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Sports Briefs April 12, 2010

| April 12, 2010 9:00 PM

Baseball

Wherever Stephen Strasburg's formidable right arm eventually takes him, record books - well, databases on the Web - will forever show his first professional win came April 11, 2010, in his minor league debut for the Harrisburg Senators, the Washington Nationals' entry in the Double-A Eastern League in Altoona, Pa., nestled in the Allegheny Mountains.

Strasburg, who was the No. 1 overall pick in June's amateur draft and the only one who signed a record $15.1 million, four-year contract, consistently pitched in the 97-98 mph range over his five innings, allowing four runs - one earned - and four hits, and striking out eight batters.

Auto Racing

Helio Castroneves held off Scott Dixon to win the inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Alabama in Birmingham, Ala., coasting to the finish line after coming off caution with two laps to go.

The three-time Indianapolis 500 winner took over in the stretch run when Marco Andretti headed to pit road with seven laps to go. Castroneves treated the new IndyCar venue to his "Spiderman" move, climbing a chain link fence in front of the grandstands and pumping his fists to the fans.

Castroneves won by just over half a second over Dixon and nobody else was closer than 7 seconds to the lead, making it a two-man chase at the end.

NBA

Magic 98, Cavaliers 92: Mickael Pietrus scored all 12 of his points in the fourth quarter to help visiting Orlando beat Cleveland.

Trail Blazers 91, Lakers 88: Martell Webster hit three free throws with 3.1 seconds left, to lift visiting Portland over Los Angeles.

Bulls 104, Raptors 88: Joakim Noah had 18 points, 19 rebounds and seven assists and visiting Chicago beat Toronto to take a one-game lead over the Raptors for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

Heat 111, Knicks 98: Dwyane Wade scored 32 points to lead visiting Miami over New York.

Hornets 114, Timberwolves 86: Emeka Okafor scored 23 points to help host New Orleans over Minnesota.

Suns 116, Rockets 106: Amare Stoudemire had 35 points and 13 rebounds and host Phoenix Suns beat Houston.

Warriors 120, Thunder 117: Kevin Durant's 40 points weren't enough as visiting Oklahoma City lost to Golden State.

NHL

Penguins 6, Islanders 5, OT: At Uniondale, N.Y., Sidney Crosby finished the regular season with a flourish, scoring twice to reach 50 goals for the first time and adding three assists in the Pittsburgh's win over New York.

Lightning 3, Panthers 1: At Sunrise, Fla., Steven Stamkos got his 51st goal of the season to lead Tampa Bay past Florida.

Devils 2, Sabres 1: At Newark, N.J., Jamie Langenbrunner scored an empty-net, power-play goal with 3 seconds left and New Jersey beat Buffalo.

Flyers 2, Rangers 1, SO: Brian Boucher stopped Olli Jokinen on the final attempt of the shootout to send host Philadelphia into the playoffs while eliminating New York.

Red Wings 3, Blackhawks 2 OT: Brad Stuart scored in overtime to lift visiting Detroit over Chicago.

Kings 2, Avalanche 1, OT: At Denver, Dustin Brown scored 1:31 into overtime, helping Los Angeles past Colorado.

Bruins 4, Capitals 3, SO: Two-time reigning MVP Alex Ovechkin was held without a point as visiting Boston beat Washington.

Ducks 7, Oilers 2: At Anaheim, Calif., Teemu Selanne scored his 606th goal in possibly his final NHL game, and Anaheim beat Edmonton.

Football

More than 20,000 people gathered to watch fireworks go off one last time over Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas, before a ton of dynamite lit up the Dallas Cowboys' longtime home and brought it to the ground.

The building known for the giant hole in its roof - "so God can watch his team," according to local lore - was demolished in a planned implosion set off by the 11-year-old winner of an essay contest.

The Cowboys played 38 seasons in Texas Stadium, winning five Super Bowls during that time.

- The Associated Press