KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jonny DeLuca and Brandon Lowe homered, eight Rays players drove in runs, and Tampa Bay beat the Kansas City Royals 10-8. Zach Eflin earned the win, allowing six runs and five earned on seven hits and a walk over five innings. Alec Marsh took the loss for Kansas City, allowing five runs on six hits and three walks in just three innings. Michael Massey homered and Vinnie Pasquantino drove in a pair of runs for the Royals, who trailed 9-4 before scoring three times in the sixth. Bobby Witt Jr. was thrown out to end the rally, and the Royals never seriously threatened again.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pedro Pages doubled home pinch runner Michael Siani and then scored on Alec Burleson’s RBI single as the the St. Louis Cardinals edged the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2 in 10 innings. St. Louis took two of three from its NL Central Division rivals by winning a series finale for the 12th time in its last 13 chances. Burleson and Dylan Carlson had two hits apiece for the Cardinals. John King retired Andrew McCutchen with the tying run on second in the 10th to pick up the victory for St. Louis, which improved to 30-17 since May 12.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Arizona Diamondbacks slugger Christian Walker continued his Dodger Stadium rampage Thursday, homering in his first two at-bats for his 18th and 19th home runs in 42 career games at the ballpark. He has homered in five consecutive games at the third-oldest ballpark in the majors, tying the longest single-season streak at the stadium with teammate Joc Pederson, who did it in 2015 with Los Angeles. Pederson and Walker went back-to-back with two outs in the first off rookie Landon Knack, with Walker’s blast going 435 feet to center. After Pederson walked with two outs in the third, Walker followed with a two-run homer to left off Knack to give Arizona 4-0 lead in the 9-3 victory. Walker had five homers in the three-game series.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Steven Kwan isn’t just at the top of Cleveland’s lineup. He’s No. 1 in the majors. The All-Star left fielder is baseball’s leading hitter and on Saturday he homered, collected another three-hit game and drove in two runs in the Guardians’ 8-4 win over the Chicago White Sox. While he’s been hitting over .350 for much of the season, Kwan didn’t have enough plate appearances to officially rank on the MLB leaderboard after missing a month with a hamstring injury. He qualifies now and his .367 average is 48 points ahead of Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani (.319) for the major league lead.
NEW YORK (AP) — Graham Ashcraft and the Cincinnati Reds won a stare down with the New York Yankees even before finishing their three-game sweep. When the national anthem ended ahead of Thursday’s game, Ashcraft and fellow Reds pitcher Carson Spiers remained in front of the visitors’ dugout on the third-base side of Yankee Stadium while New York pitchers Ian Hamilton and Cody Poteet held out on the first-base side. Their showdown extended for more than five minutes as players ignored gestures from the umpires. Ashcroft won the battle, pumping a fist and getting high-fives and cheers from teammates before the Reds’ 8-4 win Thursday.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Buddy Hield played in 632 regular-season games and established himself as one of the top 3-point shooters in the NBA before he finally played a postseason game. He can thank the Philadelphia 76ers for ending his dubious distinction of most NBA games without a playoff appearance. If he wants to get there again, he’s going to have to try in California. The Sixers continued a busy offseason by orchestrating a sign-and-trade deal that sends Hield to the Golden State Warriors for a 2031 second-round draft pick it received from the Dallas Mavericks, according to a person with knowledge of the deal. ESPN reported that Hield was set to sign a two-year, $21 million deal with the Warriors. They lost Klay Thompson to the Mavs.
HOUSTON (AP) — Defending champion Argentina advanced to the Copa America semifinals, beating Ecuador 4-2 on penalty kicks following a 1-1 draw after conceding a tying goal in second-half injury time. Lionel Messi put Argentina’s first penalty kick off the crossbar but goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez saved Ecuador’s first two attempts in the shootout and Nicolás Otamendi beat Alexander Domínguez with the winning kick. Lisandro Martínez have Argentina a 35th-minute lead, but Kevin Rodríguez scored the score in the first minute of second-half stoppage time. Ecuador’s Enner Valencia had put a penalty kick off a post in the 60th minute after a hand ball by Rodrigo De Paul.
HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — Kylian Mbappé has described Cristiano Ronaldo as a “footballing legend” and “one of a kind” as the superstars prepare to meet in the European Championship quarterfinals. One of the major subplots of the Portugal vs. France match in Hamburg on Friday is the head to head between their captains. Mbappé has previously called Ronaldo his idol and he has spoken in glowing terms about the 39-year-old striker who has said he is playing in his last European Championship. Mbappé says “There is only one Cristiano Ronaldo, there will only ever be one." Mbappé doesn't see the match as a “passing-of-the-baton” occasion because “I am following my own path.”
SILVIS, Ill. (AP) — Hayden Springer has posted the 14th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history. Springer holed out for eagle from 55 yards on the 17th hole at the John Deere Classic and finished with a 12-foot birdie for golf's magic number. It was the second 59 on the PGA Tour in three weeks. Cameron Young also shot 59 at the Travelers Championship. Springer will have to settle for a share of the course record at the TPC Deere Run. Paul Goydos also shot 59 in the John Deere Classic in 2010. Springer's was the eighth sub-60 round in golf worldwide this year.
LONDON (AP) — The good news for Novak Djokovic is that his surgically repaired right knee has been feeling pain-free at Wimbledon. The bad news is that his movement was not yet back to normal during a 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 victory in the second round over Jacob Fearnley on Thursday. Fearnley is a 22-year-old from Scotland who played college tennis in the United States. Djokovic knows he needs to get around the court better if he is going to contend for the title, the only reason he is back competing so soon after tearing his meniscus. Other winners included No. 1 Iga Swiatek, but No. 5 Jessica Pegula lost and No. 7 Hubert Hurkacz needed to stop because he hurt his knee.
LONDON (AP) — Andy Murray and his older brother, Jamie, have lost in the first round of doubles at Wimbledon. Thursday's match at Centre Court was the first step in Murray's farewell tour at the All England Club. The Murrays lost 7-6 (6), 6-4 to Rinky Hijikata and John Peers. Andy Murray has said he will retire after playing at Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics. He is 37 and had surgery last month to remove a cyst from his back. He is also entered in mixed doubles with Emma Raducanu.
GENEVA (AP) — The international swimming federation says its executive director has been ordered to testify as a witness in a U.S. criminal investigation into the case of 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a banned substance in 2021 yet were allowed to continue competing. World Aquatics confirmed to The Associated Press that Brent Nowicki “was served with a witness subpoena by the United States government.” In May, a House Committee on China asked the Justice Department and the FBI to launch an investigation under a federal law that allows investigations into suspected doping conspiracies even if they occurred outside the U.S. The swimmers were allowed to compete at the previous Olympics in Tokyo despite testing positive for a banned heart medication.
THURSDAY SCORES
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Final Cincinnati 8 N.Y. Yankees 4
Final Boston 6 Miami 5
Final San Diego 3 Texas 1
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Minnesota 12 Detroit 3
Final Houston 5 Toronto 3
Final Cleveland 8 Chicago White Sox 4
Final Oakland 5 L.A. Angels 0
Final Seattle 7 Baltimore 3
Final Tampa Bay 10 Kansas City 8
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Washington 1 N.Y. Mets 0
Final St. Louis 3 Pittsburgh 2
Final Chicago Cubs 10 Philadelphia 2
Final San Francisco 4 Atlanta 2
Final Colorado 4 Milwaukee 3