Local Sports

Week 6 Area Football Scores

Central Illinois:

 

Shelbyville 0, Central A&M 41, F

Sullivan 0, Tuscola 61, F

Warrensburg-Latham 42, Meridian 14, F

 

Illini Prairie:

 

Bloomington Central Catholic 7, Champaign St. Thomas More 37, F

Illinois Valley Central 35, Rantoul 34, F

Prairie Central 34, St. Joseph-Ogden 14, F

Pontiac 49, Olympia 7, F

 

Heart of Illinois (Large):

 

Tri-Valley 0, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley 42, F

El Paso-Gridley 12, Eureka 35, F

Fieldcrest 42, Deer Creek-Mackinaw 7, F

 

Heart of Illinois (Small):

 

Fisher 40, Heyworth 16, F

LeRoy 48, Flanagan-Cornell-Woodland 0, F

Tremont 33, Ridgeview 16, F

 

Big Twelve:

 

Champaign Centennial 33, Urbana 6, F

Normal Community 49, Bloomington 28, F

Peoria Notre Dame 42, Peoria Manual 0, F

Peoria Richwoods 14, Peoria 58, F

 

Central State Eight:

 

Chatham Glenwood 39, Decatur MacArthur 32, F

Decatur Eisenhower 20, Rochester 70, F

Springfield Lanphier 20, Jacksonville 29, F

Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin 41, Springfield 49, F

Springfield Southeast 18, Normal University 13, F

 

Apollo:

 

Effingham 64, Mahomet-Seymour 28, F

Lincoln 26, Charleston 25, F

Mattoon 15, Mt. Zion 14, F

 

Sangamo:

 

PORTA 0, Maroa-Forsyth 41, F

 

Little Okaw Valley (Northwest):

 

Argenta-Oreana 54, Cerro Gordo-Bement 6, F

Decatur Lutheran 40, Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond 11, F

Sangamon Valley 7, Arcola 48, F

 

Non-Conference:

 

Normal Community West 41, Hampshire 20, F

 

Monticello Continues to Win 41-0

Monticello returned home for their game Friday night and didn't disappoint again. As the Sages flew past the Unity Rockets 41 to 0.

 

In the first quarter, Monticello would return the ball where Chris Brown would fumble the football with Unity recovering. 

 

Unity wasn't able to capitalize anything on offense. Matt Kerr and Riley Austin continued to show great skill on defense stopping Unity's Carson Fisher and Nate Reinhart in the backfield. 

Monticello would soon get the ball back on a turnover on down. The first play ran by quarterback Braden Snyder he threw a pass play just like Coach Welter drew it up. Snyder looked for Asher Bradd downfield on post route catching the ball and running it in for a touchdown for an 86 yard touchdown pass. 

 

Austin and Kerr continued to pound away on defense, putting pressure on Rocket's quarterback Reinhart. Reinhart was 3 for 10 in passing two of which that went for interceptions. Early still in the 1st quarter, Reinhart tried throwing deep to David Martin but threw short making an easy interception for Asher Bradd. 

 

Monticello didn't stop there as they would drive down the field. Snyder who threw 19 and 23 moved his team down the field hitting receivers Bradd, Luke Stringer, Devin Graham, and Matt Kerr. Snyder threw for more than 300 yards in Friday nights game. 

 

As Monticello would get closer to the goal line, Bundy runs it in for a 6-yard touchdown increasing the lead 14 to 0.

 

Unity still not finding any ground with Jack Spence and Matt Kerr continuing to put pressure on the offense giving up no ground. The Unity offense totaled 124 yards all game. Early in the second quarter, the Rockets stopped Monticello on some plays forcing Coach Welter to come up with a trick play. Third and long for Monticello Snyder threw back to Asher Bradd then Bradd looking into the corner of the end zone for Luke Stringer. The six-yard pass was completed for a touchdown increasing the lead 21 to 0.

 

Braden Snyder gets his chance later, driving the ball down with him running the ball. Snyder put his faith in the offensive line driving the Rockets back to the end zone. Snyder brought it up to the one-yard line, hurrying the offense back up and running a quarterback keeper into the end zone. Snyder scoring his second touchdown bringing the score 35-0 before the half.

The second half would entail more of both teams running the football. The Rockets returned the ball at the start of the third quarter but quickly turned the ball the other way punting it to Asher Bradd. Bradd would get blocks from Devin Graham and Alek Bundy finding open room returning the punt for 70 yards. That would put the score up 41 to 0. Luke Rudolph missed the extra point. 

The clock continued to run with both teams running the football quickly ending the game, making the final score 41-0 in favor of the Sages.

Play of the Game: Touchdown pass from Braden Snyder to Asher Bradd for 86 yards.


Monticello Stats

 

Passing
Braden Snyder 19-23 323yds 

Rushing


Chris Brown 7 Att 61yds
Alek Bundy 6 Att 49yds
Braden Snyder 7 Att 11yds
Nick Tackles 3 Att 10yds

 

Receiving
Asher Bradd 9 Catches 226yds
Devin Graham 3 Catches 35yds
Alek Bundy 3 Catches 13yds
Luke Stringer 4 Catches 25yds
Matt Kerr 1 Catch 16yds
Henry Dawson 1 Catch 8yds

Maroons Shutout by Bulldogs

As heard on WHOW, the Clinton Maroons fall to the St. Teresa Bulldogs by a score of 50-0 on Friday night. The Maroons were led by Kolby Winter with 15 carries for 56 yards. Ty Berter had 13 carries for 49 yards, was 2 of 11 passing for 31 yards and an interception. He was sacked 5 times. The Maroons defense sacked the Bulldogs's quarterback 6 times.

 

For the Bulldogs, they were led by Jacardia Wright who had 8 rushes for 105 yards and 4 touchdowns, 2 catches for 23 yards and a touchdown, and a 55 yard punt return for a touchdown. Quarterback Jack Hogan was 4 of 8 passing for 115 yards and a touchdown.

 

With the loss, the Maroons fall to 4-2 overall and 2-2 in the CIC. St. Teresa improves to 6-0 on the season and 4-0 in conference action.

 

Tune in next Friday, October 5, as the Maroons take on Central A&M for Homecoming. You can hear the game live on the Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM/106.5 FM WHOW, online at dewittdailynews.com, and on the WHOW app. Game time is set for 7pm with pregame coverage starting around 6:45pm.

Cubs beat Pirates 3-0

Jon Lester combined with three relievers on a four-hitter, David Bote hit an early two-run triple and the Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-0 on Thursday night to open a one-game NL Central lead over Milwaukee heading into the final weekend of the season.

A day after the Cubs and Brewers assured themselves of no worse than wild-card berths, Lester (18-6) escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first inning and allowed three hits and four walks over six innings. He improved to 6-1 with a 1.71 ERA in his last eight starts.

Steve Cishek, Carl Edwards Jr. and Jesse Chavez followed, with Chavez pitching the ninth for his fourth save in five chances with Chicago.

Chicago (93-66) hosts St. Louis (87-72) in the final series starting Friday while Milwaukee (92-67) is at home against Detroit. The Cardinals (87-72) trail the Los Angeles Dodgers by one game for the second wild-card berth.

The Cubs' win means the NL Central champion, Chicago or Milwaukee, will finish with the league's best record and will play the winner of Tuesday's wild-card game. East champion Atlanta will play the West champion, Colorado or the Dodgers.

Trevor Williams (14-10) gave up all three runs, eight hits and three walks in five innings. He had been 4-0 in six starts since losing to the Cubs on Aug. 17 and is 7-3 with a 1.38 ERA since the All-Star break.

Bote started at third base in place of Kris Bryant, who missed his second game with a sore left wrist after getting hit by a pitch by Chris Archer on Tuesday.

Lester singled in the fourth and scored on Daniel Murphy's single.

Up next for the Cubs RHP Kyle Hendricks (13-11, 3.49) opens the series against the Cardinals vs. RHP Adam Wainwright (2-3, 4.08.) In his last six starts, Hendricks is 4-1 with a 1.37 ERA.

Friday Night Football

Central Illinois Conference
Shelbyville vs. Central A&M 7:00 PM at Central A&M High School
Clinton vs. Decatur St. Teresa 7:00 PM at St. Teresa High School
Sullivan vs. Tuscola 7:00 PM at Tuscola High School
Warrensburg-Latham vs. Macon Meridian7:00 PM at Meridian High School

 

Illini Prairie Conference
Bloomington Central Catholic vs. St. Thomas More 7:00 PM at St. Thomas More
Illinois Valley Central vs. Rantoul 7:00 PM at Rantoul
Prairie Central vs. St. Joseph-Ogden 7:00 PM at St. Joseph-Ogden
Monticello Sages vs. Tolono Unity 7:00 PM at Monticello
Pontiac vs. Olympia 7:00 PM at Olympia

Rams past Vikings, 38-31

Jared Goff hit Cooper Kupp in stride with a 70-yard touchdown pass that was just as gloriously wide-open as Rams coach Sean McVay had predicted when they drew it up this week.

While his teammates celebrated, Goff ran to the sideline and pointed at McVay, who accepted the challenge with a celebratory chest bump.

Although the big quarterback knocked the headset off his smaller coach's head, both men were left smiling. With that throw and several more of similar brilliance, Goff turned a phenomenal first half into the biggest game of his career.

And it was still just barely enough to beat Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings.

Goff passed for career highs of 465 yards and five touchdowns, winning a scintillating duel with his Minnesota counterpart and leading unbeaten Los Angeles to a 38-31 victory Thursday night.

Goff hit Kupp with two of his four TD throws during a 251-yard first half in which the third-year quarterback flawlessly executed the offense created by McVay. Goff finished 26 of 33 with a perfect 158.3 passer rating for the Rams (4-0), who won their third home game in 12 days.

But McVay then had to watch apprehensively while his former prize pupil nearly executed a comeback for the Vikings (1-2-1). McVay was Cousins' offensive coordinator in Washington before he became Goff's head coach on the West Coast last season.

Cousins passed for 422 yards and three touchdowns, but the Vikings lost when Los Angeles rookie defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers strip-sacked Cousins near midfield with 1:18 to play.

Todd Gurley finished with 83 yards rushing and 73 yards receiving for the Rams. Gurley and Brandin Cooks had first-half TD catches, but the Vikings trimmed LA's lead to 31-28 late in the third quarter with Adam Thielen's 45-yard TD catch and a 2-point conversion.

Goff promptly surpassed his previous career highs for yards passing during a swift drive ending in Robert Woods' 31-yard TD catch, and the Rams' defense hung on while the offense went scoreless in the fourth quarter.

One week after giving up 27 points in the first half and getting blown out as 16 1/2-point favorites in Buffalo, the Vikings gave up 28 before halftime against LA.

A healthy throng of purple-clad fans turned out for the Vikings' first game in Los Angeles since 1993. They saw a show from Cousins, who hit Aldrick Robinson for two first-half scores.

Goff found Kupp with two beautiful TD throws in the first half, the first hitting Kupp in stride on that 70-yard sprint , and the second eluding two Vikings and dropping into Kupp's hands deep in the end zone.

Less than 2 1/2 minutes later, Goff hit Cooks down the middle for a 47-yard score. Goff's four TD passes were the most in a first half by a Rams quarterback since Kurt Warner did it in 1999.

Cubs' Bryant out of lineup for 2nd day with bruised wrist

Cubs slugger Kris Bryant is out of the starting lineup for a second straight day with a bruised left wrist.

Bryant was hit by a pitch from Pittsburgh's Chris Archer on Tuesday. Chicago manager Joe Maddon says Bryant could be available as a pinch hitter on Thursday night and as a starter Friday against St. Louis.

The 2016 NL MVP has had two stints on the disabled list this season because of left shoulder inflammation. The 26-year-old Bryant is batting .276 with 12 homers and 49 RBIs in 98 games.

David Bote started at third for the Cubs on Thursday.

Indians beat White Sox 10-2

Shane Bieber remained perfect on the road with six scoreless innings, Francisco Lindor led off the game with a home run and the Cleveland Indians beat up the Chicago White Sox 10-2 on Wednesday night.
 
Edwin Encarnacion finished 3 for 4 with a three-run homer and drove in four runs for the AL Central champs.
 
Bieber (11-5) improved to 7-0 on the road, setting a single-season record with most road wins without a loss by a Cleveland pitcher. The 23-year-old rookie has yet to lose a road game in his 11 career starts.
 
He retired the first eight batters and didn't allow a hit until Yoan Moncada reached after hitting an unusual high bouncer back to Bieber with two outs in the fifth. Bieber, who got a laugh out of it, didn't even have a chance to make a throw to first.
 
In his final start of the regular season, Bieber coasted through the White Sox lineup, allowing just two hits. He finished with nine strikeouts and two walks.
 
Kevan Smith broke up the shutout with an RBI single with one out in the ninth off Indians reliever Oliver Perez. Adam Engel also added an RBI single off Adam Cimber.
 
In the home finale and fan appreciation night, the White Sox finished 30-51, their worst performance at home in a full season since the last-place 1948 team won 27 games.
 
There was a scare in the eighth inning, Erik Gonzalez, who came in as a defensive replacement for the Indians, was hit off the left side of his helmet during an at-bat. Gonzalez, who was hit by White Sox reliever Rob Scahill, was down for several minutes while being tended by team trainers and was helped off the field.
 
On the third pitch of the game, Lindor hit his ninth leadoff homer of the season off White Sox starter Jace Fry (2-3), extending Lindor's team record. It was his 12th career leadoff home run and his 37th home run of the season.
 
Jose Ramirez led off the third inning with a double off White Sox reliever Aaron Bummer and scored on Encarnacion's single.
 
Encarnacion tagged White Sox reliever Ryan Burr with a three-run shot in the fourth inning. It was his 32nd of the season.
 
Roberto Perez greeted White Sox reliever Jeanmar Gomez with an RBI single in the fifth and Michael Brantley added a sacrifice fly.
 
Jason Kipnis hit a two-run double in the sixth and Perez ended Gomez's night with an RBI double to make it 10-0.
 
Fry, used throughout the season as a reliever, made his first career start on what manager Rick Renteria called a "bullpen day." Fry only lasted an inning.
 
Josh Donaldson had a career-best four walks for Cleveland.
 
Up next for the White Sox: Right-handers Reynaldo Lopez (7-9) and Lucas Giolito (10-12) will start start in Friday's doubleheader against the Twins. Lopez allowed one run over seven innings in a win against the Cubs in his last start. Giolito pitched 6 2-3 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits in a loss to the Cubs on Saturday.

Cubs top Pirates 7-6 in 10

Shortly after their playoff spot was assured, the Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-6 Wednesday night when Albert Almora Jr. hit a game-ending single with two outs in the 10th inning.
 
The NL Central-leading Cubs clinched their fourth straight postseason appearance earlier in the evening when Milwaukee beat St. Louis. The Brewers, who sealed a playoff slot with their win, are a half-game behind Chicago - one of them will win the NL Central, the other will play in the NL wild-card game next Tuesday.
 
After Pittsburgh tied it in the ninth on a two-out, two-run double by Starling Marte, the Cubs bounced back to win.
 
Ian Happ led off the 10th with a walk and was replaced by pinch-runner Terrance Gore. Mike Freeman's sacrifice moved up Gore, and he took third on a groundout. Almora singled to left on an 0-2 pitch from Richard Rodriguez (4-3).
 
Jason Heyward homered and drove in three runs for the Cubs. Javier Baez singled for his NL-leading 111th RBI as the Cubs won after blowing a five-run lead. Star third baseman Kris Bryant didn't play because of a bruised left wrist.
 
Jose Osuna and Corey Dickerson homered for Pittsburgh.
 
Brandon Kintzler (3-3) got the only batter he faced in the top of the 10th to hit into a double play.
 
The Cubs led by five and still took a 6-2 lead into the eighth behind solid pitching from Jose Quintana and Jesse Chavez, but the rest of the relievers struggled.
 
Carl Edwards Jr. started the eighth, but was yanked after walking two of the three batters he faced. After retiring the first batter he faced, Steve Cishek gave up a walk and a two-run single to Elias Diaz to make it 6-4. Following an intentional walk to load the bases, Cishek got Pablo Reyes to ground out to end the threat.
 
Chicago wasn't as fortunate in the ninth.
 
With a runner on first and one out, pinch-hitter Francisco Cervelli doubled off the wall in right. Justin Wilson got Adam Frazier on a popup and appeared on the verge of getting out of it, but Marte hit a liner that hit off first baseman Anthony Rizzo's glove and rolled down the line for a tying double.
 
Pirates starter Ivan Nova was roughed up for six runs and eight hits in four innings.
 
Up next for the Cubs ace LHP Jon Lester (17-6, 3.43 ERA) faces RHP Trevor Williams (14-9, 3.04) in the finale of the four-game series Thursday night. Lester is 5-1 with a 1.96 ERA in his last seven starts, while Williams has allowed a total of eight earned runs in his last 12 starts for an ERA of 1.00 during that span.

Brewers clinch playoff spot, sweep Cards 2-1

Fortunately for the Milwaukee Brewers, they didn't slip up.
 
The Brewers clinched their first playoff spot since 2011 by ensuring at least a spot in the NL wild-card game, helped Wednesday night when a rookie St. Louis pinch-runner suddenly fell on his way to the plate in a 2-1 win over the contending Cardinals.
 
The Brewers (92-67) remained a half-game behind the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs. Milwaukee's win also sealed a postseason berth for the Cubs.
 
Milwaukee began the day 3 1/2 games ahead of Colorado for the top wild-card slot. St. Louis (87-71) entered a half-game behind the Rockies for the final wild-card berth.
 
The Cardinals missed a big chance to tie it in the eighth inning. Matt Carpenter drew a two-out walk and was lifted for pinch-runner Adolis Garcia. Jose Martinez then hit a slow roller to third baseman Mike Moustakas, who threw wildly to first.
 
Garcia was waved home, but slipped rounding third base and fell halfway to the plate. He got to his feet and had no chance, easily tagged out after second baseman Hernan Perez made a strong throw.
 
Milwaukee turned that break into a three-game sweep at Busch Stadium. And while the Brewers enjoyed an enthusiastic celebration in their clubhouse, the prospect of catching the Cubs still hung in the air.
 
Milwaukee advanced to the NL Championship Series in 2011 before being eliminated in six games by the eventual World Series champion Cardinals.
 
Jhoulys Chacin pitched five strong innings and Travis Shaw hit a pair of RBI singles for Milwaukee.
 
Chacin (15-8), who had lost his last three decisions, gave up one run on just one hit over five innings. He needed a season-low 60 pitches and faced three batters over the minimum.
 
Xavier Cedeno, Corbin Burnes, Hader and Jeremy Jeffress combined for four shutout innings as the Brewers held the Cardinals to a season-low two hits. Jeffress earned his 13th save in 18 chances.
 
Milwaukee now returns to Miller Park to take on the lowly Detroit Tigers in the three-game series starting Friday to end the regular season. The Cardinals travel to face the Cubs for the three-game set.
 
Shaw's single scored Christian Yelich, who walked all five times he came to the plate, and gave the Brewers a 1-0 lead in the third.
 
Shaw broke a 1-all time with an RBI single off Dakota Hudson in the fifth, again scoring Yelich, to make it 2-1.
 
Yelich, who reached on a walk by Chasen Shreve (3-4), became the ninth inherited runner out of 18 that Hudson has allowed to score.
 
Cardinals starter John Gant stranded runners in each of his first four innings before being lifted with one out in the fifth. It is the fourth time in his last five starts that Gant failed to go more than 4 1/3 innings.
 
Jedd Gyorko's sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the fourth made it 1-all.
 
Cardinals infielder Paul DeJong hung back to watch the Brewers' on-field celebration.
 
Up next for the Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (2-3, 4.08 ERA) gets the start in the opener of a three-game series at Chicago and RHP Kyle Hendricks (13-11, 3.49 ERA) on Friday afternoon. Wainwright leads all active pitchers with 15 wins against the Cubs and his 11 career wins at Wrigley Field is third all-time in franchise history behind Bob Gibson (15) and Harry Brecheen (13).

