SPORTS DIGEST
BASEBALL
The Tampa Bay Rays bounced back from a loss to the Baltimore Orioles with a comprehensive 12-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Rays – who hold a league-leading 22-12 record – set out their intent early with seven runs in the first three innings, including a Tommy Pham grand slam. Blake Snell was perfect into his sixth inning, while the Diamondbacks’ sole score came as Blake Swihart found home on a fielder’s choice.
A swarm of bees saw the match between the Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants delayed, but Nick Senzel came out hot with two homers in back-to-back innings. The Reds put five runs on the board in the first and scored five more in the sixth in a 12-4 victory. Elsewhere, the Chicago White Sox saw off the Cleveland Indians 9-1, Thairo Estrada scored his first career home run in a 7-3 win for the New York Yankees over the Seattle Mariners and the Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox 4-1 with a grand slam from Jonathan Villar.
The Minnesota Twins limited the Toronto Blue Jays to three hits in their 8-0 win, the Milwaukee Brewers recorded their fourth straight win by overcoming the Washington Nationals 5-3 and the Miami Marlins put on three in the ninth in a 6-5 win over the Chicago Cubs.
The St Louis Cardinals blanked the Philadelphia Phillies 6-0, the New York Mets failed to score in a 4-0 loss to the San Diego Padres, the Los Angeles Dodgers held on to beat the Atlanta Braves 5-3 and the Houston Astros defeated the Kansas City Royals 6-4.
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: Baltimore Orioles 4 Boston Red Sox 1, Chicago Cubs 5 Miami Marlins 6, Cincinnati Reds 12 San Francisco Giants 4, Cleveland Indians 1 Chicago White Sox 9, Houston Astros 6 Kansas City Royals 4, Los Angeles Dodgers 5 Atlanta Braves 3, Milwaukee Brewers 5 Washington Nationals 3, New York Yankees 7 Seattle Mariners 3, San Diego Padres 4 New York Mets 0, St Louis Cardinals 6 Philadelphia Phillies 0, Tampa Bay Rays 12 Arizona Diamondbacks 1, Toronto Blue Jays 0 Minnesota Twins 8.
BASKETBALL
James Harden scored 38 points and grabbed ten rebounds as the Houston Rockets survived a late scare to beat the Golden State Warriors 112-108 and level their play-off series.
Eric Gordon contributed 20 points and PJ Tucker added a double-double of 17 points and ten rebounds in Houston’s win, which saw the best-of-seven Western Conference semi-final series tied at 2-2.
The Warriors had chances to level late on but Kevin Durant (34 points) and Steph Curry (30 points) both missed three-point attempts with less than five seconds left as the Rockets held on for victory.
The evenly-matched series – which has seen defending NBA champions the Warriors record 448 points so far and the Rockets 447 – continues in California today. In the Eastern Conference semi-final, the Milwaukee Bucks have opened up a 3-1 lead over the Boston Celtics after a 113-101 victory at the TD Garden.
Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo continued his impressive run of form with game-highs in both points (39) and rebounds (16). For Boston, Kyrie Irving (20 points and 10 assists), Marcus Morris (18 points and 14 rebounds) and Jayson Tatum (17 points and ten rebounds) all recorded double-doubles but it was not enough to save the Celtics.
NBA Western Conference Play-off Semi-finals: Houston Rockets 112 Golden State Warriors 108 (Series tied 2-2)
NBA Eastern Conference Play-off Semifinals: Boston Celtics 101 Milwaukee Bucks 113 (Milwaukee lead series 3-1).
ICE HOCKEY
NHL Western Conference Play-off Semi-finals: Colorado Avalanche v San Jose Sharks (Series tied 3-3)
NHL Eastern Conference Play-off Semifinals: Columbus Blue Jackets 0 Boston Bruins 3 (Boston win series 4-2).
TENNIS
ATP & WTA Mutua Madrid Open, Madrid, Spain
Mens Singles second round: (1) Novak Djokovic (Ser) bt Taylor Harry Fritz (USA) 6-4 6-2, (9) Marin Cilic (Cro) bt Jan-lennard Struff (Ger) 4-6 6-3 6-4, (4) Roger Federer (Swi) bt Richard Gasquet (Fra) 6-2 6-3, (5) Dominic Thiem (Aut) bt Reilly Opelka (USA) 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 1-0 ret
Mens Singles first round: Hubert Hurkacz (Pol) bt Alex De Minaur (Aus) 6-3 6-4, Stan Wawrinka (Swi) bt Pierre-hugues Herbert (Fra) 6-2 6-3, Guido Pella (Arg) bt (12) Daniil Medvedev (Rus) 6-2 1-6 6-3,Marton Fucsovics (Hun) bt David Goffin (Bel) 6-4 7-5, Diego Sebastian Schwartzman (Arg) bt (16) Marco Cecchinato (Ita) 6-0 4-6 6-1, (10) Fabio Fognini (Ita) bt Kyle Edmund (Gbr) 6-4 6-3, Adrian Mannarino
(Fra) bt Joao Sousa (Por) 7-5 5-7 6-1, Hugo Dellien (Bol) bt Gilles Simon (Fra) 4-6 6-1 7-6 (7-4), Jeremy Chardy (Fra) bt Albert Ramos-vinolas (Spa) 6-2 4-6 7-5, David Ferrer (Spa) bt Roberto Bautista Agut (Spa) 6-4 4-6 6-4, John Millman (Aus) bt Steve Johnson (USA) 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-5), Lucas Pouille (Fra) bt (13) Borna Coric (Cro) 6-3 7-5.
Womens Singles second round: (3) Simona Halep (Rom) bt Johanna Konta (Gbr) 7-5 6-1, Aliaksandra Sasnovich (Blr) bt Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (Svk) 6-2 6-2, (1) Naomi Osaka (Jpn) bt Sara Sorribes Tormo (Spa) 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 6-0, Petra Martic (Cro) bt (4) Angelique Kerber (Ger) w/o, Kateryna Kozlova (Ukr) bt (5) Karolina Pliskova (Cze) 7-5 2-6 6-4, Saisai Zheng (Chn) bt Alize Cornet (Fra) 6-2 3-6 6-4, Caroline Garcia (Fra) bt Sorana Cirstea (Rom) 6-4 3-6 6-1, Donna Vekic (Cro) bt Kristyna Pliskova (Cze) 6-4 6-4.