ST. LOUIS (AP) — Josh Hader escaped a ninth-inning jam in his 37th straight scoreless appearance and the Milwaukee Brewers held off the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 for their third straight win. Tyrone Taylor drove in a run for the seventh game game in a row and Luis Urías homered as the NL Central leaders increased their edge over the second-place Cardinals to 4 1/2 games. Milwaukee first baseman Rowdy Tellez helped with his glove, ranging to catch five foul balls for outs. Overall, Brewers fielders caught seven foulouts. Paul Goldschmidt homered and extended his hitting streak to 17 games for the Cardinals. Hader, activated from the family medical emergency list earlier in the day, earned his 16th save in 16 tries this season.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Whit Merrifield drove in two runs with a double and scored on Bobby Witt Jr.’s double, as the Kansas City Royals rallied for three runs in the eighth inning and beat the Minnesota Twins 3-2. Josh Staumont (2-1) worked a scoreless inning to pick up the win. Scott Barlow escaped a bases-loaded jam in the eighth and stranded two on base in the ninth to earn his fifth save. Devin Smeltzer pitched seven scoreless innings for the Twins before Tyler Duffey (2-3) let the lead slip away in the eighth.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Dominic Johnson hit Kansas State’s first homer of the Big 12 Tournament and the seventh-seeded Wildcats beat sixth-seeded West Virginia 8-5 to snap a five-game losing streak. Kansas State advances to play in another elimination game on Friday. West Virginia hopes for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Raphael Pelletier’s sacrifice bunt on a squeeze play in the ninth gave Kansas State a four-run lead. West Virginia got its first two batters aboard in the ninth, chasing Ty Ruhl, but Dylan Phillips retired the next three for his seventh save of the season. Kansas State starter Blake Adams left the game with two outs in the seventh after nine strikeouts.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jackson Nicklaus hit a three-run home run and Jake Bennett struck out 12 in 7 2/3 innings to propel No. 3 seed Oklahoma to a 6-3 victory over No. 2 seed Texas Tech in the Big 12 Tournament. Oklahoma (37-20) is idle until Saturday’s semifinal round. Texas Tech (38-20) plays an elimination game against No. 7 seed Kansas State on Friday. The Sooners grabbed a 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Tanner Tredaway and Jimmy Crooks both singled leading off the inning and one out later Nicklaus homered to right field.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Murphy Stehly hit a three-run home run in the top of the first inning, Lucas Gordon pitched into the eighth and No. 5 seed Texas never trailed in a 5-3 victory over top-seeded TCU in the Big 12 Tournament. Two-time conference champion TCU (36-19) will play an elimination game against either No. 2 seed Texas Tech or third-seeded Oklahoma on Friday. Texas (41-17) is idle until the semifinals Saturday. Gordon tossed 7 2/3 innings for Texas, allowing two runs — one earned — on two hits and two walks. He struck out four in upping his record to 7-1 on the season.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Justin Campbell struck out 10 in seven innings, Griffin Doersching hit a three-run homer and No. 4 seed Oklahoma State beat eighth-seeded Baylor 11-1 in the Big 12 Tournament. Oklahoma State, coming off a 4-0 loss to Texas after recording just three hits, advances to play on Friday in the double-elimination tournament. Baylor had its season come to an end. Jake Thompson’s two-run single in the seventh inning ended the game on the 10-run rule. Thompson and Doersching each had three RBIs, and Roc Riggio had four of Oklahoma State’s 16 hits. Doersching’s 12th homer of the season made it 4-1 in the third inning, and Riggio’s seventh home run made it 7-1 in the sixth.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Golden State Warriors are in the NBA Finals for the first time since 2019 after completing a five-game series win over the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference finals, 120-110. All five Warriors starters and Jordan Poole all scored in double figures, led by Klay Thompson’s 32 points. Andrew Wiggins came up big with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Kevon Looney added 18 boards and 10 points.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes own a 3-2 lead in their Stanley Cup second-round series following a 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers. The Canes won with special teams as Vincent Trochek scored short-handed and Teuvo Teravainen (TAY’-voh tehr-ah-VY’-nehn) added a rare power-play goal for Carolina, which has struggled with the man advantage. Andrei Svechnikov also scored, beating Igor Shesterkin with a backhander on a breakaway midway through the third period.
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have carried the Edmonton Oilers to a 5-4 overtime victory at Calgary and a berth in the NHL's Western Conference finals. McDavid provided the series clincher at 5:03 of the extra season, taking a pass from Draisaitl for his seventh goal of the postseason. Draisaitl had four assists and finished with 17 points in the series, scoring at least three points in all five games.
THURSDAY SCORES
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final N.Y. Yankees 7 Tampa Bay 2
Final Detroit 4 Cleveland 3
Final Kansas City 3 Minnesota 2
Final Boston 16 Chicago White Sox 7
Final Texas 4 Oakland 1
Final Toronto 6 L.A. Angels 3
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Cincinnati 20 Chicago Cubs 5
Final Washington 7 Colorado 3
Final Philadelphia 4 Atlanta 1
Final Milwaukee 4 St. Louis 3
Final L.A. Dodgers 14 Arizona 1
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final Golden State 120 Dallas 110
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Carolina 3 N-Y Rangers 1
Final OT Edmonton 5 Calgary 4