OAKLAND, Calif. -- Stephen Curry's hair was quite a bit longer when the Golden State Warriors run of Finals appearances started back in 2015. His body was quite a bit spryer back then, too. But as the NBA world focuses intently on the Warriors' future -- with Kevin Durant approaching free agency -- Curry and his teammates have been looking a lot like the original group that started this dynastic run.

"That's when we first learned to play like this," Curry told ESPN late Tuesday night after scoring 36 points in a 116-94 rout of the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. "We're in that flow again."

That flow is what made the Warriors "the Warriors" all those years ago. More than Curry's 3-point shooting or Draymond Green's positional versatility, Golden State's identity was formed by its ability to flow. To move the ball. Make the extra pass. Run off screens. Create a collective energy that overwhelms defenses focused on individual matchups. When the Warriors are humming, it's the basketball equivalent of a great jazz band. Each player has his solo moments to shine, but they have to harmonize and flow together to elevate as a group and win.

Over the five years, all sorts of things have disrupted this flow. Ego, hubris, complacency, fatigue. Some would point to Kevin Durant's individual brilliance as another force that can disrupt. But that would be reductionist.

The Warriors can flow just fine with Durant. They just don't have to.

"Kevin moves well, too," Warriors assistant coach Bruce Fraser explained. "But sometimes he's so good he doesn't have to. You just throw him the ball."

With Durant sidelined with a calf injury the past two and a half games, the Warriors have had to go back to a simpler time. To the way they played before Durant changed the NBA landscape in 2016.

They won the 2015 title playing like this. Then they won a record 73 regular season games in 2016. Curry won back-to-back MVP awards.

It was a hell of a run. The Warriors were fun and new and relatable to kids with Curry as their baby-faced assassin. Winning started to change that reputation. But really it was adding Durant that turned the Warriors into the bully.

The Warriors have never particularly enjoyed being the villain. Their style is joyous, so it hurts their soul to find motivation elsewhere.

And with Durant out these last few games, they've been able to recapture what this used to feel like.

"You see the morale, like everybody's shoulders are up and smiles," Curry said. "Just aggressiveness all over the floor; whether that's setting a screen or swing, swing or cutting hard, all that type of stuff. When you create good shots that way, it's fun for everybody."

Thirteen Warriors appeared in Tuesday's game and all 13 had a positive impact when they were on the floor. Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala were +16, Green, Jonas Jerebko and Quinn Cook were +12, while Curry was +10.

After relying on their starters to play nearly 40 minutes a game in the previous series against Houston, stealing this many minutes from their bench is critical for Golden State. They are still loaded with star power, but the Warriors aren't nearly as deep as previous iterations. So as they go deeper into the playoffs, and the injuries to stars like Durant and DeMarcus Cousins mount, it's critical not to overload the remaining stars.

When the Warriors play with the flow they found in Game 6 against the Rockets, and again Tuesday against a clearly fatigued Portland team, the rising tide lifts everyone.

"You have the capability to expand the bench and fill minutes with guys that are obviously capable, can help us on the floor on both ends," Curry said. "And you see like the confidence that they play with, you know, regardless of what the situation is, that's contagious for sure."

Watching that contagion the last few games has been a pleasant throwback for those who have lived through this entire run. Like smelling cologne you used to love. It'll never smell the same as it did in 2015, but sometimes that whiff is enough.

"That was my favorite game since I've owned the team -- other than the championships," Warriors owner Joe Lacob said of the Game 6 win in Houston. "I always put Oklahoma City, 2016, Game 6. I love that. But this was more of a team victory. So... I've actually decided that was my favorite game."

And that feeling, that style of play continued on Tuesday against the Blazers.

"In the Clippers series, the narrative was that [Durant] is the greatest player in the world, this is Kevin's team. Now it's Steph's team. I don't view it that way. We're a team. The word should be T-E-A-M," Lacob said. "When we beat LeBron, 3 out of 4 times. When we go up against Harden and Houston.

"It's team, versus individual. It's team, versus isolation. That is really the story."

After what has been a chaotic start to the offseason, the Los Angeles Lakers were one of the big winners in Tuesday's NBA draft lottery, and they could parlay their new fourth overall draft pick into a potential trade for an All-Star.

