NHL PLAYOFFS
Vincent Trocheck and Mika Zibanejad each had a goal and an assist and the Presidents’ Trophy-winning New York Rangers held on to beat the Washington Capitals 4-3 for a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series. Jack Roslovic and K’Andre Miller also scored for the Rangers, and Erik Gustafsson and Alexis Lafreniere each had two assists. Igor Shesterkin stopped 22 shots. New York has won four straight and 12 of its last 15 games. Tom Wilson had a goal and an assist, and Connor McMichael and Dylan Strome also scored for the Capitals. Charlie Lindgren finished with 23 saves. Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is Friday night at 7 Washington.
Elsewhere, the Bruins and Maple Leafs resume their series tied at 1 game apiece in game 3 tonight at 7.
Carter Verhaeghe lifted a backhander just under the crossbar 2:59 into overtime, and the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 for a 2-0 lead in their NHL first-round playoff series. It was the fifth OT winner in Verhaeghe’s career, coming on a play where Matthew Tkachuk got the puck to Anton Lundell — who found Verhaeghe. He waited for Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy to commit, then put the puck over him to end it. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 21 shots, including some highlight-reel saves. Sam Bennett and Vladimir Tarasenko also scored for Florida. Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos had goals for Tampa Bay.
Artturi Lehkonen had a goal and assist and the Colorado Avalanche scored four goals in the second period in a 5-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night to tie the first-round playoff series at a game apiece. Miles Wood, Zach Parise, Josh Manson and Valeri Nichushkin also scored for the Avalanche. Alexandar Georgiev made 30 saves for Colorado, a bounce-back effort after allowing seven goals on 23 shots in the series opener. David Gustaffson and Mark Scheifele scored for the Jets. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 27 of 31 shots.
Filip Forsberg scored a goal and had an assist, and the Nashville Predators beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-1 to level the best-of-seven playoff series at 1-1. Anthony Beauvillier — a former Canuck — also had a goal and an assist for the Predators, Colton Sissons and Kiefer Sherwood also scored and Juuse Saros made 17 saves. Nikita Zadorov scored for Vancouver. The Canucks were playing without All-Star goalie Thatcher Demko, who was ruled out with an undisclosed injury earlier on Tuesday. Casey DeSmith took over in net and stopped 12 of 15 shots he faced.
Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky might have had the save of the year. The Panthers’ goaltender was facing the other way when Tampa Bay’s Matt Dumba had a chance at what looked it would be an easy goal in Game 2 of the teams’ NHL playoff series on Tuesday night. Dumba had nothing but net to shoot at — and Bobrovsky, without his stick and diving blindly at a puck he couldn’t see — somehow made the save.
NBA PLAYOFFS
Jaden McDaniels scored 25 points for a career best in the playoffs and spearheaded another stifling defensive performance by the Minnesota Timberwolves in a 105-93 victory over the Phoenix Suns to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round series. Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert each added 18 points to help the Timberwolves offset the smothering of Anthony Edwards by the Suns. He went 3 for 12 from the floor for 15 points. Game 3 is in Phoenix on Friday. Minnesota has held a 2-0 series lead one other time in franchise history, against Denver in the first round in 2004.
Pascal Siakam scored 37 points and the Indiana Pacers overcame another fantastic first-half performance from Damian Lillard to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 125-108 and tie their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series at one game apiece. Indiana snapped a 10-game playoff losing streak that began with a Game 7 loss to Cleveland in a first-round series in 2018. The Pacers were swept by Boston in 2019 and by Miami in 2020. Lillard had 26 points by halftime and finished with 34. But he didn't get enough help with Giannis Antetokounmpo again sidelined with a strained left calf.
Luka Doncic scored 32 points and the Dallas Mavericks overcame the return of Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard to beat Los Angeles 96-93 and tie their Western Conference first-round playoff series at a game apiece. Leonard had 15 points and seven rebounds in 35 minutes of his first game since March 31. He had been out with inflammation in his surgically repaired right knee. Kyrie Irving added 23 points and P.J. Washington Jr. had 18 for the Mavs. Game 3 is Friday in Dallas.
