The Boston Bruins have taken the opener of the Stanley Cup final with a comeback over the St. Louis Blues. Sean Kuraly scored the tiebreaking goal 5:21 into the third period before Brad Marchand added an empty-netter in the Bruins’ 4-2 victory over the Blues in Boston.
The Blues jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but the Bruins tied it with back-to-back goals while outshooting St. Louis, 18-3 in the second period. The Blues got off to a nice start, going ahead on Brayden Schenn’s goal 7 ½ minutes into the contest. Vladimir Tarasenko doubled the St. Louis lead by beating Tuukka Rask one minute into the second, but it was all Bruins the rest of the period. Connor Clifton tallied 76 seconds after Tarasenko’s goal, and Charlie McAvoy knotted the score on a power play with 7:19 left in the period. St. Louis helped out the Bruins by taking five of the game’s seven minor penalties. The Blues managed to kill off four Boston power plays, but chances eventually came for Boston's third and fourth lines. Jordan Binnington finished with 34 saves for the Blues, who are 0-13 all-time in Stanley Cup final games. Rask needed to make just 18 saves. Game 2 is Wednesday in Boston.
In NHL news, the Washington Capitals say they have confirmed forward Evgeny Kuznetsov is shown in a now-deleted video on social media that appears to show him in a hotel room with lines of white powder on a table in front of him. The team issued a statement saying it is in the process of gathering facts and will have no further comment at this time. The video posted on Twitter carried a message saying it was why Russia lost in the world hockey championship semifinals. It showed Kuznetsov talking to someone and lines of white powder and American dollar bills can be seen on the table. Kuznetsov does not touch anything on the table in the 22-second video. In a statement to Russian news outlet Sport Express, Kuznetsov said the video is from 2018 in Las Vegas after the Capitals won the Stanley Cup. In that statement, Kuznetsov said he went to a friend's hotel room, saw drugs and an "unknown women," called a friend and left.
MLB
The Yankees won for the eighth time in nine games as homers by Clint Frazier, Brett Gardner and Gary Sánchez erased an early two-run deficit in a 5-2 victory against the Padres. Reliever David Hale allowed RBI doubles by Josh Naylor and Austin Hedges in the second but retired his final 10 hitters to get his first win since 2015. San Diego starter Matt Strahm struck out a career-high 10 in six innings but wasted a 2-0 lead in the Yankees' three-run second.
Cody Bellinger hit his 19th homer and threw out two runners from right field in the Dodgers’ 10th victory in 12 games, 9-5 over the Mets. Chris Taylor and pinch-hitter Kiké Hernández also went deep while Los Angeles scored six times in the sixth off New York’s bullpen. Clayton Kershaw is 5-0 after yielding 10 hits but just three runs over six innings.
The Marlins avoided a four-game sweep by rallying for two runs against the Nationals’ bullpen to earn a 3-2 triumph in Washington. Jose Ureña allowed two earned runs and four hits through the first seven innings to improve to 5-2 against the Nationals, including an earlier win this season. Max Scherzer hit a go-ahead single and went six innings before leaving with a 2-1 lead.
Sandy León crushed a three-run homer off Oliver Pérez in a six-run fifth that highlighted the Red Sox’s 12-5 thrashing of the Indians. Jackie Bradley Jr., Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts had RBI doubles in the fifth before Leon put Boston ahead, 9-6. Bradley furnished a pair of run-scoring doubles against the Indians, who have lost eight of nine.
Also on the diamonds, the Houston Astros managed to open a matchup of division leaders with a victory despite playing without three of their top hitters. Gerrit Cole picked up the slack on the mound by striking out 12 over six innings of the Astros’ 6-5 victory over the Cubs. Cole surrendered Anthony Rizzo’s two-run homer in the first inning before limiting Chicago to two singles over his next five frames. Jack Mayfield made his major league debut seven seasons in the minors, contributing a double in his first plate appearance and hitting an RBI grounder during Houston’s five-run third. Astros sluggers Jose Altuve and George Springer are on the disabled list, while shortstop Carlos Correa was given the day off. That didn’t stop Houston from winning for the 15th time in their last 19 games.
Orlando Arcia drove in three runs, including a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning of the Brewers’ 5-4 victory over the Twins. Josh Hader worked two innings for his 13th save, striking out Miguel Sano on three pitches with two runners on to end it. The Milwaukee bullpen finished with 4 1/3 scoreless innings, scattering three singles in ending Minnesota’s six-game winning streak.
Yonny Chirinos worked five no-hit innings before Rays relievers completed a four-hitter in an 8-3 blasting of the Blue Jays. Austin Meadows homered and drove in three runs to help the Rays move a season-high 13 games over .500 and stay two games behind the AL East-leading Yankees. Toronto lost for the 19th time in 26 games despite homers by Jonathan Davis and Freddy Galvis.