An ecstatic Rob Pelinka, the Lakers general manager, said the team will either draft an impact player or try to see what it can get on the trade market after the team surprisingly leaped from 11th to fourth overall.

"This is a powerful asset for us," Pelinka said on a conference call. "We owe a commitment to our fans to have an outstanding season next year. What this does is it gives us the ability to either select an impact player at [No.] 4 or possibly use this as an extremely valuable asset in trade."

The Lakers are fixated on landing another max free-agent star to help LeBron James, and they could have $32.5 million to use in free agency.

Prior to the trade deadline this past season, Pelinka and the Lakers had been focused on trying to strike a trade for New Orleans' Anthony Davis. Now Pelinka has the fourth overall pick as well as a young core of up-and-coming players in Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart.

This is the fourth time in five years that the Lakers will pick in the top four of the lottery after having the second overall pick in 2015 (D'Angelo Russell), 2016 (Ingram) and 2017 (Ball). ESPN's Jonathan Givony has Vanderbilt's 6-foot-3 guard Darius Garland, Virginia's 6-foot-8 defensive forward De'Andre Hunter, Texas Tech's 6-foot-6 guard Jarrett Culver and Duke's 6-foot-9 forward Cam Reddish listed after the top three prospects.

"I think it's an extraordinary shift for us," Pelinka said. "I mean, top-five picks in the draft, if you go back in the history and study them, those picks can alter and impact franchises. This is a big moment for us. Last year, of course, we had to go through some hard and difficult things that this is certainly a great silver lining. Our dedication is really toward our fans right now and doing all we can to deliver a really special Lakers season for our fans."

This was certainly a win for the Lakers in what has been a tumultuous offseason for the franchise. Magic Johnson stunned the NBA world by stepping down before the Lakers' regular-season finale and that was followed by Luke Walton's exit and a failed contract negotiation with Ty Lue. Earlier this week, the Lakers hired Frank Vogel as their new head coach and added Jason Kidd as an assistant.

"The biggest motto is just laser focus, head down, do the work," Pelinka said in his first comments since the season ended on what the past month has been like for him and the Lakers. "And I think that we've been trying as an organization to just be methodical and continue a path forward and doing the work ... to make the Lakers a successful organization for our fan base, and that's really the course and the path that we've been on. This is just a burst of goodwill for us as a franchise and it just gives us some excitement and a nice launching pad going into next year."

"I had asked my son, who is 11... what should I bring to the draft lottery for good luck," Pelinka added. "He said, Dad, just bring some optimism. He said the world needs more optimism."

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry scored 36 points and tied his career playoff high with nine 3-pointers in Tuesday's 116-94 win over the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Tuesday night at Oracle Arena.

As the Warriors continue playing without star forward Kevin Durant (strained calf), Curry's teammates believe that his 33 second-half points in Game 6 of Friday's series-clinching win at the Houston Rockets helped set the tone for his performance in Tuesday's victory.

"I think it had a huge impact," Warriors forward Draymond Green said. "Just as a player, you want to keep that roll. You try to feed off that momentum from the last game and carry it over, and he came out from the gate aggressive. Also, understanding that Kevin is out and [Curry] is going to be even more important in our offense, and he came out with that mindset and he got it rolling from the gate."

Curry's final line of 36 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds and a steal marked the 22nd time in his career that he had at least 30 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in a postseason game, according to ESPN Stats and Information research. Only Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James (45) has more since Curry's first playoff appearance in 2013.

"It helped," Curry said of the carryover from his Game 6 effort in Houston. "I know what I'm capable of on the floor, and the situation calls for me to be a little bit more aggressive, and hopefully, that will continue.

"Obviously, it's nice to see the ball go in. I didn't shoot the ball well for four and a half games in the last series and got on to a good start tonight. Want to maintain that. Every game is different. You have to reestablish yourself, and that's my perspective, no matter how I play."

Blazers coach Terry Stotts chafed at the notion that his team should trap Curry more, but the reality for the Blazers is that Curry repeatedly got open looks as the Portland big men dropped lower in coverage.

