SAN DIEGO (AP) — Michael Wacha of the San Diego Padres took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and struck out a career-high 11 in a 4-0 victory against the Kansas City Royals that snapped a five-game losing streak. Michael Massey’s leadoff single to right field came on Wacha’s 103rd pitch and manager Bob Melvin immediately came out to pull the right-hander, who left to a standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 43,828. Nick Martinez came on and retired the side. Wacha walked one. He had a perfect game going before hitting Edward Olivares with a pitch with one out in the fifth.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Nolan Arenado homered in his fourth straight game and Nolan Gorman had a career-high five RBIs to lead the St. Louis Cardinals over the Milwaukee Brewers 18-1 for their season-best fourth straight win. Andrew Knizner hit his first career grand slam in a 10-run eighth after entering as a pinch runner earlier in the inning, which began with Tommy Edman homering. The Cardinals tied their season high with 16 hits. Jack Flaherty allowed three hits in seven innings and struck out 10. Willson Contreras returned behind the plate for his first appearance at catcher since May 5.
DENVER (AP) — Rookie Brenton Doyle had first first multihomer game and Harold Castro had a tiebreaking, two-run double with two outs in the seventh inning that lifted Colorado over the Cincinnati Reds 9-8 Monday night for the Rockies’ 10th win in 14 games. With the score 6-6, Ryan McMahon singled off Ben Lively (1-1) leading off the seventh. Luke Sims, who hadn’t allowed a run in 11 appearances this season, relieved with one out and walked Randal Grichuk with two outs. Castro doubled off the base of the right-field wall, giving him three hits and three RBIs, and putting the Rockies ahead 8-6.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas State signed football coach Chris Klieman to a new eight-year contract Monday that will pay an average of $5.5 million annually. The deal replaced a contract due to end after the 2026 season that paid him an average of $4 million. The 55-year-old Klieman led the Wildcats to the Big 12 title last season with a win over College Football Playoff participant TCU. The Wildcats should contend for another conference title this season. They return quarterback Will Howard, their entire offensive line and several playmakers on defense. They open the season Sept. 2 against Southeast Missouri State.
BALTIMORE (AP) — Shohei Ohtani made more history, becoming the first starting pitcher since 1964 to reach base five times in a game as the Los Angeles Angels beat the Baltimore Orioles 9-5. Ohtani had four hits and a walk, making up for his shaky pitching with a stellar performance at the plate. He hit a titanic three-run homer and finished a double shy of the cycle on a night the Orioles hit three home runs off him. The last person to reach base five times in a game he started on the mound was Mel Stottlemyre of the New York Yankees, on Sept. 26, 1964, against Washington.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chris Taylor scored on a bases-loaded walk in the 12th inning, Max Muncy homered twice to move back into the major league lead, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Minnesota Twins 9-8 for their sixth straight win. Trayce Thompson drew a walk on a full count with the bases loaded and a full count off Jorge López (1-1) to give Los Angeles the victory. Will Smith also went deep as the Dodgers. Los Angeles led 6-3 thru seven innings before the game saw three ties and three lead changes in the final five frames. Minnesota’s Trevor Larnach hit a game-tying home run in the eighth inning.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Oakland Athletics have reached an agreement with Bally’s and Gaming & Leisure Properties to build a potential stadium on the Tropicana hotel site along the Las Vegas Strip. Bally’s on Monday unveiled plans for a 30,000-seat stadium on the 35-acre site. The project is expected to cost about $1.5 billion. The A’s are asking for nearly $400 million in public support from the Nevada Legislature, which could vote on a proposal this week.
NEW YORK (AP) — The pitch clock has sped up baseball as hoped, and it might be leading to more exciting endings, too. A quarter of the way through Major League Baseball’s first season with the pitch timer, relief pitchers seem to be bearing the most stress from it, with save conversions dropping to 61.4% from 67.8% at a similar point last season. The save percentage is near the bottom range of the past decade, which averaged 65.1%, MLB said Monday. The high was 70% in 2015 and the low 61% in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Pitchers say the stress of the late innings has become more difficult to process with the pitch clock.
DENVER (AP) — The Denver Nuggets aren't concerned about their horrendous history against the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA playoffs as they begin their Western Conference finals against L.A. on Tuesday night. The Nuggets have lost all seven times they've faced the Lakers in the playoffs, including inside the NBA bubble in 2020. But coach Michael Malone said his team is focused on continuing its stellar play regardless of whether it's against their nemesis or not. Neither team has a home game in the playoffs but it's the Nuggets who own the homecourt advantage as the West's top-seeded team.
DALLAS (AP) — Roope Hintz and Wyatt Johnston scored goals and the Dallas Stars advanced to the Western Conference final with a 2-1 win over the Seattle Kraken in Game 7. Dallas moves on to play first-year coach Pete DeBoer’s former team, the Vegas Golden Knights. Game 1 of the West final is Friday night in Las Vegas. DeBoer improved to 7-0 in Game 7s. A day after his 20th birthday, Johnston made it 2-0 with 7:12 left, when he gathered a puck that ricocheted off the back board to the left of the Seattle net and scored. Jake Oettinger had 22 saves, and the only Seattle score came with 17.6 seconds left.
MONDAY SCORES
INTERLEAGUE
Final Atlanta 12 Texas 0
Final Houston 6 Chicago Cubs 4
Final Arizona 5 Oakland 2
Final San Diego 4 Kansas City 0
Final L.A. Dodgers 9 Minnesota 8
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final L.A. Angels 9 Baltimore 5
Final N.Y. Yankees 7 Toronto 4
Final Seattle 10 Boston 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Washington 10 N.Y. Mets 3
Final St. Louis 18 Milwaukee 1
Final Colorado 9 Cincinnati 8
Final San Francisco 6 Philadelphia 3
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Dallas 2 Seattle 1
CLICK HERE to download the Hutch Post mobile app.
CLICK HERE to sign up for the daily Hutch Post email news update.