After a tough end to their short homestand, the St. Paul Saints started a two-city, 13-game road trip in style with a 3-1 win against the Buffalo Bisons.

Will Holland and Austin Martin homered for St. Paul, while Louie Varland (2-2) started and pitched six strong innings. Varland allowed one run on four hits and three walks, while striking out three. Josh Winder pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Varland and Jorge Alcala notched his second save with a scoreless ninth inning, getting out of a jam after surrendering two baserunners.

Matt Wallner opened the scoring for the Saints, plating Martin with a sacrifice fly in the first. Martin reached on an error and DeShawn Keirsey Jr. singled, sending Martin to third. Keirsey stole second before Michael Helman walked to load the bases. Wallner’s sacrifice fly sent Martin home and chased Buffalo starter Yariel Rodríguez, who’s spent time in the majors this season for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Orelvis Martinez homered in the fourth to tie the game.

But Holland and Martin both hit solo homers in the fifth to put St. Paul ahead for good. It was Holland’s third home run of the season and Martin’s first. Martin is now hitting. 364 with a 1.351 OPS for the Saints this season.

Never underestimate the power of the press.

Chris and Cheri Phillips, of Cambridge, reached out to reporters in the Twin Cities for help last week after becoming stranded in Brazil with their newborn son, who was born three months early on March 12, 2024. Greyson Leo Phillips, who was 2 pounds, 12.6 ounces at birth, spent the first 51 days of his life in the neonatal intensive care unit of Ilha Hospital e Maternidade in Florianopolis.

The Phillipses, U.S. citizens who had not planned to have a child born in Brazil, soon faced “an absolute nightmare,” they said.

Brazilian officials wouldn’t issue Greyson a birth certificate because the Phillipses’ passports, like all U.S. passports, don’t list their parents’ names. Without a birth certificate, U.S. officials in Brazil wouldn’t issue him an American passport. Without a passport, his parents couldn’t take him home to Minnesota.

The Phillipses reached out to family and friends last week and asked if anybody had connections to the local media. Within a day, they were in touch with reporters from WCCO, the Pioneer Press and the Star Tribune, all of whom ran stories about their plight.

More media coverage followed, including interviews with KSTP, KARE 11, Fox News, CNN and The Times of London. WCCO’s story was picked up by O Globo, Brazil’s leading daily newspaper, Chris Phillips said.

Officials at the local registry office, called a cartório, took notice. The officials, who had previously refused to issue Greyson’s birth certificate, reconsidered.

“They came to the conclusion that there was a law passed last year that allows for some flexibility with regards to issuing birth certificates to foreigners being born in Brazil,” Chris Phillips said.

On Friday, officials from their local cartório came to the Phillipses’ Airbnb and, using the couple’s  U.S. passports and Greyson’s Declaration of Live Birth as documentation, produced Greyson’s birth certificate.

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“The power of the press is real,” he said. “Every single reporter who shared our story, every single outlet that gave them those opportunities, and every single person who connected us with them in the first place, they all played a critical role in the chain of events that led to a tiny notary office at the foot of a hill on an island in southern Brazil suddenly changing its tone after 9-plus weeks of inexplicable and unforgivable stubbornness.”

With Greyson’s Brazilian birth certificate in hand, the couple has started the process of applying for his United States documentation — his Consular Report of Birth Abroad and U.S. passport — which they need in order to take him home to Minnesota. In fact, an official from the U.S. Embassy in Brasília is scheduled to fly to Florianopolis on May 29 to interview them in person, a prerequisite toward producing Greyson’s U.S. passport.

“To be clear, we will not begin to feel truly comfortable until we have that passport in hand and get through immigration in Atlanta,” Chris Phillips said. “Our journey isn’t over quite yet, as we still have a long road ahead of us to get Greyson home. But, at long last, at least we can see it.”

Greyson thriving

The couple plan to fly to Sao Paulo on June 23 and then fly to Atlanta the next day. They plan to arrive at MSP International Airport on June 25.

Mayaro Azevedo, a pediatrician in Florianopolis, Brazil, examines Greyson Leo Phillips at her office on May 17, 2024. Azevedo was the attending pediatrician on duty when Greyson was born three months prematurely on March 12. (Courtesy of Chris Phillips)

In the meantime, Greyson is thriving. He weighed 5 pounds, 2 ounces, at his doctor’s appointment on Friday, and likes to eat every two hours, Cheri Phillips said. “Chris usually takes the middle-of-the-night feedings, so I’ll pump and breastfeed throughout the day, so we have a stash of milk,” she said. “He’s really starting to develop a personality and make it known when he wants something. It’s great having him to ourselves, finally, and seeing him develop outside the NICU.”

Family members have flown in to help at various points, including Cheri Phillips’ mother, Lori Tocholke, of Hinckley, Minn., and Chris Phillips’ mother and stepfather, Lynn Halverson and Doug Lee, of Ellicott City, Md. Cheri Phillips’ sister, Val Kunze, of Pine City, Minn., is planning to help with their trip home.

