MLB-SCHEDULE
Padres host Dodgers tonight
SAN DIEGO (AP) — It’s opening night in San Diego as the Padres entertain the Dodgers this evening. It would be the opening game for all of baseball if it were not for the fact that the Dodgers have already played two regular-season games in Australia against the Diamondbacks. The Dodgers won both those games to lead the National League West by two games.
On the mound tonight for the Dodgers will be Hyun-Jin Ryu (hee-YUHN’-jihn YOO) against Andrew Cashner for the Padres.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL-NCAA TOURNAMENT
Regional title games in Memphis and Anaheim
UNDATED (AP) — The final two spots in the Final Four will be determined today. The winners of today’s games will join Florida and Wisconsin in Arlington, Texas, next weekend. The Gators and Badgers advanced with wins in the South and West regional finals last night.
The first game of the day is being played in New York with Michigan State playing Connecticut in the East Regional title game.
The second game is in Indianapolis with Michigan facing Kentucky for the Midwest Regional championship.
On Friday night, Michigan advanced with a win over Tennessee while Kentucky knocked off Louisville. Michigan State advanced with a victory over Virginia and UConn beat Iowa State.
The National Semifinals of the Final Four will take place next Saturday with the East champion playing the South champion and the Midwest victor going up against the West champion. The national championship game will be a week from this Monday. All games are being played in AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
NBA-SCHEDULE
Pacers look to expand on lead over Heat
UNDATED (AP) — Two day games are on the agenda in the NBA this afternoon. In Cleveland the Cavaliers are taking on the Central Division and Eastern Conference-leading Indiana Pacers. Indiana leads Miami by 1 1/2 games in the Eastern race. The other day game features the second-best team in the West as Oklahoma City is home to Utah. The Thunder start the day 3 1/2 games back of the idle Spurs.
A check of this evening’s schedule shows Atlantic Division leader Toronto playing at Orlando while Brooklyn is home to Minnesota. The Raptors lead the Nets by 2 1/2 games in the divisional race.
The remaining games are Chicago at Boston, Golden State at home to the Knicks, Memphis at Portland and the Lakers entertaining the Suns.
NHL-SCHEDULE
Bruins in Philly for the NHL matinee game
UNDATED (AP) — In the lone day game in the NHL the Bruins are skating in Philadelphia against the Flyers. Boston tops the Eastern Conference with 108 points, one point better than West leader St. Louis.
Detroit starts the day tied for one of the two final playoff berths in the Eastern Conference and the Wings are home to Tampa Bay tonight. The Wings have 80 points, along with Columbus, which has the day off.
A pair of teams headed to the postseason are Chicago and Pittsburgh and tonight the Penguins are playing host to the Blackhawks.
The remaining games have Calgary skating at Ottawa, Edmonton home to the Rangers and Washington at Nashville.
GOLF-TEXAS OPEN
Lead now shared
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Australia’s Steven Bowditch is now tied for the lead during the final round of the PGA’s Texas Open with Matt Kuchar (KOO’-chur). He began the day with a three-shot advantage over the American. Bowditch is 9-under after going 3-over for four holes while Kuchar is even-par after four holes as well.
GOLF-KIA CLASSIC
Fourth round set to go
CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) — There was a two-way tie for the lead at the end of third-round play yesterday in the LPGA’s KIA Classic. Lizette Salas and Cristie Kerr of the U.S. were each 10 under par with Anna Nordqvist two shots off the pace.
FORMULA 1
Hamilton takes Malaysian Grand Prix
SEPANG, Malaysia (AP) — Lewis Hamilton led a one-two finish for the Mercedes team at the Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix. Hamilton beat teammate Nico Rosberg, who won the first race of the season two weeks ago in Australia, by 17.3 seconds. Four-time defending world champion Sebastian Vettel (VEHT’-ehl) of Red Bull was third with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso fourth.
NASCAR
Spring Cup in Virginia
MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) — Kyle Busch secured the pole for today’s Sprint Cup race in Martinsville, Va., on Friday with a fast lap of 99.674 miles per hour. The pole is the 14th of his career and first in 19 tries at Martinsville. Danny Hamlin was the second-fastest qualifier.
INDYCAR
Season-opener in Fla.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The season-opening IndyCar race is today in St. Petersburg, Fla., with Takuma Sato starting from the pole.
The race marks the return of Juan Pablo Montoya to IndyCar after 12 seasons driving in Formula One and NASCAR. The Colombian won seven races and the old CART championship in 1999 and took the Indianapolis 500 and two other races in 2000 for Chip Ganassi racing.
The winner of this race a year ago was James Hinchcliffe.