Curry made more uncontested 3-pointers (seven) than the Trail Blazers (five) did as a team in Game 1.

He took four shots after the defender went under the screen, his most shot attempts in that situation in any game this season. He was 2-for-4, with all of those shots coming on 3s, according to ESPN Stats and Information data.

"Steph got free and had a big night," Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. "And carried us at times, and obviously, that was a big part of the game.

"I also thought the key stretch for us was the first five minutes of the fourth quarter. You know, they made it a six- or seven-point game to start the fourth. Portland made a really good run at the end of the third, and our bench came in, did a fantastic job getting us the lead back up to about 12 or so, before we went back to our starters. So, great job by our bench."

Curry's performance was even more impressive, given that he did it against his brother, Blazers guard Seth Curry. The pair became the first brothers in NBA history to play against one another in the conference finals.

It's a moment that Stephen didn't take for granted, as he looked up in the stands to see his parents several times during the game. Dell and Sonya Curry sat about halfway up the lower bowl at center court, wearing jerseys that were made up of half of Stephen's No. 30 Warriors jersey and half of Seth's No. 31 Blazers jersey.

"We've been talking about it for the last couple days, about how special it is," Stephen said. "Obviously, we've played plenty of games now on the same court, and you understand what that vibe is like. But on this stage, trying to chase a Finals appearance, it's pretty surreal. I think I caught myself a couple times looking up in the stands at my parents, who did the whole coin-flip thing, and they can't help themselves. So, any time either one of us did something good, they both were clapping. So, they got to fix themselves.

"I told my mom, 'Who are you with?' When I made a shot, I saw her stand up and cheer, and I saw her in all-Portland gear. It's just weird. It's probably more nerve-wracking for them in terms of just trying to get settled into what this series is going to mean."

OAKLAND, Calif. -- The strategy of defending Stephen Curry was a testy subject for Portland Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts after the Golden State Warriors star torched the Blazers 116-94 in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.

After Curry scored a game-high 36 points Tuesday night, Stotts responded with dry sarcasm when asked if he considered utilizing traps like the Houston Rockets did in the previous round instead of having the big man drop back in pick-and-roll coverage.

"I can't remember -- when he had 33 in the second half, were they trapping then?" Stotts said, referring to Curry's performance in the Game 6 win to close out the conference semifinals against the Rockets. "They were? And he scored 33 in the second half? OK, yeah, we'll look at that."

Portland is certainly searching for solutions after Curry matched his career playoff high for made 3-pointers with nine on 15 attempts in the Western Conference finals opener. According to ESPN Stats & Information tracking, seven of the 3s Curry swished were uncontested shots.

"That was very poor execution defensively on our part," said Portland point guard Damian Lillard, who scored 19 points but was only 4-of-12 from the floor and committed seven turnovers. "Just having our bigs back that far; understanding the team we are playing against, they are not going to shoot midrange jumpers and try to attack the rim. If they see the opportunity to shoot a 3, they are going to tell you. They shoot it at a high clip. We've got to bring our guys up and run them off the line, and tonight, they were setting solid screens and coming off shooting practice shots.

"That's the last thing we need if we want to have any chance to beat this team."

Center Enes Kanter confirmed that the Blazers' game plan against Curry was for the on-ball defender to fight through screens while the big man dropped back in coverage.

"In the fourth quarter, we kind of changed it," Kanter said. "But I think it's going to change in the second game."

While Curry finished the second round with a flourish -- scoring all 33 of his Game 6 points in the second half, including 23 in the fourth quarter -- he struggled for most of the series against the Rockets. Curry had a particularly poor shooting series, hitting only 40.3 percent of his shots from the floor and 27.9 percent from 3-point range in the West semifinals.

Curry had no such problems Tuesday night, when he picked Portland apart, going 12-of-23 from the floor, dishing out seven assists and committing only one turnover.

Figuring out better ways to contain Curry will be one of Portland's primary focuses during the day off before Game 2.

"Anything but what we did tonight," Blazers guard CJ McCollum said.

CHICAGO -- For months, the New Orleans Pelicans have had only one path forward: trade superstar Anthony Davis and hope the return is good enough to navigate a successful rebuild. After landing the No. 1 overall pick and the right to draft consensus top prospect Zion Williamson, however, the Pelicans have a very valuable commodity in the NBA: options.

