NHL Highlights: Maple Leafs 5, Ducks 4 (OT)

Shane van Gisbergen had a rough few weeks, but he turned it around at Martinsville. After scoring points in Stage 1, van Gisbergen brought the No. 97 car for Trackhouse Racing home with an 11th-place finish and 34 points. Overall, it was a very strong effort by the Trackhouse Racing driver with his oval experience.

Following the race, van Gisbergen discussed his 11th-place effort at Martinsville. While the driver of the No. 97 car was proud of his run, he wished it had ended with a top-10 finish.

“Ran in the top 10 all day but lacked overall grip and wasn’t able to hold position on the restarts," van Gisbergen said. "The No. 97 team brought a fast Chevrolet, just wish we could’ve gotten a top 10 result. Collected some stage points and had a lot of fun! Great progress heading into the off weekend.”

Van Gisbergen needs all the points he can earn, and leaving Martinsville with 34 points should be deemed a massive success. The No. 97 car showed speed throughout the entire NASCAR weekend at Martinsville, putting van Gisbergen in 14th place in the standings entering the first NASCAR off weekend of 2026.

More: Ross Chastain enters NASCAR off weekend looking for more speed in 2026

This article originally appeared on Motorsports Wire: Shane van Gisbergen discusses good run at Martinsville in March 2026

PHOENIX (AP) — Corbin Carroll hit a three-run homer and had four RBIs, Michael Soroka became the fourth pitcher in Arizona history to throw an immaculate inning and the Diamondbacks roughed up three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander in his return to the Detroit Tigers during a 9-6 victory Monday night.

The Diamondbacks won their home opener after getting swept at Dodger Stadium in their first series of the season.

The 28-year-old Soroka (1-0) gave up four hits over five scoreless innings — and the fifth was a gem. The right-hander struck out Javier Báez, Kerry Carpenter and Gleyber Torres on nine straight pitches, blowing a 95 mph fastball past Torres on the ninth one to tie a career high with 10 strikeouts.

The 43-year-old Verlander gave up five runs on six hits and two walks over 3 2/3 innings. The big blow came in the second when Carroll connected for his first homer of the season.

Verlander (0-1) began his 21st big league season after returning to the Tigers in February on a $13 million, one-year deal. The nine-time All-Star spent the first 12 1/2 seasons of his career in Detroit before being traded to the Astros in 2017.

The Diamondbacks built an 8-0 lead after five innings but the Tigers used a six-run seventh to make a big dent in the deficit. Joe Ross gave up six runs while getting just two outs. Ryan Thompson entered and allowed all three batters he faced to reach base — while also being called for two balks — before Juan Morillo got Parker Meadows to ground out with the bases loaded to end the inning.

Ildemaro Vargas hit a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh to push the D-backs ahead 9-6. Paul Sewald earned his first save.

Detroit's Colt Keith had two doubles, including one that scored two runs.

Up next

The Diamondbacks send RHP Brandon Pfaadt to the mound Tuesday while the Tigers counter with RHP Casey Mize. Both pitchers are making their first start of the season.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb

The Egyptian King caused a sensation last week when he announced he would be leaving the club at the end of the season.

Although he’s under contract until 2027 it has been decided that the club will rip up his £400k per week deal and allow him to choose his next destination as a free agent.

Select few European clubs will be in the race for the 33-year-old’s signature - and teams in Saudi Arabia and MLS are expected to come to the fore.

It leaves Arne Slot and Richard Hughes in a transfer bind - because they need to find a permanent replacement for Salah and fast.

Steven Gerrard likes Summerville

Plenty of names have been linked - including Michael Olise and Yan Diomande. There are contenders from within the Premier League too with Jarrod Bowen emerging as an option if West Ham are relegated.

But pay attention to another Hammer in the shape of Crysencio Summerville. The 24-year-old joined the Irons from Leeds United back in 2024 - initially struggling to get to grips with life in East London.

But he has performed very well this season for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side - leading the fight to stave off relegation to the Championship.

The former Dutch under-21 international has got seven goals in his last 11 games in all competitions - a run that included goals in four top-flight games in a row.

'Shining light' Summerville has been brilliant

And now Steven Gerrard has weighed in - telling TNT Sports how much he admires the former Feyenoord youth.

“I like Summerville,” he said. “I think he's brilliant and he looks hungry to me in a team that's struggled.

“He's been a shining light and got better as the season's gone on.”

Gerrard has tentatively been linked with the head coach’s role at Anfield given the scale of Slot’s struggles. Right now there’s no suggestion that the midfield legend will be returning to his old stomping ground.

But that hasn’t stopped him casting his eye on Liverpool’s current plight and identifying what they need in the summer transfer window.

“I think Liverpool will probably look for more one-v-one merchants on the sides,” he said.

Summerville is under contract at the London Stadium until 2029 - with the club holding an option for another year. That could all change if the team is relegated however.

Tonight, Italy will face Bosnia in Zenica to return to the World Cup after 12 years, a hugely important match in which the Azzurri will have several ways to trouble their opponents.

At the same time, head coach Gattuso will have to be wary of some of Bosnia’s weapons and avoid certain mistakes that were made against Northern Ireland.

Take advantage of Bosnia’s 4-4-2 in midfield

Bosnia play in a 4-4-2 with fairly attack-minded full-backs, which has at times become a 4-2-3-1: in any case, they do not tend to sit deep inside their own box. In short, Bosnia press the opposition build-up quite aggressively and mainly defend man-to-man, and that could be one of the keys to the match.

With our 3-5-2 we can exploit the numerical advantage in midfield, or wait for one of their defenders to step out of the line so we can find a through ball into space. In other words, exactly what we lacked against Northern Ireland: in that match only Tonali really tried it and, in fact, those passes led to two dangerous chances.

The man best suited to exploit this situation is Moise Kean, one of the few players, along with Politano and Palestra, who knows how to run in behind, beat his man or create a numerical advantage.

Try the play = no fear

Our national team has the perfect mix to be a predictable side, at least on paper: a 3-5-2 without players who dribble and without the time needed to create the automatisms required to unsettle opponents (a bit like Inzaghi’s Inter, just to be clear).

That is why it will be crucial to also try the more difficult play, the through pass or holding up the ball for as long as possible (Pio and Retegui style) to wait for midfield runners or shots from outside the box by Tonali and Barella.

If Bosnia instead decide to drop deep into their own area, it will be even more important for individuals to take responsibility. Whatever game plan coach Barbarez goes with, Italy must not repeat the first half against Northern Ireland: less fear and a freer mind.

Press together and be careful of Bosnia’s pace + crosses

Bosnia’s strengths are certainly the qualities of their forwards: Dedic’s pace (an ultra-attacking full-back), Alajbegovic’s flair (he should start on the bench) and Dzeko’s link-up ability, which can free up space for Demirovic.

To limit those qualities, it will be vital to press in a coordinated way, without individual initiatives that can leave gaps behind. Because one-on-one footraces out wide can be dangerous: Dedic and Alajbegovic have a different engine compared to Dimarco, while Politano is a forward adapted to play wide.

But above all, Edin Dzeko must be limited as much as possible: the all-around playmaker of this national team, who tends to pull opponents out of position and then exploit that to generate the crosses Bosnia so often rely on. In this respect, Italy’s defence must be careful: our problems defending set pieces and aerial balls are concerns we have been carrying for quite some time.

Because conceding early can be mentally fatal and tactically expose all our flaws: the Azzurri do not need to play a beautiful match, nor the perfect match, they need to avoid serious mistakes and, if possible... reach the World Cup.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.