NBA:
In the NBA playoffs, Oklahoma City beat Golden State 118-94 to give the Thunder a 3-1 series lead and bring them within one game of clinching the series.
NHL:
In the NHL playoffs, Pittsburgh beat Tampa Bay 5-2 to even the series at 3 games apiece and force a Game 7.
The Boston Bruins have signed defenseman Kevan Miller to a four-year contract extension with a cap figure for the team of $2.5 million a year. The Bruins also signed forward Seth Griffith to a one-year, two-way contract and added a pair of assistant coaches, hiring Bruce Cassidy and Jay Pandolfo.
Brian Elliott will be back between the pipes for St. Louis in Game 6 of the NHL Western Conference finals against San Jose on Wednesday night. He replaces Jake Allen who started the last two games and made 21 saves in a Game 5 loss. The Sharks have a 3-2 series lead and are seeking their first trip to the Stanley Cup finals.
MLB:
In baseball, in American League, the Yankees blanked Toronto 6-0, Texas bested the Angels 4-1, Kansas City beat Minnesota 7-4, Cleveland tripled up the White Sox 6-2, Houston edged Baltimore 3-2 in 13 innings, and it was Seattle over Oakland 6-5.
In the National League, Washington defeated the Mets 7-4, Pittsburgh crushed Arizona 12-1, Milwaukee beat Atlanta 2-1, the Cubs bested St. Louis 12-3, the Dodgers topped Cincinnati 8-2, and it was San Francisco over San Diego 8-2.
In interleague play, Boston beat Colorado 8-3, Detroit bested Philadelphia 3-1, and it was Tampa Bay over Miami 4-3.
In other league news:
— Meanwhile Red Sox pitcher Carson Smith is out for this season after getting Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. Smith was put on the disabled list last week with soreness in the elbow. He had made just three appearances for the Red Sox, allowing an unearned run in 2 2/3 innings.
— Red Sox outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr.'s hitting streak is now at 28 games, with Bradley getting two hits last night against Colorado. It is the longest hitting streak in the majors this season and tied for fifth longest in Red Sox history. Dom DiMaggio holds the franchise record with a 34-game streak in 1949.
— Former major leaguer Bill "Spaceman" Lee is running for governor in Vermont as a member of the Liberty Union party. Lee pitched for the Red Sox from 1969 to 1978. He tells WCAX-TV he's pragmatic, conservative and a forward thinker. Party officials say Lee filed the paperwork to run last week.
— Pittsburgh pitcher Ryan Vogelsong remained hospitalized with swelling and multiple facial fractures, a day after he was hit in the head by a 92 mph fastball from Colorado's Jordan Lyles. Pirates trainer Todd Tomczyk says Vogelsong is in good spirits but adds that doctors won't be able to determine the extent of the damage around the left eye until the swelling subsides. The Pirates have placed Vogelsong on the 15-day disabled list.
NFL:
The NFL has awarded the 2019 through 2021 Super Bowls to three cities that have significant financial investments in new stadiums or recently upgraded an existing one. Atlanta will host the 2019 game in its soon-to-be completed, $1.4 billion stadium, and Miami gets the 2020 game following its $450 million stadium renovation. Los Angeles will handle the 2021 Super Bowl, to be played at a $2.6 billion facility in nearby Inglewood. There will be more reviewable plays in the NFL this coming season. The plays include penalty enforcement, proper down, spot of the foul and status of the game clock.
In other league news:
— Raiders owner Mark Davis says the team has begun conducting market research studies to gather information about a potential move to Las Vegas and initial reports have come back positive. Davis wants to move the team to the gambling city after being unable to get a suitable stadium deal in Oakland.
— Several engineering and physics professors have weighed in with the New York federal appeals court as it weighs Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's appeal of his "Deflategate" suspension. Court papers filed this week says those experts believe an appeals panel's ruling upholding the suspension lacks scientific proof.
— The Bills have signed their second-round draft pick, linebacker Reggie Ragland. Buffalo traded up eight spots in the draft to select the Alabama linebacker and 2015 SEC defensive player of the year with the 41st pick.
