MLB
Blake Snell flirted with a no-hitter while leading the Tampa Bay Rays to their fourth straight win, all against playoff contenders.
Snell struck out 10 and allowed just one hit over seven innings as the Rays crushed the Nationals, 11-0. Snell's no-hit bid ended when Anthony Rendon led off the seventh with a double.
Kevin Kiermaier's grand slam capped Tampa Bay's six-run second that chased Gio Gonzalez from the mound. Former Nat Wilson Ramos added a pair of home runs and three RBIs for the Rays.
The Nationals have dropped eight of their last 12, including a victory in the resumption of their May 15 suspended game against the Yankees.
Checking out Monday's other major league action:
Aaron Judge slammed his 20th homer of the season and Giancarlo Stanton hit a big two-run single in the eighth inning as the Yankees beat the Phillies, 4-2 to end a three-game skid. Jonathan Loaisiga held the Phils to one hit while striking out eight over 5 1/3 innings to help New York take a half-game lead over Boston in the AL East. Maikel Franco homered in the ninth for the Phillies, who fell 3 ½ games behind the NL East-leading Braves. The series continues Tuesday at 7:05 p.m.
Boston had the night off and will host the Angels Tuesday at 7:10 p.m.
Atlanta sat through an 80-minute rain delay before outlasting the Reds, 5-4 on Ozzie Albies' walk-off blast in the 11th inning. Albies also doubled home a run while the Braves were taking a 3-1 lead, but Mike Foltynewicz came away with a no-decision after yielding only a Scott Schebler home run over five innings of work. Joey Votto went 1-for-2 with three walks, one RBI and a run scored for Cincinnati, which had won seven in a row.
Justin Bour hit a solo homer and Brian Anderson lifted a tiebreaking, two-run double in the Marlins' third straight win, 9-5 over the Diamondbacks. Dan Straily was reached for three runs and four hits over 6 1/3 innings in his first start since appealing the five-game suspension he received for intentionally throwing at Giants catcher Buster Posey last week. Jake Lamb homered for Arizona, which ended a four-game winning streak and saw its lead in the NL West cut to 1 ½ games over the Dodgers.
Los Angeles won its fourth in a row behind Kenta Maeda's seven shutout innings in a 2-1 verdict over the Cubs. Maeda held Chicago to three hits while striking out nine to help the Dodgers improve to 26-9 since opening the season 16-26. Kike Hernandez and Chris Taylor homered for the Dodgers, who dropped the Cubs 2 ½ games behind the NL Central-leading Brewers.
The Indians' season-high, seven-game winning streak is over after John Gant combined with three relievers on a four-hitter in the Cardinals' 4-0 shutout of Cleveland. Gant walked five over seven innings but allowed just one hit, a second-inning single by Yan Gomes. Marcell Ozuna a two-run double and Kolten Wong doubled home a run as St. Louis cut the Indians' lead in the AL Central to 7 ½ games over Minnesota.
Denard Span smacked a solo homer and the Mariners scratched out a pair of runs in the seventh to beat the Orioles, 5-3. Seattle blew a 3-1 lead in the sixth before Guillermo Heredia scored on a wild pitch by Miguel Castro. Winning pitcher Felix Hernandez gave up three runs over six innings of the Mariners' second victory in their last eight games.
Seattle is back within 3 ½ games of the AL West-leading Astros after Curtis Granderson hit a pair of solo homers off Justin Verlander and Randal Grichuk added a two-run blast in the Blue Jays' 6-3 win at Houston. Teoscar Hernandez had three hits to back J.A. Happ, who is 10-3 after giving up three runs and seven hits over six innings. Grichuk also made a nice catch against the wall to rob George Springer of a potential game-tying homer in the ninth.
Edwin Jackson made major league history while the Athletics earned their seventh victory in nine games, 5-4 at Detroit. Jackson allows a run and six hits over six innings while joining Octavio Dotel as the only players to see action with 13 different major league teams. Nicholas Castellanos slammed a three-run homer to put the Tigers ahead 4-1 in the seventh, but the A's chipped away before Jed Lowrie hit a tiebreaking, solo blast in the top of the ninth.
Robinson Chirinos, Delino DeShields and Shin-Soo Choo delivered RBI singles while the Rangers scored five times in the sixth to beat the Padres, 7-4. Chirinos and Elvus Andrus drove in two runs apiece as Texas won for the eighth time in nine games. Manuel Margot crushed a three-run homer and Jose Pirella added a solo blast to account for San Diego's scoring.
The Royals won for just the fourth time in 22 games this month as Brad Keller tossed two-hit ball over seven innings of a 2-0 shutout of the Angels. Lucas Duda and Rosell Herrera delivered RBI singles in the makeup of a game that was frozen out in April. Kevin McCarthy worked out of an eighth-inning jam to preserve the shutout before Wily Peralta ended the combined three-hitter for his first big league save.
Josh Bell belted a two-run homer and Gregory Polanco added a solo shot as the Pirates won a battle of slumping teams, 6-4 over the Mets. Elias Diaz drove in a pair and Jameson Taillon yielded two runs and four hits over six plus innings to helps Pittsburgh end a five-game losing streak. The Mets have surrendered nine home runs over their last two games and have lost seven in a row. Game 2 of the three-game series is Tuesday at 7:10 p.m.
