The Phoenix Suns are advancing four candidates to a final round of interviews this week, including two NBA championship coaches: Nick Nurse and Doc Rivers, sources told ESPN on Tuesday night.

Nurse and Rivers will meet with senior leadership along with two rising stars in the coaching profession: Suns associate head coach Kevin Young and Sacramento Kings associate head coach Jordi Fernandez, sources said.

Nurse has emerged as a prominent candidate in the Suns' and Milwaukee Bucks' coaching searches, sources said. Nurse is one of three finalists in Milwaukee, including Golden State associate head coach Kenny Atkinson and Toronto assistant Adrian Griffin, sources said. He also interviewed with the Philadelphia 76ers, sources said.

The Suns are pursuing a successor to ex-coach Monty Williams, who was fired after the Suns lost in the Western Conference semifinals to the eventual conference champion Denver Nuggets. The Suns are pitching a job that includes two of the league's best players, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant.

Nurse's five seasons as Toronto's coach included an NBA title in 2019, an NBA Coach of the Year award in 2020 and a 227-163 (.582) record.

Rivers delivered a 154-82 (.653) record in his three seasons, including 54 victories in 2022-23 -- the franchise's most since 2000-01. The Sixers were one of three teams in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. Rivers has had 16 straight winning seasons as a head coach.

Young spent eight years coaching in the G League -- including head-coaching jobs with the Utah Flash, Iowa Energy and Delaware 87ers -- and has been gaining momentum as a head-coaching candidate in openings this year, including with the Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors and Suns. Young previously interviewed for head-coaching jobs with the Sixers, Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards in recent seasons.

Fernandez was a significant part of Michael Malone's coaching staff with the Nuggets for six seasons before becoming the associate head coach with the Sacramento Kings under NBA Coach of the Year Mike Brown in 2022. He's a native of Badalona, Spain.

CINCINNATI -- St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado and manager Oliver Marmol were ejected in the third inning of Tuesday night's 8-5 win over the Cincinnati Reds after plate umpire Will Little angered them with his strike zone.

St. Louis was leading 4-1 at Great American Ball Park with a runner on first and one out, when Little called a strike on a 1-0 cutter that appeared to be above the strike zone, then called a strike on a cutter on the low, inside corner.

Arenado stepped away from the batter's box, grinning and wincing, then grounded into an inning-ending double play.

As Arenado headed back to the dugout along with first base coach Stubby Clapp, Arenado was ejected by Little, who had angered the St. Louis star with a strike call at third base on a checked-swing Monday. It was Arenado's eighth ejection and first this year.

Marmol came out of the dugout and was ejected for the third time this season and sixth time in his managerial career.

"They exchanged words," Marmol said. "I didn't think it should be an ejection. But if my guy goes, I'm going to go with him."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

CHICAGO -- A recent 2-7 road trip left the Chicago Cubs six games under .500, but their manager is staying positive about their playoff hopes thanks to a weak NL Central.

"Thank goodness for the s---ty play of everybody in the division," David Ross said with a smile Tuesday afternoon, before the Cubs (21-26) beat the visiting New York Mets 7-2 to begin a nine-game homestand.

Six games separate the five teams in the division, led by Milwaukee but with only a .542 winning percentage. With their win Tuesday, the Cubs are 4½ games back of the Brewers.

"The story of our season so far is we've struggled in high leverage situations, both offensively and pitching wise," president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Tuesday. "We're seventh in wOBA offensively, and seventh in wOBA from a pitching standpoint. That looks great. There's only a couple teams that are in the top group in both but we've been really poor in high-leverage situations.

"That's the reason our record isn't flipped or even better."

According to Fangraphs, the Cubs' offense ranks 30th in MLB in offensive clutch rating with a -6.02 mark. For context, the Twins are 29th at -2.37 and the Padres are 28th at -1.68. Meanwhile, Chicago is tied for 28th in clutch rating for pitching.

"It's a hard thing to put your finger on," Hoyer said. "Is it pitch selection? Is it pitch execution? Is it putting the right people in the right place to succeed at the right time? Offensively, it's the same thing. Are we swinging at the right pitches? Are we trying to do too much? It's a hard thing to pull apart."

Hoyer was asked about Ross' comments regarding the division. In any of the other five -- save the AL Central -- the Cubs would be no less than 8½ games out of first place.

"Certainly, it's great that no one is running away with the division but ultimately the standard has to be high and you have to build a team and win at every level," Hoyer said. "You can take some solace in that [the weak division] but it ultimately doesn't make me feel any better about our record."