— The Buffalo Bills have unveiled a wide-ranging policy restricting media from reporting on who threw an interception during practice or what someone might overhear during a post-practice team huddle. The policy went into effect Tuesday when reporters began arriving at the Bills facility for the team's first week of voluntary minicamps.
— The Concussion Legacy Foundation says former NFL defensive end Bubba Smith was diagnosed with the brain disease CTE by researchers after his death. Smith died in 2011 at 66. He's one of 90 former NFL players diagnosed with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy since 2008 at a brain bank affiliated with Veteran Affairs, Boston University and the foundation.
NCAA:
It was one and done for Boston College in the ACC baseball tournament, with the Eagles blanked by Georgia Tech 6-0 in a play-in game yesterday. BC wasn't able to manage an extra-base hit with Jess Adams taking the loss.
Kentucky forward Batouly Camara is transferring to UConn. Camara will have to sit out this coming season but will have three years of eligibility remaining for the Huskies. She averaged 5.1 points and 4.3 rebounds as a freshman for the Wildcats this past season.
UConn center Amida Brimah and guard Rodney Purvis have decided they'll return to the Huskies for their senior season and have withdrawn their names from the NBA draft. Daniel Hamilton earlier announced he had hired an agent and would not return to UConn.
The University at Buffalo has rewarded women's basketball coach Felisha Legette-Jack with a new five-year contract after she led the Bulls to their first NCAA Tournament berth last season. The new deal was announced on Tuesday and runs through the 2020-21 season. The contract replaces Legette-Jack's previous deal which was scheduled to run out in 2019.
Junior forward Vincent Edwards has decided to return to Purdue and take his name off the NBA draft list. He led the Boilermakers in assists and 3-pointers made last season and averaged 19 points per game during the NCAA Tournament.
U.S. Amateur Four Ball:
Garrett Rank of Canada and Patrick Christovich of New Orleans had to play 39 holes Tuesday in winning two matches to reach the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball at Winged Foot.
Rank holed a 6-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole for a 1-up victory over David Kocher and Connor Tendall. In a third-round match earlier, Christovich hit a 9-iron to birdie range on the par-3 third hole to win in 21 holes over the Phoenix duo of Ted Gray and Travis Milleman.
Rank and Christovich face SMU teammates Benjamin Baxter and Andrew Buchanan in the semifinals. In the other semifinal match Wednesday morning, Otto Black and Colin Joseph face Brandon Cigna and Ben Warnquist. The championship match is Wednesday afternoon.
WNBA:
In the WNBA, Atlanta topped the Liberty 85-79 in overtime and it was the Sparks over Chicago 93-80.
Horse Racing:
Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist will not run in the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the horse racing Triple Crown. Trainer Doug O'Neill says the horse has a fever and elevated white blood cell count. Nyquist saw his unbeaten record come to an end in the Preakness Stakes Saturday, which was won by Exaggerator.
Tour de France:
Officials in France have announced increased security for this year's Tour de France. The event will be protected by an unprecedented force of 23,000, including SWAT-like intervention squads, as the government tries to ensure security amid extremist threats. France has been in a state of emergency since attacks on Paris in November killed 130 people, with soldiers guarding landmarks and religious sites.
Tennis:
Second-round play begins during Day 4 of the French Open. Men's second seed Andy Murray and No. 3 Stan Wawrinka are part of Wednesday's schedule, as is women's fourth seed Garbine Muguruza. Tuesday was uneventful for most of the prominent seeds at Roland Garros. Top-seed Novak Djokovic advanced in three sets and was followed into the second round by Murray and nine-time champ Rafael Nadal. Nadal now has a 71-2 record in the tournament. No. 15 seed John Isner used 40 aces to move into the second round with a four-set win.
Women's top-seed Serena Williams breezed into the second round along with fellow American Madison Keys. Australian Open champ Angelique Kerber was a first round casualty, upset by 58th-ranked Kiki Bertens, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
