Sports

BREMEN, Germany (AP) — American coach Pellegrino Matarazzo has picked up his second consecutive win as Hoffenheim beat Werder Bremen 2-1 to ease away from the Bundesliga’s relegation zone. New Jersey-born Matarazzo lost his first five games in charge after taking over at Hoffenheim in February but wins over Hertha Berlin and now Bremen have

NEWCASTLE, England (AP) — Joe Willock and Callum Wilson scored second-half goals to lead Newcastle to a 2-0 win over Manchester United in the Premier League and above its rival in the race for Champions League qualification. Willock’s 65th-minute header and a second from substitute Wilson in the 88th inflicted just a second defeat in

By JEROME PUGMIRE AP Sports Writer PARIS (AP) — Monaco’s teenage talent made the difference as it rallied to beat Strasbourg 4-3 in the French league to move three points behind third-place Marseille in the chase for a Champions League spot. Finishing third means entry into the qualifying rounds while second place guarantees automatic qualification

By STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer It wasn’t long ago that Manchester United was being talked up as a potential outsider for the Premier League title. Now even a top-four finish is looking far from assured for a club up for sale and seeking Champions League qualification as another attraction for potential buyers. United’s 2-0

By MIKE FITZPATRICK AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — San Francisco Giants catcher Joey Bart has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a strain in the middle of his back. The move was made retroactive to March 31, and the team recalled right-handed reliever Sean Hjelle from Triple-A Sacramento before its series

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Providence suspended guard Alyn Breed after he was charged with pointing a gun at his girlfriend and other crimes over the weekend. Maj. David Lapatin said Breed wielded the gun during an exchange with his girlfriend in an off-campus apartment early Saturday, The Providence Journal reported. He also is accused of

By TALES AZZONI AP Sports Writer MADRID (AP) — Karim Benzema has scored a hat trick in a seven-minute span as second-place Real Madrid crushed Valladolid 6-0 in the Spanish league. Rodrygo, Marco Asensio and Lucas Vázquez also scored for second-place Madrid which trails leader Barcelona by 12 points after the Catalan club won at

By EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer HOUSTON (AP) — The once semipredictable ground that underpinned college basketball has been changing at lightning speed over the past 24 months. It’s leaving coaches and their bosses scrambling to adjust to whatever comes next. The NCAA Tournament closes out Monday when UConn plays San Diego State, and will

COLOGNE, Germany (AP) — Cologne has held local rival Borussia Mönchengladbach to a 0-0 draw in the Bundesliga in the first game for Cologne since it emerged the club was facing a transfer ban. Dropping points further dents 10th-place Gladbach’s already-slim hopes of qualifying for European competition. A point helps 13th-place Cologne edge away from

By ERIC TUCKER and MATTHEW LEE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged his Russian counterpart, in a rare phone call between the diplomats since the Ukraine war, to immediately release a Wall Street Journal reporter who was detained last week as well as another imprisoned American, Paul Whelan, the State

AUDENARDE, Belgium (AP) — Two-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar has joked that he can now retire happy from cycling after winning the Tour of Flanders classic for the first time. Pogacar became only the third cyclist to win both races after Frenchman Louison Bobet and Belgian great Eddy Merckx. The 24-year-old Slovenian clinched

LONDON (AP) — West Ham has climbed out of the Premier League’s relegation zone and left Southampton in last place with a tense 1-0 win. Morocco defender Nayef Aguerd’s 25th-minute header settled a tight, nervy match at the London Stadium between teams who started the day as the bottom two in one of the tightest

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The president of the International Gymnastics Federation has paid a visit to Ukraine for talks with senior political figures amid a standoff over Russian athletes’ eligibility for Olympic qualifying events. A statement on the Ukrainian presidential website says FIG president Morinari Watanabe met with the Ukraine’s presidential office head Andriy Yermak

By ERIC TUCKER and MATTHEW LEE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged his Russian counterpart, in a rare phone since the Ukraine war, to immediately release a Wall Street Journal reporter who was detained last week as well as another imprisoned American, Paul Whelan, the State Department said Sunday. In

HYDERABAD, India (AP) — Rajasthan Royals showed plenty of batting muscle at the top of the order while Yuzvendra Chahal grabbed 4-17 in a resounding 72-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in their opening Indian Premier game on Sunday. Jos Buttler plundered 54 off 22 balls inside the batting powerplay while his opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal

By The Associated Press One of the craziest March Madness tournaments will conclude with the women’s final between Iowa and LSU on Sunday. WHO’S FAVORED TO WIN THE TITLE? Iowa is a minus-160 favorite against LSU, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. Someone would need to bet $160 to win $100. WHAT’S THE SPREAD DIFFERENCE? Iowa is

LEICESTER, England (AP) — Relegation-threatened Leicester has fired manager Brendan Rodgers in a late-season move to preserve its Premier League status. Rodgers has been in charge for four years. He leaves with the team having dropped to third-to-last place with 10 league matches remaining. Leicester secured back-to-back Europa League qualifications under Rodgers and won its

By STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer Anthony Joshua’s rebuild plan was to have three or four fights to gain momentum for another crack at a world heavyweight title. He’s now happy to take a short cut. An all-British fight with WBC champion Tyson Fury could be back on the cards after Joshua beat Jermaine Franklin