AP Sports Summary for June 19th, 2024:
UNDATED (AP) — Willie Mays, baseball’s exuberant and electrifying ‘Say Hey Kid,’ has died at 93. The Giants and Mays' family jointly announced his death. The Giants center fielder, with his signature basket catch, was one of the game’s greatest and most beloved players. He hit more than 600 home runs, totaled more than 3,000 hits and was a joy to behold in the outfield. His over-the shoulder catch of a long drive in the 1954 World Series is baseball’s most celebrated defensive feat. He had been baseball’s oldest living Hall of Famer.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Zack Gelof hit his first home run in nearly three weeks and the Oakland Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals 7-5 to end a nine-game losing streak. JJ Bleday had a career-high three doubles and drove in two runs, and Miguel Andujar added two hits to help Oakland to its first win since June 7. The last-place A’s have the fourth-worst record in the majors at 27-48. Nick Loftin hit his first career home run and had three RBIs for the Royals, who have lost three of four.
MIAMI (AP) — Vidal Bruján drove in the winning run with a single in the 10th inning and the Miami Marlins beat the St. Louis Cardinals 9-8 to snap a six-game skid. Nick Gordon reached on a one-out infield single against Chris Roycroft (1-1) that advanced automatic runner Jesús Sánchez to third. Tim Anderson followed with an RBI infield single, tying it at 8-all. Otto Lopez’s groundout advanced Gordon and Anderson before Bruján's liner to center field gave Miami its sixth walk-off win of the season. Sánchez homered, doubled and singled, while Christian Bethancourt also went deep for the Marlins. Paul Goldschmidt, Brendan Donovan and Alec Burleson homered for the Cardinals.
NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees star Aaron Judge says X-rays and a CT scan were negative after he was hit on the left hand by a 94 mph fastball from Albert Suárez, forcing the slugger out of New York’s 4-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles. Judge says he's feeling better after getting some good news. He calls it “a big relief” and says: "Finding out that it’s not fractured, not broken, is definitely a sigh of relief.”
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Connor Hults pitched 4 1/3 innings of shutout relief to thwart North Carolina’s comeback bid, and Jaxson West and Max Williams hit back-to-back homers in the ninth for insurance as Florida State beat the Tar Heels 9-5 in an elimination game at the College World Series. The Seminoles will play No. 1 national seed Tennessee on Wednesday. They would have to beat the Volunteers then and again Thursday to reach the finals for the first time since 1999. The Tar Heels lost consecutive games for the first time since mid-April and went 1-2 in their first CWS since 2018.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is making a serious run at becoming the new home for the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. State legislators approved a plan Tuesday for luring both the Chiefs and Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Royals away from Missouri. Bipartisan legislative supermajorities OKed a measure to authorize state bonds to help finance new stadiums and practice facilities for both teams on the Kansas side of the metropolitan area. The plan goes next to Gov. Laura Kelly. He has not promised to sign it but said in a statement that Kansas could become a professional sports powerhouse. Both teams said they look forward to considering Kansas options.
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Connor McDavid had two goals and two assists that added to his historic postseason, Evan Bouchard added three assists and the Edmonton Oilers fended off elimination yet again by beating the Florida Panthers 4-3 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final on Tuesday night. Connor Brown, Zach Hyman and Corey Perry also had goals for the Oilers, who scored the game’s first three goals to take control — then held on late to cut Florida’s lead in the title series to 3-2. Evan Rodrigues and Matthew Tkachuk each had a goal and an assist for Florida, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson also scored for the Panthers. Game 6 is in Edmonton on Friday night.
UNDATED (AP) — In the NBA, it’s already next season. The offseason, technically, might have lasted for only about an hour. The Boston Celtics won the NBA Finals on Monday night, and when the clock rolled over to Tuesday morning, teams — in many cases — could start talking to their own free agents. The on-court games are over. Let the off-court games begin. The only real certainties are these: There are 29 teams chasing the Boston Celtics, and everyone is looking to get better. It starts with the draft, then free agency, and plenty of people around the NBA think this will be a summer filled with trades as well.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Regan Smith has set a world record in the women's 100-meter backstroke at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials in Indianapolis. Smith touched in 57.13 seconds, easily beating the mark of 57.33 set a year ago by Australia’s Kaylee McKeown. Smith bounced back emphatically after getting edged for a spot on the U.S. team in the 100 butterfly, where she finished third behind Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske. No one was beating Smith in her signature event. Katharine Berkoff claimed the second Olympic spot with a time of 57.91. In the night's other final, reigning Olympic champion Bobby Finke won the 800 freestyle, holding off teenager Luke Whitlock.
TUESDAY SCORES
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Final Atlanta 2 Detroit 1
Final N.Y. Mets 7 Texas 6
Final Milwaukee 6 L.A. Angels 3
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Seattle 8 Cleveland 5
Final N.Y. Yankees 4 Baltimore 2
Final Boston 4 Toronto 3
Final Chicago White Sox 2 Houston 0
Final Minnesota 7 Tampa Bay 6
Final Oakland 7 Kansas City 5
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Cincinnati 2 Pittsburgh 1
Final Arizona 5 Washington 0
Final Miami 9 St. Louis 8
Final Philadelphia 4 San Diego 3
Final Chicago Cubs 5 San Francisco 2
Final L.A. Dodgers 11 Colorado 9
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS