KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs selected Ohio State offensive tackle Josh Simmons with the final pick in the first round of the NFL draft on Thursday night. The move gives quarterback Patrick Mahomes the blindside protector he was so sorely lacking last season. Simmons missed most of last season after tearing a patellar tendon in his knee, and he didn’t work out at the scouting combine. But the Chiefs were comfortable with their medical checks and wound up using the No. 32 overall pick on him. They actually moved back from No. 31 in a trade with Philadelphia, picking up an extra fifth-rounder in the process.
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Cam Ward went from zero-star recruit to No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. Travis Hunter cost Jacksonville a premium. Jaxson Dart was selected before Shedeur Sanders. While Ward, Hunter and Abdul Carter went 1-2-3 as expected, Sanders wasn't picked at all in the first round. Sanders was passed over by every team that had a need for a potential franchise quarterback, even though some draft analysts had him rated higher than Ward. The New York Giants had two chances to take Sanders and went with Penn State edge rusher Carter with the No. 3 pick, bolstering an already strong pass rush. The Giants then moved back into the first round and selected Dart, a quarterback from Ole Miss, at No. 25.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Bobby Witt Jr. extended his hitting streak to a career-best 16 games with an RBI single in the fifth inning as the Royals beat the Rockies 6-2 on Thursday to finish off a doubleheader and series sweep. Salvador Perez added a pair of doubles and two RBIs, and Vinnie Pasquantino and Michael Massey also drove in runs for Kansas City. The Royals have won four straight. Michael Lorenzen got the win while the Rockies' Chase Dollander took the loss. The Rockies are 4-20, the worst start in franchise history, and they have matched a franchise record by losing 13 consecutive road games.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Royals ace Cole Ragans will undergo testing on his left groin after the All-Star left-hander was forced to leave Thursday’s start against the Colorado Rockies after just three innings and 62 pitches. Ragans had allowed four runs on three hits and two walks before Angel Zerpa replaced him for the fourth inning of a 7-3 victory over the Rockies. Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro said Ragans had trouble getting loose before the game and his groin began to bother him as the innings went on. The Royals bullpen picked him up, shutting out the Rockies over the final six innings.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Chet Holmgren scored all but one of his 24 points in the second half as the Oklahoma City Thunder rallied from a 29-point deficit after Ja Morant left the game with a hip injury and beat the Memphis Grizzlies 114-108 for a 3-0 lead in the first-round series. Morant was hurt with just over three minutes left in the first half and Memphis leading 67-40. They got the next basket after he exited and still led by 26 points at halftime. The 29-point comeback was the second-largest in an NBA postseason game since play-by-play data began being recorded in the 1996-97 season.
DETROIT (AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns scored 31 points, Jalen Brunson had 30 and the New York Knicks held on for a 118-116 win over the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round series. OG Anunoby added 22 points for New York. Game 4 is on Sunday in Detroit. The Pistons have lost eight straight home playoff games since 2008, pulling within one of an NBA record set by Philadelphia from 1968 to 1971. When Detroit won at New York in Game 2, the franchise ended a league-record, 15-playoff game losing streak to take home-court advantage, but the Knicks snatched it back.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nate Schmidt scored his third goal in two games, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 19 shots and the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0 to take a 2-0 lead in the first-round playoff series. Sam Bennett added an empty-netter with 4 seconds left. Bobrovsky got his fourth career playoff shutout, and his first since Game 1 of last year’s Stanley Cup final against Edmonton. Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 21 saves for Tampa Bay. Game 3 of the best-of-seven series will be Saturday at Sunrise.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov had two power-play goals and the Minnesota Wild beat the Vegas Golden Knights 5-2 on Thursday to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round series. Matt Boldy scored for the third straight game, Marco Rossi had his first career postseason goal and Marcus Foligno added an empty-netter. Filip Gustavsson’s glove stayed sharp in the net on a 30-save night as the Wild carried the momentum of their 5-2 road victory in Game 2 into the raucous Xcel Energy Center and kept it going throughout the night. Game 4 is in Minnesota on Saturday.
THE WOODLANDS, Texas (AP) — Haeran Ryu and Yan Liu each shot 7-under 65 to share the lead during the suspended first round of the Chevron Championship as top-ranked Nelly Korda struggled to a 77 on Thursday in her title defense. The round was suspended as a storm approached The Club at Carlton Woods, with 24 players unable to finish. Korda won the last year for the last of her five straight LPGA Tour victories and had hoped to rediscover that dominant form in the season’s first major. Instead, she bogeyed four straight holes and was 4 over after six holes. Korda added two more bogeys on the back nine and was 12 shots behind the leaders and needing a big second round simply to make the cut.
AVONDALE, La. (AP) — Rory McIlroy, playing for the first time since winning the Masters, teamed with Shane Lowry to shoot an 8-under 64 in better-play Thursday in the Zurich Classic, leaving the Irish defending champions six shots behind leaders Isaiah Salinda and Kevin Vetlo. PGA Tour rookies Salinda and Velo opened with a tournament-record 58 in the tour’s only team event. Danish identical twins Nicolai and Rasmus Holgaard were a shot back. The teams will play alternate shot Friday, better ball Saturday and alternate shot Sunday. A large gallery gathered on the 10th tee at TPC of Louisiana before 8 a.m. to see McIlroy’s return to the PGA Tour. Shaking off an early-week illness, he provided a few highlights after a relatively slow start.
THURSDAY SCORES
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Final Kansas City 7 Colorado 4
Final Kansas City 6 Colorado 2
Final Baltimore 2 Washington 1
Final L.A. Angels 4 Pittsburgh 3
Final Tampa Bay 7 Arizona 4
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Chicago White Sox 3 Minnesota 0
Final Seattle 4 Boston 3
Final Athletics 4 Texas 3
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final San Francisco 6 Milwaukee 5
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final New York 118 Detroit 116
Final Oklahoma City 114 Memphis 108
Final L.A. Clippers 117 Denver 83
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Florida 2 Tampa Bay 0
Final OT Toronto 3 Ottawa 2
Final Minnesota 5 Vegas 2
Final St. Louis 7 Winnipeg 2