PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz was a late scratch from the starting lineup of Monday night's game against the St. Louis Cardinals because of illness.
Jake Mangum started in Cruz’s place.
Cruz is hitting .259 with eight home runs and 10 stolen bases in 27 games.
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Pittsburgh Pirates' Oneil Cruz celebrates his three-run home run in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas' Cooper Flagg edged former Duke teammate Kon Knueppel of Charlotte to win the NBA Rookie of the Year award Monday night.
Flagg was the first rookie since Michael Jordan in 1984-85 to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists and steals. That and other accolades for a teenager were enough to overcome a difficult season for the Mavericks, while Knueppel helped the Hornets qualify for the play-in tournament.
Flagg and Knueppel were first and second in rookie scoring, the first former college teammates to do that since UConn stars Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon in 2004-05. Philadelphia's VJ Edgecombe was the other finalist.
The rookie award is the sixth to be announced by the NBA since the end of the regular season. The others:
— San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama was the unanimous Defensive Player of the Year.
— Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got 96 of a possible 100 first-place votes to win the Clutch Player of the Year award.
— San Antonio’s Keldon Johnson won Sixth Man of the Year.
— Boston’s Derrick White won the Sportsmanship Award. That award, unlike most others, is selected solely by active players.
— Atlanta’s Nickeil Alexander-Walker won Most Improved Player.
Other award announcements yet to be scheduled include MVP (either Gilgeous-Alexander, Wembanyama or Denver’s Nikola Jokic) and Coach of the Year (either Detroit’s J.B. Bickerstaff, San Antonio’s Mitch Johnson or Boston’s Joe Mazzulla).
The NBA will announce the Executive of the Year, the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year and the Hustle Award winner later this week.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
Philadelphia 76ers' VJ Edgecombe goes up for a dunk during the first half of Game 3 against the Boston Celtics in a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series Friday, April 24, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
