American League Capsules

DETROIT (AP) - Brennan Boesch drove in four runs on his 27th birthday Friday, leading the Detroit Tigers to a 7-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays for their fifth win in six games to start the season.

Mavericks survive late run, top Warriors

OAKLAND (AP) - Dirk Nowitzki scored 27 points and former Golden State lottery pick Brandan Wright had 16 points and nine rebounds, leading the Dallas Mavericks past the Warriors 112-103 on Thursday night.

NBA Capsules

CHICAGO (AP) - C.J. Watson scored 16 points, including the game-tying 3-pointer at the end of regulation, and the Chicago Bulls pulled away in overtime to beat the Miami Heat 96-86 on Thursday night.

NHL Capsules

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Martin Hanzal scored 9:29 into overtime and the Phoenix Coyotes opened the playoffs with a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night.

SKI REPORT

Giants head home looking for momentum

Sports News Brief

FOOTBALL RAIDERS SIGN FORMER COLLEGE HOOPSTER AS TE: ALAMEDA (AP) - The Oakland Raiders have signed former Cal State Fullerton basketball player Andre Hardy to a free-agent contract. The Raiders announced the deal Thursday to bring Hardy in as a tight end. The 25-year-old Hardy hasn't played football since high school. The 6-foot-5, 250-pound Hardy averaged 8.0 points and ...

Sacramento group asks Stern to force sale of NBA Kings

Marlins return home braced for cool reception

Indians agree to $1.25M deal with Johnny Damon

Giants' Wilson earns save with wild, wild final inning

Feds bulk up for retrial of Clemens over steroids

Chevrolet to pull all 11 IndyCar engines

Havlat's goal lifts Sharks past Blues in 2 OT

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Martin Havlat returned from a hamstring injury that sidelined him nearly half the season just in time for the San Jose Sharks' playoff push.

American League Capsules

DETROIT (AP) - Ben Zobrist hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the ninth inning, and the Tampa Bay Rays scored four runs in the ninth inning to beat Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers 4-2 on Wednesday.

Hansen increases bid for Kings to $625M

SEATTLE (AP) - If this is Chris Hansen's final salvo in his attempt to purchase the Sacramento Kings, it's coming with an additional $75 million price tag to what already could be the richest franchise sale in NBA history.

Cain helps Giants beat Hudson and Braves

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Matt Cain pitched eight strong innings and San Francisco beat Tim Hudson for the first time in seven years in the Giants' 8-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Friday night.

Seattle’s Iwakuma shuts down A’s in win

SEATTLE (AP) - Bob Melvin is still trying to figure out what happened to the consistency Oakland had the first month of the season.

British rookie trying to catch on with 49ers

SANTA CLARA (AP) - Lawrence Okoye was one of the last players to leave the "pitch" Friday afternoon - one of several things that set the big Brit apart from other newcomers at the San Francisco 49ers' rookie minicamp.

NHL capsules

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Dustin Penner scored the tiebreaking goal in the final second of the second period, and the Los Angeles Kings advanced to the second round with a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues in Game 6 on Friday night.

Sports news briefs

• Garcia goes 1 up on Tiger at Players Championship: PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Sergio Garcia had one of those stretches where it felt like every putt was going to drop. He needed every one of them Friday for a 7-under 65 to match his best score on the TPC Sawgrass and take a one-shot lead over Tiger Woods among early starters at The Players Championship.

Warriors, Spurs flip-flop roles going into Game 3

OAKLAND (AP) - The confident aura the Golden State Warriors are giving off right now might be the only thing brighter than those yellow shirts every home fan is expected to be wearing again for Game 3 against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night at ear-piercing Oracle Arena.

McCann drives in 3 as Braves beat Giants

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Brian McCann spent the first month of the season in Florida rehabilitating his surgically repaired right shoulder. He hardly watched the Atlanta Braves play.

Indians rout Athletics

CLEVELAND (AP) - Everything is going the Indians' way. There's no dispute or debate about that.

Great debut for Castro, Woods solid at Players

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Tiger Woods was nine shots out of the lead, not the best position at The Players Championship, especially since he had not even started his round. Perhaps the bigger surprise was the guy who posted the record-tying round Thursday.

NHL capsules

CHICAGO (AP) - Marian Hossa scored twice to back a strong effort by goalie Corey Crawford, and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Minnesota Wild 5-1 Thursday night to win their first-round playoff series 4-1.

Warriors end skid at 30 in San Antonio, tie series

SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Klay Thompson scored 34 points, Stephen Curry added 22 and the Golden State Warriors withstood another furious rally by the San Antonio Spurs for a 100-91 victory Wednesday night to even their series at one game apiece and snap a 30-game skid in the Alamo City.

49ers reach stadium naming rights deal with Levi Strauss

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The future home of the San Francisco 49ers will be called Levi's Stadium.

Marleau, Pavelski lead Sharks into 2nd round

SAN JOSE (AP) - A year after being among the main perpetrators of another playoff failure in San Jose, Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski are leading the Sharks back to the second round.

Torres singles in 10th, lifts Giants past Phillies

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Buster Posey and Andres Torres waited three hours before making their contributions to yet another walkoff win for the San Francisco Giants.