ATLANTA -- Alex Verdugo shook his head when reminded the Atlanta Braves are 2-0 since he was recalled this week.

"I'm not taking credit for it yet," Verdugo said.

Even so, Verdugo's four hits and two runs scored in Saturday night's 4-3 win over the Minnesota Twins provided evidence he has given a spark to the offense as the team's new leadoff hitter and starting left fielder.

With Verdugo in the lineup, the Braves have posted back-to-back wins for the first time this season. Verdugo's four hits included two doubles and a sixth-inning single that drove in the go-ahead run.

"It feels good," Verdugo said. "Obviously, being at the top of the lineup, kind of instantly thrown into it, get on base, have good at-bats, things like that. And I think for me it feels good to get some hits."

Verdugo was recalled Thursday to help boost a slumping offense after signing a $1.5 million, one-year contract on March 20.

When asked after Saturday night's game what he expected when Verdugo was added to the roster, manager Brian Snitker said, "Just professional at-bats, good at-bats, which he's done already."

Added Snitker: "It's kind of why we're excited about getting him here."

Bryan De La Cruz was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett with Verdugo's arrival. In his first two games, Verdugo has started in left field with Michael Harris II in center and Jarred Kelenic in right field.

The left-handed hitting Verdugo has a career batting average of .272. He could retain a starting job even after 2023 NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. returns from surgery to repair his torn left ACL, perhaps in May.

The 28-year-old Verdugo hit .233 with 13 homers and 61 RBIs for the New York Yankees in 2024 following four seasons with Boston. He had an $8.7 million base salary last season and earned $50,000 in performance bonuses for plate appearances.

Snitker hopes Verdugo's disciplined at-bats have an impact on others in the lineup.

"He gives me a lot of information from his first at-bat," Harris said. "It helps me out as another lefty."

TAMPA, Fla. -- Three-and-a-half weeks into his New York Yankees career, Devin Williams doesn't resemble the All-Star closer who dominated hitters with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Brandon Lowe tied the score with a two-run single in a four-run ninth inning off Williams, Jonathan Aranda hit a two-run homer in the 10th against Yoendrys Gomez, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Yankees 10-8 on Saturday to stop New York's five-game winning streak.

"Yeah, four-run lead, you'd like to get in and get out," Williams said. "Made some good pitches; made some bad ones. Not enough good ones today."

Williams has a 9.00 ERA and has allowed runs in four of nine appearances. While he has four saves in four chances, Williams has walked seven in eight innings, and opponents have a .333 average against him.

"We got a long way to go," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Williams. "It's a little bump here early, and he's got all the equipment to get through it."

Luke Weaver, who struck out two in a perfect eighth, could become an increasingly enticing option to replace Williams as closer. After thriving when he took over the closer role from Clay Holmes late last season, Weaver has not allowed a run in 11 innings over nine games this year and has given up just two hits while striking out 13 and walking five.

Acquired in December from Milwaukee for left-hander Nestor Cortes and infield prospect Caleb Durbin, Williams can become a free agent after the season.

Williams converted 14 of 15 save chances with a 1.25 ERA for the Brewers last year, striking out 38 and walking 11 in 21 innings. Diagnosed during 2024 spring training with two stress fractures in his back, he didn't make his season debut until July 28.

Given an 8-4 lead, Williams allowed Jose Caballero's one-out single on a chopper as third baseman Oswaldo Cabrera made a high throw, for an error, then walked No. 9 batter Ben Rortvedt. Chandler Simpson hit an opposite-field RBI double to left for his first big league hit, Yandy Diaz hit a run-scoring infield single and Lowe singled to left.

"A lot of soft contact," Boone said.

Williams allowed the hits to Caballero, Diaz and Lowe on his changeup, known as an airbender.

"Just the changeup to Lowe. I'd like to have that one back," Williams said. "Tough luck on that double down the line, but aside from that, I thought I threw the ball pretty well."

Williams generated just one swing-and-miss among his seven changeups.

"Maybe using it too much," he said. "We'll work on that."

As well as Lowry's injury, hooker Rob Herring and props Andrew Warwick and Callum Reid also sustained knocks, and Murphy says "there was a lot of disruption" with the injuries.

Murphy admitted Leinster, who top the URC table "are a top-class side" but felt the hosts benefited from a number of 50/50 calls at the scrum and breakdown in the first half.

Dan Sheehan scored a hat-trick off the bench in the second half, and the defeat leaves Ulster outside the top eight with three rounds of fixtures remaining.

