Derek Lowe throws no-hitter
BOSTON, April 28 (UPI) -- Making the conversion from closer to starter this season, Boston's Derek Lowe became the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter at Fenway Park in 37 years Saturday, victimizing the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 10-0.
Lowe recorded 66 saves the previous two seasons before being moved into the rotation for the 2002 season. He fell six outs shy of a no-hitter in his first start on April 5.
Using a 90 mile-per-hour fastball, sinker and effective changeup, Lowe faced just one batter over the minimum. He walked Brent Abernathy to lead off the third inning and retired the next 21 in a row.
The hardest hit ball was by Steve Cox, who pulled a liner that was caught by Trot Nixon as he raced into the rightfield corner.
With the crowd on its feet in the ninth inning, Lowe retired Russ Johnson on a weak popout to second and rookie Felix Escalona on a fly ball to left-center that was tracked down by center fielder Rickey Henderson.
Jason Tyner grounded a 2-2 pitch to second baseman Rey Sanchez, who calmly threw to first baseman Jose Offerman for the final out. Lowe hugged third baseman Shea Hillenbrand before he was mobbed by the rest of his teammates.
The 28-year-old righthander threw 97 pitches, 66 for strikes. He struck out six and retired 13 on groundouts, five on flyouts and three of infield popouts.
During the evening in Seattle, New York's Ted Lilly took a no-hitter into the eighth inning, but Desi Relaford reached on a single and later scored to give the Mariners a 1-0 win. Relaford's hit was the only one Seattle managed all night.
Other American League results: Detroit 5, Minnesota 1; Oakland 16, Chicago 1; Baltimore 9, Kansas City 4; Texas 4, Cleveland 2.
Kings, Spurs, Hornets bounce back
SALT LAKE CITY, April 28 (UPI) -- The Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs and Charlotte Hornets all bounced back from a home-court loss to regain the lead Saturday in their opening-round series.
The Toronto Raptors, meanwhile, stayed alive in their series with Detroit by capturing Game 3 on their own floor.
Sacramento, owning the best record in the league during the regular season, was fortunate to escape with a 90-87 victory over Utah; San Antonio crushed Seattle, 102-75; and Charlotte survived a controversial call at the end of regulation to defeat Orlando in overtime, 110-100.
After losing the first two games of its series on the road, Toronto bounced back at home to down the Pistons, 94-84.
Sacramento, San Antonio, Charlotte and Detroit all own a 2-1 advantage.
A huge mental mistake by John Stockton and key missed shots by Karl Malone and Bryon Russell severely cost the Jazz.
Coming off a surprising Game 2 win in Sacramento, the eighth-seeded Jazz again battled the top-seeded Kings every step of the way. They turned an 11-point, fourth-quarter deficit into an 85-82 lead with 1:33 remaining on a three-point play by Malone, who scored 23 points.
The Kings regained the lead as Peja Stojakovic and Mike Bibby each made two free throws. Malone then missed a 15-foot fadeaway jumper and the Kings rebounded with 35 seconds left.
The Jazz did not have to foul to get back the ball, but Stockton hacked Stojakovic with 26 seconds to go.
The foul was Stockton's sixth, making it doubly hurtful. As he went to the bench, he flung his arms in disappointment with himself.
In Seattle, Tim Duncan had a huge first half en route to 27 points and 13 rebounds and Tony Parker scored 23 points to lead the Spurs. San Antonio won despite the absence of center David Robinson, who is nursing a sore back.
In Orlando, Baron Davis hit a three-point shot just before the buzzer at the end of regulation to apparently give Charlotte the win, but it was waived off by the referees. He went on to make two more three-pointers in overtime to complete a 33-point performance
Red Wings, Hurricanes advance
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 28 (UPI) -- Brett Hull broke out of a series-long slump with his first career playoff hat trick Saturday night as the Detroit Red Wings finished off the Vancouver Canucks with a 6-4 victory in Game 6 of the best-of-seven conference quarterfinals.
Carolina also advanced to the conference semifinals thanks to a 1-0 victory over New Jersey while Montreal moved in front of its series with a 2-1 win against Boston. The first seventh game of the playoffs was set up when Los Angeles downed Colorado, 3-1.
Hull and defenseman Chris Chelios, who tied a team record with four assists, were the heroes of the clincher. But the series turned in Game 3, when Vancouver goaltender Dan Cloutier was beaten from center ice by defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom in the final seconds of the second period. That goal broke a 1-1 tie and propelled top-seeded Detroit to four straight wins after it had dropped the first two games in its own rink.
Cloutier never recovered from his gaffe, surrendering 10 goals on just 33 shots after he was beaten by Lidstrom. He was replaced by Peter Skudra in each of the last two games.
