NBA PLAYOFFS
Heat rout Pacers
MIAMI (AP) β The Miami Heat need just one more victory to advance to the NBA Finals for the fourth straight year.
The Heat’s Big Three combined for 72 points in a 102-90 win over the visiting Indiana Pacers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals. LeBron James finished with 32 points and 10 rebounds, Chris Bosh scored 25 points on 7 of 12 shooting and Dwyane (dwayn) Wade added 15 points Miami’s third straight win.
The Heat led wire-to-wire, opening up as much as a 23-point lead in the final quarter.
Paul George scored 23 points and David West added 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Pacers. Roy Hibbert was scoreless in 22 minutes for Indiana.
The Heat can wrap up the series Wednesday at Indianapolis.
NHL PLAYOFFS
Kings handle Hawks again
LOS ANGELES (AP) β The defending Stanley Cup champs are on the brink of elimination after losing to the Kings for the third straight game.
Los Angeles has a three-games-to-one lead in the Western Conference finals after building a 4-0 lead in a 5-2 win over the Blackhawks. Jake Muzzin (MUZ’-ihn), Marian Gaborik (GAB’-uh-rihk) and Dustin Brown scored during a seven-minute span of the first period before Drew Doughty gave the Kings a four-goal cushion in the second. Muzzin and Dustin Brown scored on separate power plays, and Tanner Pearson added an empty-netter.
Jonathan Quick stopped 22 shots and was perfect until Brandon Saad (sahd) tallied late in the second period.
Bryan Bickell also scored for the Blackhawks, who host Game 5 on Wednesday.
NHL-CAPITALS
Caps hired Trotz as coach, promote MacLellan to GM
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) β The Washington Capitals have promoted Brian MacLellan to senior vice president and general manager while hiring former Nashville Predators coach Barry Trotz.
MacLellan replaces George McPhee, whose contract was not renewed after 17 seasons with the Capitals. MacLellan has been with Washington for 13 seasons, seven as assistant GM.
Trotz was the Predators’ coach for their first 15 seasons before being dropped from the job in April.
MLB-SCHEDULE
Samardzija finally gets a win…Ryu flirts with perfection
UNDATED (AP) β Jeff Samardzija (sah-MAHR’-juh) had been the unluckiest pitcher in the majors this season, going 0-4 in 10 starts, despite a major league-leading 1.46 ERA. That included three outings in which he pitched shutout ball, and seven starts in which the Cubs scored fewer than three runs.
The right-hander finally got a win on Memorial Day with one of his worst starts of the season as he allowed four runs over six innings of an 8-4 triumph over the Giants. The Cubs trailed 3-1 in the fifth before they scored seven times over three at-bats. Samardzija contributed to the Cubs’ go-ahead rally in the fifth, tying the game with an RBI double before scoring on Emilio Bonifacio’s (boh-nih-FAH’-see-ohz) triple. Darwin Barney had two RBIs to help the Cubs overcome Pablo Sandoval’s two-run homer and three ribbies.
The Giants fell to 32-19, still the best record in the majors.
Hyun-Jin Ryu (HYOON’-jihn ryoo) came within six outs of becoming the second consecutive Dodgers pitcher to throw a no-hitter. Ryu had a perfect game against Cincinnati until Todd Frazier led off the eighth with a double, one day after Josh Beckett threw the Dodgers’ first no-hitter in 18 years.
The lefty gave up two more hits and a sacrifice fly before leaving with one out in the eighth inning of a 4-3 win over the Reds.
Ryu also contributed to the Dodgers’ three-run seventh, hitting an RBI grounder and scoring on Carl Crawford’s two-run double.
In other Memorial Day baseball:
β Jonathan Schoop (skohp) homered twice and Nick Hundley singled home the go-ahead run in the 10th to lift Baltimore past the Brewers 7-6 in Milwaukee. The Orioles were one out from a 6-4 loss until Schoop went deep off Francisco Rodriguez and Nick Markakis (mahr-KAY’-kihs) followed with a game-tying double.
β Brian Roberts hit a tiebreaking single in a three-run 12th inning that pushed the New York Yankees past the Cardinals 6-4 in St. Louis. Brett Gardner drove in a run, scored once and made a leaping catch to rob Yadier Molina of a game-winning homer in the 11th.
β David Ortiz homered and drove in four runs as the Boston Red Sox rallied to beat Atlanta 8-6 and end their 10-game losing streak. The Braves enjoyed a 6-1 lead in the sixth until Dustin Pedroia (peh-DROY’-uh) lined a two-run single and scored on Ortiz’s three-run blast.
β Giancarlo Stanton leads the National League with 15 homers after smacking a two-run shot in Miami’s 3-2 win at Washington. Stanton is hitting .333 with 14 home runs and 27 RBIs in 129 at-bats in Washington since his career began in 2010.
