Patrick Reed is leading a major championship for the first time
Jalen Ramsey Jersey , and his confidence is so high that he can only see what’s ahead of him.
Reed started and finished the front nine with three straight birdies. He answered Marc Leishman’s bold shot for an eagle by polishing off another run of
three straight birdies. It added to a 6-under 66 and a two-shot lead over
Leishman going into the weekend at Augusta National.
Right behind them are five major champions – Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Henrik Stenson.
Nowhere near him are Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, the two names that generated so much of the buzz for a Masters that otherwise is living up to
expectations.
BASEBALL
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – Rookie sensation Shohei Ohtani is making himself at home in the Big A.
Ohtani hit a home run for the third straight game, Justin Upton hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the seventh inning and the Los Angeles Angels
rallied from an early six-run deficit to beat the Oakland Athletics 13-9.
Ohtani, the two-way star from Japan, connected for a long, solo drive in the second inning against Daniel Gossett. The ball landed in the rocks beyond the
center field wall after traveling 449 feet and was measured with a 112.3 mph
exit velocity according to Statcast, the hardest-hit and longest of Ohtani’s
three major league homers.
NEW YORK (AP) – Pedro Alvarez hit a grand slam in the 14th inning, Manny Machado homered twice and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Yankees 7-3 after New
York saw four players forced to make early exits.
Yankees starter CC Sabathia left with hip soreness, star catcher Gary Sanchez limped off with a leg cramp right before Alvarez struck, third baseman Brandon
Drury was lifted for migraines and second baseman Tyler Wade was removed because
of flu-like symptoms. New York had to use 20 players in all – reliever Adam
Warren was the only non-starting pitcher left.
Alvarez connected after midnight, deciding a game that took 5 hours, 20 minutes and included 14 pitchers, a couple of wild misadventures on the
basepaths and an admitted missed call by umpires.
MMA
NEW YORK (AP) – Conor McGregor was arraigned on charges of felony criminal mischief charges and misdemeanor assault
Telvin Smith Jersey , menacing and reckless endangerment charges following a backstage melee he sparked at a UFC event in New York City the previous
day.
He spoke only to acknowledge that he understood the conditions of his release, saying, ”Yes, your honor.”
McGregor was released on $50,000 bond – pocket change for a fighter who was guaranteed $30 million last year in his ballyhooed boxing match against Floyd
Mayweather Jr. McGregor is due back in court June 14.
In the underbelly of Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on Thursday, McGregor went wild, using a dolly, chairs and guard rails as weapons, not his fists. Fueled by
revenge and running with a pack of his ”hoodlums,” McGregor’s antics landed him
in jail – and injured two fighters on Saturday’s UFC 223 card.
NBA
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Ben Simmons topped LeBron James in a triple-double battle to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to their 13th straight win in their biggest game
in six years, 132-130 over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
With a buzz in the city over the Sixers that hasn’t been felt since the pre-Process days, they romped toward a 30-point lead over the Cavs in the first
half and scored 78 points at the break.
Simmons had 27 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists. James had 44 points (17-of-29 shooting), 11 assists and 11 rebounds, bringing the Cavaliers to the
brink of an epic comeback.
The Sixers (49-30) moved into third place in the Eastern Conference over the Cavaliers (49-31).
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The Lakers unveiled a statue of Elgin Baylor before their game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Baylor’s statue became the sixth that decorates the front of Staples Center, joining Shaquille O’Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Andre Hal Jersey , Magic Johnson, Jerry West and Chick Hearn. The Lakers selected Baylor first overall in the 1958 NBA draft. He averaged 27.4 points and
13.5 rebounds in 14 seasons for the franchise, including the first two when it
played in Minneapolis.
Various Lakers alumni spoke during Baylor’s ceremony, including O’Neal, Johnson, West and Abdul-Jabbar. Johnson said Baylor put entertainment into the
NBA, and will always remember that Baylor set the Finals record for single-game
points against the Boston Celtics on the road.
NHL
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Penguins will start their bid for a Stanley Cup three-peat home.
Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel banked in goals off Craig Anderson minutes apart in the second period, Casey DeSmith stopped 34 shots and the Penguins beat
the Ottawa Senators 4-0 to clinch second place in the Metropolitan Division and
home-ice advantage in the opening round of the playoffs.
Phil Kessel collected his 34th goal of the season and Patric Hornqvist pushed his career-high to 29 when he beat Anderson late in the third period for the
Penguins, who will host Columbus, New Jersey or Philadelphia next week.
AUTO RACING
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – Kurt Busch got a little more aggressive in the first round of qualifying, and it paid off with a pole at Texas Motor Speedway.
Busch and his Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer will start in the top three spots in Texas after a weather-shortened qualifying
session.
With his top lap of 197.368 mph, Busch earned his first pole this season and the 32nd in his career.
There was initially a delay because of lightning in the area
History is being made again in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
On the heels of the first back-to-back champions in two decades, the NHL will get a new champion in the salary-cap era that began in 2005. Among the
Lightning, Capitals, Jets and Golden Knights, only Tampa Bay has won the Stanley
Cup
Richard Dent Jersey , making this the first time the final four teams have combined for one title or fewer.
Tampa Bay is in the Eastern Conference final for the third time in four years, and Washington has made the playoffs 10 out of the past 11 seasons. Yet
after one of Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh lifted the Cup every
time since 2009, this crop of new blood is refreshing.
”They’re all good stories,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. ”The same old story sometimes can get old. Once in a while a new chapter is written, and it’ll
be good. This year there will be a new chapter.”
The next chapter begins with the Capitals visiting the Lightning on Friday night, followed by the Golden Knights at Winnipeg on Saturday night. It’s a full
turnover from the final four teams last year: Pittsburgh, Ottawa, Nashville and
Anaheim.
The Jets became the fourth and final team to reach the third round when they beat the defending Western Conference-champion Predators on the road in Game 7
on Thursday night. Winnipeg is the final hope for Canada’s first Cup celebration
since Montreal in 1993 and is in the conference final for the first time in
franchise history.
”Having some diversity amongst the league is great, and I think it just shows the competitive balance throughout the league,” Jets captain Blake Wheeler said.
”Having good young players is a great place to start and you see that the teams
that have good young players have gotten good fast. So I think it’s a good thing
to have some fan bases have some extended postseason success. It just creates a
better vibe.”
The Lightning are trying to create the vibe Hockey Bay hasn’t seen since winning the Cup in 2004. They fell short in a six-game loss to the Blackhawks in
the 2015 final with this core, led by Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman.
Even after missing the playoffs last year when Stamkos was out long term with a knee injury, Tampa Bay has plenty of recent playoff experience from recent
runs and the additions of ex-Rangers players Ryan McDonagh, Dan Girardi and J.T.
Miller.
”We’ve been here in this situation before,” Stamkos said. ”There’s no panic or nervousness. We’re excited.”
Vegas hasn’t been in any situation before, building off the best inaugural season in NHL history by beating Los Angeles and San Jose to reach the West
final. Among the four good stories remaining
Margus Hunt Jersey , none is as remarkable as the Golden Knights, who pieced together players from around the league to get further than anyone
expected.
”I haven’t been around a team like this,” general manager George McPhee said. ”This feels like more of a team than any team I’ve ever been with at the NHL
level.”
McPhee’s former team in Washington has the same feeling. The Capitals aren’t as deep or talented as in years past, but they’re in the East final for the
first time since 1998, when McPhee was in his first season as their GM.
”I’ve had some teams that have been very, very talented and they weren’t necessarily the best teams,” said Trotz, who is in the third round for the first
time in 19 years as an NHL head coach. ”I think the belief in the group, or the
chemistry in the group, is the intangible and this group has a good chemistry
about it.”
What excites Jets coach Paul Maurice most about the fresh teams in the conference finals is the hope it keeps alive in the remaining cities. And each
one can legitimately believe its team has a chance to win it all.
”That’s the great part about competition,” Maurice said. ”So that’s what’s the most exciting thing is you don’t know, right? There’s not a five-time
Stanley Cup champion that’s just ran the first two series 4-0. It’s up for
grabs. It’s right there.”
—
AP Sports Writer Teresa M. Walker in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed.
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