Ulster face the Sharks in Belfast next week before trips to Munster and Edinburgh to round out their campaign.

"Over the past number of weeks we have shown a lot of resilience," Murphy added.

"That's growing within the group. The guys are very disappointed in relation to the scoreline.

"We have to dust ourselves down very quickly and get on to Sharks. We knew this was going to be a really tough game and Sharks at home will not be easy.

"We'll have to see who is fit. We picked up quite a lot of injuries today, but we'll dust ourselves down and go again next week."

"I was terrified to be anywhere near a rugby pitch or a rugby ball."

Following a second neck injury in February 2024, the thought of playing again was a huge ask for England wing Claudia MacDonald, who had already considered retirement.

A comeback that seemed nearly impossible, when MacDonald barely left her house after being told not to go in a car, is now at an unimageable point.

The 29-year-old picked up the player-of-the-match award after scoring two tries in a convincing win over Scotland in the Women's Six Nations.

She has not just come back on the biggest stage, but is thriving and pushing for a starting spot against France in Saturday's Grand Slam decider at Allianz Stadium.

"I'm just loving every second of being back," a beaming MacDonald told the BBC. "We're just surrounded by so many talents - amazing, incredible rugby players.

"It's a privilege to put the shirt on. To be picked out today, player of the match? It makes me a bit emotional to be honest.

"The best is yet to come. Look at the skill we have throughout the squad. People say we need to be beaten but we beat each other up in training and push each other so hard."

Having only returned in Exeter's Premiership Women's Rugby defeat by eventual champions Gloucester-Hartpury last December, John Mitchell decided to select MacDonald in his Six Nations squad.

After more than 12 months away from the Red Roses, she scored on her return against Italy in round one, but had to wait until the game against Scotland in Leicester to get a second shot.

Jess Breach's form in MacDonald's absence has made getting back into the side difficult, with the Saracens wing scoring four tries in last year's Six Nations.

A brilliant take in the air and some nifty footwork helped MacDonald break through the Scotland defence early in the game, but her final pass failed to find full-back Ellie Kildunne.

However, her electric start continued throughout the game as she again showed her balanced running to slice through and this time round the final defender for England's fourth try.

The Exeter Chief, who can also play at scrum-half, then grabbed another try in the second half, showing her punchy and deceptively quick running style to race clear down the left wing.

Having said she had to "learn to trust her body again", MacDonald is back in the form that saw her start England's World Cup semi-final win over Canada in 2022.

"Coming back from a double neck injury is all about whether you are going to be brave," former England captain Katy Daley-McLean told the BBC.

"Can you still be brave and play in that same way? For me Claudia doesn't look like she has been away.

"She looks fitter and stronger and really powerful. We know she is a balanced runner but she had some smart touches off the ball as well."

The Edmonton Oilers on Saturday signed defenseman Ty Emberson to a two-year contract extension with an average annual value of $1.3 million.

The Oilers, who will take on the Los Angeles Kings in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, inserted 24-year-old Emberson into the lineup for 76 games this season, recording two goals and 13 point. He averaged 15:07 of ice time for the defending Western Conference champions.

Emberson has turned into a reliable force on Edmonton's penalty-kill unit, and figures to maintain that role vs. the Kings. Emberson led all Edmonton defensemen in total short-handed time on ice (149:32) this season, while ranking second in hits (125).

The Kings will host Game 1 on Monday night at 10 p.m. ET at Crypto.com Arena.

Union Berlin and VfB Stuttgart made history on Saturday as the first Bundesliga game to feature eight goals before halftime.

The score was 4-4 at the interval, and the game finished that way after a much quieter second half.

Four previous Bundesliga games had featured seven goals in the first half, the most recent being Eintracht Frankfurt's 6-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen in May 2019.

Andrej Ilic scored twice for Berlin, while Stuttgart had four different scorers.

While most of the goals came from set-pieces, Union defender Leopold Querfeld made his mark with a powerful shot into the top-right corner from 37 yards out.

It wasn't a day for the goalkeepers as Union's goals came from just five shots on target all game. Stuttgart had six shots on target.

Stuttgart are 11th after a setback to its faint hopes of qualifying for European competition next season and Union are 13th after a draw which ensured they cannot be relegated this season.

Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Benjamin Cremaschi scored on a diving header in the 30th minute and Inter Miami beat the Columbus Crew 1-0 on Saturday.

The matchup between the lone remaining teams in Major League Soccer drew 60,614 fans to Huntington Bank Field, a single-game record for a Crew home game and the largest non-NFL event in stadium history.

