🥎 Y! Sports AM: Softball's slugfest

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🚨 HEADLINES

⚾️ Surgery for Skubal: Tigers ace Tarik Skubal will undergo surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow, a procedure whose unclear recovery timeline could be the difference between a $250 million and $450 million contract this offseason for the two-time reigning Cy Young.

🏀 NBA coaching moves: The Magic fired head coach Jamahl Mosley after five seasons and a third straight first-round playoff loss. On the other side of that matchup, the Pistons gave head coach J.B. Bickerstaff an extension following Detroit's first playoff series victory since 2008.

⚽️ City drop points: Manchester City scored a brilliant equalizer in the 97th minute against Everton, but still managed just a 3-3 draw to drop points in their razor-thin Premier League title race against Arsenal. If the Gunners win their final three matches, they'll be crowned champions for the first time since 2004.

💔 Stabbing in St. Louis: A 27-year-old man was stabbed to death early Monday morning at Busch Stadium after an alleged dispute between members of a cleaning crew at the Cardinals' ballpark. Specifics are not yet known, but police took a 65-year-old man into custody.

🏈 Tyrod's next stop: The Packers are signing QB Tyrod Taylor to be Jordan Love's backup. This will be Taylor's eighth NFL team following stints with the Ravens (2011-14), Bills (2015-17), Browns (2018), Chargers (2019-20), Texans (2021), Giants (2022-23) and Jets (2024-25).

See what else is trending on Yahoo Sports.

🥎 SOFTBALL'S SLUGFEST

(Henry Russell/Yahoo Sports)

Records are meant to be broken, so it's not all that shocking that college softball's single-season home run mark — set 31 years ago — is likely to fall in the coming weeks. What is shocking is that three players could break it.

Chasing 37: Oklahoma freshman Kendall Wells (36 HR) and UCLA's duo of Megan Grant (35) and Jordan Woolery (33) already have three of the eight highest single-season home run totals in history, with conference and NCAA tournaments still to come. A few more blasts and all three will eclipse the record of 37 homers, set in 1995 by Arizona's Laura Espinoza.

• Wells: The only thing stopping the freshman sensation from having already broken the record is the Barry Bonds treatment she's been getting lately, drawing eight walks (and hitting no homers) in her last four games. But it's only a matter of time for the young catcher, who went yard once in every 4.1 at-bats before her current drought began.
• Grant: The senior utility player has had quite a year for the Bruins, and not just on the diamond. Yes, that's where she's most talented (her 1.315 slugging percentage leads the nation), but she also played 14 games for UCLA's title-winning basketball team.
• Woolery: The senior infielder is on pace to become the first player in Division I history to record 30+ home runs, 100+ RBI and a .500+ batting average in a single season. Her .513 mark ranks fourth in the nation.

A nationwide slugfest: Wells, Grant and Woolery aren't the only ones making history this year. The Sooners and Bruins have both already shattered the single-season home run record with 173 home runs each (previous record: 161). And across the sport, Division I teams are averaging an all-time high of nearly 0.8 home runs per game.

What's driving this power surge? It's rather simple, actually: The data revolution that transformed baseball has finally made its way to softball, as WSJ's Rachel Bachman and Laine Higgins explain below:

Precise ball-tracking data, which has been available in pro and college baseball for years, has recently come into use at 45 top college softball teams, up from about 10 last year. A system called Trackman uses in-stadium, two-directional Doppler radar and synchronized high-speed cameras to quantify everything from a ball's rotation and velocity to location.

That data trove has given batters a cheat code for pitchers' tendencies. It has also armed coaches and conferences with details about how umpires call games. The result is that softball's strike zone has shrunk. Sluggers are feasting on the new conditions. Walks are up 14% in two years. And in the Power 4 conferences, those with the widest Trackman adoption, home runs are up 51% from two years ago.

What to watch: Wells, Grant and Woolery all take the field next on Thursday, as top-seeded Oklahoma and third-seeded UCLA enter the quarterfinals of the SEC and Big Ten tournaments ahead of Selection Sunday.

🇺🇸 PHOTOS ACROSS AMERICA

(Ronald Cortes/Getty Images)

San Antonio — Victor Wembanyama set an NBA playoff record with 12 blocks, but it was the Timberwolves who got the 104-102 victory in Game 1. Anthony Edwards scored 18 points off the bench in his first game back since injuring his knee in Round 1.

Meanwhile, in the East: The Knicks destroyed the 76ers, 137-98, in the series opener. They've now outscored their opponents by 135 points in their last four games, the largest margin in a four-game span in NBA playoff history.

(Josh Lavallee/NHLI via Getty Images)

Raleigh, North Carolina — Taylor Hall slipped the puck past Dan Vladar in overtime to give the Hurricanes a 3-2 win over the Flyers and a 2-0 series lead. Carolina still hasn't lost this postseason.

