Lionel Messi

is ailing

MIAMI (AP) — Inter Miami confirmed Monday that Lionel Messi has a left hamstring issue, though did not say when the problem is expected to be cleared up. And that adds a bit of intrigue for defending World Cup champion Argentina, which is scheduled to open its training camp for this year’s tournament on June 1 in Kansas City.

Messi underwent testing on Monday — which almost certainly means an MRI exam, though the team did not divulge what procedures were involved — and was ultimately diagnosed with “an overload associated with muscle fatigue in his left hamstring.”

Typically, the timeframe for recovery from such issues is varied depending on the severity.

Rosenqvist

savors schedule

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Felix Rosenqvist’s Indianapolis 500 victory lap started sinking in quickly. After gulping the traditional swig of milk and dumping the rest over his head, the winner of the closest race in Indy 500 history began making the winner’s rounds.

He spent two hours answering questions in his fire suit before heading to another photo shoot. Then there was a short celebratory night before hitting the early morning television shows, more photo shoots and Monday night’s postrace dinner where he’ll find out how much money he won. Never mind that there’s another race next weekend in Detroit.

But the 34-year-old Swede wasn’t about to start complaining. No, he was too busy savoring the spoils of victory.

UCLA earns

No. 1 seed

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — UCLA is the No. 1 national seed for the NCAA baseball tournament. The Bruins were rewarded for their dominant wire-to-wire run through the regular season.

The tournament opens Friday with 16 double-elimination regionals. Winners advance to eight best-of-three super regionals. Those winners move on to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, beginning June 12. The Bruins swept the Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles.

Their 51 wins are most wins entering regionals since Tennessee came in with 53 in 2022. ACC champion Georgia Tech is the No. 2 seed and followed by Georgia, Auburn, North Carolina, Texas, Alabama and Florida.

Cowser hits

walk-offs

BALTIMORE (AP) — Colton Cowser hit a walk-off home run for the second consecutive day to complete the Baltimore Orioles’ 9-7, 13-inning victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, one he said was one of his “favorite complete team wins.”

The fifth overall selection in the 2021 draft is hitting .333 with all three of his home runs over an eight-game stretch. The third homer, Monday’s two-run shot, followed Sunday’s three-run drive to decide a 5-3 victory over Detroit to open a split doubleheader.

He became Baltimore’s first player to hit walk-off homers on consecutive days since Fred Lynn on May 10-11, 1985, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.