TOKYO (AP) — Yoshinobu Yamamoto had a little extra zip on his fastball. Shohei Ohtani even admitted to some nerves. There was little doubt this was no ordinary baseball game. But the Japanese players who were playing in front of their home country at the Tokyo Dome on Tuesday night handled any jitters they had quite well, delivering in clutch moments as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs 4-1 in Major League Baseball’s season opener. Ohtani finished with two hits and scored two runs in the Dodgers' win while Yamamoto threw five excellent innings. Cubs lefty Shota Imanaga also threw four scoreless innings, facing Yamamoto in the first all-Japanese starting pitching duel on opening day in MLB history.
TOKYO (AP) — The jammed sellout at the Tokyo Dome as the Dodgers and Cubs opened their regular season had a different vibe than the usual MLB game. Baseball in Japan — the game is called ’yakyu” (field ball) in Japanese — carries more of a rock-concert vibe than its American cousin. And with Shohei Ohtani teasing fans for a week in Tokyo as the two-game series approached, it’s a true spectacle. Young women carry beer kegs on their backs, drawing a cold draft while you’re seated watching the game. Fans are clearly more animated. Even elderly men come with a glove — just in case.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The players’ association co-founded by 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic has filed an antitrust lawsuit against the women’s and men’s professional tours, the International Tennis Federation and the sport’s integrity agency. Tuesday's filing in U.S. District Court in New York calls the groups in charge of tennis a cartel. The filing on behalf of the Professional Tennis Players’ Association says the organizations that run the sport hold “complete control over the players’ pay and working conditions” and their setup constitutes “textbook violations of state and federal law” that “immunize professional tennis from ordinary market forces and deny professional tennis players and other industry participants their right to fair competition.”
Despite the growing attention on women’s soccer globally, the vast majority of players and teams still struggle for resources and investment. FIFA on Monday released its annual report on the women’s game, highlighting the inequities across the sport. Soccer’s world governing body expanded the fourth edition's scope from 34 leagues to 86 leagues and some 669 teams, providing a more accurate picture of the state of the game.
Johni Broome of Auburn and Cooper Flagg of Duke are unanimous first-team selections for The Associated Press men's college basketball All-America team. Broome and Flagg were joined on the first team by Alabama star Mark Sears, Purdue’s Braden Smith and Walter Clayton Jr. of Florida. Broome is the first Auburn player to be a first-team All-American, while Flagg is the 19th player from Duke to earn such recognition. JT Toppin, Kam Jones, John Tonje, PJ Haggerty and RJ Luis Jr. were second-team picks, and Ryan Kalkbrenner, Zakai Zeigler, Eric Dixon, LJ Cryer and Hunter Dickinson were third-team selections.
UConn has a chance to join very rare company as March Madness winds into full gear this week. The Huskies have won the last two national championships and could become only the second team to three-peat, joining John Wooden's UCLA teams of the 1960s and '70s. Florida was the last team with a chance to three-peat after winning titles in 2006 and 2007 but failed to make the NCAA Tournament the next season. Limited eligibility for players has played a role, making it tough for teams to have continuity from one season to the next. The transfer portal and NIL opportunities have made it even more difficult, with coaches essentially having to rebuild their rosters every year.
The SEC was the best conference in basketball all season, landing a record 14 teams in the 68-team NCAA Tournament. It has the overall No. 1 seed in Auburn, another No. 1 seed in Florida, and four more schools are among the top four of their respective regions. So how did a league once known only for the gridiron become so dominant on the hardwood? It began with the hiring of Greg Sankey as the SEC commissioner. He implored schools to invest in their programs, hire the right coaches and pay them well, and take advantage of the transfer portal and NIL money.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — JuJu Watkins grew up tuning into the NCAA Tournament and making her own bracket. Now, it's the super sophomore's time to shine, leading No. 1 seed Southern California in the Trojans' pursuit of a deeper run than their Elite Eight appearance a year ago. Watkins says every season the goal is to break others' opinions. USC opens tournament play on Saturday at home against 16th-seeded UNC Greensboro. Watkins is always striving to better herself, whether it's spending lonely nights shooting in the gym or spending more time this season studying game film.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Winning The Players Championship gave Rory McIlroy so much he doesn't need. The $4.5 million payoff went to a player closing in on $100 million for his career. All the exemptions he already has. Winning also comes with higher expectations at the Masters. He doesn't need those, either. That's what happens when a player of his talent goes 11 years without a major and the Masters is the one keeping him from the career Grand Slam. But the wins at Sawgrass and Pebble Beach indicate that McIlroy is a more complete player. Now it's a matter of staying the course.
The East is a runaway. The West is a bigger runaway. And the NBA hasn’t seen anything quite like this in nearly 40 years. While all the attention is on your NCAA brackets this week, it’s safe to go ahead and pencil in Cleveland as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and Oklahoma City as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. It’s not mathematically certain yet, but let’s face it, neither of those teams are going to get caught.
MONDAY SCORES
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
Pittsburgh (ss) 4, Minnesota 2
Boston (ss) 2, Atlanta 1
Philadelphia 4, Toronto (ss) 2
Detroit 9, Pittsburgh (ss) 6
Baltimore 12, Boston (ss) 3
St. Louis 6, Washington 2
Toronto (ss) 6, N.Y. Yankees 5
Tampa Bay 2, N.Y. Mets (ss) 0
N.Y. Mets (ss) 6, Miami 5
Kansas City 12, Arizona (ss) 1
Athletics 7, Seattle 6
San Francisco 3, Chicago White Sox 0
L.A. Angels 11, Arizona (ss) 5
San Diego 14, Milwaukee 8
Cleveland 3, Cincinnati 0
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
New York 116, Miami 95
Detroit 127, New Orleans 81
Houston 144, Philadelphia 137, OT
Indiana 132, Minnesota 130, OT
Chicago 111, Utah 97
Portland 112, Washington 97
Phoenix 129, Toronto 89
Sacramento 132, Memphis 122
Denver 114, Golden State 105
L.A. Lakers 125, San Antonio 109
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
New Jersey 2, Columbus 1
Tampa Bay 2, Philadelphia 0
Buffalo 3, Boston 2, OT
Toronto 6, Calgary 2
Minnesota 3, Los Angeles 1