On Sunday, the couple will appear on “Domingo Espetacular,” which, as far as the couple can tell, is the Brazilian equivalent of “60 Minutes,” as a case study in the inefficiencies of cartórios in Brazil, Chris Phillips said.

“We really did not want all this attention,” he said. “We are intensely private people, but we were desperate and needed help. Now there needs to be accountability, so that others don’t have to suffer what we went through. … More than anything, though, we are happy we are finally going to be able to get our little guy home.”

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By Hannah Fingerhut, Scott McFetridge and Margery A. Beck | Associated Press

GREENFIELD, Iowa — Powerful storms that rolled through the Midwest spun up multiple tornadoes, including a fierce twister that smashed through a small Iowa town Tuesday, carving a bleak landscape of destroyed homes and businesses, toppled trees, smashed cars and widely strewn debris and causing an unknown number of injuries.

Iowa State Patrol spokesman Sgt. Alex Dinkla said multiple people were injured in Greenfield, a town of about 2,000 around 55 miles southwest of Des Moines, and there was a lot of damage in town. He didn’t know the extent of the injuries.

In the aftermath of the storm, parts of Greenfield appeared devastated. Mounds of broken wood, branches, car parts and other debris littered lots where homes once stood. Cars lay busted and bent while damaged houses sat skewed against the gray and overcast sky. Trees stood — barely — bereft of branches or leaves.

Multiple tornadoes were reported throughout the state, and one also apparently took down several 250-foot wind turbines. Des Moines, Iowa, television station KCCI-TV showed at least three wind turbines that were toppled by an apparent tornado in southwest Iowa, and at least one was in flames with black smoke pluming from the bent structure.

Wind farms are built to withstand tornadoes, hurricanes and other powerful winds. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, turbines are designed to shut off when winds exceed certain thresholds, typically around 55 mph. They also lock and feather their blades, and turn into the wind, to minimize the strain.

The Adair County Health System hospital in Greenfield was damaged in the storm, but Mercy One spokesman Todd Mizener said he had no further details. The hospital is affiliated with Mercy One, and officials were on their way to Greenfield to assess the damage.

The town bills itself as “the friendly wave as you walk” type of place with tree-lined streets — before the storm — and “the crack of the fireworks or twinkle of the lights” on special holidays. Also touting itself as the “perfect place to grow,” Greenfield prides itself on being a town where business owners know your name and neighbors help neighbors, according to its visitors page.

Mary Long, the owner of Long’s Market in downtown Greenfield, said she rode out the storm at her business in the community’s historic town square, which largely escaped damage. Long said there appeared to be widespread damage on the east and south sides of town.

“I could hear this roaring, like the proverbial freight train, and then it was just done,” she said.

Camille Blair said the Greenfield Chamber of Commerce office where she works closed around 2 p.m. ahead of the storm. She emerged from her home to describe widespread damage and scattered debris.

“There’s a pretty significant roof damage to several houses that I know will need whole new roofs,” she said. “And I can see from my house it kind of went in a straight line down the road.”In far southwestern Iowa, video posted to social media showed a tornado just northwest of Red Oak. Further east and north, the National Weather Service issued multiple tornado warnings for areas near the towns of Griswold, Corning, Fontanelle and Guthrie Center, among others.

Iowa was already braced for severe weather after the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center gave most of the state a high chance of seeing severe thunderstorms with the potential for strong tornadoes. Des Moines public schools ended classes two hours early and canceled all evening activities ahead of the storms.

Earlier in the day, residents to the west in Omaha, Nebraska, awoke to weather sirens blaring and widespread power outages as torrential rain, high winds and large hail pummeled the area. The deluge of more than 5 inches of rain in less than two hours flooded basements and submerged cars. Television station KETV showed firefighters arriving to rescue people from vehicles.

In Illinois, dust storms forced authorities to shut down stretches of two interstates due to low visibility. Winds gusts of between 35 mph (56 kph) and 45 mph (74 kph) hit the McLean area, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Chuck Schaffer.

“There is no visibility at times,” state police posted on the social media platform X.

The storms followed days of extreme weather that have ravaged much of the middle section of the country. Strong winds, large hail and tornadoes swept parts of Oklahoma and Kansas late Sunday, damaging homes and injuring two in Oklahoma.

Another round of storms Monday night raked Colorado and western Nebraska and saw the city of Yuma, Colorado, blanketed in hail the size of baseballs and golf balls, turning streets into rivers of water and ice. Front-end loaders were used to move half-foot deep hail Tuesday.

Last week, deadly storms hit the Houston area in Texas, killing at least eight people. Those storms Thursday knocked out power to hundreds of thousands for days, leaving those Texans in the dark and without air conditioning during hot and humid weather. The total of deaths was raised Tuesday from seven to include a man who died from carbon monoxide poisoning while running a generator after his power went out. Hurricane-force winds reduced businesses and other structures to debris and shattered glass in downtown skyscrapers.

Tuesday’s storms were expected to bring much of the same high winds, heavy rain and large hail to Minnesota and part of northern Missouri, said Bob Oravec, lead forecaster with the National Weather Service.

