Pablo Lopez turned in a strong performance on the mound to lead the Twins to a 4-1 win over the Kansas City Royals on Opening Day. Lopez earned the victory after totaling seven strikeouts and letting up one run through seven innings of work. Carlos Correa led the Twins at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI. Royce Lewis homered in the first inning but left the game with a right quad injury. Griffin Jax notched his first save of the season to help the Twins begin the year 1-and-0. Joe Ryan starts for Minnesota against the Royals tomorrow.
The Wild scored two goals in the third period of a 3-1 win over the San Jose Sharks at the Xcel Energy Center. Matt Boldy knocked in the go-ahead goal in the first minute of the final frame, and Ryan Hartman got an empty-netter with under a minute left in regulation to seal the win. Joel Eriksson Ek also scored in the victory. The Wild remain in sixth place in the Central Division with 79 points and a 35-28-and-9 record. Minnesota hosts Vegas tomorrow.
Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore will no longer be the new majority owners of the Timberwolves. Current owner Glen Taylor released a statement yesterday saying that the pair missed payment deadlines, adding that the team is no longer for sale. Taylor agreed to sell the team to A-Rod and Lore in 2021, with the deal allowing them to make a series of payments over the course of a few years. The final payment was supposed to be made last week. Rodriguez and Lore refuted Taylor's claims by saying that they have fulfilled their financial obligations and have funding. The Timberwolves visit the Nuggets tonight.
In college hockey action yesterday, Minnesota beat Omaha in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. The Gophers will play against Boston University tomorrow night.
The Bucks fell to the Pelicans 107-100 in New Orleans. Giannis Antetokounmpo led all scorers with 35 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for a double-double. Damian Lillard and Malik Beasley each netted 20 points, while Khris Middleton struggled to seven points on just 3-of-12 shooting. Milwaukee is still second in the East at 46-and-27 and will visit the Hawks tomorrow night.
The Brewers were one of the teams left out of Opening Day on Thursday. The regular season curtain-raiser between Milwaukee and the Mets at Citi Field was postponed to this afternoon due to rain. Freddy Peralta gets the start, while New York counters with Jose Quintana. First pitch is at 1:40PM.
Several schools pulled off surprise upsets and moved on to the Elite Eight in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament. Fourth-seeded Alabama shocked North Carolina to advance. Number six Clemson edged second-seed Arizona, number three Illinois upset second-seeded Iowa State, while top-overall seed UConn took care of business against San Diego State. Meanwhile, number two Marquette squares off against 11th-seeded NC State tonight in the Sweet 16's South region from Dallas.