BASEBALL
ATLANTA (AP) On a night of firsts, Ender Inciarte saved the best for last.
Matching his power total for all of last season, Inciarte hit the first homer in baseball’s newest stadium to carry the Atlanta Braves to a 5-2 victory over the San Diego Padres on Friday.
The center fielder also recorded the first out, had the first hit and scored the first run at SunTrust Park, ensuring he’ll be the answer to a lot of trivia questions.
Before a sellout crowd of 41,149 that included former President Jimmy Carter, Commissioner Rob Manfred and one-time home run king Hank Aaron, the Braves won their second straight game after a 1-6 start.
TORONTO (AP) – Plate umpire Dale Scott was out of the hospital early Saturday, hours after sustaining a concussion when he was hit in the mask by a foul tip from Baltimore slugger Mark Trumbo during a game in Toronto.
Scott told The Associated Press by text that he was feeling OK and that the results of a CT scan were normal.
The veteran crew chief left the field on a spinal board in the eighth inning after being struck Friday night. Scott recoiled after the ball struck the bottom of his mask and knocked it off, staggering backward before going down on one knee. After being examined by Blue Jays trainer George Poulis, Scott lay down on his back on the turf behind home plate and received further attention from paramedics and Toronto’s team physician.
Once his neck was immobilized, Scott was lifted onto a cart and driven off the field.
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. (AP) – Baseball Hall of Famer Rod Carew received a new heart and kidney from the late NFL player Konrad Reuland in what is believed to be the first such transplant involving pro athletes.
Carew underwent the procedure last December and met Reuland’s family in March after mutual friends connected Reuland’s death with news of Carew’s transplant on Dec. 16. Reuland had died four days earlier after a ruptured brain aneurysm at age 29.
Reuland attended middle school in Southern California with Carew’s children, and he met Carew when he was 11.
Reuland played for the New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens. He also spent time with the San Francisco 49ers and Indianapolis Colts, who released him last August.
The only details the Carew family received before the transplant were that the donor was ”male, late 20s, local, exceptionally healthy.”
NHL PLAYOFFS
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) – Connor McDavid and Zack Kassian scored short-handed goals to help Edmonton beat San Jose 2-0 to even the first-round series at one game apiece.
Cam Talbot stopped all 16 shots he faced for his first career playoff shutout and Edmonton’s first postseason win since 2006. The Oilers missed the playoffs in each of the last 10 years.
Kassian scored early in the second period and McDavid doubled the lead midway through the third period.
Martin Jones finished with 34 saves for the Sharks.
Game 3 is Sunday night in San Jose.
MONTREAL (AP) – Alexander Radulov scored at 18:34 of overtime to give the Montreal Canadiens a 4-3 victory over the New York Rangers in Game 2 of the first-round series.
Radulov jammed the puck in from the edge of the crease after a feed from Max Pacioretty to tie the best-of-seven series 1-1. The victory was the first for a Canadian team in the playoffs since 2015.
Game 3 is Sunday night in New York.
Trailing 3-2 in the third period, the Canadiens pressed hard and finally scored with 18 seconds left, with goalie Carey Price pulled for an extra attacker. Tomas Plekanec redirected Radulov’s feed past goalie Henrik Lundqvist to force overtime. The goal was the latest tying playoff goal in Canadiens history, beating Jacques Lemaire’s goal in 1975 with 24 seconds remaining.
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists, Marc-Andre Fleury stayed sharp in his second straight playoff start and Pittsburgh pulled away to beat Columbus 4-1 in Game 2.
Jake Guentzel added a goal and an assist to help the defending Stanley Cup champions take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Evgeni Malkin scored his first goal of the postseason, and Patric Hornqvist pushed in an empty-net goal.
Fleury finished with 39 saves while filling in for the injured Matt Murray, and received plenty of help. Pittsburgh blocked 23 shots before they even got to Fleury.
Game 3 is Sunday night in Columbus.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Jaden Schwartz scored with 2:27 remaining during a 4-on-4 situation and St. Louis beat Minnesota 2-1 to take a 2-0 series lead.
Joel Edmundson had the first goal for the Blues after winning Game 1 in overtime, Jake Allen made 23 saves, and coach Mike Yeo devised another shrewd plan against his former team.
Zach Parise scored again for the Wild, on a 5-on-3 late in the second period, but goalie Devan Dubnyk simply hasn’t been as dominant as Allen at the other end. Screened by David Perron, Dubnyk didn’t track Schwartz’s deep shot from the slot. He made 20 saves.
Game 3 is Sunday in St. Louis.
NFL
BOSTON (AP) – Former NFL star Aaron Hernandez, already serving a life sentence for a 2013 murder, was acquitted in a 2012 double slaying prosecutors said was fueled by his anger over a drink spilled at a nightclub.
The former New England Patriots tight end choked back tears as the verdicts were read in court. A few moments later, he looked back at his fiancee and nodded somberly as relatives of the victims sobbed loudly. A defense attorney hugged him.
After six days of deliberations, the jury found Hernandez not guilty of first-degree murder in the killings of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado but convicted him of unlawful possession of a gun. The judge sentenced him to an additional four to five years in prison, separate from his existing life sentence.
