Kyle Larson took most of the drama out of his second straight spring victory at Kansas Speedway on Sunday.

After putting his No. 5 car on the pole for Hendrick Motorsports, Larson led 221 of 267 laps, winning both stages and cruising to his third NASCAR Cup Series win of the season. He was never challenged down the stretch by second-finishing Christopher Bell — and he most certainly didn’t need another last-lap pass to win at the wire like he did a year ago.

The margin over Chris Buescher then was 0.001 seconds, the closest in Cup Series history. It was 0.712 seconds on Sunday.

“Glad to not win by an inch this time,” Larson said with a smile. “A little safer gap.”

Larson, who also has wins at Homestead and Bristol, has finished in the top four in each of his past four Cup Series races, and now he will take that momentum to Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Larson will be on track Tuesday as he begins another shot at “the Double” — running every lap of the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day Memorial Day weekend.

Bell, a three-time winner already, finished in the top three for the sixth time this season. Ryan Blaney came in third, giving Team Penske another good run after Austin Cindric won two weeks ago at Talladega and Joey Logano won last week at Texas.

Minor League baseball

Saints finish dominant series against Buffalo

The St. Paul Saints beat Buffalo 3-2 on Sunday at CHS Field to finish the series five wins in the six games. St. Paul has now won seven of their last eight overall.

On Sunday, the Saints played from ahead after Mickey Gasper and Carson McCusker homered in the first inning. For McCusker, it was his 10th homer of the season and he’s now hitting .333 with a 1.058 OPS.

Jair Camargo, who had two hits, finished the scoring with an RBI single.

Travis Adams started and allowed two runs in four innings. The bullpen came in and pitched five scoreless innings with Brady Feigl (2-0) getting the win with an inning pitched. Anthony Misiewicz earned his fourth save.

St. Paul goes on the road for a series at Iowa starting on Tuesday.

WNBA

Lynx announce Juhász will miss 2025 season

The Minnesota Lynx announced that Dorka Juhász will miss the entire 2025 season. Juhász is currently playing in the Italian league and plans to rest and recover when that season ends.

Juhász was a second-round pick by Minnesota in 2023 and has averaged 5.4 points and 5.2 rebounds in two seasons with the Lynx.

Minnesota also waived guard Reigan Richardson.

IIHF world championships

U.S. blanks Hungary; Canada routs Latvia

The United States routed newcomer Hungary 6-0 for its second shutout victory at the ice hockey world championship on Sunday.

Canada recorded its second win from two games by routing Latvia 7-1.

Frank Nazar had two goals and an assist for the U.S., Cutter Gauthier scored twice and Conor Garland and Logan Cooley added a goal and an assist each for the Americans.

Goaltender Jeremy Swayman stopped 13 shots.

The U.S. had previously blanked Denmark 5-0 and will face Switzerland on Monday.

Travis Konecny had two goals and an assist for Canada, Kent Johnson scored twice and Nathan MacKinnon, Macklin Celebrini and Barrett Hayton also scored for Canada.

Captain Sidney Crosby recorded his first three assists of the tournament and Marc-Andre Fleury made 16 saves.

MLB

Rockies fire manager Black, coach Redmond

The Colorado Rockies have fired Bud Black, the winningest manager in franchise history, after a 7-33 start that’s one of the worst in Major League Baseball history.

Colorado promoted third base coach Warren Schaeffer to be the interim manager, the team announced Sunday after a 9-3 win over San Diego. That victory wasn’t enough to save Black’s job after the Rockies lost 21-0 to the Padres on Saturday night. They also fired bench coach Mike Redmond. Hitting coach Clint Hurdle takes over as interim bench coach.

The Rockies have the worst 40-game start since the 1988 Baltimore Orioles, who were 6-34.

Golf

Straka wins PGA Truist Championship

Sepp Straka seized the lead with a par on the 16th hole and shot 2-under 68, outdueling Shane Lowry on Sunday in the final round of the Truist Championship at Philadelphia Cricket Club for his second victory of the season.

Straka had a two-shot victory over Lowry and Justin Thomas (67). He finished at 16-under 264.

Straka joined Rory McIlroy (three victories) as the only other multiple winner this year on the PGA Tour. He also won The American Express in January.

Thitikul takes LPGA Mizuho Americas Open

Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand turned back a pair of challenges and played bogey-free over the final 27 holes at Liberty National, closing with a 3-under 69 for a four-shot victory over Celine Boutier in the Mizuho Americas Open.

Thitikul, who captured the Race to CME Globe and its $4 million prize to end last season, won for the first time this year and the fifth time in her LPGA Tour career.

Briefly

MLB >> Houston pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. said he received online death threats directed at his children after his tough start Saturday night against the Cincinnati Reds. McCullers, who was making just his second start since Game 3 of the 2022 World Series, allowed seven runs while getting just one out in Houston’s 13-9 loss. Afterward, McCullers said he had received the threats on social media.

College football >> Miami Hurricanes linebacker Adarius Hayes was one of the drivers in a two-vehicle crash that left three people dead and at least two others injured, police said Sunday.

PGA >> Ryan Fox of New Zealand chipped in from just outside 50 feet on the first playoff hole to win the Myrtle Beach Classic for his first PGA Tour title, sending him back to the PGA Championship.

— From staff and news service reports