Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press
DENVER (AP) — Tyler Bozak scored 3:38 into overtime and the St. Louis Blues fended off elimination in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals. overcoming a three-goal deficit in a 5-4 victory over the Colorado Avalanche. Bozak unleashed a shot from near the blueline that got past Darcy Kuemper. It capped a remarkable comeback for St. Louis, which now trails 3-2 in the best-of-seven second-round series. Robert Thomas had two goals, including the tying tally with 56 seconds left in regulation, for a resilient Blues team. Vladimir Tarasenko and Justin Faulk also scored. The comeback offset a hat trick from Nathan MacKinnon. Game 6 is Friday night in St. Louis.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Dillon Carter's two-run triple proved to be the difference as No. 2 seed Texas Tech jumped out to an early lead and held off No. 7 seed Kansas State 5-3 in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament. Texas Tech advances to play the winner between No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 6 West Virginia on Thursday. Kansas State will play the loser on Thursday in the double-elimination tourney. Texas Tech (38-19) took advantage of three Kansas State (27-29) errors to score three runs in the bottom of the second inning.
Update on the latest sports
NBA PLAYOFFS-HEAT/CELTICS
Celtics top Heat for 3-2 lead
MIAMI (AP) — The Boston Celtics are a win away from their first trip to the NBA Finals since 2010.
The Celtics are up three games to two in the Eastern Conference finals following a 93-80 win over the Heat in Miami. The Celtics took control by outscoring the Heat, 32-16 in the third quarter, then opened the final period on a 14-2 run to go ahead by 23.
Jaylen Brown had a game-high 25 points and Jayson Tatum just missed a triple-double, finishing with 22 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.
Bam Adebayo had a team-best 18 points for Miami, which shot a miserable 32% from the field and missed 38 of its 45 3-point attempts.
The Heat were without Tyler Herro (HEE'-roh) again on Wednesday because of a strained groin that forced him to sit out Game 5.
Game 6 is Friday in Boston.
NHL-STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS-BLUES/AVALANCHE
Blues outlast Avs in OT
DENVER (AP) — The St. Louis Blues have forced a Game 6 in their Stanley Cup second-round series with the Avalanche.
The Blues erased a pair of late deficits before Tyler Bozek scored 3:38 into overtime to give them a 5-4 victory at Colorado.
Bozek capped a frantic rally in which Robert Thomas tied the game with 54 seconds left in regulation. The Avs scored the first three goals and were ahead, 3-1 in the third period until Thomas and Justin Faulk scored 4:17 apart.
Nathan MacKinnon's third goal of the night put the Avalanche ahead late in the third, but the Blues sent the series back to St. Louis for Game 6 on Friday.
NHL-PANTHERS-THORNTON
Panthers' Joe Thornton says he's undecided on playing future
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Panthers forward Joe Thornton says he hasn't decided whether to retire or play a 25th NHL season.
Thornton played sparingly for the Panthers this season, collecting five goals and 10 points with a -10 in 34 regular-season games. He turns 43 on July 2 and was the second-oldest skater to appear in a game this season.
Thornton is sixth on the league's all-time list with 1,714 games played.
In other NHL news:
— Capitals right winger Tom Wilson is expected to miss six to eight months after undergoing surgery to reconstruct the torn ACL in his left knee. That timeline means Wilson is on track to miss at least the first month of the season if not more.
MLB-SCHEDULE
Giants beat Mets for 2nd straight day
UNDATED (AP) — The New York Mets have dropped back-to-back games for only the second time this season.
The San Francisco Giants followed Tuesday's wild 13-12 win with a 9-3 pounding of the Mets. Evan Longoria homered twice and Joc Pederson hit his fourth in two games while the Giants were building a 9-0 lead in the first two innings.
Mike Yastrzemski (ya-STREHM'-skee) also homered off rookie Thomas Szapucki (sah-PUH'-kee), who surrendered all nine runs in just 1 1/3 innings.
The Mets had won 14 straight games after losses. They are 11-2-1 in 14 series of the year.