The Athletics still own the longest current winning streak after Jurickson Profar and Josh Phegley homered off former Oakland starter Trevor Cahill in an 8-5 victory versus the Angels. Stephen Piscotty added a two-run single that inning to help Oakland to its first 10-game winning streak since 2006. Matt Chapman tacked on a solo shot in the seventh to give him home runs in three straight games.
Daniel Vogelbach slammed a two-run homer that put the Mariners ahead 5-2 in the seventh inning of a 6-2 verdict over the Rangers. Winning pitcher Tommy Milone struck out seven and limited Texas to two runs and four hits over 5 2/3 innings. Seattle was coming off an 0-6 road trip.
Renato Núñez and Jonathan Villar homered as the Orioles won for just the third time in 14 games, 5-3 versus the Tigers. Dan Straily allowed one run in four innings of relief to get the win. Detroit made several miscues in falling for the 12th time in 13 games.
Bryan Reynolds hit a tiebreaking, two-run triple while the Pirates scored four times in the eighth inning to take Game 1 of their day-night doubleheader with the Reds, 8-5. Starling Marte followed Reynolds’ liner with a shot to center for his sixth homer to put Pittsburgh up, 8-4. Josh Bell also went deep for the Pirates, who snapped a three-game losing streak.
The Reds took Game 2 as José Iglesias hit his first career grand slam off Mitch Keller in the right-hander's major league debut, helping Cincinnati earn an 8-1 victory. The slam was part of a six-run first. Derek Dietrich and Yasiel Puig added back-to-back homers in the seventh against Alex McRae.
The Rockies pulled out a 4-3 win over the Diamondbacks on Raimel Tapia’s RBI single in the bottom of the 11th. Tapia also made a diving catch of a sinking liner earlier in the game that prevented some runs. Colorado trailed 3-1 before Nolan Arenado's two-run single off Archie Bradley with two out in the seventh.
The White Sox and Royals were tied 1-1 in the fifth inning when their game was suspended by rain. Yolmer Sanchez hit a tying single, then entertained his White Sox teammates with a dugout show during the second rain delay of the game. The rain was coming down hard in the fourth when Kansas City's Adalberto Mondesi doubled and scored from third on Hunter Dozier's two-out single.
In MLB news, Bill Buckner was among the finest hitters in his day, but he also committed one of the most memorable errors in World Series history. Buckner’s family said in a statement that the former outfielder and first baseman died Monday at 69 following a long battle with dementia. Buckner was a 1981 All-Star and a 1980 batting champion while with the Chicago Cubs. But he is better known as the first baseman who allowed Mookie Wilson’s slow roller to go underneath his glove to end Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, allowing the Mets to beat the Red Sox before capturing the Fall Classic in seven games. The Red Sox were seeking their first World Series title in 68 years, a drought that would last another 18 years before Boston swept St. Louis in 2004. Buckner amassed 2,715 hits and recorded a .289 batting average in a 22-year career that included stops with the Dodgers, Cubs, Red Sox, Angels and Royals.
Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia will take an "indefinite leave" in his long struggle to recover from knee trouble, putting in doubt whether he'll ever play again in the majors. Boston has put the longtime star on the 60-day injured list. The 35-year-old Pedroia has tried for a season-and-half to fully return from surgery on his left knee.
Diamondbacks right-hander Luke Weaver has been put on the injured list with forearm tightness. Manager Torey Lovullo said that Weaver went back to Phoenix and is scheduled have an MRI. To take Weaver's place on the roster, the Diamondbacks recalled righty Jimmie Sherfy from the Triple-A Reno.
Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon has landed on the 10-day injured list with a strained right calf. Blackmon suffered the injury at Pittsburgh last week when he fouled a ball off his calf.
TENNIS
Serena Williams hasn’t played much since the Australian Open, and it took her a while to find her game in the first round of the French Open. The 10th-seeded Williams dropped her opener set before rolling to a 2-6, 6-1, 6-0 win over 83rd-ranked Vitalia Diatchenko of Russia. Williams had completed only three matches since competing at Melbourne four months ago, and she cited a bothersome left knee when pulling out of her past two tournaments. Other winners on the women’s side were fourth seed Kiki Bertens and eighth seed Ashleigh Barty, along with Americans Sofia Kenin, Danielle Rose Collins, Jennifer Brady, Lauren Davis and Shelby Rogers. Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova pulled out of the tournament ahead of her first-round match because of an injured left forearm.
Over on the men’s side, top seed Novak Djokovic and 11-time French Open champ Rafael Nadal have moved into Round 2 with straight-sets victories. They are joined by fourth seed Dominic Thiem and No. 13 Borna Coric. Daniil Medvedev was the highest men’s seed to fall on Monday, blowing a two-sets-to-none lead against Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
NBA
Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert is resting comfortably after suffering a stroke. The 57-year-old was hospitalized Sunday after not feeling well and had the stroke while under medical care. That’s according to a statement released Monday night by Quicken Loans CEO Jay Farner. Gilbert was immediately taken in for a catheter-based procedure at a Detroit-area hospital and then moved to recovery in an intensive care unit. Farner said Gilbert is "awake, responsive and resting comfortably."
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