The Rockies have placed Kris Bryant on 10-day IL with a back strain (2024)

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa has been known for stability on its football coaching staff, which makes this spring a little different for the Hawkeyes. Offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz was replaced by Tim Lester, a former college head coach who spent time with the Green Bay Packers. He is i…

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Kenny Payne has been hired as associate head coach at Arkansas under John Calipari. Payne was fired last month after going 12-52 in two seasons as the head coach at Louisville, his alma mater. Before that, he spent 10 years as an assistant at Kentucky under Calipari…

UNDATED (AP) — AJ Storr is transferring to Kansas after leading Wisconsin in scoring this past season. Storr said Thursday in a social media post that he was making this decision “with great excitement and humility.” The 6-foot-7 Storr had 16.8 points and 3.9 rebounds for Wisconsin this past…

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s governor has signed a law that allows state colleges and universities to directly pay athletes through name, image and likeness endorsem*nt deals. The law signed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin bypasses NCAA rules. It takes effect on July 1. NIL rules, enacted in 2021,…

THROUGH APRIL 17

A game after shutting out the New England Revolution 2-0, New York City FC plays D.C. United.

The Chicago Fire and Real Salt Lake take the pitch in a non-conference matchup.

The Columbus Crew play the Portland Timbers after playing to a draw in three consecutive games.

CF Montreal and Orlando City square off in Eastern Conference play.

Atlanta United hosts Cincinnati in Eastern Conference action.

Inter Miami and Nashville square off in non-conference action.

Rafael Navarro leads the Colorado Rapids into a matchup with Dallas after scoring two goals against the San Jose Earthquakes.

Erik Thommy leads Sporting Kansas City into a matchup with Saint Louis City SC after a two-goal showing against Inter Miami.

Mateusz Bogusz leads Los Angeles FC into a matchup with the New York Red Bulls after scoring two goals against the Portland Timbers.

The Houston Dynamo host Austin in Western Conference action.

Prince-Osei Owusu leads Toronto into a matchup with the New England Revolution fresh off of a two-goal performance against Charlotte FC.

The Seattle Sounders come into a matchup against the Vancouver Whitecaps after putting together two straight shutout wins.

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The Cleveland Cavaliers host the Orlando Magic to open the Eastern Conference first round. The Cavaliers and Magic tied the regular season series 2-2. Cleveland is 31-21 against the Eastern Conference, and Orlando is 32-20 against conference opponents.

The Minnesota Timberwolves host the Phoenix Suns to start the Western Conference first round. The Suns went 3-0 against the Timberwolves during the regular season. Minnesota is 37-15 against the Western Conference, and Phoenix is 29-23 against conference opponents.

The Denver Nuggets host the Los Angeles Lakers to open the Western Conference first round. The Nuggets went 3-0 against the Lakers during the regular season. Denver is 33-19 against the Western Conference, and Los Angeles is 27-25 against conference opponents.

The Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls take the court for the NBA Playoffs Play-In Tournament. The winner secures the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Miami is 32-20 against the Eastern Conference, and Chicago is 22-29 against conference opponents.

The New York Knicks host the Philadelphia 76ers to begin the Eastern Conference first round. The Knicks went 3-1 against the 76ers during the regular season. New York is 12-5 against the Atlantic Division, and Philadelphia is 8-8 against division opponents.

The Los Angeles Kings earned a playoff rematch with Edmonton by jumping into third place in the Pacific Division with a 5-4 overtime victory against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Kings took a two-goal lead into the third period, but promptly blew it when Chicago scored three times in five minutes. But the Kings finally evened it when Viktor Arvidsson scored his second goal of the night with goalie Cam Talbot pulled for an extra attacker. With third place secured by the single point for reaching overtime, Adrian Kempe then won the game with an unassisted goal just six seconds into OT.

BASEBALL

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Tye Kartye tipped in a slap shot by Oliver Bjorkstrand for the tiebreaking goal with 2:40 remaining, and the Seattle Kraken beat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 on Thursday night to wrap up the regular season for two teams that missed the playoffs.

LAS VEGAS — The Golden Knights dropped their final game of the regular season 4-1 to the Anaheim Ducks at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday.

There is quite an age gap for the Western Conference champion Dallas Stars. Top goal scorer Wyatt Johnston is only 20 years old while Joe Pavelski is 39. The 18-year, 10-month gap between the Stars’ youngest and oldest players is the widest among the Western Conference playoff teams by 2 1/2 years, with Edmonton at 16 years and four months. Toronto is the only team in the postseason with a wider one, with a 21-year-old forward and defenseman Mark Giordano, the only 40-year-old in these playoffs. Stars forward Tyler Seguin says it's cool to have so many different layers of age on the team.

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MLB

Frank Vatrano scored three goals and the Anaheim Ducks ended their season on a high note, defeating the playoff-bound Vegas Golden Knights 4-1. The loss could knock the Knights — whose three-game winning streak ended — out of third place in the Pacific Division and into the second Western Conference wild card. Vegas’ destination hinged on the result of a game that started a little later between Los Angeles and Chicago. Vatrano’s goals gave him 37 for the season, a career high. It was his third hat trick this season and the sixth of his career.

Butler, Williamson injuries are part of story for Heat-Bulls and Kings-Pelicans play-in finales

DENVER — Nathan MacKinnon’s season for the ages has officially set a new standard for the Colorado Avalanche franchise.

SAN FRANCISCO — While the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, Blake Snell, is spinning his wheels at the starting line, last year’s runner-up, Logan Webb, is off to a flying start.

Logan Webb retired 19 straight batters on his way to seven smooth innings and the San Francisco Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-0 to open a four-game series. Webb struck out five and induced 13 groundball outs, allowing just two hits and a walk in a game that took only 2 hours, 12 minutes. Wilmer Flores had a pinch-hit, two-run double in the eighth and Mike Yastrzemski added a two-run single. LaMonte Wade Jr. delivered a sacrifice fly in the third. Jung Hoo Lee singled twice to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. San Francisco earned its first shutout of the season, while Arizona was blanked for the first time and fell to 1-6 in series openers.

Valeri Nichushkin scored twice, Nathan MacKinnon added two assists to break the franchise’s single-season points mark and the Colorado Avalanche cruise into the playoffs behind a 5-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers. MacKinnon wrapped up the regular season with 140 points (51 goals, 89 assists) to top Peter Stastny’s franchise record of 139 points set in 1981-82 when the club was in Quebec. The speedy MacKinnon couldn’t catch Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov in the race for the Art Ross Trophy, which goes to the leading points scorer. Kucherov wound up with 144 points. Mikko Rantanen, Josh Manson and Zach Parise also scored for Colorado. Dylan Holloway had a power-play goal for the playoff-bound Oilers who rested several starters including Connor McDavid.

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