KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Alek Manoah allowed one hit over seven innings, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his first homer of the season and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals 3-0. Manoah (1-0) held the Royals hitless until Jackie Bradley Jr. singled with one out in the fifth. Despite struggling to locate his off-speed pitches for strikes, Manoah struck out five with four walks. Guerrero and Daulton Varsho had three hits apiece. Zack Greinke (0-2) worked ahead of batters all night, throwing first-pitch strikes to 20-of-25 hitters.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Matt Olson homered and drove in three, and the Atlanta Braves completed a three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals 5-2. Bryce Elder pitched six strong innings, giving up two hits, striking out six and walked three. The Braves won for the fifth time in their first six games. Cardinals rookie Jordan Walker hit his first career home run in the seventh. St. Louis has lost three straight games. Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas allowed five runs on nine hits. He struck out six and walked one. His six innings was the longest for a St. Louis starter this season.
UNDATED (AP) — A strong threat of rain and thunderstorms forced the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and Baltimore Orioles to postpone their home openers on Thursday. All three teams announced Wednesday the openers will be pushed back a day with the Mets playing host to the Miami Marlins, the Phillies taking on the Cincinnati Reds and the Orioles facing the New York Yankees on Friday. All three cities had weather forecasts calling for at least a 70% chance of rain and thunderstorms on Thursday, the National Weather Service reported on its website.
UNDATED (AP) — Bill Self said he’s doing well after a health scare kept him from coaching Kansas in the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments last month, and he reiterated Wednesday that he has no plans to step away from the Jayhawks any time soon. Self spoke to reporters for the first time since March 8, when he went to an emergency room after a final shootaround for the conference tournament. He was complaining of chest tightness and concerns about his balance, and the 60-year-old had two stents placed to help treat blocked arteries at the University of Kansas Health System.
OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Baltimore general manager Eric DeCosta says Lamar Jackson’s situation isn’t causing the Ravens to look at quarterbacks differently in the upcoming draft. However he did say the team could conceivably take a QB in the first round. DeCosta, coach John Harbaugh and director of player personnel Joe Hortiz hosted a pre-draft news conference. Reporters were told to keep questions focused on the draft. The Ravens put the franchise tag on Jackson last month. Jackson also announced recently that he’d requested a trade. DeCosta wouldn’t comment on the ramifications of that.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Masters chairman Fred Ridley is hopeful of a Masters just like any other. Ridley says the interaction with LIV players at the champions dinner made it feel like everything was normal in the golf world. But it's been all the chatter for the last 10 months. The Masters gets underway on Thursday. Tiger Woods is playing. Phil Mickelson is back in the field. Bad weather is in the forecast. Ridley believes the Masters is above it all. He says every player in the field wants the same thing. And that's to be wearing a green jacket on Sunday afternoon.
UNDATED (AP) — The road to the NBA Finals now goes through Milwaukee. The road out of the Western Conference goes through Denver, for the first time ever. And the rest of the top half of the Eastern Conference playoff bracket is now set as well. The Bucks will have the No. 1 overall seed and home-court advantage for the entirety of their time in the NBA playoffs, after defeating Chicago 105-92 on Wednesday night. Milwaukee is now 58-22 this season; no other team in the league can get to more than 57 wins. Denver's No. 1 seed out West was secured when New Orleans beat Memphis.
TOKYO (AP) — Sapporo’s bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics has been slowed by fallout from the still-developing corruption scandal around the 2020 Tokyo Games. The pursuit could resume if Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto is re-elected, as expected, against two anti-Olympic candidates. The Japanese city suspended actively promoting the bid three months ago and hoped damage from Tokyo’s scandal would fade from view. Sapporo was viewed as the favorite of the International Olympic Committee until arrests began last summer connected to bid-rigging, vote-buying, and bribery around the Tokyo Olympics. Without a clear candidate the IOC has pursued Stockholm, Sweden, which now appears as a favorite.
UNDATED (AP) — First lady Jill Biden’s walk-back of her suggestion that runner-up Iowa should join NCAA women’s basketball champion LSU for a visit to the White House doesn't sit well with Angel Reese. The Tigers star said on The Paper Route Podcast the Tigers should celebrate their title with Barack and Michelle Obama rather than with President Joe Biden and his wife. Jill Biden attended Sunday's 102-85 LSU victory. She said Monday that as part of the longstanding tradition of having champions visit the White House, the Hawkeyes should come as well because they played such a good game.
WEDNESDAY SCORES
INTERLEAGUE
Final Miami 5 Minnesota 2
Final N.Y. Yankees 4 Philadelphia 2
Final Tampa Bay 7 Washington 2
Final Pittsburgh 4 Boston 1
Final Chicago White Sox 7 San Francisco 3
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Texas 5 Baltimore 2
Final Houston 8 Detroit 2
Final Cleveland 6 Oakland 4
Final L.A. Angels 4 Seattle 3
Final Toronto 3 Kansas City 0
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Chi Cubs at Cincinnati 1:10 p.m. (Postponed)
Final Atlanta 5 St. Louis 2
Final Milwaukee 7 N.Y. Mets 6
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Brooklyn 123 Detroit 108
Final New York 138 Indiana 129
Final Milwaukee 105 Chicago 92
Final Boston 97 Toronto 93
Final Atlanta 134 Washington 116
Final OT New Orleans 138 Memphis 131
Final Dallas 123 Sacramento 119
Final L.A. Clippers 125 L.A. Lakers 118
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final N-Y Rangers 6 Tampa Bay 3
Final Calgary 3 Winnipeg 1
Final Edmonton 3 Anaheim 1