Williams gives up 1 run on 6 hits, Zedak hits solo homer; Northwestern takes Game 1 at Tuscaloosa

Little-known Heidenheim has seemingly come out of nowhere to reach the Bundesliga. It's a remarkable success for a town of just 50,000 inhabitants in the south of Germany. Two injury-time goals were enough for Frank Schmidt’s team to clinch promotion as second-division champion on Sunday. Heidenheim will be the 57th team to play in the Bundesliga since the league’s formation in 1963. Twenty years ago it was playing at fifth-tier level as part of Heidenheimer Sportbund, a local sports association. The Heidenheim-born Schmidt took over in 2007 and steered the club to third-division promotion two years later, then the second division in 2014, before Sunday’s remarkable ascent to the Bundesliga.

Sloane Stephens looked sharp in her opening match at the French Open with a 6-0, 6-4 win over two-time Grand Slam runner-up Karolina Pliskova. American women were 4-0 through the first few hours of play. Madison Keys beat Kaia Kanepi 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 to improve her career record in the first round of Grand Slams to 35-5. Keys will next play Kayla Day after the American qualifier eliminated French wild card Kristina Mladenovic 7-5, 6-1. Croatian-born American Bernarda Pera beat former No. 2 Anett Kontaveit 7-6 (6), 6-2.

The biggest question now the Premier League season is over is who can stop Manchester City. Pep Guardiola’s team proved too strong again in winning the title for a fifth time in six years to establish one of the most dominant periods in the history of English soccer. Arsenal, Manchester United, Newcastle, Liverpool and Chelsea are the five teams have appear best-placed to bring down City next season. All will need to strengthen their squads when the transfer market reopens next month. United needs a striker, Liverpool needs a new midfield and Arsenal needs better strength in depth throughout the squad. Saudi-controlled Newcastle might be here to stay under the wealthiest owners in soccer.

Chelsea has hired Mauricio Pochettino as manager on a two-year deal with the option of another year. The Argentine coach is tasked with getting the best out of an expensively assembled squad that has underperformed at the start of a new era for the English club. It is Pochettino’s first coaching role since leaving Paris Saint-Germain in July last year and marks his return to the Premier League. He had an impressive 5 1/2-year spell with Tottenham that included a run to the Champions League final. Pochettino had been widely expected to take the Chelsea job, which is considered one of the most high-profile positions in European soccer.

As Memorial Day arrives, some of the weaker teams in baseball are still very much within striking distance in the postseason race. In fact, FanGraphs only lists five teams in the major leagues with less than a 5% chance of reaching the postseason. Those are the Royals, Athletics, Nationals, Reds and Rockies. And even Cincinnati is only four games out of first in the NL Central. On May 29 last year, there were 11 teams with less than a 5% chance of a playoff berth.

Nepal’s government is honoring record-holding climbers during celebrations of the first ascent of Mount Everest 70 years ago. Mountaineers and other people attended a rally in Kathmandu to mark the anniversary Monday. Kami Rita was honored after he climbed the world’s highest mountain twice this season for a record 28 times overall. Sanu Sherpa, who has climbed all of the world’s 14 highest peaks twice, said May 29, 1953, was remembered as the day Sherpas became known. It was the day New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay reached the summit. During the 2023 climbing season, hundreds of climbers and their guides scaled the peak. Seventeen died or went missing.

Fernando Alonso has five podiums in six races in a remarkable season for Aston Martin yet still feels he’s no closer to catching Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. The two-time Formula One champions now head to a race with special significance for both of them. Next weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix is where Verstappen won his first race as an 18-year-old on his Red Bull debut in 2016. It’s also where Alonso last won a race in 2013 so it would be the perfect place for the 41-year-old Spaniard to end his winless run. But he's realistic and says that Red Bull looks “untouchable” after winning every race so far this season.

Former Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Jets running back Le’Veon Bell says he smoked marijuana before playing some NFL games during his career. Bell told Barstool Sports’ “Steel Here” podcast he would smoke and then run for 150 yards and two touchdowns. The 31-year-old Bell hasn’t played in the league since the 2021 season. The running back also blasted then-New York coach Adam Gase on the podcast, saying he was a “terrible” play caller during his brief tenure with the Jets.