ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Jo Adell hit a three-run homer and Kevin Pillar had three hits and three RBIs in the Los Angeles Angels’ 9-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals. Logan O’Hoppe had a two-run double during a four-run seventh as the Angels won for only the sixth time in 22 games. Tyler Anderson yielded three runs on seven hits over 6 2/3 effective innings for the Angels, while Cole Ragans gave up eight hits and five runs in the loss for Kansas City. Salvador Pérez had an RBI double for the Royals, whose three-game winning streak ended.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Rhys Hoskins hit a go-ahead three-run home run in the seventh inning and the Milwaukee Brewers beat St. Louis 5-3 on Saturday night, sending the Cardinals to their seventh straight loss. Milwaukee trailed 3-2 when Hoskins hit his ninth homer, a 407-foot blast to center off reliever Andrew Kittredge (0-2). The NL-Central leading Brewers have eight straight wins over the Cardinals, dating to last season. St. Louis, last in the division and nine games behind Milwaukee, has the longest current losing streak in the majors.
NEW YORK (AP) — Atlanta’s Max Fried and two relievers combined for a no-hitter through 8 2/3 innings before New York’s J.D. Martinez homered to spoil the bid as the Braves beat the Mets 4-1 on Saturday. Fried opened with seven no-hit innings and Joe Jiménez worked around a pair of walks in the eighth before Raisel Iglesias retired the first two batters of the ninth. Martinez homered just over the wall in right field on the next pitch off Iglesias. The Braves have not thrown a no-hitter since Kent Mercker’s gem against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 8, 1994. The no-hitter drought is the fourth-longest in the majors.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Pirates rookie Paul Skenes made an impressive big league debut, striking out seven in four-plus innings against the Chicago Cubs. The 21-year-old Skenes allowed three runs while throwing 84 pitches, 17 of which reached at least 100 mph. A near-sellout crowd made its way into PNC Park to watch Skenes, who was the top overall pick in the 2023 draft and the top-ranked pitching prospect in baseball. Skenes' more-famous girlfriend, LSU gymnast and social media influencer Livvy Dunne, was there, too. Skenes is in the majors to stay after needing just seven starts to dominate opponents in Triple-A.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jamal Murray rebounded from a rough start to the Western Conference semifinals with 24 points to lead the Denver Nuggets on a 117-90 romp in Game 3 that made the Minnesota Timberwolves the last team in the NBA to lose in this postseason. Nikola Jokic had 24 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists, Michael Porter Jr. scored 21 points and the Nuggets cut the series lead to 2-1 on the strength of 14-for-29 shooting from 3-point range. Game 4 is Sunday. Anthony Edwards had a quiet 19 points to lead the Wolves, who went just 9 for 31 from deep.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Jayson Tatum scored 33 points, Jaylen Brown added 28 and the Boston Celtics looked more like themselves after stumbling at home, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 106-93 in Game 3 to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The top-seeded Celtics didn’t mess around after dropping losing Game 2 on their parquet floor by 24. Tatum scored on a three-point play and the Celtics opened the second half with 14 straight points to open a 23-point lead. That was way too much for the Cavs, who overcame a 22-point deficit in the fourth to stun Boston in March. Donovan Mitchell scored 33 for Cleveland, but the All-Star guard aggravated a left knee injury in the fourth quarter.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Cavaliers forward Dean Wade made his playoff debut in Game 3 against the Boston Celtics on Saturday night after being sidelined the past two months with a strained right knee. Wade hasn’t played since March 8, three days after he scored a career-best 23 points to fuel a comeback win over the Celtics. Wade entered with 4:18 left in the first quarter and made a 3-pointer seconds later. Wade gives Cleveland some depth, but the Cavs remain without starting center Jarrett Allen, who missed his sixth straight game with badly bruised ribs. Allen got hurt during the Cavs’ opening-round series against Orlando and missed the final three games. He sat out the first two games of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Celtics
DALLAS (AP) — Kyrie Irving scored 22 points, including a running left-hander in the lane in the final minute to help Dallas hold on, and the Mavericks beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 105-101 for a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinals. Luka Doncic also had 22 points to go with 15 rebounds, and P.J. Washington scored 27, just two shy of his playoff high from the previous game. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 31 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks for the Thunder. Oklahoma City has lost consecutive games after starting 5-0 in the playoffs. Game 4 is Monday night in Dallas.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Brady Skjei scored on the power play with 3:11 left to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Rangers 4-3, staving off a sweep by winning Game 4 of the second-round playoff series. Skjei’s shot from the the point came off a feed from Tuevo Teravainen for Carolina’s first goal with the man advantage in 17 tries in the series. Evgeny Kuznetsov, Stefan Noesen and Sebastian Aho each scored for Carolina. Will Cuylle, Barclay Goodrow and Alexis Lafreniere scored for the Rangers. Game 5 is Monday at Madison Square Garden.
