Sports Minute: Here is the latest New England sports news from The Associated Press - ABC6 - Providence, RI and New Bedford, MA News, Weather

Sports Minute: Here is the latest New England sports news from The Associated Press

Posted: Updated:

NEW YORK (AP) - The New York Rangers are staying alive in the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 4-3 victory over the Boston Bruins last night. Chris Kreider steered in a pass from Rick Nash 7:03 into overtime. The Rangers will need to win again tomorrow in Boston to force a Game 6 back in Madison Square Garden. Only three teams have lost a series after leading 3-0, but the B's are the most recent to do it in 2010 against Philadelphia.

BOSTON (AP) - The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox 12-3 last night in manager Terry Francona's return to Fenway Park. Francona, let go by Boston after the 2011 season, got a standing ovation after the first inning during a video tribute on the center-field scoreboard. In eight years as manager, Francona led the Red Sox to two World Series championships.

BOSTON (AP) - Red Sox pitcher Ryan Dempster had his shortest start of the season in last night's loss to the Cleveland Indians. He gave up four runs in three innings. His previous shortest came in his prior start, 4 2-3 innings.

BOSTON (AP) - Red Sox third baseman Will Middlebrooks left last night's game against the Cleveland Indians in the top of the fifth inning with lower back spasms. He was called out on strikes on both his at bats before being replaced by Pedro Ciriaco.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Vanderbilt men's basketball coach Kevin Stallings has hired Harvard assistant Yanni Hufnagel to fill a spot on his staff. Hufnagel spent the last four years at Harvard, where he worked as a recruiting coordinator and also assisted in scouting and perimeter player development.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Longtime Alabama sports talk show host Paul Finebaum is joining ESPN and the SEC Network. ESPN announced yesterday that Finebaum will host a daily radio show from Charlotte, North Carolina, starting in August. He will also make appearances on other platforms for the network.

TODAY'S NEW ENGLAND SPORTS SCHEDULE:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL:

Cleveland (Masterson 7-2) at Boston (Lackey 2-4), 7:10 p.m.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.