KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Bobby Witt Jr. hit a home run and scored three times to lead the Kansas City Royals over the Milwaukee Brewers 6-4. Both starting pitchers struggled out of the gate Wednesday but settled down and limited the damage. The Royals’ Brady Singer allowed one run on five hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out four. Joe Ross allowed three runs on three hits in five-plus innings, walking two and striking out two. James McArthur picked up his eighth save after blowing his last two chances. Tonight the Brewers host St. Louis open up a four game series. Pregame at 6:05pm. First pitch at 6:40pm.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Carlos Correa and Trevor Larnach hit consecutive home runs for Minnesota in the first inning off Seattle starter George Kirby as the Twins hung on to beat the Mariners 6-3 and help Chris Paddack win his fourth straight start. Willi Castro went deep in the second and hit an RBI triple in the fourth that put the Twins in front by three. That gave Paddack enough fuel to extend his career-long winning streak. He matched his Twins best with 10 strikeouts while pitching into the sixth and allowed a solo homer to Mitch Garver for the only run against him.
NEW YORK (AP) — Jalen Brunson returned from a right foot injury to score 24 of his 29 points in the second half, leading the New York Knicks to a 130-121 victory over the Indiana Pacers for a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals. On the anniversary of Willis Reed’s dramatic emergence from the locker room before Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals to lead the Knicks to their first title, Brunson sent the Madison Square Garden crowd into a frenzy when he came out to warm up at halftime after missing the entire second quarter while the Pacers surged ahead to a double-figure lead. The Knicks moved halfway to their first Eastern Conference finals appearance since 2000.
Nikola Jokic did it all again. And the NBA MVP trophy is his again. The Denver Nuggets star from Serbia was announced Wednesday night as the league’s Most Valuable Player. It’s his third time winning the award in the past four seasons, a feat that just six other players in NBA history have accomplished. Jokic averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and 9.0 assists. Others averaged more in each category, but he was the only player to rank in the NBA’s top 10 in points, rebounds and assists per game this season.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indianapolis police have announced they’ve opened an investigation into an “NBA player and citizen” altercation that happened at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on the night Bucks guard Patrick Beverley threw a ball at a fan in the final minutes of a season-ending loss to the Pacers. Police said in a news release Wednesday the case has been forwarded to detectives, “who are currently investigating this situation and take all accusations seriously.” Cameras showed Beverley sitting on the bench and tossing a ball into the stands, hitting a fan in the head with about 2 ½ minutes left in the game on May 2.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Conor Garland broke a tie with 5:34 left and the Vancouver Canucks overcame a three-goal deficit to beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-4 on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the second-round playoff series. Garland took a short pass from Dakota Joshua, faked a slap shot at the right circle and slipped a wrist shot between goalie Stuart Skinner’s legs from a sharp angle for Vancouver’s second goal in 39 seconds and third in 4:48. Game 2 is Friday night in Vancouver. Elias Lindholm got the comeback started with 2:59 left in the second period. J.T. Miller cut it to 4-3 at 9:38 of the third, and Nikita Zadorov tied it with 6:13 remaining.
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Aleksander Barkov had two goals and two assists, Sam Reinhart added four assists and the Florida Panthers beat the Boston Bruins 6-1 on Wednesday night to tie the second-round series at a game apiece. Brandon Montour had a goal and two assists for Florida, which also got goals from Steven Lorentz, Gustav Forsling and Eetu Luostarinen. The Panthers chased Bruins starter Jeremy Swayman early in the third period after four straight goals, then added two more against Linus Ullmark. Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 14 saves for the Panthers. The five-goal margin matched Florida’s biggest ever in a playoff game, tying the mark set against Tampa Bay in another 6-1 win on April 29. Charlie Coyle had the goal for the Bruins.
TORONTO (AP) — Blayre Turnbull scored two goals to lead Toronto to a 4-0 win over Minnesota in the first-ever Professional Women’s Hockey League playoff game on Wednesday night. Natalie Spooner, with the opening goal and one assist, and Emma Maltais also scored for top-seeded Toronto in front of 8,473 fans at Coca-Cola Coliseum, the home of the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies. Kristen Campbell posted a 26-save shutout. Nicole Hensley stopped 16 shots for fourth-seeded Minnesota. Game 2 in the best-of-five semifinal is set for Friday in Toronto.