NHL:
J.T. Compher scored twice, Cale Makar had a goal and two assists and the Colorado Avalanche held off the Edmonton Oilers 8-6 in Game 1 of the Western Conference final.
The Avalanche’s eight goals were tied for the most in a playoff game in franchise history. Both teams needed to use backup goaltenders. Edmonton’s Mike Smith was pulled after giving up six goals and Darcy Kuemper left with an upper-body injury. Twelve Avs recorded at least a point and six had multi-point games.
MLB:
Noah Syndergaard was rocked in his return to New York, giving up Matt Carpenter’s two-run homer in a four-run first inning that propelled the Yankees over the reeling Los Angeles Angels 9-1.
Starting a high-profile three-game series against Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout & Co., New York improved the American League’s best record to 34-14 and sent the Angels to their season-worst sixth straight loss. Syndergaard, a Mets fan favorite, got just one swinging strike among 45 pitches, averaging 94 mph with his fastball. He allowed five runs, seven hits and a walk, his ERA rising to 4.02.
In other Tuesday action:
Cooper Hummel’s game-winning double landed just fair down the right-field line in the 10th inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks kept rallying to beat the Atlanta Braves 8-7. Atlanta led 6-2 but Arizona rallied with two runs in the sixth and another in the eighth. The D-backs tied the game in the ninth on Daulton Varsho’s sacrifice fly off Kenley Jansen, who blew his third save in 15 chances. Atlanta took a 7-6 lead in the 10th but Arizona had one rally left. David Peralta’s one-out single scored Jake McCarthy to tie it a 7-all. Hummel’s floater over the infield won it, giving the D-backs their second straight win.
Chas McCormick hit a tiebreaking home run off Frankie Montas leading off the eighth inning and the Houston Astros got a scoreless effort from their bullpen, beating the Oakland Athletics 3-1. The A’s have lost 12 of 17 to fall 12 games under .500 for the first time since finishing the 2017 season at 75-87. McCormick was in a 2 for 23 funk but snapped out of it with his second three-hit game of the season. He also had an RBI single in the fifth.
Michael Chavis and Tucupita Marcano each hit two-run homers and the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 to take their second straight series from the NL West leaders. The Pirates won four of five games against the Dodgers in May and conclude their LA visit today. The Dodgers dropped just their fifth series of the season after wasting several chances. They failed to capitalize on seven walks and a hit batter.
Luis Castillo struck out 10 while pitching six innings of one-hit ball, and the Cincinnati Reds beat Boston 2-1 for their first victory at Fenway Park since Game 7 of the 1975 World Series. Joey Votto twice doubled off the top of the outfield wall, and Cincinnati scored both runs on Boston throwing errors. Rafael Devers had the only hit off Castillo, who left with a 1-0 lead after six.
Joc Pederson’s two-run homer in the 11th inning helped power the San Francisco Giants to a 7-4 victory over the struggling Philadelphia Phillies. Luis Gonzalez had a career-high four hits as San Francisco won its third straight overall and second consecutive extra-inning game. Both teams scored a run in the 10th inning but the Giants scored three times in the 11th. The Giants scored the winning runs against Bellatti for the second straight day. The Phillies have lost five straight overall and three in a row in extra innings.
Patrick Wisdom hit a tie-breaking solo home run in the eighth inning, Willson Contreras and P.J. Higgins also went deep, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers 8-7. Wisdom’s 11th home run came on a 3-2 pitch from Brad Boxberger, who got the loss. Contreras now has eight homers to lead all MLB catchers. Christopher Morel continued a hot start to his career with a walk and a triple, setting a club record by reaching base in his first 14 major-league games. Former Cub Victor Caratini gave Milwaukee a short-lived 6-3 lead in the sixth with a three-run drive against against reliever Rowan Wick.
Mark Canha led off with the first of his four hits, Starling Marte followed with a homer against Patrick Corbin and the New York Mets rolled from there, totaling 17 hits in a 10-0 blowout of the Washington Nationals. The NL East-leading Mets have won a season-best five straight, all during this six-game homestand, which ends today against the Nats.
Alejandro Kirk hit a pair of two-run home runs in Toronto’s 6-5 win over the Chicago White Sox. It extended the Blue Jays’ streak to six games., Kevin Gausman pitched five innings to win his second straight start. Toronto is 15-7 in one-run games, the best such record in the majors.
Albert Pujols hit a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning and the St. Louis Cardinals, boosted by a strong start from Adam Wainwright, beat the San Diego Padres 3-2. Wainwright struck out 10 with one walk in throwing 115 pitches over seven shutout innings. He allowed just two hits, both singles to St. Louis native Luke Voit.
The Texas Rangers' Martín Pérez retired all 16 batters after taking a 97 mph liner off his right leg and lowered his majors-leading ERA with seven scoreless innings in a 3-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. Texas reached .500 at 24-24 for the first time this season.
Jonathan Schoop homered and drove in four runs as the Detroit Tigers, with Kody Clemens making his major league debut while his famous father watched from a suite, beat the Minnesota Twins 4-0 to split a doubleheader. Seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens saw his 26-year-old son go 0 for 3, striking out twice and drawing a walk. Max Kepler had three hits and drove in three runs and Gary Sanchez hit a three-run homer to help the Twins to an 8-2 win in the first game.
Austin Hedges hit a three-run homer and rookie Oscar Gonzalez doubled in two runs, sending the Cleveland Guardians to an 8-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals. Cal Quantrill worked 6 1/3 innings to remain unbeaten in his career at Progressive Field and against the Royals.
