MILWAUKEE (AP) — Brice Turang dropped a perfect bunt to score Oliver Dunn in the 11th inning and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Kansas City Royals 3-2. Pinch-runner Dunn advanced from second base on Garett Mitchell’s groundout off Sam Long. Joey Ortiz walked. Turang, who was 0 for 5 for the game, placed a bunt in front of the plate and raced to first as Dunn scored. Jared Koenig picked up the win with a scoreless 11th.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Iván Herrera hit three home runs to help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Angels 12-5. Herrera hit his third home run of the game, and of the season, off Brock Burke to cap a seven-run eighth inning for the Cardinals. Herrera hit a two-run homer in the sixth, and a solo shot in the fourth off Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi to give him his first career multi-home run game. Wilson Contreras drew a bases-loaded walk off Burke to break a 5-5 tie after Ian Anderson (0-1) allowed three straight hits to open the bottom of the eighth inning.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani did it again on his bobblehead night. The Japanese superstar hit a tiebreaking home run in the ninth inning, lifting the Los Angeles Dodgers over the winless Atlanta Braves 6-5 on Wednesday. At 8-0, the Dodgers are off to the best start ever by a defending World Series champion. They've trailed in six of those games, but they already have two walk-off wins. And Ohtani has scored in every game. This time, Los Angeles rallied from a 5-0 deficit and two early errors by third baseman Max Muncy that led to five unearned runs for the Braves.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The only thing that flustered Paul Skenes on Wednesday was getting asked about his photo spread with girlfriend Livvy Dunne in GQ magazine. The topic came up only after the Pirates ace dominated the Tampa Bay Rays, allowing one unearned run on three hits in seven innings of a 4-2 Pittsburgh victory. Skenes struck out six and walked none while throwing 102 pitches. His dominant performance came on the same day that GQ published a profile of Skenes and Dunne with photos taken at a house in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Skenes says he might “get some flak in the locker room.”
NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball’s average salary broke the $5 million barrier on opening day for the first time, according to a study by The Associated Press. Juan Soto’s record $61.9 million pay from the New York Mets led the way. The Mets topped payrolls for the third straight opening day, at $322.6 million, just ahead of the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers at $319.5 million. Those two teams each spent roughly five times as much as the Miami Marlins, who at $64.9 million ended the Athletics’ three-year streak as the lowest spender. The average rose 3.6%, up from a 1.5% increase last year.
UNDATED (AP) — Paige Bueckers is widely expected to become the first WNBA No. 1 overall draft pick from the University of Connecticut since Breanna Stewart nine years ago. Both became can’t-miss stars in college, both are UConn icons, both went to four Final Fours. Stewart did it while making nothing. Bueckers has done it while making millions. And she’s far from the only one cashing in right now. There’s no one-and-done path to the WNBA for women’s players because the NBA and WNBA have different rules regarding draft eligibility. For years, that impeded how and when women’s players could start making money. The name, image and likeness era of college sports has changed just about everything.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Duke shines even in a Final Four of all No. 1 seeds. The early betting money went on the Blue Devils to win their semifinal Saturday against Houston. The opening line at DraftKings Sportsbook quickly went from 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 points. Bettors see a Duke team led by sensational freshman Cooper Flagg that has won 15 games in a row with all but three by double digits. Bettors believe in championship coaches Dawn Staley of South Carolina and Geno Auriemma of UConn to get it done on the women's side.
UNDATED (AP) — Coach after coach, from Miami’s Jim Larrañaga to Virginia’s Tony Bennett to Villanova’s Jay Wright, have walked away from college basketball, saying it no longer holds the appeal it once did. With the Final Four approaching, The Associated Press asked coaches a simple question: Do you still like your job? Most said they did, but expressed concerns. Tom Izzo of Michigan State called the transfer portal a “urinal.” Cori Close says her UCLA women will have resources but wonders if they're learning the right lessons. And Leonard Hamilton, who recently stepped down from Florida State, asks if anyone out there thinks about academics anymore.
UNDATED (AP) — The maple hardwood that makes up the courts at the men's and women's Final Four is part of basketball's foundation. Maple has been the go-to wood for courts for a century. That means decades of historic moments in basketball have happened on the same type of surface. That includes epic games and great players or coaches. The Michigan-based company that makes the Final Four courts is Connor Sports. They're based in a tiny town on Michigan's upper peninsula. Marketing director Zach Riberdy says it's hard to describe “just how much of an impact one tree has” on the sport's tradition.
UNDATED (AP) — Nik Graves will transfer to Creighton after leading Charlotte in scoring this season, and Mountain West freshman and defensive player of the year Magoon Gwath of San Diego State announced he would remove his name from the transfer portal. Graves is the second major transfer portal addition for the Bluejays. They landed center Owen Freeman from Iowa last week. The 7-foot, 190-pound Gwath started 26 games and averaged 8.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game for the Aztecs. He had considered moving to Kentucky before deciding he would exit the portal. Arizona State big man Jayden Quaintance also is entering the transfer portal after ACL surgery last month.
WEDNESDAY SCORES
INTERLEAGUE
Final Texas 1 Cincinnati 0
Final Pittsburgh 4 Tampa Bay 2
Final St. Louis 12 L.A. Angels 5
Final Milwaukee 3 Kansas City 2
Final Toronto 4 Washington 2
Final Chicago Cubs 10 Athletics 2
Final San Diego 5 Cleveland 2
Final San Francisco 6 Houston 3
Final Arizona 4 N.Y. Yankees 3
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Minnesota 6 Chicago White Sox 1
Final Seattle 3 Detroit 2
Final Boston 3 Baltimore 0
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final N.Y. Mets 6 Miami 5
Final Philadelphia 5 Colorado 1
Final L.A. Dodgers 6 Atlanta 5
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Indiana 119 Charlotte 105
Final Cleveland 124 New York 105
Final Washington 116 Sacramento 111
Final Miami 124 Boston 103
Final Houston 143 Utah 105
Final Dallas 120 Atlanta 118
Final San Antonio 113 Denver 106
Final Oklahoma City 119 Detroit 103
Final L.A. Clippers 114 New Orleans 98
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final OT N-Y Rangers 5 Minnesota 4
Final Carolina 5 Washington 1
Final Toronto 3 Florida 2
Final SO Colorado 3 Chicago 2
Final Seattle 5 Vancouver 0