Monday Sports Page: Jays In Flight, Wings/Broncos Going To Game 7

MLB

• Justin Turner homered and drove in four runs as the Toronto Blue Jays gained a spit of a season-opening four-game series by beating the Tampa Bay Rays 9-2 on Sunday. Toronto ace Kevin Gausman, on a pitch count after not making his spring training debut until March 25th because of shoulder fatigue, allowed one run, two hits and struck out six in four-and-one-third innings. Jays shortstop Bo Bichette was a late scratch due to neck spasms. The Jays visit Houston on Monday.
• Pitchers Génesis Cabrera of the Toronto Blue Jays and Yohan Ramírez of the New York Mets have been suspended for three games each by Major League Baseball, and Mets manager Carlos Mendoza was banned for one game. Cabrera was penalized for on-field actions that caused a benches-clearing incident during Toronto’s 5-1 loss on Saturday at Tampa Bay. Ramirez was disciplined for intentionally throwing at Milwaukee’s Rhys Hoskins during the Mets’ 7-6 loss. Both pitchers have appealed.

NHL

• Dakota Joshua’s second goal of the game, scored with 2:13 left in the third period, lifted the Vancouver Canucks to a 3-2 win over the visiting Anaheim Ducks in today’s lone N-H-L game. The Pacific Division-leading Canucks are the first Canadian team to reach 100 points this season. They lead the surging Edmonton Oilers by six points.
• There are eight games in the NHL tonight, including a marquee matchup in Toronto between the Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers. The Leafs, who have won two straight, sit third in the Atlantic Division, six points behind the second-place Panthers. Elsewhere, the Winnipeg Jets aim to halt a six-game losing skid when they host the Los Angeles Kings, while the Edmonton Oilers, winners of three in a row, visit the St. Louis Blues.

SJHL PLAYOFFS

Weyburn 2 Humbolt 1
*Game 7 Tuesday in Humboldt

CURLING

Brad Gushue and his Canadian crew will be aiming for a fourth straight win Monday at the world men’s curling championship in Switzerland. Gushue’s foursome plays Italy, the top-ranked team in the world. Skip Joel Retornaz and his team are 2-and-1. Sweden starts the day tied with Canada in first place at 3-and-0h, followed by Scotland at 3-and-1. The medal games are set for Sunday.

NBA

• Kelly Oubre Junior scored 32 points, including six three-pointers, as the Philadelphia 76ers dunked the Toronto Raptors 135-120 Sunday night. Cameron Payne finished with 24 points as Philadelphia (40-35) ended a three-game losing skid. Gary Trent Junior scored 23 points as Toronto lost its 13th NBA game in a row. The Raptors dropped 17 consecutive games during the 1997-98 season for the longest losing streak in franchise history.
• LeBron James had one of the best shooting nights of his illustrious career, going 9-for-10 behind the arc to tie his career high for 3-pointers, and matched a season high with 40 points to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 116-104 N-B-A victory over the Brooklyn Nets tonight. The surging Lakers are a season-high nine games over 500 with seven games remaining in the regular season. Los Angeles remained ninth in the Western Conference.

MARCH MADNESS

March Madness is racing toward the national championship game. This week’s schedule:

The Final Four:

* UConn vs. 4 Alabama (8:49 p.m. Eastern, Saturday). The question before the tourney was who could stop the Huskies and that question hasn’t changed at all as UConn has won its NCAA games by 39, 17, 30 and 25 points. Next up: the Crimson Tide. Alabama hit 16 3-pointers to advance over Clemson and that came after the Tide eliminated top-seeded North Carolina.

* Purdue vs 11 N.C. State (6:09 p.m. Eastern, Saturday). The Boilermakers have advanced behind big man Zach Edey, who dropped 40 points in his last game to help eliminate Tennessee. The 7-foot-4, 300-pound Edey and his strong supporting cast will face a Wolfpack team that has a standout big man of its own: D.J. Burns Jr., who is 6-9 and 275 pounds. N.C. State hasn’t made it this far since its 1983 championship team coached by the late Jim Valvano.

PGA

Top-ranked Nelly Korda became the first LPGA Tour player in eight years to win three straight starts, shooting a 7-under 65 in soggy conditions for a two-stroke victory in the Ford Championship in Gilbert, Arizona. Korda stayed steady through four days in the desert, entering the final round two shots back through weather that got progressively worse. Australian rookie Hira Naveed shot 66 to finish second at 18 under.

(Canadian Press)