George Kirby allowed four hits in six innings for his first big league win, and Taylor Trammell had three hits and four RBIs to help the Seattle Mariners to a 10-0 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Kirby struck out eight and walked one in his fifth major league start. By the ninth inning, the Orioles had infielder Chris Owings on the mound.
The New York Mets have optioned first baseman/outfielder Dominic Smith to Triple-A Syracuse amid a slow start to the season for the 26-year-old. The Mets announced Smith’s demotion and promoted right-hander Adonis Medina before a game against the Washington Nationals. Smith batted .316 during a breakout season in 2020, but is now hitting .186.
Elsewhere in the majors:
Nationals right-hander Joe Ross will have season-ending Tommy John surgery. The news clouds his future with Washington in his final year under contract. The 29-year-old starter has been out since spring training with right elbow issues. Ross was a member of the Nationals’ 2019 championship team.
Carlos Correa has been placed on the COVID-19 injured list by the Minnesota Twins a day after the team said the shortstop had tested positive. Correa missed 11 games at the beginning of May while on the 10-day IL with a bruised right middle finger. The 27-year-old is hitting .279 with a .751 OPS in his first season with the Twins.
The Chicago White Sox put shortstop Tim Anderson on the 10-day injured list because of a strained right groin Tuesday and activated outfielder Luis Robert off the COVID-19 injured list. Anderson ranks among the league leaders with a .356 batting average.
FRENCH OPEN:
Rafael Nadal has beaten Novak Djokovic 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4) in a monumental match in the French Open quarterfinals to move a step closer to his 14th championship at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament and 22nd major trophy overall. Nadal ended the top-seeded Djokovic’s bid for a second consecutive title in Paris. He also made sure Djokovic remains behind him in the Slam count, with 20. Nadal improved to 110-3 for his career at Roland Garros. Two of those losses came against Djokovic. That includes last year’s semifinals. Nadal will face third-seeded Alexander Zverev in the semifinals on Friday. That is Nadal’s 36th birthday.
In women’s action
American teenager Coco Gauff has reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over former U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens in the French Open. The 18-year-old Gauff will next face another first-time semifinalist in Martina Trevisan.
In other action:
Third-seeded Alexander Zverev has knocked Carlos Alcaraz out of the French Open with a 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7) victory in the quarterfinals. The 2020 U.S. Open runner-up will next face either No. 1 Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal for a spot in the final.
NBA:
The Cleveland Cavaliers have hired former Los Angeles Lakers coach Luke Walton as an assistant under J.B. Bickerstaff.
The 42-year-old Walton finished his 11-year NBA playing career with the Cavs in 2012 before getting into coaching. He spent nine years playing for the Lakers, winning NBA titles in 2009 and 2010. Walton coached the Lakers from 2017-19 before going to Sacramento. He spent two-plus seasons with the Kings. He also served as an assistant with Golden State, winning a title in 2015.
Elsewhere in the NBA:
Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid had surgeries for a sprained right thumb and an injury to his left index finger. Neither procedure, which were done on Monday, is expected to impact Embiid’s availability for training camp. The 28-year-old Embiid led the NBA in scoring this past season, averaging a career-best 30.6 points in 68 games.
NFL:
The former longtime partner of ex-NFL quarterback Mark Rypien has filed a personal injury lawsuit against him alleging years of physical and emotional abuse.
The Spokesman-Review reported that Danielle Wade filed the lawsuit in Spokane County Superior Court. The couple have spoken publicly in the past about violence in their home believed to be a consequence of head trauma Rypien experienced during a 14-year NFL career after playing in college at Washington State. The lawsuit contains new allegations of violence, beginning as early as 2008 and lasting until September 2020.
Rypien released a statement through his attorney in response to the allegations in the lawsuit.
Elsewhere in the NFL:
Another massage therapist has filed a civil lawsuit against Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson, raising the number of women who have accused him of sexual misconduct to 23. Attorney Tony Buzbee, who is representing all the women, filed the latest lawsuit in Texas and said in a text to the AP that there could be more legal action forthcoming against Watson.
At the request of prosecutors, a suburban Denver judge on Tuesday dismissed charges against Broncos wide receiver Jerry Jeudy stemming from a dispute with his girlfriend that landed him in jail in March. In court the next day, the woman said she didn’t feel threatened and that there was no physical contact. She asked for the charges against Jeudy to be dropped.
Brian Griese decided on a career change this offseason after a 13-year run in the broadcast booth that included the last two as the analyst on “Monday Night Football.” He traded in the work of a broadcaster to get back into the grind of the NFL as quarterbacks coach for the San Francisco 49ers. He is tasked with developing Trey Lance into a franchise quarterback.
PGA:
Jack Nicklaus says he met with a Saudi Arabian group as a courtesy and had “zero interest” in running a rival golf circuit now being led by Greg Norman.
Saying his allegiance is with the PGA, Nicklaus says he didn’t care what kind of money the Saudis would have thrown at him. Nicklaus was unusually brief, with three questions related to the Saudi-funded LIV Golf Invitational series that is set to start next week outside of London and has an eight-tournament schedule, five of them in the United States.
In other PGA developments:
Dustin Johnson is joining the Saudi-funded golf league. Johnson was the biggest surprise when the LIV Golf Invitational released its field for next week’s inaugural tournament in England. Phil Mickelson is not on the list. That’s another surprise. It was Mickelson’s comments about the Saudis and the PGA Tour that led to many top players pledging their support to the PGA Tour in February. Johnson has had a change of heart and is risking his PGA Tour membership. The LIV Golf tournament offers $25 million in prize money. The winner gets $4 million.
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