Author: Michael

MIAMI — Hyped as the most appealing starting pitchers’ matchup of opening day, Paul Skenes outlasted Sandy Alcántara but neither was involved in the decision of the Miami Marlins’ 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday.
Pittsburgh’s Skenes is the reigning NL Rookie of the Year. Alcántara, the veteran Marlins right-hander who won the NL Cy Young Award in 2022, missed last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Skenes struck out seven over 5 2/3 innings of two-run ball.

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LOS ANGELES − It wasn’t a domestic season-opener Thursday at Dodger Stadium, it was a Hollywood premier.
The Los Angeles Dodgers’ homer opener against the Detroit Tigers, culminating with a 5-4 victory, belonged on the big screen, not on a grass field in front of a frenzied sellout crowd of 53,595.
There was Shohei Ohtani homering for the second time this season, with Hollywood stars Tom Hanks, Mary Hart and Rob Lowe celebrating as if they just won an Oscar.

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NEWARK, NJ — On a record-setting night for Alabama, Nate Oats invoked the name of one of basketball’s most-heralded offensive minds.
“Everybody questions whether we had the defense to win. For some reason nobody was talking about our offense, though,” Oats said following Alabama’s 113-88 demolition of BYU in the Sweet 16. “We’ve gotten to know Mike D’Antoni a little bit. He made the point, your offense only has to be one point in efficiency better than your defense to win the game.

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FEDERAL WAY, Wash. (AP) — Rex Maurer won the first race of Day 2 at the NCAA men’s swimming and diving championships and his Texas teammate Hubert Kos took the second event as the Longhorns ended Thursday night in first place with 190 points.
Maurer took the 500-yard freestyle in 4:05.35 ahead of teammate Luke Hobson to clinch a 1-2 finish for Texas, which made a big jump atop the team standings.
Kos, an Olympic gold medalist, held off a late surge by Cal’s Destin Lasco in the 200 individual medley with a personal-best time of 1:37.91.

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