San Antonio star center Victor Wembanyama was forced from Game 2 of the Spurs’ first-round playoff series with the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday with an apparent concussion after hitting his face on the floor early in the second quarter.

The Spurs later announced that Wembanyama had entered concussion protocol and would not return to the game.

Wembanyama hit his face on in the floor at near-full speed after being knocked off his feet during a drive to the basket at the 8:57 mark of the second period, with the contact leaving him dazed enough to struggle standing up before jogging off the floor to the locker room.

San Antonio trailed 34-32 at the time of Wembanyama’s exit and he had amassed five points, four rebounds, an assist and a blocked shot in 11:41 of court time when he was injured. The game was tied 57-57 by halftime.

The Spurs have had plenty of success without their star this season. Wembanyama missed 18 games this season with various injuries, with San Antonio going 12-6 in those games.

–Field Level Media

Rookie Chase DeLauter delivered a go-ahead three-run triple and Kyle Manzardo added a two-RBI single in a six-run eighth inning, rallying the Cleveland Guardians to a 8-5 victory over the visiting Houston Astros on Tuesday night.

DeLauter’s sinking liner toward the foul line in left dropped just in front of Brice Matthews, who was attempting to make a sliding grab. Angel Martinez, Brayan Rocchio and Steven Kwan came around to put Cleveland ahead 6-4.

Manzardo, also facing reliever Bryan King, drove in Jose Ramirez and DeLauter two batters later. Rocchio began the comeback from a 4-2 deficit with an RBI single that chased Enyel De Los Santos (0-1).

Rule 5 Draft selection Peyton Pallette (1-1) tossed a scoreless eighth for his first career win. Closer Cade Smith gave up an RBI single in the ninth to major league homer and RBI leader Yordan Alvarez in a non-save situation.

Alvarez drove in three runs and had two hits for the Astros, who have split the first two games of the series. Carlos Correa and Matthews had two hits and an RBI apiece.

De Los Santos was charged with three runs in one-third of an inning, the final two scoring as inherited runners against King. The Astros, who have just three wins in the past 16 games, remain last in the American League West.

Houston trailed 2-0 before scoring three times in the fifth off Parker Messick, who entered the evening with the third-best ERA in the majors at 1.05. Matthews singled in Isaac Paredes before Alvarez drove in Yainer Diaz and Dustin Harris.

Correa extended the Astros’ lead to 4-2 in the seventh with a single against Tim Herrin, plating Cam Smith.

Messick, who came within three outs of a no-hitter in his last start April 16 against the Baltimore Orioles, gave up three runs on six hits over five innings. The left-hander struck out four and walked one.

The Guardians went up 2-0 in the second when Martinez hit a solo homer off Ryan Weiss, who made his second start as a major-leaguer. George Valera singled home Ramirez in the first to open the scoring.

Weiss went 3 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on five hits. The right-hander, who spent the last two years in the Korean Baseball Organization, walked four and struck out four.

Daniel Johnson was hit on the right wrist with the first pitch he saw in his Houston debut, thrown by Herrin in the seventh inning. He was signed as a free agent to a minor league contract two days earlier, then recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land before the game.

Johnson entered to replace left fielder Harris, who had been hit on the left hand with a fifth-inning pitch from Messick.

–Field Level Media

As far as Minnesota Wild forward Marcus Foligno is concerned, the key to regaining control of his team’s first-round playoff series is staying out of the penalty box.

That’s it. Simply keep the same number of players on the ice as the Dallas Stars.

“They’re looking to play 5-on-4,” Marcus Foligno said. “That’s their game. They can’t hang with us 5-on-5. So we’ve just got to be smarter, and myself included.

“But it’s a heated game out there.”

The heat figures to intensify when the Wild face off against the Stars on Wednesday night in Game 3 of their best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinals series in Saint Paul, Minn. The series is tied at 1-1 after the Wild took Game 1 and the Stars responded to win Game 2.

Stars coach Glen Gulutzan heard about Marcus Foligno’s 5-on-5 comment, but he shrugged it off as Game 3 approached.

“He’s probably emotional or whatever,” Gulutzan said. “I don’t know if we need (bulletin-board material). We’re just going to keep doing what we’re doing and grind this thing to where we need it to go.

“Obviously, I don’t agree with it.”

The pace of play increased dramatically in Game 2 as both teams traded high-quality scoring chances. One key difference was that the Wild committed eight penalties totaling 16 minutes, which paved the way for the Stars to capitalize on the power play.

Wild coach John Hynes said he felt better after rewatching film of Game 2. He never likes seeing his team lose, but he said the team’s mistakes were correctable and not a sign of a larger, more foundational problem.

“Going back through it, I thought we did a lot of good things,” Hynes said. “… The thing I love about our group is we’re extremely competitive. Even if you (compare) the two games, I think from a competitive aspect of the game, we were there, we didn’t take a step back in that area.

“I think now it’s just understanding that we have to play with emotion and not (be) emotional. There’s a difference in that. To me, that’s controllable.”

One thing the Wild cannot control is the health of injured forwards Mats Zuccarello and Yakov Trenin. Zuccarello was a late scratch before Game 2 because of an upper-body injury, and Trenin left in the first period Monday after absorbing a crushing check from Stars forward Colin Blackwell.

Hynes said he was not sure whether either forward could play in Game 3. If not, he said, there is a chance that the team could dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen instead of the usual combination of 12 forwards and six defensemen.

“That is something that is on the table,” he said. “But also, you look at 12 and six, and you look at the intensity level of playoff games and things like that, I think you want to take that into consideration as well.”

The Stars’ Jake Oettinger and the Wild’s Jesper Wallstedt likely will start in net for the third straight game of the series. Oettinger is 1-1 with a 3.54 goals-against average and an .879 save percentage in the series, and Wallstedt is 1-1 with a 2.02 GAA and a .932 save percentage.

–Field Level Media