Elsewhere on major league diamonds:
— Dansby Swanson scored the tiebreaking run in the fifth inning on an excruciating defensive sequence by the Phillies, helping the Braves earn an 8-4 victory. Swanson went 4 for 5 with two RBIs, including a home run that put the Braves, ahead, 7-4 in the sixth. Austin Riley also homered for Atlanta.
— The Dodgers had won nine straight against Washington before Erik Fedde (FEH'-dee) and three relievers combined on a six-hitter in the Nationals' 1-0 shutout of Los Angeles. Tanner Rainey stranded two in the ninth inning for his fourth save in six tries, sending the Dodgers to just their second loss in 11 games. César Hernández singled home the game's lone run off Julio Urias (oo-REE'-uhs), who allowed just three other hits over six innings.
— The Brewers scored twice in the seventh inning off Yu Darvish to beat the Padres, 2-1. Rowdy Tellez doubled home the tying run and Tyrone Taylor followed with a sacrifice fly after Darvish limited Milwaukee to one hit over the first six frames. Brewers starter Aaron Ashby got a no-decision after holding San Diego to an unearned run and four hits over 5 2/3 innings.
— Luis Castillo earned his first victory of the season by allowing two runs over five innings of the Reds' 4-3 decision over the Cubs. Castillo surrendered a pair of first-inning runs before allowing only two hits the rest of the way. Joey Votto (VAH'-toh) carried Cincinnati's offense with a solo homer and a two-run triple.
— The Pirates trailed 5-2 until Jack Suwinski and Josh VanMeter belted three-run homers in their 10-5 downing of the Rockies. Suwinski erased a 5-2 deficit in the sixth inning and VanMeter gave Pittsburgh some breathing room in the seventh. Ben Gamel (GAM'-ul) had two hits and two RBIs as the Bucs handed Colorado its 13th loss in 18 games.
— JP Sears was a winner in his first career start as he held the Orioles to three hits in the Yankees' 2-0 shutout. Four relievers finished the combined five-hitter, with Ron Marinaccio striking out three over two perfect innings after replacing Sears. Aaron Judge doubled and scored New York's first run on Miguel Andujar's (an-DOO'-hahrz) fourth-inning single, his first RBI in the majors this season.
— Harold Ramírez homered in a five-run first before the Rays hung on for a 5-4 win versus the Marlins. Drew Rasmussen won his fifth straight decision, giving up three runs and six hits with seven strikeouts over five innings. Colin Poche struck out Jesús Aguilar to strand the bases loaded in the ninth inning.
— The Tigers pulled out a 4-2 win over the Twins on Jeimer Candelario's two-run homer in the top of the 10th. Harold Castro hit solo home runs in the sixth and eighth innings, after going deep only nine times in his first 799 major league at-bats. Trevor Larnach hit a two-run homer for the Twins in the fourth inning to spoil an otherwise-stellar fill-in start by Rony García.
— The White Sox earned a 3-1 win over the Red Sox on Jake Berger's three-run homer in the fifth inning. Burger was recalled Tuesday from Triple-A Charlotte after center fielder Luis Robert was placed on the COVID-19 related injured list. Lucas Giolito (jee-oh-LEE'-toh) blanked the Red Sox after the first inning, giving up five hits over six frames of Chicago's fourth win in six games.
— Cristian Javier tied a career high with nine strikeouts and held the Guardians to three hits over 5 2/3 shutout innings, leading the Astros to a 2-1 victory. Michael Brantley and Jason Castro lifted sacrifice flies in the middle innings off Cleveland starter Cal Quantrill, who was reached for six hits in as many innings. Yuli Gurriel (YOO'-lee gur-ee-EHL') and José Siri had two hits each as Houston took the rubber match of the three-game set.
— Mitch Garver homered in his third consecutive game and Kole Calhoun hit a two-run shot in the Rangers' first win in four games, 7-2 versus the Angels. Calhoun had three hits and scored three runs, while Garver drove in two runs. Glenn Otto yielded three hits over five solid innings as the AL West rivals split a two-game series at the Big A.