New president of basketball operations David Griffin has already pushed back on the notion that a Davis trade is a foregone conclusion.

"We have a long, successful history with Klutch Sports," Griffin said last month. "Rich Paul and I have spoke about Anthony. We are both excited about what we could potentially build here."

That comment was largely accompanied by shrugs. What else was Griffin supposed to say?

But then the Pelicans jumped from the seventh spot to the top of the lottery on Tuesday. Suddenly, Griffin's comment is a lot more interesting. Teams around the NBA hoping to land Davis via trade now have one 6-foot-7, 280-pound reason to wonder how available Davis might actually be as he enters the final season of his contract.

After the Pelicans cratered out of the playoff hunt and sold key players at the trade deadline, it was hard to see how Davis could stay. But Williamson's arrival should at least give Griffin a plausible argument to sell that there's something worth building in New Orleans.

Williamson and Davis complement each other perfectly. Davis' ability to step away from the basket would give Williamson room to dive as a roll man. It also opens up devastating possibilities of pick-and-roll situations with Zion and AD (good luck stopping that). Defensively, Davis' combination of size and length and Williamson's ridiculous athleticism would allow New Orleans to guard virtually any team.

Meanwhile, a triumvirate of Davis, Williamson and Jrue Holiday would be the foundation of a team that can compete in the Western Conference once again. One of the league's most underrated players, Holiday is a borderline All-NBA guard and a top perimeter defender.

If the hard sell works on Davis, not only would New Orleans celebrate that by giving AD a supermax deal on July 1, but that also would create ripple effects across the rest of the league. Teams such as the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers -- all of whom have been linked to Davis -- would have to move on in their pursuits of franchise-changing superstars. That development could alter where the NBA's many star free agents wind up this summer.

But if Davis isn't interested in staying, that isn't all bad news for the Pelicans. Griffin could turn around and trade both AD and Holiday for a treasure trove of young players and picks to use to rebuild around Williamson and his rare gifts.

One hypothetical: Davis gets traded to the Celtics for a package built around Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart, and Holiday is flipped to the Pacers for Myles Turner and more pieces. The Pelicans would then be stacked with young talent in Williamson's age range.

Over the next several weeks, we'll see how the Pelicans' future plays out. But for a franchise that since January appeared to have a bleak future, a few pingpong balls changed everything -- no matter what Anthony Davis decides.

Twins catcher Mitch Garver hit a two-run homer and tagged out the Los Angeles Angels' Shohei Ohtani trying to score the tying run in the eighth inning of Minnesota's 4-3 home victory on Tuesday, but Garver suffered a left high ankle sprain on the latter play.

Garver, a breakout performer this season with a .329 batting average, took in Byron Buxton's throw and applied the tag on Ohtani, then had to be helped off the field without putting weight on his left leg. Garver's foot twisted awkwardly as Ohtani slid into his leg. The catcher was replaced the next inning by Jason Castro.

Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli said the team would know more about Garver's prognosis following additional testing on Wednesday.

"Probably not in as much pain as I was expecting,'' Baldelli said. "But anything beyond that is speculation.''

Garver homered in the third inning to give Minnesota a three-run lead behind Kyle Gibson (4-1). It was Garver's ninth homer of the season, and the ball traveled to the second deck in left field.

"You can't fake what he is doing,'' Baldelli said of Garver. "He sees the ball. He makes great decisions on a pitch-to-pitch basis. He has tremendous at-bats. When you have at-bats like that and have a good, short stroke, it's a good combination -- and that's what he's working with.''

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. received some advice from his Baseball Hall of Fame father after hitting the first two home runs of his career. In return, the younger Guerrero plans on sending his dad a few mementos from his historic performance.

Guerrero homered twice to become the third-youngest player to hit his first two major league homers in the same game, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the San Francisco Giants 7-3 Tuesday night.

Guerrero, who finished with three hits and four RBIs, became the youngest in franchise history to go deep, as the Blue Jays won the opener of a six-game trip after losing five of six on a homestand in which they totaled eight runs.