The Cubs hope to get a boost in the clubhouse and on the field when righty Kyle Hendricks (shoulder) returns to a big league mound for the first time in almost 11 months. That will happen at the end of the week.

Additionally, the team expects Cody Bellinger (knee) to be back soon while the offense rides the hot start (8 home runs in 11 games) of second-year infielder/outfielder Christopher Morel. But there may not be many answers or immediate help in a struggling bullpen -- save righty Codi Heuer's (Tommy John) return. At the moment, the team doesn't possess a clear-cut closer after the struggles of Michael Fulmer.

"If I'm being candid, I feel like I've put Rossy in a tough spot," Hoyer said. "That's an area [the pen] we've had so much success with. ... We've done a good job of finding relievers that could come in and find high-leverage innings at a relatively low cost on one-year deals. We've been building bullpens like that for a while. This year that hasn't worked yet. That's on me."

The Cubs are just 2-10 in one-run games, giving some context to an overall positive run differential despite a record well below .500. The team generally plays very good defense but it hasn't made up for other areas which are subpar.

"We're subject to the criticism," Ross said. "We have to be better and play better ... but we've always tried to take care of ourselves and when we're buttoned-up and playing good, clean baseball and executing from pitch to pitch that's the best version of us. We have to get back to that first and then worry about the division as we play better baseball."

Hoyer understands the situation the team is in as Memorial Day approaches.

"It's not early forever," he said. "We need to bank some wins."

ATLANTA -- Bobby Miller took a while to get spiffed up after his big league debut.

His Los Angeles Dodgers teammates celebrated Miller's winning performance with an impromptu beer shower that expanded to include some other clubhouse condiments.

"Ketchup, mustard, relish, beer -- there was pretty nasty stuff poured on me," Miller said, beaming at his locker after a hose-down. "I loved every second of it. It was awesome."

Miller, 24, got started on what the Dodgers hope will be a long career in the majors by winning a duel of hard-throwing pitchers. He allowed one run over five innings as Los Angeles cruised to an 8-1 victory over Spencer Strider and the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night.

J.D. Martinez and Jason Heyward homered for the Dodgers, who also got three RBI from Will Smith.

But Miller was the one getting all the attention afterward. Cheered on by more than two dozen family and friends who hastily made the trip to Atlanta after his call-up from Triple-A, he hardly looked like a guy who was doing it all for the first time.

"He was really impressive," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "I thought he showed a lot of poise. He did a great job of managing his emotions and showed just enough edginess."

Strider fanned 11 hitters to add to his MLB-leading strikeout total -- his fourth start this season with double-digit Ks and 10th of his young career.

It wasn't enough to best the rookie in L.A. blue, especially after Strider (4-2) surrendered a second-inning homer to Heyward and the Dodgers wound up scoring two more unearned runs that inning with an assist from Matt Olson's error.

Miller (1-0) took it from there. After a bit of a shaky start, he settled himself and blew away the Braves with a fastball that consistently clocked at 100 mph and an impressive slider and changeup that kept the home team off balance.

He surrendered four hits, walked one and struck out five before turning it over to the bullpen. Four relievers worked one scoreless inning apiece to stifle the Braves.

Martinez made it a rout with a three-run homer in the ninth off Michael Tonkin.

One of the Dodgers' top prospects, Miller gave the big league rotation a much-needed boost with Dustin May and Julio Urias on the injured list and Walker Buehler expected to miss the season after Tommy John surgery.

"We've got some runway now," Roberts said. "It's exciting for this organization."

Strider, the Braves' mustachioed rookie sensation from 2022, came into the game leading the majors with 86 strikeouts in just 51 2/3 innings. Throwing in the upper 90s, he was hit hard in the first two frames, giving up four runs -- two earned -- before finding his groove.

Strider retired 13 of the last 15 hitters he faced, with only Heyward reaching base on a walk and a single. The right-hander finished his outing by striking out the side in the sixth, all swinging.

"Just a couple of pitches that I normally get away with," Strider said, "You normally get away with a few mistakes a game. Everyone does. I didn't tonight. You've got to give them credit."

The Braves' lone run came on Austin Riley's two-out double in the bottom of the first, the 500th hit of his career.

NEW YORK -- Gerrit Cole entered rarefied air on Tuesday against the Baltimore Orioles.

