DETROIT (AP) — Matt Vierling hit a three-run homer to highlight Detroit’s five-run seventh inning and the Tigers beat Kansas City 6-5 Saturday night, ending the Royals’ four-game winning streak. Trailing 3-1, Detroit rallied against Chris Stratton (2-2) in the seventh. The Tigers won despite four infield errors, two by Javier Báez. Alex Faedo (2-1) got the win with two innings of relief of starter Casey Mize, who allowed three runs, two earned, in five innings.
NEW YORK (AP) — Sonny Gray extended his terrific start with St. Louis, Paul Goldschmidt hit an early two-run double and the Cardinals beat the New York Mets 7-4 for their first three-game win streak this season. With the bases loaded in the ninth inning, Ryan Helsley retired Francisco Lindor on a popup for the final out. Nolan Arenado and rookie Masyn Winn each had an RBI single during a four-run first against Mets newcomer Adrian Houser. Pete Alonso hit his 200th home run for the Mets, becoming the fourth-fastest player in major league history to reach the milestone behind Ryan Howard, Aaron Judge and Ralph Kiner.
ATLANTA (AP) — Josh Naylor and Ramon Laureano had RBIs in the 11th inning and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Atlanta Braves 4-2 in a game featuring the teams with the two best records in the majors. Scott Barlow (1-2) escaped a bases loaded, one-out jam in the 10th inning, retiring Chadwick Tromp and Jarred Kelenic, to earn the win. Nick Sandlin pitched a perfect 11th to record his first save of the season.Naylor was 2-for-4 with an RBI and Steven Kwan was 3-for-5.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs addressed their biggest concerns in the first two rounds of the NFL draft. The two-time defending Super Bowl champions traded up in the first round to grab speedy Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy. Then they made a modest move up in the second round to draft BYU offensive tackle Kingsley Suamataia. The Chiefs also added depth at their biggest remaining positions of need in the later rounds. They used one fourth-round pick on Jared Wiley of TCU and another on Jaden Hicks, a safety from Washington State.
UNDATED (AP) — Some teams see an immediate impact from a draft class. Others have to wait on a return. The Houston Texans went from worst to first in their division last season after selecting quarterback C.J. Stroud and edge Will Anderson Jr. back to back with the second and third overall picks. The Carolina Panthers ended up with the worst record despite taking Bryce Young No. 1 overall so they have to be patient. The Chicago Bears are the leading contender to have a Texans-like turnaround after getting QB Caleb Williams with the first pick and wide receiver Rome Odunze at No. 9. The Arizona Cardinals, Philadelphia Eagles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Washington Commanders also had excellent drafts.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs plan to explore options that include leaving Arrowhead Stadium after voters in Jackson County, Missouri, soundly rejected a sales tax initiative that would have helped to pay for renovations to the 52-year-old building. The Chiefs and Royals have relied on a three-eighths cent sales tax for upkeep of their facilities. The franchises wanted to extend that tax with the Royals using their share of the money for a new downtown ballpark and the Chiefs envisioning an $800 million renovation of Arrowhead. More than 58% of voters rejected the initiative. Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said Saturday that with 6 1/2 years left on the lease with Arrowhead Stadium, the team has been forced to aggressively consider all options.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Lakers avoided playoff elimination with a 119-108 victory over the Denver Nuggets in Game 4 of their first-round series. LeBron James scored 30 points and Anthony Davis added 25 points and 23 rebounds. The seventh-seeded Lakers snapped their 11-game losing streak against the defending NBA champions with their first win over the Nuggets since December 2022. Nikola Jokic had 33 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists in the two-time MVP’s 18th career triple-double and second in this series. Denver swept Los Angeles out of the Western Conference finals last season, but the current Lakers responded better to this 0-3 deficit.
MIAMI (AP) — Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each scored 22 points, and the Boston Celtics soundly beat the Miami Heat 104-84 to a take a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series on Saturday night. Tatum added 10 rebounds and six assists for the Celtics, who led Game 3 wire-to-wire and reclaimed the home-court edge that they lost when Miami won Game 2 in Boston. Kristaps Porzingis scored 18 and Derrick White scored 16 for the Celtics. Bam Adebayo scored 20 points for eighth-seeded Miami, which remains without starters Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier because of injuries.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 24 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the New Orleans Pelicans 106-85 on Saturday to take a 3-0 lead in their first-round playoff series. Jalen Williams and Josh Giddey each scored 21 for the Thunder. Top-seeded Oklahoma City hit 17 of 36 shots from 3-point range and led by as many as 24 in the fourth quarter. Brandon Ingram scored 19 points and CJ McCollum had 16 for New Orleans. The Pelicans made just 9 of 32 3-point shots and committed 21 turnovers, leading to 23 Thunder points. The eighth-seeded Pelicans will try to avoid elimination at home in Game 4 on Monday night.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Franz Wagner had 34 points and 13 rebounds, and the Orlando Magic held the Cleveland Cavaliers scoreless for a second-half stretch of almost seven minutes Saturday in a 112-89 victory that tied the Eastern Conference first-round series at 2-2. Jarrett Allen had 21 points and nine rebounds for the Cavaliers. Donovan Mitchell had 18 points, all in the first half, and six assists. Game 4 of the series will be Tuesday night in Cleveland, where the No. 4-seeded Cavaliers won the first two before getting blown out twice in Florida.
AVONDALE, La. (AP) — Former BYU teammates Patrick Fishburn and Zach Blair shot a 12-under 60 in better-ball play Saturday to take the third-round lead in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, the PGA Tour’s only team event. At 23-under 193, Fishburn and Blair had a one-stroke lead over Luke List and Henrik Norlander, with the Irish duo of Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry — tied for the lead after each of the first two rounds — two strokes back. Fishburn and Blair, both winless on the PGA Tour, have been playing golf together since their junior high school days in Ogden, Utah. List and Norlander had a 62. McIlroy and Lowry shot 64 to join Ryan Brehm and Mark Hubbard at 21 under.
SATURDAY SCORES
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Final L.A. Dodgers 4 Toronto 2
Final Cincinnati 8 Texas 4
Final Boston 17 Chicago Cubs 0
Final Houston 12 Colorado 4
Final N.Y. Yankees 15 Milwaukee 3
Final Cleveland 4 Atlanta 2
Final Seattle 3 Arizona 1
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Baltimore 7 Oakland 0
Final Detroit 6 Kansas City 5
Final Chicago White Sox 8 Tampa Bay 7
Final Minnesota 16 L.A. Angels 5
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Washington 11 Miami 4
Final St. Louis 7 N.Y. Mets 4
Final Philadelphia 5 San Diego 1
Final Pittsburgh 4 San Francisco 3
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final Orlando 112 Cleveland 89
Final Oklahoma City 106 New Orleans 85
Final Boston 104 Miami 84
Final L.A. Lakers 119 Denver 108
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final 2OT N-Y Islanders 3 Carolina 2
Final Tampa Bay 6 Florida 3
Final Boston 3 Toronto 1
Final OT Dallas 3 Vegas 2