NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge hit a tiebreaking homer leading off the seventh inning that ended a 10-game drought, and the New York Yankees defeated the Kansas City Royals 4-3 to complete a three-game sweep. With a runner at second base in the ninth, Cody Bellinger made a diving catch in right field on MJ Melendez’s sinking liner to preserve Fernando Cruz’s first career save. Judge went deep for the first time since April 4 in Pittsburgh when he lifted a sinker from John Schreiber into the New York bullpen beyond the right-center fence. Judge had three hits for the third time this season and raised his batting average to a major league-best .409. Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt pitched 5 2/3 innings of three-run ball in his season debut.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Lars Nootbaar hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning, and Steven Matz pitched five strong innings in his first start of the season to help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros 4-1. Matz retired the last 15 batters he faced, striking out five, after allowing a run on a pair of singles to lead off the game. Ryan Fernandez, Kyle Leahy and Phil Maton each pitched a scoreless inning of relief before Ryan Helsley pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his third save of the season.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Veteran umpire Hunter Wendelstedt went to a hospital after he was struck in the face behind first base by a line drive foul ball. He was going through concussion protocol. Wendelstedt instantly hit the ground after a direct hit from the liner by New York's Tyrone Taylor in the seventh inning in Minnesota. Both Taylor and Twins pitcher Louis Varland winced immediately after seeing where the ball hit Wendelstedt. The 53-year-old ump was down for a couple of minutes. He was able to slowly walk off on his own with a towel pressed against the left side of his head.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman homered in the Dodgers’ seven-run first inning, and Los Angeles held on for an 8-7 victory over the Colorado Rockies. Andy Pages drove in three runs for the Dodgers, who blew most of an early six-run lead before their bullpen secured the series sweep. Michael Toglia hit a grand slam and Mickey Moniak also homered in the third inning for the Rockies, who have lost 33 of 43 to Los Angeles. Ohtani hit Germán Márquez’s fourth pitch to the back row of the right-field bleachers for his sixth homer this season.
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Justin Rose has been down this road before. He is trying to process another playoff loss at the Masters. Rose rallied from seven shots behind to catch mistake-filled Rory McIlroy. And then McIlroy beat him with a great shot in the playoff to win the green jacket and complete the career Grand Slam of majors. Rose says he received plenty of nice text messages. He was hoping to see one offering congratulations instead of commiserations. But he says he's playing great golf. Rose says he's motivated to keep working by the special moments that happen along the way.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Klay Thompson scored 16 of his 23 points in Dallas’ dominant second quarter to get redemption for his dud in Sacramento a year ago, helping the Mavericks beat the Kings 120-106 on Wednesday night to advance in the Play-In Tournament. One year to the day when Thompson missed all 10 shots in his final game for Golden State in a play-in loss in Sacramento, Thompson fueled the win with four 3-pointers in Dallas’ 44-point second quarter. That turned the game into a laugher and kept the Mavericks’ chaotic season alive for at least one more game. Dallas advanced to play at Memphis on Friday night for the chance to get into the playoffs as the eighth seed in the West. The winner of that game will open the playoffs on Sunday at top-seeded Oklahoma City.
CHICAGO (AP) — Tyler Herro went from raising eyebrows with a shot he missed to turning heads one week later with all the baskets he made. Both times, he did it for Miami in Chicago. Herro had it going, scoring 38 points as the Heat pounded the Bulls 109-90 to advance in the Play-In Tournament. Herro came through in a big way one week after he made a questionable decision late in a loss at Chicago. He hit 13 of 19 shots as the Heat knocked the Bulls out of the Play-In Tournament for the third year in a row. One week earlier, Herro opted to pull up for a 3 with a chance to make it a one-possession game rather than go for a layup or dunk. He missed and Chicago won.
MADRID (AP) — Arsenal has defeated defending champion Real Madrid 2-1 to reach the Champions League semifinals for the first time since 2009 in a match where VAR played a key role in two penalty decisions. Arsenal advanced 5-1 on aggregate after winning 3-0 in London last week, keeping alive its chances of winning Europe’s top club competition for the first time. It will face Paris Saint-Germain in the semifinals. Inter Milan advanced past Bayern Munich on Wednesday and will meet Barcelona in the semifinals.
Milan (AP) — Former Bayern Munich defender Benjamin Pavard scored against his old club to help Inter Milan to a 2-2 draw against the German team and sending the Nerazzurri through to the Champions League semifinals 4-3 on aggregate. It was Pavard’s first goal for Inter. Harry Kane had levelled the quarterfinal early in the second half but Inter swiftly turned the game around with goals from Lautaro Martínez and Pavard. Eric Dier headed in in the 76th minute to set up a nervy finale. Inter will face Barcelona in the semifinals. It beat the same opponent in the final four in 2010 on its way to winning the Champions League and securing the treble. It is in contention to repeat that feat this season.
UNDATED (AP) — Bo Nix has already turned 25. Michael Penix Jr. will get there in May. Both quarterbacks were first-round picks last year. They were among 56 players age 24 or older drafted in 2024. That number was up from 54 in 2023, 44 in 2022, 16 in 2021 and 19 in 2020. There have been more older prospects drafted in recent years because the COVID-19 pandemic gave players an option to stay in school an extra year. Even though the window is ending, the transfer portal and NIL deals might continue to keep some players in school longer. Teams used to shy away from older prospects.
WEDNESDAY SCORES
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Final Milwaukee 5 Detroit 1
Final St. Louis 4 Houston 1
Final Toronto 3 Atlanta 1
Final Minnesota 4 N.Y. Mets 3
Final Seattle 5 Cincinnati 3
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Baltimore 9 Cleveland 1
Final Boston 1 Tampa Bay 0
Final N.Y. Yankees 4 Kansas City 3
Final Athletics 3 Chicago White Sox 1
Final Texas 3 L.A. Angels 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final San Diego 4 Chicago Cubs 2
Final Pittsburgh 6 Washington 1
Final Arizona 6 Miami 2
Final San Francisco 11 Philadelphia 4
Final L.A. Dodgers 8 Colorado 7
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final Miami 109 Chicago 90
Final Dallas 120 Sacramento 106
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final OT Winnipeg 2 Anaheim 1
Final Montreal 4 Carolina 2
Final Detroit 5 New Jersey 2
Final Nashville 5 Dallas 1
Final Vegas 4 Vancouver 1
Final Edmonton 3 San Jose 0