Chicago Cubs clinch 4th straight postseason berth

The Chicago Cubs have clinched their fourth straight postseason berth, getting into the playoffs when Milwaukee beat St. Louis.
 
The Cubs were still playing Pittsburgh at Wrigley Field on Wednesday when their trip to the playoffs was assured. The Brewers also locked up a playoff spot with their victory.
 
Chicago (91-66) began the night with a half-game lead in the NL Central over the second-place Brewers, and the Cubs went into extra innings against Pittsburgh.
 
When Milwaukee won and improved to 92-67, it ensured third-place St. Louis (87-72) could win a maximum 90 games. Because either the Cubs or Brewers will win the NL Central, only one can be a wild card.
 
One of the two contending NL West teams, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado, will win that division. That means only one of those two could be a wild card.
 
That adds up to a postseason trip to the Cubs, who won the 2016 World Series to end a 108-year title drought.
 
Chicago hopes to win its third straight NL Central title and avoid Tuesday's wild-card game.

Cubs star Bryant out of lineup with bruised left wrist

Cubs slugger Kris Bryant is out of the starting lineup with a bruised left wrist, a day after being hit by a pitch.
 
Manager Joe Maddon says he's optimistic the injury won't linger. Chicago held a half-game lead over Milwaukee atop the NL Central going into Wednesday night's game against Pittsburgh at Wrigley Field.
 
Bryant was hit in the wrist with a pitch by Pittsburgh's Chris Archer in the fourth inning Tuesday. The third baseman exited in the sixth after it became swollen.
 
X-rays on the wrist were negative and the Cubs initially said Bryant would miss at least one game.
 
The former NL MVP has had two stints on the disabled list this season because of left shoulder inflammation. The 26-year-old Bryant is batting .276 with 12 homers and 49 RBIs in 98 games.

Brewers dent Cards with 12-4 win

Milwaukee's last NL MVP thinks he is about to get some company.
 
Led by Christian Yelich's silky smooth game, the Brewers are closing in on the playoffs.
 
Yelich homered and drove in a career-high six runs, and surging Milwaukee hurt St. Louis' postseason chances with a 12-4 victory over the Cardinals on Tuesday.
 
Ryan Braun went deep twice and Jesus Aguilar also connected as Milwaukee lowered its magic number for clinching a playoff spot to one. But the Brewers are thinking bigger after their fifth win in six games put them just a half-game back of the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs.
 
Milwaukee (91-67) leads Colorado by 3 1/2 games for the top wild card. St. Louis (87-71) dropped a half-game behind Colorado for the second NL wild card after the Rockies routed Philadelphia 10-3.
 
Following Wednesday's series finale, Milwaukee closes the regular season with a weekend set at home against lowly Detroit. St. Louis also is off Thursday before beginning a three-game series against the slumping Cubs at Wrigley Field.
 
Yadier Molina hit a three-run homer for the Cardinals, who had won six of seven before their 6-4 loss to Milwaukee on Monday night. Marcell Ozuna went 3 for 3 with a walk.
 
St. Louis left the bases loaded in the fifth and seventh innings when Jedd Gyorko came up empty each time. Third baseman Mike Moustakas turned an inning-ending double play on Gyorko's chopper near the bag in the fifth, and Gyorko flied to right for the final out of the seventh.
 
Milwaukee scored 11 runs with two out, including its first six. Yelich came up with the bases loaded in the fourth and tripled into the gap in right-center, lifting the Brewers to a 6-0 lead. After Lorenzo Cain was intentionally walked with two out in the ninth, Yelich hit a three-run drive to center.
 
Yelich is batting .346 with seven homers and 28 RBIs in 22 games this month. He has 33 homers, 104 RBIs, 110 runs and 181 hits on the year, all career highs.
 
Braun, who won the MVP award in 2011, said he thinks Yelich is about to join the club.
 
Taylor Williams (1-3), the second of six Milwaukee relievers after Gio Gonzalez pitched four innings, got three outs for the win. The Brewers used nine pitchers in their series-opening victory.
 
Cardinals rookie Austin Gomber (6-2) was tagged for five runs and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings.
 
Up next for the Cardinals right-hander John Gant (7-6, 3.53 ERA) pitch Wednesday night in the series finale. Jhoulys Chacin is 0-3 with a 4.34 ERA in four September starts. Gant lasted just 2 2/3 innings in his last outing, yielding one run and four hits Friday against the Giants.

Sox win against Indians 5-4

Trevor Bauer took a step toward returning to Cleveland's rotation for the postseason by tossing four effective innings, but the Chicago White Sox overcame a two-run, ninth-inning deficit and beat the Indians 5-4 Tuesday night.
 
Carlos Carrasco (16-10) followed Bauer with his second relief appearance this season. Carrasco tossed one-hit, shutout ball through four innings and entered the ninth with a 4-2 lead before the White Sox scored three times and snapped a three-game losing streak.
 
The White Sox need to win one of their last five games to avoid their first 100-loss season since 1970, when they went 56-106.
 
Daniel Palka's game-ending single up the middle with one out drove in two runs and capped Chicago's rally.
 
Yoan Moncada led off the ninth with a walk, Adam Engel and Yolmer Sanchez followed with singles that cut the score to 4-3. Leury Garcia's sacrifice bunt advanced Engel to third and Sanchez to second, then Palka delivered game-winning hit.
 
Bauer allowed two runs - on Avisail Garcia's career-high-19th homer in the first - in his second start since suffering a stress fracture in his right leg on Aug. 11. The right-hander also allowed four singles while striking out four and walking none. He threw 43 strikes in the 60-pitch limit set by manager Terry Francona.
 
Yan Gomes hit his 16th homer and Yonder Alonso had two RBIs as Cleveland stumbled late in game that was delayed 51 minutes at the start due to rain. The Indians, who have won the AL Central three straight years, will open a division series next week at the winner of the AL West.
 
White Sox starter James Shields allowed four runs on six hits and four walks in six innings. Reliever Ian Hamilton (1-2) got one out in the ninth to earn the win
 
Bauer was limited to 1 1/3 innings and 34 pitches against Boston last Friday in his first outing since returning from the disabled list. He allowed no runs on two hits and walked one against the Red Sox.
 
An All-Star for the first time in 2018, Bauer was in the midst of his best season - and on a roll - when Jose Abreu's liner hit him in the leg in the seventh inning of a 3-1 Indians win at Guaranteed Rate Field last month.
 
When the 27-year-old righty landed on the disabled list on Aug. 14, he was 12-6 with a 2.22 ERA, and 4-0 with 1.05 ERA in his last four starts. Including his Aug. 11 win over the White Sox, Bauer had thrown 100 or more pitches in each of his first 25 starts this season.
 
In this one, Garcia drove a belt-high breaking pitch from Bauer into the left-center bleachers on a 2-2 count with two outs in the first to put the White Sox ahead 2-0.
 
Cleveland scored three runs with two outs in the third off Shields for a 3-2 lead. Ramirez drove in the first run with a sharp single. After the Indians loaded the bases, Alonso's single drove in two more.
 
Bauer allowed singles to Leury Garcia and Daniel Palka with two outs in the bottom half, but escaped on Avisail Garcia' soft comebacker.
 
Gomes' solo shot in the fourth made it 4-2.
 
Up next for the White Sox manager Rick Renteria didn't name a starter before the game and said a bullpen day was a possibility.

Cubs lose to Pirates 6-0

Slugger Kris Bryant exited with a bruised left wrist, Mike Montgomery got hit hard over four-plus innings and the Chicago Cubs stumbled again in their playoff run with a 6-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.
 
The Cubs missed a chance to clinch a franchise-record fourth straight trip to the postseason for the second time in as many nights. And their lead in the NL Central over Milwaukee shrunk to a half game, with the Brewers beating St. Louis 12-4.
 
Chicago needed a win plus a loss by Colorado to Philadelphia to secure a playoff spot and extend a run that includes a drought-ending World Series championship in 2016. But the Cubs lost for the fourth time in sixth games while the Rockies won 10-3.
 
Bryant got struck by a pitch from Chris Archer (3-3) in the fourth inning and was replaced at third base in the sixth by Ian Happ, who had pinch hit in the fifth.
 
Montgomery (5-6) gave up five runs and seven hits, and the Cubs got shut out for the 11th time this season.
 
Archer struck out nine and walked two while pitching four-hit ball over six innings.
 
Rookie Pablo Reyes homered for the second straight game, a three-run drive in the second. Francisco Cervelli drove in two runs, and Pittsburgh won for the eighth time in 10 games.
 
The Cubs managed just five hits and went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position while stranding seven runners.
 
Chicago got shut down this time after managing just one run - all on homers - in each of their previous five meetings with the Pirates. That was a first for Major League Baseball, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
 
Up next for the Cubs: LHP José Quintana (13-11, 4.11) tries to shake off a loss to the Chicago White Sox. He got tagged for five runs in five innings by his former team after giving up two runs or less in six straight starts.

Maddon: Russell playing for Cubs wouldn't be distraction

Manager Joe Maddon says it would not be a distraction if shortstop Addison Russell plays again for the Chicago Cubs.
 
Maddon has "no idea" if he will and knows "nothing about the process ... playing itself out." He spoke prior to Tuesday's game against Pittsburgh.
 
Russell has not been with the team since Major League Baseball placed him on administrative leave Friday following a blog post attributed to Melissa Reidy containing allegations of emotional and physical abuse while they were married. Reidy also suggested on Instagram last year Russell was unfaithful and a friend of hers accused him of hitting his wife in a post later deleted.
 
Russell has denied the accusations. The leave could be extended for seven-day periods if the union agrees.

Cubs' Bryant hit on left wrist by pitch, leaves game

Slugger Kris Bryant has left the Chicago Cubs' game against the Pittsburgh Pirates because of a bruised left wrist after he was hit by a pitch.
 
The 2016 National League MVP was hit in the wrist by a pitch from Chris Archer during the fourth inning on Tuesday night. Ian Happ replaced him at third base in the sixth after entering as a pinch-hitter in the fifth.
 
The 26-year-old Bryant was on the disabled list from July 26 to Sept. 1 with left shoulder inflammation. He missed time earlier in the season with the same issue.

Indians beat White Sox 4-0

Corey Kluber spread the credit for his first 20-win season, and admitted it's "a nice, round number."
 
Kluber struck out 11 in seven scoreless innings and won his 20th, and Brandon Guyer hit a go-ahead solo homer in the seventh inning as the Cleveland Indians shut out the Chicago White Sox 4-0 on Monday night.
 
Kluber (20-7) hit 20 victories for the first time after recording 18 wins in three of the four previous seasons. The reigning Cy Young award winner is the first 20-game winner for the Central Division champions since Cliff Lee went 22-3 in 2008, and the first Indians pitcher to win 20 games with 200 or more strikeouts since Gaylord Perry did it in 1974.
 
Kluber may have downplayed the significance of 20 wins, but his teammates and manager didn't.
 
Cleveland is also the first team to have four pitchers with 200 strikeouts in a season. Kluber ran his total to 216, while Carlos Carrasco has 217, Trevor Bauer 215 and Mike Clevinger 202.
 
The Indians tied the Chicago Cubs for the major league lead with 17 shutouts.
 
Adam Rosales gave the Indians an insurance run with a home run off reliever Nate Jones to left for his first of the season in the ninth inning. Brandon Barnes and Edwin Encarnacion then added RBI singles. It was Rosales' first home run since Sept. 4, 2017, when he was with Arizona.
 
Indians relievers Andrew Miller and Cody Allen pitched a perfect eighth and ninth, respectively, and combined with Kluber to retire the final 17 batters.
 
Dylan Covey didn't allow a run over six innings. He scattered six hits and struck out seven with one walk in the no-decision. He has pitched 12 consecutive innings without allowing a run against Cleveland.
 
Covey was relieved by Ian Hamilton (0-2) after throwing 96 pitches over six innings. Guyer greeted Hamilton in the seventh by hitting his third pitch into the left-field seats for his seventh home run of the season.
 
The White Sox threatened in the second inning. They had runners on first and third with one out, but Kluber finished the inning by getting Tim Anderson and Jose Rondon swinging.
 
Kluber struck out the side in the third inning and then posted his seventh double-digit strikeout game of the season when he got Daniel Palka swinging to end the fifth.
 
Kluber has struck out 10 or more batters in three of his last four starts and retired his final 11 batters.
 
Up next for the White Sox: RHP James Shields (7-16) is scheduled to make his 33rd start of the season on Tuesday. He is 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA in his last five starts.

Pirates beat Cubs 5-1

Jameson Taillon outpitched Cole Hamels, Francisco Cervelli hit a two-run homer and the Pittsburgh Pirates made the Chicago Cubs wait at least another day to clinch a postseason spot with a 5-1 victory on Monday night.
 
The Cubs needed a win plus a loss by Colorado to Philadelphia to assure a franchise-record fourth straight trip to the playoffs, a run that includes a drought-busting World Series championship in 2016. Closing in on a third straight NL Central title, the Cubs began the night with a 2½-game lead over second-place Milwaukee, then lost for the third time in five games.
 
Taillon (14-9) gave up one run and five hits in seven innings, improving to 5-0 in his past seven starts. The right-hander has not allowed more than three earned runs in his past 21 outings.
 
Hamels (4-2) hit his second career homer but he lost his second straight start after going 4-0 in his first nine following a trade from Texas. The left-hander gave up three runs - two earned - and five hits in six innings.
 
Cervelli hit a two-run homer in the first after missing the previous two games because of gastrointestinal discomfort. He also reached on an infield single in the sixth and scored on Jose Osuna's second double.
 
Pablo Reyes added an RBI single in the seventh and a solo homer in the ninth against Brian Duensing. A day after they were eliminated, the Pirates won for the seventh time in nine games.
 
Up next for the Cubs: LHP Mike Montgomery (5-5, 3.75) looks to win his second straight start after throwing six solid innings at Arizona last week. He has won all three career starts against the Pirates and is 3-0 with a 2.30 ERA in nine outings against them.

Brewers beat Cardinals 6-4

A chuckling Eric Thames said it felt so good he almost ripped third base out of the ground and hoisted it above his head.
 
A lot of that going around for Milwaukee these days.
 
Thames tripled and scored on reliever Bud Norris' throwing error in the eighth inning, and the Brewers improved their playoff positioning by topping the St. Louis Cardinals 6-4 on Monday night.
 
Ryan Braun homered and Christian Yelich drove in two runs as Milwaukee won for the fourth time in five games. The Brewers (90-67) opened a three-game lead over St. Louis for the top spot in the wild-card standings and pulled within 1 1/2 games of the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs, who lost 5-1 to Pittsburgh.
 
Corbin Burnes (7-0), the seventh of nine Milwaukee pitchers, got two outs for the win, and Corey Knebel worked the ninth for his 16th save. With a runner on, Jose Martinez fouled off four two-strike pitches before taking a called third strike for the final out.
 
Chase Anderson was slated to start before Counsell announced Sunday that the team had decided to go with a bullpen game instead. Dan Jennings made his first career start and retired Matt Carpenter on a grounder to second before the left-hander was replaced by Freddy Peralta, beginning a parade of relievers for the Brewers.
 
Martinez and Marcell Ozuna homered off Josh Hader in the rain, but St. Louis (87-70) was unable to close out a one-run lead. The Cardinals' advantage in the race for the second NL wild card was trimmed to a half-game over Colorado, which cruised to a 10-1 win over Philadelphia.
 
Thames has played sparingly this year with the Brewers in playoff contention. But Counsell sent him up to hit for Burnes in the eighth and he tripled past a sliding Martinez in right field with one out.
 
After Mike Moustakas was intentionally walked, Norris (3-6) tried a pickoff throw that hit the baserunner before bounding away from first baseman Matt Carpenter.
 
Thames scored easily and Yelich added an RBI double in the ninth as Milwaukee improved to 9-8 against St. Louis this season. Yelich, one of the top candidates for NL MVP, also walked and scored on Braun's bases-loaded walk as the Brewers scored two runs in the sixth without a hit, opening a 3-1 lead.
 
St. Louis staged a dramatic rally as the showers intensified on a soggy night at Busch Stadium.
 
Martinez led off the sixth with a drive to center for his 17th homer, sending a charge through the crowd of 36,508. After Paul DeJong walked, Ozuna put the Cardinals in front with a screaming liner just over the wall in center.
 
Hader had given up just six homers in 51 appearances this year, and none since Anthony Rizzo connected for the Cubs on Sept. 3.
 
But Milwaukee quickly answered. The Brewers loaded the bases with one out in the seventh against Jordan Hicks, and Keon Broxton scampered home with the tying run on Yelich's fielder's choice back up the middle.

Cubs beat White Sox 6-1

Moments after Kanye West left the mound, Kyle Schwarber and the Chicago Cubs put on their own show.
 
Schwarber homered and drove in two runs, and the Cubs beat the crosstown White Sox 6-1 on Sunday to lower their magic number for clinching the NL Central title to five.
 
Ben Zobrist had three hits and Kyle Hendricks dazzled again as the Cubs took the rubber game of the weekend series. They also stayed 2 1/2 games ahead of second-place Milwaukee, which cruised to a 13-6 victory at Pittsburgh.
 
West brought some real star power to the finale of this year's Windy City series, with the rapper throwing out a surprise ceremonial first pitch alongside his son Saint. Once the game began, it was all Cubs.
 
Playing the field for the first time since being sidelined with a back injury, Schwarber led off the second with a long drive off Carlos Rodon (6-7) for his first homer against a left-hander this season and his 26th overall. He doubled home Albert Almora Jr. in the third, giving the Cubs a 5-0 lead.
 
Rodon's rough September continued as the White Sox lost for the fifth time in seven games. He was tagged for six runs and nine hits in 2 1/3 innings while dropping to 0-4 with a 6.84 ERA in five starts this month.
 
The South Siders finished with just four hits, scoring their only run on Tim Anderson's ground-rule double in the fifth.
 
The Cubs got four hits - in the first.
 
Daniel Murphy and Zobrist opened the game with consecutive singles. After Javier Baez struck out swinging, Anthony Rizzo hit an RBI double, Almora drove in Zobrist with a grounder to third and David Bote added a run-scoring single on a bouncer down the third-base line.
 
It was more than enough for Hendricks (13-11), who is on quite a roll heading into the final days of the regular season. The right-hander struck out five and walked none in 7 2/3 innings.
 
Hendricks pitched 8 2/3 innings of one-run ball in a 5-1 victory at Arizona last Monday. He is 4-1 with a 1.37 ERA in his last six starts.

Bears rally for 16-14 victory over winless Cardinals

Cody Parkey kicked his third field goal of the game, a 43-yarder with 4:31 to remaining, to rally the Chicago Bears to a 16-14 victory over the winless Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
 
Sam Bradford threw two first-quarter touchdown passes to put the Cardinals up 14-0, but was replaced by rookie Josh Rosen after fumbling the ball away deep in Chicago territory late in the game.
 
Rosen, the 10th overall pick in this year's draft out of UCLA, drew a standing ovation from the Cardinals crowd as he jogged on the field. He drove Arizona past midfield, but on fourth-and-5 from the Bears 45, his pass was intercepted by Bryce Callahan with 1:10 to play.
 
Arizona got the ball back one more time and the game ended with Rosen sacked by Sherrick McManis, who also had one of two of Bradford's interceptions.
 
Clinging to a 14-13 lead, the Cardinals drove to the Chicago 21 early in the fourth quarter but the scrambling Bradford was tackled by Khalil Mack. Bradford fumbled and Danny Trevathan recovered at the Bears 16.
 
Chicago, with the help of an unnecessary roughness penalty on Tre Boston, drove downfield and got the go-ahead field goal.
 
The Bears (2-1) intercepted three passes and recovered one fumble. Arizona is 0-3 for the first time since 2004.
 
But it was the Cardinals getting off to a fast start.
 
Arizona's offense, which had scored a total of six points in two lopsided losses entering the game, took the opening kickoff and went 75 yards in just five plays.
 
On third-and-4 from the Cardinals 29-yard line, Bradford connected with rookie Christian Kirk on a 30-yard play. Two plays later, Bradford found tight end Ricky Seals-Jones wide open for a 35-yard touchdown.
 
