Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Dakota Hudson and a quartet of relievers combined to help the St. Louis Cardinals stop San Francisco's six-game winning streak, blanking the Giants 4-0. The Cardinals pitched their sixth shutout of the season. The Los Angeles Angels began the day with a major league-leading seven shutouts. Yadier Molina doubled, singled and scored a run. Molina's 2,128th career hit moved him past Mike Piazza to give him the sixth-most hits among catchers. St. Louis led 1-0 in the fifth when the Giants put runners at first and third with two outs. Molina threw out Joc Pederson trying to steal second to end the inning. Tommy Edman homered as the Cardinals won for the second time in seven games.
DENVER (AP) — Charlie Blackmon, Sam Hilliard and Ryan McMahon hit home runs, Germán Márquez overcame one rough inning for his first victory this season and the Colorado Rockies snapped a five-game skid by beating the Kansas City Royals 10-4. Salvador Pérez hit a two-run homer in the third, the only frame in which the Royals scored off Márquez who went six innings and allowed three runs and three hits. He struck out six and walked one. Bobby Witt Jr. homered for the second time this season. Whit Merrifield had an RBI single while extending his Royals record by playing in his 500th consecutive game.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Kyle Busch went from having a bummer week at Darlington to a banner one at home, where his family welcomed their new baby after years spent dealing with fertility issues. Now, he hopes to finish it with a celebration at Kansas Speedway, a once hard-luck track for him but where he's suddenly become tough to beat. Busch is riding a hot streak after winning on the Bristol dirt, finishing third at Talladega and leading the most laps at Dover. And topping it all was the arrival Tuesday of Lennix Key, who made Busch's soon-to-be 7-year-old son Brexton a big brother.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Christopher Bell qualified on the pole for Sunday's race at Kansas Speedway, topping the time set by Tyler Reddick earlier in the session and grabbing his third pole of the NASCAR Cup Series season for Joe Gibbs Racing. Betting favorite Kyle Larson qualified third for Hendrick Motorsports and will start in the second row alongside Austin Cindric, the best of the Team Penske cars. Kurt Busch made it five different teams in the first five spots for 23XI Racing, while Kyle Busch qualified sixth and Aric Almirola was seventh for Stewart-Haas Racing.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Zane Smith drove away from pole-sitter John Hunter Nemechek and Ty Majeski on a restart with nine laps to go at Kansas Speedway on Saturday night for his third NASCAR Truck Series victory of the season. Smith chose the inside lane and launched away from the pack to add to his season-opening win at Daytona and his victory at Circuit of the Americas in March. Majeski was second and Grant Enfinger third while Nemechek, the winner last weekend at Darlington, got a terrible jump on the final restart and wound up sixth.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The St. Louis Blues eliminated the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a mid-series goalie change and an unconventional lineup. Now, the team heads to Colorado to face the top-seeded Avalanche in the second round. The Blues have met the Avalanche in the playoffs twice before, losing both matchups, including getting swept in the first round last season. St. Louis lost Nicky Leddy, Robert Bortuzzo and Torey Krug to injuries in the first three games of the opening round. Leddy and Bortuzzo returned for Game 5, but Krug (lower-body injury) remains day to day. The injuries prompted the coaching staff to employ a starting lineup of 11 forwards and seven defensemen in the final three games against Minnesota.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Sebastian Blanco and Nathan Fogaca each scored twice in the second half and the Portland Timbers routed Sporting Kansas City 7-2 in a wild match Saturday night. Bill Tuiloma, Marvin Loria and Santiago Moreno also scored to help the Timbers (3-3-6) snap a four-match winless streak. It was the first time that Portland scored seven goals in a game. Johnny Russell and Marinos Tzionis scored for Sporting. Kansas City (2-7-3) is winless in seven games.
Update on the latest sports
NBA PLAYOFFS-SCHEDULE
Pair of 7s: Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns happy to be home
UNDATED (AP) — The Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns head into Game 7 of their respective second-round playoff series with home court advantage. The Celtics host the Milwaukee Bucks Sunday afternoon, a few hours before the Suns host the Dallas Mavericks.
The Celtics and Bucks have alternated wins throughout the first six games of their series. The Mavs and Suns have each won all three of their home games in their series, including many by a wide margin.
It's the second consecutive year the Mavericks have played a Game 7. Dallas lost to the Clippers in Los Angeles in last year's contest after the visiting team won the first six games of the series.
