KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Craig Kimbrel tied Billy Wagner for seventh on the career list with his 422nd save, Anthony Santander had the first three-double game of his major league career and the Baltimore Orioles rode a seven-run second inning to a 9-7 victory over the Kansas City Royals. Salvador Perez tied his career high with five RBIs for the Royals, who tried to overcome a 7-0 deficit, and hit a game-ending flyout to Colton Cowser in front of the left-field warning track. Kimbrel pitched a perfect ninth for his fifth save this season.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — William Contreras drove in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning and finished with two RBIs as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 on Friday night. Contreras hit a two-out single off Ryan Helsley (1-2) in the 10th inning that scored automatic runner Blake Perkins, breaking a 1-all tie. Hoby Milner shut down the middle of the Cardinals’ order in the bottom of the 10th to earn his first save. Milwaukee won its second straight game. St. Louis lost for the fourth time in six games and has failed to score more than three runs in a game during that span.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Zack Wheeler pitched no-hit ball for 7 1/3 innings, Brandon Marsh homered and the Philadelphia Phillies extended their winning streak to five by beating the struggling Chicago White Sox 9-5. Wheeler didn’t give up a hit until rookie Korey Lee’s one-out single on a hard grounder into right field that just eluded diving first baseman Bryce Harper. The 33-year-old right-hander struck out eight, walked two and allowed no runs while throwing 75 of 106 pitches for strikes. Chicago is batting a major league-low .190 and extended its franchise-worst start to 3-17. The White Sox have lost eight of their last nine games.
DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic had 32 points and 12 rebounds, and the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets powered past LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers 114-103 in their Western Conference playoff opener. Two other Nuggets posted double-doubles — Jamal Murray (22 points, 10 assists) and Aaron Gordon (12 points, 11 rebounds) — and Michael Porter Jr. came close with 19 points and eight boards. James scored 27 points for L.A. and Anthony Davis had 32 points and 14 rebounds, but the Lakers lost to the Nuggets for the ninth consecutive time and Denver handed James just his fourth loss in 17 first-round openers.
NEW YORK (AP) — Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart each scored 22 points, Deuce McBride led a huge effort by New York’s backups with 21 and the Knicks beat the Philadelphia 76ers 111-104 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series. McBride outscored the 76ers by himself with 13 points in the second quarter, when Joel Embiid had to leave after appearing to reinjure his surgically repaired left knee on a dunk. He returned and rallied the 76ers into the lead in the second half, but Hart hit a couple big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to help the Knicks pull it out. Hart also had 13 rebounds for the No. 2-seeded Knicks, who host Game 2 on Monday.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points, Jarrett Allen had 18 reounds and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Orlando Magic 97-83 in Game 1 of their playoff series. Evan Mobley added 16 points for Cleveland, which got bullied and bounced in just five games by the New York Knicks in the 2023 postseason. That experience scarred the Cavs, who entered these playoffs more confident and relatively healthy after a regular season filled with injuries. Paolo Banchero scored 24 points for the Magic, but he had nine turnovers in his playoff debut. Orlando shot just 33%v from the floor, and made just 8 of 37 3-pointers.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Anthony Edwards scored 18 of his 33 points in the third quarter and had nine rebounds to carry the Minnesota Timberwolves in a tone-setting 120-95 victory over the Phoenix Suns to start the first round of the playoffs. The Wolves got their first Game 1 home win in the playoffs in 20 years. Kevin Durant scored 31 points on 11-for-17 shooting to lead the Suns, whose disadvantages in depth and size were exploited. They were outrebounded 52-28 and outscored 52-34 in the paint by the Wolves.
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Masters champion Scottie Scheffler is not letting up. He won the green jacket last week. Now he's in position to add the plaid jacket from Harbour Town in the RBC Heritage. Scheffler was bogey-free for a 63. That took him from a three-shot deficit to a one-shot lead over Sepp Straka. Collin Morikawa was another shot back and Masters runner-up Ludvig Aberg was among those three behind. Scheffler is going for his fourth win in his last five tournaments. He's trying to become the first player since Bernhard Langer to win in the next week after winning the Masters.
SHANGHAI (AP) — The three-time defending F1 champion Max Verstappen has won the Chinese Grand Prix. He started from pole for his fourth victory in five races this season and his 23rd in the last 27 extending through last season. Only a brake failure last month in the Australian GP in Melbourne probably kept him from winning all five. Lando Norris of McLaren was second followed by Verstappen's Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.
SATURDAY SCORES
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Final Washington 5 Houston 4
Final Boston 4 Pittsburgh 2
Final Philadelphia 9 Chicago White Sox 5
Final Cincinnati 7 L.A. Angels 5
Final Atlanta 5 Texas 2
Final Seattle 7 Colorado 0
Final Toronto 5 San Diego 2
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Tampa Bay 2 N.Y. Yankees 0
Final Minnesota 4 Detroit 3
Final Cleveland 6 Oakland 3
Final Baltimore 9 Kansas City 7
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Miami 3 Chicago Cubs 2
Final Milwaukee 12 St. Louis 5
Final San Francisco 7 Arizona 3
Final N.Y. Mets 6 L.A. Dodgers 4
Final Chicago Cubs 5 Miami 3
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final Cleveland 97 Orlando 83
Final Minnesota 120 Phoenix 95
Final New York 111 Philadelphia 104
Final Denver 114 L.A. Lakers 103