He said the system is expected to turn south on Wednesday, bringing more severe weather to parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and southern Missouri.

McFetridge reported from Des Moines, Iowa, and Beck reported from Omaha, Nebraska. Associated Press writers Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis, Josh Funk in Omaha, Colleen Slevin in Denver and Juan Lozano in Houston contributed to this report.

The Timberwolves host the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals at Target Center tonight, a bout that comes just 70 hours after Minnesota ousted Denver in Game 7 of the West semifinals to cap a long, grueling series.

Time moves fast in the NBA playoffs. Much faster than the Timberwolves are accustomed to, anyway.

The Wolves had a week between the end of the regular season and Game 1 of the first round against Phoenix. Minnesota’s sweep of the Suns created a similar gap ahead of its series with Denver.

But going the distance with the Nuggets means the Wolves will now have to flip the page quickly, because an entirely different chapter awaits.

Dallas is nothing like Minnesota’s previous two opponents. The Mavericks are a heavy pick-and-roll team, while Phoenix often resorted to isolation basketball, and Denver ran a lot of dribble hand-off actions.

“We know it’s going to be a different style of game — a lot more pick and rolls. The ball handler is the (Nikola) Jokic of the series, where they do a lot of stuff for Luka (Doncic) and Kyrie (Irving), and guys have to be in and out of help situations,” Wolves point guard Mike Conley said. “They play fast with the throw aheads to their athletic wings. So we’ll have multiple challenges this series, and we’ll have to figure that out right away. And, obviously only getting a day and a half to prepare for them, it’s different than the last two series. … So we got to lock in right away.”

Defensively, Dallas has two rim protectors in Daniel Gafford and Derek Lively, while Phoenix nor Denver had much to deter potential drivers who reached the hoop. So, the Mavericks could play someone like Anthony Edwards more straight-up knowing useful help exists behind the primary defender.

These are all things the Wolves have seen before and handled, but they haven’t had to do so in more than a month.

“We spent a lot of time going through that stuff (Tuesday) in practice, just getting back to that foundation of those options on offense and different things we’re going to have to do on defense,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “Yeah, we’ve done it. We said all season long we’ve preached to our guys we’re going to have to be to do a lot of different things and the reason we want to do it, not just to navigate a season, but also navigate a playoffs. So we have some experience doing it all.”

Which is helpful, considering Minnesota still probably isn’t exactly sure what approaches — on either end — it will need to utilize to beat the Mavericks. Because it hasn’t played Dallas – not this Dallas, anyway.

The Wolves went 3-1 against the Mavericks during the regular season. But all three wins came when Dallas was without Irving, the star guard, and all four matchups came prior to the trade deadline. The Mavericks were a major winner at the deadline, acquiring multi-faceted wing P.J. Washington and solid center Daniel Gafford, both of whom now start for Dallas.

Their arrivals made the Mavericks deeper, more versatile and, most importantly, far better defensively.

Post deadline, Dallas went 21-9, sporting the league’s seventh-best offense and eighth-best defense.

“We haven’t faced that team yet. We’ve faced some of these guys, obviously, but that group together, we haven’t faced it yet,” Wolves center Rudy Gobert said. “So it’s a big challenge for us, but we also believe in who we are, believe in our strengths and we believe in our ability to try to slow them down, and also offensively our ability to find good shots for our team. We know it’s going to be really tough. We know these guys are an incredible team. They’re here for a reason. But everyone in this locker room believes and are just ready for that challenge.”

They better be. Because there is no time to dip their toes into this series. As Denver learned the hard way, a slow start can sometimes prove too difficult to overcome.

“We didn’t expect, just because we beat Phoenix or Denver, that now it’s our time to just run through the West. No, Dallas is here for a reason,” Conley said. “they’re playing some of the best defense and best offense we’ve seen. So that’s our mindset, just sticking to the game plan, getting ready for Dallas.”

All-Defense selections

To the surprise of no one, Gobert was selected first-team All-NBA Defense on Tuesday. The four-time Defensive Player of the Year was joined by fellow big men Bam Adebayo of Miami, Anthony Davis of the Lakers and rookie Victor Wembenyama of San Antonio. The only wing on the first team was New Orleans’ Herb Jones.

The second team, meanwhile, was a haven for the league’s lockdown defensive wings. Featured on that unit was Gobert’s teammate, Jaden McDaniels. The 23-year-old is an All-Defense honoree for the first time in his career after, like Gobert, playing a significant role in Minnesota touting the NBA’s top defense.

Gobert and McDaniels are the Wolves’ third-and-fourth All-Defense honorees, joining Kevin Garnett and Jimmy Butler.

“That was the most important for me, just to see him get his first all-defensive team. He wants to be in the first team, and I think he’s a top five defender in this league, but it’s good to get your first one, and now he gets to show the world who he is every night on the biggest stage,” Gobert said. “So I’m really proud of him, the work that he puts in, the growth, the maturity that he’s shown throughout the year and especially now in the playoffs, we definitely wouldn’t be here without him. The sky is the limit, but it’s good to get his first one. I’m happy for him.”

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