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Yermín Mercedes got his first five major league hits and drove in four runs, and José Abreu hit a grand slam for the Chicago White Sox in their 12-8 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. Mercedes delivered a two-run single in the fourth and a two-run double in the ninth inning of Chicago’s first victory this season. The 28-year-old catcher playing in his second major league game, went 5 for 5 in an extraordinary performance as Chicago’s designated hitter. Albert Pujols hit a three-run shot for Los Angeles for his 663rd career homer.

The par-3 sixth at Augusta National can make players feel as if they're facing two tests. The back pin is so difficult that par is always a good score. The front left pin allows for birdies because the slopes on the green can feed the ball toward the hole. It was pivotal in Dustin Johnson's Masters victory last year when he hit 8-iron to 6 feet to the top right shelf and made birdie. The hole used to have a pond in front of the green. The club in 1959 filled it in, and the hole hasn't really changed since then.

Trevor Bauer took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning in his Los Angeles debut before allowing a pair of two-run homers, and the Dodgers held on after building a big lead to beat the Colorado Rockies 11-6. The game had a little bit of everything, including a gray cat making a surprise appearance on the field in the eighth inning. The furry feline hung out in center with Cody Bellinger for a moment before being picked up and ushered out by stadium personnel. Bauer was purring along through six innings as the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner baffled the Rockies with a dancing slider and nasty four-seam fastball. 

Aari McDonald scored 26 points and led a smothering defensive effort for Arizona as the Wildcats beat UConn 69-59 to advance to the women’s NCAA Tournament championship game for the first time in school history. The Wildcats never trailed against the favored and fabled Huskies, who had made the Final Four 13 consecutive times. UConn has was 11 national titles but has lost in the semifinals each of the last four tournaments. Christyn Williams led UConn with 20 points. Arizona's win sets up an all Pac-12 final with Stanford.  

A U.S. Capitol Police officer who died after a man rammed his car into him and another officer at a barricade was identified as an 18-year veteran of the force. William “Billy” Evans joined the department in 2003 and was a member of its first responders unit. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hailed Evans as a “martyr for our democracy,” while Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was “heartbroken.” The death is the latest moment of sorrow for a department after the loss of Brian Sicknick, who clashed with rioters during the Jan. 6 insurrection and died a day later, and Howard Liebengood, who committed suicide weeks later.

Liberal activists are ratcheting up their calls on corporate America to denounce the GOP campaign to tighten state voting laws. It's putting businesses accustomed to cozy political relationships in middle of a growing partisan fight over voting rights and election laws. Pressure is mounting on leading companies in Texas, Arizona and other states, particularly after Major League Baseball’s decision Friday to move the 2021 All-Star Game out of Atlanta. The move came a week after Georgia Republicans enacted an overhaul of the state’s election law that critics argue is an attempt to suppress Democratic votes.

Haley Jones scored 24 points, including the go-ahead jumper with 32 seconds left, to help Stanford beat South Carolina 66-65 and advance to the national championship game. It’s Stanford’s first trip to the title game since 2010, which was also in San Antonio. The Cardinal lost to UConn in that contest, 53-47. Now they’ll face Pac-12 rival Arizona on Sunday night. The fourth-seeded Wildcats knocked off top-seed UConn 69-59. Coach Tara VanDerveer will be looking for her third national championship at the school and first since 1992.

Johnny Juzang’s impact at UCLA has been immediate since he transferred from Kentucky. He is the scorer and dynamic player the Bruins had been missing. The junior guard is playing his best at just the right time, leading the Bruins into the Final Four for the first time since 2008. He is projected to be the second Asian American taken in the first round of the NBA draft. He is also an inspiration for younger players at a time when hate crimes against Asian Americans are surging. Juzang says he's happy to inspire anyone, and he enjoys hearing from Asian Americans who are excited about his success. 

Pascal Siakam scored 36 points in three quarters and the Toronto Raptors routed the Golden State Warriors 130-77. Toronto won for the second time in 15 games, helped by 53.4% shooting for the game. Toronto led by 61 points when Malachi Flynn hit a short jump shot with 6:29 remaining. Gary Trent Jr. finished with 24 points and OG Anunoby added 21 points for the Raptors. Andrew Wiggins led Golden State with 15 points, all in the first half. The Warriors lost for the seventh time in eight game. Golden State was without Steph Curry and Draymond Green, a late scratch with a left finger injury.