"He just said like he always told me, 'Don't look for home runs. They're going to come,'" Guerrero said of his father through a translator. "I'm going to give both balls and the bat to my dad. I'm going to keep using everything that I used today, except the bat that I really want to give to my dad."

Guerrero, 20, homered in the first inning against Giants opener Nick Vincent (0-2), his first in 14 big league games. His drive to straightaway center was measured at 111.3 mph and traveled an estimated 438 feet.

"He was talking about it during batting practice, and he did it,'' Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo said. "We knew that was coming. He's that good. He could carry a team if he gets hot. He can do stuff like that."

Guerrero had a hard-hit single in the second, then added an even more impressive blast in the sixth off Reyes Moronta, a three-run drive estimated at 451 feet.

The crowd at Oracle Park let out a collective gasp as the ball sailed over the wall in left-center. Winning pitcher Trent Thornton even got caught up watching.

"I was on second base, and I'm just watching it go and go, and I'm like, 'Wait, I gotta run,'" Thornton said. "He had a great game. That was just a lot of fun."

The only players younger than Guerrero to hit their first two home runs in the same game were Brian McCall in 1962 (19 years, 248 days) and Manny Machado in 2012 (20 years, 35 days).

Two-sport star Danny Ainge had been the youngest Blue Jays player to homer, doing so on June 2, 1979, at 20 years, 77 days old. Guerrero is younger by 18 days.

Guerrero grounded out in his final at-bat. He entered the day batting .191 with one RBI.

"He wasn't pressing,'' Montoyo said. "He just plays and he has fun. He's an even-keeled kind of kid.''

The Guerrero family already had long ball history at Oracle Park: The elder Guerrero won the 2007 Home Run Derby at the waterfront stadium.

"This kid is going to be a great player, he really is,'' Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "You saw the bat speed, you saw how fast the ball comes off his bat. I've seen his dad hit balls like that."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

When Roger Clemens first set the record with 20 strikeouts in a nine-inning game in 1986, he threw 138 pitches. When he did it again 10 years later, he needed 151 pitches. Kerry Wood threw 122 pitches, Randy Johnson 124 and Max Scherzer a relatively efficient 119 pitches when he fanned 20 in 2016.

How many Colorado Rockies could Chris Sale have punched out? Would he have set the record? Would he have fanned at least four batters with six outs to play?

We'll never know. Sale was magnificent on a February-like night at Fenway Park, striking out a career-high 17 batters through seven innings. He would not pitch the eighth inning. Nolan Arenado had broken up his shutout with a two-run home run in the seventh, so maybe Alex Cora saw some fatigue settling in, but Cora also saw the pitch count: 108. The 21-strikeout game remains an elusive ambition.

Sale's season high in pitches is 111. His season high last year was 116. In 2017, it was 118. Leaving him for a shot at the record would have required another 30 pitches or so, given his game average of 15.4 pitchers per inning. That kind of pitch count is unheard of in today's game -- only Mike Fiers in his no-hitter and Trevor Bauer (twice) have reached even 120 pitches this season. Last season, a starter threw 120 pitches just 12 times and only Sean Newcomb, in a no-hit bid, threw 130. It just doesn't happen.

I have no doubt Sale was strong enough to set the record. After the Arenado home run with no outs, he fanned the next three batters on 12 pitches. It certainly appeared he had enough left in the tank. Cora played it safe and probably played it smart. It's a long season, after all, and those would have been high-stress pitches. Still, when Sale didn't come out for the eighth, there was a twinge of disappointment. Maybe one more inning, Alex?

You know, for all the changes in recent years -- the shift, the advanced analytics available via Statcast data, all the home runs -- the biggest change in the game over two decades is pitch counts. In 1998, the year Wood struck out 20 batters, a starter threw 120-plus pitches 498 times. That's 10.2 percent of all games compared to 0.2 percent last season.

That doesn't mean the 21-strikeout game is impossible -- Scherzer had a shot at 21, but James McCann managed to ground out -- but the strict limits on pitch counts make it more difficult and less likely than even a few years, even with strikeouts on the rise. Scherzer threw 96 strikes out of 119 pitches (80.7 percent) and actually allowed six hits, but throwing 80 percent strikes is almost impossible. Sale was at 68.5 percent, 74 of 108 pitches. (The highest strike rate this season is Kyle Hendricks at 77.8 percent in his absurd 81-pitch shutout against the Cardinals.)

