KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — JosĂ© RamĂrez hit his fifth career grand slam and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Kansas City Royals 14-1. Cleveland moved into first place in the AL Central despite a losing record. RamĂrez lined a first-pitch cutter from Austin Cox into the left-field bullpen after Cox opened the third by allowing a single and two walks. It was the slugger’s 13th homer this season. Josh Bell hit a 464-foot, two-run homer for the Guardians in the fifth. Cox took the loss in his first major league start. He had begun his career with 12 1/3 scoreless innings in relief.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jose Altuve hit a three-run homer in Houston’s five-run eighth inning and the Astros rallied to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 10-7 on Wednesday night. Jose Abreu added a two-run homer for Houston, which had lost three of its previous four games. The Astros overcame a 7-5 deficit in the eighth. After missing the previous two games because of a heel injury, Altuve reached base five times. His drive off reliever Giovanny Gallegos put the Astros in front to stay at 8-7. Abreu unloaded two batters later, also off Gallegos. Seth Martinez (2-3) picked up the win with a scoreless inning of relief. Ryan Pressly finished for his 15th save. Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt and Brendan Donovan homered for St. Louis.
DENVER (AP) — Ezequiel Tovar hit a three-run double in a five-run sixth inning to rally the Colorado Rockies over the Los Angeles Dodgers, 9-8 on Wednesday night. The rookie shortstop also singled in extending his hitting streak to 11 games. Mookie Betts homered and Yonny Hernández drove in three runs for Los Angeles. Michael Grove was in line for the win after pitching five innings, but Colorado rallied in the sixth. Victor González (2-3) loaded the bases with one out, Nick Robertson walked in a run and Tovar lined a double to the wall in center to drive in three. He then scored on ElĂas DĂaz’s single.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Domingo Germán of the New York Yankees has pitched the 24th perfect game in major league history, retiring every Oakland batter in an 11-0 victory over the Athletics. It was the first perfect game since Seattle Mariners ace Félix Hernández threw one against the Tampa Bay Rays on Aug. 15, 2012. There were three that season — but none since until Germán finished the first no-hitter in the big leagues this year. Coming off a pair of terrible starts, Germán struck out nine against the A’s, who have the worst record in the majors. The 30-year-old right-hander had never before thrown a complete game in the big leagues. He was winless in six previous outings against Oakland.
NEW YORK (AP) — Mets owner Steven Cohen is threatening his underperforming team with the prospect of a trade deadline selloff unless New York gets back into contention for a playoff berth. Cohen said manager Buck Showalter and general manager Billy Eppler will keep their jobs no matter that through the end of the season, but the team is still pursuing a president of baseball operations. For this year, older players could be at risk of getting dealt. Cohen said he would be willing to cover their salaries in trades if it brought back better prospects. New York currently projects to a $360 million payroll and is on track for a record luxury tax of about $99 million.
UNDATED (AP) — Victor Wembanyama’s official height is 7 feet, 3 1/2 inches. That's according to the San Antonio Spurs, who got the actual measurement over the weekend. It ends months of speculation about how tall Wembanyama is. Some sites have listed him as tall as 7-foot-5. Also Wednesday, it was announced that Wembanyama's NBA summer debut is expected to come in Las Vegas. The Spurs said the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft will be with the team at NBA Summer League that starts July 7. Wembanyama won't accompany the Spurs when they travel later this week for the California Classic — the first of two summer league appearances for the club next month.
UNDATED (AP) — Two people familiar with the plan say the NFL is finalizing disciplinary action against more players for gambling violations, including Indianapolis Colts defensive back Isaiah Rodgers Sr. The people spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because an official announcement won’t be made until later this week. Rodgers is the only identified player of the group, identifying himself in a Twitter post as the Colts player accused of gambling earlier this month. The identities of the other players are not yet known. A year-long suspension would be consistent with similar punishments handed down by the NFL.
SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Tony Estanguet won gold medals for canoeing in the 2000, 2004 and 2012 Olympic Games. Now, the trim 45-year-old is the face and chief organizer of the 2024 Paris Games. He presides over a rapidly growing workforce whose preparations were progressing largely smoothly before financial crime investigators raided their headquarters last week. In an interview with The Associated Press, Estanguet insists that the two French police probes into Olympic-related contracts bear no comparison with corruption and ethics scandals that have dogged the Olympic movement and its flagship money-spinning event for decades. He says senior colleagues who are subject to the investigations will not resign “for the moment.”
UNDATED (AP) — Simone Biles is back. The gymnastics superstar plans to return to competition at the U.S. Classic outside Chicago in early August. The meet will be Biles' first since the pandemic-delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Biles made headlines at the 2020 Games when she removed herself from several events to focus on her mental health. She returned on the last day of the meet to earn bronze on the balance beam, her seventh career Olympic medal. Biles will be joined at the U.S. Classic by 2020 Olympic champion Sunisa Lee.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jesús Ferreira scored his second international hat trick, Djordje Mihailovic had two goals and the 13th-ranked United States overwhelmed No. 139 St. Kitts and Nevis 6-0 in the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Mihailovic, Bryan Reynolds and Ferreira scored in a 3-minute, 50-second span to build a 3-0 lead by the 16th minute. Ferreira has 11 goals in 20 appearances. Mihailovic also had two assists for the defending champion Americans, who matched their largest Gold Cup victory margin. The U.S. leads Group A with four points and closes group play Sunday against Trinidad and Tobago.
WEDNESDAY SCORES
INTERLEAGUE
Final Atlanta 3 Minnesota 0
Final Washington 4 Seattle 1
Final Toronto 6 San Francisco 1
Final Miami 6 Boston 2
Final Houston 10 St. Louis 7
Final Cincinnati 11 Baltimore 7
Final Tampa Bay 3 Arizona 2
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Texas 10 Detroit 2
Final Cleveland 14 Kansas City 1
Final N.Y. Yankees 11 Oakland 0
Final Chicago White Sox 11 L.A. Angels 5
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Pittsburgh 7 San Diego 1
Final Milwaukee 5 N.Y. Mets 2
Final Philadelphia 8 Chicago Cubs 5
Final Colorado 9 L.A. Dodgers 8
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