AP Monday Sports Roundup

Raptors advance

TORONTO (AP) — The best season in Toronto Raptors history just got a little longer. They are in the NBA's Eastern Conference finals for the first time following a 116-89 rout of Miami.

Kyle Lowry shot 5-for-7 from 3-point range and finished with 35 points and nine assists. DeMar DeRozan had 28 points and eight rebounds for Toronto, which led by just eight before outscoring Miami 30-11 in the fourth quarter.

Raptors center Bismack Biyombo outplayed Justice Winslow, scoring 17 points on 6 of 8 shooting and grabbing 16 boards. Demarre Carroll had 14 points for the Raptors, who will open the conference finals in Cleveland on Tuesday.

Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic each scored 16 points for the Heat.

NBA-ROOKIE OF YEAR- TOWNS

AP source says Towns takes top rookie honors

UNDATED (AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns will be named the NBA's Rookie of the Year on Monday.

A person with direct knowledge of the award says the Minnesota Timberwolves center has won the honor after posting the best rookie season for a big man since Tim Duncan. He averaged 18.1 points, 10.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks and helped the Timberwolves win 13 more games than they did the previous season.

Towns was named Western Conference rookie of the month in all six months the award was handed out. He is the second straight Timberwolves player to win the Rookie of the Year award, following Andrew Wiggins.

NHL PLAYOFFS-BLUES/SHARKS

Blues take opener

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Brian Elliott and the St. Louis Blues have taken Game 1 of the NHL's Western Conference finals.

Elliott made 16 of his 31 saves in the second period as the Blues beat San Jose 2-1, leaving St. Louis three wins from their first Stanley Cup finals appearance since 1970. Jori Lehtera broke a 1-1 deadline by scoring an unassisted goal midway through the middle period. The game-winner came after David Backes and Tomas Hertl traded 34 seconds apart late in the first period.

Martin Jones stopped 21 shots for the Sharks.

Game 2 is Wednesday in St. Louis.

MLB-SCHEDULE

Bucs finally beat Cubs

UNDATED (AP) — Gerrit Cole's pitching allowed the Pittsburgh Pirates to avoid another three-game sweep by the Chicago Cubs.

The Pirates beat the Cubs for the first time in six tries this season as Cole worked eight innings of a 2-1 win at Wrigley Field. He allowed just three hits and no walks while striking out seven.

Jung-Ho Kang was the hitting star, breaking a scoreless tie with an RBI double in the seventh and homering in the ninth. Starling Marte scored on Kang's double after poking a one-out single that broke up Jon Lester's no-hit bid.

Mark Melancon gave up a ninth-inning run before gaining his 11th save.

Lester dropped to 4-2 despite limiting the Bucs to two hits while fanning nine in 6 2/3 innings.

The outcome leaves the Cubs 27-9, eight games ahead of the second-place Pirates in the NL Central.

Elsewhere in the majors:

— Boston won for the seventh time in eight games as Xander Bogaerts hit a three-run homer and Ryan Hanigan had four RBI's in the Red Sox's 10-9 win over Houston. Bosox outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. had a single to extend the majors' longest hitting streak this season to 21 games.

— Baltimore had won seven straight until J.D. Martinez and Miguel Cabrera belted solo homers on consecutive pitches in the eighth inning of Detroit's 6-5 win over the Orioles. Ian Kinsler also homered, Cabrera had two RBIs and Steven Moya had three hits as the Tigers won for just the second time in 13 games.

— Danny Valencia's third homer of the afternoon was a two-run shot in the ninth inning of Oakland's 7-6 win at Tampa Bay. Valencia had five RBIs to counter Brandon Guyer's two home runs and five ribbies for the Rays.

— Pinch-hitter Chase Hedley doubled home the tiebreaking run and Carlos Beltran slammed his 400th career homer as the New York Yankees beat the White Sox 7-5. Beltran drove in three runs to help the Yankees finish 7-3 on a homestand against the Red Sox, Royals and Chicago.

— Minnesota was a 5-1 winner at Cleveland as Tyler Duffey scattered six hits in seven scoreless innings. Jorge Polanco smacked a solo homer and Eddie Rosario had three RBIs to help the Twins win a road series for the first time this season.

— Ian Desmond belted a go-ahead, three-run homer in the seventh to lift Texas past Toronto 7-6. Jose Bautista and Texas second baseman Rougned Odor got into a fistfight behind the bag after a hard slide by the Toronto slugger in the eighth inning, sparking a benches-clearing melee that lasted about 10 minutes.

— The Angels completed a three-game sweep in Seattle as Hector Santiago pitched eight innings of two-hit ball in a 3-0 shutout of the Mariners. Daniel Nava cracked a two-run, two-out single in the eighth inning. The sweep comes after Los Angeles had dropped six in a row.

