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The Chicago White Sox are already the worst team in the major leagues, so they didn’t need this: their rally Thursday night against the Baltimore Orioles being cut short by a controversial and game-ending runner interference call.

The play resulted in a double play for the final outs in Baltimore’s 8-6 victory.

With two on and one out in the bottom of the ninth, Andrew Benintendi popped up. Shortstop Gunnar Henderson caught the ball — umpires had called the infield fly rule anyway — for the second out, then third-base umpire Junior Valentine ruled that Andrew Vaughn interfered with Henderson on the play.

“It was a big surprise,” said Vaughn, who was the runner at second and ruled out. “I don’t feel like he was deterred from making a play. It was a high pop-up. We were all reading it. As a runner, I’ve got to read it and make sure I can get back to the bag.”

White Sox manager Pedro Grifol argued vehemently with umpires at the conclusion of the stunning final sequence.

There certainly was confusion, and the play ended the rally for the White Sox, who had scored four runs in the ninth.

“I felt like we escaped there,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said.

Crew chief Adrian Johnson said there is no discretion when a baserunner appears to make incidental contact with a fielder — even if the play results in a defensive out.

“If he hinders the fielder in the attempt to field a batted ball, intent is not required and it’s interference,” Johnson said after Valentine made the game-ending call. “When you see the interference, you call it.”

The White Sox, who have won only once in their past seven games, will try again to gain traction during their seven-game homestand that began Thursday night.

The Orioles halted a season-worst three-game losing streak by prevailing in the series opener.

“We’re able to breathe a little bit, thankfully,” said Baltimore’s Jorge Mateo, who hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning.

The Orioles produced 13 hits, four by first baseman Ryan Mountcastle.

“We swung the bat really well,” Hyde said. “A lot of guys who had been scuffling a little bit put some really good swings on the baseball. We would have loved to see us tack on a little bit more.”

Still, the eight runs were the most in a six-game stretch for Baltimore.

The six runs allowed by the Orioles were also notable. That matched the second-most scoring by an opponent this year in any of Baltimore’s 30 victories.

On Friday, right-hander Corbin Burnes (4-2, 2.56 ERA) will start for the Orioles, going for back-to-back victories after holding the Seattle Mariners without an earned run in six innings of Baltimore’s 6-3 win Sunday. He struck out 11 for the second time this season.

“I’m happy with how my stuff looks,” Burnes said. “Happy how the ball is coming out. Can’t really complain about it.”

Burnes has worked at least six innings in his past five starts, though this will mark just his second road assignment since April 20. He has made three career appearances against the White Sox, going 1-0 with a 4.70 ERA.

Among the negatives for the Orioles from Thursday night is that they used five relievers, including three in the ninth inning.

Right-hander Chris Flexen (2-4, 5.48 ERA) will be on the mound for Chicago, trying to bounce back from Sunday’s rough outing against the New York Yankees. He allowed seven runs on eight hits in four innings in Chicago’s 7-2 loss.

“It’s just about executing pitches,” Flexen said.

In three career starts against Baltimore, Flexen is 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA. The loss came in August when he was a member of the Colorado Rockies.

Information from The Associated Press and Field Level Media was used in this report.

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Leafs finish off Senators for spot in East semifinals

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Leafs finish off Senators for spot in East semifinals

OTTAWA, Ontario — Max Pacioretty scored the tiebreaking goal with less than six minutes remaining, leading the Toronto Maple Leafs to a series-clinching 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night in Game 6 of their first-round matchup.

William Nylander had two goals, including an empty-netter in the final seconds, and an assist, and Auston Matthews added a power-play goal in the first period for Toronto. Anthony Stolarz made 20 saves.

Brady Tkachuk and David Perron scored for Ottawa. Thomas Chabot had two assists and Linus Ullmark made 19 saves.

The Maple Leafs advanced to take on the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games in their first-round series.

Toronto grabbed a 3-0 series lead, but Ottawa stayed alive with a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 4 and a 4-0 shutout in Game 5.