Chris Sale is the...

- 1st pitcher since Max Scherzer (May 11, 2016) to strike out 17+.

- 1st LHP with 17+ K since Johan Santana (Aug. 19, 2007).

- 1st Red Sox pitcher to do so since Pedro Martínez (May 6, 2000).

- 1st pitcher to EVER strike out 17+ in 7 or fewer IP. pic.twitter.com/IulhkL73J5

— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) May 15, 2019

Anyway, the Rockies got the last laugh in this game: They won 5-4 in 11 innings. After Sale departed with a 3-2 lead, the Rockies scored twice in the eighth on Charlie Blackmon's home run, the Red Sox tied it, and then Mark Reynolds drove in the winning run with a two-out single. Yes, in 2019 baseball, you can strike out 24 times and still win the game.

Sale is the 42nd pitcher to strike out 17-plus in a game (since 1908, via Baseball-Reference.com). He's only the eighth to not get the win. Remarkably, four of the previous seven were Randy Johnson (plus Pedro Martinez, Steve Carlton and Bob Feller). Yes, we need to list those games:

• May 5, 2001: 9 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 20 SO, 124 pitches. No decision as the game went extras.
• June 30, 1999: 8 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 17 SO, 134 pitches. Lost 2-0 as Ron Villone allowed one hit.
• June 24, 1997: 9 IP, 11 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 19 SO, 142 pitches. Lost 4-1.
• Sept. 27, 1992: 8 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 18 SO, 160 pitches. No decision in 3-2 loss.

Vladdy Jr. hits one out: In his 53rd major league appearance and 48th at-bat, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. finally homered and fantasy owners can take a deep breath. It was a beauty, in the top of the first:

You'll never forget where you were for this one!#LetsGoBlueJays pic.twitter.com/ZeuDRgHXi2

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) May 15, 2019

Guerrero's slow start hasn't been via some bad luck. According to Statcast data, he had "barreled" just one of 35 balls in play prior to Tuesday's game. Twenty-one of those 35 outs had been ground balls. Pitchers have been showing him a lot of respect -- just 40 percent of the pitches he'd seen were in the strike zone -- but he hadn't done much damage against the strikes he did swing at. He'll be fine. Just lay off those breaking balls off the plate, kid.

Indeed, after I wrote that blurb, Guerrero did this in the sixth inning:

HE DID IT AGAIN! #LetsGoBlueJays pic.twitter.com/c0eZuyws8f

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) May 15, 2019

Astros still good, Marlins still bad: On Monday night, I wrote about the historic levels of greatness and ineptitude we've seen so far from the Houston and Miami offenses and, well, this happened on Tuesday:

• The Astros hit three home runs in an 11-4 victory over the Tigers, giving them 33 in their past 11 games. George Springer hit his 16th homer (an inside-the-park job), part of a 2-for-3, two-walk game. In his past 11 games, Springer is hitting .488/.538/1.023 with seven home runs, 15 RBIs and 18 runs. Imagine what this offense might do once we get into summer and pitching staffs get beaten down by injuries and fatigue -- plus, have you seen the pitching in the AL West this season? The last team to score 900 runs was the 2009 Yankees, who scored 915, an average of 5.65 per game. The Astros are at 5.58 runs per game.

Springer was all smiles:

What can't he do!?#TakeItBack pic.twitter.com/DyB49egLq4

— Houston Astros (@astros) May 15, 2019

• The Rays blanked the Marlins 4-0 as Charlie Morton and friends spun the six-hit shutout. The Marlins are not averaging 5.58 runs per game. Avisail Garcia clubbed a 471-foot home run, the longest for the Rays in the Statcast era and ... wow, it looked even longer:

4️⃣
7️⃣
1️⃣
❗#RaysUp pic.twitter.com/fB66pYbLDu

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 14, 2019

Sell your Nationals stock: The Mets beat the Nationals 6-2 as Noah Syndergaard took a no-hitter into the sixth and pitched eight strong innings (his one mistake was Victor Robles ' two-run home run). Wilson Ramos hit a grand slam off Jeremy Hellickson in the first inning, but the key play came with one out and a runner when the Nationals failed to turn a routine double play on Robinson Cano's grounder. Shortstop Wilmer Difo's relay throw was off target -- but catchable -- and outfielder-turned-first baseman Gerardo Parra stretched and dropped the ball. Inexcusable.

