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The Kansas City Royals optioned Noah Cameron back to Triple-A Omaha on Thursday, one day after the left-hander took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in his big league debut against the Rays in Tampa Bay.

Cameron was called upon to make a spot start for staff ace Cole Ragans, who has been dealing with a sore groin. Cameron did not allow a hit until Curtis Mead‘s one-out single down the left-field line in the seventh. Royals manager Matt Quatraro promptly took him out of the game, and the Kansas City relief corps finished off the 3-0 victory over the Rays.

“You can’t put it into words,” said Cameron, who grew up rooting for the Royals in St. Joseph, Missouri, about an hour’s drive north of their home at Kauffman Stadium. “It is something I’ve always dreamed about, especially with this team. And it is just crazy. Not what you would expect, but I’m glad to get out of there with what happened. You just can’t make it up.”

No pitcher has thrown a no-hitter for Kansas City since Bret Saberhagen on Aug. 26, 1991, a span of 5,244 games that represents the third-longest active no-hit drought in the majors. Only the Guardians and Blue Jays have gone longer.

“I thought he was going to do it,” Quatraro said. “The pitch count was really manageable. … We know he throws strikes, and he was challenging guys. He had a good mix. Just really impressive.”

Kansas City delivered three defensive gems to help Cameron’s bid. In the first inning, Hunter Renfroe‘s leaping catch against the right-field wall robbed Yandy Diaz of extra bases. Maikel Garcia stabbed Mead’s hard-hit grounder in the second to start a double play. And in the third, Bobby Witt Jr. snagged Jose Caballero‘s grounder in the hole and threw him out at first.

The 25-year-old Cameron wound up throwing 79 pitches, allowing that one hit with five walks and three strikeouts over 6⅓ innings. He’s the first player to throw that many hitless frames in his big league debut since the Blue Jays’ Nick Kingham, who got two outs in the seventh inning against the Cardinals on April 29, 2018.

The splendid start by Cameron shouldn’t have come as a complete surprise. He is widely considered among the organization’s top five prospects, and he was 2-0 with a 3.22 ERA over his first five starts for Omaha this season.

In corresponding roster moves Thursday, the Royals selected right-hander Taylor Clarke from Omaha to provide some additional depth in the bullpen, and they transferred right-hander James McArthur to the 60-day injured list.

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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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Sources: Rangers close to hiring Sullivan as coach

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Sources: Rangers close to hiring Sullivan as coach

The New York Rangers are in advanced contract talks to make former Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan their next head coach, sources told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan and Kevin Weekes on Thursday.

The deal is expected to be one of the richest coaching contracts in NHL history, the sources said.

Sullivan would head to New York in a move that is coming together three days after he left his job with Pittsburgh, where he coached for 10 seasons and won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017.

The Penguins have missed the playoffs for the past three seasons amid a retooling of the roster.

David Quinn, Sullivan’s top assistant in Pittsburgh, is not expected to join him in New York. Quinn will be a candidate for other head coaching vacancies, including Pittsburgh’s, according to sources.

John Tortorella is a strong possibility to rejoin the Rangers organization. Sullivan, Quinn and Tortorella were on the coaching staff for Team USA at Four Nations.

In New York, Sullivan would replace Peter Laviolette, who was fired after the Rangers didn’t make the postseason for the first time since 2021.

Sullivan was selected by the Rangers in the 1987 draft but never played for New York, choosing to stay in college at Boston University before going on to an 11-year NHL playing career with four teams.

Sullivan, 57, previously served as a Rangers assistant coach from 2009 to 2013 on Tortorella’s staff. He also was the head coach of the Boston Bruins for the 2003-04 and 2005-06 seasons.

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Injured Scheifele won’t travel with Jets for G6

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Injured Scheifele won't travel with Jets for G6

Winnipeg Jets coach Scott Arniel said Thursday that star center Mark Scheifele will not travel with team ahead of Game 6 against the St. Louis Blues.

Scheifele will remain in Winnipeg after he missed the second and third periods of his team’s 5-3 victory Wednesday against the Blues in Game 5 of the Western Conference quarterfinals.

“You’re hoping for the best that maybe he wakes up today and things are better,” Arniel told reporters before the team flight to St. Louis. “But right now, he won’t be making the trip, and we’ll just go day-to-day moving forward.”

With 13:51 remaining in the opening period, the Jets were in the Blues’ zone when Scheifele had just played the puck along the half wall. That’s when he was instantly checked by Blues captain Brayden Schenn. Scheifele appeared to be concentrating on the puck and looked as if he did not see Schenn, who connected with the top half of Scheifele’s chest and knocked him down to the ice.

Schenn was given a two-minute minor for interference and another two-minute minor for roughing.

A little more than 10 minutes later, Scheifele was involved in another physical sequence. He was just about to reach the Blues’ zone when forward Radek Faksa also checked him and appeared to have struck Scheifele in the same area as the previous hit from Schenn.

Scheifele finished the first period, but Arniel spoke to the officials as both teams were entering the dressing room before first intermission. Blues coach Jim Montgomery confirmed with reporters after the game that Arniel spoke to the officials about the Schenn hit before sharing his thoughts.

“Let’s make it clear: Fifty-five got hurt from the Faksa hit,” Montgomery said. “He played six minutes after the Schenn hit. He didn’t come back after he got rocked by Faksa.”

Upon hearing Montgomery’s comments, Arniel had some thoughts of his own.

“I didn’t know Monty got his medical degree and can say how our player got hurt. He’s way off base and should not make that comment,” Arniel told reporters. “There’s some things that have been going on in this series and that was a repeat of what we’ve seen before: A player leaving his feet and then hitting a player in a very unprotected spot. Like hitting him in the sense, almost blindsiding him. Not happy with how the call was made. A two-minute minor. Not even looking at it is what I was upset about.

“It is something we have talked to the league about for five games.”

On Thursday, Arniel was asked if Scheifele was in concussion protocol.

“I’m not going down that road,” Arniel said.

It’s possible that the Jets could once again turn to Vladislav Namestnikov like they did in Game 5 and elevate him to the top line. The second-line center would take Scheifele’s place on the first line alongside Kyle Connor and Gabriel Vilardi.

Namestnikov, who had 11 goals and 38 points in 78 regular-season games, had his strongest game of the postseason in Game 5. He finished with a goal and two points while logging 17:15 of ice time.

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