The Bears responded with a run-oriented drive to the Arizona 13. But on third down, Bene Benwikere and Budda Baker, blitzing from each side, dropped Mitchell Trubisky for a 15-yard loss and Parkey's 46-yard field-goal try was wide right.
 
Arizona went three-and-out but on the next series, Robert Nkemdiche stripped the ball from Trubisky and Corey Peters recovered at the Chicago 21.
 
On the next play, Bradford threw 21 yards to David Johnson in the end zone to make it 14-0.
 
The Bears used 5:27 on an 11-play drive that stalled on the Arizona 2 and Chicago settled for a 20-yard field goal by Parkey to cut the lead to 14-3. The driving included roughing-the-passer calls against Nkemdiche and Markus Golden that had Cardinals coach Steve Wilks livid on the sideline.
 
Arizona got a late break when Chandler Jones tipped Trubisky's pass and Tre Boston made a diving interception at the Chicago 34. But the Cardinals went nowhere, Mack sacked Bradford on third down and Arizona had to punt.
 
Up next for the Bears: a home game against Tampa Bay on Sunday.

Cardinals sweep Giants 9-2

Miles Mikolas' outing against the San Francisco Giants was typical, and typical for him is pretty good.
 
Mikolas won his fourth straight start, Matt Carpenter hit his NL-leading 36th homer and the Cardinals beat the Giants 9-2 to complete a three-game sweep and remain on track for the NL's second wild card.
 
St. Louis (87-69) has won three straight games and six of seven. The Cardinals remained 1 1/2 games ahead of Colorado (85-70) and two games behind Milwaukee, the wild card leader. St. Louis hosts the Brewers (89-67) in a three-game series starting Monday night.
 
Mikolas (17-4) allowed two runs - one earned - and two hits in seven innings with eight strikeouts and no walks. John Brebbia and Giovanny Gallegos, who made his Cardinals debut, finished a five-hitter.
 
Mikolas has made 11 starts of at least seven innings and the two hits he gave up were a season low.
 
Andrew Suarez (7-12) gave up two runs and six hits in five innings as San Francisco gave him three runs or less of run support during his time in the game for the 21st time this season. The Giants finished 31-50 on the road for a two-year record of 57-105 away from home.
 
San Francisco has lost 10 straight road games against NL Central teams since winning at the Chicago Cubs on May 27.
 
The bottom two in the Cardinals batting order built a 2-0 lead with two-out singles, by Yairo Munoz in the second and Mikolas in the fourth.
 
Harrison Bader bunted in a run to spark a five-run sixth that includes RBI singles by Munoz and Paul DeJong around Jose Martinez's two-run double. Carpenter hit a two-run homer off Casey Kelly in the eighth.
 
Brandon Crawford's two-run homer in the seventh stopped an 0-for-9 skid.

Week 5 Area Football Scores

Central Illinois:

 

Decatur St. Teresa 63, Central A&M 27, F

Shelbyville 14, Warrensburg-Latham 42, F

Meridian 27, Sullivan 14, F

 

Illini Prairie:

 

St. Joseph-Ogden 20, Pontiac 42, F

Prairie Central 48, Illinois Valley Central 14, F

 

Apollo:
 
Mahomet-Seymour 28, Mattoon 31, F
Mt. Zion 23, Charleston 6, F
Taylorville 43, Lincoln 26, F
 
Big Twelve:
 
Champaign Central 28, Peoria Richwoods 17, F
Normal Community 48, Peoria Manual 14, F
Peoria 32, Normal Community West 33, F
 
Central State Eight:
 
Decatur MacArthur 38, Springfield Southeast 32, F
Jacksonville 3, Chatham-Glenwood 42, F
Rochester 6, Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin 45, F
Springfield 64, Decatur Eisenhower 28, F
Springfield Lanphier 12, Normal University 41, F
 
Little Okaw Valley (Northwest):
Argenta-Oreana 44, Decatur Lutheran 8, F
Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond 34, Sangamon Valley 15, F
 
Sangamo: 
 
Pleasant Plains 7, Maroa-Forsyth 49, F
 
Non-Conference:
 
Tri-Valley 27, LeRoy 0, F
Blue Ridge 0, Paris 63, F
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley 56, Fisher 0, F
Deer Creek-Mackinaw 33, Heyworth 20, F
Tremont 13, El Paso-Gridley 6, F

Monticello flys by Saints 56-8

 
The Monticello Sages went to Bloomington and would come out victorious as the Sages win 56-8 in their Friday night battle.
 
In the first quarter Central Catholic would get to start things off but with 6 starters out of the game, they would quickly make a three and out drive. The Saints punted away to Asher Bradd, finding an open hole from wide receiver Devin Graham creating a huge block. Bradd would stroll into the end zone scoring the first points of the game making it 7-0. Monticello would continue to add on with the help of Alek Bundy. Bundy ran 30 yards on a power to the right side breaking tackles, getting the second touchdown in the 1st quarter making the score 14-0 in favor of the Sages. Bloomington still struggled to find traction on offense. Riley Austin and the rest of the Monticello defense crushed the line giving Saints quarterback Jonathan Naour very little time to throw. Naour scrambling for a play tried throwing one up and lobbed the ball in the air. Alek Bundy would get underneath getting the interception for the Sages. With just 1:00 left in the first quarter the Sages looked to Bundy again finding a sweep to the left side. Braden Snyder running a read option with Bundy, giving an outstanding fake as Bundy would run to the left side with no one within ten yards to make a play. Bundy would stroll in making his 2nd touchdown of the night. Sages ended the quarter leading the game 21-0.
 
The second quarter would hold pretty much the same, as the Saints struggled to find any ground through the night. Luke Rudolph would kick out of bounds a few times, giving the Saints the ball at the 35-yard line. Saints did find some offense as the Saints ran a trick play with Nauro throwing to wide receiver Liam Brady then downfield for 44 yards to Hayden Pirtz. Monticello continued to stop the Saints though as Central Catholic turned the ball over around the 5-yard line. From there, Braden Snyder looked to the air finding receivers like Matt Kerr, Devin Graham, and Asher Bradd. Snyder led his team down with small quick routes while running the ball himself. Snyder ran the ball for a total of 74 yards, scoring early in the second quarter on a quarterback dive up the middle taking three Saints with him. Saints continued to struggle on offense running the ball a few times until running back Jake Slaughter loses the football on a strip from Matt Kerr. Riley Austin recovered the football for the Sages continuing their drives to victory. Snyder helped find his receivers on a couple more quick routes getting closer to the end zone. The Sages getting closer to the end zone ran the ball with Cole Reedy on a power run to make another touchdown for the Sages, increasing their lead to 35-0. Reedy's run ended the first half.
 
The third quarter started off with Monticello receiving the ball putting more pressure on Central Catholic. Snyder continued to lead the Sages down the field with quick passes and runs from himself. Snyder found room again to drive in other 6-yard quarterback keeper touchdown, increasing the lead 42-0. Central Catholic would now get a chance to catch a break as Coach Welter switched out some of his starters. The Saints though couldn't hang on, Naour continued to see pressure in the pocket. With that pressure, Naour lobbed up passes throwing another interception. With Coach Welter swapping out some of the starters Nic Tackles and Chris Brown would see more action. The two ran read options down the field giving both large amounts of rushing yards. Tackles with 44 yards total and Brown with 121 yards total. Brown would show his speed late in the third quarter, with a read option to the right side finding an open hole and running for 50 yards for another Sage's touchdown increasing the lead 49-0. 
 
Starting the 4th quarter the Saints continued to play hard getting some ground from running back Jake Slaughter on power runs. Slaughter found room running the ball getting space and running for 60 yards. The Saints would continue to run with Slaughter finding the end zone on a sweep. Central Catholic didn't stop there as they ran a trick play throwing to Pirtz for a two extra point. Tackles responded back with a 44-yard run finalizing the victory the Sages, making the final score 56-8.
 
Play of the Game: Punt return by Asher Bradd for 42 yards with the help of wide receiver Devin Graham clearing the way. 
 

Clinton Maroons Fall to Tuscola

In a game heard on WHOW, the Clinton Maroons fell to the Tuscola Warriors by a score of 20-11 on Friday night. The Maroons were led by quarterback Ty Berter who was 6 of 19 passing for 31 yards. Tyrese Petty had 15 carries for 85 yards. Kolby Winter had 7 carries for 79 yards and a 98 yard kickoff return for a touchdown. The Maroons scored one field goal and the Maroons defense had one safety, two sacks, two fumble recovers, and an interception.

 

The Warriors were led by quarterback Luke Sluder who was 7 of 19 passing for 75 yards and an interception. Sluder ran the ball 13 times for 38 yards. Matt Cantu had 16 carries for 74 yards. Brandon Douglas had 7 carries for 50 yards and a touchdown. Tuscola scored two field goals.

 

Clinton falls to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the Central Illinois Conference. Tuscola improves to 4-1 on the season and 2-1 in the conference.

 

Tune in next week as Clinton takes on the St. Teresa Bulldogs. You can hear the game live on the Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM/106.5 FM WHOW, online at dewittdailynews.com, and on the WHOW app. Game time is 7pm and the broadcast will begin shortly before then.

Friday Night Lights

Decatur St. Teresa vs. Central A&M 7:00 PM at Central A&M 
 
Tuscola vs. Clinton 7:00 PM at Clinton 
 
Shelbyville vs. Warrensburg-Latham7:00 PM at Warrensburg-Latham 
 
Macon Meridian vs. Sullivan 7:00 PM at Sullivan High School
 
Monticello vs. Bloomington Central Catholic 7:00 PM at BCC
 
St. Joseph-Ogden vs. Pontiac 7:00 PM at Pontiac
 
Prarie Central vs. Illinois Valley Central 7:30 PM at IVC
 
Olympia vs. Tolono Unity Sat 1:00 PM
 
St. Thomas More vs. Rantoul Sat 7:00 PM

Browns beat Jets for first win since 2016

For the first time in 635 days, the Cleveland Browns won.
 
Baker Mayfield showed them how.
 
The No. 1 overall pick replaced injured starter Tyrod Taylor and sparked the Browns, who got two 1-yard touchdown runs from Carlos Hyde and beat the New York Jets 21-17 on Thursday night for their first win since Dec. 24, 2016.
 
And so ends Cleveland's 19-game winless streak, the NFL's second-longest since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.
 
The Browns (1-1-1) trailed 14-0 in the first half before Mayfield came in for Taylor and led four scoring drives while winning an unexpected matchup against Jets rookie quarterback Sam Darnold. Cleveland passed on taking Darnold in the draft and instead chose Mayfield, the Heisman Trophy winner from Oklahoma.
 
Mayfield finished 17 of 23 for 201 yards in a little more than a half after coming in after Taylor suffered a concussion.
 
Darnold had one last chance, but was intercepted by Terrence Mitchell with 11 seconds left.
 
When the final seconds ticked off the clock, Cleveland fans, who had endured a 0-16 season and waited nearly two years to see their Browns win, erupted in celebration.
 
Refrigerators around the city stocked with Bud Lights were finally unlocked, and there figured to be more than a few beverages consumed in the hours ahead.
 
This was just one win, and while it was an ending, it also felt like a beginning - because of Mayfield.
 
Isaiah Crowell had two touchdown runs for the Jets (1-2), who seemed in control when they took a 14-0 lead and knocked Taylor from the game.
 
Newly signed Browns kicker Greg Joseph made field goals of 45 and 27 yards after being signed just three days ago.
 
Browns coach Hue Jackson got just his second win in 35 games since being hired by owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam, and this win will ease some of the pressure he's been feeling to get Cleveland turned around. Jackson could also be faced with a difficult choice - either stick with Mayfield or go back to Taylor when he's healthy.
 
The decision might not be as tough now.
 
Jackson wouldn't commit to staying with Mayfield, but referred to the performance as ''his coming out party'' several times.
 
Mayfield made his NFL debut with 1:42 left in the second quarter, replacing an injured Taylor after Cleveland's starter was sacked for the third time. Taylor struggled getting to his feet after being dragged down by linebacker Avery Williamson, but he had absorbed several hard blows before that - and had been ineffective.
 
With Cleveland's crowd roaring, Mayfield completed a 14-yard pass to Jarvis Landry on his first pass as a pro and then found tight end David Njoku for 17 yards. Mayfield drove Cleveland into field-goal position and Joseph, who signed with the team on Monday following a tryout, drilled a low line drive to pull the Browns within 14-3.
 
Cleveland's plan was to have Mayfield watch and learn this season.
 
Taylor's injury may change everything.
 
For Darnold, a promising start ended with his second loss in three games. He completed 15 of 31 passes for 169 yards, but threw two picks late in the fourth as he tried to rally the Jets.
 
Hyde's 1-yard TD run pulled the Browns within 14-12 and Cleveland tied it with a trick 2-point play .
 
Mayfield shifted to the left and the ball was snapped directly to running back Duke Johnson, who ran right and gave the ball to Landry on a reverse. Landry then lofted a pass into the end zone to Mayfield, whose conversion tied it and sent Cleveland fans into a frenzy.
 
Crowell scored his second TD with 7:54 left in the second quarter, and was flagged for excessive celebrating when he squatted and wiped the ball on his backside before flinging it into the crowd.
 
Crowell's untouched 7-yard run TD run came five plays after Jets linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis got a hand on Britton Colquitt's attempted punt and New York took over at Cleveland's 28.
 
On the first play of the second quarter, Crowell took an inside handoff and raced into the end zone before firing the ball into the stands in celebration. Crowell spent four seasons with the Browns before signing a three-year, $12 million free agent contract with New York as a free agent in March.

White Sox past Indians 5-4

The Chicago White Sox finally found a way to win at Progressive Field.
 
Matt Davidson hit a run-scoring single with two out in the 11th inning to lift the White Sox to a 5-4 win over the Indians on Thursday night, Chicago's first victory at Cleveland this season.
 
The White Sox were outscored 58-19 in dropping their first eight games, including a 4-1 loss on Wednesday when Jason Kipnis hit a grand slam in the ninth.
 
Cleveland has split four games since wrapping up its third straight AL Central title. The Indians open a three-game series Friday night at home against Boston, which clinched the AL East on Thursday. The teams split four games at Fenway Park last month.
 
Yolmer Sanchez doubled off Adam Cimber (0-3) to start the 11th and moved to third on a groundout. After Avisail Garcia was intentionally walked, Ryan Cordell struck out before Davidson singled to right.
 
Hector Santiago (6-3) pitched three scoreless innings. Eric Haase was hit by a pitch to start the 11th, but Santiago retired Fransico Lindor on a fly ball, struck out Michael Brantley and got Jose Ramirez on a groundout to end the game.
 
Kipnis batted with runners on first and second and two outs in the 10th. He sent a grounder to the right side, but the ball struck Brandon Barnes, who was on first base, ending the inning. Kipnis was credited with a single.
 
Cleveland tied the game with two runs in the eighth on a wild pitch and a bases-loaded walk. Lindor and Brantley, who hit back-to-back homers in the third, started the rally.
 
Lindor tripled off Aaron Bummer and scored on a head-first slide when a pitch in the dirt skipped away from catcher Omar Narvaez.
 
A single by Brantley and two walks loaded the bases with one out. Juan Minaya, the fourth reliever of the inning, struck out Yandy Diaz, but walked Melky Cabrera, tying the game. Kipnis popped out.
 
Chicago starter James Shields allowed two runs in six innings. He worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the first and got out of the third and sixth with double plays.
 
Narvaez hit a solo homer in the third while Moncada had a two-run double in the second. Garcia's RBI single gave Chicago a first-inning lead.
 
Josh Tomlin allowed four runs and eight hits in four innings. The right-hander began the season in Cleveland's rotation, but was moved to the bullpen in May.
 
Tomlin has started twice in the last week. Francona has juggled his rotation to get Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco in line to pitch the first two games of the Division Series that begins Oct. 5.
 
Up next for the White Sox: RHP Reynaldo Lopez (6-9. 4.05 ERA) will pitch the opener against the Cubs. He's 2-0 with six no-decisions in his last 10 starts.

Diamondbacks win over Cubs 9-0

Christian Walker and Chris Owings homered off Cole Hamels, and Robbie Ray held the Chicago Cubs to one hit over six innings in the Arizona Diamondbacks' 9-0 win over the Cubs on Wednesday night.
 
Walker and Owings, mainly used off the Arizona bench, were part of a Diamondbacks lineup that featured only two regulars in the field players - Nick Ahmed and Ketel Marte. The group did most of its damage against Hamels (9-10), who had yet to lose a start since joining the Cubs via trade from Texas on July 27.
 
Ray (6-2) struck out eight and walked four. Walker and Owings drove in three runs each.
 
Jeff Mathis added a two-run home run off Cubs reliever Allen Webster, who'd been called up from Triple-A Iowa earlier in the day.
 
The Cubs' lead in the NL Central dropped to 2 1/2 games over Milwaukee, which beat Cincinnati earlier Wednesday.
 
Arizona avoided a series sweep put an end to a four-game losing streak and gained a game on St. Louis for the second wild card, although they still trail the Cardinals by five games.
 
The Diamondbacks tagged Hamels for four runs and five hits in the first inning. Walker's homer, his third of the season, sailed onto the overhang in left-center field with Ildemaro Vargas and Marte on base.
 
Later in the inning, Owings blooped a single to shallow right field, and Patrick Kivlehan scored after he'd tripled to make it 4-0.
 
Kivlehan became the second Diamondback this season to triple multiple times in a game when he did it again in the sixth inning. He scored on Ahmed's single, and Ahmed scored on Owings' fourth home run of the year.
 
Mathis went deep to left in the eighth for his first home run of the season.
 
Hamels allowed seven runs and nine hits, tying the most earned runs he's given up in a start this season.
 
The Cubs completed a stretch of 30 scheduled games in 30 days with 18 wins.
 
Up next for the Cubs: After a long-awaited day off Thursday, the Cubs are back in Chicago to open a three-game series against their crosstown rival White Sox. LHP Jose Quintana (13-10) is the scheduled starter in Friday's opener, and makes his first career start against his former team.

Indians beat White Sox 4-1

Jason Kipnis' game-ending grand slam and 1,000th career hit came on one big swing.
 
Kipnis homered with one out in the ninth inning and the Cleveland Indians rallied for a 4-1 win over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night.
 
Kipnis hit a 3-2 pitch from Ian Hamilton into the right field seats for his milestone hit and was doused with water buckets by his teammates as he conducted a postgame television interview.
 
While the Indians have already clinched their third straight AL Central title, the season has been a difficult one for Kipnis. He's struggled at the plate and was moved from second base to center field two weeks ago.
 
The Indians were held to two hits through eight before their comeback.
 
Josh Donaldson started the ninth with an infield hit. Pitcher Juan Minaya fielded the ball that rolled about 30 feet up the third base line, but Donaldson beat the throw to first. Chicago challenged the play but the ruling was upheld.
 
Pinch-hitter Yandy Diaz bounced a single through the left side that moved pinch-runner Rajai Davis to second.
 
Melky Cabrera popped up a bunt attempt to the mound that was caught by reliever Caleb Frare (0-1). Hamilton replaced Frare, but hit Yan Gomes with the first pitch to load the bases.
 
Oliver Perez (1-1) recorded the final out in the ninth for the Indians.
 
Daniel Palka homered for the White Sox, who remained winless at Progressive Field this season, falling to 0-8.
 
Indians starter Carlos Carrasco struck out 11 in 6 2/3 innings, but gave up Palka's home run to center with one out in the sixth.
 
Chicago's strong pitching made the lead hold up until the ninth. Dylan Covey allowed two hits in six innings and struck out Yonder Alonso with the bases loaded to end the third.
 
White Sox slugger Jose Abreu was released from a Cleveland hospital Wednesday after being treated for an infection in his right thigh.
 
Donaldson, acquired from Toronto on Aug. 31, turned in two outstanding plays at third base, both against Ryan Cordell.
 
Donaldson went to his knees to make a backhand stop of a third-inning grounder, jumped to his feet and made a strong throw to first. He speared a hard-hit ground ball in the seventh and made another strong throw for the out.
 
