NBA
Jayson Tatum had 25 points and 10 rebounds, and the Boston Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 113-98 on to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the third straight season, where they will face either the Indiana Pacers or the New York Knicks. The Knicks hold a 3-2 lead in that series and play game 6 Friday night at 8:30. Al Horford added 22 points, 15 rebounds and six of Boston’s 19 3-pointers to post their third consecutive win of the series and earn a 4-1 win. The Cavaliers played shorthanded without star Donovan Mitchell (calf), center Jarrett Allen (rib) and key reserve Caris LeVert (knee). Cleveland stayed close and pulled within 88-85 early in the fourth. Boston then went on a 13-2 run to take a 101-87 lead. Evan Mobley scored a playoff career high 33 points. Marcus Morris Sr. had five 3-pointers and finished with 25 points.
Luka Doncic scored 31 points in a triple-double to help the Dallas Mavericks beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 104-92 and take a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference semifinal series. He made 12 of 22 field goals and had 11 assists and 10 rebounds in Game 5 for his sixth career playoff triple-double. Derrick Jones Jr. scored 19 points and P.J. Washington added 10 points and 10 rebounds for Dallas. The Mavericks can advance to the Western Conference Finals with a win Saturday at home. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 30 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the top-seeded Thunder.
NHL
The N-Y Rangers take face the Carolina Hurricanes in game six at 7 tonight. New York leads the series 3-2.
Colorado defenseman Cale Makar scored two goals, the second after Casey Mittelstadt’s go-ahead tally in the third period and the Avalanche beat top-seeded Dallas 5-3 in Game 5. The Avs snapped their three-game losing streak and extended the second-round Western Conference Series. Game 6 is Friday night in Colorado. Mittelstadt scored just 1:12 into the third period to make it 3-2. Maker added an unassisted goal about three minutes later. Avalanche goalie Alexandar Georgiev had 23 saves. Stars goalie Jake Oettinger stopped 22 shots. Joe Pavelski had his first goal of these playoffs for the Stars. Miro Heiskanen and rookie Logan Stankoven scored the other Dallas goals, and Jason Robertson had two assists.
MLB
Aaron Judge followed a 467-foot home run with three hard-hit doubles and drove in two runs for the New York Yankees in a 4-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins. Marcus Stroman threw six scoreless innings for his first win in four starts as the Yankees kept up their decades-long dominance of the Twins. The Yankees have outscored the Twins 9-1 and outhit them 26-11 in winning the first two games of the series. They improved to 118-44 against them since 2002. That’s the best record by any major league club against any intraleague opponent over that 23-season span.
Bryce Harper homered, doubled and drove in three runs, Ranger Suárez became the first eight-game winner in the majors and the streaking Philadelphia Phillies defeated the New York Mets 10-5. Cristian Pache added two RBIs for Philadelphia, which has won three straight against the Mets and 16 of 19 overall to improve baseball’s best record to 31-13. J.D. Martinez homered for the struggling Mets, who have lost five of six and dropped 11 games behind the first-place Phillies in the NL East. Suárez moved to 8-0 and lowered his ERA to 1.37, allowing four hits and two unearned runs in five innings. Harper returned to the lineup after missing Tuesday’s game against the Mets in New York with a migraine.
Yandy Díaz snapped a sixth-inning tie with a two-run single and the Tampa Bay Rays held off the Boston Red Sox 4-3. Taj Bradley pitched five solid innings in his second major league start this year, giving up two runs on four hits and a walk with six strikeouts. Kevin Kelly fanned two in a perfect ninth for his second career save and first this season. Wilyer Abreu and Rafael Devers homered for Boston. Tanner Houck allowed three runs — one earned — and five hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked three. The right-hander tossed a career-high 112 pitches, most by a Red Sox starter since Nick Pivetta threw 112 in his shutout against Houston on May 18, 2022.
Bryan De La Cruz homered, Trevor Rogers pitched five scoreless innings and the Miami Marlins beat the Detroit Tigers 2-0. Miami (13-32) has won two straight and three of four after a four-game losing streak. They shut out the Tigers on Tuesday and Wednesday to win the three-game series. Four relievers finished, with Tanner Scott pitching the ninth for his fifth save. One day after Ryan Weathers pitched eight shutout innings, Rogers (1-6) held the Tigers scoreless for five innings. He allowed three hits and two walks while striking out six.
