NEW YORK (AP) — Trent Grisham, Ben Rice and Austin Wells each hit a solo home run off Seth Lugo in the fifth inning, and the New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals 4-1 in their first meeting since last year’s AL Division Series. Jazz Chisholm Jr. tied the score in the fourth with his sixth homer, an inning after Bobby Witt Jr.’s home run against Carlos Carrasco put Kansas City ahead. Carrasco and four relievers combined on a two-hitter for the Yankees, whose starters entered with a 5.40 ERA. New York had lost five of its previous seven games.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Nolan Arenado homered and Brendan Donovan went 4 for 4, helping Sonny Gray and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros 8-3. Arenado also doubled twice and scored two runs in the opener of a three-game series. Donovan extended his hitting streak to 10 games. Gray (3-0) pitched seven scoreless innings. Astros left-hander Framber Valdez was tagged for seven runs — six earned — in four-plus innings. Five of the 10 hits he allowed were doubles.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Colorado Rockies manager Bud Black had his commute to Los Angeles interrupted by a 5.2-magnitude earthquake that shook Southern California. The team had been in San Diego for a three-game series against the Padres that ended Sunday. The widely felt quake caused items to fall off shelves at Black's house in San Diego, where he lives in the offseason. He planned to commute via train to Los Angeles and was waiting on the platform when an announcement said that because of the quake the tracks would have to be checked for damage. Black didn't want to wait around, so he hailed a ride share to Dodger Stadium that cost him not quite $200.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bryce Harper is set to take another swing at fatherhood — and he did it with a blue bat. The Philadelphia Phillies slugger used a blue bat in his first plate appearance of Monday night’s game against San Francisco as part of a gender reveal for his fourth child. A two-time NL MVP, Harper announced in a team meeting that his family was set to grow. He later asked All-Star shortstop Trea Turner for an assist with a most unusual reveal. Turner handed Harper the bat in the dugout in the first inning.
UNDATED (AP) — Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter left big footprints in only two seasons at Colorado. For that, their numbers will be retired Saturday before the spring game at Folsom Field. Sanders’ No. 2 and Hunter’s No. 12 are set to become the fifth and sixth numbers retired by the Buffaloes. The dynamic tandem join the company of quarterback/halfback Byron White, (No. 24), guard/linebacker Joe Romig (No. 67), quarterback/tailback Bobby Anderson (No. 11 ) and the late Rashaan Salaam (No. 19). Hunter, who played both wide receiver and cornerback, is coming off a Heisman Trophy campaign. Sanders broke many of the program’s passing records in leading the Colorado offense. Both are expected to be high selections at the NFL draft.
UNDATED (AP) — Attorneys working on the legal settlement designed to reshape college sports filed a brief that did not offer changes a judge suggested regarding roster limits, reiterating the benefit the limits provide to some athletes and the havoc a late change to that rule could create. The latest legal maneuver came in response to U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken’s suggestion that the terms of the roster limit rules be shifted “to grandfather in a group of rostered people” set to lose their spots on teams if the rule comes into play.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Quarterback Cam Ward might be the first name off this year’s NFL draft board. Five years ago, he was pretty much off everybody’s radar outside of West Columbia, Texas. Ward took the only scholarship offer he had coming out of high school and turned it into a record-breaking college career that has made him the frontrunner to be the No. 1 overall pick April 24. He's hardly the only hidden gem-turned-top-prospect in the draft. The others include Cam Skattebo of Arizona State and Harold Fannin Jr. of Bowling Green and players such as David Walker of Central Arkansas and Carson Schwesinger of UCLA.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President JD Vance ended the Ohio State football team’s visit to the White House by fumbling the trophy the players won as their sport’s national champion. After speeches Monday by President Donald Trump, Buckeye coach Ryan Day and himself on the South Lawn, Vance, an Ohio State graduate, gathered up the trophy from a table in front of the team and tried to hoist it aloft. He didn’t count on the gold top of the trophy being designed to pull away from its black base, though. After some struggling, the vice president managed to dramatically drop both pieces.
UNDATED (AP) — West Virginia has the best overall and road records in Division I baseball and the Big 12-leading Mountaineers are doing it with a first-year coach and a No. 1 pitcher who spent his first four seasons at a Division II school in Illinois. The Mountaineers have won 10 straight and their 30-4 record gives them a .882 winning percentage. Their three-game weekend sweep at Houston made them 18-1 on the road. Pitching has been a pleasant surprise. All three weekend starters and a reliever were taken in the 2024 Major League Baseball amateur draft.
DENVER (AP) — Firing the head coach and general manager with just three games left in the regular season might seem like an impulsive move but Denver Nuggets coach Josh Kroenke said Tuesday the split was months in the making. Kroenke said he seriously contemplated firing both men around Thanksgiving and then again at the All-Star break. He ultimately decided last November to wait to give the team time to work out the kinks and an eight-game winning streak waylaid his plans at the All-Star break. Last week, he fired Michael Malone and Calvin Booth and the Nuggets are 3-0 since then.
MONDAY SCORES
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Final Atlanta 8 Toronto 4
Final Detroit 9 Milwaukee 1
Final St. Louis 8 Houston 3
Final N.Y. Mets 5 Minnesota 1
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final N.Y. Yankees 4 Kansas City 1
Final Tampa Bay 16 Boston 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Pittsburgh 10 Washington 3
Final San Francisco 10 Philadelphia 4
Final San Diego 10 Chicago Cubs 4
Final L.A. Dodgers 5 Colorado 3
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Detroit 6 Dallas 4
Final N-Y Rangers 5 Florida 3
Final SO Chicago 4 Montreal 3
Final Utah 7 Nashville 3
Final OT Vancouver 2 San Jose 1
Final Los Angeles 5 Edmonton 0