Maikel Garcia scored on a wild pitch in the ninth inning and the Kansas City Royals snapped their eight-game losing streak with 6-5 win over the visiting Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday.

Ryan Helsey (0-2) walked Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr. to open the ninth of the 5-5 contest. The runners reached second and third on a wild pitch, and Garcia darted home to score the winner on another wild one pitch from Helsey — his second of the inning and Baltimore’s fourth of the game — that bounced onto the infield grass.

Kyle Isbel had three hits and Michael Massey clubbed a tying solo homer in the eighth for the Royals, who overcame an early 3-0 hole for their first win since April 11.

Lucas Erceg (1-1) pitched one scoreless inning as Kansas City evened the three-game set heading into the Wednesday afternoon finale.

Adley Rutschman came off the 10-day injured list to hit a two-run go-ahead homer in the eighth for the Orioles, who have lost six of eight.

Kansas City’s Kris Bubic opened the second inning by allowing a single to Jeremiah Jackson and a walk to Weston Watson. With one out, Coby Mayo sent a drive well into the left field seats for a 3-0 Baltimore lead.

Those were only runs yielded by Bubic over 6 1/3 innings. He permitted five hits and three walks while striking out three.

Kansas City got a run back in the bottom of the second. Carter Jensen doubled, went to third on Shane Baz’s wild pitch and scored via a sacrifice fly by Massey.

The Royals tied the contest in the fifth. Isbel doubled and scored on a single by Garcia, who eventually came home courtesy of Vinnie Pasquantino’s sacrifice fly.

Kansas City took the lead in the seventh when Isbel doubled down the left line, went to third on another Baz wild pitch and scored on Witt’s sacrifice fly to right.

The Orioles regained the lead in the eighth. Rutschman, with a man aboard, barely cleared the left-center-field wall off Matt Strahm to make it 5-4 with his first homer of the season.

Massey’s towering homer leading off the bottom of the eighth was first hit allowed by Baltimore’s Rico Garcia in 12 appearances this year.

Baz yielded four runs and eight hits over 6 1/3 innings. He fanned four and walked two.

–Field Level Media

Scoot Henderson poured in a season-best 31 points as the visiting Portland Trail Blazers came back from 14 points down in the fourth quarter to outlast the shorthanded San Antonio Spurs 106-103 on Tuesday in Game 2 of the teams’ first round Western Conference playoff series.

The Trail Blazers evened the best-of-seven series at 1-1 with Games 3 and 4 on Friday and Sunday, respectively, in Portland.

The contest and perhaps even the series changed complexions at the 8:57 mark of the second period with the Trail Blazers up 34-32. San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama hit his face on the floor during a drive to the basket, leaving him dazed enough to struggle getting to his feet before jogging off the floor to the locker room. He was ruled out for the rest of the game with concussion protocol.

ESPN later reported that Wembanyama has been diagnosed with a concussion, leaving his status in question for Game 3. He is scheduled for further testing Wednesday.

The Spurs carried a one-point lead into the fourth quarter but reeled off the first 13 points of the final period to build their advantage to 93-79. The Trail Blazers roared back to take the lead via a 7-0 run capped by a Jrue Holiday layup with 2:02 left.

Robert Williams III skied for a putback dunk that pushed Portland’s lead to 104-101 with 12 seconds remaining. Devin Vassell hit two free throws with 10.4 seconds left to draw to within a point before Toumani Camara answered with a pair from the charity stripe with 5.4 seconds to play.

Vassell had a chance to tie the game with a corner 3-pointer with 2 seconds left but the shot went in and out before falling to the floor, allowing the Trail Blazers to steal home court advantage in the series.

Holiday finished with 16 points for Portland, with Deni Avdija adding 14, Williams hitting for 11, Camara tallying 10 and Donovan Clingan taking 11 rebounds.

Stephon Castle led the Spurs with 18 points. De’Aaron Fox had 17, Vassell added 16 points and 12 rebounds and Dylan Harper and Luke Kornet scored 10 each.

Castle’s eight straight points fueled a 13-2 run that netted the Spurs a 28-27 advantage at the end of the first period.

Portland took advantage of Wembanyama’s absence to build a 40-34 lead with 6:45 to play in the second quarter. The Spurs responded with another surge, scoring 13 of the ensuing 15 points to go up 47-42. A three-point play and then a pair of free throws by Avdija allowed the Trail Blazers to tie the score 57-all at the break.

Henderson led all scorers with 19 points before halftime with Avdija adding a dozen for Portland. Castle’s 12 points paced the Spurs in the first half.

–Field Level Media

Randy Vasquez pitched seven shutout innings and allowed just three hits for the San Diego Padres, who squeaked out a rare 1-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday in Denver.

It marked just the fourth time in Rockies history they lost a 1-0 game at Coors Field. The other three instances happened in 2006, with the Milwaukee Brewers last beating Colorado by that score on Aug. 1, 2006.

Vasquez (2-0) struck out five without issuing a walk. The right-hander outdueled Chase Dollander, who threw six strong innings but had a lapse of wildness in the sixth that sent the Rockies their second straight defeat.

Dollander, who came in the second after Rockies opener Jimmy Herget struck out the side in the first, allowed a one-out double to Jake Cronenworth. After Ramon Laureano struck out, Fernando Tatis hit a ground-ball single that hit off Rockies third baseman Kyle Karros to put runners at the corners.

Dollander then hit Jackson Merrill with a pitch to load the bases, and he walked Manny Machado to force home Cronenworth.

The Rockies right-hander allowed just three hits and a walk while plunking two Padres. He struck nine, tying a career high he set last Thursday in Houston.

Tatis finished 2-for-4 and was the only hitter for either team with multiple hits. The squads combined for just nine hits.

Hunter Goodman singled off Vasquez to lead off the Rockies’ fourth, but he was the last baserunner the Padres starter allowed. Vasquez retired the last 12 batters he faced, and Jason Adam pitched a perfect eighth in relief with a strikeout.

Padres closer Mason Miller, who pitched in three of the Padres’ previous four games, stayed in the bullpen Tuesday as Adrian Morejon pitched the ninth. Morejon struck out Edouard Julien and Mickey Moniak to start the inning before Goodman flied out to center, giving the left-hander his first save of the season.

Colorado lost despite striking out 15 Padres. The last time San Diego won despite striking out that many times took place on July 23, 2022, when the Padres won 2-1 on the road against the New York Mets.

–Field Level Media