LOS ANGELES (AP) — Austin Reaves returned from a nine-game injury absence Wednesday night when the Los Angeles Lakers attempted to finish their first-round playoff series with the Houston Rockets in Game 5.
Reaves had been out since April 2 with strained oblique muscles, missing the final five games of the Lakers' regular season and the first four games of the postseason. But Reaves returned to practice last week, and he warmed up for the previous two games in the series in Houston before being ruled out.
Reaves came off the bench for the Lakers in Game 5, who kept the same starting lineup that had taken them to a 3-1 series lead. Reaves immediately made an impact when he checked in midway through the first quarter, making a 3-pointer from 30 feet away on his first shot.
Reaves finished the first half with 11 points and six assists, sharing the Lakers' scoring lead with Marcus Smart. But Los Angeles trailed Houston 51-47 after committing nine turnovers.
Reaves was injured in the same game in which NBA scoring champion Luka Doncic strained his right hamstrings. Doncic doesn't yet appear to be close to a return.
The Lakers won the first three games of the series without their top two scorers, but the Rockets took Game 4 to push the series back to Los Angeles.
Reaves averaged 23.3 points, 5.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds this season, but played in just 51 games thanks to the oblique injury and a strained left calf that sidelined him for 19 straight games from Christmas to February.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
Houston Rockets guard Amen Thompson, left, shoots as Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxson Hayes defends during the first half in Game 5 of a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Rookie Nathan Church ended the game by robbing Nick Gonzales of what would have been a walk-off, two-run homer by making a leaping catch at the left-field wall, giving the St. Louis Cardinals a 5-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night.
Ryan O’Hearn singled with one out in the ninth off Riley O’Brien and Marcell Ozuna struck out on three straight pitches. Gonzales drove a first-pitch slider to left, and Church jumped and caught the ball above the top of the 6-foot wall, 373 feet from home plate.
Gonzales' drive would have been a home run in 27 of the 30 big league ballparks, according to MLB Statcast, all but PNC Park, Camden Yards and Globe Life Field.
O'Brien escaped with his eighth save in 10 chances as the Cardinals won their third straight in a four-game series that ends Thursday.
Pittsburgh has lost a season-high four straight. The Pirates went 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 runners.
Andre Pallante (3-2) allowed one run and five hits in a season-high six innings.
Bubba Chandler (1-3) gave up three runs, three hits and four walks in five innings.
JJ Wetherholt hit a go-ahead RBI double in the third and Alec Burleson boosted the lead to 3-0 with a two-run homer in the fifth.
Spencer Horwitz cut the deficit when he homered in the bottom half, but Iván Herrera and Jordan Walker boosted the lead to 5-1 in the seventh with RBI singles against Chris Devenski.
Devenski's contract was selected from Triple-A Indianapolis, and the 35-year-old right-hander debuted for the Pirates, his seventh major league team. He was charged with one run in two-third of an innings.
Pinch-hitter Nick Yorke had a two-run single in the bottom half against JoJo Romero, and Oneil Cruz grounded into a run-scoring forceout in the eighth off George Soriano.
RHP Hunter Dobbins, acquired from Boston in the Willson Contreras trade in December, is slated to make his Cardinals debut Thursday when Pittsburgh starts reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes (4-2, 2.48).
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
St. Louis Cardinals' Victor Scott II (11) steals second base as the ball gets away from Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin during the seventh inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
St. Louis Cardinals' Alec Burleson celebrates as he rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run off Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Bubba Chandler during the fifth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Pittsburgh Pirates' Konnor Griffin (6) steals second base as the ball gets away from St. Louis Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt with umpire Chris Segal (96) making the call during the fifth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Riley O'Brien (61) celebrates with catcher Iván Herrera after getting the final out of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Nathan Church (27) leaps to make the catch on a fly ball by Pittsburgh Pirates' Nick Gonzales to end the baseball game in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
