KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — MJ Melendez broke an eighth-inning tie with a single to help the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 2-1 on Friday night. With one out, Melendez hit a soft liner to left off Michael Kopech (0-1) to score pinch-runner Dairon Blanco. Chris Stratton (1-0) worked a scoreless eighth for the victory, and James McArthur got a game-ending double-play grounder for his first save. The Royals jumped opened the scoring in the first inning on the first of Salvador Pérez’s three hits, a two-out RBI double off the wall in center. Gavin Sheets tied it with a leadoff homer in the second, lifting starter Brady Singer’s slider 391 feet down the line in right. Luis Robert Jr. left the game in the ninth with a left hip flexor injury.
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story exited Boston’s game against the Angels in the fourth inning after injuring his left shoulder on a backhand dive to stop a hit by Mike Trout. Story got his glove on Trout’s hard grounder, but he was left writhing in pain after hitting the grass hard on his arm and shoulder. Story stayed on the grass for about two minutes before heading to the dugout. Pablo Reyes replaced Story at shortstop.
ATLANTA (AP) — Spencer Strider, Atlanta’s ace and the major league leader in wins and strikeouts last season, will have tests on his right elbow Saturday after complaining about discomfort in Friday night’s game. Strider lasted only four innings, allowing five runs on seven hits. He recorded four strikeouts and struggled with control, walking three batters. Braves manager Brian Snitker said Strider “was complaining about his elbow. ... He was uncomfortable with how it was feeling.” When asked when Strider felt the discomfort, Snitker said it “might have been throughout the game.” Snitker said he learned of the issue after Strider left the game. The loss of Strider could be devastating to Atlanta’s rotation. Strider was Snitker’s choice to open the season as the Braves' No. 1 starter.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A person familiar with the contract says Chiefs defensive end Mike Danna has agreed on a three-year, $24 million deal to remain in Kansas City. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal is pending a physical. Danna had a career-best 6 1/2 sacks last season plus seven tackles for loss and 13 quarterback hits while playing 74% of the defensive snaps. A fifth-round pick in 2020, Danna has 17 sacks in four seasons.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Caitlin Clark led Iowa back to the national championship game, scoring 21 points as the Hawkeyes rallied past Paige Bueckers and UConn 71-69 in the women’s Final Four. Next up for the Hawkeyes is a rematch with unbeaten South Carolina, which lost to Iowa in last year’s Final Four. The Hawkeyes then fell short of winning the school’s first national championship, falling to LSU in the title game last season. Now Clark is one win away from bring her home state its first women’s basketball title in the final game of her college career. She got off to a slow start but scored seven points early in the fourth quarter.
CLEVELAND (AP) — All-America center Kamilla Cardoso scored 22 points and unbeaten South Carolina emphatically kept its perfect season going, advancing to the championship game of the women’s NCAA Tournament with a 78-59 victory over North Carolina State. The talented and tenacious Gamecocks led by one at halftime before putting their full arsenal on display in the third quarter. They outscored the Wolfpack 29-6 to turn what had been a tense matchup into another blowout. South Carolina will face Caitlin Clark and Iowa for the national title on Sunday in a rematch of a Final Four game last year won by the Hawkeyes. Aziaha James scored 20 points for No. 3 seed N.C. State.
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The opener at the Final Four on Saturday might feel like a trip through a time machine. Yes, those are Purdue and North Carolina State — one program here for the first time since 1980, the other trying to write a 21st-century version of college basketball’s greatest story ever told. And yes, those are 7-foot-4 Zach Edey and 6-9 DJ Burns Jr., some 600 pounds worth of center patrolling the paint and dictating a style that has been out of fashion for a decade or more. The winner of the titanic collision will play the UConn-Alabama winner for the title.
UNDATED (AP) — Houston coach Kelvin Sampson is the Associated Press coach of the year for men's college basketball. Sampson received 23 of 62 votes from a national panel that votes for the AP Top 25. That edged Dan Hurley of UConn, who received 21 votes. The balloting was completed before the NCAA Tournament. Houston lost to Duke in the Sweet 16 after All-American guard Jamal Shead was hurt. Sampson is the 10th coach to win the award multiple times after also winning it at Oklahoma in 1995.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Zach Edey of Purdue is The Associated Press Player of the Year in men's college basketbal. He is the first back-to-back winner since Ralph Sampson at Virginia in the 1980s. Edey is a 7-foot-4 center who led his team to its first Final Four since 1980. He received 57 of 62 votes from journalists who vote in the weekly AP Top 25. Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht received three votes and Houston’s Jamal Shead got two.
FRIDAY SCORES
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Final Baltimore 5 Pittsburgh 2
Final Colorado 10 Tampa Bay 7
Final Milwaukee 6 Seattle 5
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Detroit 5 Oakland 4
Final Toronto 3 N.Y. Yankees 0
Final Kansas City 2 Chicago White Sox 1
Final Texas 10 Houston 2
Final Boston 8 L.A. Angels 6
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Chicago Cubs 9 L.A. Dodgers 7
Final San Francisco 3 San Diego 2
Final Philadelphia 4 Washington 0
Final N.Y. Mets 3 Cincinnati 2
Final Atlanta 6 Arizona 5
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Indiana 126 Oklahoma City 112
Final Charlotte 124 Orlando 115
Final Portland 108 Washington 102
Final Boston 101 Sacramento 100
Final Memphis 108 Detroit 90
Final San Antonio 111 New Orleans 109
Final Miami 119 Houston 104
Final Chicago 108 New York 100
Final Toronto 117 Milwaukee 111
Final Dallas 108 Golden State 106
Final Phoenix 97 Minnesota 87
Final L.A. Clippers 131 Utah 102
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Buffalo 4 Philadelphia 2
Final Carolina 4 Washington 2
Final N-Y Rangers 4 Detroit 3
Final Edmonton 6 Colorado 2
Final Seattle 3 Anaheim 1
Final Arizona 7 Vegas 4