LOS ANGELES (AP) — Freddie Freeman lined a go-ahead, two-out RBI single into center in the eighth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied to beat the Kansas City Royals 4-3. Mookie Betts singled, took second on an errant pickoff throw by reliever Will Smith and scored on Freeman’s hit, giving the Dodgers their first lead, 4-3. Daniel Hudson got the win with one scoreless inning of relief. Alex Vesia earned his third save. Miguel Rojas had a two-run homer and Chris Taylor added a solo shot for LA. Salvador Perez hit a three-run shot for the Royals.
CHICAGO (AP) — Kyle Gibson pitched two-hit ball over seven innings, Pedro Pagés broke a scoreless tie when he led off the eighth with his first career homer and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 3-0. Pagés, who came into the game with just four hits in 28 major league at-bats, gave the Cardinals the lead with a drive to the left-field basket against reliever Hayden Wesneski. The 25-year-old Venezuelan pointed toward the sky as he crossed the plate. Iván Herrera had an RBI double and Dylan Carlson added a run-scoring single as St. Louis added two runs in the ninth.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Dylan Dreiling’s single into the left-center gap drove in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the ninth inning and Tennessee rallied to beat Florida State 12-11, capping a night when Christian Moore became the first player in 68 years to hit for the cycle at the College World Series. The top-seeded Volunteers overcame sloppy play in the field and poor pitching, ratcheting up their high-powered offense another notch in the ninth inning to win their first CWS opener in five appearances since 2001. Tennessee (56-12) will play North Carolina in a Bracket 1 winner’s game on Sunday night. Florida State (47-16) will meet Virginia in an elimination game in the afternoon.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Vance Honeycutt’s single drove in Jackson Van De Brake from third with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, and North Carolina pulled out yet another win in its last at-bat, a 3-2 walk-off victory over Virginia in the College World Series opener. The Tar Heels advanced to play Sunday against the winner of Friday night’s Bracket 1 game between Florida State and Tennessee. Virginia plays the Florida State-Tennessee loser in an elimination game. Four of North Carolina’s six wins in the NCAA Tournament have come on its final at-bat. Virginia has lost five straight CWS games since 2021.
DALLAS (AP) — Kyrie Irving’s personal 13-game losing streak against the Celtics is over. Now it’s back to the parquet floor in Boston to face his former team again. The Dallas Mavericks are still alive in the NBA Finals after avoiding a sweep with a 122-84 blowout in Game 4. The first two road games in this series weren’t Irving’s best, the two in Dallas quite a bit better. The impact from role players in Game 4 was much bigger for Dallas. Now Irving will again have to try to ignore the constant booing from jilted fans in Game 5 on Monday night.
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Vladimir Tarasenko has brought Stanley Cup-winning experience to the Florida Panthers in their pursuit of the first NHL championship in franchise history. Tarasenko was acquired at the trade deadline from Ottawa. He has scored four goals in their playoff run, including an important one in Game 3 of the final against Edmonton. Tarasenko already helped one team hoist the Cup for the first time when he was a key piece for the St. Louis Blues in 2019. He and Carter Verhaeghe are the only Panthers players who have won it all before.
PINEHURST, N.C. (AP) — Ludvig Aberg might be playing in his first U.S. Open. But the sensational Swede is certainly no stranger to the big stage. He shot a 69 in the second round at Pinehurst No. 2 and goes into the weekend with a one-shot lead. Aberg already has been runner-up in the Masters and played in the Ryder Cup in the year since leaving college at Texas Tech. He leads by one over Bryson DeChambeau, Thomas Detry and Patrick Cantlay. Scottie Scheffler made the cut on the number after his first birdie-free round in two years. Tiger Woods missed the cut.
MUNICH (AP) — Host Germany has opened the European Championship with a confidence-boosting 5-1 win over 10-man Scotland in Munich. Goals from Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala had Germany firmly in control after less than 20 minutes. The first half ended in the worst possible way for Scotland when defender Ryan Porteous was sent off and Kai Havertz converted the resulting penalty kick. Substitute Niclas Füllkrug came off the bench to score Germany’s fourth in the 68th minute and Emre Can netted in stoppage time as the hosts recorded the largest margin of victory in a European Championship opener. An Antonio Rudiger own goal gave Scotland something late to cheer about after not having a shot on goal all match.
FRIDAY SCORES
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Final Atlanta 7 Tampa Bay 3
Final Philadelphia 5 Baltimore 3
Final Arizona 7 Chicago White Sox 1
Final L.A. Dodgers 4 Kansas City 3
Final L.A. Angels 8 San Francisco 6
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Cleveland 3 Toronto 1
Final N.Y. Yankees 8 Boston 1
Final Houston 4 Detroit 0
Final Minnesota 6 Oakland 5
Final Seattle 3 Texas 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final St. Louis 3 Chicago Cubs 0
Final Washington 8 Miami 1
Final N.Y. Mets 2 San Diego 1
Final Cincinnati 6 Milwaukee 5
Final Pittsburgh 5 Colorado 2
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final Dallas 122 Boston 84