April 6, 2024 3:53 am
CLEVELAND (AP) — Caitlin Clark led Iowa back to the national championship game, scoring 21 points as the Hawkeyes rallied past Paige Bueckers and UConn 71-69 in the women’s Final Four. Next up for the Hawkeyes is a rematch with unbeaten South Carolina, which lost to Iowa in last year’s Final Four. The Hawkeyes then fell short of winning the school’s first national championship, falling to LSU in the title game last season. Now Clark is one win away from bring her home state its first women’s basketball title in the final game of her college career. She got off to a slow start but scored seven points early in the fourth quarter.
April 5, 2024 4:32 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pittsburgh Pirates bounced right back from their first loss and lowest-scoring game of the season by producing a four-run first inning with the help of Rowdy Tellez’s two-run single to send them on their way to a 7-4 victory over the Washington Nationals. Connor Joe contributed his first homer of the season Thursday as Pittsburgh improved to 6-1. It was a 400-foot, two-run shot in the fifth. Tellez, Oneil Cruz, Bryan Reynolds and Michael A. Taylor each had multiple hits. Martín Pérez allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings. CJ Abrams homered for the Nationals, who are 2-4.
April 5, 2024 4:30 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Nedjelkovic made 30 saves to backstop the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-1 victory at the Washington Capitals. Ryan Shea also scored his first NHL goal and Michael Bunting his fourth since joining them in a trade from Carolina. The Penguins have won three in a row and five of six to climb back in the Eastern Conference playoff race. They’re now two points back of the division rival Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders after being nine out as recently as March 24. The Capitals lost their fourth in a row despite Alex Ovechkin scoring his 27th goal of the season and 849th of his career.
April 5, 2024 4:35 am
CLEVELAND (AP) — Two of college basketball’s biggest stars will face off when Iowa and Caitlin Clark meet UConn and Paige Bueckers in the Final Four. Clark is a two-time National Player of the Year trying to guide the Hawkeyes to their first NCAA championship. Bueckers has returned to form this year after dealing with knee injuries that cost her most of two seasons. Clark and Bueckers grew up in the Midwest often facing off in AAU tournaments or playing alongside each other for Team USA. They say they don’t view themselves as rivals but instead feel their rising stardom is symbolic of the increased exposure of the women’s game.
April 5, 2024 4:33 am
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The Athletics will leave Oakland after this season and play temporarily at a minor league park near Sacramento until their planned new stadium in Las Vegas is built. The A’s announced the decision to play at the home of the Sacramento River Cats from 2025-27 with an option for 2028 after being unable to reach an agreement to extend their lease in Oakland. The A’s announced their intention last April to move to Las Vegas. The decision angered the fans in Oakland and the team’s previously low attendance dropped precipitously with the club drawing a league-low 832,352 fans to the outdated Coliseum last season.
April 4, 2024 4:43 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Joey Gallo emphatically ended an 0-for-12 season-opening drought with an upper-deck homer that traveled 447 feet and two other hits to help the Washington Nationals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-3. The loss on Wednesday night was Pittsburgh’s first defeat of 2024 after a 5-0 start. Luis García Jr. doubled three times and scored twice for Washington, CJ Abrams had a pair of RBIs, and Trevor Williams allowed two runs in 5 1/3 innings. Gallo homered in the second inning and added a single and a double to raise his batting average from .000 to .188. Pirates manager Derek Shelton was ejected in the seventh inning.
April 4, 2024 4:42 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Catcher Joey Bart has been added to the Pittsburgh Pirates’ roster after he was acquired in a trade with the San Francisco Giants. The Giants took him with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 amateur draft. The 27—year-old Bart once was considered Buster Posey’s likely successor as San Francisco’s starting catcher. But the Giants designated him for assignment on Sunday. The Pirates received Bart in a deal that sent minor league right-hander Austin Strickland to the Giants. Bart appeared in 162 games over four seasons with San Francisco, batting .219 with 11 homers and 38 RBIs and 178 strikeouts. Pittsburgh put backup catcher Jason Delay on the 10-day injured list.
April 4, 2024 4:45 am
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — The Buffalo Bills have agreed to trade their top receiving threat, Stefon Diggs, to the Houston Texans. The Bills acquired the Texans’ second-round pick in the 2025 draft, which Houston acquired in a trade with Minnesota. Houston also acquired Buffalo’s sixth-round pick in this year’s draft, and a fifth-rounder in 2025. Diggs’ departure from Buffalo leaves quarterback Josh Allen without his favorite target, and breaks up a tandem that has re-written the team’s passing records since the receiver’s arrival in a trade with Minnesota in March 2020. For the Texans, Diggs gives the offense another playmaker to team with Nico Collins and Tank Dell.
April 4, 2024 4:46 am
STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Defending national champion UConn had a tough time getting off the ground on the way to the Final Four. The Huskies finally took off from Bradley International Airport near Hartford at about 1:30 a.m. EDT Thursday after the plane they were supposed to take experienced mechanical issues getting to the East Coast. After the five-hour flight, the team was expected to arrive at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix at about 3:30 a.m. MST. The flight was originally scheduled to leave Wednesday at about 6 p.m. EDT, but a mechanical issue kept the plane that was supposed to used from arriving at Bradley, the school said.
April 3, 2024 4:41 am
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby each scored twice in Pittsburgh’s five-goal third period and the Penguins kept their playoff hopes alive, rallying for a 6-3 win over the New Jersey Devils. The Devils led 3-1 after two periods on goals by Timo Meier, Curtis Lazar and Jesper Bratt. Crosby and Malkin scored 67 seconds apart early in the third to tie the score. Rickard Rakell then put Pittsburgh ahead with 3:44 to play before Malkin scored again 21 seconds later. Crosby added an empty-net goal. Alex Nedeljkovic had 23 saves for the win.