Phoenix Suns guard Grayson Allen appeared to aggravate the sprained right ankle he suffered in the playoff opener. Allen hobbled off in the third quarter of Game 2 against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first-round series. Allen was guarding Mike Conley on a drive to the lane when he went airborne to try to block the shot and landed awkwardly on his right leg. Allen had to be helped away from the court and into the locker room. He had three points in 17 minutes.
Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton said a fan directed a racial slur at his younger brother during Game 1 of an Eastern Conference first-round playoff series with the Milwaukee Bucks. Haliburton said after the Pacers' Game 2 victory on Tuesday that “my little brother in the stands the other day was called an N-word." Neither the Bucks nor the NBA immediately responded to an email asking whether the team or league had been made aware of this before Haliburton’s comment, and whether any investigation had been conducted.
In the playoffs, the Celtics will face Miami in Game two tonight. Boston leads the first round series 1-0.
Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey was fouled twice before his turnover that led to the go-ahead 3-pointer by Donte DiVincenzo in the New York Knicks’ victory over the 76ers in Game 2. That's according to the NBA's report on the officiating that the league released Tuesday. The league also says 76ers coach Nick Nurse was attempting to call a timeout that was “neither recognized nor granted by the officials” at the start of the possession. The league says Jalen Brunson grabbed Maxey's jersey to prevent him from cleanly catching a pass before Josh Hart made lower body contact that caused the All-Star guard to fall.
MLB
Anthony Rizzo snapped a lengthy power drought with a two-run homer that capped a four-run first inning, and the New York Yankees held on for a 4-3 win over the Oakland Athletics. A day after getting shut out for the fourth time in their first 23 games, the Yankees fell behind when Seth Brown hit an RBI double in the first off Marcus Stroman. Giancarlo Stanton hit a go-ahead double against Paul Blackburn in the bottom half and Rizzo hit his second home run of the season and his first since April 7.
Logan Webb pitched eight strong innings and extended his scoreless streak to a career-high 19 as the San Francisco Giants beat the New York Mets 5-1 on Tuesday night. Webb (3-1) won his third straight start, striking out four and scattering six hits with a walk. The 27-year-old right-hander recorded 15 groundball outs. Mike Yastrzemski, Thairo Estrada and Michael Conforto each had two hits for San Francisco. Yastrzemski had three RBIs, and Estrada and LaMonte Wade Jr. drove in the other runs. Starling Marte had three hits for New York, which lost its third straight game after a six-game winning streak.
José Ramírez homered in the eighth and Tyler Freeman and Bryan Rocchio had RBIs in the seventh when Cleveland finally scored against Boston’s Tanner Houck as the Guardians kept up their scorching start with a 4-1 win over the Red Sox. Houck pitched a three-hit shutout against the Guardians last week. He held them scoreless for six more innings before Freeman hit a run-scoring single and Rocchio added a sacrifice fly off reliever Brennan Bernardino. Ramírez hit an opposite-field homer in the eighth inning against reliever Cam Booser for his fourth homer. The Guardians won their fifth straight to improve baseball’s best record to 17-6, matching the club’s best start through 23 games. Cleveland was also 17-6 in 1999 and 1966.
Elly De La Cruz hit a two-run home run and Christian Encarnacion-Strand went 3 for 4 with two RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds ended the Philadelphia Phillies’ seven-game win streak with an 8-1 victory. Cincinnati’s Santiago Espinal also had three hits including a solo homer in the eighth inning, his first since July 29. Fernando Cruz pitched 2/3 of an inning in relief for the win. The Phillies’ seven-game win streak was the franchise’s fourth-longest in April. J.T. Realmuto and Alec Bohm hit back-to-back doubles in the first for the Phillies’ run. Philadelphia's Christopher Sánchez lasted only three innings and took the loss.
Andrew McCutchen led off the bottom of the first with a home run for the second straight game, Bailey Falter took a shutout into the eighth inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Milwaukee Brewers 2-1. McCutchen hit the first pitch of Tobias Myers’ major league career down the left-field line for his 24th career leadoff homer and his 100th long ball at PNC Park. McCutchen connected off Joe Ross on Monday night in the Pirates’ 4-2 win. McCutchen became the first Pirates player to hit a leadoff homer in back-to-back games since Adam Frazier in 2019.
