June 14, 2022 3:53 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Andrew Wiggins delivered the biggest game yet in his eight-year career with 26 points and 13 rebounds, Klay Thompson scored 21 points, and the Golden State Warriors beat the Boston Celtics 104-94 for a 3-2 NBA Finals lead. Stephen Curry contributed 16 points and eight assists but the all-time 3-point leader’s NBA-record streak of 132 straight postseason games with at least one 3 ended along with his NBA-best run of 233 consecutive games with a 3 between regular season and playoffs combined. Game 6 is on Thursday.
June 13, 2022 3:53 am
ATLANTA (AP) – Adam Duvall homered twice off Jose Quintana, William Contreras and Matt Olson also connected, and the Atlanta Braves won their 11th straight game, 5-3 over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The defending World Series champion Braves began the day having trimmed five games off the New York Mets’ division lead since the winning streak started June 1. They were 5 1/2 games back in the NL East. This stretch is the club’s best since it won 14 in a row from July 26 to Aug. 9, 2013. During the streak, Atlanta has outscored opponents 74-30 with 22 homers. The pitching staff has a 2.32 ERA over the same span.
June 13, 2022 3:55 am
TORONTO (AP) – Rory McIlroy won the RBC Canadian Open on Sunday and gave the PGA Tour a strong response to the start of the Saudi-funded LIV Golf Invitational, closing with an 8-under 62 to win a wild race to the finish with Justin Thomas and Tony Finau. McIlroy finished at 19-under 261 at St. George’s for a two-stroke victory. Finau shot a 64 to finish second alone. Thomas bogeyed the final two holes for a 64 to finish third at 14 under. Justin Rose matched the tournament- and course-record with a 60 – with three eagles and three bogeys – to tie for fourth.
June 12, 2022 7:40 am
ATLANTA (AP) — Dansby Swanson blooped a three-run single, Ozzie Albies added a grand slam in an eight-run seventh inning and the Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-4 Saturday for their 10th consecutive win. Acuña and Austin Riley also homered for the defending World Series champions, on their longest winning streak since they won 14 in a row from July 26 to Aug. 9, 2013. The Braves were 10 1/2 games behind the NL East-leading New York Mets before play on June 2 and closed within 6 1/2 games by Saturday morning. Pittsburgh has lost a season-worst five straight. Atlanta trailed 4-2 before the Braves batted around in the seventh against Duane Underwood Jr. (0-2) and Chris Stratton. Marcell Ozuna doubled, advanced on Adam Duvall’s forceout and scored on Michael Harris II’s single before Swanson’s opposite-field single to right, which charged up the sellout crowd of 41,219 at Truist Park as Acuña scored from first. Albies’ fifth career slam put the Braves ahead 10-4. Pittsburgh starter Zach Thompson, who had a 2.34 ERA over his prior seven starts, held the Braves to one hit and one walk after surrendering a pair of solo homers in the first. Thompson was charged with three hits and two runs in five innings. After the Pirates jumped to a 2-0 lead on homers by Bryan Reynolds and Daniel Vogelbach in the first, the Braves tied it when Acuña and Riley went deep in the bottom half. Acuña hit his 25th career leadoff homer. Pittsburgh built a 4-2 lead on RBI doubles in the fifth by Reynolds and Ke’Bryan Hayes.
June 12, 2022 7:43 am
TAMPA, Fla (AP) — The Tampa Bay Lightning’s bid for a three-peat is alive and well. With captain Steven Stamkos leading the way, the two-time defending champions beat the New York Rangers 2-1 in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference final Saturday night, securing a berth in the Stanley Cup Final for the third straight year. Stamkos scored two goals and Andrei Vasilevskiy had 20 saves for the Lightning, who won the series 4-2 — winning four straight games after losing the first two on the road — and will face the Colorado Avalanche in the Cup final. Game 1 is Wednesday night in Denver.
June 12, 2022 7:46 am
TORONTO (AP) — Tony Finau birdied the final hole Saturday for an 8-under 62 and a share of the RBC Canadian Open lead with defending champion Rory McIlroy. McIlroy had a 65 to match Finau at 11-under 199 at St. George’s Golf and Country Club. McIlroy had to wait three years to defend his 2019 title because of the COVID-19 pandemic that canceled golf’s fourth-oldest championship the last two years. Finau had the best round of the week, eagling the par-5 ninth in a front-nine 29 and making four birdies and a bogey on the final nine. He won the FedEx Cup playoff opener last season at Riviera for his second PGA Tour victory.
June 12, 2022 7:45 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Mo Donegal pulled away down the home stretch and held off filly Nest to win the Belmont Stakes, giving Pletcher a 1-2 finish and his sixth Triple Crown victory, including four at this track on the outskirts of New York City. Rich Strike, a stunning Kentucky Derby winner at 80-to-1 odds, was sixth. Mo Donegal rounded the 1 1/2-mile distance in 2 minutes, 28.28 seconds, three lengths ahead of Nest — ridden by Ortiz’s brother, José. Pletcher, who lives on Long Island, adds another Belmont title following wins with Rags to Riches in 2007, Palace Malice in 2013 and Tapwrit in 2017.
June 11, 2022 4:15 am
ATLANTA (AP) – Spencer Strider outpitched Roansy Contreras in a matchup of hard-throwing rookies, Dansby Swanson had three hits, including a two-run homer and the Atlanta Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-2 for their ninth straight win. The winning streak is the National League’s longest this season. Houston and the New York Yankees have had 11-game streaks. Strider allowed only four hits with eight strikeouts and one walk in 5 2/3 scoreless innings. Strider, making his first home start and only his third overall, pitched into the sixth inning for the first time. Contreras allowed four runs, three earned, in 4 2/3 innings.
June 11, 2022 4:16 am
BOSTON (AP) – The Boston Celtics couldn’t hold off the Golden State Warriors and had trouble taking care of the basketball. For three quarters, the Celtics responded to nearly every punch the Warriors threw at them. But Boston’s mistakes and an inability to beat back one final charge by Golden State in the fourth quarter cost the Celtics in a 107-97 loss in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. áJayson Tatum finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, but had six of Boston’s 16 turnovers which led to 19 points for Golden State. The Celtics are now 1-6 this postseason when committing 16 or more turnovers. With the series tied, Game 5 will be Monday night at Golden State.
June 11, 2022 4:18 am
TORONTO (AP) – Wyndham Clark closed with an unlikely par save Friday to take a one-stroke lead over defending champion Rory McIlroy and four other players into the weekend in the RBC Canadian Open. After bogeying Nos. 15 and 16 in windy conditions at St. George’s, Clark got up-and-down from about 50 feet from a semi-plugged lie on the downslope in a greenside bunker on the par-4 18th. He was 7 under after an even-par 70.
