KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Dayton Moore was fired from his role atop the baseball operations department for the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday. He led the team for 16 years, winning two American League pennants and a World Series. He made the unusual decision to come to the park after his firing, addressing media and saying goodbye to players, coaches, trainers, clubhouse attendants and even the staff working the parking lot. Players say it speaks to his character, which made him a favorite in Kansas City, even as the team struggled through another frustrating season.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — MJ Melendez homered for the second straight day and the Royals bullpen pitched five innings of two-hit ball, helping Kansas City beat the fast-fading Minnesota Twins 5-2. The Royals clinched their first winning series in nearly a month just hours after owner John Sherman fired longtime front office executive Dayton Moore, who led the franchise to two American League pennants and a World Series title. Bailey Ober took the loss for Minnesota, which has dropped six of seven to begin an eight-game trip and fall out of postseason contention.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Blake Snell held St. Louis hitless until Albert Pujols beat the shift for a single with two outs in the seventh inning and the San Diego Padres beat the NL Central-leading Cardinals 1-0. Snell allowed two hits in seven innings on 117 pitches and struck out 13 to tie his career high. The left-hander’s brilliant effort carried the Padres to their fifth straight win and extended the rotation’s scoreless streak to 27 2/3 innings. The Padres have shut out the Cardinals in the first two games of the three-game series. Pujols remained at 698 career home runs.
NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge disappointed fans by staying stuck at 60 homers but doubled twice and scored on Oswaldo Cabrera’s first-inning grand slam that started the New York Yankees to a 14-2 rout of the Pittsburgh Pirates. A day after hitting home run No. 60 to spark a stunning five-run, ninth-inning rally capped by Giancarlo Stanton’s game-ending slam, Judge doubled on the first pitch to him in the first and fifth innings. Judge leads the AL in average, home runs and RBIs, in position to become the first Triple Crown winner in a decade. Cabrera and Gleyber Torres had five RBIs each.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Lost in the drama of the Chiefs’ comeback win over the Chargers last week was the fact that Kansas City, with its star quarterback and offensive-minded head coach, had five opportunities on third-and-short and converted just once. And that’s not going to cut it as the Chiefs face one of the league’s toughest schedules. Chiefs coach Andy Reid said there were a variety of reasons for the problems, from poor calls to poor execution. But he is confident that a team so successful on first downs can replicate that success on third downs going forward.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Russell Wilson is off to one of the slowest starts of his 11-year career following his blockbuster trade from Seattle to Denver. Wilson has two touchdown throws in his first two games. His last four seasons in Seattle he had five, five, nine and six TD throws through Week 2. Part of the problem is rookie head coach Nathaniel Hackett who acknowledged this week that he needs to clean up his play calling and game management to get the plays into Wilson sooner. His tardiness in getting the plays in have led to chaotic execution and a rash of penalties.
UNDATED (AP) — There are six Big 12 teams playing their conference openers this weekend. Kansas State is at sixth-ranked Oklahoma on Saturday. The Sooners are playing their first Big 12 game for coach Brent Venables. They have won their last 10 home games and 28 of 29. The lone loss was to K-State two years ago. No. 17 Baylor is at Iowa State, and No. 22 Texas plays at Texas Tech in the other Big 12 openers. Kansas is 3-0 going into a home game against 3-0 Duke. The Jayhawks last won more than three games in the same season in 2009.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Sonny Dykes is now on the other side in the SMU-TCU rivalry. The coach is in his first season with the Big 12 Horned Frogs after leading SMU to wins the last two times the Dallas-Fort Worth teams played. They meet again Saturday in Dallas, and the 101st meeting in the series is sold out. The Mustangs had lost seven in a row against TCU, and 17 of 19, before winning in 2019 and following that up with another win last year. They didn't play in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
UNDATED (AP) — After three weeks there are 33 unbeaten teams left in major college football and eight of them are playing against each other Saturday. There are showdowns in the Pac-12, ACC, and Big Ten this week, plus Duke vs. Kansas. The basketball powerhouses are both 3-0 heading into one of the most interesting games of the week.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Duke and Kansas are accustomed to high-stakes showdowns in basketball, the kind that often have national championship implications riding on the outcome. The two programs have combined to win nine national titles. That’s not the case in football. However, both of the traditional hoops schools have soared to 3-0 starts, building the type of anticipation for Saturday’s game in Lawrence that hasn’t existed since Mark Mangino led Kansas to its last winning season in 2008.
WEDNESDAY SCORES
INTERLEAGUE
Final Cincinnati 5 Boston 1
Final N.Y. Yankees 14 Pittsburgh 2
Final Philadelphia 4 Toronto 3
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Houston 5 Tampa Bay 2
Final Baltimore 8 Detroit 1
Final Texas 7 L.A. Angels 2
Final Cleveland 8 Chicago White Sox 2
Final Kansas City 5 Minnesota 2
Final Oakland 2 Seattle 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Washington 3 Atlanta 2
Final Milwaukee 6 N.Y. Mets 0
Final Chicago Cubs 4 Miami 3
Final San Francisco 6 Colorado 1
Final San Diego 1 St. Louis 0
Final Arizona 6 L.A. Dodgers 1