NHL PLAYOFFS
Aleksander Barkov slipped through three Bruins defenders to score the go-ahead goal and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 16 shots to give the Florida Panthers a 3-2 victory over Boston and a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series. One year after Florida knocked out the record-setting Bruins in the first round on its way to the Stanley Cup Final, the Panthers won their third straight to send Boston to the brink of elimination. Sam Bennett and Anton Lundell also scored for the Panthers. Florida scored three times in a row to rally from a two-goal deficit. The Panthers can advance to the Eastern Conference finals with a victory in Game 5 at home at 7 Tuesday night.
Brock Boeser had two goals and an assist, Elias Lindholm also scored twice, and the Vancouver Canucks held on to beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 to take a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference playoff series. Quinn Hughes and J.T. Miller each had two assists, and rookie goalie Arturs Silovs stopped 42 shots for the Canucks. Mattias Ekholm, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard scored for the Oilers. Stuart Skinner stopped 11 of 15 shots before he was replaced by Calvin Pickard to start the third period. Pickard finished with three saves in his NHL playoff debut. Game 4 in the best-of-seven series is Tuesday night back here in Edmonton.
Elsewhere, the Carolina Hurricanes face off against the Rangers at 7 tonight in New York in Game 5 of their second-round series. The Rangers lead the series 3-1.
NBA PLAYOFFS
Tyrese Haliburton scored 20 points, T.J. McConnell added 15 points and 10 assists and the Indiana Pacers rolled to their third-biggest postseason victory ever, beating the New York Knicks 121-89 on Sunday to even the Eastern Conference semifinal series at 2-2. Haliburton also had six rebounds, five assists and four 3-pointers as the Pacers led by 43 points during a start-to-finish romp. They fell just short of their most lopsided playoff victory, when they beat Cleveland by 34 points in April 2018. Game 5 of the series will be played Tuesday at 8 at Madison Square Garden.
Nikola Jokic scored 16 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter and Aaron Gordon had 27 points on 11-for-12 shooting to propel the Denver Nuggets to a series-tying 115-107 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 4 in the Western Conference semifinals. Jamal Murray had 12 of his 19 points in the third quarter for the Nuggets in a momentum carryover from his buzzer-beating swish from behind half court. Anthony Edwards scored 44 points in another spectacular performance for Minnesota. The series goes back to Denver for Game 5 on Tuesday night.
Elsewhere, the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers play Game 4 of their semifinal series at 7 tonight in Cleveland. The Celtics lead 2-1.
The Atlanta Hawks won the NBA draft lottery, landing the No. 1 pick and a potential cornerstone player in a year where there’s no clear-cut choice. The Hawks hit the jackpot despite just 3% odds after finishing 10th in the Eastern Conference at 36-46. They dropped their final six regular-season games and lost to the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the play-in tournament. The Hawks haven’t won a postseason series since a surprising run to the Eastern Conference finals in 2021. They got knocked out in the first round in 2022 and 2023. Washington, Houston, San Antonio and Detroit rounded out the top five. The draft is June 26-27 in Brooklyn.
MLB
Jose Trevino hit two of New York’s five homers, Luis Gil went six scoreless innings and the Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 10-6 after almost blowing a six-run lead. Trevino hit a two-run shot in the third and a solo drive in a four-run eighth that put the Yankees ahead 10-5. Struggling Gleyber Torres hit his second homer of the season, a three-run shot earlier in the inning. Jose Siri keyed a five-run seventh that got the Rays within 6-5 with a one-out grand slam off reliever Caleb Ferguson. Jahmai Jones hit his first major league homer, and Aaron Judge connected on his 10th home run for the Yankees.
Brandon Nimmo came off the bench to hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning that gave the New York Mets a 4-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves. Pete Alonso had two RBIs and the Mets avoided a three-game sweep, one day after they were held hitless by three Braves pitchers until there were two outs in the ninth. Nimmo didn’t start after exiting Saturday’s game with discomfort on his right side, but he entered as a pinch runner in the seventh and stayed in to play left field. Jarred Kelenic homered for Atlanta against the team that drafted him sixth overall and then traded him. Marcell Ozuna’s second tiebreaking single of the night gave the Braves a 3-2 lead in the eighth.