The Maple Leafs finally put away the Senators in Game 6.

With the game tied at 2, Pacioretty — a heathy scratch to start the series — scored the winner with 5:39 remaining off a pass from Max Domi that beat Ullmark to the glove side. It was Pacioretty’s first goal of the playoffs.

Scott Laughton hit the post before Nylander iced it into the empty net with 18.3 seconds left.

Matthews put Toronto up 1-0 on a power play with 70 seconds left in the first period when he fired a low shot through traffic.

Nylander, on his 29th birthday, made it 2-0 just 43 seconds into the second when he ripped a shot past Ullmark after Pacioretty forced a turnover from Senators defenseman Nick Jensen.

Ottawa got on the board at 7:28 when Tkachuk tipped a shot past Stolarz.

Toronto, which beat Ottawa four times in five playoffs series in the early 2000s, came close to restoring its two-goal lead when John Tavares poked a loose puck off the post before Ullmark denied Matthew Knies and Brandon Carlo off the rush.

Perron scored with 7:20 left in regulation to tie it on a shot from below the goal line that went in off Stolarz’s back to make it 2-2.

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Eichel’s 1st goal of series helps Knights advance

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Eichel's 1st goal of series helps Knights advance

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Jack Eichel scored his first goal of the series to give Vegas the lead late in the second period, and Adin Hill held it up on a 29-save night to spur the Golden Knights on to the second round with a 3-2 victory in Game 6 against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.

Shea Theodore scored first and Mark Stone scored last for Vegas, which will face the winner of the Edmonton-Los Angeles series. The Oilers took a 3-2 lead on the Kings into Game 6 on their home ice later Thursday.

Minnesota has lost nine consecutive series in the NHL playoffs and last made it out of the first round 10 years ago.

Ryan Hartman had two goals for the Wild, including a wraparound with 3:27 left that came 31 seconds after Stone had just given the Golden Knights a two-goal lead.

Stone, who set up Eichel with a long pass out of the zone that was inches out of reach of the stick of Kirill Kaprizov after he dived to try to prevent the breakaway, had four points in the last three games. Neither Stone nor Eichel recorded a single point in the first three games.

Hartman tied the game for the Wild with four seconds left in the first period, a goal safe from replay review unlike his go-ahead score in Game 5 with 1:15 remaining in regulation that was revoked for an offside call after Vegas challenged.

The Wild were unshaken by the consecutive overtime losses that erased their 2-1 lead, confident they measured up to the deeper Golden Knights and could still take the series.

They were quickly playing from behind, though, after Marco Rossi got the dreaded double minor penalty for high-sticking Brayden McNabb with just 2:27 elapsed in the game.

Theodore wristed in a shot from the high slot with Stone and Tomas Hertl screening Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson, immediately quieting the crowd near the end of the first power play. Gustavsson, who was forced out of Game 5 after two periods due to an illness, had 20 saves.

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Draisaitl, Hellebuyck, Kucherov are Hart finalists

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Draisaitl, Hellebuyck, Kucherov are Hart finalists

Edmonton Oilers star forward Leon Draisaitl, Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck and Tampa Bay Lightning standout Nikita Kucherov were named finalists for the 2024-25 Hart Memorial Trophy on Thursday.

The award is presented “to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team” and voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

Draisaitl, 29, led the NHL in goals (52), tied for third in points (106) and was a career-best plus-32 in 71 games this season. He won the award in 2019-20 and is a two-time finalist.

Hellebuyck, 31, led the league in wins (47), goals-against average (2.00) and shutouts (eight) and was second in save percentage (.925) among goalies to play at least 25 games. The Vezina Trophy finalist as the best goaltender in the NHL is a first-time Hart finalist.

Kucherov, 31, led the NHL in scoring for the second consecutive season with 121 points (37 goals, 84 assists). He won the Hart Trophy in 2018-19 and is a three-time finalist.

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