball for his altercation with a fan last week. Rendon says he is dropping his appeal after his suspension was reduced to four games. Rendon grabbed a fan’s shirt

By The Associated Press Garbiñe Muguruza is going to skip the French Open and Wimbledon during an extended break from tennis. Those were the sites of her two Grand Slam titles. The former No. 1-ranked woman hasn’t played a match on tour since Jan. 30 and is 0-4 so far this year. She wrote in

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Madison Bumgarner returned to Phoenix to be evaluated by medical staff after he felt fatigue during his first start this season. The 33-year-old left-hander allowed five runs, four hits and four walks in Arizona’s 10-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night. Trayce Thompson hit a

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Baltimore Orioles starter Kyle Bradish left the game at Texas in the second inning of a scoreless game after being struck on the right foot by a line drive. Jonah Heim lined a 2-2 changeup back to the mound with runners on first and second and one out. The exit velocity

By RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The baseball players’ association reduced cash, U.S. Treasury securities and investments to $142.4 million on Dec. 31, down from $271.2 million at the start of year in a decrease typical of the period that follows a collective bargaining agreement. The union increases liquid assets in

MIAMI (AP) — Johnny Cueto’s debut with the Miami Marlins didn’t last long. The 37-year-old pitcher exited with right biceps tightness after allowing a three-run homer to Joey Gallo in the second inning of Miami’s series opener against the Minnesota Twins. Cueto gave up four runs and three hits in one-plus inning. Max Kepler also

BUENOS AIRES (AP) — A female staffer of Argentinian soccer giant Boca Juniors has accused the women’s team coach Jorge Martinez of sexual harassment. The staffer’s attorney, Andrea Lucangioli, told local media on Monday she had taken the accusation against Martinez to prosecutors. She says her client had been sexually touched by the coach against

BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) — LSU’s 102-85 victory over Iowa in Sunday’s national championship game was the most-viewed NCAA women’s basketball game on record, with 9.9 million viewers on ABC and ESPN2 according to fast national numbers by Nielsen. The total audience is a 103% jump over last year, when South Carolina defeated UConn and averaged

By ANDREW SELIGMAN AP Sports Writer CHICAGO (AP) — David Villar hit two of San Francisco’s seven home runs, Anthony DeSclafani tossed three-hit ball over six scoreless innings and the Giants pounded the Chicago White Sox 12-3. Villar hit a solo homer in the fifth and a grand slam in the ninth. Joc Pederson, Michael

By JOSH DUBOW AP Sports Writer BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Mark Madsen knows the situation he inherited when he was hired to take over a California men’s basketball program coming off the worst season in school history. Instead of focusing on the challenges, Madsen is jumping into the role with the same enthusiasm he had

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Harrison Crowe is somewhat of a celebrity during his first trip to Augusta National after a video of him at the Old Course at St. Andrews went viral last year. Crowe was at a nearby pub when someone put up the challenge of hitting a

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Two-time Grand Slam semifinalist Elina Svitolina played a WTA match for the first time as a mother and lost to Yulia Putintseva 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-4 at the Charleston Open. The first-round match Monday in the main stadium of a tournament played on green clay

NEW YORK (AP) — Los Angeles Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon was suspended for five games and fined by Major League Baseball for his interactions with a fan last week. If Rendon appeals the decision by MLB senior vice president Michael Hill, he would remain eligible to play until the appeal is decided by special

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — LSU’s national championship women’s basketball team has returned to campus where thousands of fans gathered to welcome them back. LSU coach and Louisiana native Kim Mulkey says “timing is everything“ and that it was time for her to come home. Mulkey and her players climbed onto a stage inside the

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — British Open champion Cameron Smith refers to Augusta National as his happy place. He arrived with a little trepidation now that he’s with LIV Golf. Smith says he found it was business as usual. He says there’s a lot of clamor at the Masters about