KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Garrett Mitchell matched a career high for RBIs with a two-run double and a three-run homer in the first three innings alone, and the Milwaukee Brewers held on to beat the Kansas City Royals 5-2 on Saturday in the opener of their doubleheader.

Chad Patrick (1-0) scattered four hits and three walks over five scoreless innings for the Brewers. Aaron Ashby and Abner Uribe took over and handed a three-run lead to All-Star closer Trevor Megill, whose two-out walk to Bobby Witt Jr. in the ninth brought the tying run to the plate.

Megill struck out Vinnie Pasquantino with a 98 mph fastball to end the game, much to the delight of the resident “rally tortoise” hanging out in the Milwaukee clubhouse these days.

Mitchell did all of his damage against Luinder Avila (0-1), who made his first major league start for Kansas City after pitching out of the bullpen as a rookie last season. He allowed all five runs on eight hits and two walks in three-plus innings.

Avila was recalled from Triple-A Omaha to start Friday night in place of Michael Wacha, who was scratched because of an illness. That game wound up getting postponed 90 minutes before first pitch because of an approaching storm, setting up the doubleheader.

Mitchell, who had driven in five runs total during a 5-1 season-opening homestand, picked up two RBIs with his two-out double in the first. Two innings later, Mitchell hit Avila's two-out pitch an estimated 420 feet to right-center to give Milwaukee a 5-0 lead.

The Royals had a runner cut down at the plate in the second inning and stranded two more at third before Lane Thomas' RBI single in the seventh. Witt made it 5-2 with his hard-hit single before the Brewers bullpen got out of the inning.

Kansas City's own relief crew wound up pitching six innings of two-hit ball.

Up next

The nightcap of the doubleheader featured the original Saturday afternoon matchups. RHP Brandon Sproat (0-0, 21.00 ERA) was on the mound for Milwaukee while RHP Seth Lugo (1-0, 0.00) got the start for Kansas City.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — First, the Milwaukee Brewers had “pocket pancakes.” Now, they have pocket turtles.

Ahem, tortoise.

This all probably needs an explanation.

During a game last August, Brewers manager Pat Murphy was caught taking a pancake from the pocket of his hoodie for a midgame bite, right in the middle of a dugout interview during a game against the Nationals. It wasn't necessarily new for Murphy, who's been known to have everything from waffles to eggs rolls close at hand should he get the munchies.

But given the game was nationally televised, the moment immediately went viral. And the Brewers even latched onto the momentum, introducing “Murph's Pocket Pancakes” as concession items for Sunday home games at American Family Field.

Back to the turtle — er, tortoise.

The Brewers were supposed to play the Royals on Friday night on Apple TV, though the game was called 90 minutes before first pitch because of the rain. During a pregame interview with Apple's reporter, Tricia Whitaker, Murphy said he was informed “under no uncertain circumstances, no pocket pancakes” during their talk, so he pulled out what was supposed to be a pocket turtle.

“This is Bobby Jr.,” Murphy said in presenting it to her, having named the creature after his longtime friend, Bobby Witt, and his son, Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. “I didn't want to pull out pancakes so here we are.”

Whitaker posted the moment on social media, and fans immediately informed her that the reptile was not, in fact, a pocket turtle — or any turtle. It was a tortoise, or more specifically a Sulcata tortoise, which can live 70 years and grow to 100 pounds.

“How am I supposed to fly this home?” Whitaker asked.

Good question.

Turns out, as Whitaker later posted on social media, American Airlines has “a strict no reptiles policy,” so Bobby Jr. had to stay behind in Kansas City. The agreement, she wrote, is that the club would keep the tortoise for the time being.

Indeed, the reptile was happily living under a heat lamp in the visiting clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium on Saturday, though the plan is to find Bobby Jr. a good home soon. He won't be traveling with the club all season.

“It was suggested by one player,” Whitaker said, “that they get to keep the ‘rally turtle' if they win today. If they lose, I am hoping, consideration will be given to send me the tortoise.”

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The NFL said Friday that it would not discipline Rashee Rice after a former girlfriend posted images of bruises and wounds on social media earlier this year and alleged that they were caused by the Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver.

The league said in a statement that Rice “has not engaged in conduct that violates the personal conduct policy.”

The Chiefs did not have an immediate comment on the decision, but Rice's attorney, Sean Lindsey, said in a statement that "Mr. Rice wants to thank the NFL for their thorough investigation, and looks forward to the start of the 2026-27 NFL season.”

The 25-year-old Rice missed the first six games of last season after the NFL found that he had violated its personal conduct policy when he caused a multi-car crash on a Dallas highway while driving erratically in speeds nearing 120 mph. Rice left the scene of the accident before police arrived, then took responsibility for the wreck in a statement a couple of weeks later.

Rice turned himself in when an arrest warrant was issued and he subsequently pleaded guilty to two third-degree felony charges last July — collision involving serious bodily injury and racing on a highway causing bodily injury — and was sentenced to 30 days in jail and five years’ probation. He also was required to pay victims’ medical expenses.