Mike Tauchman hit his first two homers of the season, and the Chicago Cubs took a five-run first-inning lead in a 7-2 win over Houston that dropped the Astros 10 games under .500 for the first time since 2016. Cody Bellinger hit a two-run homer in the first off J.P. France and Tauchman hit a three-run drive. Tauchman added a solo homer in the eighth against Seth Martinez and tied his career high of four RBIs. Bellinger left after the fifth inning with bruised right ribs. At 7-17, the last-place Astros are 10 games under .500 for the first time since an 18-28 start in 2016.
Riley Greene went deep twice for his first multi-homer game, Mark Canha added a homer and the Detroit Tigers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2. The Tigers have won the first two of the three-game set and have won four of their last five games. With the Tigers trailing 2-1 in the eighth, Greene hit a two-shot off Colin Poche (0-1) and Canha added a solo drive to make it 4-2. Isaac Paredes homered for the Rays, who have lost four of five and slipped to 12-13 overall. Alex Faeda earned the win for Detroit.
Bobby Witt Jr. delivered the go-ahead double in the fifth inning for Kansas City after a costly error by Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and the Royals’ bullpen shut down Toronto the rest of the way in a 3-2 victory Tuesday night. Chris Stratton earned the win for Kansas City. The Royals got 4 2/3 scoreless innings from their relievers. James McArthur got the last six outs, leaving the tying run on base when he got Bo Bichette to ground out to end the game. It was his fifth save of the season. Kevin Gausman allowed three runs, though none of them earned, on seven hits and a walk over 6 2/3 innings for Toronto.
Alex Kirilloff hit a two-out, game-ending single after Byron Buxton led off the ninth inning with a tying homer, and the major league-worst Chicago White Sox fell to 3-20 with a 6-5 loss to the Minnesota Twins. Chicago joined Cincinnati in 2022, Detroit in 2003, the St. Louis Browns in 1936 and the Cleveland Spiders in 1899 as teams to start 3-20. The 1988 Baltimore Orioles began 1-22. Trevor Larnach hit a 433-foot, two-run homer in the eighth to get the Twins within 5-4 and help set up the heroics by Buxton and Kirilloff in the ninth against Steven Wilson.
Logan Gilbert allowed only two hits pitching into the seventh inning, Julio Rodríguez hit his first homer and the Seattle Mariners beat Texas 4-0. The Mariners' win knocked the World Series champion Rangers out of first place for the first time this season. The 12-11 Mariners moved a half-game ahead of 12-12 Texas. Ryne Stanek, Gabe Speier and Andrés Muñoz finished off Seattle’s third shutout of the season. Cal Raleigh also homered for Seattle off Dane Dunning, who fell to 2-2.
Mike Trout hit his first leadoff home run since 2012, and the Los Angeles Angels defeated the Baltimore Orioles 7-4 to snap a five-game losing streak. Zach Neto had two hits and drove in two runs as the Angels’ six through nine hitters combined for eight of their 11 hits and five RBIs. Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson hit a towering 414-foot home run in the seventh inning, and Adley Rutschman had three hits. Griffin Canning gave up three runs on five hits in five innings and struck out four for his first win of the season. Carlos Estévez retired the side for the save. Baltimore’s Grayson Rodriguez was the losing pitcher.
Max Fried pitched a three-hitter for Atlanta’s first nine-inning complete game since 2022, Adam Duvall had a two-run homer and and the Atlanta Braves blanked the Miami Marlins for the second night in a row, 5-0. After a dismal start to the season, Fried has recaptured the form that made him one of baseball’s top starters. It helped to be facing the struggling Marlins, who dropped to 6-19 and have gone 20 innings without scoring a run. They remained 0-for-Atlanta after getting blanked 3-0 in the series opener Monday. With a week still to go in April, Miami is already 11 1/2 games behind the Braves in the NL East. Trevor Rogers took the loss for Miami.
