Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Build a better turkey call and the birds — as well as competitors — will flock to your door.
Down-N-Dirty Outdoors discovered as much when it unveiled a new air-blown turkey gobble call and started to put it on the competitive outdoors equipment market last year. Hunters loved it because birds responded. Competitors wanted it because it sold.

SAN ANTONIO—Rory McIlroy had struggled enough to lose the world’s top ranking, prompting his caddie to suggest playing the Texas Open to get some more preparation in before the Masters.
McIlroy heeded the advice and played his best golf in what has so far been a dreadful start to the season.

VICTORIA—Canada’s world men’s curling championship reign ended yesterday after three years, but Brad Jacobs still was able to put the loss in perspective.
Jacobs’ Northern Ontario rink fell 8-6 to Sweden’s Niklas Edin in the gold-medal game.
“It’s not like we came out and we curled really horrible,” noted Jacobs. “We threw the rock really well.

TORONTO—He’s 0-2 with a lofty 8.44 ERA and opponents are hitting .326 against him.
But R.A. Dickey feels he’s very close to the form that made him the 2012 National League Cy Young Award winner.
Will Middlebrooks homered three times and doubled as the Boston Red Sox hit knuckleballer Dickey hard early en route to a lopsided 13-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays yesterday afternoon.

TORONTO—The Blue Jays’ brief power outage at the plate is over—judging from a wild and woolly 10-8 win over the Cleveland Indians that saw five Toronto home runs.
“Hopefully some people can step off the ledge a little bit,” pitcher Mark Buehrle said dryly after Toronto (1-2) finally found the 2013 win column.

WASHINGTON—A familiar cast of characters helped the Washington Nationals complete a lopsided, season-opening three-game sweep of the payroll-slashing, talent-trading Miami Marlins.
Now should come more of a test: a visit to the reigning NL Central champion Cincinnati Reds starting today.

TORONTO—The Toronto Maple Leafs lost the game and one of their hottest players in last night’s defeat to the Philadelphia Flyers.
Joffrey Lupul’s status now is the biggest question mark surrounding the club as the Maple Leafs continue the push for their first playoff berth since 2004.

TORONTO—With the Toronto Maple Leafs looking primed for their first playoff appearance since 2004, general manager Dave Nonis says he’s satisfied with his team’s goaltending.
That doesn’t mean he wasn’t looking for an upgrade prior to the NHL trade deadline.

PHILADELPHIA—Fighting for a playoff spot, the Philadelpia Flyers need wins down the stretch.
Nothing like a rare third-period comeback to help the push.
Wayne Simmonds and Erik Gustafsson scored goals late in the game to lift the Flyers to a 5-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens last night.

VICTORIA—Brad Jacobs did not hold anything back.
The skip explained how he really felt—unimpressed—with his efforts as Canada split a pair of games yesterday at the world men’s curling championships.
Jacobs’ Northern Ontario rink beat Russia’s Andrey Drozdov 8-5 in the afternoon draw, which atoned for a 10-8 loss to struggling Japan in the morning.