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Last-place Orioles fire manager Brandon Hyde after falling 13 games under .500

BALTIMORE (AP) — The Baltimore Orioles have fired manager Brandon Hyde after a dismal start to the season by a team coming off two consecutive playoff appearances. The Orioles are 15-28 and in last place in the AL East following a loss to Washington on Friday night. Hyde guided the team through an extensive rebuild and won manager of the year honors in 2023, but Baltimore’s performance slipped noticeably during the second half of last year, and the Orioles have put themselves in a significant hole so far in 2025. Third base coach Tony Mansolino will serve as interim manager.

Colton Herta crashes heavily in Indy 500 qualifying, hours after Marcus Armstrong’s practice wreck

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Colton Herta has crashed heavily in qualifying for the Indianapolis 500. The wreck occurred Saturday hours after Marcus Armstrong was taken away on a stretcher after a crash of his own at nearly the same spot at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Both wrecks occurred in Turn 1, where winds gusting up to 30 mph that are largely blocked by the grandstands down the front stretch suddenly switch to behind the drivers. Herta’s car hit the outside wall, landed on its side and slid into the short chute. Herta was able to climb out. Armstrong spent about 90 minutes in the infield care center before being released. Herta has been cleared to drive should Andretti Autosport managed to get his backup car ready to go later Saturday.

Journalism is the horse to beat in the Preakness. But recent trends show it won’t be easy

BALTIMORE (AP) — Journalism is the horse to beat in the Preakness Stakes after leading off the Triple Crown with a second-place finish to Sovereignty in the Kentucky Derby. Sovereignty is not running on Saturday after his owners and trainer decided to skip it for extra rest and aim for the Belmont Stakes on June 7. Michael McCarthy’s Journalism was the 8-5 morning line favorite on Friday in the field of nine horses. Bob Baffert has won the middle leg of the Triple Crown a record eight times and would make it nine if Goal Oriented gets the job done from the inside No. 1 post.

Celtics have an uncertain future with Jayson Tatum’s injury, huge payroll to confront

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Celtics entered this season with hopes of ending the NBA’s six-season drought without a repeat champion. It all thudded to the surface in the postseason, cemented by Boston’s 4-2 conference semifinals loss to a New York Knicks team that it had previously dominated this season. Just as painful as getting dethroned at NBA champions was the devastating ruptured Achilles tendon injury to Jayson Tatum. It cast a pall not only over the remainder of the New York series but has thrust the Celtics’ future into uncertainty heading into the offseason.

Finally back in Eastern Conference finals, Knicks face Pacers team that eliminated them last year

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Knicks nearly ended their lengthy Eastern Conference finals drought last year, only to lose on their home floor to the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 of the second round. With two new starters and much better health, the Knicks finally made it this season for the first time in 25 years. The opponent will be those same Pacers, who return to Madison Square Garden for a series that begins Wednesday night. The Knicks got there by routing the Boston Celtics 119-81 on Friday night in Game 6.

Paul Maurice says Game 7s represent ‘freedom.’ It awaits the Panthers and Leafs on Sunday night

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A spot in the NHL’s final four is at stake Sunday night in Toronto. The Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs will play the deciding game of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. The winner will face Carolina in the East final. The loser goes into the offseason. Florida is trying to get to the conference finals for a third consecutive season. Toronto is trying to get there for the first time since 2002.

PGA Championship gets storms and a late start

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The PGA Championship is going to threesomes for the third round because of weather. It was a stop-and-start morning at Quail Hollow. Storms caused the warm-up session to be halted for 17 minutes. And right when Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele were close to teeing off, play was stopped again. The PGA of America is going to a two-tee start with the last group going off shortly before 2 p.m. There should be no trouble finishing given the forecast. Jhonattan Vegas has a two-shot lead. Scottie Scheffler is among those only three shots behind.

Report: McIlroy’s driver deemed nonconforming ahead of PGA Championship

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — XM Sirius PGA Tour Radio is reporting Rory McIlroy’s driver was deemed to be nonconforming at the PGA Championship. The report says he learned this before the start of the major. McIlroy made the cut on the number Friday at Quail Hollow after a 69. He has declined to speak to the media for two days in a row. The USGA confirms only that it did driving testing at Quail Hollow this week for the PGA Championship. The USGA often tests clubs at U.S. majors and PGA Tour events it is asked. It says the results are confidential.

Auston Matthews breaks through, Maple Leafs beat Panthers 2-0 to force Game 7

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Auston Matthews got his first goal of the series to break a scoreless tie in the third period, Joseph Woll stopped 22 shots, and the Toronto Maple Leafs kept their season alive by beating the Florida Panthers 2-0 in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series Friday night. Max Pacioretty added an insurance goal for the Leafs, who improved to 4-2 when facing elimination since the start of the 2023 playoffs. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 15 shots for the Panthers, the defending Stanley Cup champions who oddly are only 8-7 in potential closeout games over the last three postseasons.

Gordon has strained hamstring and availability for Game 7 at OKC is in doubt, AP source says

DENVER (AP) — Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon has a strained left hamstring and his availability is in doubt for Game 7 against the Thunder in Oklahoma City on Sunday, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Friday night because the extent of the injury has not yet been announced. Gordon clutched his hamstring late in Denver’s 119-107 win over the Thunder on Thursday to tie up their second-round series. The winner advances to the Western Conference finals, where they will take on the Minnesota Timberwolves.