The 2015 AL MVP is batting .167 (3 for 18) with four strikeouts in six games with Cleveland.
 
Donaldson played on consecutive days for the first time since joining the Indians. Francona said he'll be off on Thursday.
 
Palka moved into a tie with Atlanta's Ronald Acuna Jr. for the major league lead in rookie home runs.
 
Up next for the White Sox RHP James Shields (7-16, 4.53 ERA) takes on Indians RHP Josh Tomlin (1-5, 6.49 ERA) in the three-game series finale. Shields leads the AL in losses.

Braves snap losing streak with win over Cardinals 7-3

Freddie Freeman spent the previous four seasons playing for an Atlanta team that averaged 90 losses a year.
 
Now that the Braves are back challenging for a division title, the All-Star first baseman knows his club can't afford any long losing streaks.
 
Freeman hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs, Touki Toussaint pitched into the sixth inning and the NL East-leading Braves snapped a four-game skid with a 7-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday.
 
It was a critical win for Atlanta, which is 5 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Phillies and opens a four-game home series against them on Thursday. Philadelphia blanked the New York Mets 4-0 on Wednesday night.
 
The Braves have a magic number of six over Philadelphia to clinch their first division title since 2013.
 
St. Louis, which had won three straight, trails Milwaukee by three games for the top NL wild card but leads Colorado by 1 1/2 games for the second spot. The Rockies lost 5-2 at Dodger Stadium.
 
Atlanta closer A.J. Minter, working in a non-save situation in the ninth, walked two to load the bases, but he ended it by striking out Jose Martinez and getting Paul DeJong to pop up.
 
Freeman's 23rd homer, an opposite-field shot to left-center, put the Braves up 2-0 in the fourth against Jack Flaherty. Freeman went 3 for 3 and is hitting .405 over his past 11 games.
 
Toussaint (2-1) allowed five hits, two runs, three walks and struck out eight in 5 2/3 innings. A rookie making his fourth career start, Toussaint was chased after Yadier Molina's RBI single cut the lead to 5-2 in the sixth.
 
Flaherty (8-8) gave up five hits, a season-high five runs and two walks with six strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. Facing the Braves for the first time, Flaherty began the game as the NL rookie leader in strikeouts, winning percentage and opponents' batting average. He had gone 4-1 with 1.69 ERA in his previous eight starts.
 
Flowers doubled to begin the three-run fifth and scored on a wild pitch. Freeman chased Flaherty with an RBI single, and the lead swelled to four runs on a double steal by Ender Inciarte and Freeman. The Braves successfully challenged to get the call overturned that Freeman had been tagged out.
 
Atlanta added a run to make it 6-2 in the seventh. Inciarte doubled and scored when second baseman Kolten Wong threw errantly to first on a potential double play grounder.
 
Jedd Gyorko's sacrifice fly in the eighth cut the lead to 6-3. Flowers' eighth homer in the bottom half of the inning made it 7-3.
 
At least for one game, Atlanta played well at home, where it had dropped 14 of 18 and has won just one of its past seven series.
 
Freeman, who became the first Braves first baseman with 20 homers and 10 stolen bases in a season since Dale Murphy in 1978, wants his teammates to enjoy the pennant race and not press.
 
Up next for the Cardinals: RHP John Gant (7-6, 3.53 ERA) will start when St. Louis, following a day off, opens a three-game home series against San Francisco. He allowed six hits and six runs in his previous start, a 17-4 loss to the Dodgers.

White Sox pitcher Kopech has Tommy John surgery

Chicago White Sox pitcher Michael Kopech had Tommy John surgery on his right elbow Tuesday and will miss the 2019 season.
 
Kopech, the top pitching prospect in the organization, is expected to be ready for spring training in 2020. The surgery was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles.
 
Kopech, 22, was 1-1 with a 5.02 ERA in four starts this season. He was placed on the 60-day disabled list with a torn elbow ligament Sept 8.
 
Kopech was acquired in the trade that sent star pitcher Chris Sale to Boston following the 2016 season. He was drafted by Boston in the first round in 2014.

Cubs romp past Diamondbacks 9-1

Two nights in a row, Anthony Rizzo has made a major impact on Chicago Cubs wins with efforts that don't stand out in the boxscore.
 
Rizzo beat out a potential double play by hustling to first base Monday, and teammate Javier Baez followed with a two-run homer. The next night, Rizzo worked a 17-pitch at-bat before lining out, and Baez followed with another two-run shot.
 
That helped the Cubs cruise to a 9-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday for their fifth win in six games. Chicago increased its lead in the NL Central to 3 1/2 games over Milwaukee, which lost at home to last-place Cincinnati.
 
Daniel Murphy also hit a two-run homer as the Cubs jumped out to a big early lead. Mike Montgomery (5-5) allowed a run and four hits with a season-high eight strikeouts in six innings for his first win since Aug. 7.
 
The slumping Diamondbacks dropped six games behind the first-place Dodgers in the NL West and six back of St. Louis for the second wild card. They have lost four in a row and nine of 11.
 
The Cubs built a 5-0 lead after their first two turns at bat.
 
In the first inning, Baez drove a 2-0 pitch from Matt Andriese onto the pool deck in right-center. Baez's 33rd home run gave him 107 RBIs this season.
 
Ian Happ knocked in Jason Heyward with a second-inning double before Murphy, who scored three times, hit his 11th home run of the season.
 
Rizzo added a two-run single in a four-run fifth.
 
Ketel Marte homered in the second for Arizona, his 12th. But the Diamondbacks' season that got off to a great start appears on the verge of ending with no return to the postseason.
 
Andriese (3-6) lasted two innings and was charged with five runs on five hits in a bullpen game for Arizona. Four other pitchers appeared.

Cardinals win 3rd straight

Cardinals manager Mike Shildt loved watching Yadier Molina grind out a big at-bat in the eighth inning.
 
With the bases loaded and two outs in a two-run game, Shildt got exactly what he wanted from Molina, a veteran star catcher who has helped St. Louis chase down plenty of playoff spots during his 15-year career.
 
Paul DeJong hit a two-run homer, Molina added a two-run single in the four-run eighth and St. Louis won its third straight game with an 8-1 victory over the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night.
 
Austin Gomber pitched five effective innings for St. Louis, which holds a slim lead for the second NL wild card. The Cardinals top the National League with 36 victories since All-Star break, and their 43 road wins this season rank second.
 
Atlanta's division lead dropped to 5 1/2 games over Philadelphia as the Braves lost their fourth in a row after a season-best six-game winning streak. They are 38-38 at SunTrust Park and have dropped 14 of 18 at home.
 
The Braves' magic number remained at seven as they try to clinch a division title for the first time in five years. Philadelphia beat the New York Mets 5-2.
 
Atlanta manager Brian Snitker can sense his team is pressing.
 
Anibal Sanchez (6-6) allowed four hits and two runs and struck out six in five innings. He faced the minimum through his first three innings and retired his first batter in the fourth before Jose Martinez singled and DeJong hit his 19th homer.
 
DeJong, who is hitting .478 with four homers and 10 RBIs in five career games against Atlanta, added a run-scoring single in the eighth off Dan Winkler. DeJong's homer was his 14th on the road.
 
Gomber (6-1) gave up six hits, one run and three walks. He struck out five for his fifth victory in his last six decisions, but it wasn't easy for the rookie.
 
After Ronald Acuna Jr. hit his 26th homer to begin the third, Gomber escaped a bases-loaded jam on Ender Inciarte's lineout to end the inning. Gomber got Inciarte to fly out to strand a runner at third to end the fifth.
 
Gomber felt a boost in confidence after his last start ended with a 9-7 loss to the Dodgers.
 
Molina's single in the eighth off Sam Freeman scored three runs. Molina was credited with two RBIs, and a third run scored because Acuna made an error in left field.
 
Tyler O'Neill, who entered as a pinch-runner in the eighth, had a run-scoring double, and Marcell Ozuna followed with an RBI single to make it 8-1.
 
Up next for the Cardinals: RHP Jack Flaherty (8-7, 2.86 ERA) will make his first career appearance against Atlanta. The 22-year-old rookie pitched six innings, allowing four hits and one run, in losing his last start 3-0 to the Dodgers.

Cubs closer Morrow shut down for rest of 2018

The Chicago Cubs say closer Brandon Morrow will be shut down for rest of the year because of an injured right elbow that has been slow to heal.
 
The NL Central leaders made the announcement before Tuesday night's game at Arizona.
 
Morrow, who tops the Cubs with 22 saves, has been on the disabled list since July 19. The Cubs are without their two relievers with the most saves - Pedro Strop has 13 and is out with a hamstring injury, and the team hopes he's ready for the postseason.
 
The Cubs will go with a closer-by-committee plan going forward. Morrow, who posted a 1.47 ERA in 35 games, is expected to be ready for spring training in 2019.

Indians top White Sox 5-3

Corey Kluber isn't letting up as the regular season winds down.
 
Kluber struck out 11 in eight innings to record his career-high 19th win as the Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox 5-3 on Tuesday night.
 
Although the Indians have locked up their third straight AL Central title, Kluber's goal is simple: Go into the postseason pitching as well as possible.
 
Kluber (19-7), who allowed three runs, topped 200 strikeouts for the fifth straight season. Kluber won 18 games in three of the previous four seasons, including his two AL Cy Young Award-winning years, 2014 and 2017.
 
Omar Narvaez walked and Matt Davidson singled with two outs in the eighth, but Kluber retired Ryan LaMarre on a groundout.
 
In his previous start on Sept. 10, Kluber lasted only 1 2/3 innings and allowed four runs against Tampa Bay. His turn in the rotation was moved back a day to line him up to start Game 1 of the Division Series, which begins Oct. 5.
 
Indians All-Star second baseman Jose Ramirez was hit on the left arm by Carlos Rodon's pitch in the fifth inning and walked from the plate in obvious pain. Ramirez spoke with manager Terry Francona and a team trainer, but stayed in the game and stole second base moments later.
 
Jason Kipnis homered and Yandy Diaz added a two-run single when Cleveland scored three times in the fifth.
 
Andrew Miller struck out three in the ninth but allowed the potential tying run to reach base. With one out, Welington Castillo reached on Yan Gomes' passed ball on strike three.
 
Miller struck out Yolmer Sanchez before Tim Anderson blooped a single to right. Miller then fanned Daniel Palka to end the game. The left-hander, who has been on the disabled list three times, picked up his second save and first since April 9.
 
Rodon (6-6) allowed five runs in seven innings. Palka and Narvaez hit solo homers in the sixth for the White Sox.
 
White Sox slugger Jose Abreu will miss the series because of an infection in his right thigh. Abreu is batting .320 (16 for 50) with five homers and 12 RBIs in his career against Kluber.
 
Melky Cabrera's RBI double and Yan Gomes' run-scoring single gave Cleveland a 2-0 lead in the second.
 
Josh Donaldson, who was acquired from Toronto on Aug. 31, drew a leadoff walk and scored from first on Cabrera's hit. Donaldson also walked in the fourth, but was 0-for-2 and is batting .133 (2 for 15) in five games with Cleveland.
 
The Indians rested most of their regulars Sunday, a day after clinching the division. Francona returned to his usual lineup Tuesday night with the exception of designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion, who has missed the last two games after tweaking his ankle.
 
Up next for the White Sox RHP Dylan Covey (5-13, 5.64 ERA) takes on RHP Carlos Carrasco (16-8, 3.41) in the middle game of the series. Carrasco has won both of his starts against Chicago this season, allowing one unearned run in 14 innings.

White Sox slugger Abreu to miss series against Indians

White Sox slugger Jose Abreu will miss Chicago's three-game series against the Cleveland Indians because of an infection in his right thigh.
 
Abreu was hospitalized in Cleveland on yesterday, where he had the infection "cleaned up," manager Rick Renteria said. The team will provide an update on Abreu on Friday in Chicago, the manager said.
 
Abreu is hitting .265 with 22 homers and 78 RBIs in 128 games. He spent three weeks on the disabled list (Aug. 22-Sept. 9) after undergoing surgery to repair a testicular torsion. He was activated on Sept. 10 and is hitless in his last 20 at-bats.
 
The 31-year-old first baseman was named to his second All-Star team this year. He needs three home runs to become the ninth player in major league history to hit at least 25 homers in each of his first five seasons.

Bears beat Seahawks 24-17

Khalil Mack once again put on the sort of havoc-wreaking show the Chicago Bears envisioned when they traded for the superstar pass rusher.
 
Even better for them, they came away with the victory this time.
 
Mack had one of six sacks against Russell Wilson, Prince Amukamara returned an interception 49 yards for a touchdown and the Bears beat the Seattle Seahawks 24-17 Monday night to give coach Matt Nagy his first career victory.
 
Mack sprinted out of the tunnel to a neat ovation prior to his first appearance at Soldier Field since a blockbuster trade from Oakland just over two weeks ago. That deal happened after he held out the entire offseason and preseason seeking a contract extension from the Raiders rather than play under the final year of his rookie contract. Chicago gave him a six-year, $141 million extension that guarantees $90 million - the richest deal ever for an NFL defensive player.
 
Mack also had the crowd roaring with a strip-sack in the first half, smacking the ball out of Wilson's hand as he wound up to pass, and he consistently pressured the quarterback. It was more of the same from last week, when he had a strip-sack and interception return for a TD at Green Bay, except there was one key difference.
 
The Bears came out on top after blowing a 20-point lead against a hobbled Aaron Rodgers in a loss to the Packers.
 
Amukamara jumped the route on a pass intended for Rashaad Penny near midfield for his first career touchdown, making it 24-10 with 6:37 left. It was his first interception since 2015 with the New York Giants.
 
Danny Trevathan then stripped Wilson with his second sack of the game. The Bears' Leonard Floyd recovered the fumble, and Chicago hung on after blowing a 20-point lead in a season-opening loss to a hobbled Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.
 
The Seahawks (0-2) lost for just the second time in nine Monday night games under coach Pete Carroll.

Cubs beat D-backs 5-1

Kyle Hendricks took a one-hit shutout into the ninth inning and the Chicago Cubs three-hit the Arizona Diamondbacks in a 5-1 win Monday night to open their important three-game series.
 
Hendricks (12-11) struck out eight and walked one. A.J. Pollock hit a leadoff homer against Hendricks in the ninth and Paul Goldschmidt added a two-out single before Justin Wilson relieved and closed things out.
 
Javier Baez homered in Chicago's three-run sixth inning that broke open what had been a pitcher's duel between Hendricks and Patrick Corbin (11-6).
 
Kris Bryant also homered, and the Cubs maintained their 2 1/2-game lead in the NL Central after second-place Milwaukee beat Cincinnati earlier Monday.
 
The Diamondbacks led the NL West when the month began but opened the day four games behind first-place Colorado. Arizona has lost 8 of 10 to fall five games out of the second wild card.
 
The Cubs were struggling on offense, coming off a weekend series in which they scored only five runs in three games. They thrilled a largely pro-Chicago crowd at Chase Field in the sixth, when Albert Almora Jr. and Bryant led off with back-to-back singles. Bryant worked an eight-pitch at-bat against Corbin before his base hit that moved Almora to third base.
 
Anthony Rizzo hit into a fielder's choice to drive in Almora, and Baez followed with a line drive into the seats in left-center field to make it 3-0.
 
The sea of blue-and-white-clad Cubs fans roared as Baez rounded the bases.
 
Bryant went opposite field for his 12th home run, a two-run shot in the eighth off reliever Randall Delgado.
 
Up next for the Cubs: LHP Mike Montgomery (4-5) is set to face Arizona on Tuesday night, his career-high 17th start of the season.

Bears honor Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher

The Chicago Bears have presented longtime linebacker Brian Urlacher with his Ring of Excellence for being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
 
Urlacher was recognized at halftime of the Bears' game against the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night. Lance Briggs, Matt Forte, Mike Brown and Adewale Ogunleye were among a group of Urlacher's former teammates on hand for the ceremony.
 
Urlacher joined fellow Bears middle linebackers Bill George, Dick Butkus and Mike Singletary in Canton last month. He was selected by Chicago with the No. 9 pick in the 2000 draft and helped lead the Bears to four division titles while spending his entire 13-year career with the franchise.
 
Urlacher remains the Bears' all-time leading tackler. The five-time All-Pro also finished with 41 1/2 sacks and 22 interceptions.
 

Cardinals home to win over Braves 11-6

Miles Mikolas has been unbeatable this season when the St. Louis Cardinals score him a couple of runs.
 
He's 16-0 when getting at least two runs of support, a big asset for the Cardinals as they stay in the postseason hunt.
 
Kolten Wong hit the first of four St. Louis homers, Mikolas won his third straight start and the Cardinals beat the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves 11-6 on Monday night to give their playoff push another boost.
 
St. Louis has 35 victories since the All-Star break, most in the National League, and has won two straight after losing four in a row. The Cardinals, who also got homers from Paul DeJong, Harrison Bader and Yadier Molina, are a half-game ahead of Colorado for the second NL wild card.
 
The Braves took a third consecutive loss after winning a season-best six straight games. They remained 6 1/2 games up in the division following Philadelphia's loss to the Mets, which reduced Atlanta's magic number to seven as the Braves try to clinch their first NL East title in five years.
 
Mike Foltynewicz (11-10) walked three of the first five batters he faced - one intentionally - and hit Yadier Molina with a pitch before Wong's opposite-field, two-run single gave St. Louis a 3-0 lead in the first.
 
Atlanta pitchers have issued 32 walks over the last four games, all at home, where they are 38-37 and have dropped 13 of their last 17.
 
Mikolas (16-4) allowed four hits, two runs and one walk while striking out six in five innings. The right-hander, who leads the NL in fewest walks per nine innings, improved to 9-0 in 15 road starts.
 
After Freddie Freeman's 22nd homer made it a one-run game in the third, the Cardinals went up 4-2 in the fourth on Wong's ninth homer and 6-2 in the fifth on DeJong's 18th homer and Marcell Ozuna's RBI double. St. Louis improved to an NL-best 40-19 when hitting a road homer.
 
Foltynewicz allowed five hits, six runs and four walks with two strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. Coming off a complete-game victory at San Francisco, Foltynewicz had gone 4-2 with a 1.84 ERA in his last eight starts, but he couldn't overcome a lack of control.
 
Nick Markakis drove in a run with his NL-leading 42nd double, coming against Dakota Hudson in the seventh, to pull the Braves to 6-5. But then Jesse Biddle gave up a pair of two-out walks in the eighth, and Bader, a defensive replacement in the seventh, hit a three-run homer to put St. Louis up 9-5.
 
The Braves had a chance to do more damage in the bottom of the inning against Carlos Martinez after Ronald Acuna Jr.'s RBI single cut the lead to 9-6, but Martinez struck out Freeman with the bases loaded.
 
Freeman slammed his bat down in disgust.
 
Molina hit his 18th homer, a two-run shot off Arodys Vizcaino, in the ninth.

Wade decides to keep playing, will return to Heat

Dwyane Wade's Hall of Fame career is not over yet.
 
Wade has decided to return to the Miami Heat and play a 16th NBA season, making his announcement Sunday night. Wade spent the last 2 1/2 months weighing his options, and retirement was a serious possibility.
 
Instead, he'll be back in Miami after all - likely on a $2.4 million, one-year deal.
 
Wade returned to the Heat in a trade last February, after spending the 2016-17 season with Chicago and the start of last season with Cleveland. He appeared in 26 games with Miami last season including playoffs, all off the bench and averaging 12.9 points.
 
For his career, the 12-time All-Star shooting guard has averaged 22.5 points. He's the Heat all-time leader in points, assists, steals and games played.

Cardinals top Dodgers 5-0

Adam Wainwright had something to prove.
 
Wainwright pitched two-hit ball over six innings for his first win in five months, Marcell Ozuna homered and the St. Louis Cardinals salvaged the finale of a four-game series with a 5-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday night.
 
The Cardinals snapped a season-high four-game losing streak and moved into a tie for the second National League wild card with the Dodgers, who slipped a half-game behind Colorado for the NL West lead.
 
