KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Freddy Fermin followed a leadoff walk by Nick Pratto and a single by Matt Duffy with a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt in the ninth inning, giving the Kansas City Royals a 4-3 win over the Chicago White Sox. Reynaldo López took the loss for the White Sox. Scott Barlow pitched a perfect ninth to earn the win. The Royals nursed a 3-1 lead into the eighth, but the White Sox tied it up with a two-out rally against Aroldis Chapman. Andrew Vaughn and pinch-hitter Carlos Pérez singled, and Luis Robert Jr. bounced a tying double off the chalk of the left-field line.
CHICAGO (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals are last in the NL Central with a 13-25 record in a surprisingly lackluster start for one of baseball's winningest franchises. It’s the worst 38-game start for the team since it was 13-25 in 1925, according to Sportradar. The Cardinals haven’t finished with a losing record since they were 78-84 in 2007, and the franchise has just two losing seasons in the past 25 years. Alongside the losing, St. Louis also has experienced a bit of dysfunction in a departure for a franchise that typically sails along with very little of the choppy water it has publicly navigated already.
PHOENIX (AP) — Rookie Casey Schmitt had four more hits, including a two-run homer, and Alex Cobb blanked Arizona into the eighth inning as the San Francisco Giants beat the Diamondbacks 6-2. Schmitt connected for a 443-foot home run into the second deck above the Diamondbacks’ bullpen in the second inning off Tommy Henry. Schmitt was recalled Tuesday from Triple-A Sacramento. He finished 4 for 4 with a run-scoring double in the ninth and is 8 for 12 with two homers and four RBIs through three games. Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio is the only other player since 1920 with at least eight hits, four RBIs and four runs scored through his first three games, according to OptaSTATS.
MIAMI (AP) — Miami's top pitching prospect, Eury Pérez, will make his major league debut Friday when the Marlins host Cincinnati. At 20 years, 27 days old, he’ll become the youngest starting pitcher in the club’s history and the only MLB player born after 2002. Injuries to left-hander Trevor Rogers and right-hander Johnny Cueto made room for Pérez, who is listed on MLB pipeline as the No. 10 overall prospect and third-best right-hander. He was called up from Double-A Pensacola on Wednesday.
UNDATED (AP) — Patrick Mahomes and the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs will kick off the season against the upstart Detroit Lions in a matchup of high-powered offenses and they’ll host Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles in a Super Bowl rematch on “Monday Night Football” in Week 11. Aaron Rodgers will make his New York Jets debut in the first Monday night game of the season against the Buffalo Bills and later faces the Miami Dolphins in the NFL’s first Black Friday game on Nov. 24. Thanks to Rodgers’ arrival in the Big Apple, the Jets will have six nationally televised games, including their first Sunday night game since 2011 vs. the Chiefs on Oct. 1.
PHOENIX (AP) — Nikola Jokic scored 32 points in another triple-double, Jamal Murray added 26 and the Nuggets advanced to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2020 by beating the short-handed Suns 125-100 in Game 6 on Thursday night. The Nuggets will play in the conference finals for the first time since they lost to the Lakers in five games in the Florida bubble during the COVID-19 pandemic. They have never reached the NBA Finals.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jayson Tatum missed his first six 3-pointers before he drilled two straight clutch ones late in the game that pushed the Celtics past the Philadelphia 76ers 95-86 to send the Eastern Conference semifinals back to Boston for Game 7. The defending conference champs are in familiar territory. Boston trailed 3-2 last season in the second round against Milwaukee before it won Game 6 on the road and the clincher at home. Game 7 is Sunday in Boston. Tatum scored 19 points. Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey each scored 26 points for the 76ers.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Lakers coach Darvin Ham said he excepts Anthony Davis to play Friday night in Los Angeles, adding that the eight-time All-Star big man is “not showing any signs of anything” and is not in the NBA’s concussion protocol after being hit in the head late in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals. Davis is “doing great,” Ham said, and is probable for Game 6 against the Golden State Warriors. Davis was hurt by what appeared to be an inadvertent shot to the head from Golden State’s Kevon Looney midway through the fourth quarter of the Warriors’ 121-106 victory in San Francisco.
MIAMI (AP) — Whatever it takes. That's the credo at this time of year in the NBA playoffs. It's why New York teammates Jalen Brunson and Quentin Grimes are playing 48 minutes. It's why Miami's Jimmy Butler is playing through ankle soreness. It's why Golden State’s Stephen Curry is taking more shots per game than he ever has in a playoff run. It's why the Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis will likely play through whatever is ailing him after he had to leave early Wednesday night. The Heat play host to New York and the Lakers play host to Golden State on Friday. Both home clubs have 3-2 series leads.
UNDATED (AP) — West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins has agreed to a three-game suspension and a $1 million pay cut after he used a homophobic slur during a radio show. The agreement allows Huggins to keep his job as the school's basketball coach, but the blunder will leave a lasting mark on his Hall of Fame career. During a call to a Cincinnati radio station Monday, Huggins was asked whether he had a chance of landing an Xavier player from the transfer portal. Huggins then made offensive comments about Xavier fans. He later apologized. Huggins will also be required to meet with LGBTQ+ leaders as part of the agreement.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Jesper Fast deflected in a shot by Jesperi Kotkaniemi on a power play at 7:09 of overtime to give the Carolina Hurricanes a series-ending 3-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night. Fast’s deflection while shielding Akira Schmid set off a celebration for the Hurricanes, who never led until the final play and twice trailed by a goal before winning the best-of-seven series 4-1 to reach the Eastern Conference final. In the first tight game of the second-round matchup, Fast made amends for when he popped a puck over the goal in front of an open net in the first period. Jaccob Slavin and Brent Burns also scored for Carolina, and Frederik Andersen made 27 saves.
DALLAS (AP) — Roope Hintz scored two goals and had an assist, Joe Pavelski scored his seventh goal of the second-round series and the Dallas Stars beat the Seattle Kraken 5-2 in Game 5. The Stars have a 3-2 series lead. Pavelski also had an assist on Hintz’s second goal, which ricocheted hard out of the net with 8:37 left for a two-goal lead, though play continued for nearly a half-minute before a replay review that confirmed the score. Radek Faksa added an empty-netter. Game 6 is Saturday in Seattle. Adam Larsson and Jared McCann scored for Seattle.
McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — S.Y. Noh has a three-shot lead at the AT&T Byron Nelson after he tied the course record with an opening-round 60. Noh decided against going for the green in two on the par-5 18th. He made birdie and finished at 11-under even after dealing with a cracked driver on the back nine. Sebastián Muñoz set the TPC Craig Ranch record last year with a 12-under opening round. The course is now a par 71 in its third year of hosting the Nelson after one of the par-5s was converted to a par-4. Two-time defending champion K.H. Lee of South Korea shot 71. Local favorite and world No. 2 Scottie Scheffler had a 64.
THURSDAY SCORES
INTERLEAGUE
Final Minnesota 5 San Diego 3
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Kansas City 4 Chicago White Sox 3
Final Tampa Bay 8 N.Y. Yankees 2
Final Texas 4 Oakland 0
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Cincinnati 5 N.Y. Mets 0
Final San Francisco 6 Arizona 2
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final Boston 95 Philadelphia 86
Final Denver 125 Phoenix 100
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final OT Carolina 3 New Jersey 2
Final Dallas 5 Seattle 2