The New York Yankees ace recorded his 2,000th career strikeout in the second inning, becoming the third-fastest pitcher in games played to reach the mark.

Cole accomplished the feat in 278 games, behind only Randy Johnson (262 games) and Clayton Kershaw (277 games). Cole also became the third fastest to reach the mark in innings pitched (1,714⅔), trailing just Chris Sale (1,626 innings) and Pedro Martinez (1,711⅓ innings).

The historic punchout came on a 96.6 mph fastball on a 2-2 count against Orioles shortstop Jorge Mateo.

Cole became the 88th pitcher in MLB history to accomplish the feat, including the seventh to do so wearing pinstripes. Among active pitchers on MLB rosters, Cole ranks seventh in career strikeouts behind Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke, Kershaw, Adam Wainwright and Sale.

Cole, who allowed 5 runs on 6 hits against Baltimore, was pulled after giving up back-to-back singles to start the sixth. Terrin Vavra put the Orioles in front 5-4 with a bases-loaded groundout against Ron Marinaccio, and Baltimore's stingy bullpen held it there before Aaron Judge took Cole off the hook for his first loss in 11 starts this season.

Judge drove an 0-2 splitter from Félix Bautista over the left-field fence with one out in the ninth. It was Judge's 14th home run this season and eighth in his last nine games. The Yankees then scratched across the winning run in the 10th for a 6-5 victory.

"It's a pretty special accomplishment. I was pretty depressed about the whole thing, for the most part, until Judgie came through and picked us up," Cole said of the milestone. "Probably leaving the game tonight more excited about how we played as a team tonight as opposed to accomplishing that."

Cole has been one of the game's best pitchers this season, ranking first in bWAR while posting a 2.01 ERA and 1.09 WHIP, with 70 strikeouts in 67⅔ innings pitched.

Cole is currently in the fourth year of a nine-year, $324 million contract.

Information from The Associated Press was included in this report.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Toronto Blue Jays dugout got a laugh when slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. struck out against a position player. Given a second chance against Luke Raley, Guerrero hit his fourth career grand slam.

Guerrero had six RBIs and the Blue Jays stopped a five-game losing streak with a 20-1 rout of the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night, scoring their last 10 runs off position players.

Guerrero put Toronto ahead with an RBI single off Taj Bradley (3-1) in the first, had a run-scoring single in the fifth that opened a 10-0 lead and hit a 423-foot grand slam in a nine-run ninth against Raley.

"We were all kind of laughing," Blue Jays manager John Schneider said of Guerrero's strikeout on a 50 mph pitch. "It's hard to do against a dude throwing 40, whatever. You kind of take it for what it's worth. The fact that he was laughing, I loved it."

"But, you don't get Vladdy twice on a position player," Schneider added. "He's going to get you."

Guerrero is hitting .300 with eight homers and 33 RBIs. His six RBIs were one shy of his career high.

All 12 Toronto batters in the game had hits, and the Blue Jays finished with 27 hits -- their most since getting 29 against the Boston Red Sox in a 28-5 win last July 22.

Tampa Bay entered with the second-fewest runs allowed in the majors at 170 and gave up its most since a 20-8 loss at Boston on Aug. 11, 2021. The Rays have the best record in MLB, with a .714 win percentage; the 19-run loss is the worst by any team in MLB history with that winning percentage at least 40 games into the season, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

"In fairness, it got a little ugly." Rays manager Kevin Cash said.

George Springer had four hits for Toronto, while Bo Bichette, Whit Merrifield, Danny Jansen and Guerrero had three apiece. Springer hit his seventh homer, a solo drive in the third.

"It's good to see some positives on our side," Springer said. "It's just a good day. Hopefully spiral into a lot more."

Raley, an outfielder and first baseman, allowed seven runs and eight hits over 1⅔ innings. He threw 27 pitches of 47 mph to 54 mph, striking out Guerrero in the eighth.

"It's something I can honestly say I never thought I would do ... at least have one strikeout in the books," Raley said.

Catcher Christian Bethancourt entered with two outs in the ninth and gave up Daulton Varsho's RBI single and Jansen's two-run homer.

Raley's ERA is 30.38 after his second mound appearance this season. Bethancourt's ERA is 81.00. Relief pitcher Zack Burdi gave up six runs in the fifth, five of them earned.

"It's not my favorite place to be," Raley said. "I told them before, I got rocked in high school, so I can't imagine what these guys would actually do to me if I tried to pitch. So just try to lob it over the plate and save our bullpen."

