AP Monday Sports Roundup

NBA PLAYOFFS-SCHEDULE

Wizards and Warriors win

UNDATED (AP) — The NBA's No. 1 seeds began their respective conference semifinal series at home on Sunday. The Golden State Warriors breezed to victory, while the Atlanta Hawks quickly lost homecourt advantage.

Bradley Beal scored 28 points and the Washington Wizards dominated down the stretch to beat Atlanta 104-98. Beal provided all of his points before spraining his right ankle with about eight minutes remaining.

John Wall finished with 18 points and 13 assists, while Paul Pierce had 19 points to help the Wizards pick up their team-record fifth consecutive playoff win.

The Hawks led 37-26 after one quarter but shot just 5-for-28 in the final period. DeMarre Carroll had 24 points but was scoreless in the fourth quarter.

Game 2 is Tuesday in Atlanta.

The Warriors picked up their 21st straight home win as Stephen Curry delivered 22 points and seven assists in a 101-86 win against Memphis. Klay Thompson finished with 18 points and Draymond Green chipped in 16 to help the Warriors stay unbeaten in this postseason.

Golden State stretched a nine-point halftime lead to 20 in the third quarter before coasting the rest of the way.

Marc Gasol had 21 points and nine rebounds for the Grizzlies, while teammate Zach Randolph finished with 20 points and nine boards.

Game 2 is Tuesday in Oakland.

NBA-MVP

Source says Curry is MVP

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Stephen Curry has earned some NBA hardware.

A person familiar with the decision says the Golden State Warriors point guard has won the league's MVP award. An official announcement and news conference are expected Monday, and Curry will be presented with the award on the court before Game 2 of the Warriors' series against Memphis.

Curry averaged 23.8 points, 7.7 assists, 4.3 rebounds and two steals this season. He also drained an NBA-record 286 3-pointers in helping the Warriors finish with a league-best 67 wins.

Curry captured the award over Houston's James Harden, Cleveland's LeBron James and Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook, among others.

NHL PLAYOFFS-SCHEDULE

Bolts, Hawks, Ducks go 2 up

UNDATED (AP) — The Tampa Bay Lightning, Chicago Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks all enjoy two-games-to-none leads in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Nikita Kucherov scored two of the Lightning's four power-play goals in a 6-2 rout of the Canadiens in Montreal. The Habs led 1-0 until the Lightning scored the next four goals, three coming in the second period. Steven Stamkos put Tampa Bay ahead to stay with his first goal of the postseason, beating Carey Price 8:06 into the middle stanza.

Stamkos and Valtteri Filppula each had a goal and two assists for the Lightning, who are 7-0 versus Montreal since the start of the regular season.

Game 3 is Wednesday in Tampa.

The Hawks took a while to get going before posting a nifty 4-1 triumph over the Wild. It was a scoreless tie until Jonathan Toews netted a short-handed goal with 7:32 remaining in the second period.

Patrick Kane tallied twice and Patrick Sharp added a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks. Corey Crawford turned back 30 shots and blanked the Wild until Matt Dumba's power-play goal made it 2-1 early in the third period.

Game 3 is Tuesday at Minnesota.

The Ducks were 3-0 winners over Calgary behind Frederik Andersen, who stopped 30 shots in his first career playoff shutout. Matt Beleskey put the Ducks in front 7:27 into the game before Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf each assisted on third-period goals by Hampus Lindholm and Nate Thompson.

Perry and Getzlaf already have six points apiece in the series.

Karri Ramo stopped 31 shots for the Flames, who host Game 3 on Tuesday.

MLB-SCHEDULE

Redbirds win in extras again

UNDATED (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals are a major league-leading 18-6 following their third straight extra-innings victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Redbirds followed their 2-1 wins on Friday and Saturday by downing the Bucs 3-2 on Kolten Wong's homer in the 14th inning. Pittsburgh took a 2-1 lead when Pedro Alvarez homered in the 12th, but Peter Bourjos extended the game with a bases-loaded single in the bottom half.

The Cards have matched the best 24-game start in team history, last done in 1944.

On the other side of the NL Central standings are the Milwaukee Brewers, who strung together back-to-back victories this weekend for the first time all season before announcing the dismissal of manager Ron Roenicke hours later.

Roenicke was 342-331 in four-plus seasons as manager. The Brewers spent most of last season atop their division before sinking to third at 82-80. They opened this year 5-18 and won their last two games at Wrigley Field before firing Roenicke.

Roenicke's final game as Milwaukee's manager was a 5-3 decision over the Chicago Cubs. Aramis Ramirez homered and broke an eighth-inning tie with a two-run single.

Elsewhere in the majors:

— Mark Teixeira put the Yankees ahead to stay with a two-run blast in the first before Brett Gardner's three-run homer gave them an 8-0 lead in an 8-5 triumph in Boston. Jacoby Ellsbury was 4-for-4 with two runs scored as the Yankees completed a three-game sweep of their archrivals.

— Detroit earned a split of its four-game series with Kansas City as Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run homer and Alex Avila had three RBIs in the Tigers' 6-4 triumph over the Royals. Anibal Sanchez retired his first 15 batters and pitched into the eighth inning to help the Tigers regain the AL Central lead, a half-game ahead of the Royals.

— It's now a 10-game winning streak for Houston after Evan Gattis hit a three-run homer and a tiebreaking, solo shot in a 7-6 triumph over Seattle. The Astros are an AL-leading 18-7 after extending their longest winning streak since a 12-game run in 2004.