CLIFTON, N.J. (AP) — Madelene Sagstrom and Rose Zhang left Nelly Korda and everyone else way behind Saturday in the Cognizant Founders Cup. Trying to win a record sixth straight LPGA Tour event, Korda was 11 shots behind Sagstrom and 10 back of two-time NCAA champion Zhang with a round left at Upper Montclair Country Club. After months of near-perfect play, Korda inexplicably hit bad drives, found bunkers from the fairway and missed short putts. She shot a 1-over 73. Sagstrom, who has played well on this course the last three years, had a 66 to get to 19-under 197. Zhang, who won in her professional debut in New Jersey state a year ago, had a 67 after lipping out on a short birdie putt at No. 18.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Rory McIlroy shot a bogey-free 4-under 67 on Saturday to pull within a stroke of leader Xander Schauffele with a round left in the Wells Fargo Championship. Schauffele, who entered the day four shots ahead of McIlroy and Jason Day, had a 70 to get to 12-under 201 as he looks to hold on and snap a 38-tournament victory drought. Sungjae Im was four shots strokes back after holing out from bunker on No. 18 to save par and shoot 69. Sepp Straka matched McIlroy’s low round of 67 and was alone in fourth at 7 under, while Day was fifth at 5 under — making five bogeys in a 73.
UNDATED (AP) — The NCAA has approved a waiver that will allow men’s and women’s basketball programs to pay for unlimited official recruiting visits to help teams deals with roster depletion caused by transfers, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press. The Athletic first reported the approval of a blanket waiver by the men’s and women’s basketball oversight committees. Currently, men’s basketball programs are allowed 28 official visits over a rolling two-year period. The number for women’s programs is 24. The waiver is effective immediately and the NCAA Division I Council will consider eliminating the cap on official visits in basketball permanently in June.
SEATTLE (AP) — Grand Canyon University and Seattle University will join the West Coast Conference beginning with the 2025-26 season, giving the conference 11 full members for the first time in its history. The two schools are currently affiliated with the Western Athletic Conference. The current WCC membership is mostly based in California. The only two schools outside of the state that are currently full members are Gonzaga and Portland. Grand Canyon and Seattle will compete in 14 of the 16 sports offered by the WCC, but most of the attention will be on basketball.
SATURDAY SCORES
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Final Boston 4 Washington 2
Final Baltimore 5 Arizona 4
Final Colorado 8 Texas 3
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Toronto 10 Minnesota 8
Final Tampa Bay 7 N.Y. Yankees 2
Final Detroit 8 Houston 2
Final Chicago White Sox 3 Cleveland 1
Final L.A. Angels 9 Kansas City 3
Final Oakland 8 Seattle 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Philadelphia 8 Miami 3
Final Atlanta 4 N.Y. Mets 1
Final Pittsburgh 10 Chicago Cubs 9
Final San Francisco 5 Cincinnati 1
Final Milwaukee 5 St. Louis 3
Final L.A. Dodgers 5 San Diego 0
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final Dallas 105 Oklahoma City 101
Final Boston 106 Cleveland 93
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Carolina 4 N-Y Rangers 3