MOTOR SPORTS
Mayer wins a close one
Sam Mayer made a last-lap pass and held on to win by a matter of inches ahead of Ryan Sieg at Texas Motor Speedway in one of the closest finishes in NASCAR Xfinity Series history on Saturday. Mayer was high against the outside wall after the two cars banged side-by-side on the way to the checkered flag. The final margin was .002, matching the second-closest finish in series history. Justin Allgaier finished third after leading 117 of the race's 200 laps. Sieg went from 10th place to first in a span of four laps just before the race's final caution. After the restart with 11 to go, Sieg stayed in front until the final lap when Mayer was able to get the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet under and by him on the backstretch. Off the final turn, Sieg got back to the inside of Mayer but came up just short in the No. 39 Ford of getting his first win in 342 career starts for the RSS Racing team owned by his family. It was the fifth career win for Mayer, and his first this season
HORSE RACING
Encino first at Lexington
Encino won the $400,000 Lexington Stakes by three-quarters of a length at Keeneland on Saturday, the final chance to qualify for next month's Kentucky Derby. Ridden by Florent Geroux, Encino led all the way in running 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.93. He paid $8.62, $3.94 and $3.42. The Wine Steward returned $3.32 and $2.88, while Ireland-bred Dilger was another 8 1/4 lengths back in third and paid $9.42 to show. Trained by Brad Cox, Encino earned 20 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby on May 4, giving him a total of 40. That ties him with Grand Mo the First for 21st on the list, but Encino owns the tiebreaker based on his higher earnings. He would need a defection to get into the 20-horse Derby field. Cox already has two Derby qualifiers in Catching Freedom and Just a Touch.
BASEBALL
Braves' ace out for season
Atlanta Braves ace Spencer Strider will miss the rest of the season after having surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, the team said Saturday. Dr. Keith Meister in Arlington, Texas, performed the procedure on Friday, using an internal brace to repair the UCL. Strider avoided Tommy John surgery, which he had in 2019 while at Clemson. Recovery from the internal brace surgery, which uses an artificial material to make the repair, has allowed pitchers to return to the majors in as few as nine months. Tommy John surgery, which uses a tendon from elsewhere in the body to replace the torn ligament, has a typical rehab period of 12 to 18 months. Strider complained about discomfort in his elbow after pitching four innings in Atlanta's 6-5 win over Arizona on April 5. An MRI the next day revealed damage to his UCL, and the Braves prepared for the worst.
Rangers' pitcher breaks hand
Texas Rangers reliever Brock Burke broke his non-throwing hand while punching a wall following a poor outing Friday night against the Houston Astros. Manager Bruce Bochy said Burke, who is a left-hander, broke his right hand when he punched the wall "out of frustration" and was placed on the injured list Saturday. The 27-year-old allowed three hits and four runs in the seventh inning of his team's 12-8 win. The Astros were unhappy at Burke's plunking of the elbow of slugger Yordan Alvarez after almost hitting him on three previous pitches inside. Alvarez stared Burke down before trotting to first base. Kyle Tucker sent Burke's next pitch into the second deck in left field for his second home of the game and punctuated it with a bat flip. Bochy denied that Burke, who has a 15.00 ERA in five appearances this season, was trying to hit Alvarez.
Twins' shortstop placed on IL
Twins shortstop Carlos Correa was placed on the 10-day injured list Saturday, a day after sustaining an oblique injury in Minnesota's 8-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers. Correa was hitting .306 with a home run and four RBI in 11 games and had an .876 OPS. The two-time All-Star was replaced on the 25-man roster by catcher Jair Camargo, who was hitting .268 with 2 home runs in 11 games for Triple-A St. Paul.
TENNIS
Ruud upsets Djokovic
Casper Ruud finally got the better of Novak Djokovic, beating the top-ranked Serb 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 on Saturday to set up a Monte Carlo Masters final against two-time champion Stefanos Tsitsipas. Tsitsipas won the earlier semifinal against a tiring Jannik Sinner 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to hand the Australian Open champion only his second defeat of the season. Djokovic double-faulted on match point in his first career defeat in six matches against Ruud. He had never even taken a set off Djokovic before, including at last year's French Open final. Ruud and the 12th-seeded Tsitsipa chasing their first titles of the year and 11th overall.
HOCKEY
Coyotes moving to Salt Lake
The Arizona Coyotes will likely be sold to Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith shortly after the team's final game and will include a provision guaranteeing current owner Alex Meruelo an expansion team if a new arena is built within five years, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Saturday. The $1 billion sale is expected to happen between the Coyotes' final game of the 2023-24 season on Wednesday and the start of the playoffs on Saturday, barring unforeseen circumstances, the person said on condition of anonymity because the planned deal has not been announced. The deal will transfer the franchise's hockey operations first to the NHL and then to Smith, who plans to move the team to Salt Lake City, and Meruelo will maintain business operations to move forward with a planned $3 billion project that will include a new arena in north Phoenix.
U.S. women blank Finland
Aerin Frankel stopped 15 shots for her fourth shutout in five games, and Laila Edwards scored a natural hat trick as the United States beat Finland 5-0 in the semifinal round on Saturday, advancing the defending champions to their 23rd women's world hockey championship gold-medal game. Hannah Bilka and Savannah Harmon also scored for the Americans, who kept their perfect run intact in having appeared in every world championship final since the tournament was established in 1990. Edwards, one of four Americans making their tournament debuts, now has five goals to match tournament-leading teammate Alex Carpenter's total.
Capitals defender injured
Washington Capitals say defenseman Nick Jensen is conscious, alert and using his extremities after being stretchered off the ice following a scary collision. Jensen's head hit the boards and his body went limp after being shoved by Tampa Bay's Michael Eyssimont late in the first period of the teams' game Saturday. He was attended to by medical personnel for several minutes, after trainers called for the stretcher. Officials postponed the final 1:31 of the first period to be played after intermission. There was no penalty called on the play, referee Frederick L'Ecuyer said, leading to boos from the crowd.