The Rockies visit Dodger Stadium for a three-game series beginning Monday night, the last regular-season meeting between the teams.
 
Wainwright (2-3), making his second start since missing almost four months with right elbow inflammation, struck out a season-high nine while earning his first victory since April 16. His 101 pitches were his most since July 22, 2017.
 
Cardinals manager Mike Shildt had complete confidence in Wainwright pitching a game with playoff implications.
 
Cardinals reliever Bud Norris left the game with a blister on his middle finger after walking the only batter he faced in the seventh. Jordan Hicks, pitching for the first time in a week, finished the inning and also worked the eighth. Carlos Martinez completed the four-hit shutout - one night after the Dodgers piled up 17 runs.
 
Ozuna homered to right-center to make it 1-0 in the second.
 
Yairo Munoz sparked a two-run fourth, reaching first on a wild pitch after swinging and missing at strike three. Jedd Gyorko and Yadier Molina followed with RBI singles, chasing Dodgers starter Ross Stripling and giving the Cardinals a 3-0 lead.
 
Ozuna singled and scored on third baseman Justin Turner's fielding error in the sixth. Ozuna has a team-high 44 multihit games.
 
Molina had a pair of singles and drove in another run in the eighth.
 
Stripling (8-4) retired nine of his first 10 batters before running into trouble in the fourth. He went 3 1/3 innings, matching his shortest start of the season last Wednesday at Cincinnati.
 
Up next for the Cardinals: RHP Miles Mikolas (15-4, 2.99 ERA) gets the opener of a three-game series in Atlanta against Braves RHP Mike Foltynewicz (11-9, 2.66 ERA) on Monday night. In his last outing, Mikolas became the first pitcher to win 15 games in his first season with St. Louis since Mark Mulder in 2005.

Indiana State past Eastern Illinois, 55-41

Ja'Quan Keys ran for 232 yards and four touchdowns, three in the first half, as Indiana State beat Eastern Illinois, 55-41 on Saturday night.
 
Keys is the first Sycamore to run for four touchdowns in a game since Shakir Bell scored four against Tennessee Tech in 2013.
 
Johnathan Brantley completed 37 of 49 passes for 443 yards and four touchdowns for Eastern Illinois.
 
Brantley threw his first touchdown pass barely two minutes into the game and Keys capped a four-play, 74-yard drive with his first scoring run less than two minutes later.
 
Brantley put Eastern Illinois back in front back with a second scoring pass to Alexander Hollins, this one from 17-yards out and Indiana State answered with a nine play, 75-yard drive for a touchdown. The teams traded field goals and the Panthers held a 20-17 lead after a quarter.
 
Keys scored twice in the second quarter, including a 20-yard run, to put Indiana State in front, 31-20 at intermission. His fourth scoring run, from 43-yards out, put the game out of reach at 52-34 early in the fourth quarter.

Orioles use Home Runs to beat White Sox 8-4

Jonathan Villar and Adam Jones homered, rookie Cedric Mullins had a career-high four hits and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox 8-4 Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep.
 
Baltimore took control with a five-run first inning against Lucas Giolito (10-11) and held on for its 43rd victory. That means the Orioles can't match the major league record of 120 losses in a season, set by the 1962 New York Mets.
 
Daniel Palka hit two solo home runs and Yolmer Sanchez had a two-run shot for the White Sox. All three homers came off rookie David Hess, who didn't make it out of the fifth inning.
 
Ryan Meisinger (1-0) got the final two outs in the fifth for his first major league victory, and Paul Fry finished for his initial big league save.
 
The Orioles sent nine players to the plate in their biggest first inning of the year. Villar and Jones both hit RBI singles before DJ Stewart collected his first major league RBI with a grounder. Jones scored on an error, and Breyvic Valera capped the uprising with a sacrifice fly.
 
It was 6-1 in the fifth before home runs by Sanchez and Palka chased Hess.
 
Jones hit his 15th homer in the seventh. It's been a strange month for the 33-year-old veteran, who's seen a lot of bench time while the rebuilding Orioles look at a few of their younger outfielders.
 
Up next for the White Sox: After a day off Monday, Chicago will call upon lefty Carlos Rodon (6-5, 3.10 ERA) to start in Cleveland. He's 4-2 with 2.44 ERA lifetime against the Indians.

Cubs lose to Reds 2-1

The Cubs' NL Central lead remained at 2½ games over second-place Milwaukee when Scott Schebler homered on Jose Quintana's first pitch of the game, Phillip Ervin also went deep and the Cincinnati Reds beat Chicago 2-1 on Sunday.
 
Joey Votto had three hits for last-place Cincinnati, which stopped its three-game losing streak and Chicago's three-game winning streak.
 
Luis Castillo (10-12) allowed one run, four hits and four walks in 6 2/3 innings, giving up Albert Almora Jr.'s sacrifice fly in the fifth. Amir Garrett and Jared Hughes combined for four outs and Raisel Iglesias pitched the ninth for his 27th save in 31 chances, completing a five-hitter.
 
Chicago, seeking its third straight division title, has totaled 15 runs in its last seven games.
 
Quintana (13-10) was bidding for what would have been a career-high 14th win. Schebler drove a 93 mph fastball into the bleachers just left of the batter's eye, and Ervin homered leading off the fourth.
 
Chicago's Victor Caratini hit a sharper grounder down the line with runners on first and second in the bottom half. First base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt called the ball foul as he unsuccessfully tried to jump out of the way.
 
Garrett escaped second-and-third, two-outs trouble in the seventh when he relieved and struck out Anthony Rizzo, who slammed his helmet.
 
Up next for the Cubs: RHP Kyle Hendricks (11-11, 3.71 ERA) takes the mound Monday night in the opener of a three-game series at Arizona. LHP Patrick Corbin (11-5, 3.05) starts for the Diamondbacks.

Week 4 High School Football Scores

Central Illinois:

 

Decatur St. Teresa 56, Tuscola 28, F

Central A&M 14, Warrensburg-Latham 21, F

Sullivan 12, Shelbyville 41, F

 

Illini Prairie:

 

Bloomington Central Catholic 15, Olympia 22, F

Illinois Valley Central 41, Champaign St. Thomas More 42, F

Pontiac 36, Prairie Central 30, F

Tolono Unity 14, St. Joseph-Ogden 38, F

 

Heart of Illinois (Large):

 

El Paso-Gridley 6, Tri-Valley 42, F

Eureka 19, Deer Creek-Mackinaw 18, F

Fieldcrest 6, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley 48, F

 

Heart of Illinois (Small):

 

Fisher 58, Flanagan-Cornell-Woodland 0, F

Heyworth 7, Ridgeview 21, F

LeRoy 28, Tremont 22, F-4 OT

 

Big Twelve:

 

Champaign Centennial 14, Danville 33, F

Peoria Manual 0, Peoria 76, F

 

Central State Eight:

 

Decatur Eisenhower 16, Chatham Glenwood 60, F

Normal University 12, Jacksonville 36, F

Rochester 22, Decatur MacArthur 14, F

Springfield 63, Springfield Lanphier 28, F

Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin 70, Springfield Southeast 26, F

 

Apollo:

 

Charleston 24, Mattoon 36, F

Effingham 36, Lincoln 0, F

Taylorville 38, Mahomet-Seymour 26, F

 

Sangamo:

 

Williamsville 15, Maroa-Forsyth 35, F

 

Little Okaw Valley (Northwest):

 

Arcola 27, Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond 7, F

Decatur Lutheran 16, Cerro Gordo-Bement 28, F

Sangamon Valley 13, Argenta-Oreana 52, F

 

Sages shut-out Eagles 50-0

As heard on WEZC, the Monticello Sages blanked the Rantoul Eagles 50-0 on Friday night.  The Sages were led by quarterback Braden Snyder, completing 16 of 18 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns. Snyder also punched in three touchdowns on the ground. Sages receiver Asher Bradd hauled in seven passes for 76 yards and a touchdown.
 
With the win, the Sages advance to 4-0. The Eagles drop to 1-3 after the loss.
 
Tune in next week as Monticello takes on Bloomington Central Catholic at 7 pm on 95.9 WEZC.

Maroons Blank Hawks 35-0

As heard on WHOW, the Clinton Maroons shut-out the Meridian Hawks 35-0 on Friday night in Macon. Clinton junior Tyrese Petty had a big night, rushing for four touchdowns on 22 carries, totaling 111 yards on the ground. Junior Ty Berter completed 13 of 24 passes for 167 yards and three interceptions. Senior Kolby Winter ran 12 times for 76 yards and a touchdown, also bringing in four catches for 47 yards. Senior Christian Reynolds finished with five catches for 60 yards. The Maroons defense was stingy all night, leaving the Hawks with negative yardage to end the game.
 
For the Hawks, Jacob Jones completed eight of 22 passes for 49 yards and a pick.
 
With the win, the Maroons improve to 4-0 (2-0 in Central Illinois Conference play). The Hawks fall to 0-4.
 
Tune in next week as the Maroons welcome in the Tuscola Warriors. Kickoff is at 7 pm from Sprauge Field and you can hear it on The Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM WHOW.

Baez's bunt single lifts Cubs past Nationals in 10 innings

Javier Baez delivered the go-ahead run with a bunt single in the 10th inning, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Washington Nationals 4-3 on Thursday in a makeup of a game postponed earlier in the week.
 
Kris Bryant doubled with one out in the 10th against Sean Doolittle (3-3) and moved to third on ex-National Daniel Murphy's infield single. Baez, who homered in the sixth and drove in three on the day, bunted just to the right of first baseman Ryan Zimmerman to score Bryant.
 
Baez, an MVP candidate, has 31 homers and leads the NL with 103 RBIs.
 
Chicago stretched its lead in the NL Central to 1½ games over idle Milwaukee. Washington fell 8½ games behind Atlanta in the NL East.
 
Pedro Strop (6-1) pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings for Chicago, while Randy Rosario worked the 10th for his first career save.
 
The game was a makeup of Sunday's rainout. Washington returned home between stops in Philadelphia and Atlanta, while Chicago wedged the game in between a pair of three-game series at home. Thursday was the last remaining mutual off day for the teams, and the Cubs arrived at their hotel rooms around 4 a.m. - 12 hours before the first pitch. First baseman Anthony Rizzo boarded the flight to Washington in full uniform.
 
Washington took the lead on Spencer Kieboom's solo homer in the third. However, the Cubs got to Nationals starter Joe Ross in the fourth, with Baez delivering an RBI double and then scoring a batter later on Victor Caratini's single. The Nationals tied it on Victor Robles' sacrifice fly in the fifth.
 
Baez's opposite-field homer into the Nationals' bullpen in the sixth gave Chicago a 3-2 lead. An inning later, Trea Turner capped an 11-pitch plate appearance with an RBI double to score Robles.
 
Ross faced major league hitters for the second time since undergoing Tommy John surgery in July 2017, allowing two runs, four hits and two walks in five innings. Rain wiped out his first start in the second inning last Friday.
 
Mike Montgomery allowed two runs on three hits in four innings for the Cubs, who used eight relievers.

Machado drives in 3 runs, Dodgers top Cardinals 9-7

Manny Machado homered and drove in three runs to back Clayton Kershaw, and the Dodgers beat the Cardinals 9-7 in the opener of a four-game series between playoff contenders.
 
The Dodgers snapped a five-game losing streak against the Cardinals and moved to within one game of St. Louis for the final NL wild-card spot. The Cardinals, who went 22-6 in August, lost their second straight game and fell to 5-7 in September.
 
Kershaw (8-5), pitching at Busch Stadium for the first time since taking the loss in Game 4 of the 2014 NL division series, struck out eight in six innings, allowing four runs - three earned - on eight hits and two walks.
 
Freese tripled on a 14-pitch at-bat against Austin Gomber to score Chris Taylor and Machado in the first. Matt Kemp followed with a single to score Freese.
 
Kershaw's RBI single started a four-run fourth and drove Gomber (5-1) from the game. Taylor followed with an RBI double, and Justin Turner and Machado had sacrifice flies as the Dodgers went ahead 8-1.
 
Machado went 3 for 4, and his solo homer in the seventh traveled 417 feet to center.
 
It was Gomber's first loss in the majors. The rookie left-hander went three-plus innings and gave up a career-high seven runs on nine hits.
 
Cardinals reliever Tyson Ross hit his second career home run in the fifth, sparking a three-run rally. He became the fourth Cardinals pitcher to homer this season, the most the team has had since 1966.
 
Matt Carpenter had a pair of singles and scored twice. Marcell Ozuna had two hits, an RBI and scored a run.
 
The Cardinals scored twice and brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth. Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen needed 29 pitches to finish the game in a non-save situation.
 

Anderson's 12th-inning homer leads White Sox past Royals

Tim Anderson hit a two-run homer in the 12th inning, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 4-2 on Wednesday night.
 
Anderson's blast off Burch Smith (1-5), the sixth Royals pitcher, landed just beyond the fence in left-center.
 
Juan Minaya (2-2) pitched two scoreless innings for the win. Hector Santiago, the eighth Chicago pitcher, picked up his second save in as many chances.
 
Jose Rondon also homered for the White Sox, who snapped a seven-game skid, one game short of their season-worst losing streak.
 
Adalberto Mondesi tied a career high with four hits and drove in both of Kansas City's runs.
 
Both teams wasted plenty of scoring chances, the last of which belonged to the Royals in the bottom of the 11th. With one out and runners on second and third, Rosell Herrera lined to short, with pinch-runner Brett Phillips getting doubled off third.
 
Royals starter Eric Skogland pitched five innings, allowing two runs on two hits, with two walks and two strikeouts. He made his first start since May 25 after a long stint on the disabled list with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament. He returned Sept. 4 and had pitched two scoreless innings in relief.
 
Whit Merrifield stole two bases to bring his season total to 35, a new career high. He led the AL with 34 swipes last season and tops the league again this year.
 
After Merrifield stole second in the third inning, Mondesi drove him in with a single for the game's first run. Mondesi stole his 22nd base, his 17th since the All-Star break.
 
The White Sox answered with two runs in the fourth on Rondon's homer to left, scoring Avisail Garcia, who reached on a two-out walk.
 
The Royals tied it in the fifth but had a chance for a bigger inning. Ryan O'Hearn reached on a one-out walk, and Merrifield followed with a double to the wall in left center. But O'Hearn went too far around third and was picked off. Merrifield then stole third and scored on Mondesi's second RBI single.
 
The White Sox had runners on second and third with one out in the seventh and then loaded the bases with two outs. But Glenn Sparkman induced a fielders choice grounder from Tim Anderson to end the inning.
 
The Royals loaded the bases in the seventh as well but did not score.

Brewers beat Cubs 5-1 to move within 1 game in NL Central

Although the Milwaukee Brewers still trail in the NL Central, they believe the pressure has shifted to the first-place Cubs.
 
Curtis Granderson homered, tripled and scored three runs, Lorenzo Cain added three hits and the Brewers beat Chicago 5-1 on Wednesday night to move within a game of the division lead.
 
Granderson finished with three hits and Mike Moustakas had a two-run single for Milwaukee, which took two of three at Wrigley Field.
 
Josh Hader (6-1) struck out three in a scoreless eighth to get the win. Six Brewers pitchers combined to hold Chicago to six hits.
 
Kris Bryant had two hits and drove in Chicago's run.
 
Granderson nearly began the game with his 48th career leadoff homer, but it was ruled a triple following an umpire review. The ball appeared to bounce off the top of the home run basket twice before falling back into the field of play.
 
two batters later, Cain singled to drive in Granderson for the game's first run. Travis Shaw's sacrifice fly in the third gave the Brewers a 2-0 lead.
 
Milwaukee starter Chase Anderson allowed just two hits in four innings before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the fifth. Chicago then scratched across a run in the bottom of the fifth against relievers Jacob Barnes and Corey Knebel.
 
Pinch-hitter Tommy La Stella, batting for starter Kyle Hendricks (11-11), led off with an infield single against Barnes and advanced to second on a throwing error by shortstop Hernan Perez. Three batters later, with La Stella on third, Bryant doubled off a 98 mph fastball from Knebel to make it 2-1.
 
The Brewers gave themselves some breathing room with three runs in the ninth. Granderson led off with a homer against Steve Cishek to make it 3-1. Later in the inning, Moustakas singled through the left side with the bases loaded to make it 5-1.

Cubs' Yu Darvish has arthroscopic surgery on right elbow

Chicago Cubs right-hander Yu Darvish has undergone arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow to clean out loose debris.
 
Darvish was declared out for the season last month after an MRI revealed a stress reaction in the elbow. He recently visited orthopedic surgeon James Andrews for a second opinion and the surgery was recommended.
 
The team announced that the procedure, termed a debridement, was performed on Wednesday by Texas Rangers physician Keith Meister, who has a history with Darvish.
 
The Cubs said Darvish would be ready for spring training.
 

Taillon helps Pirates to 4-3 win, slowing Cardinals

Jameson Taillon (13-9) allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings Wednesday, leaving with a 4-1 lead after the first two Cardinals reached in the eighth. He has held opponents to three earned runs or less in his last 19 starts, the second- longest streak in the NL behind New York Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom with 26.
 
Taillon has gone seven innings or more seven times this season and has limited opponents to two runs or fewer in all of those outings.
 
Jose Martinez hit into a run-scoring forceout in the eighth inning against Felipe Vazquez, who allowed Patrick Wisdom's run-scoring single in the ninth. Vazquez rebounded to strike out DeJong and Matt Carpenter with two on to end the game for his 22nd consecutive save and 32nd in 36 chances this year.
 
Pittsburgh has won six of eight. The Pirates won 11 in a row from July 11-24.
 
Daniel Poncedeleon (0-2), making his fourth start for St. Louis, allowed two runs and five hits in five innings.
 
Marcell Ozuna had a run-scoring single in the first for the Cardinals, but Stallings hit a sacrifice fly in the second, Jordan Luplow had a go-ahead single in the third, and Stallings boosted the lead to 4-1 with a two-run single off Mike Mayers in the sixth.
 
The Cardinals begin a key four-game series against the Dodgers on Thursday. St. Louis leads Los Angeles by two games for the second NL wild card. The Dodgers beat the Reds 8-1 on Wednesday.
 
The Cardinals are 34-19 under new manager Mike Shildt. They have the most wins in the NL after the All-Star break with 33.

Cubs past Brewers 3-0

Jose Quintana pitched three-hit ball into the seventh inning, Victor Caratini drove in two runs and the Chicago Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers 3-0 on Tuesday night to regain their two-game lead in the NL Central.
 
Quintana continued his mastery of Milwaukee in a huge spot for Chicago (84-60), improving to 6-2 with a 1.60 ERA in 10 career starts against the Brewers. The veteran left-hander struck out seven and walked two in 6 2/3 innings in his second straight victory over Jhoulys Chacin, also winning at Milwaukee last Wednesday.
 
Quintana (13-9) received a standing ovation from the crowd of 37,017 when he departed with the bases loaded after a replay review awarded an infield single to pinch-hitter Hernan Perez. Justin Wilson then struck out pinch-hitter Manny Pina on three pitches, preserving Chicago's 2-0 lead and drawing another loud roar at Wrigley Field.
 
Jorge De La Rosa pitched a perfect eighth and Pedro Strop finished the three-hitter for his 13th save in 17 chances. Shortstop Addison Russell made an outstanding backhanded stop to retire Ryan Braun for the second out of the ninth.
 
Milwaukee (83-63) had won seven of eight, including a 3-2 victory in the series opener that trimmed Chicago's division lead to one game. Chacin (14-7) pitched five innings of one-hit ball, but some sloppy play in the second proved costly for the wild card-leading Brewers.
 
Ben Zobrist led off with a grounder that skipped by second baseman Jonathan Schoop for an error. With one out and runners on second and third, Chacin threw the ball into center field while trying to pick off Javier Baez at second.
 
Zobrist scored on Chacin's error and the Brewers brought their infield in with Caratini at the plate. The backup catcher then hit a soft liner on the 10th pitch of his at-bat that went off the glove of a leaping Schoop for an RBI single.
 