Meanwhile, in the West: The Golden Knights beat the Ducks, 3-1, in the series opener behind a stellar night in net from Carter Hart (34 saves, .971 save percentage).

(New York Yankees/Getty Images)

New York — Yankees captain Aaron Judge and White Sox rookie Munetaka Murakami each homered again on Monday to remain tied for the MLB lead with 14, putting both on an early pace to hit an AL-record 65.

Elite company: This was Judge's 91st first-inning home run, which ranks third in Yankees history behind Mickey Mantle (103) and Babe Ruth (126).

💯 BIG NUMBERS

(Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images)

🏀 41 years old

LeBron James is 41 years, 4 months and 6 days old, which is roughly the same age as both head coaches in his next series. He's six months younger than Los Angeles' JJ Redick (41 years, 10 months, 11 days) and two months older than OKC's Mark Daigneault (41 years, 2 months, 12 days).

How is he doing this? James averaged 23.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 8.3 assists against the Rockets en route to winning his 42nd playoff series, which is more than all but six NBA teams. Ridiculous.

⚾️ 300 steals

Guardians 3B José Ramírez stole his 300th career base over the weekend, joining Royals OF Starling Marte (361), Astros 2B Jose Altuve (326) and Phillies SS Trea Turner (318) as the only active players to reach the milestone.

Dual threat: Ramírez (291 career HRs) is just nine home runs shy of becoming the ninth player in MLB history with 300 home runs and 300 steals, joining Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, Alex Rodriguez, Andre Dawson, Carlos Beltrán, Bobby Bonds, Steve Finley and Reggie Sanders.

Sterling in the booth before a game in 2009. (Bill Kostroun/AP Photo)

🎙️ 28.7% of games

Legendary Yankees broadcaster John Sterling has passed away at age 87. He got his start with the team in 1989 and called 28.7% of all games in Yankees history (5,631 of 19,567) during his 36-year run. Perhaps even more mind-blowing? That means Sterling called nearly 3% of all games in MLB history.

What they're saying: "John was the soundtrack of my entire career with the Yankees," said five-time All-Star Bernie Williams. "All those championships and all those amazing moments, he called them. I was truly proud to be the first one of his many famous home run calls — 'Bernie Goes Boom! Bern Baby Bern!'"

Worth a watch: "Well, John, we thank you"

🚴 30,000 kilometers

British father and son George and Josh Kohler completed an epic trip around the world on Saturday, biking nearly 30,000 kilometers (18,028 miles) across 30 countries in 400 days while raising $70,000 for charity.

Wild stat: The Kohlers climbed 180,000 meters during their journey, which is the equivalent of ascending Mount Everest 20 times. The effort earned them three Guinness World Records.

📺 WATCHLIST: TUESDAY, MAY 5

(Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

🏀 NBA Playoffs

A pair of second-round series begin tonight, with the top-seeded Pistons hosting the Cavaliers (7pm ET, NBSCN) and the top-seeded Thunder hosting the Lakers (8:30pm, NBC).

Good luck, LA: The Thunder absolutely crushed the Lakers this season, winning all four matchups by an average of 29 points. Do LeBron James and Co. have a chance?

🏒 NHL Playoffs

The Avalanche (up 1-0) host the Wild in tonight's lone NHL action (8pm, ESPN) following their historically high-scoring matchup in Game 1.

That was wild: Colorado's 9-6 victory on Sunday was tied for the fifth highest-scoring game in NHL postseason history, and the 14 different goal-scorers were the most in a playoff game since 1993.

⚽️ Champions League, Semifinal

Arsenal (tied 1-1) host Atlético Madrid in the second leg of their semifinal (3pm, CBS) with a spot in the championship on the line.

Tall task: Arsenal have yet to lose a match in this year's Champions League (10 wins, 3 draws). Can Atleti accomplish what no other team has and take down the English giants?

More to watch:

• ⚾️ MLB: Dodgers at Astros (8:10pm, TBS) … Shohei Ohtani (MLB-best 0.60 ERA) takes the mound in Houston.
• 🏒 PWHL: Minnesota (up 1-0) at Montréal (7pm, Prime) … Best-of-five semifinal continues.

Got plans tonight? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events in your city. Get tickets now!

🏆 STANLEY CUP TRIVIA

Canadiens legend Maurice "Rocket" Richard after winning the Stanley Cup in 1958. (Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)

The Canadiens are seeking their 24th Stanley Cup title, by far the most of any franchise.

Question: Who are the only other two franchises with double-digit Stanley Cups?

Answer at the bottom.

🐶 DOG OF THE DAY

(Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Tucker, the Mariners clubhouse dog, having the time of his life during batting practice.

Trivia answer: Maple Leafs (13) and Red Wings (11)

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