The latest off-the-field issue involving Rice came after former girlfriend Dakoda Jones alleged in a lawsuit filed in February in Dallas County, Texas, that he had physically assaulted her multiple times, causing injuries that included bleeding and bruising.

The lawsuit said Rice “grabbed, choked, strangled, pushed, thrown, scratched, hit, and headbutted” Jones, in addition to hitting her with objects. The lawsuit also said Rice had thrown objects, punched walls and broken furniture, and many of these incidents occurred when Jones, who has two children with Rice, was pregnant.

Rice had 53 catches for 571 yards and five touchdowns last season as Kansas City went 6-11 and missed the playoffs.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Taj Bradley pitched six innings of five-hit ball, Minnesota homered three times in the ninth inning to break open a close game, and the Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 5-1 on Thursday to avoid a three-game series sweep.

Bradley (1-0) struck out three and walked one while out-dueling Cole Ragans (0-2), helping the Twins improve to 2-0 with him on the mound. Minnesota was winless in its other four games on a season-opening six-game trip through Baltimore and Kansas City.

Kody Clemens scored on an error by five-time Gold Glove-winning catcher Salvador Perez in the second, and Byron Buxton added a sacrifice fly off John Schreiber in the eighth, before the Twins teed off against Royals reliever Steven Cruz in the ninth.

Matt Wallner began the barrage with his homer to left, Clemens followed two batters late with his first of the season, and Josh Bell gave the Twins their first back-to-back homers since last July with his shot off Cruz to right field.

The only offense for Kansas City came in the eighth, when Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr. put runners on the corners with back-to-back singles, and Vinnie Pasquantino hit a sacrifice fly. But after Perez grounded into a fielder's choice, Twins reliever Taylor Rogers struck out Jac Caglianone with a sweeper out of the zone to leave the tying run on second base.

The meager offense came one a day after the Royals piled up 13 runs in a win over the Twins.

Ragans bounced back nicely from a dismal opening day in Atlanta, when the 2024 All-Star surrendered three homers in a 6-0 loss to the Braves. The Royals' left-hander went six innings and allowed four hits and a walk while striking out eight.

Up next

The Twins play their home opener Friday night against Tampa Bay with RHP Bailey Ober (0-0, 6.75 ERA) on the mound. Kansas City continues its homestand against Milwaukee with RHP Michael Wacha (0-0, 0.00) getting the start.

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LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas basketball coach Bill Self is returning for a 24th season with the Jayhawks.

The program released a statement from Self on Wednesday confirming his return for another year with the program he has led to 21 regular-season conference championships, four Final Fours and a pair of national championships.

“With renewed clarity and the ongoing support from our administration, I remain focused and committed to Kansas Basketball competing for a national championship,” Self said. “I look forward to seeing and hearing the best fans in college basketball next season at Allen Fieldhouse.”

The 63-year-old Self has a record of 840-272, not including the 15 wins that were vacated by the NCAA, putting him 12th on the career list. He passed Phog Allen as the winningest coach at Kansas with a 77-69 win over Michigan State on November 12, 2024, and finished with a record of 633-167 while leading one of college basketball’s most storied programs.

Kansas' season ended March 22 against St. John’s and fellow Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Jayhawks rallied from a 13-point deficit with 7 1/2 minutes left, tying it with 13.1 seconds to go, only for the Red Storm’s Dylan Darling to hit a layup as time expired to end their season.

The Jayhawks have not survived the opening weekend of the tournament since 2022, when Self won his second national title.

“I’ve gone through some stuff off the court, so I’ll get back and get with family and visit and see what’s going on,” Self said following the loss in San Jose, California. “I love what I do. I need to be able to do it where I’m feeling good and healthy to do it fairly well. I’ll get back home and it will all be discussed.”

Self's health has been a factor to monitor.

He was hospitalized just before the Big 12 Tournament in 2023 after feeling unwell, and had two stents inserted into his heart, which forced him to miss the NCAA tourney. Self had two more stents inserted last year, and this past January, he missed a game at Colorado after doctors advised him not to travel following a precautionary trip to the hospital.

“When you get to be doing it as long as I’ve done it, I looked at it in five-year increments. Now I’m probably looking at it in more two-year increments, so to speak,” he said. “So I try to focus on this season and try to get us to a second weekend — which we failed at — so I’ll go back now and break it down and see where that leads.”

Self won national titles at Kansas in 2008 and 2022. And he's been especially good at Allen Fieldhouse, historically one of college basketball’s toughest venues. He is 27-6 against top-10 opponents at home, and his 131-81 record against Top 25 opposition is the third-best winning percentage among Division I coaches.

He also has sent 43 players to the NBA, and more could be on the way. Darryn Peterson is expected to be among the first three players to hear his name called in June, while Flory Bidunga and others could also be selected in the upcoming NBA draft.

Self was selected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.

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