TORONTO (AP) — Seth Lugo pitched seven strong innings to win for the fifth time in seven starts, Michael Massey hit a three-run home run and the Kansas City Royals beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-1 on Wednesday. Bobby Witt Jr. had two hits, scored once and also drove in a run as the Royals won for the fifth time in seven meetings with Toronto. Salvador Perez had an RBI single and extended his career-best streak of reaching base safely to 21 games. His 27 RBIs lead the American League. Massey homered off right-hander Nate Pearson in the eighth, his second in two games. He finished with four RBIs.
DETROIT (AP) — Kenta Maeda got his first win for Detroit, allowing four hits over six innings in a 4-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals as the Tigers took two of three games in the series. Matt Vierling had three RBIs for the Tigers, who are 31-16 against St. Louis in interleague play. The teams also met in three World Series, with the Cardinals winning in 1934 and 2006, and Detroit taking the title in 1968. Maeda allowed a fourth-inning home run to Willson Contreras that landed in shrubbery above the center-field fence. He struck out five and walked none.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee reliever Abner Uribe was suspended for six games and starter Freddy Peralta for five for their roles in a brawl during a Brewers’ game against the Tampa Bay Rays. Tampa Bay outfielder Jose Siri was suspended for three games, a penalty later cut to two, and Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy for two. The suspensions were issued by Mike Hill, Major League Baseball’s senior vice president for on-field operations. All four also were fined. Murphy started his suspension, when associate manager Rickie Weeks led the team against the Rays, and Siri also began his penalty.
BOSTON (AP) — Jaylen Brown and Derrick White each scored 25 points and the Boston Celtics advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals, beating the short-handed Miami Heat 118-84 in Game 5 on Wednesday night. Boston will face the winner of the Cleveland-Orlando series. The Cavaliers lead 3-2, with Game 6 in Orlando on Friday night. Brown also had six assists, and White hit five 3-pointers. Sam Hauser added 17 points and Jayson Tatum had 16 points and 12 rebounds, The top-seeded Celtics never trailed and led by 37 points. They also got a measure of revenge a year after the Heat routed them in Game 7 of the conference finals in Boston. Bam Adebayo scored 23 points for Miami.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 20 of his 35 points in the second half and added 10 assists and seven rebounds, propelling the Dallas Mavericks to a 123-93 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 5 and a 3-2 lead in the first-round series. Maxi Kleber hit five 3-pointers and Kyrie Irving added 14 points for the Mavericks, who clamped down on the Clippers defensively and won decisively in Los Angeles for the second time in the series. Paul George and Ivica Zubac scored 15 points apiece for the Clippers. They played their second straight game and third of the series without Kawhi Leonard.
UNDATED (AP) — Two-time reigning national champion UConn is among the teams that have dramatically changed their rosters with transfers during college basketball's open portal window. The deadline for players to enter their names into the portal to signal their intent to change programs is late Wednesday. The Huskies could lose all five starters from their second straight NCAA championship team. But coach Dan Hurley has added former Michigan center Tarris Reed and Saint Mary's guard Aidan Mahaney as replacements. Other teams facing significant changes include marquee names like Kentucky, Kansas, Duke and Arkansas.
UNDATED (AP) — Koby Brea, who led the nation in 3-point shooting for Dayton, has announced he will play his final season at Kentucky. He is the fifth player this week and sixth overall to sign with the Wildcats from the transfer portal. Brea shot a Division I-leading 49.8% on 3-pointers for Dayton and will have one season of eligibility with Kentucky. American Athletic Conference co-player of the year Johnell Davis of Florida Atlantic has been added to new coach John Calipari’s roster at Arkansas. Washington 7-foot-1 center Braxton Meah has transferred to Nebraska.
SCOTTDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The Big 12 is about to play its first season without Oklahoma and Texas. The new 16-team conference lacks traditional super powers. And the expanded College Football Playoff’s new revenue structure has created a perception the Big 12 is no longer a peer of the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference on the field. Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark’s job is to push back against the narrative bigger bank accounts automatically make better football teams. He says he was not happy with the new CFP revenue model, but he's betting on the Big 12's performance in the 12-team playoff to overcome perception.
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Colorado football coach Deion Sanders and his quarterback son, Shedeur, have taken to social media in response to a transfer being critical of how players were treated at the school. Former Colorado defensive back Xavier Smith said in a recent article published in the Athletic that Deion Sanders “never even tried to get to know me,” and that he “was destroying guys’ confidence and belief in themselves.” Shedeur Sanders responded on X by saying he didn’t remember Smith. Smith was hampered by injuries for the Buffaloes. He earned freshman All-America honors at FCS Austin Peay in 2023 and has since followed coach Scotty Walden to UTEP.
UNDATED (AP) — Gamers’ appetites for immersive sports video games have not changed much since the heyday of EA Sports' college football. Society, however, has. Video-game developer EA Sports is breaking back into the college football world 11 years after lawsuits over using players’ likeness without compensation froze the franchise. EA Sports announced in 2021 it would be rebooting the game with college athletes receiving the go-ahead to profit from their brand. The developer will seek to differentiate its game from other offerings in the market — sports franchises that have had the advantage of time to evolve.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Longtime Missouri basketball coach Norm Stewart has been inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians. Stewart unveiled a bust of himself Wednesday during a ceremony in the Missouri House. The bust will be displayed in the Hall of Famous Missourians in the Jefferson City Capitol building. Stewart joked that he appreciated that his likeness still had some hair. Stewart coached basketball at Missouri for 32 seasons, finishing with a 634-333 record. Missouri reached the NCAA Tournament 16 times and won eight regular-season conference championships and six conference tournament championships under his leadership. House Speaker Dean Plocher says he chose to induct Stewart to celebrate his resilience and dedication to the community.
WEDNESDAY SCORES
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Final Detroit 4 St. Louis 1
Final Milwaukee 7 Tampa Bay 1
Final Oakland 4 Pittsburgh 0
Final Atlanta 5 Seattle 2
Final Philadelphia 2 L.A. Angels 1
Final Boston 6 San Francisco 2
Final Washington 1 Texas 0
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Minnesota 10 Chicago White Sox 5
Final Kansas City 6 Toronto 1
Final N.Y. Yankees 2 Baltimore 0
Final Cleveland 3 Houston 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final San Diego 6 Cincinnati 2
Final Miami 4 Colorado 1
Final Chicago Cubs 1 N.Y. Mets 0
Final L.A. Dodgers 8 Arizona 0
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final Boston 118 Miami 84
Final Dallas 123 L.A. Clippers 93
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Dallas 3 Vegas 2