KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — MJ Melendez homered and drove in four runs, Nick Pratto had a three-run double during an eight-run sixth inning, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 12-5. Melendez hit a two-run shot in the fourth against Dylan Cease and then had a two-run single in the sixth as the Royals turned a 4-4 game into a rout. Kansas City had its highest-scoring game this season and won consecutive home games for the first time since last September. Cease gave up seven runs in five-plus innings as his ERA rose to 5.58. Jose Cuas got one out in relief of Zack Greinke for the win.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Royals left-hander Ryan Yarbrough was placed on the 15-day injured list with what was classified as “head fractures” after taking a 106-mph line drive off the right side of his face Sunday. Royals manager Matt Quatraro said Yarbrough has three non-displaced fractures in different spots around his right eye. “He’s stable, improving,” Quatraro said before Monday’s game. “He never lost consciousness. He’s very aware of what’s going on around him. We don’t think at this time will require surgery. He’s getting further testing and we’ll have a better idea (of his prognosis) in the next 24 hours.”
CHICAGO (AP) — Willson Contreras had two hits and two RBIs in his return to Wrigley Field, including a tiebreaking double, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 3-1. St. Louis also got a strong effort from its bullpen in its second straight win after an eight-game losing streak. Génesis Cabrera, Jordan Hicks and Ryan Helsley combined for 4 2/3 innings of one-hit ball in relief of Miles Mikolas. Contreras played for Chicago for seven seasons before departing in free agency, signing an $87.5 million, five-year contract with St. Louis in December.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mitch Keller pitched his first career complete game and Rodolfo Castro hit a two-run homer as the Pittsburgh Pirates snapped their seven-game losing streak with a 2-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Monday night. Keller (4-1) shut out the Rockies on four hits while striking out eight and walking one in a game that took just 1 hour, 55 minutes. The fifth-year veteran had never pitched into the eighth inning before. It was the first nine-inning shutout by a Pirates pitcher since Jameson Taillon on April 8, 2018.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs will have a hard time replicating the production they got out of last year's rookie class. Whether it was first-round picks Trent McDuffie and George Karlaftis or seventh-round pick Isiah Pacheco, just about everyone in their 10-man class played a part in helping the Chiefs win the Super Bowl. The first step toward this year's class living up to that new high bar came over the weekend, when the draft picks joined rookie free agents and select other players in a three-day minicamp.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas State and Chris Klieman are finalizing a new contract that would give the Wildcats’ football coach a substantial pay raise while keeping him tied to the program for the next eight seasons. A person familiar with the deal tells the AP the contract will have a total value of $44 million. Klieman led the Wildcats to the Big 12 title last season before losing to Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.
NEW YORK (AP) — Wichita State’s Sydney McKinney was the No. 1 overall pick in the Athletes Unlimited softball draft. She led the nation in batting average last season and leads the nation this season. McKinney heads the 14 players invited to play in Athletes Unlimited’s AUX and Championship seasons this summer. The AUX season runs June 12-27, and the championship season will run July 28-Aug. 27. This will be the second season of AUX and the fourth championship season. Both seasons crown individual champions. UCLA’s Megan Faraimo, Kentucky’s Kayla Kowalik and Alabama’s Montana Fouts were the next three picks.
UNDATED (AP) — West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins has apologized for using a homophobic slur to refer to Xavier fans while also denigrating Catholics. Huggins is a former longtime coach at Cincinnati, Xavier’s crosstown rival. During a call to a Cincinnati radio station Monday, Huggins was asked whether he had a chance of landing a Xavier player from the transfer portal. Huggins referred to rubber penises thrown on the court at Xavier before he used a homophobic slur. Huggins later apologized and said he “used a completely insensitive and abhorrent phrase that there is simply no excuse for." West Virginia’s athletic department called Huggins’ comments “offensive” and said it's reviewing the matter.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lonnie Walker scored all of his 15 points in a phenomenal fourth quarter, and the Los Angeles Lakers rallied late to take a 3-1 series lead with a 104-101 victory over the Golden State Warriors in Game 4. LeBron James scored 27 points and Anthony Davis had 23 points and 15 rebounds for the seventh-seeded Lakers, who moved to the brink of an improbable trip to the Western Conference finals with their eighth consecutive home victory since March. Los Angeles overcame Stephen Curry’s third career postseason triple-double down the stretch largely because of Walker.
