Marchand: Injuring opponents 'part of playoffs'
Bruins captain Brad Marchand said Panthers center Sam Bennett "got away with one" when he struck Marchand's head in Game 3, but that opponents seeking to injure each other is just a part of playoff hockey.
Angels activate Rengifo, acquire RHP Contreras
The Angels reinstated infielder Luis Rengifo from the 10-day injured list on Thursday and acquired right-hander Roansy Contreras in a trade with the Pirates.
Kanté in France's Euro squad despite Saudi move
France coach Didier Deschamps included midfielder N'Golo Kanté in his preliminary list of players for the European Championship on Thursday and gave a first call-up to Paris Saint-Germain forward Bradley Barcola.
Fantasy baseball pitcher rankings, lineup advice for Friday's MLB games
Everything you need to know to place your MLB bets and set your fantasy baseball lineups for Friday, May 16.
Suit: Bad Bunny's agency hit with 'death penalty'
Rimas Sports, the agency founded by recording artist Bad Bunny, is accusing the Major League Baseball Players Association of "placing a death penalty" on the agency, according to a federal lawsuit the company filed Thursday.
Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand said Sam Bennett "got away with one" when he struck Marchand's head in Game 3, but that opponents seeking to injure each other is just a part of playoff hockey.
"People don't want to say it, but part of playoffs is trying to hurt every player on the other team. The more guys you take out, the more advantage your team has," said Marchand, speaking for the first time after leaving Game 3 against the Florida Panthers with an injury.
"Every time you step on the ice, someone is trying to hurt someone. That's just how it goes in the playoffs. That's part of the benefit of having a physical group. That's why you rarely see teams that are small and skilled go far. Because they get hurt," he said.
Marchand missed the past two games of the series, with the Bruins losing Game 4 but avoiding elimination with a Game 5 win in Sunrise, Florida. Game 6 is scheduled for Friday night in Boston, with Florida leading the series 3-2.
Coach Jim Montgomery was hopeful that Marchand could return to the Bruins for Game 6 but stressed that his captain has "got boxes to check" before being cleared for the game. He's officially day-to-day with an upper-body injury. One encouraging sign for Marchand and Boston: He took regular line rushes and was on the first power-play unit in practice Thursday.
The Bruins would welcome him back, as Marchand has 10 points in 10 games (3 goals, 7 assists), tied for the team lead in scoring with Jake DeBrusk.
Marchand's injury might have resulted from a controversial play involving Bennett. As Marchand went to hit Bennett near the benches, Bennett appeared to throw a gloved punch with his right hand as they made contact. Bennett has denied throwing a punch.
"I'm trying to brace myself. There's no way I would have had time to think about punching him in the face like everyone," he said after Game 4.
Marchand called Bennett "an extremely physical player" who does great work for the Panthers. Bennett wasn't penalized on the play and did not receive any supplemental discipline from the NHL Department of Player Safety.
"I think he got away with a shot. But I'm not going to complain. S--- happens. That's part of playoff hockey, I've been on the other side of a lot of plays," Marchand said.
Breanna Stewart Ruins Caitlin Clark's Home Debut By Leading Liberty Past Fever 102-66
SEATTLE -- — Ty France homered for the second time in three games, Bryan Woo allowed one run over 5 1/3 innings for his first win and the Seattle Mariners beat the Kansas City Royals 4-2 on Wednesday.
The Mariners took two of three from the Royals and have won eight of their last nine series. Seattle will head out on a key 10-game road trip on the East Coast four games above .500 and leading the AL West.
France hit a solo shot off Kansas City starter Alec Marsh in the fourth inning to give Seattle a 2-0 lead. France also homered on Monday in the series opener.
Seattle also got an unearned run in the second inning after Adam Frazier was unable to cleanly field Luis Urías’ grounder behind third base with the bases loaded, and the Mariners added on two key runs late. Josh Rojas had a two-out RBI single in the seventh inning and Luke Raley added an RBI single in the eighth.
“The add-on runs today were huge. Guys just kept grinding through knowing that we have to have good at-bats," Seattle manager Scott Servais said. "We got some big hits.”
While Woo was terrific, Andrés Muñoz came through late, getting the final five outs for his seventh save. He also pitched around an error by Urías in the ninth. It was his second five-out save of the season.
Muñoz said his approach has changed a bit since the start of the season.
“I was a little more cautious about throw the pitch here, throw the pitch here," Muñoz said. "What I changed was just throw the ball the hardest that I can right in the middle. Obviously I don't want to hit the middle, but that is my mentality right now.”
Woo (1-0) cruised through the first five innings allowing only one hit, before running into a jam in the sixth inning. Woo had a long fifth inning in the dugout due to an umpire change between the top and bottom of the inning, as home plate umpire Jim Wolf was replaced for precautionary reasons after taking a foul ball off the facemask.
When Woo returned for the sixth, he wasn’t as sharp and immediately ran into trouble with two singles and a walk. Bobby Witt Jr. delivered a sacrifice fly to score Freddy Fermin, but reliever Gabe Speier ended the threat by getting a foul pop out from Vinny Pasquantino and struck out Salvador Perez to end the inning.
Woo struck out five and walked only one. His first start of the season last Friday had been cut short due to tightness in his right forearm following a long inning in the dugout.
“You have to learn. I think today we did a really good job adjusting from obviously the last start and came up with some good ideas of how to stay hot between innings,” Woo said.
Witt also had an RBI groundout in the eighth that scored Fermin.
“You got to try to capitalize. You know they’re going to be generally low-scoring games when you play these guys,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “They have a good pitching staff and we put ourselves in a couple spots to do some good things.”
Marsh (3-1) allowed just one earned run but took his first loss of the season. He struck out seven and has allowed just two earned runs in his past four starts combined.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mariners: 2B Jorge Polanco (hamstring) and DH Mitch Garver (back) were out of the lineup for a second straight day. Both could return Friday in Baltimore.
UP NEXT
Both teams are off on Thursday. The Royals return home to open a three-game series with Oakland on Friday, while Seattle starts a 10-game road trip in Baltimore on Friday.
------
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
