SEATTLE (AP) — George Kirby allowed three hits over seven shutout innings, Luke Raley hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Kansas City Royals 6-2. A night that started with a lucky fan catching foul balls on consecutive pitches ended with another dominant pitching performance that helped the Mariners improve to 19-11 over the past 30 games. Kirby had been bothered by a sore knee, but was terrific in striking out six and walking none. Raley's homer was his second of the season. Ty France also hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning. Kansas City starter Brady Singer allowed a season-high nine hits.
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals scored eight runs in the seventh inning and rallied from a four-run deficit for a 10-5 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. Nolan Arenado homered and Matt Carpenter had a tying two-run single during the surge. St. Louis sent 14 batters to the plate during a rally capped by a two-run single from Iván Herrera, who had two hits in the inning. Kevin Pillar hit a two-run homer and Kyren Paris had an RBI double during a four-run third inning for the Angels, who have lost four of five during their homestand to drop to 5-15 at home.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs will open the regular season at home against the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 5 in a rematch of the AFC title game. The NFL will release the entire 2024 season schedule on Wednesday night on the NFL Network. The Chiefs beat the Ravens 17-10 in the AFC championship game in January and went on to defeat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime in the Super Bowl. The Ravens-Chiefs opener at Arrowhead Stadium will be a Thursday night game on NBC. Kansas City will be going for a third straight Super Bowl title and fourth in six years this season.
DALLAS (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder overcame a Dallas franchise playoff record of 13 blocks, rallying for a 100-96 victory to even their Western Conference semifinal series at 2-2. Chet Holmgren and Lu Dort hit a clutch 3-pointer apiece late, and Jalen Williams drove for a dunk and a 94-91 lead with 1:29 remaining as Dallas players and coaches screamed for a double-dribble call. The teams split a pair on each other’s home court. Game 5 is Wednesday night in Oklahoma City. The Mavericks’ last chance to tie came with 10.1 seconds left when trailing by two, Luka Doncic had two free throws. But the Dallas superstar missed the first.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Jayson Tatum scored 33 points with LeBron James watching from a courtside seat and the Boston Celtics beat the severely short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers 109-102 in Game 4 to take a commanding 3-1 lead in their East semifinal series. Jaylen Brown added 27 for the Celtics, who can close out Cleveland with a win in Game 5 on Wednesday at home. The Cavs got pushed to the brink of elimination with Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen out with injuries. It was nothing new for a Cleveland team that dealt with injuries all season, but it was a big ask. Tatum added 11 rebounds and five assists. Darius Garland scored 30 and Evan Mobley and Caris LeVert 19 apiece for the Cavs.
NEW YORK (AP) — Jordan Staal and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored 3:06 apart in the third period, and the Carolina Hurricanes got four goals in the third period for a 4-1 win over the New York Rangers in Game 5, staving off elimination for the second straight game. Jordan Martinook and Martin Necas also scored in the Hurricanes’ big third period, and Frederik Andersen — starting for the fourth time in five games in this series and ninth time in 10 games in the postseason — had 20 saves. Jacob Trouba scored a short-handed goal and Igor Shesterkin stopped 24 shots for New York, which has lost two straight after taking a 3-0 series lead. Game 6 is Thursday night in Raleigh, North Carolina.
DENVER (AP) — Wyatt Johnston scored twice on the eve of his 21st birthday as the Dallas Stars pushed Colorado to the brink of elimination with a 5-1 win in Game 4 that came hours after Avalanche standout Valeri Nichushkin was suspended for at least six months. Dallas can close it out at home in Game 5 on Wednesday. Miro Heiskanen and Evgenii Dadonov also scored, while Sam Steel added an empty-net goal. Jake Oettinger made 24 saves. Before the game, the National Hockey League and National Hockey League Players’ Association announced that Nichushkin was suspended for at least six months without pay.
UNDATED (AP) — One of the lead attorneys in a class-action antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA says settlement talks are progressing well. A deadline looms next week for the NCAA and major conferences to agree to a deal that could cost billions in damages and set up a groundbreaking revenue-sharing system with college athletes. Steve Berman, a Seattle-based attorney for the plaintiffs, would not confirm details of the possible agreement but told AP a settlement could create a new framework for paying college athletes that he believes could withstand other antitrust challenges.
UNDATED (AP) — The spring transfer portal window is closed in college football and several teams made huge upgrades. Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin has built a contender for the first year of the 12-team College Football Playoff. Miami went hard to boost its chances in Year 3 under Mario Cristobal. Ohio State's portal class was high in quality. Oregon added another experienced quarterback. Kalen DeBoer's best pick up at Alabama might have been a lineman who came back. And at Colorado, Coach Deion Sanders is reloading again with a host of new arrivals.
UNDATED (AP) — Oklahoma has broken through for its first regular-season baseball championship in the Big 12. The Sooners swept Baylor for the program's first regular-season title since 1995, when they were in the old Big Eight. Oklahoma led the Big 12 from start to finish and wrapped it up with wins in six straight conference games and in 13 of the last 15. Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas won weekend series and start the week as the top three teams in the nation by D1Baseball.com and Baseball America. The final Pac-12 regular-season race will come down to the Oregon State-Arizona series in Tucson.
UNDATED (AP) — Longtime rivals Texas and Oklahoma are primed to go out in style in their final Big 12 seasons before joining the Southeastern Conference. Texas has claimed the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Division I Softball Tournament, despite losing to Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship game. Three-time defending national champion Oklahoma is the No. 2 overall seed. A fourth straight title would be unprecedented. Oklahoma defeated Texas in the best-of-three championship series in 2022 to claim the national title.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani is likely to plead not guilty as a formality in a sports betting case. Prosecutors allege Ippei Mizuhara stole nearly $17 million from the Japanese baseball player to pay off debts. He has agreed to a plea deal on one count of bank fraud and one count of subscribing to a false tax return. But first he's likely to enter a not-guilty plea as a formality during his arraignment Tuesday in federal court in Los Angeles. Authorities say there was no evidence that Ohtani was involved in or aware of Mizuhara’s gambling.
PARIS (AP) — Diego Maradona’s heirs want to stop the auction of a trophy he was awarded after the 1986 World Cup won by Argentina. It had been missing for decades and recently resurfaced. Their lawyer told The Associated Press he will launch an urgent request to have the Golden Ball withdrawn from the sale next month in Paris. He told the AP he will also request a judicial sequestration of the trophy and file a complaint for theft and concealed theft. Maradona died in 2020 at age 60. He captained Argentina in its 3-2 win over West Germany in the 1986 final in Mexico City. Maradona’s heirs say the trophy was stolen and claim the current owner cannot be entitled to sell it.
MONDAY SCORES
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Washington at Chi White Sox 4:40 p.m. (Postponed)
Final Detroit 6 Miami 5
Final St. Louis 10 L.A. Angels 5
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Toronto 3 Baltimore 2
Final Tampa Bay 5 Boston 3
Final Houston 9 Oakland 2
Final Cleveland 7 Texas 0
Final Seattle 6 Kansas City 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Atlanta 2 Chicago Cubs 0
Final Philadelphia 5 N.Y. Mets 4
Final Pittsburgh 8 Milwaukee 6
Final Colorado 5 San Diego 4
Final L.A. Dodgers 6 San Francisco 4
Final Arizona 6 Cincinnati 5
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final Boston 109 Cleveland 102
Final Oklahoma City 100 Dallas 96
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Carolina 4 N-Y Rangers 1