Korey Lee went 3 for 3 with an RBI, Garrett Crochet tossed five scoreless innings and the Chicago White Sox topped the Washington Nationals 2-0 for their second straight win. Tommy Pham and Andrew Benintendi each singled and doubled for last-place Chicago. Pham drove in the White Sox’s first run as they won their second straight series and improved to 11-8 since a 3-22 start to the season. Jared Shuster followed with two hitless innings. Jordan Leasure pitched a 1-2-3 eighth. Michael Kopech worked around two walks in the ninth, striking out two, for his fifth save.
The Los Angeles Angels snapped their three-game skid with a 7-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Griffin Canning pitched six innings of one-run ball and Nolan Schanuel hit his first career leadoff homer. Willie Calhoun had three hits, including an RBI double during the Angels’ four-run first, while Zach Neto and Taylor Ward homered later in the Angels’ seventh win in 26 games. Paul Goldschmidt homered in the sixth inning for the Cardinals, whose three-game winning streak ended. St. Louis still hasn’t swept a series this season.
Adley Rutschman’s two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning gave Baltimore a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays, enabling the Orioles — yet again — to avoid a sweep. Baltimore split the two-game set with the Blue Jays — the middle game Tuesday was rained out — and has now gone 105 straight regular-season series of at least two decisions without being swept. That’s tied for the third-longest run in major league history. The Orioles were swept in last year’s AL Division Series against Texas. Jordan Romano blew his first save of the season for Toronto.
Ty France homered for the second time in three games, Bryan Woo allowed one run over 5 1/3 innings for his first win, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Kansas City Royals 4-2. The Mariners took two of three from the Royals and have won eight of their last nine series. Seattle will head out on a key 10-game road trip on the East Coast four games above .500 and leading the AL West. France hit a solo shot off Kansas City starter Alec Marsh in the fourth inning to give Seattle a 2-0 lead. France also homered on Monday in the series opener against the Royals. Marsh allowed just one earned run but suffered his first loss of the season.
Framber Valdez struck out eight in seven strong innings and combined with Seth Martinez for a two-hitter, and the Houston Astros beat the Oakland Athletics 3-0 on Wednesday for their season-high fourth straight victory. Valdez (3-1) allowed both hits and walked two. The left-hander recorded 11 groundouts. Valdez has yielded two runs or fewer in four of his last five starts. Martinez earned his first save of the season. Oakland’s only hits off Valdez were a weak infield single by J.D. Davis in the fourth and Shea Langeliers’ single in the seventh. The A’s have lost four straight.
Jon Gray pitched four-hit ball into the seventh inning and the Texas Rangers got two-run homers from Marcus Semien and Adolis García to beat the Cleveland Guardians 4-0, stopping a five-game losing streak. Gray allowed only one runner beyond first base while throwing 94 pitches in 6 1/3 innings and lowering his ERA to 2.08. He’s limited opponents to seven earned runs in 48 1/3 innings over eight starts and one cameo relief appearance since giving up five runs in 3 2/3 innings during his season debut. The defending World Series champion Rangers have never been under .500 since Bruce Bochy became their manager before last season. This was their seventh victory this year while at .500.
William Contreras went 3 for 5 with four RBIs and hit one of Milwaukee’s five homers off Martín Pérez in the Brewers’ 10-2 blowout of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The NL Central-leading Brewers won two of three from the Pirates before beginning a season-long, nine-game trip Friday at Houston. Gary Sánchez, Sal Frelick, Joey Ortiz and Jackson Chourio also homered off Pérez. The Brewers tied a franchise record for homers off a single pitcher in one game. Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutchen went 3 for 4, homered and scored both the Pirates’ runs.
Brandon Pfaadt threw seven stellar innings, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a tiebreaking RBI double in the eighth and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Cincinnati Reds 2-1. The D-backs took two of three in the series and five of six from the Reds this season. Pinch hitter Pavin Smith started the D-backs’ rally with a two-out double to right field. Gurriel followed with another double to right, which wasn’t hit as hard, but still fell just out of the reach of a sliding Jake Fraley. Paul Sewald retired the Reds in order in the ninth for his second save of the season.
