ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Taylor Ward, Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani hit consecutive homers in the sixth inning, and the Los Angeles Angels hung on for a 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals. The Angels managed only one hit in the first five innings against Jordan Lyles before the heart of their order unloaded on the Kansas City starter during a nine-pitch span. Trout also doubled twice, and Ward scored two runs. MJ Melendez, Vinnie Pasquantino and Bobby Witt Jr. hit solo homers for the Royals, who opened their 10-game trip by losing two of three in Anaheim.
SEATTLE (AP) — Lars Nootbaar homered on the first pitch of the game, Nolan Gorman added a three-run shot and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Seattle Mariners 7-3 to prevent a three-game sweep. Paul DeJong also went deep in his season debut and Jack Flaherty recovered from early trouble to pitch six solid innings for St. Louis. Jarred Kelenic homered for the second consecutive day and Ty France had a two-run single for Seattle. Gorman’s three-run homer to right-center put the Cardinals up 6-3 in the fourth. He has six home runs and an NL-leading 14 two-out RBIs this season. Nootbaar connected on the first pitch from Mariners starter Chris Flexen. DeJong had three hits during his first game this season after returning from the injured list.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bryson Stott and Kody Clemens hit solo homers, Stott and Brandon Marsh hit two-run shots and Zack Wheeler struck out 11 to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 9-3 win over the Colorado Rockies on Sunday. The Phillies took the final three games of a four-game series and have won six of eight overall as they recover from a slow start and have started making strides in their rotation.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs will still be reveling in their Super Bowl triumph when they are on the clock in the NFL draft. They are due to pick 31st overall, last in the first round, after beating the Philadelphia Eagles to hoist their third Lombardi Trophy. The Chiefs have 10 picks overall. They had a very successful draft a year ago, despite picking late in most rounds. A rookie class that included cornerback Trent McDuffie, pass rusher George Karlaftis and running back Isiah Pacheco were major contributors to their Super Bowl run. General manager Brett Veach will try to replicate that effort with holes on the roster at offensive tackle, defensive end and wide receiver.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel has approved rules changes that are expected to reduce the number of plays in football games. The most notable is one that will keep the clock running when a team makes a first down except in the last two minutes of a half. The new clock rule affects only Divisions I and II. Penalties accepted at the end of the first and third quarters will now be enforced at the start of the following quarter and back-to-back timeouts during the same dead-ball period are no longer allowed.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Stephen Curry scored 32 points but gave Sacramento a late chance when he called a timeout Golden State didn’t have, and the defending champion Warriors held on to beat the Kings 126-125 when Harrison Barnes missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer. The Warriors evened the Northern California rivals' playoff series at two games apiece. De’Aaron Fox scored 38 points for Sacramento. His 3-pointer with 28.7 seconds left pulled the Kings within one. Golden State led 126-121 with 42.4 seconds left when Curry called the excessive timeout, and Malik Monk made the technical free throw for Sacramento.
NEW YORK (AP) — Jalen Brunson scored 29 points, RJ Barrett had 26 and the New York Knicks took a 3-1 lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers in their first-round series with a 102-93 victory. Josh Hart moved into the starting lineup and had 19 points and seven rebounds for the fifth-seeded Knicks. New York can reach the second round for the first time in a decade if it beats the Cavs in Cleveland on Wednesday. Donovan Mitchell finished with just 11 points on 5-for-18 shooting for Cleveland.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Anthony Edwards scored 34 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Denver Nuggets 114-108 in overtime in Game 4 to avoid elimination. Rudy Gobert added 14 points and 15 rebounds for Minnesota which held on after Denver scored the final 12 points of regulation to force overtime. Mike Conley had 19 points for the Timberwolves. Game 5 is Tuesday in Denver. Nikola Jokic tied a playoff career high with 43 points and added 11 rebounds for the Nuggets.
ATLANTA (AP) — Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum each scored 31 points and the Boston Celtics led nearly the entire way, holding off the Atlanta Hawks for a 129-121 victory and a commanding 3-1 lead in the opening-round playoff series. The Celtics can deliver the clincher Tuesday night when the series returns to Boston for Game 5. Tatum and Brown combined to score Boston’s final 16 points. Brown has been wearing a protective mask after sustaining facial contusions in February. He took off the device after making only 1 of 7 shots and went 11 of 15 the rest of the way. Trae Young led Atlanta with 35 points.
TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — Kyle Busch won his second race of the season since joining Richard Childress Racing when he snatched the victory in double overtime at Talladega Superspeedway. It was the second win for Busch at Talladega, 15 years apart. He won when Bubba Wallace was spun by Ryan Blaney as Wallace tried to block Blaney. It triggered a race-ending caution that gave RCR its 13th victory at NASCAR's biggest track. Blaney finished second to lead a parade of Ford drivers to second through fifth-place finishes.
SUNDAY SCORES
INTERLEAGUE
Final Cleveland 7 Miami 4
Final Minnesota 3 Washington 1
Final Houston 5 Atlanta 2
Final Boston 12 Milwaukee 5
Final St. Louis 7 Seattle 3
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Tampa Bay 4 Chicago White Sox 1
Final Toronto 5 N.Y. Yankees 1
Final Baltimore 2 Detroit 1
Final Texas 5 Oakland 2
Final L.A. Angels 4 Kansas City 3
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Philadelphia 9 Colorado 3
Final Pittsburgh 2 Cincinnati 0
Final L.A. Dodgers 7 Chicago Cubs 3
Final San Diego 7 Arizona 5
Final San Francisco 5 N.Y. Mets 4
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final New York 102 Cleveland 93
Final Golden State 126 Sacramento 125
Final Boston 129 Atlanta 121
Final OT Minnesota 114 Denver 108
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Carolina 5 N-Y Islanders 2
Final Boston 6 Florida 2
Final Dallas 3 Minnesota 2
Final OT Edmonton 5 Los Angeles 4
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