AP Sports SummaryBrief at 7:28 p.m. EDT

Opening day is here: Juan Soto debuts, Paul Skenes vs Sandy Alcantara, and more NEW YORK (AP) Juan Soto, Blake Snell and Clay Holmes debut for new teams.

Paul Skenes makes his first opening-day start at age 22 and Sandy Alcantara returns from Tommy John surgery.

A week after the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers swept an opening two-game series over the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo, 26 other teams get underway Thursday on opening day in the U.S.

and Canada.

One day later the Rays and Rockies become the final clubs to take the field, given extra time while Tampa Bay moved into the New York Yankees Steinbrenner Field, its temporary home this season after Hurricane Milton destroyed Tropicana Fields roof.

Auburn's Pearl says his March Madness call for hostage release was about 'survival,' not politics ATLANTA (AP) Auburn coach Bruce Pearl says he wasnt mixing politics with sports last week when he called for the release of an American hostage in Gaza.

Pearl says his comment was about survival when he called for the release of Edan Alexander, the last living American being held hostage in Gaza by Hamas.

No.

1 seed Auburn will play No.

6 seed Michigan in an NCAA Tournament regional semifinal on Friday night.

Auburn is in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019.

Auburn players Dylan Cardwell and Johni Broome say they support Pearl's right to speak out.

Don't write off future Cinderellas just because it's an all-power conference Sweet 16, coaches say INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Nearly every year theres at least one lovable underdog that rises from obscurity in the NCAA Tournament to capture the hearts of basketball fans and bust their brackets.

Not this year.

All 16 regional semifinalists are from power conferences for the first time since the bracket expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

The popular theory is that the transfer portal has led to a concentration of the best players at the big schools paying the most NIL money and, soon, the most through revenue sharing.

Coaches say don't write off future Cinderellas because there is so much talent.

Hader strikes out Soto with 2 on to save Astros' 3-1 win over Mets HOUSTON (AP) Framber Valdez pitched seven scoreless innings and Josh Hader struck out Juan Soto with two on to save the Houston Astros' 3-1 win over the New York Mets.

New York cut its deficit to two on a sacrifice fly by Francisco Lindor for the second out of the ninth.

There were runners on first and third when Hader struck out Soto swinging at a full-count slider wide of the zone for his 200th career save.

Soto singled and walked twice in his Mets debut after signing a record $765 million, 15-year contract as a free agent this offseason.

Wells becomes 1st catcher to hit leadoff homer on opening day and Yankees beat Brewers 4-2 NEW YORK (AP) Austin Wells became the first catcher to hit a leadoff homer on opening day, Anthony Volpe also went deep and the New York Yankees began their AL pennant defense with a 4-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Carlos Rodon, starting because of ace Gerrit Coles season-ending elbow injury, allowed one run and four hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Devin Williams, facing his former team for the first time since he was traded in December, held on for the save.

Mikaela Shiffrin powers through a bump-filled course to win the slalom at the World Cup finals SUN VALLEY, Idaho (AP) Mikaela Shiffrin smoothly navigated a bumpy course to win the womens slalom at the World Cup finals.

The first-run leader, Shiffrin found another burst to finish in a combined time of 1 minute, 45.92 seconds and beat Lena Duerr of Germany by 1.13 seconds.

Andreja Slokar of Slovenia took third.

Shiffrin glided through the course at Sun Valley with a large crowd cheering her through every gate.

She closed out the World Cup slalom season the same way she started it, with a win.

Croatian ski racer Zrinka Ljutic was 10th and captured the season-long slalom title over Katharina Liensberger of Austria.

Manager Carlos Mendoza among those eagerly anticipating Juan Soto's New York Mets debut HOUSTON (AP) Juan Sotos debut with the New York Mets has seemingly the entire baseball world excited.

Yeah, put me in that category too, manager Carlos Mendoza said Thursday.

Im excited to watch him today and every day.

Soto was set to bat second and play right field in his first game with the Mets on Thursday against the Houston Astros after signing a blockbuster 15-year, $765 million contract this offseason.

Novak Djokovic beats Sebastian Korda, advances to semifinals in push for 7th Miami Open title MIAMI GARDENS, Fla.

(AP) Novak Djokovic is finding a higher gear in South Florida after a sluggish start to 2025.

Djokovic, gunning for his seventh Miami Open title, dispatched American Sebastian Korda 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) Thursday in one hour, 24 minutes in a quarterfinal match that was postponed from Wednesday night.

Djokovic advanced to Fridays semifinals and will face Bulgarias Grigor Dimitrov.

Djokovic is 12-1 against the 33-year-old Dimitrov, who reached the tournament finals in 2024.

Flyers fire coach John Tortorella in midst of another losing season The Philadelphia Flyers fired coach John Tortorella with nine games left in another losing season for a franchise that hasnt been in the playoffs since 2020.

The Flyers are last in the Metropolitan Division at 28-36-9 for 65 points under the notoriously brusque Tortorella.

The Flyers suffered their sixth straight loss Tuesday 7-2 to Toronto.

The Flyers named Brad Shaw the interim coach, starting with Thursdays game against Montreal.

NBA will not keep All-Star mini-tournament for 2026, is 'back to the drawing board' NEW YORK (AP) The NBA will not bring back its All-Star Game mini-tournament next season.

Commissioner Adam Silver said Thursday that the format used last month a four-team tournament made up of 24 NBA All-Stars and another team of rookies and sophomores to fill out the field, all playing to a target score of 40 points was a miss.

The game is shifting to NBC next season as part of the leagues new broadcast deal, and Silver said the league and the network are talking about what may work.

The league tried something new this season with hopes of sparking some competitiveness, which the game has lacked for years..

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