MIAMI (AP) — Jimmy Butler scored 27 points and added 10 assists, Bam Adebayo finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds and the Miami Heat moved a win away from their third trip to the Eastern Conference finals in the last four years by topping the New York Knicks 109-101. Max Strus scored 16, Kyle Lowry added 15 and Caleb Martin scored 10 for the Heat. Miami, the No. 8 seed, leads the East semifinal series 3-1, with Game 5 — and the first potential clincher — awaiting in New York on Wednesday night. Jalen Brunson finished with 32 points and 11 assists for fifth-seeded New York, while RJ Barrett scored 24 and Julius Randle scored 20 for the Knicks before fouling out with about three minutes left.
DENVER (AP) — Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has been fined $25,000 by the NBA for making improper contact in the stands with Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia. Jokic was not suspended. The two-time NBA MVP is all set for Game 5 on Tuesday night in Denver. The second-round series is tied at 2-2 after both teams won at home. It was almost the outcome Ishbia was hoping for. On his Twitter account Monday, Ishbia praised his team’s performance and urged no further disciplinary action. Jokic defended his actions after a game in which he had 53 points and 11 assists.
DENVER (AP) — The home team has won every game in the second-round series between the Denver Nuggets and the Phoenix Suns. The Nuggets are looking to keep the trend going in Game 5 on Tuesday night. Philadelphia also plays at Boston with that series tied at 2-all as well. It's not surprise that Phoenix standouts Kevin Durant and Devin Booker are turning in big performances. Same with the Nuggets in Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic, whose 53-point performance in a 129-124 loss Sunday was overshadowed by a sideline fracas with Suns owner Mat Ishbia. It’s the X-factors who are helping swing the series.
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Jonathan Marchessault scored his first two goals of the playoffs, Jack Eichel had a goal and an assist, and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 for a 2-1 lead in their second-round playoff series. Zach Whitecloud and Chandler Stephenson also scored for Vegas. Laurent Brossoit left at 11:44 of the first period after turning away three of four shots. Adin Hill came on and stopped all 25 shots he saw. Warren Foegele scored the first goal of the game for Edmonton before the Golden Knights countered with five. Stuart Skinner was pulled in the second period after giving up four goals on 23 shots. Jack Campbell replaced him and made nine saves. Game 4 of the best-of-seven series is here Wednesday night, followed by Game 5 on Friday night at Las Vegas.
UNDATED (AP) — The University of Iowa says 26 athletes across five sports are suspected of wagering on sports in violation of NCAA rules and more than 100 people have been linked to an investigation. Iowa State acknowledged about 15 of its athletes across three sports also are suspected of violating gambling rules. Last week, Alabama fired baseball coach Brad Bohannon following a report of suspicious bets made at an Ohio casino involving his team. NCAA rules prohibit athletes, coaches and staff from betting on amateur, collegiate and professional sports in which the NCAA conducts a championship.
MONDAY SCORES
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Detroit 6 Cleveland 2
Final Tampa Bay 3 Baltimore 0
Final N.Y. Yankees 7 Oakland 2
Final Kansas City 12 Chicago White Sox 5
Final Texas 2 Seattle 1
Final L.A. Angels 6 Houston 4
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Pittsburgh 2 Colorado 0
Final Milwaukee 9 L.A. Dodgers 3
Final St. Louis 3 Chicago Cubs 1
Final Washington 5 San Francisco 1
Final Arizona 5 Miami 2
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final Miami 109 New York 101
Final L.A. Lakers 104 Golden State 101
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Vegas 5 Edmonton 1
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