KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Vinnie Pasquantino homered and drove in three runs, Zack Greinke won for the first time since last August and the Kansas City Royals snapped a 10-game home losing streak by beating the Baltimore Orioles 6-0. Greinke won for the first time in 14 starts. He allowed just three singles in five innings and striking out three. He threw only 44 pitches —- his fewest in a start since tossing 43 for Arizona at Boston on Aug. 14, 2016. The Royals won their second home game of the season to improve to 2-13 at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals knocked Kyle Gibson out of the game with four runs in the seventh.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Mike Trout and Jake Lamb hit solo homers in the 9th inning, Shohei Ohtani tied a career-high with 13 strikeouts and the Los Angeles Angels rallied to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-4. Los Angeles has won six of its last eight games, while the Cardinals have lost five in a row. Ohtani didn’t get the decision, but did become the second player in MLB history to record 500 career strikeouts and hit at least 100 home runs, joining Babe Ruth. Brandon Drury also homered for the Angels. Ryan Tepera (2-1) earned the win and Carlos Estevez picked up his seventh save of the season. Dylan Carlson and Nolan Gorman homered for St. Louis, which at 10-21 is off to its worst start since the 1973 squad opened the season 8-23.
DENVER (AP) — Kyle Freeland pitched five scoreless innings, Kris Bryant and Charlie Blackmon homered and the Colorado Rockies beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-1 on Wednesday night for their season-best third straight win. Alan Trejo hit a three-run double and ElĂas DĂaz had an RBI single for Colorado, which improved to 9-3 in its last 12 games against the Brewers. Already ahead 4-0, the Rockies added to their lead in the seventh when Jurickson Profar doubled off Tyson Miller and Bryant launched his fourth homer. Blackmon connected for a solo shot off Jake Cousins in the eighth.
DETROIT (AP) — New York Mets ace Max Scherzer struggled in his return from a suspension Wednesday night, allowing six runs on eight hits in 3 1/3 innings against the Detroit Tigers during the second game of a doubleheader. Scherzer was suspended for 10 games by Major League Baseball on April 20 after getting ejected for having a foreign substance on his pitching hand during his April 19 start against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The three-time Cy Young Award winner was facing the Tigers for the third time since leaving the team after the 2014 season. He gave up home runs to Eric Haase and Matt Vierling before getting lifted in the fourth. The right-hander received a drama-free check for sticky substances by first base umpire Adam Beck after the second inning.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Max Muncy hit a game-ending grand slam and the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied from an early five-run deficit to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 10-6, extending their winning streak to a season-high six games. Bryce Harper doubled to start a four-run third inning and reached base five times in his second game of the season for the Phillies, who lost their fourth straight. Los Angeles swept the three-game series, outscoring the defending NL champions 36-11 and reaching double digits in every game. Pinch-hitter Austin Barnes gave the Dodgers a 6-5 lead with a two-run single in the eighth, but Philadelphia tied it in the ninth on Bryson Stott's RBI single. Muncy connected off Craig Kimbrel for his major league-leading 12th home run.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Jackson Mahomes, the brother of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, was briefly jailed on aggravated sexual battery charges over an alleged altercation at a restaurant in late February. Online court records show that 22-year-old Jackson Mahomes was charged Tuesday with three counts of aggravated sexual battery and one count of battery. He was released on Wednesday after posting $100,000 bond. During a brief virtual court appearance, a judge set another court date for May 11. His lawyer said in a statement that the court prohibited him and his client from commenting. The investigation stems from accusations against Jackson Mahomes regarding an alleged Feb. 25 incident at a restaurant in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, Kansas.
BOSTON (AP) — Jaylen Brown scored 25 points and the Boston Celtics rolled past the Philadelphia 76ers 121-87, spoiling the return of reigning league MVP Joel Embiid. The Celtics tied the series at one game apiece as the Eastern Conference semifinals series shifts to Philadelphia for Game 3 on Friday. Malcolm Brogdon added 23 points, connecting on six of Boston’s 20 3-pointers. Derrick White and Marcus Smart added 15 points apiece. Jayson Tatum played most of the game in foul trouble and was held to seven points. Boston ratcheted up its defense and limited a 76ers team that hit 17 3-pointers in its Game 1 win to just 6 of 30 from beyond the arc on Wednesday.
BOSTON (AP) — Joel Embiid finally said that winning the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award has been a dream ever since he belatedly started playing basketball. Embiid says the award validates all the work that he's put into learning the sport after belatedly taking it up at the age of 15. Embiid missed Game 1 of Philadelphia’s second-round series against Boston and is officially listed as doubtful with a sprained knee for Game 2. Embiid said “it’s a possibility” he would play on Wednesday night. He did some light shooting with the team in the morning.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Ivan Barbashev scored two goals and the Golden Knights overcame Leon Draisaitl’s four goals to beat the Edmonton Oilers 6-4 in Game 1 of the second-round series. It was the second night in a row a team had won despite allowing an opposing player to score four goals. In addition to Barbashev, the Knights also received goals from Chandler Stephenson, Michael Amadio, Mark Stone and Jack Eichel. Eichel and Stone also each had an assist. Zach Whitecloud had two assists. Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm, Zach Lyman and Connor McDavid each had two assists for the Oilers.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes got goals from Brett Pesce and Seth Jarvis alongside a suffocating defensive performance in the opening period to jump quickly on the New Jersey Devils for a 5-1 win Wednesday night to open their second-round playoff series. Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Brady Skeji and Jesper Fast added scores for the Hurricanes. Carolina allowed just one shot on goal in the opening period. Frederik Andersen finished with 18 saves for Carolina. Nathan Bastian scored the Devils' lone goal. Devils netminder Akira Schmid lasted just a few minutes into the second period after giving up three goals for New Jersey.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The death of four horses at Churchill Downs has overshadowed preparations for the Kentucky Derby. Two horses trained by Saffie Joseph Jr. collapsed on the track and died over the past week. Two others also died as either a result of racing or training, including Derby entrant Wild On Ice. Joseph is set to saddle Lord Miles in the first jewel of the Triple Crown on Saturday. But he has said he’s unsure of plans after the two deaths from his barn. Churchill Downs, in a statement, expressed concern over the deaths and said officials would press for answers.
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi State basketball coach Chris Jans has signed a contract extension through the 2026-27 season. The school announced the move Wednesday. It comes after Jans led the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament in his first season. That marked only the program’s second appearance since 2009, the other coming in 2019. Mississippi State spent four weeks in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll, peaking at No. 15 shortly before Christmas. The Bulldogs won 21 games for their best win total since winning 23 games in 2019. They fell to Pittsburgh in the NCAA First Four.
WEDNESDAY SCORES
INTERLEAGUE
Final Detroit 6 N.Y. Mets 5
Final San Francisco 4 Houston 2
Final Arizona 12 Texas 7
Final Detroit 8 N.Y. Mets 1
Final Tampa Bay 8 Pittsburgh 1
Final L.A. Angels 6 St. Louis 4
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Kansas City 6 Baltimore 0
Final N.Y. Yankees 4 Cleveland 3
Final Chicago White Sox 6 Minnesota 4
Final Boston 8 Toronto 3
Final Seattle 7 Oakland 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final San Diego 7 Cincinnati 1
Final L.A. Dodgers 10 Philadelphia 6
Final Atlanta 14 Miami 6
Final Washington 2 Chicago Cubs 1
Final Colorado 7 Milwaukee 1
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final Boston 121 Philadelphia 87, Series tied 1-1
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Carolina 5 New Jersey 1, Carolina leads 1-0
Final Vegas 6 Edmonton 4, Vegas leads 1-0
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