The match was moved from Columbus to the home of the NFL's Cleveland Browns due to the popularity of Inter Miami superstar Lionel Messi.

It is the second time this season and ninth since Messi joined MLS in 2023 that Inter Miami has had a road crowd of at least 60,000.

Inter Miami improved to 5-0-3 while Columbus dropped to 5-1-3.

Oscar Ustari made three diving saves in the second half to keep the shutout intact.

Miami took the lead in the 30th minute when Miami midfielder Marcelo Weigandt sent a crossing pass into the center of the box. Columbus defender Malte Amundsen was step for step with Cremaschi, but the 20-year-old midfielder was able to get to it in time and put it past goalkeeper Patrick Schulte for his first goal of the season.

The goal was also the first in 277 minutes scored by a Miami player other than Messi.

Messi had a chance to make it 2-0 during stoppage time in the first half, but was just wide to the left of the net with a blast from the top of the box.

The 37-year-old appeared to be moving gingerly toward the end of the game, but Miami coach Javier Mascherano said afterward he was not aware of any issue.

Fellow forward Luis Suárez was replaced by Telasco Segovia midway through the second half, with Mascherano acknowledging he had one eye on Thursday's Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal first leg at the Vancouver Whitecaps.

"We decided to sub out Luis because I thought we needed to refresh," Mashcerano said in his postgame news conference. "Luis has been playing many minutes, and we wanted to have the ball more so we decided to involve Telasco Segovia and leave Messi loose

"The idea was to do what we had to at that moment but also thinking about the fact that we have a game on Thursday."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick lauded Barcelona's "unbelievable" comeback against Celta Vigo as the "best feeling" after Raphinha's stoppage time penalty sealed a vital 4-3 win for the LaLiga leaders.

A Borja Iglesias hat trick had earlier cancelled out Ferran Torres' opener and given Celta a surprise 3-1 lead at the Olympic Stadium with just 30 minutes to play.

However, quick fire goals from Dani Olmo and Raphinha levelled the match, with the Brazilian's 98th-minute penalty then sealing a victory that took Barça seven points clear of Real Madrid, who host Athletic Club on Sunday, with six games to go.

"After 3-1, it was unbelievable how we came back," Flick said in the post-game news conference. "It was not easy. I feel proud that we won the three points today. It was a very important victory.

"This is the attitude, the mentality. It's really great to see. It was tough. We tried everything to get the points and we did it. It was great."

It's the third time this season Barça have recovered from a two-goal deficit in the second half to win a match. They also came back to beat Benfica 5-4 in the Champions League in January and Atlético Madrid 4-2 in LaLiga in March.

Flick suggested his team may not have been capable of such feats prior to Christmas, praising the never-say-die attitude which still has them alive in three competitions heading into the final stretch of the campaign.

"Today is one of the big comebacks," he added. "It was very important because we know it's now the end of the season, one match less, three points more. It's the best feeling.

"It's good to see the team never gives up. In November we have this situation, head down, negative energy. Now it's different. We have positive energy. We go on."

Flick was especially happy with the response his team showed to some woeful defending, with all three goals conceded avoidable to some extent.

Inside two minute of Iglesias competing his treble, though, Olmo had made it 3-2, with Raphinha heading in a cross form Lamine Yamal, who had started the game on the bench, to level the scores four minutes later.

It looked like Barça would go on to win the game at that point, but they had to wait until the eighth minute of added time to seal it when a penalty was awarded after a VAR review for a foul on Olmo.

"When we conceded the [third] goal, Pedri grabs the ball and is going for the next kick off," Flick said. "And it was a good start from there because [Olmo scored quickly].

"For me, it's very important that we show we're here, we're fighting until the end of the match. It's really good. I love this mentality.

"Maybe some situations were not perfect. We pressed good, were brave against this Celta team, a really good team, and we have three points in the end."

Barça's win was tempered by an injury to Robert Lewandowski. The Polish striker was taken off in the 77th minute after appearing to hurt his hamstring.

"We have to wait until tomorrow," Flick said when asked for an update on Lewandowski. "In my experience, [it's always best to] wait and see what happens."

Barça can ill-afford to lose Lewandoewski, who's scored 40 goals this season, for any length of time as the fixtures come thick and fast.

They host Mallorca in LaLiga on Tuesday and then face Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final next Saturday. They then meet Inter Milan over two legs in the Champions League semifinal, with a trip to Real Valladolid sandwiched in the middle, before a potentially title-deciding Clásico against Madrid in the league on May 11.