Caratini added a run-scoring double against Brandon Woodruff in the seventh, providing some sorely needed production at the bottom of Chicago's lineup. It was Caratini's first game since he had three hits and four RBIs in a doubleheader at Washington on Saturday.
 
Quintana threw 108 pitches, 68 for strikes. He is 3-0 with a 1.84 ERA in his last five outings.
 
Up next for the cubs Brewers RHP Chase Anderson (9-7, 3.95 ERA) and Cubs RHP Kyle Hendricks (11-10, 3.71 ERA) pitch in the series finale on Wednesday night. Anderson is unbeaten in his last nine starts, going 3-0 with a 4.34 ERA since his last loss on July 14 at Pittsburgh. Hendricks is 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA over his last three outings.

Cardinals win over Pirates 11-5

Miles Mikolas was feeling fresh for St. Louis, and that was bad news for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
 
Cardinals rookie Tyler O'Neill hit a three-run homer during a six-run eighth inning, Marcell Ozuna drove in three and Mikolas pitched seven solid innings after an extra day off to lift the Cardinals over the Pirates 11-5 on Tuesday night.
 
Mikolas (15-5) gave up a run, five hits and a walk while striking out seven with 107 pitches. He dropped his ERA to 2.99, and he got his first victory in five starts against the Pirates this season.
 
Mikolas struck out five straight in one stretch, and the Cardinals improved to 21-8 in his starts.
 
Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle was impressed with Mikolas, who signed with St. Louis before this season following three years in Japan.
 
Ozuna is hitting .352 this season against Pittsburgh. He has 13 RBIs against the Pirates and 79 on the season.
 
Since coming off the disabled list for his balky right shoulder, Ozuna has been hot.
 
He extended his hitting streak to seven games (13 for 30, .433). It was his team-leading 20th game with multiple RBIs this season.
 
Joe Musgrove (6-9) went six innings. He allowed four hits, four runs and two walks while striking out eight.
 
St. Louis took a 2-0 lead in the first when Ozuna hit a two-run double to left, scoring Matt Carpenter and Jose Martinez.
 
Corey Dickerson countered for Pittsburgh with an RBI single in the fourth before St. Louis added two runs in the sixth after loading the bases with no outs. After Ozuna struck out, Musgrove threw a wild pitch to score Carpenter. Paul DeJong hit a sacrifice fly to center, driving in Martinez for a 4-1 lead.
 
A wild pitch by Pirates reliever Tanner Anderson with the bases load in the seventh let Francisco Pena score.
 
Then St. Louis blew it open in the eighth. Pena singled home Kolten Wong from second base, and O'Neill then hit a 3-0 pitch 457 feet into the upper left field bleachers for his eighth home run. The shot knocked out rookie pitcher Nick Burdi, who was making his major league debut.
 
Pinch-hitter Adolis Garcia added a run-scoring double off Clay Holmes, and Ozuna finished off the St. Louis scoring with a sacrifice fly. It was the first career RBI and extra-base hit for Garcia.
 
The Pirates scored four runs and five hits in the ninth off Luke Weaver. John Brebbia relieved to record the final out.
 
Up next the cardinals RHP Daniel Poncedeleon (0-1, 2.67) will make his fourth start of the season and it will be his first appearance against the Pirates. He pitched two innings of scoreless relief Saturday in Detroit. 

Seahawks likely to be without Doug Baldwin at Chicago

The Seattle Seahawks are likely to be without wide receiver Doug Baldwin for at least next week's game at Chicago and possibly longer due to an MCL injury to his right knee.
 
Coach Pete Carroll was vague Tuesday about the specifics of Baldwin's injury but indicated it would be difficult for Baldwin to make it back to face the Bears and that it could be a couple of weeks. Baldwin was injured in the first quarter of Sunday's 27-24 loss to Denver.
 
With Baldwin expected to be out, there is likely to be a greater emphasis on Seattle's running game going into next Monday's game at Chicago.
 
Carroll said he was pleased with the performance of running back Chris Carson in the opener. But Carson and rookie Rashaad Penny had just 14 combined runs. Seattle had 16 total runs among 55 offensive plays.

White Sox shut down by Royals 6-3

Brad Keller pitched seven strong innings to win for the fourth time in six starts, leading the Kansas City Royals to a 6-3 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night.
 
Whit Merrifield had two hits, two RBIs, and scored two runs for the Royals. He also stole two bases to increase his American League lead to 33 steals, including a league-best 12 of third base.
 
Keller (8-6) gave up one run and four hits and two walks while striking out six. He is 4-1 with a 1.62 ERA in his last six starts, lowering his ERA to 3.04 - leading all AL rookies.
 
Wily Peralta picked up his 10th save in 10 chances, despite walking two in 1/3 of an inning.
 
The Royals have won a season-high seven straight at home - and 10 of 11. After starting 11-35 at home before the All-Star break, the Royals are 16-10 since the break. They need to win three of their final nine games to avoid tying the franchise's worst home record (1998).
 
Dylan Covey (5-13) allowed six runs - five earned - and six hits in 4 1/3 innings for the White Sox. He walked three and struck out four. He is now 0-6 with a 9.00 ERA in his last six starts. Over his last 11 outings, he's 1-9 with an 8.59 ERA.
 
Covey has struggled against the Royals, falling to 0-7 with a 6.37 ERA in nine career starts.
 
The White Sox scored a run in the third when Avasail Garcia beat out an infield single, scoring Yolmer Sanchez from third. Garcia rolled it sharply to short, but Adalberto Mondesi appeared to take too long to release the throw to first.
 
Mondesi made up for his gaffe with an RBI single as part of a three-run third for Kansas City. Merrifield blooped a single to short right field, scoring Brian Goodwin. Mondesi followed with a bunt single that scored Rosell Herrera. A bad throw by catcher Welington Castillo sent Merrifield to third. He scored on Alex Gordon's sacrifice fly to the wall in right.
 
The Royals added another run in the fourth. Ryan O'Hearn led off with a triple down the right-field line and scored on Jorge Bonifacio's ground-rule double to make it 4-1.
 
Hunter Dozier had a two-run single in the sixth to give the Royals a five-run lead.
 
The White Sox pulled within three in the ninth against Royals relievers, with Tim Anderson driving in Ryan LaMarre with a single and Yoan Moncada scoring Jose Rondon on a bases-loaded walk.
 
Up next for the White Sox LHP Carlos Rodon (6-5, 3.11 ERA) will face Royals LHP Eric Skoglund (1-5, 6.45). Rodon has lost his two starts in September after the Sox won all five of his August starts (he was 3-0 in those starts). Skoglund missed more than three months of the season (86 games) with a strained left UCL. He has pitched two scoreless innings out of the bullpen since his return. He made five rehab starts, going 0-1 with a 3.54 ERA with three different minor league affiliates.
 

Brewers trim Cubs with 3-2 win

Lorenzo Cain had four hits, Mike Moustakas scored on Carl Edwards Jr.'s wild pitch in the sixth inning and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 3-2 on Monday night to pull within one game of the NL Central leaders.
 
Orlando Arcia and Jonathan Schoop each drove in a run as Milwaukee (83-62) won for the seventh time in eight games. It's the closest the Brewers have been to the division lead since they trailed the Cubs by a game on Aug. 5.
 
Wade Miley (4-2) pitched five effective innings before Corbin Burnes, Josh Hader and Jeremy Jeffress closed it out for wild card-leading Milwaukee. Burnes worked a scoreless sixth, Hader struck out six straight batters and Jeffress got three outs for his 11th save.
 
Back home after a soggy weekend in Washington, Chicago (83-60) lost for the fifth time in seven games. Ben Zobrist had two of the Cubs' five hits, and Kris Bryant drove in a run.
 
The game was tied at 2 when manager Joe Maddon and a trainer came out to check on Jon Lester after the left-hander retired the first two batters in the sixth. Lester (15-6) stayed in the game after a short conversation, and the Brewers pounced.
 
Moustakas singled and Erik Kratz doubled to right, putting runners on second and third. Lester then departed with lower back tightness, and Moustakas scampered home when Edwards missed badly on his first pitch to Arcia.
 
Lester allowed eight hits, struck out seven and walked two in his first loss since Aug. 11. The All-Star was 3-0 with a 1.52 ERA in his previous four starts.
 
Schoop hit a sacrifice fly in the first and Arcia added a run-scoring single in the second, helping the Brewers to a 2-1 lead. But the Cubs tied it in the fifth.
 
Willson Contreras doubled and advanced to third when Lester nearly drove one over Cain's head in center field, forcing him to make a nice running catch. Following walks by Addison Russell and Daniel Murphy, Bryant hit a sacrifice fly to left.

Cardinals past Pirates 8-7

Two weeks ago, St. Louis infielder Matt Adams couldn't buy a hit.
 
He struggled just to make contact, and was mired in a 0-for-27 slump.
 
Those days are apparently over.
 
Adams hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning on Monday night to rally the Cardinals to an 8-7 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
 
St. Louis, which overcame deficits of 4-0 and 6-4, moved two games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the race for the second wild card spot in the NL. Cincinnati beat Los Angeles 10-6 Monday.
 
Josh Harrison, Colin Moran and Starling Marte homered for Pittsburgh, which had its five-game winning streak snapped.
 
Adams homered off Edgar Santana (2-3) to erase a 6-4 deficit.
 
Adams, a former Cardinals player claimed off waivers from Washington on Aug. 21, hit his first homer at Busch Stadium since Sept. 27, 2016. It was his 21st of the season, a career high.
 
St. Louis manager Mike Shildt remained confident in Adams despite his struggles. Adams struck out eight times during his hitless skid, which spanned Aug. 5-28.
 
John Brebbia (2-3) picked up the victory for St. Louis, which has won two in a row.
 
Carlos Martinez, a former starter, recorded his third save in as many chances. He gave up run-scoring double to Josh Bell with two out. But Martinez got Francisco Cervelli to ground out to Paul DeJong at deep short to end the game. The bang-bang play at first was challenged, but Cervelli was ruled out after a 31-second video review.
 
DeJong ranged onto the outfield grass to make the play.
 
St. Louis right-hander Adam Wainwright, making his first start since May 13, gave up four runs on seven hits in five innings. He retired the last eight batters after giving up three runs in the third.
 
Shildt said Wainwright will get another start.
 
Matt Carpenter walked to start the go-ahead rally. Jose Martinez followed with a hit to set the stage for Adams' heroics.
 
Harrison broke a 4-4 tie with a solo shot off Chasen Shreve in sixth. Adam Frazier added a run-scoring hit for a 6-4 lead.
 
The Cardinals scored four times in the fourth off Trevor Williams, who had allowed just four earned runs over his previous nine starts. DeJong had a two-run double and scored on Harrison Bader's game-tying sacrifice fly.
 
Williams allowed six hits, struck out six and didn't walk a batter. He was making his sixth start of the season against St. Louis.
 
Williams came into the game on a big-time roll.
 
Moran homered in the second off Wainwright, who struck out three and did not walk a batter. Marte ripped a two-run shot in the third, his 19th of the season, for a 3-0 lead.
 
St. Louis is 33-18 under Shildt, who took over for Mike Matheny on July 15.

Royals beat White Sox 4-3

White Sox reliever Jeanmar Gomez threw away a bunt in the 10th inning Monday night, giving the Kansas City Royals a 4-3 win over Chicago.
 
Brian Goodwin led off the Royals 10th with a sharp double. Alcides Escobar then bunted and Gomez (0-2) made a wild toss over third baseman Yolmer Sanchez, letting Goodwin score.
 
Jake Newberry (2-0) pitched one inning.
 
Whit Merrifield homered on the first pitch from White Sox starter Lucas Giolito. Ryan O'Hearn hit a solo homer in the sixth that made it 3-all - he connected against Chicago in his big league debut on July 31, and now has 10 home runs in 30 games.
 
Adam Engel and Daniel Palka each homered in the Chicago third against Jakob Junis.
 
Jose Abreu, activated from the disabled list prior to the game, had three hits for the White Sox. He was put on the DL on Aug. 22 following surgery for testicular torsion.
 
Junis went eight innings, allowing seven hits. He faced the minimum after giving up Palka's homer, and has a 2.15 ERA in his last seven starts.
 
Giolito pitched seven innings for his fifth quality start in his last six outings.
 
Merrifield hit his third leadoff homer this season and the Royals added another run in the second after a couple of unusual plays.
 
With a runner on second, Goodwin hit a slow dribbler up the third base line that appeared to be headed foul, but Sanchez touched the ball in fair territory and resulted in an infield hit. Alcides Escobar followed with a blooper to right field, and a run scored while Goodwin was thrown out at second.

Bears' Akiem Hicks and Roquan Smith Solid in NFL debut

Smith collected a sack and three tackles in Sunday's loss to the Packers.
 
Smith is still working his way into game shape after missing time with a hamstring injury, but he was able to post the first sack of his career. With Khalil Mack in the fold, Smith may be able to add a solid number of sacks to what should be strong tackle numbers, especially as defenses will be forced to game plan around Mack.
 
Hicks recorded a sack and three tackles in the Bears Week 1 loss to the Packers.
 
Hicks has proven to be an excellent pass rusher over the past few seasons, but with the addition of Khalil Mack, he'll be in position to have a career year. It was clear in this contest that with defenses focusing on slowing Mack, Hicks will have plenty of one-on-one matchups to exploit when rushing the passer throughout the course of the season.

 

Illinois posts 34-14 win over Western Illinois

Illinois beat Western Illinois 34-14 Saturday, but the victory came with a price.
 
Illinois quarterback AJ Bush injured his left leg in the first quarter and didn't return. M.J. Rivers finished the game, providing a needed spark for an Illinois offense that's had trouble getting started early in both games this season.
 
Bush's injury didn't appear serious.
 
Rivers was 9 of 16 for 105 yards and two touchdowns for Illinois (2-0). Mike Epstein rushed for 105 yards on eight carries. Reggie Corbin ran for 63 yards and one touchdown on 15 carries.
 
Sean McGuire went 24 for 36 for 276 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions for Western Illinois (0-2). Tony Tate rushed for 41 yards to lead the Leathernecks.
 
Illinois also lost wide receiver Edwin Carter, injured while making his second touchdown catch of the game. Carter was seeing more playing time Saturday because of the season-ending injury to star receiver Mike Dudek last week.
 
McGuire was sharp early in the game, but the Illini adjusted at halftime and McGuire was forced to scramble often to avoid pressure. One of his two interceptions came as he was chased from the pocket. Michael Marchese intercepted for Illinois and returned it 41 yards to the 3. Reggie Corbin ran it in on the next play for Illinois.

Illinois State beats Eastern Illinois 48-10

Brady Davis threw for 317 yards and four touchdowns and ran for a fifth as Illinois State romped past Eastern Illinois for its second straight win, 48-10 on Saturday night.
 
Davis threw four straight incomplete passes in the first quarter, but finished 17 of 23, including a 42-yard strike to Andrew Edgar to get the Redbirds on the board.
 
Illinois State had a missed field goal attempt and a three-and-out on its first two possessions of the game, but held a 28-0 advantage at intermission.
 
The Redbirds marched 95 yards in eight plays for its first touchdown, went 80 yards in seven plays for its second and Davis hit Spencer Schnell with a 97-yard touchdown on the first play of its next possession.
 
James Robinson ran for 153 yards on 15 carries and Markel Smith gained 86 yards on 15 carries for Illinois State.
 
Jamal Scott gained 96 yards on 17 carries to lead Eastern Illinois (0-2).

Packers beat Bears 24-23

Aaron Rodgers heard the applause after walking out of the stadium tunnel and back on to the field.
 
The team doctor had checked out his left knee after the Green Bay Packers quarterback was carted off the field in the second quarter. Rodgers, it seemed, had avoided a major injury.
 
He was good to go. The adrenaline kicked in.
 
The hobbling two-time NFL MVP threw three touchdown passes in the second half after returning from injury, and the Green Bay Packers overcame a 20-point deficit for a thrilling 24-23 win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday night.
 
Rodgers connected with receiver Randall Cobb for a catch-and-run through the secondary for a 75-yard touchdown and the go-ahead score with 2:13 left in the game.
 
Nick Perry sacked the Bears' Mitchell Trubisky on fourth-and-10 with 58 seconds to complete the comeback.
 
Against the archrival Bears. To start the Packers' 100th season.
 
Sunday marked the first time in franchise history that the Packers won after trailing by 17-plus points entering the fourth quarter, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
 
The Packers posted the second-largest comeback in franchise history at Lambeau Field, behind only a rally from 21 points down to beat New Orleans on Sept. 17, 1989.
 
For Rodgers, this was special.
 
And especially because how awful the Packers played in the first half.
 
A Chicago defense featuring newly acquired star linebacker Khalil Mack dominated until the third quarter. Mack had a 27-yard interception return for a touchdown against backup quarterback DeShone Kizer in the second quarter.
 
A gimpy Rodgers returned in the second half and finally figured out the Bears. He also found Davante Adams and Geronimo Allison for touchdown passes.
 
He finished 20 of 30 for 286 yards, including 17 of 23 for 273 yards in the second half.
 
It was Rodgers' first regular-season home game since Sept. 28 against the Bears. He was limited to seven games in 2017 because of a collarbone injury.
 
Mack nearly stole the show. He also stripped the ball for a turnover in the red zone off Kizer in the second quarter. Mack made an immediate impact in his first game since the Bears acquired the premier pass rusher in a blockbuster deal with the Oakland Raiders.
 
The Bears led 20-0 at one point and their defense dominated until the second half.
 
Then Rodgers returned, and the Packers' defense held the Bears in check.

Cubs-Nationals postponed

Sunday's game between the Chicago Cubs and the Washington Nationals was postponed because of rain and rescheduled for Thursday at 4:05 p.m.
 
The decision was announced three hours after the scheduled 1:35 p.m. start time. Thursday is the teams' only remaining mutual day off.
 
Rain fell at Nationals Park throughout the weekend.
 
The start of Friday's game was delayed 1 hour, 21 minutes. The rain returned with two outs in the top of the second inning and play was stopped. The game was postponed after a wait of 2 hours, 55 minutes when the rain had stopped.
 
Saturday became a doubleheader that was supposed to start at 3:05 p.m. but didn't get underway until 5 p.m. A between-games ceremony honoring former National Jason Werth and another rain delay in the nightcap led to 1:44 a.m. conclusion as Washington swept the Cubs.
 
Chicago began Sunday with a 2½-game lead the NL Central while Washington was 7½ games behind Atlanta in the NL East.
 
The Cubs, in the midst of 23 games in 23 days, finished a four-city road trip 5-5.
 
Washington snapped a three-game skid with Saturday's sweep, which was led by their ace hurler and all-star slugger. After Max Scherzer tossed a complete game in the opener, Bryce Harper's two-run homer capped a three-run rally in the seventh inning of the nightcap.
 
The Nationals also got a homer from Anthony Rendon and key relief work from Sean Doolittle and Greg Holland.
 

Cardinals beat Tigers 5-2

The St. Louis Cardinals needed something to get them going on Sunday against the Detroit Tigers.
 
Out of nowhere - again - a squirrel appeared.
 
In an episode sure to revive St. Louis fans' memories of the 2011 Rally Squirrel, this game at Comerica Park was scoreless going into the seventh inning. That's when a squirrel took up residence between second and third base.
 
There was a delay and, with some prompting from the Tigers infield, the critter moved into foul territory and eventually made its escape in right field.
 
The Cardinals wound up scoring five times in the inning and avoided a series sweep with a 5-2 victory.
 
During the 2011 NL Division Series, a squirrel cut across the diamond at Busch Stadium, running right past home plate during a game against Philadelphia. The Cards went on to win the playoff series and later the championship - their World Series rings even depicted a squirrel.
 
The Cardinals lost the first two games of the series in walk-off fashion and didn't have a baserunner until the sixth against Michael Fulmer.
 
St. Louis, which has a one-game lead for the second NL wild card spot, won for the third time in eight games.
 
Detroit's four-game winning streak was snapped.
 
John Gant (7-5) allowed two runs on five hits and a walk in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out six.
 
Carlos Martinez pitched the ninth for his second save. After the game, Shildt said Martinez will replace Bud Norris as the team's closer.
 
