Howdy, I’m your host, Austin Knoblauch, filling in for Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.
From Kevin Baxter: The Kings moved two points closer to clinching home ice for the first round of the playoffs Thursday, riding two goals from Kevin Fiala and goals from Quinton Byfield, Anze Kopitar, Alex Laferriere and Jordan Spence to a 6-1 rout of the Ducks at Crypto.com Arena.
Andrei Kuzmenko and Adrian Kempe each had three assists.
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Cutter Gauthier scored for the Ducks, his 20th of the season, early in the second period. But Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper didn’t give up another, extending his streak of games yielding two or fewer goals to 15, one short of the modern NHL record.
The win gave the second-place Kings a four-point lead over the third-place Edmonton Oilers in the Pacific Division with four games to play. The Kings and Oilers are almost certain to meet in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for a fourth consecutive season and home ice could be critical for the Kings, who have the NHL’s best home record (30-5-4).
The Oilers won the last three playoff series with the Kings but all three opened in Edmonton.
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DODGERS
The Dodgers’ Andy Pages is greeted by Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel after hitting his second home run in two games against the Nationals on Wednesday.
(John McDonnell / Associated Press)
From Jack Harris: Andy Pages shook his head with a grin, raised his clasped hands to the sky, then gave thanks with a much-needed sigh of relief.
It didn’t matter that the Dodgers were getting blown out on Tuesday night. Or that his fifth-inning home run did little to halt the team’s unexpected skid on this week’s road trip.
For one moment, for one at-bat, the second-year slugger had finally experienced a moment of reassurance, hitting a two-strike slider beyond the reach of two leaping Washington Nationals outfielders for his first long ball of the season.
“It was definitely a sense of relief,” Pages said in Spanish through a team interpreter after the game. “Just like a big, major breath of fresh air, for sure.”
USC football general manager Chad Bowden, left, speaks with coach Lincoln Riley during a team practice.
(USC Athletics)
From Ryan Kartje: To Chad Bowden, no detail is too small.
USC’s new general manager has seen enough during his rapid rise through the personnel ranks of college football to know little things could make a major impact on a program. So when he first took the reins of USC’s front office back in late January, Bowden set out looking for something small to better right away, to get the ball rolling and set a tone in the building.
He started with the toilet paper.
“Charmin Ultra Soft,” Bowden said, with a smile. “I got it in every bathroom now for our players.”
His tireless efforts since then to revamp the Trojans’ football front office have energized the entire program this spring, sparking a stunning run on the recruiting trail that now has USC — and its 22 commitments, eight more than any other school — atop every possible ranking for the class of 2026.
ALSO: Lake McRee headlines deepest USC tight ends group of Lincoln Riley’s tenure
GOLF
Justin Rose hits off the 14th tee during the first round of the Masters on Thursday. Rose finished with a seven-under par 65.
(David J. Phillip / Associated Press)
From Sam Farmer: Justin Rose was runner-up at the Masters in 2015 and ’17.
Thursday, he was second to none.
Rose was as pristine at Augusta National as the postcard day, making birdie on his first three holes before collecting five more on his way to a seven-under-par 65 that put him atop the leaderboard.
“I feel like I’ve played well enough to win this tournament. I just feel like I don’t have the jacket to prove it,” said Rose, whose 65 matched his career-best round at the Masters.
Rose has finished among the top 25 in 14 of his first 18 appearances at the Masters.
ALSO: Jose Luis Ballester caught urinating in Rae’s Creek during Masters round
AUTO RACING
Driver Scott Dixon celebrates his victory during the Long Beach Grand Prix last April.
(Ryan Sun / Associated Press)
From Kevin Baxter: The Long Beach Grand Prix turns 50 on Sunday, which makes the race six years older than Scott Dixon, the reigning champion.
Despite his young age, Dixon is well aware of the race’s history since he has run it 16 times — and won it twice.
“You look at the [Indy] 500 and then the next, by quite a clear way, is the Long Beach Grand Prix,” he said. “To have that longevity, it’s huge.
“It’s well promoted. It’s well attended. The atmosphere there is fun. It’s one of the greatest races.”
ANGELS
The Angels’ Jo Adell watches one of the two home runs he hit in the fifth inning of Thursday’s game against the Rays.
