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The Mets will see how ace Jacob deGrom fares this week after being scratched from his scheduled start at St. Louis when he had trouble getting loose during a pregame stretch. The team said deGrom had inflammation in his right lat and wouldn’t throw for the next few days. The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner has been baseball’s most dominant pitcher this season. Also, Washington star Juan Soto will be limited to pinch-hitting duty for now after coming off the injured list, and Shohei Ohtani is set to pitch again after a two-day delay because he got hit on the right elbow by a fastball last weekend.

Myanmar’s security forces are arresting and forcibly disappearing thousands of people, especially boys and young men, in a sweeping bid to break the back of a three-month uprising against a military takeover. An Associated Press analysis of more than 3,500 arrests since February shows the families of most of those taken do not know where they are. UNICEF, the U.N. children’s agency, is aware of around 1,000 cases of children or young people arbitrarily arrested and detained. It is a tactic long used to crush pro-democracy movements. The boys and young men are taken from homes and streets, under the cover of night and sometimes in the brightness of day. Some end up dead. Many are imprisoned and sometimes tortured. Many more are missing.

Clayton Kershaw lasted one inning in the shortest start of his stellar career in the opener, Trevor Bauer didn’t get through the fifth in the nightcap, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3 to sweep a split doubleheader. David Bote, who tagged Kershaw for a three-run double in a 7-1 win, delivered a game-ending single in the ninth inning of the nightcap. Javier Báez hit a tying, two-run homer with two outs in the eighth. Chicago took two from the World Series champions after losing seven of nine. The Dodgers lost for the eighth time in 10 games.

Many parents and educators are excited over the news that the Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine by next week for youngsters ages 12 to 15. Officials are hoping that extending vaccinations to children will drive down the nation’s caseload even further and allow schools to reopen with minimal disruption this fall. It could also reassure parents and teachers alike. While children are less likely to get seriously ill from the coronavirus, they can still get sick and spread it to others, too.

Dylan Cease pitched one-hit ball for six innings, struck out 11 and amazingly got three hits in his first pro plate appearances as the Chicago White Sox routed the Cincinnati Reds 9-0. It was a historic night at the plate for Cease, who doubled and singled twice before getting pulled for a pinch-hitter. Cease is the first American League pitcher since Jarrod Washburn in 2001 to have a three-hit game. He is the first White Sox pitcher with three hits in a game since Tom Bradley on May 14, 1972, a year before the designated hitter came into play. Jose Abreu homered as the White Sox won for the eighth time in 11 games.

Despite clear signs India was being swamped by another surge of coronavirus infections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government refused to cancel a major Hindu festival and held election rallies with thousands of unmasked supporters. Even cricket matches with spectators went forward. The burgeoning crisis has badly dented Modi’s carefully cultivated image as an able technocrat with deep appeal to a middle class weary of corruption and government dysfunction. Deaths and infections are mounting as a vaccination rollout falters, with Modi pushing responsibility onto ill-supplied and unprepared state governments. His critics accuse Modi of stifling dissent and choosing politics over the public health of the world’s second most populous country.

Boos and bad words streamed loudly from the seats in the Houston Astros’ return to Yankee Stadium, and New York got a homer and four hits from Giancarlo Stanton to sate those spiteful fans with a 7-3 victory. In Houston’s first visit to the Bronx since their sign-stealing scam was exposed, an error by Astros third baseman Alex Bregman in the sixth inning let New York blow the game open. A pandemic-limited, sellout crowd of 10,850 skipped subtle barbs for salty language, aimed especially at 2017 AL MVP Jose Altuve. Several brought signs insulting the Astros, and security confiscated multiple inflatable trash cans.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 36 points and the Milwaukee Bucks used a fourth-quarter rally to beat the Brooklyn Nets for the second time in three days, winning 124-118. Milwaukee blew a 10-point lead in the second half and trailed 103-97 with 10 minutes left, but it responded with an 18-1 run to clinch a fifth straight playoff appearance. Brooklyn cut the margin to four with 1:02 left, but Antetokounmpo sank a pair of free throws and Jrue Holiday made a steal in the final minute to seal the victory. Kyrie Irving scored 38 points for the Nets, and Kevin Durant had 32. 