— Kendrys Morales belted a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the 13th to complete Kansas City's 4-2 victory over Atlanta. The Braves erased a 2-0 lead in the ninth before losing for the 18th time in 23 games.

— Jose Fernandez struck out 11 over seven innings and laced a two-run single as the Marlins beat the Nationals 5-1 in Washington. Giancarlo Stanton ripped his 11th homer of the season to help Miami gain a split of the four-game series.

— Colorado completed a three-game sweep of the Mets by hitting two home runs to erase a 3-1 deficit in a 4-3 triumph at Coors Field. Pinch-hitter Ryan Raburn put the Rockies ahead with a two-run shot in the seventh, one inning after Carlos Gonzalez hit a solo homer to start the rally.

— San Francisco capped a four-game sweep in Arizona by downing the Diamondbacks 2-1. Brandon Crawford singled home the tiebreaking run in the ninth before manager Bruce Bochy successfully challenged to get a game-ending double play.

— Mike Leake worked six innings and combined with three relievers on a five-hitter as St. Louis beat the Dodgers 5-2 in Los Angeles to avoid a three-game sweep. Matt Carpenter crushed a solo homer and pinch-hitter Yadier Molina broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run double in the seventh.

— Chris Carter was in an 0-for-23 skid before launching a 443-foot homer and delivering the tiebreaking, RBI double in the seventh inning of Milwaukee's 3-2 triumph over San Diego. Jonathan Lucroy also smacked a solo shot and Carter finished with three hits as the Brewers gained a four-game split.

— Eugenio Suarez hit a three-run homer and Jay Bruce went 3 for 3 in Cincinnati's 9-4 pounding of Philadelphia. Dan Straily pitched five scoreless innings as the last-place Reds won for the third time in 16 road games this season.

MLB-JAYS

Reliever Cecil on DL

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Blue Jays have placed left-handed reliever Brett Cecil on the 15-day disabled list with a muscle strain in his left arm. He felt soreness in his left triceps after a seven-pitch outing in a 6-5 loss to Texas Saturday night. He is 0-5 with a 5.23 ERA in 16 appearances this season.

MLB-OBIT

Former pitcher Ellis dies

NEW YORK (AP) — Former major league hurler and pitching coach Sammy Ellis has died at 75.

Ellis was an All-Star in 1965 before finishing the year 22-10 and throwing 15 complete games. He was 63-58 with a 4.15 ERA in seven seasons, also pitching for the Angels before finishing up with the White Sox in 1969.

Ellis served as pitching coach for the Yankees, White Sox, Cubs, Mariners, Red Sox and Orioles.

PGA-PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

Same Day, different title

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Jason Day has completed a wire-to-wire win at The Players Championship while taking a firmer grasp on the No. 1 ranking.

Day closed with a 1-under 71 for a 15-under total, four strokes better than Kevin Chappell. The 28-year-old Australian led by at least two shots the entire final round and played bogey-free again on the back nine at the TPC Sawgrass.

Day has won seven titles in the last 10 months, including one major, a World Golf Championship and a pair of FedEx Cup playoff events.

Americans Justin Thomas, Matt Kuchar, Colt Knost and Ken Duke tied for third at minus-10.

NASCAR

Kenseth wins in Dover

DOVER, Del. (AP) — Matt Kenseth held off Kyle Larson to win a wreck-filled, Sprint Cup race at Dover International Speedway.

The victory was the first of the season for Kenseth, who battled Larson door-to-door for part of the final five laps before the 2003 NASCAR champion picked all the right lines and pulled away at the end.

Kenseth is the seventh different driver to win a race this year, and the fourth from Joe Gibbs Racing.

Larson finished second, followed by Chase Elliott. Larson matched his career-best finish and Elliott had the top finish of his rookie season.

F1-SPANISH GRAND PRIX

First lap crash takes out top contenders

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — With the top two drivers on the Formula One circuit eliminated on the first lap, Max Verstappen of Red Bull became Formula One's youngest race winner at age 18 with a victory at the Spanish Grand Prix. On the first lap Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg crashed into each other to end their race day.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was second and teammate Sebastian Vettel third.

ITALIAN OPEN

Murray and Williams win

ROME (AP) — In an All-American final, Serena Williams ended a nine-month title drought with a 7-6, 6-3 win over Madison Keys in the Italian Open. On the men's side, Andy Murray beat Novak Djokovic on clay for the first time to win the men's division in Rome with a 6-3, 6-3 victory.

SOCCER

Premier League match called off because of bomb threat

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester United's season-ending Premier League match against Bournemouth at Old Trafford was postponed after a suspicious package was found at the stadium. Police initially tweeted that the package contained an "explosive device" that was "incredibly lifelike." The venue was evacuated before stadium police determined the device was a fake bomb that had been left in the stadium following an earlier security exercise.

The scare comes just days after Britain raised its terror alert against Irish extremism.

The match is now slated for Tuesday.