Austin Gomber allowed two hits in six innings, Brenton Doyle and Jordan Beck homered and the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 8-0 to complete a three-game sweep with their seventh straight victory. It is Colorado's longest winning streak since an eight-game run in 2019. Gomber struck out five and walked two before three relievers finished a four-hitter. It was the first time Colorado swept a three-game set in San Diego since 2013. The last-place Rockies had gone 93 games without throwing a shutout. Beck, who had three hits and four RBIs, smacked his first major league homer in the sixth. Michael King had a rocky outing for the Padres, giving up his big league-high 11th homer to Doyle in a three-run second. Beck delivered a two-run double.
Javier Assad pitched six shutout innings and the Chicago Cubs avoided their first sweep of the season by beating the Atlanta Braves 7-1. Assad allowed just four hits and walked one while matching a season high with seven strikeouts. Pete Crow-Armstrong went 2 for 4 with a triple, two RBIs and a run scored, and Seiya Suzuki and Mike Tauchman homered for the Cubs, who had 13 hits after mustering just eight while being shut out in the first two games of the series. Charlie Morton lasted just three innings for the Braves, giving up four runs — three earned — and five hits.
Logan Webb pitched six scoreless innings and Mike Yastrzemski hit a two-run homer as the San Francisco Giants beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1 to avoid a three-game sweep. Webb limited Los Angeles to three hits, striking out five and walking three to help the Giants snap a six-game losing streak against their longtime rivals. Camilo Doval allowed two runners to reach in the ninth but retired Freddie Freeman on a groundball to second for his seventh save.
Houston Astros pitcher Ronel Blanco has received a 10-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball rules prohibiting foreign substances. Blanco was ejected from Tuesday night’s start against the Oakland Athletics. His penalty, which also includes an undisclosed fine, was announced by MLB senior vice president of on-field operations Michael Hill. Houston general manager Dana Brown said Blanco will not appeal the suspension, which was set to begin Wednesday night against Oakland. Blanco was ejected at the start of the fourth inning Tuesday night after umpires found a foreign substance that first base ump Erich Bacchus said was “the stickiest stuff" he'd felt on a glove.
WNBA
Arike Ogunbowale scored 14 of her 25 points in the fourth quarter, Teaira McCowan and Natasha Howard had double-doubles and the Dallas Wings pulled away down the stretch for an 87-79 win over the Chicago Sky in their season opener. Trailing 75-73 with 3:16 to go, the Wings scored the next 14 points, capped by a deep 3-pointer by Ogunbowale for an 87-75 lead with 31 seconds left. Howard finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds and McCowan had 18 points and 13 rebounds. Marina Mabrey had 19 points and nine rebounds for the Sky, who had all five starters in double figures.
Rhyne Howard scored 25 points, Tina Charles had 21 with 14 rebounds and the Atlanta Dream turned back the Los Angeles Sparks 92-81 in their season opener. Howard had five points as the Dream opened the fourth quarter with an 11-0 run for a 77-66 lead. The Sparks got within 87-81 on a 3-pointer by Cameron Brink, the overall No. 2 pick, with 1:34 left but they missed their last four shots and had a critical turnover while Atlanta went 5 of 6 from the foul line. Kia Nurse had five 3-pointers and 23 points for Los Angeles and Layshia Clarendon had 11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for her first career triple-double.
ESPN’s broadcast of the Connecticut Sun’s game against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever had the highest viewership of a WNBA game on the network. The Sun’s 92-71 win over the Fever in Clark’s WNBA debut on the league’s opening night on Tuesday drew an average of 2.1 million viewers on ESPN2, ESPN+ and Disney+, including a high of 2.3 million viewers between 7:45 p.m. and 7:59 p.m. That topped ESPN’s previous mark of nearly 1.5 million viewers for a Phoenix Mercury-Connecticut Sun game on May 22, 2004, in Diana Taurasi’s rookie season.
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Alonso Martínez scored early and Hannes Wolf scored his first career goal late in the first half to spark New York City FC to a 2-1 victory over Philadelphia, handing the Union a fourth straight loss at home for the first time in club history. The Union (3-4-5), who were the last unbeaten team through seven matches this season, have surrendered the first goal in six of their last seven matches and yielded multiple goals in five straight. New York City (6-5-2) jumped in front in the 2nd minute when Martínez, making just his fourth start and 11th appearance over the past two seasons, used assists from Santiago Rodríguez and Andrés Perea to score his third goal of the season.
