Three people were injured in a drive-by shooting during a graduation party in St. Paul Sunday night, the third shooting in less than 24 hours at gatherings in St. Paul and North St. Paul.

“Investigators will be looking for connections to other incidents similar to this,” said Sgt. Mike Ernster, a St. Paul police spokesman, adding it was unknown as of Sunday night whether there are correlations.

The Sunday night shooting happened on the Greater East Side during a graduation party at a home in the 1700 block of East Rose Avenue. Someone fired shots from a black sport-utility vehicle as it drove by about 7:15 p.m.

A woman was shot in the leg, a man was shot in the stomach and another woman had a graze wound to her head, Ernster said. They were being treated at Regions Hospital.

No one was immediately under arrest and police said anyone with information can call investigators at 651-266-5858.

The earlier weekend shootings happened about 10:45 p.m. Saturday in North St. Paul, when four people were injured at a graduation party at Casey Lake Park, and before 1 a.m. Sunday when three young women were hurt during a gathering at Crosby Farm Regional Park in St Paul.

Shootings and homicides have been trending down in St. Paul this year. There were 29 nonfatal shootings in St. Paul as of May 20, compared to 49 during the same time last year, 76 in 2022 and 81 in 2021, according to the police department.

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Basketball is a team game, but the bulk of Sunday’s kudos need to be directed at Kayla McBride.

That happens when you have an historic night.

McBride scored a season-high 31 points as the Minnesota Lynx won 92-79 at Atlanta.

Minnesota’s shooting guard was perfect from the field until about two minutes remained, finishing 10 of 12 overall. She made the first six of her seven 3-point attempts. And she was 5 for 5 at the free-throw line. She did not commit a foul and had just one turnover in playing 31 minutes, 36 seconds.

“This is just crazy for her position: first player in league history to score more than 30 points, shooting better than 80% from the field, 100% from the foul line, making six or more threes or making five or more free-throw attempts,” said coach Cheryl Reeve. “We needed it.”

McBride averaged 13.8 points in the first four Lynx games.

“You don’t walk into a game knowing, like, I’m going to do all these crazy things. I just wanted to be aggressive from the jump. I felt good when my first shot went down,” McBride said. “I have a lot of faith and confidence in my shot and I was just doing it. I was enjoying it. My teammates were finding me in good spots. Just having fun.”

McBride’s point total is the most in her four seasons in Minnesota and ties the second-highest of her career. She had 38 while playing for Las Vegas on June 27, 2018.

“When you see the first one go down, the hoop kind of gets bigger. So just enjoying it. You never know when you’re going to have opportunities to do something like that again. I was just having fun, being aggressive, confident and letting it fly.”

Seeing her teammate’s success, Napheesa Collier said the offensive game plan became simple.

“Pass her the ball. She was so hot it was crazy. She was just throwing it up and like swish, swish, swish. It was just so fun to see, Collier said. “Mac might not think about it, but on the bench I was like we need to get you to 30. … Six of seven threes is just wild; 10 for 12 is a crazy stat.”

Up by four at the break, the Lynx (4-1) pulled away in the third quarter. They outscored Atlanta 26-12 in those 10 minutes by making 8 of 13 shots, including 6 of 9 from deep.

Atlanta (2-2) entered the game as one of the league’s top 3-point shooting teams, but made just 6 of 22 attempts.

“Our defense has put us in position to win every game,” Reeve said. The Lynx have the league’s top defensive rating at 91.2. Seattle is second at 94.6.

Down by 18 to start the fourth quarter, Atlanta got within 11 with McBride and Collier getting a much-deserved breather. Reinserted into the game midway through the frame, McBride stroked another trey less than a minute later.

Collier, knocked to the floor on too many shots against a Dream squad that likes to be physical, finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

Alanna Smith finished with 17 points, five assists and four rebounds. Courtney Williams added nine points, six rebounds and five assists.

A shooting in St. Paul injured three young women early Sunday, police said.

It happened at Crosby Farm Regional Park off Shepard Road, about two hours after four people were injured in a shooting in a North St. Paul park. St. Paul Sgt. Mike Ernster, a department spokesman, said he didn’t have information Sunday night about whether they were connected.

In the St. Paul incident, one woman was shot in the leg, another had a gunshot wound to her cheek and the third had a hand injury that could be a graze wound, according to Ernster. They are 18 to 22.

Police were called to the shooting just before 1 a.m. Sunday. There was a gathering of people when multiple shots were fired, Ernster said based on preliminary information. No one was under arrest as of Sunday night, and police are investigating the circumstances of the shooting.

Investigators ask anyone with information to call them at 651-266-5858.

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Jhoan Duran questioned the pitch selection after allowing a walk-off home run to Will Brennan last week, saying he would have preferred to throw a first-pitch fastball rather than the curveball he ended up throwing.

That comment, manager Rocco Baldelli surmised, was a result of some pent-up frustration from the Twins’ closer, who wasn’t getting the results he was used to. On the Twins’ last road trip, Duran gave up home runs in three straight appearances.

But in his work with the Twins’ coaching staff, they identified a mechanical adjustment that Duran needed to make. That fix, he believes, will help bring his velocity back to the level that it was at previously.

“Right now, we found the spot we wanted,” Duran said of his mechanics. “It’s … better. We have a lot of time working on it. And right now, I feel (I’m) in the best spot this year.”

Duran said assistant pitching coach Luis Ramirez pointed out that his arm motion was getting too long. They watched the video together while they were in Washington D.C., and then Duran made the fix.

That, he thinks, was leading to him throwing slightly slower.

“I had a little problem in my arm, and that’s why I don’t throw like I used to throw,” he said.

That, of course, seems funny to say when it comes to Duran considering he’s still averaging 100.3 mph on his four-seam fastball. But it’s down from the 101.8 mph he was throwing last season.

The closer began the series against Texas by throwing a pair of scoreless innings and picking up saves in both games.

“Now I feel in a good spot,” Duran said.

Lewis rehabs

Royce Lewis began his rehab assignment on Saturday with a single and then immediately stole second base as part of a 1-for-4 day.

While the stolen base is a sign that Lewis, who has been out since straining his quad on Opening Day, is feeling healthy, the stolen base is certainly something Twins coaches and training staff could do without — Baldelli said pregame that he was planning on calling Lewis to instruct him to not attempt another steal.

Lewis followed that up by going 2 for 5 with a double and a run scored on Sunday in the Saints’ 8-3 loss to Buffalo.

“I think we have to be pleased with the way he’s coming back and the way the medical staff has been able to handle him to this point,” Baldelli said.

Though it’s sometimes hard to tell how Lewis is actually doing  — he always says he’s great, Baldelli said  — all indications are that he’s doing well.

The Twins have not laid out the plan for him publicly, though given the length of his absence, it’s not expected to be just a couple day rehab assignment.

“There is a responsible progression that we know that guys coming back from certain types of injuries need to be able to fulfill and have to go out there and probably get a certain number of at-bats and make sure you’ve seen enough pitching where you feel comfortable coming back,” Baldelli said. “You’ve got to get in the field enough, have to make some plays, get the work done pregame, be on your feet all day long.”

Briefly

The Twins optioned reliever Kody Funderburk to Triple-A St. Paul after Sunday’s game and will announce a corresponding roster move on Monday. … Reliever Jay Jackson cleared waivers and will report to Triple-A. … The Twins moved a slumping Edouard Julien down in the lineup Sunday, inserting Trevor Larnach into the leadoff spot.

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