KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kris Bubic took a shutout into the seventh inning and the Kansas City Royals won their first series of the season with a 4-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. Bubic allowed five hits, walked one and struck out eight in 6 2/3 innings. His streak of 12 shutout innings was snapped when Ryan Mountcastle tripled to lead off the seventh and scored on Bubic’s wild pitch one out later. Bobby Witt Jr. had three of the Royals’ 13 hits, falling a home run shy of the cycle. Carlos Estévez earned his second save with a hitless ninth for the Royals.
BOSTON (AP) — Alex Bregman hit a three-run homer and tied a career high with six RBIs, Rafael Devers went 4 for 4 and drove in three runs, and the Boston Red Sox rolled to an 18-7 rout for a doubleheader sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals. Wilyer Abreu added three RBIs for Boston, which finished with a season-best 22 hits and won its fifth straight. Hunter Dobbins gave up two runs over five innings to win his major league debut. St. Louis starter Miles Mikolas gave up nine runs and 11 hits in 2 2/3 innings. In the opener, Abreu singled off the Green Monster to drive in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th as the Red Sox rallied for a 5-4 victory.
NEW YORK (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Toronto Blue Jays agreed to a $500 million, 14-year contract that starts in 2026, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press, a deal that removes what would have been the biggest star from next offseason’s free-agent market. The person spoke on condition of anonymity earty Monday because the agreement had not been announced. Guerrero agreed in January to a $28.5 million, one-year contract that avoided arbitration and the four-time All-Star first baseman had said he wouldn’t negotiate after he reported to spring training in mid-February. Still, talks continued well into the regular season.
UNDATED (AP) — Torpedo bats are all the rage this season, and Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says he believes all that chatter is good for the game. In a Q&A published by The New York Times, Manfred also praised the testing of robot umpires during spring training. He said he’d like to see their use expanded to the regular season by 2026. Torpedo bats drew attention recently when the New York Yankees hit a team-record nine homers in one game. With several players using a strikingly different model in which wood is moved lower down the barrel toward the label, shaping the end a little like a bowling pin, the bat has become baseball’s latest fad.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — UConn is back on top of women’s basketball, winning its 12th national championship by routing defending champion South Carolina 82-59 behind Azzi Fudd’s 24 points. Sarah Strong added 24 points and 15 rebounds while Paige Bueckers had 17 points in her final game at UConn. She capped her stellar career with the Huskies’ first championship since 2016, ending a nine-year title drought for the team. That was longest for coach Geno Auriemma and his Huskies since the team won its first championship in 1995. Dawn Staley’s South Carolina team was trying for a third title in four years and fourth overall.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Geno Auriemma has accomplished more than just about anyone in college basketball. The 71-year-old UConn coach passed former Stanford women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer as the winningest coach in Division 1 earlier this season. He won his 12th NCAA title on Sunday, 30 years after winning his first one. He has done it all in his 40 years at UConn, and while celebrating his latest championship gave no indication that he he’s slowing down just yet.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Whoever said there were no great underdog stories left in March Madness, or that the title would go to whoever spends the most money — or amasses the best collection of big names from the transfer portal — clearly never checked out Houston. Coach Kelvin Sampson’s squad of defenders and deniers face Florida for the national title Monday night. They wrap up a front-runner’s Final Four that featured all No. 1 seeds but left the two top ones — Auburn and Duke — sitting at home.
NEW YORK (AP) — Alex Ovechkin has broken Wayne Gretzky’s record for the most goals in NHL history by scoring the 895th of his career. Ovechkin made hockey history on Sunday in a game against the New York Islanders. He scored on countryman Ilya Sorokin for the first time, doing it a power play with 12:34 left in the second period. The 39-year-old Russian superstar did it even after missing 16 games in November and December because of a broken leg. Sorokin became the record-extending 183rd different goaltender Ovechkin has beaten during his two-decade career in the league.
DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) — Denny Hamlin took his last lead out of the pits right before an overtime finish and then held off William Byron to win the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday. Hamlin got his chance when Kyle Larson spun out after Ryan Blaney had taken the lead with three laps left to force the extra laps. Hamlin came out of the pits in front then took off on the restart for his fifth career win at Darlington and second straight after winning at Martinsville a week ago.
Brian Harman handles the wind and cold at Texas Open for his first win since British Open
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Brian Harman is a winner for the first time since the British Open in the summer of 2023. He had to battle the chill and the wind at the Texas Open. Harman shot a 75 in the final round and still won by three shots. He had a couple of birdies on the back nine that gave him some breathing room over Andrew Novak. Harman still only had a two-shot lead with two holes to play but made it easy on himself two pars. Ryan Gerard shot 69 and was runner-up. Novak and Maverick McNealy tied for third.
SUNDAY SCORES
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Final N.Y. Mets 2 Toronto 1
Final Pittsburgh 5 N.Y. Yankees 4
Final Boston 5 St. Louis 4
Final Colorado 12 Athletics 5
Final San Francisco 5 Seattle 4
Final Boston 18 St. Louis 7
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Detroit 4 Chicago White Sox 3
Final Kansas City 4 Baltimore 1
Final Texas 4 Tampa Bay 3
Final Houston 9 Minnesota 7
Final L.A. Angels 6 Cleveland 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Miami at Atlanta 1:15 p.m. (Postponed)
Final Washington 5 Arizona 4
Final Philadelphia 8 L.A. Dodgers 7
Final Milwaukee 8 Cincinnati 2
Final San Diego 8 Chicago Cubs 7
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final L.A. Lakers 126 Oklahoma City 99
Final Toronto 120 Brooklyn 109
Final Boston 124 Washington 90
Final Atlanta 147 Utah 134
Final Sacramento 120 Cleveland 113
Final Portland 120 San Antonio 109
Final New York 112 Phoenix 98
Final Indiana 125 Denver 120
Final Milwaukee 111 New Orleans 107
Final Houston 106 Golden State 96
Final Chicago 131 Charlotte 117
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final N-Y Islanders 4 Washington 1
Final OT Minnesota 3 Dallas 2
Final Ottawa 4 Columbus 0
Final Detroit 2 Florida 1
Final Chicago 3 Pittsburgh 1
Final Buffalo 6 Boston 3
Final Montreal 2 Nashville 1