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Juan Soto hits a 426-foot home run in his first at-bat for the New York Mets

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) — Juan Soto has homered in his first spring training at-bat for his new team, hitting a solo shot to left-center field in the first inning for the New York Mets against Houston. Soto signed a record $765 million, 15-year contract this offseason, moving across New York from the Yankees to the Mets. He hit second in the order Saturday, between Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso, and hit a 426-foot homer on a 2-1 pitch from left-hander Colton Gordon. The following inning, Soto drove in another run with a groundball.

NL Cy Young winner Chris Sale throws 2 perfect innings for Atlanta in his spring debut

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Fresh off his first Cy Young Award, Chris Sale opened spring training with two perfect innings for the Atlanta Braves. Atlanta lost to the Minnesota Twins 3-1, but the 35-year-old Sale retired all six of his batters, although he did not strike anybody out. Sale is entering his second year with the Braves. The left-hander went 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts last season, winning the National League’s pitching Triple Crown and the Cy Young. He was healthy enough to make 29 starts. That was his most since 2017. Sale threw 21 pitches and 14 strikes Saturday.

Shiffrin finishes outside top 30 in first run of World Cup giant slalom won by Brignone

SESTRIERE, Italy (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin is not yet competitive in her tentative return to racing in giant slaloms. Federica Brignone is currently close to unbeatable, winning Saturday on home snow at Sestriere, Italy. Shiffrin continued her tentative return to racing in GS and did not qualify for a second run for the first time since 2012 by placing outside the top 30. The American star finished 25th on Friday in her first GS race since November after suffering a deep puncture wound crashing at Killington, Vermont. Brignone also won Friday and on Saturday ended 0.77 seconds ahead of Lara Gut-Behrami. Alice Robinson was third.

Johni Broome’s season-high 31 points and 14 rebounds lead No. 1 Auburn past Georgia 82-70

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Johni Broome scored a season-high 31 points and added 14 rebounds as No. 1 Auburn defeated Georgia 82-70 on Saturday. For the second straight game, Auburn (25-2, 13-1 SEC) found itself in a tight contest against an unranked opponent before pulling away in the final minutes. Broome took over in the second half, including a run of seven straight points for the Tigers. The double-double was his 17th of the season. Denver Jones added 17 points for the Tigers, while Chad Baker-Mazara and Miles Kelly had 11 each. Asa Newell led the Bulldogs (16-11, 4-10) with 20 points. Silas Demary Jr. added 18.

Dmitry Bivol becomes undisputed light heavyweight champ with majority decision over Artur Beterbiev

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Dmitry Bivol beat Artur Beterbiev by majority decision to become the undisputed light heavyweight champion. Bivol claimed Beterbiev’s four championship belts and avenged his first career loss four months ago. Bivol won 116-112 and 115-113 on two scorecards, while the third judge had a 114-114 draw. Beterbiev took his first career loss. He won their first bout in October by a majority decision with the same three final scores. Bivol turned the rematch in his favor in the middle rounds, showing off his speed and elusiveness. He stayed away from Beterbiev’s power and scored with counterpunches while Beterbiev’s energy flagged considerably.

Messi assists on Segovia’s late goal, Inter Miami ties New York City FC 2-2 in MLS season opener

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Telasco Segovia scored the tying goal on an assist by Lionel Messi in the 10th minute of stoppage time and Inter Miami played New York City FC to a 2-2 draw in their MLS opener. On his second assist of the night, Messi hit a through ball to Segovia, who in his MLS debut finished with a nice shot from the right side of the box to the bottom left corner. Inter Miami had played much of the second half down a goal.

Reds manager Francona wants veteran players to ignore ABS test run. ‘It just muddies the waters’

GOODYEAR, Ariz. (AP) — Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona says he’s told players not to use the experimental Automated Ball-Strike System in spring training. Francona told The Athletic he’s OK with younger players challenging calls via the ABS, which has been in use in the minors. But he figures there’s little point for veterans since the system won’t be in effect in the majors during this coming regular season. The computerized system is being tested during major league spring training exhibition games after four years of experiments in the minors. Starting last year, MLB focused testing on a challenge system in which the human umpire makes each original call.

Aldrich Potgieter hangs on to 1-shot lead in Mexico Open

VALLARTA, Mexico (AP) — Aldrich Potgieter has a one-shot lead in the Mexico Open. He had reason to hope for a larger margin going for his first PGA Tour victory. The big hitter from South Africa led by three shots for so much of the back nine until a bogey from the bushes on the 17th hole and having to scramble for par after hitting 7-iron for his second shot on the par-5 18th. He shot 67 and leads Brian Campbell by one shot. Stephan Jaeger was three shots behind. At stake Sunday for Potgieter and Campbell is a trip to the Masters.

New York Yankees drop ban on beards, 49 years after it was imposed by owner George Steinbrenner

TAMPA. Fla. (AP) — The New York Yankees have dropped their ban on beards, 49 years after it was imposed by owner George Steinbrenner. Current owner Hal Steinbrenner, son of The Boss, announced the change Friday before the team’s spring training opener. Hal Steinbrenner says in a statement: “It is the appropriate time to move beyond the familiar comfort of our former policy.” As recently as Monday, the Yankees had left reminders on the clubhouse chair of each player to arrive clean shaven the following morning for photo day, which was ignored by closer Devin Williams.

Briscoe tries to move past devastating penalties and Blaney to start on pole in NASCAR Atlanta race

HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — A massive fine left Chase Briscoe facing a huge points deficit heading into Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Even so, Briscoe insists he feels no new pressure. He says he already felt an urgency to win this week because those are the expectations at Joe Gibbs Racing, his new NASCAR home. Briscoe won the pole for last week’s Daytona 500 and then finished fourth before NASCAR announced on Wednesday its inspection found Briscoe used a modified spoiler in time trials. Joe Gibbs Racing was docked 100 driver/owner points and 10 playoff points and fined $100,000.