CHICAGO (AP) — Jake Bauers hit a go-ahead two-run double in the eighth inning and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago White Sox 6-4 for their third straight victory. Caleb Durbin drove in his eighth run of the season on a sacrifice fly to make it 6-3 in the eighth. William Contreras went 2 for 3 with an RBI to extend his hitting streak to nine games. Jared Koenig pitched an inning of relief for his second win of the season. Trevor Megill struck out two in the ninth to earn his third save. Cam Booser (0-2) allowed three earned runs in the eighth. The White Sox have lost three straight games.
The series finale is this afternoon. Pregame at 12:35pm. First pitch at 1:10pm on AM1240 & 96.5FM.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Bo Naylor hit a three-run homer and Luis Ortiz kept Minnesota’s hitters off balance and off the scoreboard for 6 1/3 innings, leading the Cleveland Guardians to a 4-2 win over the Minnesota Twins. Naylor connected in the seventh inning off reliever Brock Stewart after the Guardians finally scratched out a run against Minnesota starter Pablo López, who held Cleveland scoreless over the first 6 1/3 innings. Cade Smith got the win and Emmanuel Clase pitched the ninth for his fifth save. It was the struggling All-Star closer’s first save since April 19. Brooks Lee homered for the Twins.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rudy Gobert had playoff career highs of 27 points and 24 rebounds, Julius Randle added 23 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves advanced in the NBA playoffs with a 103-96 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 of their first-round series. Anthony Edwards had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the sixth-seeded Wolves, who won three straight games to eliminate LeBron James and Luka Doncic from their first postseason together. Doncic had 28 points and nine assists while James added 22 points for the Lakers, who lost in the first round for the second straight postseason.
HOUSTON (AP) — Fred VanVleet scored 26 points, Amen Thompson added 25 and the Houston Rockets avoided elimination with a 131-116 rout of the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 of a first-round playoff series. Game 6 is Friday in San Francisco. Warriors coach Steve Kerr threw in the towel early with Wednesday night’s game out of hand. A layup by VanVleet midway through the third quarter made it 93-64, and Kerr called timeout and cleared his bench. Dillon Brooks added 24 points on a night when all five Houston scored in double figures. Stephen Curry was held to 13 points for the Warriors and Jimmy Butler scored eight.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored, Logan Thompson made 28 saves and the Washington Capitals beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 in Game 5 of their first-round series to advance in the NHL playoffs. It’s the Capitals’ first series win since capturing the Stanley Cup in 2018, and they clinched at home for the first time since 2015. They face the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round with a spot in the Eastern Conference final at stake. The Capitals asserted their dominance in the East’s 1 versus 8 series, a year after getting swept as the underdog in it by the New York Rangers.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Eetu Luostarinen had a goal and three assists to lead the Florida Panthers to a 6-3 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning and advance Florida to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Carter Verhaeghe, Anton Lundell, Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart also scored for Florida. Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 26 saves as the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers defeated their in-state rival in five games in the first round for the second consecutive season. Panthers will play the winner of the series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators, which Toronto currently leads 3-2.
OTTAWA (AP) — Lee Stecklein scored twice as the Minnesota Frost staved off elimination and put the Ottawa Charge’s playoff hopes on ice with a 3-0 win Wednesday night. The Charge needed just one point to secure their first playoff appearance. Ottawa earning the single point would have ended the defending champion Frost’s playoff chances. Ottawa will need a regulation win or overtime win against the Toronto Sceptres on Saturday, or Minnesota to lose its final game against Boston on Saturday in order to clinch a playoff berth. The Charge hold the tiebreaker should the two teams be tied in points.