KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Pinch-hitter Zack Short hit a three-run homer to lead the Detroit Tigers to a 6-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals. Riley Greene also homered, doubled and scored twice for the Tigers in the game that was delayed 29 minutes by rain. Will Vest (1-0) retired all four hitters he faced, striking out two. Alex Lange picked up his ninth save in 10 tries. Greene led off the sixth with a double and went to third on an infield single by Matt Vierling. Short drove them both home with the first pinch-hit home run of his career, a 416-foot shot to left field off Josh Taylor
DENVER (AP) — Yuli Gurriel had four hits, Sandy Alcantara limited Colorado to two runs in six innings and the Miami Marlins beat the Rockies 10-2 on Wednesday night to snap a three-game losing streak. Alcantara (2-5) put together one of his best outings in what has been a difficult season, striking out three and allowing his second-fewest runs this season. Major league hitting leader Luis Arraez doubled in two runs in a three-run fifth inning that gave the Marlins a 5-1 lead. Jonathan Davis was 3 for 4 with a solo homer a day after being called up from Triple-A Jacksonville.
CINCINNATI (AP) — Ben Lively earned his first victory as a starter since 2017, Kevin Newman drove in three runs and Cincinnati had its highest hit total in almost a year in a 10-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Rookie shortstop Matt McClain hit the second homer of his big league career and Spencer Steer had a career-best four hits with two RBIs for Cincinnati, which pounded out 18 hits, the team’s highest total since posting 20 against the Chicago Cubs last May 26. Lively (2-2) worked six innings, allowing five hits and two walks while striking out eight. Brendan Donovan and Lars Nootbaar homered for the Cardinals. St. Louis left-hander Steven Matz remained winless after giving up up four runs in the first inning.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Hudson White had three hits, Mason Molina pitched six strong innings and Texas Tech upset third-seeded West Virginia 6-2 in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament. The sixth-seeded Red Raiders (38-19) scored in five straight innings, beginning with a two-run second, to knock the Mountaineers (39-17) into the losers bracket. Texas Tech advances to play No. 7 seed Oklahoma on Thursday night. West Virginia will play an elimination game against second-seeded Oklahoma State earlier Thursday.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — John Spikerman and Easton Carmichael each had two hits and an RBI to help Oklahoma beat rival Oklahoma State 9-5 in the Big 12 Tournament. Oklahoma (31-24), the defending tournament champion, picked up its second win in five meetings against Oklahoma State this season to advance to the winners’ bracket on Thursday. Oklahoma State (37-17) plays in a consolation game on Thursday. Oklahoma jumped out to a 7-0 lead, with RBI singles from Dakota Harris, Spikerman and Carmichael. Spikerman reached base five times, with three walks. Oklahoma State’s first error of the game led to Kade Fletcher scoring from third to give the Sooners an 8-4 lead in the seventh. The Cowboys also walked home a run in the inning to make it 9-4.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Janson Reeder hit a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning and No. 8 seed Kansas knocked off top-seeded Texas 6-3 in the Big 12 Tournament. Kansas (25-30) advances to the winners’ bracket to play No. 4 seed TCU on Thursday, while Texas (38-19) faces elimination against No. 5 Kansas State. The Longhorns received the No. 1 seed after sharing the regular-season title with West Virginia and Oklahoma State. Chase Jans got his 50th RBI of the season in the third inning to open the scoring and Kodey Shojinaga, the Big 12 freshman of the year, gave Kansas a 2-0 lead with an RBI single to left field. Shojinaga finished 3 for 4.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Brayden Taylor hit his 44th career home run to tie the program record, Karson Bowen went 4 for 4 with two RBIs and TCU routed Kansas State 16-3 in seven innings to begin the Big 12 Tournament. Taylor opened the scoring with a three-run homer as TCU batted around in a five-run first inning. Taylor added an RBI double in the second and a two-run double in the fourth to make it 16-2. Fourth-seeded TCU (34-22), which closed out the regular season with a 2-1 series win at Kansas State, advances to the winners’ bracket on Thursday while Kansas State (33-23), the No. 5 seed, plays in a consolation game.
