KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Nick Martinez worked seven strong innings and Tyler Stephenson homered to lead the Cincinnati Reds to a 7-4 win over the Kansas City Royals. Martinez (3-5) allowed three singles through six shutout innings and finished seven innings allowing three runs on six hits with two strikeouts and no walks Stephenson hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning, his second of the season, boosting the Reds’ lead to 6-0. Stephenson had three of Cincinnati’s 14 hits. Michael Lorenzen (3-6) allowed six runs on a career-high 11 hits with three walks and two strikeouts in five innings.
BALTIMORE (AP) — Dylan Carlson hit a three-run homer against his former team, Charlie Morton earned his first victory with Baltimore, and the Orioles achieved their first three-game winning streak of the season, beating the St. Louis Cardinals 5-2. Carlson’s drive in the fourth off Erick Fedde put the Orioles up 5-0. Morton took a shutout into the fifth before allowing a two-run shot by Pedro Pagés. The 41-year-old right-hander allowed four hits in six innings after losing his first six starts of the season. He’d pitched mostly in relief lately.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 40 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in a steely performance befitting the NBA MVP and the Oklahoma City Thunder snapped back from a 42-point loss by beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 128-126 in Game 4 to take a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference finals. Jalen Williams scored 34 points on 13-for-24 shooting, including 6 of 9 from 3-point range. Chet Holmgren added 21 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in a statement game in his hometown that helped the Thunder stave off several pushes by the Wolves to tie the series.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Tyrese Haliburton’s father will be allowed to attend Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals, meaning his ban from attending Pacers games following an on-court confrontation with Giannis Antetokounmpo earlier in the playoffs has ended. John Haliburton is expected to be seated in a suite Tuesday night when the Pacers host the Knicks, in hopes of avoiding a repeat of what happened in the first round against the Bucks. John Haliburton ran onto the court and yelled in Antetokounmpo’s face after his son made a last-second layup in overtime to eliminate the Bucks. Game 6 against the Knicks would be in Indianapolis, if necessary.
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Frederik Andersen returned to the net and stopped 20 shots for his fifth career playoff shutout, Logan Stankoven got the only goal Carolina needed and the Hurricanes won their first Eastern Conference finals game in nearly 20 years by beating the Florida Panthers 3-0 on Monday night to stave off elimination. Sebastian Aho and Jordan Staal got empty-netters to seal it for the Hurricanes. They had dropped 15 consecutive East finals games, getting swept in 2009, 2019 and 2023, then dropping the first three games of this matchup. No sweep this time, however. Carolina still trails the series 3-1. Game 5 is Wednesday.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — There’s a long list of driving greats who have passed through Chip Ganassi Racing over its 35 years in existence. Jimmy Vasser, Alex Zanardi and Juan Pablo Montoya gave Ganassi four consecutive championships. Scott Dixon teamed with Dario Franchitti to restart another four-year title streak. Marcus Ericsson won Ganassi his fifth Indianapolis 500 victory in 2022. Now he has Alex Palou on his roster, and as he leaned to kiss the first Spaniard to ever win the Indy 500, Ganassi had a message for him. “You’re the best driver,” the team owner said.
MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The commissioner of the Southeastern Conference is hearing an increased amount of interest from his league’s leaders about a previously little-discussed idea of expanding the College Football Playoff from 12 to 16 teams. The future of the playoff will be among the topics discussed among school presidents, athletic directors and coaches in what might be the most consequential of the many conference meetings taking place this spring.
MONDAY SCORES
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Final Detroit 3 San Francisco 1
Final Milwaukee 3 Boston 2
Final Baltimore 5 St. Louis 2
Final Cincinnati 7 Kansas City 4
Final N.Y. Mets 2 Chicago White Sox 1
Final L.A. Dodgers 7 Cleveland 2
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Toronto 2 Texas 1
Final Tampa Bay 7 Minnesota 2
Final N.Y. Yankees 5 L.A. Angels 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Chicago Cubs 3 Colorado 1
Final Arizona 5 Pittsburgh 0
Final San Diego 4 Miami 3
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final Oklahoma City 128 Minnesota 126
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Carolina 3 Florida 0