"Like I've said before, we've got to play clean baseball," Nationals manager Dave Martinez said after the game in the ridiculous understatement of the season. "We really do. Got to give us a chance." Dead man talking? Probably. The Nationals are now 16-25 and, injuries or not, playing bad, sloppy baseball. This tweet from a self-described huge Nats fans sums things up:

In keeping with my efforts to be more positive, here's my positive thought for today. I'm positive that Dave Martinez needs to be fired.

— Shelia Byers (@hugenatsfan) May 14, 2019

It's time for a Mitch Garver highlight: The part-time catcher for the Twins cranked his ninth home run in a 4-3 win over the Angels and Byron Buxton preserved the lead when he threw out Shohei Ohtani at home plate in the eighth. Here's the home run, with Garver looking like he was barely swinging hard:

Saucy! ??#GarvSauce #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/yREZeaBXyP

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) May 15, 2019

Garver, hitting .329/.418/.747, left the game after Ohtani slid into his ankle, so let's hope he's OK. After all, he's part of the MVP catching trio for the Twins.

Brewers call up Hiura: Congrats to Keston Hiura for going 2-for-3 with a walk in his debut for the Brewers. The team's top prospect hit seventh and singled in his first at-bat:

Didn't take @Kestdaddy long to get that first @MLB hit outta the way.

Hiura you go: pic.twitter.com/7TQkcF15aO

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) May 14, 2019

The first of many. The interesting scenario here is what the Brewers will do once Travis Shaw returns from a little wrist injury that has been bothering him. If Hiura hits well out of the gate, do you send him back down? Shaw has struggled all season, but has back-to-back 30-homer seasons. With Hiura at second, Mike Moustakas is also back at third base instead of forced into learning second. Let's see if the kid hits, of course, but my prediction is he ends up playing more games at second base than any other Brewer the rest of the season.

Britain's Cameron Norrie was knocked out in the second round of the Italian Open following a 6-2 6-2 defeat by 13th seed Borna Coric.

Norrie, 23, was the only British male to make it through to the second round after beating Australia's John Millman.

Coric converted two of his four break points to win the opening set and broke again twice in the second to win in less than an hour in Rome.

The Croat will face Swiss Roger Federer or Portugal's Joao Sousa next.

British number one Johanna Konta takes on American seventh seed Sloane Stephens in the women's second round on Wednesday.

Twenty three-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams plans to compete at the French Open despite withdrawing from the Italian Open with a knee injury.

The American, 37, was set to play sister Venus Williams in the second round but said she would be "concentrating on rehab" now.

"I look forward to seeing you all at the French Open and next year in Rome," she added.

Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki also pulled out in Italy.

Wozniacki, 28, withdrew from her first-round match against American Danielle Collins because of a leg injury, having lost the first set 7-6 (7-5).

It is the second straight tournament at which the Dane has been forced to retire early on.

She trailed 3-0 against Alize Cornet in the opening round of the Madrid Open earlier this month before pulling out with a back injury.

American Collins, 25, will now play two-time Grand Slam winner Garbine Muguruza of Spain in the second round of the Italian Open on Wednesday following Wozniacki's withdrawal.

"Obviously, I feel for Caroline, what she's going through with her injuries," said Collins.

"It's never fun to go out there and play against somebody that's hurt, and dealing with that kind of pain. I was happy with the way I played, but it's just not a fun situation."

Williams has also struggled with injury - pulling out of the Miami Open at the third-round stage in March, after a viral illness prevented her from competing in Indian Wells.

The French Open tournament kicks off on 26 May and Williams is chasing her fourth title, while Wozniacki, a former Australian Open champion, has never gone beyond the quarter-final stage.