— Ryan Howard provided a pair of RBI hits and rookie Severino Gonzalez earned his first career victory to help the Phillies beat Miami 6-2 and halt a five-game skid. Gonzalez allowed two runs in five innings as Philadelphia ended the Marlins' four-game winning streak and prevented Miami from moving over .500 for the first time this season.

— Jason Kipnis was 4-for-5 with a solo homer, two RBIs and three runs scored as Cleveland pulled out a 10-7 win over Toronto after trailing 6-1 in the fourth. Michael Brantley hit a two-run single and Ryan Raburn added a tiebreaking, two-run double while the Indians scored six times in the fifth.

— Washington earned its second straight 1-0 victory for the first time in franchise history, beating the Mets at Citi Field. Ryan Zimmerman hit an RBI single in the first inning and Doug Fister worked 6 1/3 innings as the Nationals won for the 17th time in their last 19 games in Queens.

— Julio Teheran gave up just three singles in six innings as Atlanta beat Cincinnati 5-0 for a split of the four-game set. Kelly Johnson hit a two-run homer and Jonny Gomes  added a solo shot to help the Braves build a 4-0 lead by the third inning.

— Adam Jones was 4-for-4, including a tiebreaking, two-run single in the seventh inning of Baltimore's 4-2 downing of Tampa Bay. Manny Machado scored twice as the Orioles won the rubber match of a three-game set originally scheduled for Camden Yards but moved to St. Petersburg following last week's riots in Baltimore.

— Trevor Plouffe hit his first grand slam and drove in a career-high five runs as Minnesota completed a four-game sweep of the Chicago White Sox, 13-3. Brian Dozier added a career-high four hits as the Twins won for the seventh time in nine games.

— The Dodgers earned their fourth straight win by beating Arizona 1-0 on Yasmani Grandal's homer in the bottom of the 13th. The Los Angeles bullpen came through with seven scoreless innings after Brett Anderson held the Diamondbacks to five hits in six frames.

— Stephen Vogt homered twice and drove in four runs to lead Oakland's offense in a 7-1 win at Texas. Sonny Gray struck out 10 and tossed 6 2/3 scoreless innings despite a career-high seven walks.

— San Diego completed a three-game sweep by getting two-run homers from Jedd Gyorko, Justin Upton and Derek Norris in an 8-6 decision over Colorado. Gyorko was hitting just .145 before launching a 438-foot blast to straightaway center as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning.

MLB-RAYS

Tampa loses center fielder

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Rays have placed center fielder Desmond Jennings on the 15-day disabled list with left knee soreness. He hasn't played since leaving a game April 25 with the injury.

Jennings is the 14th Tampa Bay player to go on the DL this season.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Cardinals setup man Jordan Walden has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with an inflamed right biceps. He goes on the DL with a 0-1 record with an 0.87 ERA in 12 games with 12 strikeouts in 10 1-3 innings.

NASCAR

Jr. wins

TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — Dale Earnhardt Jr. claimed his first Sprint Cup victory of the season by finishing in front of Jimmie Johnson at Talladega Superspeedway.

Earnhardt led a race-high 67 laps and easily won when no one from a single-file line of cars could challenge him.

It's the sixth career victory at Talladega for Earnhardt, but his first since 2004.

Paul Menard was third, followed by Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr.

Pole-sitter Jeff Gordon was in contention until he was penalized for speeding on pit road, dropping him to 30th on the final restart. Gordon led 47 laps before finishing 31st.

WORLD MATCH PLAY

McIlroy wins

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Rory McIlroy has won the Match Play Championship with a 4-and-2 triumph over Gary Woodland.

The top-ranked McIlroy began his busy Sunday by closing out a 22-hole victory over Paul Casey before posting a 1 up win over Jim Furyk in the semifinals. The Irishman took control of the final match by taking four straight holes on the front nine.

McIlroy was close to elimination several times during the tournament. He was 2 down with two holes to play on Friday when he rallied against Billy Horschel to win in 20 holes. McIlroy also was 1 down on 17 against Casey before extending his quarterfinal match.

LPGA-TEXAS

Park wins in Texas

IRVING, Texas (AP) — Inbee Park won the LPGA Tour's North Texas Shootout for the second time in three years, closing with a bogey-free 6-under 65 for a three stroke victory over Cristie Kerr and Hee Young Park. Inbee Park finished at 15-under for her second victory this year and 14th on the tour.

Lexi Thompson shared the third-round lead with Park before closing with a 69 to tie for fourth with Maria McBride at minus-11.

CHAMPIONS TOUR

Woosnam takes senior event

WOODLANDS, Texas (AP) — Ian Woosnam birdied the first playoff hole to capture his first Champions Tour victory, the Insperity Invitational near Houston.

Woosnam closed with a 4-under 68 for an 11-under total, leaving him tied with Kenny Perry and Tom Lehman through 54 holes. Perry moved into the three-way mix with a final-round 66.

SPORTS-ROMANCE

Golf-skiing romance is over

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Skier Lindsey Vonn says she and golfer Tiger Woods have decided to end their three-year relationship. Vonn said on Facebook that the Olympic ski champion and 14-time major golf winner lead "incredibly hectic" lives that forced them to spend most of their time apart.

There was no immediate word from Woods on the split.