— Seth Brown and Elvis Andrus (AN'-droos) homered off reigning AL Cy Young award winner Robbie Ray as the Athletics dealt the Mariners their eighth loss in 10 games, 4-2. Oakland took two of three to move out of the AL West cellar, putting Seattle in last place. Paul Blackburn is 5-0 after working 5 1/3 scoreless innings, yielding a season-high five walks but just one hit.
MLB-NEWS
Twins' Joe Ryan on COVID list
UNDATED (AP) — The Minnesota Twins have placed starting pitcher Joe Ryan on the COVID-19 injured list. He was scheduled to start Thursday against Kansas City.
The 25-year-old right-hander leads all major league rookies with five wins and 43 1/3 innings. He's second among rookies with 42 strikeouts.
The Twins will fill Ryan's place in the rotation with Devin Smeltzer.
In other MLB news:
— Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton is going on the injured list for the fourth straight season. Stanton was placed on the 10-day IL with a strained right calf and reliever Jonathan Loáisiga landed on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation. Left fielder Joey Gallo was reinstated from the COVID-19 injured list.
— Braves right fielder Ronald Acuña (ah-KOON'-yah) Jr. was scratched from Wednesday's game against Philadelphia with right quadriceps tightness. He awoke feeling sore and tested out his leg by running on the field before deciding to skip the game.
— Kris Bryant's back has landed the Rockies outfielder on the injured list for the second time this season. Bryant spent nearly a month on the injured list after initially tweaking the back in late April. He signed a seven-year, $182-million deal with Colorado in March.
NFL-NEWS
NFL loses bid to scuttle Gruden lawsuit over leaked emails
UNDATED (AP) — Two people familiar with the situation said quarterback Collin Kaepernick was scheduled to work out for the Las Vegas Raiders on Wednesday.
Kaepernick hasn't played since the end of the 2016 season when he was cut by San Francisco when the new regime led by coach Kyle Shanahan wanted to go a different direction at quarterback.
Kaepernick never got another opportunity even to work out for NFL teams as he alleged he had been blackballed over his protests during the anthem the previous season.
In other NFL news:
— Jadeveon (jah-DAY'-vee-ahn) Clowney is officially back on the Browns roster. The 29-year-old free agent defensive end has re-signed with Cleveland to once again chase quarterbacks alongside All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett. Clowney had one of his most productive and healthiest seasons in 2021 for Cleveland with nine sacks in 14 games.
— The NFL says it will appeal a ruling denying the league's request to move former Raiders coach Jon Gruden's lawsuit over leaked emails from a public courtroom into closed-door arbitration. In a statement, the NFL denied Gruden's claims that league officials or Commissioner Roger Goodell leaked racist, sexist and homophobic emails by Gruden to force him to resign last October. A Las Vegas judge refused requests to dismiss Gruden's claim outright or move it to out-of-court talks that could be overseen by Goodell.
— Omar Khan is the new general manager for the Steelers. Khan is replacing Kevin Colbert, who is retiring at the end of the month following more than two decades with the club. Khan has been a longtime member of Pittsburgh's front office, most recently serving as senior vice president of football and business operations.
TENNIS-FRENCH OPEN
No. 1 Djokovic eases into 3rd round
PARIS (AP) — Novak Djokovic (NOH'-vak JOH'-kuh-vich) has eased into the third round of his French Open title defense with a straight-set victory over Alex Molcan. The top-ranked Djokovic defeated the 24-year-old Slovakian 6-2, 6-3, 7-6.
Molcan was able to push Djokovic to a third-set tiebreaker but threw his racket down in frustration after his 34th unforced error to fall behind 6-3.
Other second-round winners on the men's side were third seed Alexander Zverev and No. 6 Carlos Alcaraz, both in five sets.
Coco Gauff has reached the third round in the women's bracket by winning a second-set tiebreak. The 18-year-old American is the youngest player remaining in the draw.
Two-time Grand Slam champ Victoria Azarenka also advanced, but U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu (ra-doo-KA'-noo) and fourth-seeded Maria Sakkari were ousted in the second round.
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