Cameron Harper and Lewis Morgan scored five minutes apart early in the second half and the New York Red Bulls beat D.C. United 4-1 on Wednesday night. New York (6-2-5) became the ninth team in MLS history to score at least nine goals in consecutive road matches against a single club. Elias Manoel opened the scoring for New York in first-half stoppage time. Harper cut back his defender in the box and sent in a shot inside the far post to make it 2-0 in the 52nd minute. Harper nearly scored a second goal on a breakaway, but Alex Bono made a kick save and Morgan tapped the rebound into an empty net.
Teenager Kevin Kelsy found the net for the second straight time in his third career match and FC Cincinnati edged Atlanta United 1-0. Kelsy, a 19-year-old forward who was making his first start, took a pass from reigning MVP Luciano Acosta in the 7th minute and scored on a header to give Cincinnati (8-2-3) the lead. Kelsy also scored last week in a 2-1 road win over the defending champion Columbus Crew. Goalkeeper Roman Celantano needed to make just one save on the way to his league-leading fifth clean sheet in nine starts this season for Cincinnati, which has won five in a row. The club improves to 6-1-1 on the road this season. Brad Guzan saved four shots for Atlanta United (3-6-3).
Diego Rossi and rookie Marino Hinestroza scored second-half goals to propel the Columbus Crew to a 3-1 victory over CF Montreal. The defending-champion Crew (4-2-6) began the night in eighth place in the Eastern Conference and had not earned a victory since beating the New York Red Bulls on March 16. They went 0-2-5 until righting the ship against Montreal (3-6-3).
Drake Callender made three saves for his second clean sheet of the season and Inter Miami played Orlando to a scoreless draw on Wednesday night. Miami (8-2-4), which has never defeated the Lions in MLS play in Orlando, had its five-game winning streak come to an end. Miami was looking to become the third team since 2019 to win six straight regular-season matches in the same season. Orlando (3-5-4) is just 1-3-3 at home this season. Lionel Messi did not play for Miami due to a left leg injury. Messi played the entire game on Saturday despite a first-half injury scare. He briefly left that game late in the first half after some sort of issue with his left knee after being fouled by defender George Campbell.
Sebastián Driussi scored in the 87th minute, Brad Stuver recorded his fourth clean sheet and Austin beat the Houston Dynamo 1-0 on Wednesday night for its second series victory this season. Austin (5-4-4) secured its fourth consecutive home victory and its fifth clean sheet of the season. Houston (5-5-2) has just one win in its last five games, a stretch that includes a three-game winless skid. Austin had two shots hit off the frame in the opening 20 minutes when Diego Rubio’s shot went off the crossbar and Alex Ring’s shot bounced off the post. Driussi scored his team-high fourth goal of the season when he cleaned up a loose ball following a corner kick.
Ashley Westwood scored off a free kick in the second half and Kristijan Kahlina finished with five saves for his third straight clean sheet in a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Fire. Westwood drilled a right-footed shot to the top right corner of the net in the 60th minute for his second goal of the season for Charlotte (6-5-2), which was coming off back-to-back shutout victories at home to begin May. Kahlina has five clean sheets this season, tying him with Cincinnati’s Roman Celentano for the league lead. Chris Brady had one save for the Fire (2-7-4), who have gone 0-4-2 — with both draws scoreless — in their last six matches.
Kervin Arriaga scored in the 80th minute for his second goal in two games and Minnesota United tied the LA Galaxy 2-2 on Wednesday night. Minnesota (6-2-3) had won three consecutive matches, with three game-winning goals from 23-year-old Tani Oluwaseyi. Only five different players in MLS history have scored a game-winning goal in four straight. Los Angeles (5-2-6) is winless in its last four games. Bongokuhle Hlongwane opened the scoring for Minnesota in the 30th when he settled a deflected corner kick and sent it off the crossbar. A video replay confirmed it crossed the goal line. Arriaga tied it at 2-all by heading in Joseph Rosales’ corner kick at the back post.
Defender Shaq Moore scored his first career goal late in the second half, Teal Bunbury followed with a score and Joe Willis made three saves to propel Nashville SC to a 2-0 victory over Toronto FC. Neither team scored until Moore took passes from Walker Zimmerman and Aníbal Godoy in the 81st minute and found the net for the first time in his 46th start and 50th appearance for Nashville (3-4-5) over the past three seasons. Bunbury, who subbed in for Sam Surridge in the 88th minute, added some insurance in the first minute of stoppage time with an assist from Tyler Boyd. It was Bunbury’s third goal this season. Luka Gavran had one save in his fifth start of the season for Toronto (6-6-1).
