KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — James Paxton pitched six solid innings, Masataka Yoshida tied his career high with four of Boston’s 18 hits and the Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 9-5 on Monday night. Boston, which has won four their last five, now trails the Royals by 1 1/2 games for the final American League wild card spot. Paxton allowed two runs on five hits to pick up his first win since being traded to the Red Sox by the Dodgers. Brady Singer allowed four runs on 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings. He allowed at least one hit in every inning.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Sean Manaea won consecutive starts for the first time this season, Tyrone Taylor hit a three-run double from the No. 2 slot in the batting order and the New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-0 in the makeup of a May 8 rainout. Manaea allowed six hits in seven innings, struck out 10 and walked none. He has pitched 14 scoreless innings in his last two starts, giving up eight hits, striking out 21 and walking one. Ryne Stanek and Edwin Díaz finished with hitless relief in the Mets’ fourth shutout -- all from July 11 on.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The Chicago White Sox lost their 21st straight game, tying the American League record with a 5-1 defeat to the Oakland Athletics as Max Schuemann hit a tiebreaking, two-run single in the fourth inning. Chicago is on the longest losing streak since the 1988 Baltimore Orioles lost 21 in a row. The NL record since 1900 is held by the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies, who lost 23 straight. The major league low belongs to the 1889 Louisville Colonels, an American Association team that lost 26 consecutive games during a 27-111 season.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Freddie Freeman singled and got a hug from Phillies star Bryce Harper in his return to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ lineup after missing eight games to be with his ailing 3-year-old son who is out of danger after a serious medical diagnosis. After an initial diagnosis proved incorrect, Maximus Freeman was found to have Guillain-Barre syndrome. It's a rare neurological disorder in which the body's immune system attacks the nervous system. Freeman says his son is back home and learning to walk again. The All-Star first baseman cried at times in describing what he called a “heartbreaking” ordeal. He says his son is expected to fully recover over time.
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — Matt Araiza concedes there were moments during the past two years when he thought the 82-yard punt he uncorked in a preseason game for the Buffalo Bills might remain his only NFL effort. Araiza says “there was a lot of moments where I thought it was over, so I’m incredibly grateful to be here.” The “here” is training camp for the Kansas City Chiefs at Missouri Western State University, where Araiza aims to restart his NFL career. Chiefs coach Andy Reid says ”I mean, he’s booming the thing. Be curious to see in games, let’s see how he does there.”
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, who made the game-winning field goal in Kansas City’s Super Bowl victory two years ago, has agreed on a four-year contract extension that makes him the highest-paid kicker in the NFL. Butker announced the deal on X, saying: “There’s no place I’d rather be than with the Chiefs, excited to finalize a 4 year extension. To the Heights!” ESPN reported that Butker is receiving a $25.6 million extension that includes $17.75 million guaranteed.
PITTSFORD, N.Y. (AP) — The passage of time has allowed Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin to gain perspective and grow in confidence a year after he resumed playing football following a near-death experience. Hamlin tells The Associated Press that his mind, spirit and soul are free in no longer feeling hindered by fears of going into cardiac arrest and having to be resuscitated on the field, as happened to him during a game at Cincinnati on Jan. 2, 2023. The 26-year-old's focus is now on making the Bills' roster for a fourth season since being selected by Buffalo in the sixth round of the 2021 draft.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh says he has no reason to apologize. The former Michigan coach continued to deny having any knowledge of an impermissible-scouting operation that triggered an NCAA investigation into his program last year. Harbaugh left Michigan two weeks after he led the Wolverines to their first national title since 1997. Michigan is expected to soon receive a notice of allegations from the NCAA related to the sign-stealing scheme. Harbaugh could face a Level 1 violation. He says he believes in owning up to mistakes, but did nothing wrong in this case.
NEW YORK (AP) — Georgia will open the season ranked No. 1 in the preseason USA Today Coaches Poll a year after having its two-year run as national champion end. The Bulldogs received 46 of the 55 first-place votes from college football coaches. Preseason No. 2 Ohio State got seven votes at No. 1, followed by Oregon, Texas and Alabama. The Associated Press preseason college football poll is scheduled to be released next Monday. Texas and defending national champion Michigan each got a first-place vote. The Wolverines will open ranked No. 8.
OLYMPICS
PARIS (AP) — American gymnast Simone Biles didn’t get the golden sendoff she hoped. Biles earned silver in the floor exercise finals on Monday after a routine that included a couple of costly steps out of bounds. Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade became the first gymnast to beat Biles in a floor final in a major international competition, posting a score of 14.166 that finished just ahead of Biles at 14.133. It was Biles' 11th Olympic medal. Jordan Chiles, a longtime friend of Biles, earned the bronze.
PARIS (AP) — The International Boxing Association has raised new questions while struggling to answer others at a shambolic news conference about the opaque gender tests that led the Olympics-banned governing body to abruptly suspend Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting from last year’s world championships. The decision has fueled online abuse against the women during the Paris Games. During the news conference Monday in Paris, IBA CEO Chris Roberts claimed the Olympic committees of Algeria and Taiwan wrote letters to the IBA asking them not to disclose information about the boxers. What information the IBA did reveal about the tests wasn't flattering to the banished governing body.
PARIS (AP) — Olympic triathletes plunged into the Seine River when the mixed relay event got underway after organizers said the bacteria levels in the long-polluted Paris waterway were at acceptable levels. Organizers on Sunday night made the decision to hold the event Monday morning with swimming legs in the Seine. The plan to hold the swimming portion of the triathlons and the marathon swimming events in the Seine was an ambitious one. Swimming in the river has, with some exceptions, been off-limits since 1923 because it has been too toxic.
SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Armand “Mondo” Duplantis broke his own pole vault world record Monday night at the Olympics, clearing 6.25 meters (20 feet, 6 inches) to cap his second straight gold-medal performance on the sport’s biggest stage. Duplantis cleared the mark on his third and final try. It marked the ninth time the Louisiana-born 24-year-old, who competes for his mother’s native Sweden, has broken the record, but the first time at the Olympics. Duplantis last broke the record April 20 in China. America’s Sam Kendricks won the silver medal and Emmanouil Karralis of Greece took the bronze.
MONDAY SCORES
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
Final Arizona 7 Cleveland 6
Final Minnesota 3 Chicago Cubs 0
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Boston 9 Kansas City 5
Final Texas 4 Houston 3
Final Oakland 5 Chicago White Sox 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final N.Y. Mets 6 St. Louis 0
Final San Francisco 4 Washington 1
Final Cincinnati 10 Miami 3