ST. LOUIS (AP) — Josh Staumont and Mike Mayers came within six outs of the first combined perfect game in major league history before Nolan Arenado lined a leadoff single in the eighth inning of the Kansas City Royals’ 7-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Staumont,, a 29-year-old right-hander, struck out two in a 1-2-3 inning. Mayers, a 31-year-old left-hander who pitched for the Cardinals from 2016-19, retired 18 consecutive batters before Arenado lined a 1-0 slider to left on his 72nd pitch. Willson Contreras followed with a single to center that stopped an 0 for 27 slide.
PHOENIX (AP) — Pavin Smith started this season in Triple-A. Drey Jameson spent a stretch down in Reno, too. The Arizona Diamondbacks’ rapid improvement into one of the better teams in the National League has created competition to stay on the team’s big league roster. Now that Smith and Jameson are back in the majors, they’re playing like guys who intend to stay there. Smith hit a go-ahead, three-run homer, Jameson threw 3 2/3 innings of impressive relief in his return to Arizona and the Diamondbacks rallied for a 7-5 win over the Colorado Rockies on Monday. The Diamondbacks stormed back from an early 4-0 deficit with a five-run second inning, punctuated by Smith’s three-run homer to right-center that made it 5-4. Jake McCarthy had a two-run single earlier in the rally.
BOSTON (AP) — Jimmy Butler scored 28 points and Caleb Martin gave Miami 26 points and 10 rebounds in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals to help the Heat beat the Celtics 103-84 and turn back Boston’s attempt at an unprecedented comeback. The Heat recovered after blowing a 3-0 lead in the series and advanced to the NBA Finals for the second time in four seasons. They will face the Western Conference champion Nuggets. Game 1 is in Denver on Thursday night. Miami is the first No. 8 seed to play for a championship since the 1999 New York Knicks. Top-seeded Denver has been waiting since sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers on May 22. Game 6 hero Derrick White scored 18 for Boston.
DENVER (AP) — Cancel that flight plan, Denver. Turns out, the NBA Finals are starting in the Mile High City after all. And Jimmy Butler was proven right. Finally, we have a title-series matchup: The Miami Heat, champions of the Eastern Conference even after getting in as only the No. 8 seed, will take on the Western Conference champion Nuggets in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. The series starts in Denver on Thursday night. The Heat got there by winning Game 7 of the East title series in Boston on Monday night. It came one year to the day after the Celtics won a Game 7 on Miami’s floor to win the East title a year ago.
DALLAS (AP) — William Karlsson scored two goals and had an assist as the Vegas Golden Knights advanced to their second Stanley Cup Final with a 6-0 rout over Dallas. The Stars had extended the Western Conference Final to six games after losing the first three. William Carrier, Keegan Kolesar and Michael Amadio each had a goal and an assist for the Knights. Jonathan Marchessault also had a goal. Carrier, Marchessault and Karlsson were part of the inaugural 2017-18 Knights season that ended in their Cup Final. Adin Hill stopped 23 shots for his second career playoff shutout — both against the Stars. Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final against Florida will be Saturday night in Las Vegas.
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Ryan Blaney pulled away late to win the rescheduled Coca-Cola 600 on Monday at Charlotte Speedway, giving team owner Roger Penske a sweep of the Memorial Day weekend’s top races in the United States. Josef Newgarden won a record-extending 19th Indianapolis 500 on Sunday for Team Penske. It marked the first time Team Penske has earned a sweep of the two races in the same year. Like Newgarden, Blaney went into the crowd to celebrate with fans. Blaney took the lead from William Byron on a restart and led the final 26 laps to win his first Cup Series race since the 2021 Daytona’s Coke Zero Sugar 400. Blaney’s victory snapped a 59-race drought.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Wake Forest is the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA Tournament and the Southeastern Conference had a record-tying 10 teams picked to play in regionals. The 64-team tournament opens Friday in 16 regionals. Winners advance to eight best-of-three super regionals. Those winners move on to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. The top eight national seeds are assured of hosting super regionals if they win their regionals. The national seeds following Wake Forest are Florida, Arkansas, Clemson, LSU, Vanderbilt, Virginia and Stanford.
MONDAY SCORES
INTERLEAGUE
Final Chicago Cubs 1 Tampa Bay 0
Final Kansas City 7 St. Louis 0
Final Oakland 7 Atlanta 2
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Cleveland 5 Baltimore 0
Final Texas 5 Detroit 0
Final Minnesota 7 Houston 5
Final L.A. Angels 6 Chicago White Sox 4
Final N.Y. Yankees 10 Seattle 4
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Arizona 7 Colorado 5
Final San Francisco 14 Pittsburgh 4
Final L.A. Dodgers 6 Washington 1
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final Miami 103 Boston 84
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Vegas 6 Dallas 0