β Ryan Howard crushed a two-run homer and drove in five runs as Philadelphia slaughtered Colorado 9-0. John Mayberry Jr. also hit a two-run shot and Kyle Kendrick blanked the Rockies on six hits over 6 2/3 innings.
β Arizona pulled out a 7-5 win over San Diego on A.J. Pollock’s two-run homer with two out in the bottom of the ninth. Pollock scored twice and had three of the Diamondbacks’ 10 hits.
β The New York Mets led the Pirates 2-0 until Gaby Sanchez cracked a pinch-hit solo homer in the eighth and a tiebreaking single in the ninth to send Pittsburgh to a 5-3 victory. Sanchez owns a career batting average of .324 with 34 RBIs against the Mets.
β Melky Cabrera was 3-for-3 with a walk and three RBIs in Toronto’s seventh straight win, a 10-5 pounding of Tampa Bay. Dioner (dee-AH’-nur) Navarro and Steve Tolleson hit back-to-back homers in the fourth, two innings before Edwin Encarnacion smacked his 15th homer of the season.
β Elvis Andrus (AN’-droos) and Chris Gimenez each had two RBIs as Texas whipped the Twins 7-2 in Minnesota. Nick Tepesch allowed two runs in 6 2-3 innings to win his second consecutive start.
β Dayan Viciedo (dy-AN’ vih-see-AY’-doh) hit a three-run homer and Conor Gillaspie collected four more hits in the Chicago White Sox’s 6-2 win over Cleveland. Winning pitcher Jose Quintana gave up two runs and five hits in six innings.
β Oakland ended a season-high four-game losing streak by homering five times in a 10-0 romp over Detroit. Derek Norris launched a grand slam to back Tommy Milone, who allowed four hits in 6 2/3 innings.
β Robinson Cano (kuh-NOH’) is hitting .332 after going 3-for-4 with two RBIs in Seattle’s 5-1 triumph over the Angels. Chris Young improved to 4-2 and pitched shutout ball until Albert Pujols (POO’-hohlz) homered in the seventh inning.
β George Springer was a major offensive contributor in Houston’s 9-2 romp at Kansas City, going 4-for-4 with a solo homer, three RBIs and five runs scored. The rookie is hitting .433 with five homers and 13 RBIs during his eight-game hitting streak.
MLB-METS SHAKEUP
Hitting coach fired, Valverde cut
NEW YORK (AP) β The New York Mets fired hitting coach Dave Hudgens and cut reliever Jose Valverde after Monday’s game against Pittsburgh. Minor league hitting coordinator Lamar Johnson will take over for Hudgens.
MLB-DODGERS/ELLIS
Ellis injured during Beckett celebration
LOS ANGELES (AP) β Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis has gone on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained right ankle, a day after getting hurt while celebrating Josh Beckett’s no-hitter in Philadelphia.
Ellis had rushed to join his teammates around home plate when he stepped on the discarded helmet.
FRENCH OPEN-DAY 2
Third seed out at Paris
PARIS (AP) β The top two seeds in the men’s division at the French Open have advanced to the second round, while the third seed has been ousted.
No. 1 Rafael Nadal (rah-fay-ehl nah-DAHL’) opened with a 6-love, 6-3, 6-love win over American Robby Ginepri (jih-NEH’-pree). The win was Nadal’s 60th in 61 matches at the French Open. Nadal has won eight titles at Roland Garros, with his lone loss at the tournament coming in the fourth round in 2009. If he wins this year, he will become the first man to win five straight at the clay-court major.
Men’s No. 2 Novak Djokovic (NOH’-vak JOH’-kuh-vich) played through some rain to win his first match in straight sets. At one point the match was stopped because of rain for about an hour.
Third-seed and reigning Australian Open champ Stan Wawrinka (vah-VINK’-ah) was knocked out in the first round as he was stopped by Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 6-0. The Spaniard entered the tournament as the 41st-ranked player in the world and has never been past the third round at a Grand Slam tournament.
For the women, former French Open champion Maria Sharapova (shah-rah-POH’-vah) has won her opening 2014 match. The 2012 winner was first on the court in the main stadium and defeated a Russian qualifier in straight sets. The match started more than an hour late because of rain.
Also winning for the women have been ninth-seed Dominika Cibulkova (doh-mih-NEE’-kuh see-bool-KOH’-vuh) and No. 16 Sabine Lisicki.
COLLEGE BASEBALL-NCAA TOURNAMENT
Oregon States tabbed No. 1
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) β Oregon State is the top seed for the NCAA baseball tournament. The Beavers were named No. 1 by the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee. The other five national seeds, in order, are Indiana, Florida State, Louisiana-Lafayette, TCU and LSU.
The tournament opens Friday with 16 four-team, double-elimination regionals. Best-of-three super-regionals will be held next week, with those winners moving to the College World Series in Omaha. National seeds that win their regionals play at home in super-regionals.
