KWBG Sports for April 18th

 MIAMI (AP) - Ozzie Guillen (gee-EHN') made a victorious return to the dugout last night as pitchers Josh Johnson and Heath Bell snapped out of early-season slumps to help the Miami Marlins beat the Chicago Cubs 5-2. Guillen returned from a five-game suspension imposed after his comments praising Fidel Castro caused a backlash in South Florida, especially among Cuban Americans.

     DENVER (AP) - Colorado's crafty 49-year-old southpaw Jamie Moyer became the oldest pitcher to win a major league game by hurling the Rockies to a 5-3 win over San Diego last night. Moyer twirled seven strong innings, allowing just six hits and two runs--none earned--in winning his 268th game, tying him with Jim Palmer for 34th on the all-time list.

     LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - It's time for Kentucky coach John Calipari to reload after he lost his entire starting five to the NBA draft following the Wildcats' national championship season.  Freshmen Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Marquis Teague, and sophomores Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb declared for the draft last night with Davis the likely No.  1 overall pick in the June NBA draft.

     LOS ANGELES (AP) - Vancouver Canucks leading scorer Daniel Sedin (suh-DEEN') resumed practicing yesterday after missing the last dozen games with a concussion. Sedin is unsure whether he'll play tonight as the Canucks are down 0-3 to the eighth-seeded L.A. Kings in their first-round NHL playoff series.

     NEW YORK (AP) - Football fans won't have to wait long to see Peyton Manning in a Broncos uniform. Manning's first game as Broncos quarterback will come in prime time as Denver hosts Pittsburgh on the opening Sunday of the NFL season as one of four prime-time games in the opening week of the just-released NFL schedule for 2012.

KWBG Sports for April 17th

 NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - LeBron James scored Miami's final 17 points in a furious one-man rally, finishing with 37 as the Heat pulled out a 101-98 victory over the New Jersey Nets. With Dwyane (dwayn) Wade sitting out with an ankle injury, James scored 17 points over the last 4:48.

     BOSTON (AP) - Nearly 22,500 participants braved an unseasonably hot day at the 116th running of the Boston Marathon in conditions that one runner called "brutal." When it was over, Kenyan-born U.S. resident Wesley Korir won the men's division and fellow Kenyan Sharon Cherop, captured the men's and women's divisions, respectively.

     LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - Five Kentucky underclassmen, including projected No. 1 NBA draft pick Anthony Davis, are expected to announce their draft intentions at a joint news conference Tuesday. A news release says freshmen Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Marquis Teague, along with sophomores Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb will appear together Tuesday for the announcement in Lexington along with Wildcats coach John Calipari.

     NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The New Orleans Saints have completed their first day of voluntary workouts without star quarterback Drew Brees. Brees was in New York on Monday to join players' union officials at NFL offices to discuss the Saints' bounty program that resulted in a one-year suspension for head coach Sean Payton.

     ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) - Peyton Manning had what he called "a productive first day" during the Denver Broncos' first offseason conditioning program. The 36-year-old former Indianapolis Colts' QB threw passes to his new receivers during some on-field work without the coaches, who aren't allowed to join them outdoors until organized team activities start in May.

KWBG Sports for April 16th

UNDATED (AP) - The Philadelphia Flyers and Los Angeles Kings are up three-games-to-none in their respective Stanley Cup first-round series. Danny Briere (bree-EHR'), Matt Read and former Pen Max Talbot each scored twice as the Flyers blasted the Penguins 8-4 in Philadelphia. In Los Angeles, Jonathan Quick handled 41 shots and Dustin Brown scored the lone goal in the Kings' 1-0 win over Vancouver.

     UNDATED (AP) - The Nashville Predators own a 2-1 series lead in their Stanley Cup first-round series after Shea Weber scored a power-play goal and Pekka Rinne (PEHK'-ah RIHN'-ay) stopped 41 shots in a 3-2 triumph at Detroit. Stephen Weiss scored two power-play goals and Marcel Goc (gahch) provided the game winner to lead Florida's 4-2 win over New Jersey, evening that first-round series at a game apiece.

     LUTZ, Fla. (AP) - Florida International is set to replace fired basketball coach Isiah Thomas with another recognizable name. Louisville coach Rick Pitino says his son Richard is leaving his staff to become the next coach at FIU, although the school refused to confirm yesterday that it has reached agreement with Pitino on a deal.

     HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) - Carl Pettersson completed a five-shot win over Zach Johnson at the PGA's RBC Heritage at Hilton Head. Pettersson shot a 2-under-par 69 yesterday for a 14-under total in his fifth PGA Tour title and first since 2010.  Michael Allen closed with a 3-under-par 68 to win the Champions Tour event near Tampa by three shots over Kenny Perry.

     BOSTON (AP) - Today's 116th Boston Marathon is expected to be one of the hottest ever, weather wise. With the temperature expected to rise into the mid-80's organizers are urging runners, even the elite athletes, to slow their pace.

KWBG Sports for April 13th

  CHICAGO (AP) - The Chicago Bulls have opened a four-game lead on the Miami Heat in the race for the best record in the NBA Eastern Conference. The Bulls outscored the Heat 12-2 in overtime to take a 96-86 win over Miami despite star guard Derrick Rose's shooting 1-for-13 and scoring just two points.

     BOSTON (AP) - Chris Kelly scored on a long slapshot 1:18 into overtime and the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins beat the Washington Capitals 1-0 in the opener of their first-round playoff series. Braden Holtby made 29 saves for the Capitals and Tim Thomas stopped all 17 shots he faced while getting the shutout for Boston.