Fulmer (3-11) was perfect through five innings but only got four more outs. He allowed five runs on five hits and three walks in 6 1/3 innings, striking out five.
 
Fulmer fell to 0-6 in his last nine starts, with the Tigers losing all nine.
 
In the seventh, Marcell Ozuna and DeJong both hit infield singles with one out, and Wong followed with an RBI single to left. Yairo Munoz followed with a flyball down the right-field line that Niko Goodrum dropped, allowing the second run to score.
 
Greg Garcia was intentionally walked, loading the bases, and Carson Kelly hit the third infield single of the inning to make it 3-0. Victor Alcantara replaced Fulmer and allowed a sacrifice fly to Matt Carpenter before Jose Martinez's RBI single gave the Cardinals a five-run lead.
 
The Tigers got their two runs in the bottom of the seventh, thanks to doubles from Nicholas Castellanos, James McCann and Ronny Rodriguez.
 
Carpenter and Shildt were both ejected after Carpenter was called out on strikes to end the ninth.

Angels top White Sox 1-0

Andrew Heaney began the season on the disabled list with an elbow injury. Now, the 27-year-old left-hander is on the verge of finishing with a slew of career bests.
 
Heaney tossed three-hit ball over seven innings and struck out a career-high 12, lifting the Los Angeles Angels over the Chicago White Sox 1-0 Sunday for a three-game sweep.
 
Kole Calhoun drove in the only run with a seventh-inning single. Mike Trout went 2 for 4 and finished the series 8 for 11 with two homers and five RBIs for the Angels.
 
Yoan Moncada had two hits for the White Sox, who have dropped five straight.
 
Heaney (9-9) allowed just three singles and didn't walk anyone. Ty Buttrey pitched the eighth, Blake Parker got two outs in the ninth and Jose Alvarez got the final out for his first save.
 
Heaney is 2-1 with a 1.89 ERA and 23 strikeouts in his last three starts. He has set career highs in wins, starts (27), innings pitched (165) and strikeouts (161) this season.
 
After giving up a hit to Tim Anderson leading off the first, Heaney retired 11 straight. The streak was broken when Matt Davidson struck out swinging leading off the fifth but reached as the ball got by catcher Jose Briceno for a wild pitch. Only one Chicago runner reached second base against Heaney.
 
Chicago starter Reynaldo Lopez threw six scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, struck out 10 and walked three before being lifted after 105 pitches.
 
The 24-year-old right-hander has allowed just two runs over 20 innings in his last three starts.
 
The Angels took advantage of Lopez's departure by pushing across a run in the seventh. Jose Fernandez led off with a single against Ian Hamilton (0-1) and advanced on a groundout. With two outs, Caleb Frare came in to face Calhoun in a lefty-lefty matchup. The move didn't work out as Calhoun singled to right to score Fernandez.
 
The White Sox threatened in the ninth.
 
Pinch-hitter Yolmer Sanchez led off with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch with one out. Parker then hit Davidson, and a flyout put runners at the corners.
 
Alvarez was brought in to face pinch-hitter Nicky Delmonico and struck him out to end the game.
 

Week 3 Area Football Scores

Central Illinois:

 

Tuscola 55, Central A&M 28, F

Warrensburg-Latham 40, Sullivan 0, F

Meridian 0, Decatur St. Teresa 53, F

 

Illini Prairie:

 

Olympia 28, Rantoul 36, F-OT

Illinois Valley Central 7, Pontiac 40, F

Bloomington Central Catholic 21, St. Joseph-Ogden 42, F

Tolono Unity 26, Prairie Central 34, F

 

Heart of Illinois:

 

Heyworth 0, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley 57, F

El Paso-Gridley 16, Ridgeview 20, F

Tri-Valley 14, Fisher 21, F

LeRoy 8, Deer Creek-Mackinaw 22, F

 

Big Twelve:

 

Normal Community West 42, Danville 20, F

Normal Community 49, Urbana 6, F

Bloomington 50, Peoria Manual 0, F

Champaign Centennial 31, Peoria Richwoods 10, F

 

Central State Eight:

 

Decatur MacArthur 34, Normal University 7, F

 

Apollo:

 

Mt. Zion 14, Effingham 41, F

Lincoln 13, Mattoon 47, F

 

Sangamo:

 

Maroa-Forsyth 76, Pittsfield, 0

 

Little Okaw:

 

Argenta-Oreana 38, Oakwood 22, F

Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond 33, Martinsville 0, F

Cerro Gordo-Bement 21, Oblong 0, F

Decatur Lutheran 30, Villa Grove 6, F

Illini Lose Backup QB

The U of I’s backup quarterback is searching for another school. Cam Thomas is leaving the program for “personal reasons”. Thomas was beaten out for the starting job in training camp after finishing last year as the team’s starting quarterback. The Illini now have no quarterbacks on this year’s roster that played for the team last year.

Rain or Shine Sages Prevail

Champaign was cold and wet with all the rain coming in but that didn’t stop Alek Bundy and the rest of the Sages. The Monticello Sages would go to win their third game against St. Thomas More Sabers 35-6.

 

In the first quarter, the rain wouldn’t stop Bundy as he would find room to run on a couple power runs. Bundy alone in the first quarter would rush for 50 plus yards. Braden Snyder ran a read option giving to Bundy to the left side where he broke two tackles running for 20 yards for the first touchdown. Sabers found little luck moving the ball with Riley Austin crashing the line. Sabers quarterback Bryson Lee would scramble to find plays throwing passes up in the air finding no luck. Sages would get the ball back with Snyder throwing with great precision to split ends Luke Stringer, Asher Bradd, and Devin Graham. Snyder then led his team down to the one-yard line where he would get behind his center Cody Wienke driving in for the second touchdown making the score 14-0.

 

The second quarter started slower on both sides as Sabers defense stopped the Sages couple times forcing them to punt. Sabers still had no luck, as the wet ball got to their center. Lee received low snaps going straight into the mud. Sabers quickly punt away giving the ball back into Synder’s hands. Snyder looked to throw down the field on a corner route finding Graham, scoring another touchdown making the score 21-0. 

 

Sabers got the ball back but, with bad weather and Austin attacking the offense Lee would turn the ball over on an interception to Asher Bradd twice. Monticello would then run the clock ending the first half, 21 to 0.

 

Sabers deferred in the first half so The Sages would get the ball back to start the third quarter. Snyder would continue to be smart with throws finding Stringer, Bradd, and Bundy. Snyder would try a rollout to his right throwing to Bundy but immediately turn around finding a pack of Sabers waiting to sack him in the backfield losing about 10 yards. Coach Welter wouldn’t let that stop them as they turned back around and ran the same play again finding Bundy on a wheel route getting huge blocks from Stringer and Graham. Bundy strolled into the end zone picking up his second touchdown of the night, extending the lead 28-0. Sabers looked to quarterback Lee for some plays but again struggled with a wet ball. Lee received more low snaps with him diving on the ball.

 

Sabers would punt it away to Asher Bradd as he would run towards Monticello sideline getting an opening from running back Alek Bundy. Devin Graham in front of Bradd at the 10-yard line would make a huge pancake block getting Bradd into the end zone. The punt return would set the game at 35-0.

 

Rolling into the 4th quarter, Monticello would slow down swapping players out. St. Thomas More continued to play hard as they ran the ball hard from running backs Hunter Howell and Eivory Shellman. They rushed for a combined total of 80 yards. Shellman caught a break around the 12-yard line finding an opening on a sweep left scoring the first points for the Sabers. 

 

Monticello would just run the clock out ending the game making the final score 35-6. The win over St. Thomas More would get Coach Cully Welter’s 78th win making him the coach with the most wins in Monticello history. 

 

Play of the game: Sabers would punt it away to Asher Bradd as he would run towards Monticello sideline getting an opening from running Alek Bundy. Devin Graham in front of Bradd at the 10-yard line would make a huge pancake block getting Bradd into the end zone. The punt return would set the game at 35-0.

 

Maroons Weather Rams 23-6

As heard on WHOW, the Clinton Maroons remain undefeated after a 23-6 victory over the Shelbyville Rams in the rain Friday night. The Maroons were led on offense by Tyrese Petty with 16 carries for 84 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Ty Berter completed 12 of 22 passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns, also running the ball seven times for 23 yards. Senior Clayton Welch finished with four catches for 62 yards and two touchdown, plus two interceptions on defense.
 
For the Rams, Emric Massado completed five of 21 passes for 78 yards and four interceptions, also carrying the ball nine times for 69 yards and Shelbyville's lone touchdown.
 
Clinton improves to 3-0 with the win, and 1-0 in Central Illinois Conference play.
Shelbyville falls to 1-2 (0-1).
 
Tune in next week as the Maroons travels to Macon-Meridian to take on the Hawks. The game can be heard at 7pm on The Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM WHOW.

Friday Night Football

Tuscola vs. Central A&M 7:00 PM at Central A&M High School
Shelbyville vs. Clinton  7:00 PM at Clinton High School
Warrensburg-Latham  vs. Sullivan 7:00 PM at Okaw Valley High School
Macon Meridian vs. Decatur St. Teresa 7:00 PM at St. Teresa High School
 
Monticello vs. St. Thomas More 7:00 PM at St. Thomas More
Olympia vs. Rantoul 7:00 PM at Rantoul
Illinois Valley Central vs. Pontiac 7:30 PM at IVC
Bloomington Central Catholic vs. St. Joseph-Ogden 7:00 PM at Bloomington Central Catholic
Tolono Unity vs. Prairie Central 7:00 PM at Tolono Unity

Cubs come back to beat Nationals 6-4

With so much attention focused on Daniel Murphy's return to Washington for the first time since he was traded to the Chicago Cubs, it was his in-game replacement - David Bote - who once again tormented the Nationals.
 
Bote had a pinch-hit RBI double and scored in the 10th inning as the Cubs came back to beat the Nationals 6-4 on Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series.
 
Bote, who hit a two-out grand slam in the bottom of the ninth to give the Cubs a 4-3 win over Washington on Aug. 12 at Wrigley Field, knocked a 100 mph fastball from Jimmy Cordero (1-2) into right field to score Albert Almora Jr. Bote came home on a single by pinch-hitter Taylor Davis.
 
Bote, who finished the game at second base, was certain Nats fans hadn't forgotten what he did in Chicago last month.
 
Murphy went 1 for 5 with a strikeout during his first game in Washington since he was dealt to the Cubs on Aug 21.
 
While Chicago has the best record in the National League and leads the NL Central by 4½ games over Milwaukee, manager Joe Maddon is still looking to tighten up some things and admits he becomes a perfectionist at times.
 
Washington has lost three straight to fall to 69-72. The Nationals are three games under .500 for the first time since April 30.
 
Pedro Strop (5-1) pitched a scoreless ninth, and Jesse Chavez earned his third save.
 
Washington took a 3-2 lead in the fourth when Mark Reynolds belted his 13th homer of the season, a two-run shot to left field.
 
Murphy scored on Ben Zobrist's sacrifice fly to tie it at 3 in the fifth.
 
Spencer Kieboom had a career-high three hits for Washington.
 
Stephen Strasburg pitched 5 2/3 innings for the Nationals, allowing six hits while walking three and striking out six. He gave up three runs, two earned, while throwing 111 pitches - his most since tossing a season-high 115 on May 20.
 
Up next for the Cubs: LHP Jon Lester (15-5, 3.53 ERA) will start in Washington for the first time since the 2017 NL Division Series. Lester is 2-2 with a 4.25 ERA in seven career starts against the Nationals.

Bears' Akiem Hicks: Healthy for opener

Hicks (knee) was not on the Bears' injury report Tuesday. 
 
Hicks missed some time during the preseason due to a sore knee, but it appears to no longer be an issue with the regular season approaching. He should start at defensive end for the Bears in the opener, looking to build off of a career-high 8.5 sacks in 2017.

Blues' Tarasenko hopes to be ready for camp after surgery

St. Louis Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko hopes to be on the ice for the start of training camp next, week five months after undergoing reconstructive surgery on his left shoulder.
 
Tarasenko says he spent most of his summer rehabbing and is close to being cleared to play. He resumed skating at informal workouts in St. Louis on Monday and reported his shooting getting back to normal.
 
The 26-year-old Russian separated his shoulder on a collision with Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog in each team's regular-season finale April 7. He had surgery April 11, with general manager Doug Armstrong saying he expected a four-to-six-month timeframe for Tarasenko's recovery.
 
Tarasenko led the Blues with 33 goals and was second on the team with 66 points last season. St. Louis missed the playoffs by one point.

Cardinals hold off Nationals 7-6

For struggling Matt Adams, a return to Nationals Park was the perfect tonic.
 
Adams homered twice against his former team who traded him last month, Marcell Ozuna tied his career-high with four hits and the St. Louis Cardinals held off the Washington Nationals 7-6 on Wednesday night.
 
One night after bashing five homers against Washington, St. Louis settled for three in the rubber game of the series as Yairo Munoz had a solo shot in the sixth.
 
Adams victimized Tanner Roark with first-pitch homers on a curveball in the first inning and a changeup in the fifth.
 
Miles Mikolas (14-4) worked 6 2/3 innings and was charged with four runs on 12 hits. Carlos Martinez worked the final two innings for his first save since 2014, getting three straight outs in the ninth after the first two batters reached.
 
Ryan Zimmerman's three-run double followed by Wilmer Difo's RBI single pulled Washington within 7-6 in the seventh.
 
Bryce Harper had three hits for Washington on a day when general manager Mike Rizzo responded that he hasn't considered any other scenario when asked if manager Dave Martinez will return in 2019.
 
Adams was signed by the Nationals in the offseason. The former Cardinal hit .258 with 18 homers for Washington and was traded back to St. Louis on Aug. 21, the same day Daniel Murphy was dealt to the Cubs.
 
Tuesday's homers were Adams' first since the trade. He came into the game 3 for 23 with the Cardinals.
 
Roark (8-15) was a loser for the third straight start. He gave up six runs on 10 hits over five innings.
 
It took the Cardinals just seven pitches to take a 3-0 lead. Following a pair of singles, Adams homered.
 
Fielding problems helped the Cardinals expand their lead in the second. With two outs, third baseman Anthony Rendon had trouble getting a Mikolas bouncer out of his glove. Then Matt Carpenter launched a flyball to the warning track in center that Harper lost sight of in the twilight for an RBI double.
 
Carpenter later scored to make it 5-0.
 
Adams struck again in fifth, hitting a solo shot into the back of the second deck.
 
Up next for Cardinals: LHP Austin Gomber (5-0, 2.77 ERA) starts Friday at Detroit as St. Louis begins its final interleague series of the season.

Tigers stomp White Sox 10-2

Michael Kopech wasn't sharp and the Tigers took full advantage of the Chicago White Sox's prized pitching prospect.
 
Ronny Rodriguez had a two-run homer and Jeimer Candelario, Mikie Mahtook and JaCoby Jones each added a solo shot, powering Detroit to a 10-2 rout of the White Sox and Kopech on Wednesday night.
 
The game was delayed twice by rain for a total of an hour and one minute.
 
Nicholas Castellanos went 3 for 4 with a walk and an RBI and Victor Martinez had a two-run single as Detroit pounded out 16 hits and won for the eighth time in nine games at Guaranteed Rate Field.
 
Kopech had allowed just one run in 11 innings in his first three starts in the majors, including two home starts cut short by rain delays. He returned after a short delay on Wednesday and probably wished he hadn't.
 
Kopech (1-1) was tagged for seven runs on nine hits in 3 1/3 innings. He struck six, walked one and surrendered all four Detroit homers as his ERA jumped from 0.82 to 5.02.
 
It was a far cry from his effort at Detroit on Aug. 26 when he allowed one run on seven hits in six innings for his first win.
 
Jordan Zimmermann (7-6) allowed just two hits in five shutout innings and returned following both delays.
 
Candelario led off the game with a 433-foot homer to set the tone.
 
Following a 28-minute delay in the bottom of the second, Kopech made quick work of the Tigers in third. The fourth was a different story.
 
Mahtook, who has homered in back-to-back games, led off with a long blast to left estimated at 455 feet. After James McCann singled, Rodriguez homered to make it 4-0 and Jones followed with a solo blast. It was the second time this season the Tigers have gone back-to-back. Martinez and Niko Goodrum did it on Aug. 30 against the Yankees in New York.
 
After Dawel Lugo doubled, Kopech struck out Candelario for the first out. The rally, though, wasn't finished. Jim Adduci doubled to plate Lugo for a 6-0 lead and chase Kopech. Castellanos singled off reliever Dylan Covey to score Adduci to cap the six-run inning.
 
Following a 33-minute delay in the top of the fifth, the Tigers added three in the sixth to make it 10-0, and Chicago added two unearned runs in the seventh.
 
Up next for the White Sox: Following a day off on Thursday, LHP Carlos Rodon (6-4, 2.89 ERA) pitches the opener of a three-game home series against the Angels and RHP Felix Pena (1-4, 4.19) on Friday night.
 

Cubs hold off Brewers 6-4

Daniel Murphy and Kyle Schwarber homered to back a solid start from Jose Quintana, and the Chicago Cubs held off the Milwaukee Brewers 6-4 on Wednesday night to avert a three-game sweep.
 
Pedro Strop closed out a tense ninth inning as Chicago boosted its NL Central lead to four games over the second-place Brewers.
 
Quintana (12-9) allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings, improving to 3-1 at Miller Park with the Cubs.
 
Strop allowed a walk and a single to open the ninth but got the final three outs, striking out Curtis Granderson with two runners on to preserve the win.
 
Granderson belted his first home run as a member of the Brewers in a pinch-hit role in the seventh, a two-run shot that cut Chicago's lead to 6-4.
 
The Cubs finally broke their string of 16 scoreless innings against Milwaukee right-hander Jhoulys Chacin (14-6) when Murphy led off the fourth with an opposite-field homer into the Brewers' left-field bullpen.
 
Javier Baez followed with a single and his aggressive baserunning helped the Cubs extend their lead. He raced for third on a single by Anthony Rizzo, and when center fielder Lorenzo Cain's throw sailed, Baez scored and Rizzo went to third on a second error by shortstop Orlando Arcia. Ben Zobrist doubled inside the right-field line to score Rizzo and give the Cubs a 3-0 lead.
 
A soft RBI single by Willson Contreras capped the four-run rally.
 
Jonathan Scoop's bad-hop single drove home a run in the bottom of the inning, and the Brewers loaded the bases with two outs. Quintana induced Arcia to hit a pop fly to shortstop to escape the jam.
 
Zobrist drove in his second run in the fifth with a two-out single, but Rizzo was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second base.
 
Schwarber homered into the second deck in right field in the sixth to make it 6-1.
 
Quintana allowed a leadoff single to Jesus Aguilar and a double to Ryan Braun in the sixth, but the Brewers managed just one run on a groundout by Schoop.
 
Up next for the Cubs RHP Kyle Hendricks (11-10, 3.77 ERA) will open the four-game series in Washington on Thursday night. Hendricks has made three straight quality starts, including Saturday at Philadelphia when he held the Phillies to one run in the Cubs' 7-1 victory.

Longtime NHL forward "Ab" McDonald dies at 82

Alvin Brian "Ab" McDonald, who played 14 NHL seasons and scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal for the Chicago Blackhawks in 1961, has died. He was 82.
 
McDonald died Tuesday night, according to Blackhawks. The forward played 762 regular-season and 84 NHL playoff games followed by two seasons in the World Hockey Association, where he was the Winnipeg Jets' first captain.
 
The Winnipeg, Manitoba, native won the Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens in 1958 and 1959 and then again with Chicago. He finished with 182 goals and 248 assists for 430 points during his NHL career with Montreal, Chicago, Boston, Detroit, Pittsburgh and St. Louis.
 
The Blackhawks called McDonald an important part of their family and said he'll forever have a connection to their '61 championship team. Mark Chipman, owner of the new Jets franchise, labeled McDonald a legend in Winnipeg hockey and said he made the community proud.

Cardinals beat Nationals 11-8

St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Shildt changed his lineup after arriving at Nationals Park, dropping catcher Yadier Molina from second to sixth.
 