Shohei Ohtani hit a 450-foot homer to the second deck in right field in his first visit to Nationals Park, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat Washington 4-1. Ohtani’s sixth homer of the season was the hardest-hit of his career at 118.7 mph. It was also the hardest-hit home run for a Dodgers player in the Statcast era, which began in 2015. The solo shot in the ninth inning off Matt Barnes made it 4-1 after pinch-hitter James Outman and Miguel Rojas drove in runs an inning earlier to put Los Angeles ahead.
Pavin Smith hit a grand slam and drove in a career-high six runs to help the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 14-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night. Christian Walker and Kevin Newman also homered for Arizona, which leads the majors with 148 runs. Tommy Henry (1-1) tossed six effective innings in his first win in five starts this season. The 26-year-old left-hander gave up one run on five hits and struck out six with one walk. Willson Contreras homered for St. Louis, which has lost five of six.
Brendan Rodgers hit a go-ahead grand slam in a five-run fourth inning, and the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 7-4 for just their second win in 10 games. Colorado trailed 4-1 before Rodgers’ first career slam, a drive into the left-field bleachers on an up-and-in fastball from Michael King with an 0-2 count. Rodgers had not homered since Sept. 29. King allowed six runs - four earned - eight hits and three walks in 3 2/3 innings, leaving after a bases-loaded walk to Elehuris Montero. Ezequiel Tovar added an RBI single in the fifth for the Rockies.
Boston Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas is out indefinitely after breaking a rib on his left side while taking a hard swing in Saturday’s game at Pittsburgh. Manager Alex Cora said there is no timetable on when the 24-year-old Casas will be back. But Cora expects Casas, who was batting .244 with six homers and 10 RBIs, to return at some point this season. With Casas out, Cora said Bobby Dalbec will get a chance to lock down the job at first. Dalbec is batting just .033 and been in a prolonged slump dating to last season. The Red Sox also re-instated outfielder Tyler O'Neill, who had been out since getting hurt in a collision with third baseman Rafael Devers.
WNBA
Caitlin Clark appears to be on the cusp of setting another record. The most prolific scorer in NCAA Division I history and No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft is preparing to sign a second contract with Nike, this one paying $28 million over eight years and coming with a signature shoe. The Wall Street Journal and The Athletic reported the pending deal, citing unnamed people familiar with the negotiations between the sportswear giant and Clark’s agents. Excel Sports Management, which represents Clark, declined to comment. Nike did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
SOCCER
Kai Havertz scored twice against his former team and Ben White also got a brace as Arsenal brushed aside a dismal Chelsea side 5-0 for its biggest league win over its London rival. The win ensures Arsenal will go into the weekend atop the Premier League standings, lifting it three points in front of Liverpool ahead of Wednesday’s Merseyside derby at Everton. Manchester City is now four points back before it plays at Brighton on Thursday, with another game in hand. For Chelsea, it was another dispiriting loss after a 1-0 defeat to Man City in the FA Cup semifinals on Saturday that ended any hope of finishing a disappointing season on a high note.
OLYMPICS
The U.S. Justice Department is paying a $138.7 million to settle more than 100 claims that it badly mishandled allegations of sexual assault against Larry Nassar in 2015 and 2016. It was a critical time gap that allowed the sports doctor to continue preying on victims before his arrest. Nassar worked at Michigan State University and at USA Gymnastics. He’s serving decades in prison for assaulting female athletes, including Olympians. For more than a year, FBI agents in Indianapolis and Los Angeles had knowledge of allegations against Nassar but apparently took no action.
HORSE RACING
Nine new members have been elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs. The Class of 2024 announced Tuesday includes jockey Joel Rosario and racehorses Gun Runner and Justify, all elected in their first year of eligibility. The Pre-1900 Historic Review Committee also chose jockey Abe Hawkins and racehorses Lecomte and Aristides, while Harry Guggenheim, Clement Hirsch and Joe Hirsch were elected by the Pillars of the Turf Committee. The induction ceremony is August 2nd. Rosario is a 39-year-old native of the Dominican Republic who has won more than 3,600 races including 115 Grade I stakes. Gun Runner was the 2017 Horse of the Year, and Justify won the 2018 Triple Crown as part of a career where he won all six of his starts.
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