Ceddanne Rafaela had a two-run double after Washington’s center fielder Victor Robles dropped a routine fly for an error during Boston’s three-run second inning, and the Red Sox held off the Nationals 3-2 on Sunday to take the series. Behind a good start from Brayan Bello (4-1) and scoreless work from four relievers, the Red Sox won for the second straight game after losing the opener Friday. Eddie Rosario homered for the second consecutive day for the Nationals, a two-run shot. Robles also had a base-running blunder that took them out a potential big inning and lined to left with two runners on to end the seventh.
Emmanuel Rivera hit a game-winning pinch-hit single in the 10th inning and the Miami Marlins beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-6. Rivera’s hard grounder deflected off the glove of Phillies reliever Gregory Soto and into right field, scoring automatic runner Nick Fortes from second. Jazz Chisholm Jr. doubled and tripled while Josh Bell homered for the Marlins, who snapped a five-game losing skid.
Cody Bellinger hit a go-ahead single before Patrick Wisdom added insurance with a home run in the 10th inning, lifting the Chicago Cubs to a 5-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates for a series victory. Bellinger led off that inning Sunday by dribbling a ball through the left side of the infield off Aroldis Chapman, scoring automatic runner Seiya Suzuki before getting caught in a rundown between first and second. Wisdom drove a two-out sinker, the seventh pitch of the at-bat, 412 feet into the center-field bushes.
Zac Gallen pitched six solid innings, and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat an unusually sloppy Baltimore team 9-2 for their first victory at Camden Yards since 2007. The Orioles allowed three unearned runs, plus several others that were earned but at least somewhat related to defensive mistakes. Jake McCarthy homered for the Diamondbacks and Adley Rutschman went deep for Baltimore. Gallen took a no-hitter into the fifth and ultimately allowed two runs and four hits. The game was delayed 33 minutes in the top of the seventh by rain.
Converted reliever Ty Blach pitched five solid innings in his second start this season, Ezequiel Tovar homered and the Colorado Rockies beat the Texas Rangers 3-1 on Sunday to complete a three-game series sweep of the reigning World Series champions. It was the first time the Rangers have been swept this season. The sweep by the Rockies, who have won a season high four in a row, was their first since May 2-4, 2023, against Milwaukee.
Carlos Santana hit a three-run home run, Bailey Ober matched his career high by striking out 10 over 6 1/3 shutout innings and the Minnesota Twins won for the 17th time in 20 games by beating the Toronto Blue Jays 5-1. The Twins have won six consecutive series for the first time since September 2010. Santana homered for the third straight game north of the U.S. border, extending Minnesota’s streak of games in Toronto with at least one home run to 20. Twins outfielder Max Kepler added a two-run double, extending his career-best hitting streak to 14 games. Alek Manoah took the loss for the Blue Jays.
David Fry hit a two-run homer and Andrés Giménez lined a solo shot in Cleveland’s three-run fourth inning, and the Guardians blanked the Chicago White Sox 7-0 on Sunday to end a three-game losing streak. Logan Allen tossed six scoreless innings to help Cleveland salvage the finale of a four-game series in Chicago and remain in first place in the AL Central. The left-hander allowed six hits, walked one and struck out three. Nick Sandlin, Hunter Gaddis and Sam Hentges followed with a scoreless inning each. Chicago’s season-high four-game winning streak ended and the White Sox were shut out for the 10th time this season, most in the majors.
Justin Verlander dominated his former team and Kyle Tucker homered as the Houston Astros beat the Detroit Tigers 9-3. Verlander pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits while striking out eight. He now has 3,365 career strikeouts, two behind former teammate and friendly rival Max Scherzer for 11th on the all-time list. Mauricio Dubón had four hits for Houston and Jake Meyers went 3 for 3 with three RBIs despite not entering the game until the seventh inning. Jack Flaherty took the loss, allowing three runs on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings.
Seth Lugo racked up a career-high 12 strikeouts during eight innings of five-hit ball, and Hunter Renfroe had a two-run single against his former team in the Kansas City Royals’ 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. Freddie Fermin and Michael Massey also had RBIs during the Royals’ four-run fourth inning. Willie Calhoun had a sixth-inning RBI double and a ninth-inning homer for the Angels, who lost three of four in the series. Los Angeles hasn't won a home series yet this season.
Julio Rodríguez and Mitch Garver both hit two-run home runs, Luis Castillo allowed two runs over six strong innings, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics 8-4. Seattle rebounded to take two of three games from the A’s after the Mariners lost their first series in nearly a month earlier this week in Minnesota. And they did it thanks to the long ball. Rodríguez’s homer was just his second of the season and his first at T-Mobile Park in Seattle’s 22nd home game. Garver hit a two-run shot in the fifth inning after Rodríguez doubled to open the inning. Seby Zavala also homered for Seattle.