UNDATED (AP) — Kevin McCullar Jr. said Wednesday that he will return to Kansas for his final year of eligibility, likely rounding out a roster that could make the Jayhawks the preseason No. 1 next season. McCullar transferred from Texas Tech to Kansas last season, when he started 33 of 34 games and averaged 10.7 points and 7.0 rebounds. He was also among the nation’s leaders in steals. He returns to a roster that features holdovers Dajuan Harris Jr. and KJ Adams, brought in Michigan transfer Hunter Dickinson and Texas guard Arterio Morris, and will add one of the nation's best freshmen classes.
BOSTON (AP) — The Celtics finally found cohesion between their defense and offense in their Game 4 win, capitalizing off 16 Heat turnovers and finding their 3-point shot. Now down 3-1, the question is whether Boston can carry that energy home, a place where it is just 4-5 this postseason to keep alive its hopes of extending the series. At the very least the Celtics’ win made their hopes of becoming the first NBA team in 151 tries to overcome a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series shift from insurmountable back to possible heading into Game 5.
DENVER (AP) — It took 3,787 regular-season games and 29 trips to the playoffs, countless ripoffs of rainbow uniforms and even more ‘yeah, buts’ than any city should have to stomach. Finally, 47 seasons into an entertaining, often frustrating and almost always overlooked journey in the NBA, Denver is at the center of the basketball world. The Nuggets are in the NBA Finals. The Nuggets brushed aside their long-held irrelevance by completing their first sweep in 44 NBA playoff series. They did it against the Lakers, the team had beaten them in their seven previous playoff series. Next up, Denver will play the winner of the Miami-Boston series that the Heat lead 3-1. The first game of the NBA Finals is set for June 1.
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Matthew Tkachuk scored a power-play goal with 4.9 seconds left, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 36 shots to cap off a brilliant series, and the Florida Panthers earned their first trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 27 years by beating the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 to win the Eastern Conference title in a sweep. Tkachuk’s goal was his second of the night — and maybe the biggest in Panthers’ history. The Panthers will play either Vegas or Dallas for the Stanley Cup starting sometime next week; Vegas currently leads the Western Conference title series 3-0.
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Republican Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo announced Wednesday a preliminary agreement between his office, legislative leaders in the state and the Oakland Athletics for a stadium funding plan. It comes after weeks of negotiations over how much public assistance the state will contribute to a $1.5 billion ballpark in Las Vegas. The preliminary agreement indicates a funding bill could come to the Nevada Legislature in the coming days. It still needs approval from both the Senate and Assembly, with less than two weeks until the session ends. The A’s have been looking for years for a home to replace Oakland Coliseum, where the team has played since arriving from Kansas City for the 1968 season.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — The PGA Tour's “Block Party” is still going with Michael Block playing at Colonial after tying for 15th at last week's PGA Championship. The club pro from California will tee up for the first round Thursday at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas. The 120-player field also includes local favorites Scott Scheffler and Jordan Spieth. Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world, was the runner-up in the major last week and at Colonial last year to Sam Burns. Block is in on a sponsor's exemption and says he's glad he hasn't come to reality yet about what's happening.
UNDATED (AP) — An NCAA-commissioned survey of 18- to 22-year-olds shows more than half acknowledged placing sports wagers and two-thirds of those who live on college campuses saying they engage in betting. The survey results come less than a month after the baseball coach at Alabama and athletes at Iowa and Iowa State were found to have made wagers in violation of NCAA rules. The purpose of the survey was to explore the prevalence of gambling. Thirty-percent of the 3,500 respondents said their typical wager was between $10 and $20. But 6% said they have lost more than $500 in a single day.
WEDNESDAY SCORES
INTERLEAGUE
Final Texas 3 Pittsburgh 2
Final Milwaukee 4 Houston 0
Final Minnesota 7 San Francisco 1
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Chicago White Sox 6 Cleveland 0
Final Tampa Bay 7 Toronto 3
Final Baltimore 9 N.Y. Yankees 6
Final Detroit 6 Kansas City 4
Final L.A. Angels 7 Boston 3
Final Seattle 6 Oakland 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Philadelphia 6 Arizona 5
Final Cincinnati 10 St. Louis 3
Final Washington 5 San Diego 3
Final Chicago Cubs 4 N.Y. Mets 2
Final Atlanta 4 L.A. Dodgers 3
Final Miami 10 Colorado 2
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Florida 4 Carolina 3
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