Cash said with a smile that Raley needs to add a changeup.

Zack Burdi gave up six runs in the fifth, five of them earned.

José Berríos (4-4) allowed one run, five hits and two walks, striking out five.

Isaac Paredes homered for the Rays, who dropped to 22-5 at home this season. Tampa Bay leads the majors with 95 home runs.

Bradley gave up four runs and nine hits in four innings.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

SUNRISE, Fla. -- All-Star forward Aleksander Barkov should be back on the ice soon, maybe very soon, and that news brought a collective sigh of relief from the Florida Panthers.

It isn't totally certain if the Panthers' captain will play in a potentially series-clinching Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night. He left Game 3 in the first period with a lower-body injury.

But it's a possibility, coach Paul Maurice said Tuesday -- obviously, a very good sign for a team that is one win away from the Stanley Cup final. Barkov was listed as questionable after the injury but did not return to Game 3; tests and evaluation since have evidently ruled out any major issue.

"It was as much precautionary as anything, to rule out anything sinister," Maurice said. "We're very optimistic that he'll return soon and when he does, he'll be ready to go. ... We're optimistic that we would see him in Game 4 and, if necessary, we could see him in Game 5."

Besides, Barkov could have some official duties to tend to if Florida wins Wednesday night.

The Prince of Wales Trophy awaits the winning team in the Eastern Conference. It is typically presented to the captain, and then the superstitions or lack thereof become evident. Some don't touch it at all and pose politely for photos, others do touch it, and some - Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin in recent years -- have picked it up and skated away.

"He's a huge part of our team," Florida forward Eetu Luostarinen said of Barkov. "He shows that on the ice. ... Obviously, we want him on the ice as much as we can."

Barkov took a hit from Carolina's Jack Drury with about seven minutes left in the opening period of Game 3, without any obvious signs of major discomfort afterward. Barkov returned to the Florida bench after the shift and took a seat briefly before talking with someone from the Panthers' medical staff and departing for the locker room.

Barkov has four goals -- one of them just an incredible score in Game 2 of the East final that drew rave reviews from even the likes of Wayne Gretzky -- and eight assists for 12 points in Florida's first 15 games in this playoff run. The Panthers have a 3-0 lead in the East finals, trying to get to the Stanley Cup final for the first time since 1996.

Rose Zhang was honored as the most outstanding female NCAA DI college player on Tuesday, winning the Annika Award for the second-straight season.

The announcement came less than 24 hours after Zhang successfully defended her 2022 NCAA individual title to go back-to-back, becoming the first woman to win multiple individual titles.

Zhang, who is the top-ranked amateur in the world, has 12 wins in 20 starts over two seasons with the Stanford Cardinal. Her 12th win makes her the winningest Stanford golfer, male or female, in school history. She surpassed Tiger Woods, Maverick McNealy and Patrick Rodgers for the honor.

“It doesn’t get better than winning the Annika Award,” Zhang said when receiving the award. “Her resume and everything she does for the game of golf is incredible. Definitely one of the best role models in my career. To do so again, even though it’s not on the forefront of my mind, it’s something that’s a byproduct of everything I’ve done this year.

“For me, I went out (this year) on the golf course with a completely different mindset,” continued Zhang. “Starting in the fall season and talking with coach (Anne) Walker, I had personal goals in mind of just trying to become the best player I could be for the team. Throughout the year, I have just grinded. I’ve had competitions with my teammates, and we are all very driven. So, it has been very good for me to have that competitive mindset and really push myself.”

This is the third-straight year that a Stanford player has won the award (Zhang, '22; Rachel Heck, '21). Other to have won include: Natalie Srinivasan (Furman, 2020); Maria Fassi (Arkansas, 2018-19); Leona Maguire (Duke, 2015, 2017); Bronte Law (UCLA, 2016) and Alison Lee (2014).

“Rose has had one of the best careers in the history of college golf, male or female, culminating this week with capturing back-to-back NCAA individual championships,” said Annika, who won the 1991 NCAA individual championship at the University of Arizona as a Freshman. “I’ve watched her play at our foundation tournaments and these past two years at Stanford. She has such a bright future ahead of her. Golf is in good hands with players like Rose. It validates what we do in celebrating these wonderful young women both on and off the golf course."

There's no rest for Zhang after her individual win, though, with the NCAA women's team title to be decided Wednesday — the same day Zhang turns 20. Her Stanford Cardinal is in the mix as the team tries to go back-to-back.