In other MLB news:
New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez has landed on the 10-day disabled list because of a strained right groin suffered in Sunday's extra-inning loss to Tampa Bay. The 25-year-old is hitting .190 with 14 home runs and 41 RBIs, a season after he made the AL All-Star team while batting .278 with 33 homers and 90 ribbies. The Yanks also optioned outfielder Clint Frazier to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and recalled catcher Kyle Higashioka and right-hander Giovanny Gallegos from the minors.
The last-place Orioles have activated Tim Beckham from the disabled list after the infielder missed two months. Beckham batted .179 with one homer and four RBIs in 23 games before going on the DL with a groin strain in April.
The Tigers have agreed to terms with right-hander Casey Mize, the No. 1 pick in this year's draft. In 17 starts at Auburn this year, Mize went 10-6 with a 3.30 ERA. The 6-foot-3 junior averaged 12.24 strikeouts per nine innings. In three seasons at Auburn, Mize went 20-13 with a 2.96 ERA, 324 strikeouts and 43 walks.
NBA
James Harden has received a nice consolation prize after leading the Houston Rockets to the NBA's best record this past season.
The Rockets guard has come away with league MVP honors after pacing the NBA in scoring, 3-pointers and 50-point games. He helped Houston win 65 games during the regular season and two playoff rounds before falling to the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference finals.
Dwane Casey has received the Coach of the Year award for his work with his former team, the Raptors. He was fired last month and has since become coach of the Pistons.
Ben Simmons of the 76ers has won rookie of the year honors after averaging 15 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
Clippers standout Lou Williams is the sixth man of the year. The guard became the first player to average at least 20 points for the first time in his 13th season or later.
Utah's Rudy Gobert is the defensive player of the year, and Indiana guard Victor Oladipo is the most improved player.
The Indiana Pacers have declined to pick up their option on Lance Stephenson, allowing the point guard to become a free agent on Sunday. Stephenson brought grit off the bench for a team that won 48 games and almost knocked off Cleveland in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. The eight-year veteran averaged 9.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game last season.
In other NBA news:
Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations John Paxson says a significant move by the team is unlikely this offseason. The Bulls are nearly $40 million below the salary cap and free agency begins this weekend. The team finished 27-55 last season and struggled on offense. The Bulls expect more from Zach LaVine and the rest of the young roster.
NFL
The Falcons have signed a one-year deal with safety Ron Parker, who spent the last five seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. The 30-year-old Parker had 318 tackles, nine interceptions and seven sacks in 80 games with the Chiefs. He started in all 16 games in 2017 and had 67 tackles with two interceptions.
In other football news:
Former University of Alabama and Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Keith McCants has been arrested on drug charges in Florida. Pinellas County Jail records show 50-year-old Keith McCants was arrested early Monday near St. Petersburg. He's charged with a felony count of possession of crack cocaine and driving with a revoked or suspended license.
NHL
The Detroit Red Wings have agreed to terms with forwards Tyler Bertuzzi and Martin Frk. The Red Wings gave Bertuzzi a two-year, $2.8 million package and worked out a one-year, $1.05 million package with Frk. Bertuzzi had 24 points in 48 games for the Wings last season, while Frk contributed 25 points in 68 games.
In other NHL news:
The Sharks have made qualifying offers to forwards Tomas Hertl and Chris Tierney as Sunday's free-agent draws near. The move means San Jose has the option of matching any offer from another team or receiving draft pick compensation. The Sharks declined to give a qualifying offer to defenseman Dylan DeMelo, who scored no goals and 20 assists as part of the team's third blueline pairing.
The Sabres are allowing Victor Antipin to become a free agent without compensation by declining to give him a qualifying offer. Antipin had 10 assists in 47 games last season.
SOCCER
Spain has edged out Portugal for first place in Group B at the World Cup.
Backup Iago Aspas scored the late equalizer in Spains 2-2 draw with Morocco, and Portugal had to settle for a 1-1 tie with Iran after Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty kick, costing the Portuguese first place in its group.
Salem Aldawsari scored with almost the last kick to send Saudi Arabia to a 2-1 victory over Egypt, a matchup of two teams that had already been eliminated.
Tuesday at 10 a.m. ET Australia will take on Peru and Denmark will face France. At 2 p.m. Iceland goes against Croatia and Nigeria will face off against Argentina.
TENNIS
Former Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych has pulled out of the grass-court Grand Slam tournament because of a bad back.
The 19th-ranked Czech lost in the final at the All England Club eight years ago to Rafael Nadal. Berdych also was a semifinalist at Wimbledon each of the past two years.
COLLEGE SPORTS
UConn President Susan Herbst says in a letter upholding the firing of Kevin Ollie that the former men's basketball coach had a pattern of breaking NCAA rules and committed serious violations. Ollie was fired in March amid an NCAA investigation after leading UConn to a 127-79 record over six seasons, including the 2014 national title. He has asserted that the violations which led to his firing were minimal and isolated, but Herbst calls them "serious under any definition which may be applied."
Former Richmond starting guard Khawn Fore has signed to play his final season of college basketball at Louisville. The 6-foot, 175-pound Fore started 64 of 99 games for the Spiders and averaged 11 points and 3.2 rebounds per contest as a junior in 2017-18.
The University of Maryland has hired Damon Evans to be its athletic director, completing the transition that started in October when Kevin Anderson took a six-month sabbatical from the post. Evans joined the school in December 2014 and was named acting athletic director when Anderson began his sabbatical and maintained that job after Anderson resigned in April. Evans served as the director of athletics at Georgia from 2004-10.
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