(Chris O’Meara / Associated Press)
From the Associated Press: Jo Adell’s home run drought ended all at once Thursday as he hit two of the Angels’ four homers in an eight-run fifth inning of an eventual 11-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
Adell hit Zack Littell’s first-pitch slider 408 feet out to center leading off the inning and ended it with a three-run shot to left off Mason Englert.
In between, Taylor Ward hit his second homer of the game and Mike Trout hit the first of his two in the game as the Angels finished the fifth with a 10-1 lead. Four homers in an inning matched the franchise record.
Adell, who hit a career-high 20 homers last season, came into Thursday batting .185 with no homers.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1936 — The Detroit Red Wings win the NHL Stanley Cup with a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
1948 — 12th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Claude Harmon shoots a record-tying 279 (−9) to finish 5 strokes ahead of runner-up Cary Middlecoff.
1961 — 15th NBA Championship: Boston Celtics beat St Louis Hawks, 4 games to 1.
1963 — Milwaukee Braves future Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn beats NY Mets, 6-1 for his 328th win; most by a left-hander in MLB history.
1965 — Jack Nicklaus shoots a record 271 and wins the Masters golf tournament by nine strokes over Arnold Palmer and Gary Player.
1966 — Jack Nicklaus wins his third Masters and becomes the first to win in consecutive years as he shoots a 70 in an 18-hole playoff to beat Tommy Jacobs and Gay Brewer.
1966 — Emmett Ashford becomes first African American major league baseball umpire.
1971 — 35th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Charles Coody wins his only major title by 2 strokes ahead of runners-up Johnny Miller and Jack Nicklaus.
1976 — Ray Floyd shoots a record-tying 271 to win the Masters by eight strokes over Ben Crenshaw.
1981 — Larry Holmes beats Trevor Berbick in a 15-round unanimous decision to retain his world heavyweight title in Las Vegas.
1982 — Craig Stadler beats Dan Pohl in a sudden-death playoff to take the Masters.
1983 — Spain’s Seve Ballesteros wins the Masters by four shots over Tom Kite and Ben Crenshaw.
1987 — Zoja Ivanova wins 2nd female World Cup marathon (2:30:39).
1989 — Ron Hextall scores his second career goal and becomes the first goalie to connect for a playoff goal, and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Washington Capitals 8-5.
1993 — Bernhard Langer of Germany wraps up his second Masters title with a 20-foot eagle putt on No. 13. Langer posts a four-stroke win over Chip Beck with an 11-under 277.
1996 — Detroit Red Wings become 2nd NHL team to win 60 games in a season.
1997 — Mario Lemieux reaches the 50-goal mark for the sixth time in his NHL career in a 4-2 loss the Florida Panthers. Lemieux scores on a third-period penalty shot against John Vanbiesbrouck, to becomes the first player in NHL history to score his 50th goal of the season on a penalty shot.
1999 — 63rd US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: José María Olazábal of Spain wins his second Masters title, 2 strokes ahead of Davis Love III and 3 from of Greg Norman.
2004 — Phil Mickelson’s agonizing pursuit of a major ends at the Masters when he makes an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole, ending a spectacular back-nine duel with Ernie Els.
2007 — Roberto Luongo sets an NHL record for saves in a first career playoff start, making 72 in Vancouver’s 5-4 quadruple-overtime win over Dallas. The sixth-longest playoff game in NHL history, ends on a goal by Henrik Sedin 18:06 into the fourth overtime period.
2008 — Missouri’s Jacob Priday sets a Big 12 Conference record, hitting four home runs against Texas in a 31-12 rout. The senior goes 5-for-5, drives in nine runs and scores six times.
2010 — Phil Mickelson wins his third Masters title, shooting a 5-under 67 to pull away for a three-stroke win over Lee Westwood.
2014 — Stephen Curry has 30 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, and Golden State clinches a playoff berth with a 112-95 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers set a franchise low with the 54th loss of their miserable season. The 1957-58 Minneapolis Lakers lost 53 times in their 72-game season. These Lakers would finish 27-55.
2021 — 85th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Hideki Matsuyama become first Japanese male to win a golf major; hangs on to beat American Will Zalatoris by 1 stroke.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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