     UNDATED (AP) - In two overtime Game Ones, Martin (mahr-THAN') Havlat scored his second goal of the night at 3:34 of the second overtime to help the visiting San Jose Sharks upset the St. Louis Blues 3-2, and the Phoenix Coyotes beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2. In a regulation first-round opener, the New York Rangers posted a 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators.

     PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Shane Victorino and Ty Wigginton homered, Joe Blanton pitched seven strong innings and the Philadelphia Phillies beat Miami 3-1 in the Marlins' second game without suspended manager Ozzie Guillen (gee-EHN'). The Marlins lost their second straight game without Guillen, who was suspended five games by the Marlins for saying he admired Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

     NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Sean Payton handed over control of his team to Joe Vitt, his second-in-command. Vitt will serve as interim coach, despite the fact that he'll miss a third of the season for his role in New Orleans' bounty system. Payton begins serving a one-year suspension next Monday for his role in the bounty scheme.

KWBG Sports for April 12th

 OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Chris Paul scored 31 points, including the game-winning shot on a layup with 8.8 seconds left, lifting the Los Angeles Clippers to a 100-98 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder that kept them in position for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.  The Western Conference-leading Thunder have lost four of their last six games.

     UNDATED (AP) - The Philadelphia Flyers, Nashville Predators and L.A. Kings all won their playoff openers as the NHL second season opened last night. Four more playoff series are scheduled to open tonight, including the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins opening at home against Washington.

     SAN DIEGO (AP) - Chris Denorfia (deh-NOR'-fee-ah) hit a two-run homer with one out in the eighth inning that carried the San Diego Padres a 2-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, who had been the last unbeaten team in the major leagues. Huston (HYOO'-stuhn) Street pitched a perfect ninth for his first save with the Padres.

     WACO, Texas (AP) - The NCAA has slapped Baylor's men's and women's basketball teams with three years' probation after an investigation turned up hundreds of impermissible telephone calls and text messages sent to prep recruits by coaches and assistants on the basketball teams. The violations were considered to be major infractions, and they were announced less than a week after the Lady Bears won the national championship with the first 40-0 season in NCAA history.

     LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - Top high school prospect Nerlens Noel announced last night he's joining Kentucky, bolstering the Wildcats' hopes of defending their recent national championship and finishing with a fourth consecutive No. 1 recruiting class. The 6-foot-10 center from the Tilton School in New Hampshire selected the Wildcats over Syracuse and Georgetown.

KWBG Sports for April 11th

 CHICAGO (AP) - Richard Hamilton scored 20 points and Luol Deng added 19 to help Chicago beat the New York Knicks 98-86, without Derrick Rose in the line-up.  Rose sat out with a sprained right ankle suffered against the Knicks Sunday after he returned from a 12-game absence caused by a groin injury.

     HOUSTON (AP) - Chipper Jones returned from the disabled list with a single and two-run homer to lead Atlanta to a 6-4 win over Houston.  The 40-year old third baseman missed the first four games of his final season after having surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee.

     LOS ANGELES (AP) - Andre Ethier (EE'-thee-ur) celebrated his 30th birthday and the 50th anniversary of Dodger Stadium by hitting a go-ahead homer in the Dodgers 2-1 win over Pittsburgh. Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles bullpen limited the Pirates to just five hits in the Dodgers home opener.

     WASHINGTON (AP) - The Mets plan to send David Wright to a specialist for more tests after X-rays showed the third baseman suffered a fractured pinkie in his right hand. He was pulled out of the line-up for Tuesday night's loss to Washington.  Wright had a least one hit in each game this season before being sidelined.

     INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Jim Irsay says team officials are even more impressed with Andrew Luck after a three-hour meeting Tuesday and he wrote on Twitter it was easy to see why Luck and the No. 1 pick have been synonymous for two years. Irsay has said the Colts will take a quarterback with the No. 1 pick in this month's NFL draft, but neither Irsay nor general manager Ryan Grigson have said the Stanford quarterback will be the choice for Indy.

KWBG Sports for April 10th

 ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Yu Darvish pitched into the sixth inning of his much-anticipated major league debut for the Texas Rangers, retiring 10 batters in a row after a rough start and getting credit for the victory in the Rangers' 11-5 victory over Seattle. Darvish gave up four runs in the first inning but settled down and allowed five runs on eight hits in his five and two-thirds innings of work.

     BALTIMORE (AP) - The New York Yankees finally won their first game of the season, using four hits by Derek Jeter and an effective pitching performance by Ivan Nova to defeat the Baltimore Orioles 6-2 last night. The Yanks averted the fourth 0-4 start in franchise history - the first since 1973.

     SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The San Antonio Spurs rested stars Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili (MAN'-oo jih-NOH'-blee) as they lost to the Utah Jazz 91-84 to end their 11-game winning streak. The Spurs already have clinched a playoff berth, but fell a game behind Oklahoma City in the race for best record in the Western Conference.

     NEW YORK (AP) - NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (guh-DEHL') upheld  the one-year suspension of New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton for his role in the Saints' bounty scandal. Also upheld was yesterday was eight-game suspension of GM Mickey Loomis and assistant head coach Joe Vitt, who will sit out the first six games of the regular season.

     MIAMI (AP) - Isiah Thomas' firing at Florida International sparked a protest by his former players last night. Team members who attended a university athletic department banquet quietly walked out of the event moments before the season's award winners were to be introduced but the event continued as planned.