Sports

By JEFF WALLNER Associated Press CINCINNATI (AP) — Oneil Cruz homered shortly after a pitch clock violation and later hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the eighth inning, helping the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-4 on opening day. The game was played in 3 hours, 2 minutes under new rules this season designed

AMHERST, N.Y. (AP) — Longtime Villanova assistant George Halcovage is taking over the Buffalo men’s basketball program Halcovage broke into coaching as a graduate assistant on Jay Wright’s staff at Villanova in 2008 before working his way up to associate head coach in Wright’s final season in 2021-22. The Wildcats won national championships in 2016

By RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Anthony Volpe went 0 for 2 with a walk, stolen base and two nice defensive plays in his major league debut, a 5-0 opening-day win over the San Francisco Giants. Aaron Judge followed his record-setting 2022 by homering on his first swing as Yankees captain,

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Pablo Lopez pitched two-hit ball into the sixth inning of his Twins debut, and Trevor Larnach and pinch-hitter Donovan Solano each drove in a run as Minnesota beat the Kansas City Royals 2-0 to open the season. Lopez walked three and struck out eight

By STEPHEN HAWKINS AP Baseball Writer ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jacob deGrom had a rough debut for the Texas Rangers, who bailed out their prized addition on opening day. While deGrom struck out seven batters without a walk, he allowed five runs on six extra-base hits in 3 2/3 innings against the Philadelphia Phillies. After

By KYLE HIGHTOWER AP Sports Writer BOSTON (AP) — Adley Rutschman became the first catcher in major league history with five hits on opening day, and the Baltimore Orioles survived a wild ninth inning to beat the Boston Red Sox 10-9. Playing in his first season-opener after starring for the Orioles as a rookie last

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Sports Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Atlanta Braves overcame the early exit of NL Cy Young Award runner-up Max Fried because of a bad leg with the help of four hits by Travis d’Arnaud and beat the Washington Nationals 7-2 on a sunny, chilly opening day. All but two of the

NEW YORK (AP) — Julius Randle will miss the rest of the regular season because of a sprained left ankle. And if the New York Knicks make the playoffs, Randle’s availability for the opener is in doubt. Randle was hurt Wednesday in a victory over Miami. The Knicks say the All-Star forward will be re-evaluated

By FRED GOODALL AP Sports Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Shane McClanahan pitched six sharp innings, Jose Siri and Wander Franco homered and the Tampa Bay Rays opened their silver anniversary season with a 4-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers. Randy Arozarena and Luke Raley also drove in runs charged to Eduardo Rodriguez. McClanahan

By JOE REEDY AP Sports Writer World Wrestling Entertainment has had plenty of dominant characters over the past 50 years, but Roman Reigns continues to set his path. When Reigns faces Cody Rhodes on Sunday in the main event of WrestleMania 39 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, it will be his 944th consecutive day

By AARON BEARD AP Basketball Writer HOUSTON (AP) — The college basketball season started with familiar faces and ended up with an unexpected Final Four. North Carolina was the preseason No. 1-ranked team only to miss the NCAA Tournament. Fellow bluebloods like Duke and Kentucky all fell out of the rankings at points. And reigning

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Sports Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Max Fried exited his opening day start against the Washington Nationals with a strained left hamstring after 3 1/3 innings. Fried left Thursday’s 7-2 win after wincing as he ran to cover first base to retire the first Washington batter in the

By MARK ANDERSON AP Sports Writer HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — The Las Vegas Raiders have signed wide receiver and return specialist DeAndre Carter and re-signed guard Alex Bars. Carter caught 46 passes for 538 yards and three touchdowns last season for the Los Angeles Chargers. He also averaged 11.7 yards on 29 punt returns and

By MARK ANDERSON AP Sports Writer Tickets prices on the secondary market are substantially higher for the women’s Final Four than for the men. The women play in a much smaller venue, but they also have more recognizable names in the their Final Four. Only UConn on the men’s side is anything close to a

Two-time champion Wolfsburg advanced to the semifinals of the women’s Champions League for the second year in a row after defeating Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 on aggregate. After the German team won 1-0 at the Parc des Princes last week, Alexandra Popp’s goal in the 20th minute proved decisive in front of 14,367 fans at the

By MARK LONG AP Sports Writer GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson put on another show for NFL coaches, general managers and scouts. This one was a follow-up to his record-setting performance at the combine earlier this month and ended with an impressive backflip at midfield. The 6-foot-4, 244-pound quarterback skipped all the

By JAY COHEN AP Baseball Writer CHICAGO (AP) — Marcus Stroman is getting used to Major League Baseball’s new pitch clock. And it’s no small deal for the Chicago Cubs right-hander. “It’s tough,” he said. “It’s a big adjustment.” Stroman committed baseball’s first regular-season pitch-clock violation Thursday in the third inning of the Cubs’ 4-0

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — James Shields has returned to Tropicana Field to symbolically retire from a club he helped transform from perennial loser to playoff contender. He threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Tampa Bay Rays’ season opener against the Detroit Tigers. It was more than a decade after last throwing a

By ALANIS THAMES AP Sports Writer MIAMI (AP) — The New York Mets placed Justin Verlander on the injured list with a strained upper back muscle on opening day, sidelining the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner before his first appearance with the team. The Mets announced that Verlander has a low-grade teres major strain