TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Bobby Witt Jr. homered to extend his hitting streak to 22 games and had three RBIs, Seth Lugo pitched solid six innings and the Kansas City Royals earned a three-game sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays with an 8-2 victory. Vinnie Pasquantino had a single, a double and two RBIs for the Royals, who have won nine of their past 10. Lugo gave up two runs and five hits with five strikeouts.
CINCINNATI (AP) — Jose Trevino hit a two-run homer off Matthew Liberatore and Spencer Steer added a solo shot as the Cincinnati Reds defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 9-1 on Thursday afternoon in a game delayed 1 hour, 37 minutes by rain. Steer's homer, his third of the season, off Riley O’Brien made the score 5-1 in the sixth. Santiago Espinal’s two-run single in the seventh pushed the Reds’ lead to 8-1. He went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Liberatore (2-3) took the loss. Graham Ashcraft (2-2) earned the win with three perfect innings.
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout is headed back to the 10-day injured list because of a bone bruise in his surgically repaired left knee. Angels manager Ron Washington made the announcement Thursday night following a 10-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers. The team said there is no structural damage to Trout’s knee, but Washington said the three-time AL MVP needs rest. The oft-injured Trout missed his first game of the season Thursday night after being removed from Wednesday’s loss in Seattle with left knee soreness. He got hurt on a sprint to first base when his left foot hit the bag as he tried to beat out a third-inning groundout. Trout is hitting .179 this year with nine home runs and 18 RBIs.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A man who fell from the 21-foot-high Clemente Wall in right field at PNC Park during a game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs remains in critical condition. Pittsburgh Public Safety, which includes Pittsburgh Police and EMS, posted on X says that the “incident is being treated as accidental in nature.” The man appeared to fall while celebrating as Pittsburgh star Andrew McCutchen delivered a go-ahead two-run single. McCutchen said the team is focusing on the man's health. The fan was tended to for approximately five minutes by members of both the Pirates and Cubs training staffs as well as PNC personnel. The Southern Alleghany School District identified the man as 2022 graduate Kavan Markwood.
DETROIT (AP) — Jalen Brunson scored 40 points, Mikal Bridges had 25 points and OG Anunoby added 22 to lead the New York Knicks to a 116-113 win over the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night and into the second round of the NBA playoffs. The third-seeded Knicks will face second-seeded Boston, shooting to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2000. Detroit’s Cade Cunningham had 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Cunningham was 0 for 8 on 3-pointers and his backcourt mate Tim Hardaway Jr. was 1 of 6 beyond the arc and scored seven points.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — James Harden had 28 points and eight assists in an outstanding bounce-back performance, Kawhi Leonard added 27 points and the Los Angeles Clippers forced a seventh game in their first-round NBA playoff series with a 111-105 victory over the Denver Nuggets in Game 6 on Thursday night. Norman Powell scored 24 points for the Clippers, who rebounded from back-to-back losses with an impressive effort at new Intuit Dome. Los Angeles took control in the second half while playing tenacious defense on Nikola Jokic, who scored 20 of his 25 points in the first half. Game 7 is Saturday in Denver.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Jack Eichel scored his first goal of the series to give the Vegas the lead late in the second period, and Adin Hill held it up on a 29-save night to spur the Golden Knights onto the second round with a 3-2 victory in Game 6 that ousted the Minnesota Wild. Shea Theodore scored first and Mark Stone also scored last for Vegas, which will face the winner of Edmonton-Los Angeles series. Ryan Hartman had two goals for the Wild, including a wraparound with 3:27 left that came 31 seconds after Stone had just given the Golden Knights a two-goal lead.
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Max Pacioretty scored a tiebreaking goal with less than six minutes remaining in the third period, leading the Toronto Maple Leafs to a series-clinching 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night in Game 6 of the first-round matchup. William Nylander had two goals, including an empty-net score in the final seconds, and an assist, and Auston Matthews added a power-play goal in the first period for Toronto. Anthony Stolarz made 21 saves and Brady Tkachuk and David Perron scored for Ottawa. Thomas Chabot had two assists and Linus Ullmark made 19 saves. The Maple Leafs advance to take on the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
DENVER (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon received credit for a go-ahead goal with 10:56 remaining after the puck bounced off the shoulder of a Dallas player and the Colorado Avalanche staved off elimination by rallying to beat the Stars 7-4 in Game 6. The first-round playoff series heads to Dallas for Game 7 on Saturday. On the winning goal, MacKinnon sent a pass into traffic in front of the net that Sam Steel tried to clear. But it hit the shoulder of Colin Blackwell and caromed toward the net. Goaltender Jake Oettinger couldn’t corral the fluttering puck with his glove. Valeri Nichushkin scored twice for Colorado. Artturi Lehkonen and Martin Necas also added goals, while Josh Manson and Cale Makar had empty-net goals.
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Connor Brown had a goal and two assists as the Edmonton Oilers punched their ticket to the second round of the playoffs with a 6-4 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Darnell Nurse, Zach Hyman and Trent Frederic each had a goal and an assist and Adam Henrique also scored for the Oilers, who won four straight to take the best-of-seven series in six games. The Oilers will take on the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round. Quinton Byfield, Brandt Clarke, Jordan Spence and Anze Kopitar replied for the Kings, who have been eliminated by the Oilers in the first round in four consecutive seasons.
THURSDAY SCORES
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEALL
INTERLEAGUE
Final Chicago White Sox 8 Milwaukee 0
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Kansas City 8 Tampa Bay 2
Final Cleveland 4 Minnesota 3
Final Athletics 3 Texas 0
Final Toronto 4 Boston 2
Final Detroit 10 L.A. Angels 4
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Cincinnati 9 St. Louis 1
Final Chicago Cubs 8 Pittsburgh 3
Final Arizona 4 N.Y. Mets 2
Final Washington 4 Philadelphia 2
Final Colorado 4 San Francisco 3
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final New York 116 Detroit 113
Final L.A. Clippers 111 Denver 105
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Toronto 4 Ottawa 2
Final Vegas 3 Minnesota 2
Final Colorado 7 Dallas 4
Final Edmonton 6 Los Angeles 4