In Los Angeles, Jason Allison scored 81 seconds into the first period to send the Kings on their way to a win over the defending champion Avalanche.
Trailing three games to one, Los Angeles has recorded back-to-back wins to send the series back to Denver. The Kings followed the same script last year before losing to the Avalanche in the conference semifinals.
Carolina won its first playoff series in 16 years Saturday by blanking the two-time Stanley Cup finalist Devils. Kevin Weekes recorded his first career playoff shutout in just his second start and Ron Francis scored the game's only goal on the power play in the second period as the Hurricanes snapped a nine-series losing streak.
Helton leads Rockies to another win
DENVER, April 28 (UPI) -- Todd Helton delivered a three-run triple in the sixth inning Saturday as the Colorado Rockies won for the second time in as many games under their new manager, holding on for an 8-6 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
The club's hitting coach, Clint Hurdle replaced Buddy Bell as manager on Friday with the Rockies mired in a five-game losing streak and in the midst of the worst start in club history.
After watching John Thomson pitch a strong game in his debut, Hurdle caught a glimpse of his club's best hitter coming through at an opportune time.
Helton's bases-clearing hit in the sixth off David Coggin gave the Rockies an 8-3 lead.
Rockies starter Shawon Chacon (2-3) picked up the win after allowing three runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Four relievers combined to allow runs in 2 2/3 innings before Jose Jimenez made things interesting in the ninth before striking out Travis Lee with the bases loaded to end it for his sixth save.
Other National League results: New York 2, Milwaukee 1; Cincinnati 8, San Francisco 4 in a game shortened to eight innings by rain; St. Louis 5, Montreal 0; Houston 6, Atlanta 3; Florida 6, Arizona 3. Two games were rained out -- Los Angeles at Chicago and San Diego at Pittsburgh. They will be made up as part of double headers today.
Mediate leads Greensboro Classic
GREENSBORO, N.C., April 28 (UPI) -- Rocco Mediate, the highest-ranked player in the field, Saturday put himself in position to win his first PGA tournament in nearly 21 months.
Mediate fired a 6-under-par 66 to open a two-shot lead over Mark Calcavecchia after the third round of the Greater Greensboro Classic.
Ranked 17th in the world, Mediate had a 54-hole total of 15-under 201 at the Forest Oaks Country Club as he chases his fifth career victory and first since the Buick Open in August 2000. One of those wins came at the 1993 Greater Greensboro Open.
Mediate has had an up and down year, missing a pair of cuts but also posting a pair of third-place finishes. He has improved his score in each round here, shooting a 68 on Thursday and a 67 on Friday.
Calcavecchia, who began the day tied for the lead with Robert Gamez, was at 13-under, two shots ahead of Chad Campbell, who also carded a 66 to match Mediate for the low score of the round.
Feud spoils U.S. Fed Cup chances
CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 28 (UPI) -- With a fued between captain Billie Jean King and Jennifer Capriati costing the United States one match, Monica Seles lost another Saturday to put the Americans in a 2-0 hole against Austria in the opening round of the 2000 Fed Cup.
The United States was forced to forfeit Capriati's scheduled match with Evelyn Fauth when King kicked the American star off the team.
Barbara Schwartz then upset Seles, 7-6 (9-7), 6-2, to give Austria the lead over the top-seeded Americans. The United States, which has won the event a record 17 times, is one loss away from elimination.
King announced Friday that Capriati would not play in this weekend's matches after failing to comply with the "closed, team-only" practice policy. After a regular practice session earlier in the week, Capriati practiced on her own.
Seles lost for just the second time in 14 career singles matches in this competition.
American Meghann Shaughnessy faces Schwartz and Seles meets Fauth today. If the United States can win those two matches, the doubles match will decide the competition with Lisa Raymond and Shaughnessy taking on Marion Maruska and Schwartz.
Meanwhile, second seed Belgium began defense of its title in the world's premier international women's team tennis competition by taking a 2-0 lead over Australia in Brussels at the Royal Leopold Club.
Sampras downs Agassi
HOUSTON, April 28 (UPI) -- Pete Sampras, the fourth seed, fired 11 aces and reached his first ATP final of the year Saturday night with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over second-seeded Andre Agassi at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships.
In Sunday's all-American final, Sampras will battle defending champion Andy Roddick, the third seed who held off Argentina's Guillermo Coria, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.
Sampras improved to 19-14 in his career battle with Agassi, which has spanned 14 years.
Agassi, who turns 32 on Monday, captured hardcourt titles at Scottsdale and Miami earlier this year.
A 13-time Grand Slam winner, Sampras is seeking his first claycourt crown since the 1998 Atlanta event.