Michael Siani doubled home the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, Paul Goldschmidt homered to break out of his slump and the St. Louis Cardinals rallied to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 and snap a seven-game skid on Sunday. Goldschmidt had gone 1 of 34 in May until he led off the fifth inning by sending a 1-2 pitch from Bryse Wilson over the center-field wall. Goldschmidt also hit a game-tying, two-out RBI single in the sixth as the Cardinals erased an early three-run deficit. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol and bench coach Daniel Descalso were ejected in the third inning.
Yu Darvish gave up two hits in seven dominant innings to lead the San Diego Padres to a 4-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday. Fernando Tatis Jr., Jake Cronenworth and Xander Bogaerts hit solo home runs for the Padres, who have won five of the eight games against the Dodgers this season. The Dodgers dropped two of the three games in the series after a seven-game winning streak. Darvish struck out seven and walked one in a sterling performance that lowered his ERA to 2.43.
Casey Schmitt hit a walk-off double in the 10th inning and the San Francisco Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds 6-5. After the Reds failed to score in the top of the 10th Sunday off Giants reliever Luke Jackson, Schmitt’s first hit of the season was a two-out ground-rule double to left-center field off Emilio Pagan, scoring automatic runner Luis Matos. The Giants’ concern now turns to Jung Hoo Lee, who strained his left shoulder in the first inning while leaping for a double. Lee’s arm hit the wall as he jumped for the ball that hit the top of the right-center field wall. He grabbed it in immediate discomfort.
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Seattle 2 Portland 1
WNBA
WNBA rookie Caitlin Clark, like NBA Hall of Famer Larry Bird was 45 years ago, is involuntarily the focus of discussions about race and her transition to professional basketball. She is – and from all indications is content with -- just being another basketball player trying to win a title. And though Clark hasn't said anything to fuel the Black-white narrative surrounding her, talks are about a double standard are being had. Still, the race-based debate over perceived slights to Black players or favoritism toward Clark is not going away as the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft prepares for her first regular-season game.
GOLF
Rory McIlroy won the Wells Fargo Championship for a record fourth time Sunday, overcoming a two-stroke deficit to beat Xander Schauffele by five strokes. No other player has won the event more than twice. McIlroy closed with a 6-under 65, playing the final 11 holes in 6 under even with a double bogey on the 18th hole. He finished at 17-under 267 after four straight rounds in the 60s and won his second straight PGA Tour event after teaming with Shane Lowry to take the Zurich Classic two weeks ago in New Orleans. Schauffele shot 71. McIlroy also won the event in 2010, ‘15 and ’21.
Rose Zhang won the Cognizant Founders Cup on Sunday to end Nelly Korda’s record-tying LPGA Tour winning streak, rallying to beat Madelene Sagstrom by two strokes. Zhang birdied four of the final five holes to overcome a three-shot deficit in a thrilling final-round duel with Sagstrom after the two broke away from the field Saturday. Zhang shot a 6-under 66, birdieing Nos. 14, 15, 17 and 18 at Upper Montclair Country Club. Sagstrom bogeyed the 16th in a 69. Korda had a second straight 73 and tied for seventh at 7 under. Zhang, a two-time NCAA champion at Stanford, who won last year at nearby Liberty National in her pro debut. She finished at 24 under 264 total.
NASCAR
Brad Keselowski moved to the front when Chris Buescher and Tyler Reddick hit each other with nine laps left and held on to win the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday. It was Keselowski's first victory since 2021 and his first triumph since rejoining magnate Jack Roush as a co-owner at Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing. It was Keselowski's 36th career win and his second at Darlington. He snapped a 110-race winless drought since taking the checkered flag at Talladega in April 2021. Ty Gibbs finished second and Josh Berry third.
Chris Buescher angrily confronted Tyler Reddick after losing another chance to win a NASCAR race for the second straight week. Buescher was beaten in a photo finish at Kansas a week ago by 0.001 seconds in what was the closest ending in the sports' history. This time, Buescher was leading with nine laps left when Reddick pushed him into the wall while trying to pass for the lead. Buescher confronted Reddick when both were out of their cars. Reddick immediately took the blame and apologized for the incident.
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