AP Sports Report for May 22nd, 2024:
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Bobby Witt Jr. hit a 468-foot, three-run homer into the upper deck fountains, leading the Kansas City Royals past the Detroit Tigers 10-3. Witt homered twice, driving in six, and stole a base. Maikel Garcia tripled twice among four hits, extending his season-best hitting streak to nine games. Hunter Renfroe hit his fourth homer of the season. Alec Marsh allowed three runs with five strikeouts in six innings. The Royals haven’t trailed in the 45 innings of the current homestand. Casey Mize allowed six runs in the shortest outing of his career.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals and Baltimore Orioles will have to wait a day to finish Tuesday night’s game, which was suspended in the middle of the sixth inning tied at 1 after a 91-minute rain delay. The game will resume at 12:15 p.m. EDT on Wednesday with the teams’ regularly-scheduled matinee slated to start after the conclusion of the suspended game.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Cade McGee hit a two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning to lift 10th-seeded Texas Tech to a 6-4 upset over third-seeded Texas to cap the opening day of the Big 12 Conference Tournament. Gavin Kash opened the ninth with a single and was sacrificed to second by Drew Woodcox. McGee then drove the next pitch from Dandre Duplantier II (2-1) over the left-field wall for his 15th home run. The Red Raiders face second-seeded Oklahoma State while the Longhorns play Cincinnati in an elimination game on Wednesday. Drew Woodcox and Austin Green also homered for Texas Tech. The Longhorns got home runs from Jared Thomas and Jack O'Dowd.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Danny Neri’s third home run, with two outs in the top of the 11th inning, lifted eighth-seeded UCF to a 6-5 win over fifth-seeded Cincinnati in the first round of the Big 12 Conference Tournament. Neri, who had a career-high four hits, rescued the Knights on a 3-2 pitch after they allowed three runs in the bottom of the ninth that tied the game at 5. UCF’s next game will be determined by the result of the late game between No. 3 Texas and No. 10 Texas Tech. Neri had a home run in the second and added a two-run shot in the seventh for a 5-1 lead. Christian Mitchelle had a run-scoring single with two outs in the ninth and Josh Hegemann followed with a two-run single to tie the game for Cincinnati.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Caedmon Parker and Braeden Sloan combined to pitch a three-hitter and No. 9 seed TCU beat eighth-seed West Virginia 5-2 on Tuesday to begin its defense of the Big 12 championship title. TCU (32-19) advances to play top-seeded Oklahoma on Wednesday. West Virginia (33-21) drops to the consolation side of the double-elimination bracket and will face Kansas State on Wednesday in an elimination game. Brody Green tripled and homered to power the TCU offense. His solo home run into the TCU bullpen made it 5-2 in the ninth. Chase Brunson, Ryder Robinson and Karson Bowen also had an RBI for TCU. Sam Myers, who entered the tournament on a 13-game hitting streak, went 0 for 4.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Hunter Cranton struck out two in the ninth inning to help earn his seventh save and No. 7 seed Kansas held off sixth-seeded Kansas State 2-1 in the opening game of the Big 12 Tournament. Kansas (30-21), which is playing in the tournament in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2017-19, avenged last year’s season-ending 7-1 tournament loss to Kansas State to advance to the winner’s bracket. Kansas State (31-23) also continues in the double-elimination tournament. Kansas broke a tie in the ninth when Lenny Ashby sent a fly ball to the wall, resulting in a triple and Collier Cranford hit a sacrifice fly to bring in pinch runner Sam Hunt. Cranton struck out the first two batters, then got the previously 3-for-3 Kaelen Culpepper to fly out.
BOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum scored 36 points, including 10 in overtime after Jaylen Brown’s tying 3-pointer with 6.1 seconds remaining in regulation, and the Boston Celtics rallied just in time for a 133-128 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. Jrue Holiday added a season-high 28 points and Brown finished with 26. Game 2 is Thursday night in Boston. Tyrese Haliburton had 25 points and 10 assists for the Pacers.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns has seen the payoff this spring for his commitment to and sacrifice for the Minnesota Timberwolves. They're in the Western Conference finals for the first time in 20 years due in large part to the offense and defense supplied by the four-time All-Star over the first two rounds. They host the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 on Wednesday night. The Mavericks have also hit their stride with the Luka Doncic-Kyrie Irving duo that didn't take off on the first try last season. Both teams used record-setting rallies to clinch their second-round series wins.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Bryson DeChambeau believes golf is as much about entertainment as winning trophies. Xander Schauffele won the Wanamaker Trophy at the PGA Championship. DeChambeau delivered the entertainment and came away with a victory of his own. The LIV Golf player always has been polarizing. He can rub people the wrong way with his preaching about physics and golf and how to revolutionize the game. But he delivered passion that golf has been lacking over the last several months. He pumped fists. He bumped fists. He even called out a fan who had tried to sneak off with a kid's golf ball.
TUESDAY SCORES
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Baltimore at St. Louis 12:15 p.m. (Suspended)
Final Cleveland 7 N.Y. Mets 6
Final Minnesota 10 Washington 0
Final Philadelphia 5 Texas 2
Final Oakland 5 Colorado 4
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Boston 5 Tampa Bay 2
Final Chicago White Sox 5 Toronto 0
Final Kansas City 10 Detroit 3
Final Seattle 6 N.Y. Yankees 3
Final Houston 6 L.A. Angels 5
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Cincinnati 2 San Diego 0
Final Milwaukee 7 Miami 5
Final Pittsburgh 7 San Francisco 6
Final Chicago Cubs 4 Atlanta 3
Final Arizona 7 L.A. Dodgers 3
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS