MacKenzie Gore allowed four hits over 6 1/3 scoreless innings, and Ezequel Duran’s two-run single highlighted a four-run first, as the Texas Rangers sent the visiting Kansas City Royals to a fourth straight defeat with Friday night’s 9-1 victory at Arlington, Texas.

Brandon Nimmo and Nicky Lopez each clubbed a two-run homer, while Joc Pederson went deep in the eighth for the Rangers, who broke out after totaling 23 runs in losing six of the previous seven. Gore (4-4), meanwhile, didn’t face much trouble while also yielding a walk and striking out three on 99 pitches against a Royals’ club that’s totaled five runs in the last four.

Vinnie Pasquantino had two hits, including a ninth-inning RBI single, for Kansas City, which is mired in 3-14 rut.

After Kansas City failed to score with runners on second and third in top of the first inning versus Gore, the Rangers came through in the same scenario during their half of the frame against Royals starter Stephen Kolek (3-1) to essentially take control of the game.

Pederson walked to open the inning and went to third on Jake Burger’s two-out double. Duran then drove both home with a single to center field for his first of two hits on the night. After Noah Carter’s bloop double, Duran scored on second baseman Nick Loftin’s throwing error off Alejandro Osuna’s grounder. Carter then came home via a double steal on catcher Salvador Perez’s own throwing error.

Kolek, who didn’t yield a run in last two starts, a span of 15 1/3 innings, settled down and got into a rhythm until the Rangers added on in the fifth. Josh Jung recorded a one-out double before Nimmo sent a towering drive into the right-field seats for a 6-0 lead.

With Kansas City’s Steven Cruz on the mound in the sixth, Danny Jansen walked, then ninth-place hitter and ex-Royal Lopez cleared the left-center field fence for his first hit in seven games this season with the Chicago Cubs and Rangers.

–Field Level Media

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jalen Williams won’t play in Game 7 against the visiting San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night after making a brief appearance in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals.

Williams, who aggravated a left hamstring injury in Game 2 and sat out the next three contests, came off the bench for 10 minutes of Game 6. He went 0-for-1 from the floor, made one free throw, committed two turnovers and finished with a minus-18 rating.

“He’s obviously not 100%,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said after his team’s 118-91 loss on Thursday. “He didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know what to expect. So, it was a matter of getting him out there in kind of an insulated role and see what he can bring to the team.

“He’s an All-Star player, he’s an All-NBA player. He hasn’t done a full return-to-play (protocol) like he would if this was the regular season, and yet, he just wants to do whatever he can to try to contribute whatever he can to the team.”

The Thunder listed Williams as out Friday evening on their injury report, alongside Ajay Mitchell, previously ruled out for the series with a soleus strain.

Williams, 25, was a third-team All-NBA selection in 2024-25. In that campaign, he averaged 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists during the regular season before helping Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and the Thunder win the NBA championship.

Wrist and hamstring injuries limited Williams to 33 games in the 2025-26 regular season, and he contributed 17.1 points, 5.5 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game. He has appeared in five postseason games — the first two first-round games against Phoenix and Games 1, 2 and 6 vs. the Spurs — and put up 14.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 41.7% shooting from 3-point range.

–Field Level Media

Taylor Hall and Logan Stankoven each posted one-goal, two-assist performances to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 6-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Friday in Raleigh, N.C., that sends them to the Stanley Cup Final.

Jackson Blake and Seth Jarvis both scored once and added an assist while Eric Robinson and Shayne Gostisbehere added singles for Carolina, which claimed the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals in five games.

Carolina goaltender Frederik Andersen made 23 saves.

The Hurricanes will face the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final, which begins on Tuesday in Raleigh. Vegas swept the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference finals.

The Golden Knights won the teams’ two meetings this season, both taking place in the opening month.

Cole Caufield tallied for the Canadiens, who won the series opener but became overmatched by the more veteran Hurricanes as the series continued.

Montreal goalie Jakub Dobes stopped 24 shots.

The Hurricanes have lost only one game en route to reaching the finals for the first time since they won the Stanley Cup in 2006. They are the first team to start the playoffs with a 12-1 mark since the 1976 Canadiens.

Just as in Game 4, the hosts used a three-goal first period to springboard to victory.

Hall opened the scoring just before the midway point of the opening frame when he pounced on a rebound opportunity created by Stankoven’s rush to the net.

Stankoven doubled the lead six minutes later when he rifled a top-corner shot from the right faceoff dot for his team-leading ninth tally of the postseason.

Robinson capped the dominant period by converting a breakaway chance at the 16:52 mark for his third goal of the playoffs, all in the Montreal series.

The Hurricanes did not let up after the intermission. Blake made it a four-goal edge at 7:19 of the second period when he buried a rebound after Stankoven was denied on a breakaway chance.

Gostisbehere recorded a power-play goal with 1:58 remaining in the middle frame, sliding home an opportunity from the doorstep to make it a 5-0 affair.

Caufield spoiled Andersen’s bid for a second consecutive shutout when he notched a power-play goal with 9:10 remaining in regulation.

Jarvis rounded out the scoring with an empty-net goal.

–Field Level Media