MILWAUKEE (AP) — Framber Valdez pitched seven strong innings and Jeremy Peña homered and drove in four runs as the Houston Astros defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 9-1. Houston earned just its second victory in seven games Wednesday to snap Milwaukee’s three-game winning streak and leave both teams with .500 records. The Brewers were attempting to sweep a series from the Astros for the first time since 2012. The Astros led 3-1 before Peña broke the game open by delivering a three-run homer to left off reliever Elvin Rodriguez with two outs in the sixth inning.
The Brewers are off today.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Byron Buxton homered for a third straight game and Harrison Bader had a pinch-hit homer to lift the Minnesota Twins to a 5-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles for their fourth consecutive victory. Buxton hit a three-run shot to the second deck in left field off Orioles starter Charlie Morton in the bottom of the third inning. Danny Coulombe pitched a scoreless inning of relief to earn the win. Jhoan Durán earned his fifth save with a clean ninth inning. Ramón Laureano hit a solo homer off Twins starter Simeon Woods Richardson.
BOSTON (AP) — Mikal Bridges scored all of his 14 points in the fourth quarter before making his second straight game-clinching steal, and the New York Knicks overcame a 20-point deficit again to beat the Boston Celtics 91-90 on Wednesday night for a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Jalen Brunson scored 17 points for New York and made two free throws with 12.7 seconds left for a 91-90 lead. Jayson Tatum then couldn’t get to the rim and Bridges moved in to bat the ball away and recover it. Josh Hart had 23 points and Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 21 points and 17 rebounds for the Knicks, who will host Game 3 on Saturday.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder rolled past the Denver Nuggets 149-106 in Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal series. Oklahoma City set an NBA playoff record for first-half points with 87 on its way to evening the series at a win apiece. The Thunder tied the record for points in any half of a playoff game. Milwaukee had 87 in the second half against Denver on April 23, 1978. Nikola Jokic, who had 42 points and 22 rebounds in Game 1, had 17 points and eight rebounds on Wednesday before fouling out.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Golden State Warriors are planning to play without Stephen Curry for at least the next three games of their second-round series against Minnesota. An MRI on Wednesday confirmed a mild strain of the star guard’s left hamstring. The Warriors said Curry would be sidelined at least a week after the injury forced him out early in the second quarter of the Game 1 win. He had 13 points in 13 minutes to help Golden State take home-court advantage away from the Timberwolves. Game 2 is Thursday. The earliest return for Curry appears to be Game 5 on May 14.
TORONTO (AP) — Mitch Marner scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Florida Panthers 4-3 to take a 2-0 lead in their second-round playoff series. Max Pacioretty and Max Domi each had a goal and an assist, William Nylander also scored and Morgan Rielly added two assists for the Maple Leafs. Joseph Woll had 25 saves in place of the injured Anthony Stolarz. Anton Lundell had a goal and an assist, and Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand also scored for the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 16 saves. The best-of-seven matchup between Atlantic Division heavyweights now shifts to South Florida, with Game 3 set for Friday.
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Mikko Rantanen had a natural hat trick in the second period, Jake Oettinger stopped 30 shots and the Dallas Stars beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the second-round series. Nino Niederreiter and Mark Scheifele scored for the Jets, who had won four in a row at Canada Life Centre. Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves. Scheifele returned after sustaining an upper-body injury in Game 5 in the first round against St. Louis. Dallas forward Jason Robertson was back after injuring a knee in the final game of the regular season. Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Friday night in Winnipeg.
The NHL team in Salt Lake City is now known as the Utah Mammoth. Owners Ryan and Ashley Smith unveiled the franchise’s permanent name Wednesday after more than a year of fan input and voting. Mammoth replaces the inaugural season placeholder name Utah Hockey Club, which was also one of the three finalists, along with Outlaws. Yeti was taken out of consideration when the cooler company bearing that name could not come to a copyright agreement with Utah ownership. The Mammoth are maintaining the same black, light blue and white color scheme and the road jerseys with UTAH diagonally down the front.
TORONTO (AP) — Julia Gosling scored twice in a 1:55 span in the second period and the Toronto Sceptres beat the defending champion Minnesota Frost 3-2 on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the PWHL semifinal series. Game 2 of the best-of-five series is Friday night in Toronto. Gosling made it 2-0 at 7:47 and struck again at 9:42 on a power play. Blayre Turnbull opened the scoring midway through the first, and Kristen Campbell stopped 24 shots. Britta Curl-Salemme scored for Minnesota on a power play with 6:04 left in the second, and Katy Knoll made it a one-goal game at 2:33 of the third. Nicole Hensley made 34 saves for the Frost. Minnesota won its final two regular-season games to take the fourth and final playoff position.