NHL-STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS-SCHEDULE
Rangers, Flames host weekend's last two NHL Game 7s
UNDATED (AP) — The New York Rangers were on the brink of elimination when they returned from Pittsburgh earlier in the week after two bad losses on the road. After two spirited comeback wins, they host a deciding Game 7 at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night with some momentum on their side. Clawing back from a deficit is nothing new for these Rangers. They had 27 comeback wins during the regular season, just two fewer than league-leading Florida. The Penguins could get a boost with the possible return of injured players Sidney Crosby, Tristan Jarry and Rickard Rakell.
The wild-card Dallas Stars avoided elimination by winning Game 6 at home. Now they'll take on the Flames in Calgary in the fifth Game 7 of the first round. The Stars were last in a Game 7 in the second round of the 2020 playoffs against Colorado in the bubble at Edmonton, on the way to their run to the Stanley Cup Final. The Flames will be playing their first Game 7 since the first round of the 2008 playoffs against San Jose. But their coach Darryl Sutter is a master of the deciding games. At 7-3, he's the league leader in coaching wins in a Game 7 and will become the leader for the most Game 7 appearances.
MLB-SCHEDULE
Rangers' Perez to face former team...Wainwright set to start vs Giants
UNDATED (AP) — Martin Perez is back with his original team in Texas, and the left-hander will face his former team Sunday afternoon in a series finale against Boston. Perez has allowed only two earned runs over 26 1/3 innings in his last four starts after losing his first two this season. His overall 2.10 ERA since rejoining the Rangers this spring is the lowest by a Texas lefty through his first six games since C.J. Wilson's 1.51 over that span in 2010.
The 31-year-old Perez is the first Rangers lefty since Cole Hamels in 2016 to make four consecutive starts going at least six innings and allowing no more than one earned run. He also hasn't allowed a homer in his 34 1/3 innings, just short of his best season-opening homerless streak of 37 1/3 innings over his first seven starts while still with Texas in 2017.
Perez made his big league debut with the Rangers in 2012. He pitched for them through 2018 before going to Minnesota in free agency, then to the Red Sox.
Elsewhere around the majors:
— Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright is expected to come off the COVID-19 injured list to face San Francisco in a night game at Busch Stadium. The 40-year-old was sharp in his previous outing, throwing one-hit ball for seven shutout innings at Kansas City. In that win, he teamed up with catcher Yadier Molina for their 310th start as batterymates — the regular-season record is 324 by Detroit's Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan. Left-hander Carlos Rodón starts start for the Giants.
— The Seattle Mariners wrap up their initial visit to Citi Field with the finale of a three-game series against the NL East-leading New York Mets. AL Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray pitches for Seattle against Carlos Carrasco. Ray struck out a season-high 10 last time out in a win over Philadelphia. The left-hander is 3-1 with a 2.60 ERA in six career starts versus the Mets. Carrasco is 2-0 with a 0.87 ERA in three starts at home this year. The veteran right-hander is 5-3 with a 3.67 ERA vs. the Mariners, though he hasn't started against them since May 2019.
— The Tigers will see how Michael Pineda is doing, a day after a line drive broke a finger on his pitching hand. Pineda retired all four hitters he faced against Baltimore, but had to leave after Ramon Urias' liner broke the middle finger on his right hand Saturday. The 33-year-old Pineda is 1-2 with a 3.22 ERA in five starts during his first season with Detroit.
— Phillies star Bryce Harper is scheduled to get a platelet-rich plasma injection to help with a small tear in his right elbow, causing him to miss the series finale at Dodger Stadium. The reigning NL MVP battered Los Angeles pitching in the first three games of the set with three homers and four doubles. Harper might also miss Philadelphia's home game Tuesday night against San Diego. The right fielder won't throw for four weeks, but will remain in the lineup as the designated hitter.
ITALIAN OPEN
Top-ranked Djokovic, Swiatek prevail at Italian Open
ROME (AP) — Novak Djokovic (JOH'-kuh-vich) raised his first trophy of the year Sunday at the Italian Open and showed that he's back in top form exactly a week before the French Open starts. The top-ranked Djokovic beat Stefanos Tsitsipas (STEH'-fah-nohs TSEE'-tsee-pas) 6-0, 7-6 for his sixth Rome title after missing a large portion of the season because he wasn't vaccinated against the coronavirus. Djokovic hadn't won a tournament since raising the Paris Masters trophy in November.
Earlier Sunday, top-ranked Iga Swiatek (EE'-gah shvee-AHN'-tehk) beat Ons Jabeur 6-2, 6-2 to defend her Italian Open title and extend her winning streak to 28 matches as she heads to the French Open. Swiatek was a surprise champion at the French Open in 2020 when she was ranked No. 54. Now the 20-year-old Polish player is the favorite to add a second title at Roland Garros when the year's second Grand Slam starts next Sunday. Swiatek has won five straight titles during her run.
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