THIS DATE IN SPORTS HISTORY

■ 1918 — Babe Ruth pitched a four-hitter for Boston in the season opener and drove in two runs in a 7-1 win over Philadelphia.

■ 1952 — The Detroit Red Wings beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-0 to capture the Stanley Cup. The Red Wings hold the Canadiens to two goals in the fourgame sweep.

■ 1984 — Ben Crenshaw wins the Masters by two strokes over Tom Watson.

■ 1991 — Magic Johnson sets an NBA record for career assists in a 112-106 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. Johnson, who needed nine assists to break Oscar Robertson’s record of 9,887, gets 19.

■ 1993 — Sparky Anderson earns his 2,000th victory as a manager as the Detroit Tigers rally to beat the Oakland Athletics 3-2.

■ 1993 — Andre Dawson becomes the 25th player to hit 400 home runs as the Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians 4-3.

■ 1995 — Glen Rice scores 56 points to lead the Miami Heat to a 123-117 victory over the Orlando Magic.

■ 2000 — Cal Ripken becomes the 24th player to reach 3,000 hits when he lines a clean single to center off Twins reliever Hector Carrasco. He reaches the milestone with his third hit in a 6-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins and becomes the seventh player in major league history to get 3,000 hits and 400 home runs.

■ 2005 — Top-ranked Roger Federer’s 25-match winning streak ends when French teenager Richard Gasquet saves three match points before capturing a third-set tiebreaker at the Monte Carlo Masters. Federer’s 35-1 record this year is the best start on the men’s tour since John McEnroe was 39-0 in 1984.

■ 2007 — Kobe Bryant scores 50 points in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 109-98 win over Seattle, giving him 50 or more for the 10th time this season. It’s the third-highest total in NBA history behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 45 times with 50 or more in 1961-62, and Chamberlain’s 30 times the following season.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE April 15, 1947: (From left) Brooklyn Dodgers third baseman John Jorgensen, shortstop Pee Wee Reese, second baseman Ed Stanky and first baseman Jackie Robinson pose at Ebbets field in New York. Robinson plays the first major league game of his Hall of Fame career for the Dodgers, scoring the deciding run in a 5-3 victory over the Boston Braves. He becomes the first Black player to appear in the majors since 1884, changing baseball forever.