Huascar Ynoa hit a grand slam and pitched seven stress-free innings in a dominant two-way performance, leading the Atlanta Braves to a 6-1 victory over the Washington Nationals. Ynoa blasted a fastball from Tanner Rainey 427 feet to center field in the sixth inning, extending his left arm on the follow-through like a polished slugger. It was the first grand slam by a major league pitcher since Cincinnati’s Anthony DeSclafani on June 23, 2018. Ynoa also homered in his last start and is hitting .385 this season. Ronald Acuña Jr. also homered for the Braves, who stopped a four-game skid. Washington's four-game winning streak ended.

Minor league baseball is back after a season lost to the coronavirus pandemic. From Omaha to Tampa, from San Jose to the Jersey Shore, games resumed Tuesday at all different levels. There have been significant changes to the structure of the minors and there have been new rules put in play. There was a computer calling balls and strikes at George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida. But the fans and crazy promotions that make minor league ball such a neat experience are back, as are the games.

Devin Booker scored 31 points, Chris Paul had 23 and 16 assists and the Phoenix Suns stayed in step with Utah atop the Western Conference by outlasting the under-manned Cleveland Cavaliers 134-118 in overtime on for their fifth straight win. Mikal Bridges made two 3-pointers, dunked and had a block as Phoenix scored the first 15 points in OT to finally put away the Cavs, who were missing six players with injuries. Phoenix outscored Cleveland 20-4 in the extra five minutes. Cavs rookie Isaac Okoro scored a season-high 32 points and Collin Sexton 29 for the Cavs, who lost their seventh straight.

New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom was scratched from Tuesday night’s scheduled start against St. Louis because he was having trouble getting loose as he started to stretch ahead of his outing. Mets manager Luis Rojas said deGrom had a scan that showed inflammation of the latissimus dorsi muscle, a back muscle that connects the upper arm to the spine and the hip. DeGrom won’t throw for a few days. Rojas said he learned of the issue about eight hours before the Mets’ scheduled game against the Cardinals, which was rained out and rescheduled as part of a single-admission doubleheader Wednesday, with both games set for seven innings.

Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor learned from phone messages that the New York Mets had fired hitting coach Chili Davis and assistant Tom Slater, a move that left players unhappy. New York made the announcement late Monday night, two days after the first baseman started to publicly mention the positive assistance of a new batting instructor who apparently is fictional. After Saturday night’s 5-4 win at Philadelphia, Alonso made a curious reference to the contributions of a new coach, Donnie Stevenson, who apparently doesn't exist.

A federal judge is weighing whether Pacific Gas & Electric violated its criminal probation by sparking a wildfire north of San Francisco. The fire destroyed more than 100 homes and injured six firefighters in October 2019. Prosecutors and attorneys for PG&E appeared at a hearing Tuesday before U.S. District Judge William Alsup. The hearing came a month after the Sonoma County district attorney charged the company with five felony and 28 misdemeanor counts in the fire. PG&E has accepted investigators’ findings that its transmission line ignited the fire. But it has denied committing any crimes.

The Mets will see how ace Jacob deGrom fares this week after being scratched from his start at St. Louis when he had trouble getting loose during a pregame stretch. The team said deGrom had inflammation in his right lat and wouldn’t throw for the next few days. The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner has been baseball’s most dominant pitcher this season, with a major league-best 0.51 ERA in five starts. Still, he is just 2-2 as New York continues to have trouble scoring runs for him. Also, Washington star Juan Soto will be limited to pinch-hitting duty for now after coming off the injured list.

Jesús Luzardo has played video games all his life. The Oakland lefty will continue to do so with fervor, even after the embarrassment of breaking the pinkie on his pitching hand while gaming. Luzardo has apologized to his teammates and Athletics manager Bob Melvin for the accident, which occurred Saturday when he banged his hand into a table while playing a video game four hours before a start. The 23-year-old Luzardo is out indefinitely with a broken bone in his finger. He called it a “stupid” and “immature” mistake.

Cincinnati reliever Amir Garrett has been suspended for seven games by Major League Baseball. Garrett was penalized for inciting the events in the top of the eighth inning on Saturday against the Chicago Cubs. Garrett appealed the discipline and can continue to play until the process is complete. Garrett struck out Anthony Rizzo with one out in the eighth and celebrated by punching himself in the chest several times. Garrett and the Cubs' Javier Báez yelled, and benches and bullpens emptied.