(Milwaukee, WI) — The performance of top Brewers prospect Cooper Pratt is pushing the team to bring him up. Sports Illustrated points out that the team’s current starting shortstop, Joseph Ortiz, is excellent on defense, but he’s hitting under .200. Pratt signed an eight-year extension before ever playing in the majors, worth more than 50 million dollars. He started slowly at Triple-A Nashville, but he’s been pounding the ball for the last three weeks. In his last nine games, Pratt has slugged four home runs, including three in the last four games.
The Brewers host the LA Dodgers for a weekend series starting tonight. Pregame at 6:05pm. First pitch at 6:40pm on AM1240 & 96.5FM
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Reserve Maya Caldwell led a balanced attack with 16 points and the Minnesota Lynx beat the Toronto Tempo 100-72. It was the worst loss for the expansion Tempo, who fell to 3-3 after winning their previous two. Toronto’s other two losses were by three and four points. Minnesota’s first four games were decided by a total of 16 points. Courtney Williams scored 15 points, rookie Olivia Miles had 14 and Natasha Howard and Kayla McBride each had 13 for the Lynx. Kia Nurse led Toronto with 23 points off the bench and rookie Kiki Rice added 11.
NEW YORK (AP) — Josh Hart scored a playoff career-high 26 points, Jalen Brunson had 19 points and 14 assists, and the New York Knicks moved halfway to their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999 by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 109-93. Mikal Bridges also scored 19 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Knicks, who won their ninth straight game. Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points and James Harden had 18 for the Cavaliers, who will have to climb out of a 2-0 deficit for the second straight round. They host Game 3 on Saturday.
(Milwaukee, WI) — A report out of the NBA indicates the Miami Heat and the Bucks have discussed a trade involving superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. Though trades of Milwaukee’s top player have been speculated for more than a year, this is the first time we’ve heard some specific names. NBA Insider Gery Woelfel says the Bucks would be looking at a package of Wisconsin native Tyler Herro, forward Jamie Jaquez Junior, center Kel’el Ware, the 13th overall pick in this year’s draft, and two more first-round picks in the coming years. One of the Milwaukee team’s co-owners has said he would like to have the situation resolved before next month’s draft.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Montreal Canadiens pounced for four first-period goals on slow-starting Carolina — coming off the longest postseason break in more than a century — and handed the Hurricanes their first loss of the playoffs with a 6-2 victory in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final. Cole Caufield and Phillip Danault scored in the opening four minutes, Alexandre Texier followed four minutes later, and Ivan Demidov finished a breakaway for a 4-1 lead midway through the period. That came against the Eastern Conference’s top seed, which hadn’t allowed more than two goals in an 8-0 playoff start. Juraj Slafkovksy scored twice in the third period for Montreal, the second on a late empty-netter, while Jakub Dobes had 24 saves. Game 2 is Saturday night.
(Green Bay, WI) — We should find out more about where the Packers’ roster stands when organized team activities start next week. This is some of the prep work for minicamp starting June 9th. Yahoo Sports speculates that the most important thing to come out of the OTAs will be who the green dot is going to be for the defense. New defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon is known for running one-of-ball-linebacker sets during his time in Arizona. That would leave Edgerrin Cooper off the field for those snaps.
(Madison, WI) — Recruiting efforts for the Wisconsin football program are paying off. The Badgers are bringing in more than 30 new players through the transfer portal. The group playing in 2026 is ranked 15th nationally by Rivals. 247Sports is not quite as bullish on those coming to Madison, but it has still moved them up to 38th. Transfers like quarterback Colton Joseph, running back Abu Sama, and safety Marvin Banks Junior have been bumped up to 4-star status. That makes them what the services call blue-chip portal players.
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Kyle Busch, a two-time Cup Series champion who won more races than anyone across NASCAR’s three national series, has died. He was 41. The Busch Family, Richard Childress Racing and NASCAR issued a joint statement Thursday saying Busch died after being hospitalized. No cause of death was given. Busch’s family said earlier Thursday that he was hospitalized with a “severe illness,” three days before he was to compete in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Busch was testing in the Chevrolet racing simulator in Concord on Wednesday when he became unresponsive and was transported to a hospital in Charlotte, several people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details have not been disclosed by Busch’s team or family.
HS Soccer
Hudson 5, Rice Lake 0
THURSDAY
No Brewers game
FRIDAY
>>Major League Baseball
–NL Central Division
LA Dodgers @ Milwaukee
SATURDAY
>>Major League Baseball
–NL Central Division
LA Dodgers @ Milwaukee
SUNDAY
>>Major League Baseball
–NL Central Division
LA Dodgers @ Milwaukee