Brief Sports News
HORSE RACING
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) The racing world wondered if there was a worthy successor to last year’s Triple Crown champion American Pharoah.
Enter Nyquist.
The bay colt who lacks any distinctive markings won the Kentucky Derby by 1 1/4 lengths on Saturday, improving to 8-0 in his career as the fourth consecutive favorite to win the race.
Ridden by Mario Gutierrez, Nyquist ran the 1 1/4 miles in 2:01.31. The 3-year-old colt became the eighth unbeaten winner in the race’s 142-year history, and the first since Big Brown in 2008.
NBA
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Kevin Durant went on a scoring spree that was spectacular, even by his standards.
The four-time NBA scoring champion matched his career playoff high with 41 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs 111-97 to tie the Western Conference semifinal series 2-2.
Durant had 29 points on 10-for-13 shooting in the second half. He scored 17 points in the fourth quarter, one more than the Spurs, and did it on 6-for-6 shooting.
ATLANTA (AP) – Cleveland’s Big Three is on quite a roll.
Two playoff series, two sweeps.
Now, the Cavaliers get to rest up for the Eastern Conference finals.
Kevin Love scored 27 points, LeBron James knocked down a huge shot with 39.2 seconds to go, and Kyrie Irving turned in another dazzling performance to lead Cleveland past the Atlanta Hawks 100-99.
The Cavaliers finished off the second-round series with four straight wins, just as they did in the opening round against Detroit.
MIAMI (AP) – Dwyane Wade’s pregame routine has sparked a bit of an international incident, with some Canadians saying Sunday that he disrespected their national anthem.
The Miami Heat star was the subject of much scorn after video showed him taking a few extra warm-up shots as ”O Canada” was performed before Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Toronto Raptors on Saturday.
Wade tends to not line up for the pregame anthem ceremony without making his last shot, usually a bank shot from the right wing – even when only ”The Star-Spangled Banner” is played before home games. Video showed that he did not take his spot standing with teammates until about 20 seconds into the playing of the Canadian anthem Saturday.
OLYMPICS
A whistleblower who uncovered systemic doping inside Russia’s track team told ”60 Minutes” he sent 200 emails and 50 letters about the cheating to the World Anti-Doping Agency, which told him it didn’t have the power to investigate inside the country.
In an interview that aired on the CBS news show Sunday night, Vitaly Stepanov, a former worker at the Russian anti-doping agency, said after three years of correspondence, WADA eventually steered he and his wife, 800-meter runner Yulia, to a German TV network that produced the 2014 documentary that preceded WADA’s investigation.
WADA spokesman Ben Nichols said before 2015, WADA didn’t have authority to conduct its own investigations, and officials didn’t think turning the information over to Russian investigators ”would have led to the scrutiny required.” N
HOCKEY
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Victor Hedman and Ben Bishop lifted the Tampa Bay Lightning into the Eastern Conference final for the second straight year.
Hedman scored twice and Bishop stopped 28 shots, helping the defending conference champions beat the New York Islanders 4-0 and end their second-round playoff series in five games.
The Lightning advanced by winning four straight after dropping the series opener at home. They also eliminated Detroit in five games in the opening round, making them 2-0 in close-out situations this postseason.
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) – Guy Boucher was hired as the 12th head coach in Ottawa Senators franchise history, replacing Dave Cameron who was fired on April 12.
The 44-year-old Boucher has spent parts of the past three seasons as the head coach of SC Bern of the National League A in Switzerland, posting a 44-29-5 record. Before that, he spent two-plus seasons as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning, posting a 97-78-20 record in 195 games. Boucher led the Lightning to the Eastern Conference Final in 2010-11.
BASEBALL
CHICAGO (AP) – Bryce Harper was drawing walks at such a ridiculous rate he wound up tying a major league record.
That’s because the Cubs gave the Nationals star little to hit. Chicago walked Harper a record-tying six times, then beat Washington 4-3 when Javier Baez homered in the 13th inning Sunday for a four-game sweep.
The Cubs won their seventh in a row and improved the best record in the majors to 24-6. Washington, which had been leading the NL East, lost its fourth straight.
GOLF
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – James Hahn beat Roberto Castro with a par on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff in the Wells Fargo Championship to snap a three-month slump.
Hahn, who failed to make the cut in his previous eight tournaments and hadn’t shot a round in the 60s since February, made a 4-foot putt on the par-4 18th to win his second career PGA Tour title.
Hahn bogeyed the 18th in regulation for a 2-under 70, and Castro had a 71 to finish at 9 under, one shot ahead of Justin Rose (71). Hahn also won the 2015 Northern Trust Open at Riviera.
Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson both shot 66 to tie for fourth at 7 under with third-round leader Rickie Fowler (74) and Andrew Loupe (71).
PRATTVILLE, Ala. (AP) – Ariya Jutanugarn held on to become the first Thai winner in LPGA Tour history, closing with a 1-under 71 in the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic.
The 20-year-old Jutanugarn beat Amy Yang, Morgan Pressel and Stacy Lewis by a stroke after losing two shots off her third-round lead.
Jutanugarn had four birdies and three bogeys a day after tying the tournament record with a 63.
The long-hitter finished at 14-under 273 on the Senator Course at Capitol Hill.
Yang bogeyed the 17th and had a 67. Pressel also had a 68. Lewis shot her third straight 68 in her 10th runner-up finish in a 49-event drought.
THE WOODLANDS, Texas (AP) – Jesper Parnevik won the Insperity Invitational for his first PGA Tour Champions victory, shooting a 5-under 67 for a four-stroke victory.
The 51-year-old Swede won in his 23rd career start on the 50-and-over tour. The five-time PGA Tour winner finished at 12-under 204 at The Woodlands Country Club.
Local favorite Jeff Maggert (71), first-round leader Mike Goodes (70) and South Africa’s David Frost (69) tied for second.
