March 29, 2026 7:00 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Luis Robert Jr. hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the New York Mets a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Luis Torrens delivered a tying single in the 10th and the Mets improved to 2-0. After starters Mitch Keller and David Peterson matched zeros in 42-degree weather, Nick Gonzales lined an RBI single for Pittsburgh with one out in the 10th to break a scoreless tie. Mets reliever Luis Garcia prevented further damage by retiring Jake Mangum with the bases loaded. Bryan Reynolds put the Pirates ahead again with a two-out infield single in the 11th before Richard Lovelady struck out Gonzales with runners at the corners.
March 29, 2026 7:00 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist in his return from injured reserve and the Dallas Stars pulled away from the undermanned Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3. Rantanen had missed the last 15 games with a lower-body injury sustained while competing for Team Finland at the Milan Cortina Olympics. Rantanen scored his first NHL goal since Feb. 2 when he took a slick cross-ice feed from Jason Robertson and powered it by Stuart Skinner to put Dallas in front to stay. Robertson added his 40th goal of the season for Dallas, which ended a four-game losing streak. The Penguins played without injured stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
March 27, 2026 5:36 am
Pittsburgh eighth-grader Otto Schellhammer made it to the Sweet 16 before missing his first pick in the women’s NCAA Tournament. No. 6 seed Notre Dame beat second-seeded Vanderbilt on Friday in Fort Worth, Texas, to open the regional rounds. That ended the 14-year-old’s run as the only perfect bracket left after the opening weekend of the men’s and women’s tournaments. There had been more than 40 million entries across all the major contests.
March 28, 2026 5:34 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers celebrated a rare back-to-back World Series run by receiving championship rings in a pregame ceremony. Players opened blue boxes that play postseason highlights from their seven-game win over the Toronto Blue Jays. Shohei Ohtani raised a fist as he put his ring on. Fans cheered loudest for Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto and chanted for Freddie Freeman. Mookie Betts added a fourth ring to his collection that includes his first with Boston. Retired pitching star Clayton Kershaw received his ring from his former teammates. The rings include diamonds, sapphires, and dirt from home plate in Game 7.
March 27, 2026 2:37 am
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Ben Kindel scored the shootout winner to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night. Rickard Rakell scored twice and had an assist, and Erik Karlsson also scored for the Penguins, who moved into second in the Metropolitan Division. Drake Batherson scored twice and Nick Cousins also scored for the Senators. Tim Stutzle added two assists. Both Linus Ullmark and Stuart Skinner made huge saves in overtime to force the shootout. Sidney Crosby left the game early in the second period with an undisclosed injury barely a week after he returned from a lower-body injury sustained at the Olympics with Team Canada. Crosby took a 38-second opening shift in the second period before heading through the tunnel toward the locker room. The Penguins later announced he would not return to the game. Coach Dan Muse said afterward he had no update on Crosby’s condition.
March 27, 2026 2:41 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Brett Baty laced a bases-loaded triple and the New York Mets chased Paul Skenes in the first inning of his worst major league start, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-7 in their season opener at Citi Field. Carson Benge homered in his first career game, going back-to-back with Francisco Alvarez at the bottom of a new-look lineup, and Freddy Peralta won his Mets debut as New York improved to 42-23 on opening day. That’s the best record of any big league team — even though the Mets lost their first eight openers from 1962-69. Brandon Lowe homered twice and fellow Pirates newcomer Ryan O’Hearn also went deep, but Pittsburgh’s pitching and defense were dreadful in a disappointing start.
March 28, 2026 4:21 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James literally passed it on to the next generation. The NBA says James recorded the league’s first father-son assist when he passed to Bronny James for a 3-pointer in the second quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’ game against Brooklyn. The Lakers’ father-and-son duo played meaningful minutes together for the second straight game when the Lakers returned from a successful road trip to host the struggling Nets. Bronny James was on court with his father for nearly 4½ minutes when they checked in together to start the second quarter.
March 28, 2026 2:42 am
Tom Brady says he has thought about returning to the NFL, but the league isn’t a fan of the idea. In an interview released on Thursday, Brady told CNBC he has asked about the eligibility rules for a minority owner. He says the NFL wasn’t too receptive and he’s also very happily retired. Brady owns a minority stake in the Las Vegas Raiders. Brady first retired in the 2022 offseason, then returned after 40 days. He retired again in February 2023. He recently turned heads in a Fanatics flag football event.
March 26, 2026 4:33 am
NEW YORK (AP) — On the eve of opening day, Paul Skenes set forth lofty goals for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He says they want to win the NL Central or at least make the playoffs. That pursuit begins Thursday, when the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner pitches against Juan Soto, Bo Bichette and a revamped New York Mets lineup in a nationally televised opener at Citi Field. Freddy Peralta makes his Mets debut on the mound after the two-time All-Star was acquired from Milwaukee in a January trade. Even thinking about the postseason is a notable step forward for the thrifty Pirates, who finished last in the NL Central at 71-91 last season. They haven’t won a division title since 1992 or qualified for the playoffs since 2015.
March 26, 2026 4:36 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Aaron Judge went hitless on opening day for the first time and struck out four times for the first time since September 2024, but the New York Yankees still produced plenty of offense and beat San Francisco 7-0 in the debut of Giants manager Tony Vitello as the major league season began. José Caballero drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI single in a five-run second and also lost the first challenge taken to Major League Baseball’s so-called robot umpire, unsuccessfully appealing a strike by Logan Webb in the fourth. Max Fried allowed two hits in 6 1/3 scoreless innings.