Italian Jannik Sinner has advanced to the Miami Open final by beating Roberto Bautista Agut in three sets. The 19-year-old Sinner was playing in only his third top-level ATP event. He becomes the fourth teenager to reach the Miami men’s final, joining Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andre Agassi. In the second semifinal, No. 26-seeded Hubert Hurkacz of Poland advanced to his first ATP Masters 1000 final by beating No. 4 Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-4. Djokovic, Nadal and Roger Federer skipped the tournament, creating opportunities for the four semifinalists. 

A U.S. Capitol Police officer who died after a man rammed his car into him and another officer at a barricade was identified as an 18-year veteran of the force. William “Billy” Evans joined the department in 2003 and was a member of its first responders unit. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hailed Evans as a “martyr for our democracy,” while Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was “heartbroken.” The death is the latest moment of sorrow for a department after the loss of Brian Sicknick, who clashed with rioters during the Jan. 6 insurrection and died a day later, and Howard Liebengood, who committed suicide weeks later.

California will allow indoor concerts, theater performances and other private gatherings starting April 15. The California Department of Public Health announced the changes on Friday as the rate of people testing positive for the coronavirus nears a record low. How many people can attend events will depend on the level of restrictions in place at each county. And capacity will increase if people can show proof they are fully vaccinated. The governor's office says the plan gives an incentive for more people to get vaccinated, but also prompts questions about health privacy and equity.

Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle will miss Friday’s game at the New York Knicks after testing positive for COVID-19 the morning of the game. Carlisle says he has been fully vaccinated since January and wasn’t experiencing any symptoms. The 61-year-old was hopeful it was a false positive and he would still be able to coach against New York. The official word that Carlisle was out came just a few minutes before tipoff. Assistant Jamahl Mosley is filling in.

Authorities say a piece of burning rocket debris seen streaking across the Pacific Northwest sky last week crashed on a farm in eastern Washington state. The Tri-City Herald reports that a farmer discovered a nearly intact piece of the rocket in a field. A Grant County sheriff’s spokesman says no one was hurt when the roughly 5-foot composite-overwrapped pressure vessel hit the ground and left a dent. Foreman says SpaceX officials confirmed it was part of the rocket and have since picked it up. 

Matt Harvey gets another fresh beginning in Boston on Saturday when he’s scheduled to take the mound for the Baltimore Orioles. The 2013 NL All-Star was one of the game’s best pitchers for the New York Mets early in his career but that success was derailed by injuries and ineffectiveness. The 32-year-old right-hander bounced between the Reds, Angels and Royals after leaving the Mets but has mostly struggled. Elsewhere in baseball, MLB's All-Star game needs a new home after the event was pulled by the league from Atlanta. The move is a response to Georgia enacting a new law last month restricting voting rights.

As former Officer Derek Chauvin stands trial in George Floyd’s death, a central question is whether he followed the Minneapolis Police Department’s guidelines on the use of force — and used that force reasonably. The department’s longest-tenured officer sharply questioned Chauvin’s actions, at one point calling it “totally unnecessary” for Chauvin to have restrained Floyd as he did for so long. Lt. Richard Zimmerman on Friday noted a range of actions on the use-of-force continuum that ranges from simply showing up in uniform, to talking to a person, to using deadly force. He says once a person is handcuffed and less combative, officers may simply talk to calm them down. Outside experts have also questioned officers' handling of Floyd, who was accused of passing a counterfeit bill.

A rural New York zoo says the giraffe that became a sensation when her 2017 pregnancy and delivery were livestreamed has been euthanized because of advancing arthritis. A statement from  Animal Adventure Park's veterinarians says 20-year-old April the giraffe started showing signs of mobility problems last summer, and veterinary imaging showed she had arthritis in her left hind leg. The vets say they tried many things to slow the disease's progression, but it became so severe that they couldn't control her comfort. April attracted a huge online audience as she carried her fourth calf in 2017 at the privately owned zoo in Harpursville, a village about 130 miles northwest of New York City.

The agency that investigates Chicago police shootings says it will release the body camera video of an officer fatally shooting a 13-year-old boy earlier this week. Ephraim Eaddy, a spokesman for the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, said Friday that after researching the question of whether the release would be legal, the video will be released to the family of Adam Toledo and then the public. He said he did not know when that would be, only that it would be soon. The boy was shot after a brief foot chase ended with an “armed confrontation.”