This Date in Sports

May 17

1998 — David Wells pitches the 13th perfect game in modern major league history as the New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins 4-0.

2000 — Australia’s Susie O’Neill breaks the oldest record in international swimming, winning the 200-meter butterfly and beating the 1981 mark by Mary T. Meagher. O’Neill is timed in 2 minutes, 5.81 seconds, topping the record by 0.15 seconds. Meagher’s time of 2:05.96 was set in Brown Deer, Wis.

2003 — Funny Cide runs away from the field on the turn for home and finishes with a nearrecord 9 3/4-length victory in the Preakness. The gelding’s victory is second to Survivor’s 10-length victory in the first Preakness, in 1873.

2006 — Tim Duncan scores a team-playoff high 36 points, tying an NBA postseason record by hitting his first 12 shots. Duncan adds 12 rebounds as San Antonio staves off elimination with a 98-97 victory over Dallas in Game 5.

2008 — Big Brown, ridden by Kent Desormeaux, charges to the lead turning for home and then cruises down the stretch to win the Preakness Stakes. The colt, named for UPS, wins by 5 1/4 lengths over Macho Again. The undefeated colt tries to become the first to win thoroughbred racing’s first Triple Crown in 30 years in three weeks at Belmont.

2011 — Dirk Nowitzki shows no rust from a nineday layoff, making 10 of his first 11 shots and an NBA playoff-record 24 straight free throws on the way to 48 points, leading the Dallas Mavericks to a 121-112 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the Western Conference final.

2012 — Hall of Famer Johnny Petraglia becomes the first player in Professional Bowlers Association history to win a national or senior tour title in six decades, beating Ron Mohr 220-204 in the PBA Senior Dayton Classic. The 65-year-old Petraglia won the first of his 14 PBA national tour titles in 1966 in Fort Smith, Ark., at the age of 19. Dick Weber also won PBA titles in six decades, but his mark includes a PBA regional title.