Los Angeles FC 2 St Louis City 0
Rafael Navarro scored on a penalty kick after Vancouver’s Bjørn Inge Utvik drew a red card during first-half stoppage time and Zack Steffen made it stand up as the Rapids beat the Whitecaps 1-0. Utvik, a rookie defender making his fourth start and sixth appearance, drew a hand ball foul following a video review. Navarro converted the PK in the fifth minute of stoppage time with a right-footed shot to the bottom right corner of the net. Navarro is 4 for 4 on penalty kicks this season. He has scored in three straight matches and has seven goals overall. Steffen finished with two saves for his third clean sheet of the season for Colorado (6-4-3). Yohei Takaoka saved two shots for Vancouver (5-4-3)
Andres Gomez and Diego Luna both scored to give Real Salt Lake a 2-0 victory over the Seattle Sounders and extend their undefeated streak to nine straight league matches. Real Salt Lake has five shutouts during their undefeated run, which has put them atop the Western Conference standings. Salt Lake’s last loss came at home against the Colorado Rapids on March 9.
Jonathan Rodriguez scored a pair of goals and the Portland Timbers snapped a nine-game winless streak with a 4-2 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes. The Timbers also got goals from Felipe Mora and Evander to snap a three-game losing streak and move out of last place in the Western Conference. The Earthquakes have never won at Providence Park. San Jose got goals from Amahl Pellegrino and Hernan Lopez.
NFL
Netflix and the NFL announced a three-year deal for the streaming giant to carry games on Christmas Day. Netflix will have both games this year and at least one game in 2025 and ’26. Netflix announced during its upfront presentation to advertisers that it will have defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City at Pittsburgh followed by Baltimore at Houston. Netflix began airing NFL programming last year with the series “Quarterback.” A series on wide receivers will premiere this year. Netflix began airing live sports events last year, but it was exhibition events in golf and tennis. It is also scheduled to air the July 20 bout between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul and next year will start carrying World Wrestling Entertainment’s flagship show, “Raw.”
The NFL schedule has been released. That means the snark can begin. The league’s 32 teams all have social media teams working toward this day, trying to one-up each other on creative ways to announce their opponents. In many ways, the event is their Super Bowl, with teams planning the release well in advance. There were several entertaining entries in this year's batch. The New England Patriots channeled the 90s classic movie “Good Will Hunting." The Los Angeles Chargers had a video game theme from “The Sims.”
Even though the Super Bowl rematch between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers will not occur until almost the midpoint of the season, NFL fans will be treated to a pair of playoff rematches on the opening weekend. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs begin their quest for an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl title when they host the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 5 in the Kickoff Game while the Los Angeles Rams are at the Detroit Lions in the Sunday night game on Sept. 8. The two playoff rematches on Week 1 are among nine on this year’s regular schedule, which was released by the league Wednesday night.
PGA TOUR
Rory McIlroy has all the momentum he could want heading into the PGA Championship today as he tries to end a drought in the majors that has lasted a decade. McIlroy is coming off two straight victories, one of them with Irish pal Shane Lowry in New Orleans, the other an exquisite back nine at Quail Hollow to rally past Xander Schauffele last week in the Wells Fargo Championship. McIlroy is hopeful of ending a decade without a major in his return to Valhalla today. But McIlroy will have to face Scottie Scheffler, Brooks Koepka, Michael Block, Tiger Woods, and other golf greats in battle today at Valhalla. the distraction is a divorce from his wife of seven years. That petition was filed in Florida on Monday, right after he won at Quail Hollow and before flying up to Louisville for a major. McIlroy has a history of being able to separate personal life from work.
CRICKET
As the U.S. prepares to host its first cricket World Cup next month, a temporary stadium is rising in the New York City suburbs. The sport has found fertile ground there among waves of Caribbean and South Asian immigration. The U.S. is co-hosting the T20 World Cup, with eight games at Eisenhower Park on Long Island. American cricket organizers hope the games will provide the same boost soccer enjoyed when the U.S. hosted its first FIFA World Cup in 1994. USA Cricket estimates there are more than 400 local leagues and more than 200,000 Americans playing the sport nationwide.
© 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
