KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kyle Isbel and Maikel Garcia hit back-to-back triples to start a sixth-inning rally, and Vinnie Pasquantino delivered the go-ahead sacrifice fly that sent the Kansas City Royals to a 2-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians. Sam Long earned the win, wiggling his way out of Michael Wacha’s jam in the sixth and retiring the side in the seventh. John Schreiber handled the eighth before James McArthur worked a perfect ninth for his 14th save. Ben Lively took the loss for Cleveland, allowing two runs on six hits and a walk over six innings. The Guardians wound up leaving nine runners on base.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jonathan India had two hits to extend his hitting streak to nine games, Spencer Steer homered and the Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 11-4 on Thursday night. India had his sixth straight multi-hit game. He had reached safely in 11 consecutive at-bats before finally being retired Wednesday. Reds starter Andrew Abbott (7-6) was the winner, allowing two runs on two hits and six walks in five innings. Cincinnati won for the second time in six games. Miles Mikolas (6-7) lasted 4 1/3 innings, allowing at least one run in each inning he pitched in. He gave up a career-high 10 runs, nine of them earned, on 12 hits and a walk.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bryce Harper limped off the field with an apparent hamstring injury after making the final out for the Philadelphia Phillies in their 7-4 loss to the Miami Marlins. Hustling down the line as he tried to beat out a grounder to the right side, Harper reached for his left hamstring after crossing first base and hobbled toward the dugout. He will undergo imaging Friday. Earlier in the day, the slugger was elected by fans to start at first base for the National League in the July 16 All-Star Game at Texas. Philadelphia teammate Kyle Schwarber also got hurt, exiting in the ninth inning after experiencing left groin tightness. Schwarber, normally a designated hitter, started in left field — just his third game in the field all season.
ATLANTA (AP) — José Fajardo beat backup goalkeeper Ethan Horvath in the 83rd minute to give Panama a 2-1 victory over the United States at the Copa America and put the Americans in danger of elimination if they don’t beat Uruguay in their first-round finale. The U.S. played nearly the entire game a man down after a silly foul by Tim Weah in the 18th minute. Folarin Balogun put the short-handed U.S. ahead in the 22nd minute but César Blackman tied the score in the 26th. Horvath, who replaced injured Matt Turner at halftime, couldn’t prevent Fajardo’s close-range shot and Panama beat the U.S. for just the third time in 27 meetings.
NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA draft was completed on a second day in a second borough of New York, with the Toronto Raptors taking Jonathan Mogbo of San Francisco with the No. 31 pick. The league went to a two-day format this year instead of having its draft drag too late into the night. The second round was held Thursday at ESPN’s Seaport District studios in Manhattan after the first round took place as usual at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Ten players and their families attended, sitting in a room off the studio set, though the two players who were left in the green room at the end of the first round, Duke’s Kyle Filipowski and Johnny Furphy of Kansas, didn’t return.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A jury in U.S. District Court ordered the NFL to pay nearly $4.8 billion in damages Thursday after ruling that the league violated antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service. The jury awarded $4.7 billion in damages to the residential class and $96 million in damages to the commercial class. The lawsuit covered 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses who paid for the package of out-of-market games from the 2011 through 2022 seasons on DirecTV.
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Sha’Carri Richardson never made it to the start, let alone the finish, of the 200 meters at the last Olympic trials. At these trials, even in the opening round of what’s really her second-best race, she flashed another glimpse of the kind of sprinter who has emerged from all that trouble three years ago. Bursting from the starting block and turning the curve into her own, personal glidepath, Richardson was able to slow down over the final 20 meters and still won her opening round in 21.99 seconds. Noah Lyles and Gabby Thomas also cruised through their opening rounds of the 200, while Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone ran 53.07 seconds to win her first round of the 400-meter hurdles.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Fred Richard and Brody Malone moved closer to a trip to the Olympics with solid performances during the opening night of the U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials. Richard, a junior at Michigan, posted an all-around score of 85.600 on Thursday night to lead Malone, a three-time national champion, by a half-point. Malone is at 85.100. Shane Wiskus, a 2020 Olympian along with Malone, is third at 84.300. The five-man U.S. Olympic team will be announced shortly after the trials end on Saturday night.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon was the big winner at Thursday’s NHL awards show, taking home the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league’s MVP as the Ted Lindsay Award as the league’s most outstanding player as decided by the NHL Players Association. Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard was selected as the league’s top rookie, winning the Calder Memorial Trophy. Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets won the Vezina Trophy as the top goalie. Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks was named winner of the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the top defenseman.
UNDATED (AP) — A small Texas university has gone to court to object to the $2.77 billion settlement proposal that would erase a set of antitrust claims against the NCAA and the nation’s largest conferences and clear the way for schools to begin steering millions of dollars directly to athletes as soon as fall 2025. Houston Christian filed its motion in federal court in California, arguing the settlement would divert funds from academics and marginalized and underserved populations as well as putting big-money college sports the over the needs of non-athlete students.
THURSDAY SCORES
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Final Chicago White Sox 1 Atlanta 0
Final Minnesota 13 Arizona 6
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Baltimore 11 Texas 2
Final Toronto 9 N.Y. Yankees 2
Final Kansas City 2 Cleveland 1
Final L.A. Angels 5 Detroit 0
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Chicago Cubs 5 San Francisco 3
Final Miami 7 Philadelphia 4