PHOENIX (AP) — Scott Barlow got Christian Walker to hit into a game-ending groundout with runners on second and third, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-4 for just their second win in 11 games. Brady Singer rebounded from three poor starts and the Royals tied their season high with 14 hits. Every starter except Franmil Reyes had at least one hit for the Royals. Kansas City is 6-18, including 5-6 on the road but just 1-12 at Kauffman Stadium. Corbin Carroll was a home run shy of the cycle for Arizona and stole two bases.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Blake Sabol hit a game-ending two-run homer in the ninth inning, and the San Francisco Giants rallied past the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4. With two outs and a runner on second, Sabol sent Ryan Helsley’s 1-2 offering over the wall in center field for his first career walk-off homer. Helsley blew his third save of the year. San Francisco trailed 4-2 entering the ninth. Joc Pederson reached on a fielding error by second baseman Tommy Edman, and Mike Yastrzemski followed with an RBI double to bring the Giants within one. Sean Hjelle pitched a scoreless ninth for the win. The Giants have won four straight.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Charlie Blackmon homered and drove in two runs, Brenton Doyle had his first three major league hits and the Colorado Rockies beat the Cleveland Guardians 5-1 on Tuesday night to clinch their first series win this season. Blackmon hit his 40th leadoff homer on the second pitch of the game and had an RBI double off Peyton Battenfield (0-2) in a three-run second that built a 4-0 lead. He ranks ninth on the career leadoff homer list, four behind Brady Anderson. Kris Bryant singled Blackmon home, allowing him to tie Hall of Famer Larry Walker for second in Rockies history with 892 runs.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Luis Garcia scattered three hits over six innings and the Houston Astros ended the Tampa Bay Rays' 14-game season-opening home winning streak, 5-0. Only three teams had a longer run than the Rays, who are 20-4 overall. The 1880 Chicago White Stockings, who became the Cubs, hold the MLB record for the longest season-opening home streak with 21. The 1886 Detroit Wolverines had an 18-game stretch, while the 1884 St. Louis Maroons of the Union Association won 16 in a row, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The announced crowd for the game between the MLB-best Rays and the defending World Series champion Astros at Tropicana Field was just 9,916.
UNDATED (AP) — NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will step to the podium on Thursday on a giant stage in front of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, to announce the No. 1 pick. It'll make it the ninth draft since it left New York, and the event is becoming a major boon for the league, teams and host cities. So far, the draft has been held in Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Nashville, Cleveland and Las Vegas. Detroit is up in 2024. The Chiefs just celebrated another Super Bowl ring with a parade, and will welcome even more fans to the draft and events being held at Union Station and the National WWI Museum and Memorial.
CHARLOTTE. N.C. (AP) — Carolina Panthers coach Frank Reich says he and general manager Scott Fitterer have reached an agreement on which quarterback the team will take with the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. But Reich says the team won’t say who that is until Thursday night, when the draft begins. The Panthers are choosing between Alabama’s Bryce Young, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, Kentucky’s Will Levis and Florida’s Anthony Richardson in an effort to upgrade a quarterback position that has been in transition for the last five seasons. Fitterer said last week he had waited to ask Reich who he preferred at No. 1 so that nothing would cloud either decision maker’s judgement.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — The Jets' deal to acquire Aaron Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers is a franchise-altering move that brings the four-time NFL MVP to a team that has the league’s longest postseason drought at 12 years. General manager Joe Douglas called it an “honor” to have a player of Rodgers’ caliber to want to play for the franchise and credited the culture coach Robert Saleh has cultivated during his two-plus seasons with the team. Douglas said there are still details that need to be finalized before the deal is completed. But Douglas said it is a "historic trade for this franchise.”
UNDATED (AP) — Lawmakers in Arkansas, Texas and elsewhere are working to remove barriers between college athletes trying to cash in on their fame and the schools for which they play. The latest legislative maneuvering paves the way for schools and their fundraising arms to be directly involved in securing and paying for their athletes’ name, image and likeness deals. These amended laws are also trying to shield athletic departments from NCAA enforcement. Meanwhile, college athletic administrators are discovering the benefits of moving NIL activities in-house.
PHOENIX (AP) — Devin Booker scored 47 points, including 25 in a spectacular third quarter, to lead the Phoenix Suns past the Los Angeles Clippers 136-130 and win the Western Conference first-round playoff series. The Clippers didn’t go quietly, nearly coming back from a 20-point deficit early in the fourth. Los Angeles had multiple chances to tie in the final three minutes, but could never convert. Durant made a layup to push Phoenix’s lead to 134-130 and then made two free throws to put the Suns up six with 31.3 seconds left. The Suns play the Denver Nuggets in the second round. Game 1 is on Saturday in Denver.
DENVER (AP) — The top-seeded Denver Nuggets eliminated the Minnesota Timberwolves with a 112-109 win in Game 5 of their playoff series at Ball Arena on Tuesday night. The Nuggets got a triple-double from Nikola Jokic and 35 points from Jamal Murray to hand Michael Malone his 25th playoff win as Denver's head coach. That surpasses the 24 wins Doug Moe won in the playoffs with the Nuggets. The Wolves were led by Anthony Edwards' 29 points, but his 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have sent the game into overtime hit the back of the iron.
BOSTON (AP) — Trae Young had 38 points and drained a go-ahead 3-pointer from beyond the top of the key with 2.8 seconds left to help the Atlanta Hawks cap a late comeback and beat the Boston Celtics 119-117. The victory trims Boston’s lead in the first-round playoff series to 3-2 and sends the teams back to Atlanta for Game 6 on Thursday. John Collins added 22 points for Atlanta, who played without Dejounte Murray, who was suspended for one game for bumping official Gediminas Petraitis with his chest while walking off the court after the end of Game 4. Jaylen Brown scored 35 points and Jayson Tatum added 19 for the Celtics, who were outscored 37-25 in the fourth quarter.
UNDATED (AP) — The Milwaukee Bucks, Memphis Grizzlies and Cleveland Cavaliers are hoping there’s truly no place like home. The teams that earned home-court advantage risk having their seasons end Wednesday night on their home floors in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Only Sacramento is guaranteed of playing on among the four Game 5s on tap Wednesday night. Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said they just have to go home and win a game. The Bucks are trying to avoid becoming the fourth No. 1 overall seed in the NBA playoffs since 1984 to go out in Round 1. Memphis will lean on the NBA's best home record to stay alive against LeBron James and the Lakers.
TUESDAY SCORES
INTERLEAGUE
Final Colorado 5 Cleveland 1
Final Cincinnati 7 Texas 6
Final Seattle 5 Philadelphia 3
Final Detroit 4 Milwaukee 3
Final Kansas City 5 Arizona 4
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Boston 8 Baltimore 6
Final Houston 5 Tampa Bay 0
Final Toronto 7 Chicago White Sox 0
Final Minnesota 6 N.Y. Yankees 2
Final L.A. Angels 5 Oakland 3
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final L.A. Dodgers 8 Pittsburgh 7
Final Washington 5 N.Y. Mets 0
Final Atlanta 7 Miami 4
Final Chicago Cubs 6 San Diego 0
Final San Francisco 5 St. Louis 4
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final Atlanta 119 Boston 117
Final Denver 112 Minnesota 109
Final Phoenix 136 L.A. Clippers 130
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final N-Y Islanders 3 Carolina 2
Final Dallas 4 Minnesota 0
Final Edmonton 6 Los Angeles 3
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