Molina responded with a grand slam, Marcell Ozuna homered twice and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Washington Nationals 11-8 on Tuesday night.
 
Molina's sixth career grand slam provided a cushion for St. Louis, making it 11-5 with two outs in the ninth.
 
 
The Cardinals, who occupy the second NL wild card spot, hit five homers overall as they stopped a three-game skid.
 
Right fielder Yairo Munoz robbed Ryan Zimmerman of a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth, reaching over the fence and pulling it back into the field of play for a two-run double.
 
Tyson Ross (8-9) pitched 1 1/3 innings for the win and Jordan Hicks got the final out for his sixth save in 11 chances.
 
Ozuna and Paul DeJong homered leading off the sixth inning to break a 4-4 tie, and one out later, Patrick Wisdom went deep to make it 7-4.
 
Making his second major league appearance, reliever Austen Williams (0-1) gave up all three of those homers. He allowed none in 68 innings this season in Double-A and Triple-A.
 
The 4-hour, 10-minute game included 16 walks and 20 strikeouts. St. Louis pitchers walked 11.
 
Wilmer Difo homered and Bryce Harper had a double and three walks in five plate appearances for the Nationals, who fell one game below .500 after relievers Williams and Solis combined to give up seven runs.
 
Ozuna led off the second with his 17th homer, and Matt Carpenter capped the inning with a two-run single that made it 4-0.
 
Washington rallied in the fifth when Zimmerman led off with a grounder to second that second baseman Munoz misplayed for an error. Harper later drove in two with his bases-loaded double, and Trea Turner and Juan Soto drew bases-loaded walks.
 
Erick Fedde allowed four runs in five innings. John Gant of St. Louis allowed three unearned runs in 4 1/3 innings.
 
Up next for the Cardinals RHP Miles Mikolas (13-4, 2.96 ERA), who was originally listed as Tuesday's starter, will instead go in Wednesday's finale. He gave up four runs in seven innings to Washington on Aug. 13.

Brewers beat Cubs 11-1

Lorenzo Cain reached base five times, Wade Miley pitched six stingy innings and the Milwaukee Brewers romped past the Chicago Cubs 11-1 on Tuesday night to climb within three games of the NL Central leaders.
 
Miley (3-2) allowed one run and three hits, struck out five and walked none as Milwaukee won for the fifth time in its last six meetings with its division rival. The second-place Brewers maintained a 1½-game lead over St. Louis for the top NL wild card.
 
Mike Montgomery (4-5) struggled with his control in just four innings, and the Brewers had little trouble with a succession of Cubs relievers.
 
Cain had four walks and a double from the leadoff spot, setting the tone for Milwaukee's offense. Christian Yelich walked and added a two-run double in the seventh, reaching base for the 21st straight game - the longest active streak in the National League.
 
The first-place Cubs were hurt by poor defense and committed three errors. First baseman Anthony Rizzo left the game with a bruised right foot.
 
Chicago scored in the second inning on a double by David Bote and a run-scoring grounder by Willson Contreras, who reached on a two-base error by Brewers shortstop Orlando Arcia.
 
Milwaukee tied the score in the bottom of the inning on a bases-loaded wild pitch by Montgomery, who escaped further damage by inducing a groundout from Miley.
 
An error by second baseman Javier Baez proved costly for the Cubs in the fourth. Baez could not grab a hot shot off the bat of Travis Shaw, after Hernan Perez led off with a line single to left. Perez stole third and scored on a sacrifice fly by Erik Kratz to give the Brewers a 2-1 lead.
 
Cain's leadoff double in the fifth off reliever Brandon Kintzler set up the Brewers' third run, delivered on a sacrifice fly by Jesus Aguilar.
 
Ragged defensive play by the Cubs allowed the Brewers to extend their lead to 6-1 in the sixth. A routine grounder was booted by Cubs shortstop Addison Russell, setting up the rally against left-hander Jorge De La Rosa.
 
One run scored on an error by first baseman Victor Caratini, another on a passed ball by Contreras and the third on a hit batter.
 
The Brewers scored three more in the seventh and two in the eighth. Milwaukee hit three sacrifice flies in the game. Arcia had three hits and scored three times.
 
Up next for the Cubs LHP Jose Quintana (11-9, 4.21 ERA) allowed five runs over five innings in his last start against Milwaukee, a 7-0 Brewers victory at Wrigley Field on Aug. 14. Prior to that he had given up just five runs in 49 innings vs. the Brewers. Quintana is 3-1 with a 1.32 ERA in five career starts at Miller Park.

Tigers' 8-3 win over White Sox

A fan was hit in the face by a foul ball and bled profusely before walking to the first aid station Tuesday night, briefly delaying the Detroit Tigers' 8-3 win over the Chicago White Sox.
 
The middle-aged male fan was sitting in the first row on the first base side of Guaranteed Rate Field - well beyond where the netting extends to end of the dugout - when he was struck by Jeimer Candelario's foul leading off the Tigers ninth. The game was held up for a couple minutes while he was treated, and the man eventually walked away under his own power, escorted by stadium personnel.
 
Mikie Mahtook hit a two-run homer and rookie Grayson Greiner drove in three runs as Francisco Liriano won for the first time in over four months.
 
Greiner had a two-run double during a five-run second inning. Dawel Lugo also had a two-run double during the burst.
 
After being staked to an early lead, Liriano (4-9) allowed two earned runs in five innings to earn his first victory since April 28. The 34-year-old left-hander ended his 0-8 drought that covered 16 starts and one relief appearance. During his slide, Liriano had a 5.56 ERA.
 
Sandy Baez, Joe Jimenez and Alex Wilson followed Liriano with four scoreless innings of relief.
 
Yoan Moncada and Ryan Cordell drove in runs for the White Sox.
 
Lucas Giolito (10-10) entered with a 3-0 record and 2.84 ERA in his previous four outings, but this time lasted just 1 1/3 innings and was charged with four earned on four hits and two walks.
 
Greiner's double to the right-center warning track with the bases loaded and none out drove in Detroit's first two runs. Lugo's double to the left-center gap made it 4-0 and he advanced to third when center fielder Adam Engel didn't field the ball cleanly.
 
Lugo scored when the White Sox couldn't complete a double play on Jim Adduci's grounder.
 
Greiner drove in another unearned run with a single in the third to make it 6-0 after catcher Kevan Smith dropped his pop-up behind the plate.
 
Mahtook hit his sixth homer in the eighth off Ryan Burr to make it 8-3.
 
Up next for the White Sox Detroit RHP Jordan Zimmermann (6-6, 4.22) faces White Sox rookie RHP Michael Kopech (1-0, 0.82) in the series finale on Wednesday night. The 22-year-old Kopech, Chicago's top pitching prospect, will make his fourth start since being recalled from Triple-A on Aug. 21.

White Sox Homer In 9th to Win Over Tigers

Matt Davidson hit a two-run, game-ending homer as the Chicago White Sox scored three times in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Detroit Tigers 4-2 on Monday for their eighth win in 11 games.
 
Davidson hit his 20th homer into the left-field bullpen on the first pitch his saw from Detroit closer Shane Greene (2-6) after Welington Castillo singled. Daniel Palka's 21st homer to lead off the ninth tied it at 2.
 
Victor Martinez homered deep to left with one out in the top of the ninth off Jace Fry (2-2) to put Detroit ahead 2-1. Greene then failed to retire a batter in the ninth as he blew his fifth save.
 
Martinez, Detroit's designated hitter, sat out Sunday's game in New York with flu-like symptoms and was questionable for this one.
 
Niko Goodrum's solo shot in the seventh tied it 1-all after Chicago's Nicky Delmonico homered to lead off the game for Chicago.
 
Both starters, Chicago's Reynaldo Lopez and Detroit's Michael Fulmer, were strong in no decisions.
 
Lopez yielded just one run on four hits and struck out seven in seven innings. He was sailing along with a shutout in his third straight solid start until Goodrum homered.
 
Fulmer allowed only one hit - Delmonico's lead-off homer - before leaving with two outs in the sixth after being struck by Palka's sharp comebacker. The Tigers said the right-hander has a right shin contusion and is day-to-day.
 
Fulmer crumpled to the ground after being hit by Palka's smash, and the ball deflected to Goodrum who stepped on first to record the out. After being tended to by a trainer, Fulmer walked off the field slowly and was replaced by Drew VerHagen.
 
Fulmer, who hasn't won since June 14, walked four and struck out five in one of his best performances this season.
 

Nationals over Cardinals 4-3

After Bryce Harper swung into action, the St. Louis Cardinals were the ones who didn't feel so good.
 
Ill for the past week, Harper hit a tying, two-run homer in the ninth inning, then delivered a sacrifice fly in the 10th that sent the Washington Nationals over the Cardinals 4-3 Monday.
 
Washington got back to .500 and pulled within 7 1/2 games of NL East-leading Atlanta and 3 1/2 games of Philadelphia after both lost.
 
The playoff-contending Cardinals have dropped three in a row for the first time since July 11-14.
 
The Cardinals led 3-1 with one out in the ninth when Harper hit his 31st home run, sending a 96 mph fastball from closer Bud Norris over the center field fence.
 
Mark Reynolds led off the Washington 10th against Chasen Shreve (1-1) with a double that went in and out of right fielder Tyler O'Neill's glove. Pinch-runner Michael Taylor moved to third on Adam Eaton's bunt single and an out later, Harper flied to deep left. Taylor slid in safely, well ahead of Marcell Ozuna's throw.
 
It was the second rough outing in a row for Norris, who gave up three runs and two homers in the 10th inning of Sunday's 6-4 loss to Cincinnati.
 
St. Louis manager Mike Shildt said Norris, who has converted 28 of 33 save opportunities, is unlikely to be available Tuesday after pitching on consecutive days.
 
Greg Holland (2-2) pitched two scoreless innings to earn the victory against the Cardinals, who designated him for assignment July 27. It was his longest outing since a two-inning appearance for Kansas City on May 12, 2015.
 
Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty went five innings, giving up a solo homer to Trea Turner in the first. He loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth, but coaxed Ryan Zimmerman to fly out. Flaherty struck out five and walked five.
 
Washington's Max Scherzer settled in after needing 33 pitches to get through a two-run first. He eventually retired 12 in a row, a stretch halted when Yairo Munoz led off the sixth with his seventh home run.
 
Scherzer pitched seven innings, allowing four hits while striking out 11. It was his 15th outing with at least 10 strikeouts this season. He has a major league-leading 260 strikeouts for the year, his fifth consecutive season with at least 250.

Brewers beat Cubs 4-3

Christian Yelich drove in the winning run with the bases loaded in the ninth after beating a throw from third to avoid a double play, and the Milwaukee Brewers opened an important three-game series with the Chicago Cubs with a 4-3 win Monday.
 
The .316 hitter hit a 1-2 fastball from Jesse Chavez right at third baseman Kris Bryant, who touched third for the second out of the ninth before firing to first. The speedy Yelich reached safely just before the throw landed in the glove of the outstretched Anthony Rizzo, allowing Keon Broxton to score the game-winner from third.
 
The Brewers took advantage of wildness by Cubs reliever Steve Cishek (4-3), who loaded the bases with a walk, passed ball and two hit batters.
 
It set up the game-winning fielder's choice by Yelich, the reigning National League Player of the Week.
 
The second-place Brewers, looking to make the playoffs for the first time since 2011, pulled within four games of the NL Central-leading Cubs.
 
Milwaukee tied the score 3-3 after pinch-hitter Mike Moustakas drew a four-pitch walk with two outs in the eighth from Carl Edwards Jr. during an at-bat in which home-plate umpire Gabe Morales ejected two Cubs. Manager Joe Maddon got tossed after the count went to 2-0; Edwards got the boot during a pitching change in which he was being lifted anyway from the game.
 
The final few innings especially had the tense feel of a playoff game, especially with lots of Cubs fans filling the stands at sold-out Miller Park.
 
Anthony Rizzo hit a two-out, two-run homer off tough left-hander Josh Hader in the eighth.
 
Jeremy Jeffress (8-1) got the win after pitching a scoreless top of the ninth.

Mack looks forward to new start with Bears after big trade

Armed with a record extension after a blockbuster trade, Khalil Mack is looking forward to a fresh start with the Chicago Bears.
 
The two-time All-Pro says he is "glad I'm here" and "blessed" after a contract holdout with the Oakland Raiders ended with the star pass rusher getting dealt in a massive move on Saturday.
 
Mack's arrival could be a game changer for a franchise with four straight last-place finishes in the NFC North.
 
The Bears paid a big price, giving him a six-year, $141 million extension that guarantees $90 million. That made him the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history, a day after the Rams' Aaron Donald agreed to a six-year, $135 million deal, with $87 million guaranteed.

Illinois State beats NAIA St. Xavier 46-0

James Robinson ran for two touchdowns and Illinois State shut out St. Xavier University of the NAIA 46-0 on Saturday night in a season opener.
 
Robinson had 39 yards on eight carries for the Redbirds. Jordan Birch led the ground game with 52 yards and a score and Markel Smith and Nick Kielbasa each ran for a touchdown. Quarterback Brady Davis threw for 79 yards and a score.
 
Robinson scored on the Redbirds' first play, a 13-yard run after St. Xavier failed to convert on fourth down deep in its own territory on the game's opening drive. Later, Ty DeForest intercepted St. Xavier quarterback Alex Martinez and took it 43 yards, setting up a 15-yard scoring pass from Davis to Tylor Petkovich two plays later, and the Redbirds led 14-0 with 2:13 left in the first quarter.
 
Martinez led four quarterbacks for St. Xavier, throwing for 39 yards and a pair of interceptions. The Cougars were held to a total of -20 yards.

Storey shines off bench for Arkansas in win over E. Illinois

First-year Arkansas coach Chad Morris said earlier this week that while Cole Kelley had been named the starting quarterback, he might not necessarily be the finisher.
 
Ty Storey may not have finished the Razorbacks' season-opening 55-20 win over Eastern Illinois on Saturday, but he did his best to put an end to the Arkansas quarterback discussion once and for all well before the end of the game.
 
Storey threw for three touchdowns and rushed for another to help the Razorbacks win in their debut under Morris. The junior did so despite not starting the game and only coming in for one play in the first quarter, a brief injury substitution for starter Kelley.
 
The performance was a welcomed breakout for the kid from an hour south in Charleston, Ark., especially after having attempted only four passes in his first three years on campus.
 
After finally entering the game as more than just a substitute on Arkansas' fourth series, Storey took control of the huddle - and a game in which the Razorbacks were winning only 10-0 at the time. He threw for 214 yards and three touchdowns in the second quarter alone and finished 12-of-17 passing for 261 yards overall.
 
Harry Woodberry threw for two touchdowns for the Panthers in their first game against a Southeastern Conference opponent. Woodberry was 9-of-15 passing for 96 yards off the bench, and starter John Brantley completed 18 of 25 passes for 134 yards and a touchdown.
 
Jamal Scott rushed 12 times for 82 yards to lead Eastern Illinois.
 
The Panthers, however, had no answers for a Storey-led Arkansas team that outscored Eastern Illinois 28-6 in the second quarter.
 
Jordan Jones led Arkansas with five catches and 132 yards receiving, also hauling in a 57-yard touchdown pass from Storey with less than a minute remaining in the first half. La'Michael Pettway added a pair of touchdown catches and 93 yards receiving on five receptions for the Razorbacks.

Baez, Lester lead Cubs past Nola, Phillies

Javier Baez hit one of three solo home runs off Cy Young candidate Aaron Nola to reach 30 home runs and 100 RBIs, and Jon Lester pitched six shutout innings to continue his mastery of the Phillies and help lead the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs to an 8-1 victory over Philadelphia on Sunday.
 
Daniel Murphy and Anthony Rizzo also went deep off Nola (15-4), who gave up three home runs in a game for just the second time over 88 starts in his four-year career.
 
Lester (15-5) surrendered eight hits, struck out seven and walked none while improving to 8-0 with a 1.49 ERA in 10 career regular-season starts against the Phillies.
 
Chicago, which has won 10 of 12, began play leading the Cardinals by 4 ½ games.
 
The Phillies fell 3½ games back of Atlanta, which hosted Pittsburgh Sunday night. Jorge Alfaro had two hits, including an RBI double in the ninth, for Philadelphia.
 
Manager Gabe Kapler moved Nola up a day to give him another start at home, where the star right-hander has been dominant, but it backfired. Nola gave up four runs on five hits in 5 2/3 innings with 11 strikeouts and two walks.
 
Nola fanned seven of the first nine hitters, including six in a row, before Murphy's two-out shot to right in the third gave Chicago a 1-0 lead. Murphy looked bad while weakly fouling off the previous two pitches before launching a 1-2, 94-mph fastball into the seats to continue his success against Nola. Murphy is batting .345 (10-for-29) with two homers and six RBIs against the right-hander.
 
Rizzo led off the fourth by clubbing an 0-1, 85-mph changeup over the wall in left, and Baez, the league leader in RBIs entering Sunday, hit a 1-2 fastball out to left in the sixth.
 
Nola also gave up an RBI triple to Kyle Schwarber in the sixth to snap a string of 17 straight home starts allowing three runs or less. He dropped to 9-1 at home, where his ERA rose from 1.94 to 2.21. Nola's overall ERA increased from 2.10 to 2.23.
 
The other top contenders for the NL Cy Young, Washington's Max Scherzer and the Mets' Jacob de Grom, will pitch on Monday.

Second-Half Surge Pushes Illinois Past Kent State

The Fighting Illini got things rolling after halftime and used a strong second half to defeat Kent State, 31-24. The win marks the seventh straight season-opener victory overall and 13th at Memorial Stadium.
 
After a slow start, the Illinois offense found its rhythm after halftime, racking up 301 of its 469 total yards and outscoring the Golden Flashes 28-7. The Orange and Blue put together four scoring drives in the final two quarters, highlighted by two touchdown runs by junior running back Reggie Corbin.
 
Corbin finished the day with 79 rushing yards on 10 attempts after totaling 78 rushing yards on 18 carries all of last season. Saturday also marks the first two-touchdown game of his career.
 
After missing all of last season due to injury, sophomore linebacker Jake Hansen had quite the return, tying a program record with six TFL's as part of his 15 (10 solo) tackles on the day. Graduate transfer quarterback AJ Bush Jr. didn't disappoint in his first FBS start, as the Alpharetta, Georgia, native finished with 329 total yards, including the fifth-most rushing yards in a game by an Illinois quarterback in program history (139).
 
Leading 31-24 late in the fourth quarter, the Illinois defense needed a stop in their own red zone to seal the victory. After forcing Kent State into a fourth down, senior linebacker Del'Shawn Phillips picked off a Woody Barrett pass in the end zone to give Illinois the ball back with two minutes to play.
 
The interception is the first of Phillips' career and was the second for the Illini defense on the day.
 

Shields shuts down Red Sox in 8-0 White Sox win

James Shields threw six scoreless innings, Tim Anderson and Daniel Palka homered and the Chicago White Sox beat the major league-leading Boston Red Sox 8-0 on Sunday to split their four-game series.
 
Anderson had three hits - including two doubles - for the White Sox, who have won seven of their last 10 games.
 
Xander Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez had two hits apiece for Boston, which had won four of its last five.
 
The Red Sox have the majors' best record at 94-44 and maintained a 7½ -game lead in the AL East over the New York Yankees, who lost to Detroit.
 
Shields (6-15) struck out six and allowed four hits and two walks. He has thrown at least six innings in 21 of his last 25 starts. Three relievers completed the five-hitter.
 
Five Red Sox pitchers combined to strike out 12 but gave up 15 hits.
 
Brian Johnson (4-4) allowed four runs and seven hits while recording four outs in his shortest start of the season. With Chris Sale and David Price out with injuries, the Red Sox have just two quality starts in their last 17 games. Their starting pitchers combined to allow 12 earned runs in 14 innings in the four-game series.
 
Anderson hit his 18th home run this season on the first pitch with one out in the first inning. Kevan Smith's single added another run.
 
Matt Davidson's two-run double chased Johnson in the second.
 
The White Sox extended their lead to 5-0 on Adam Engel's single off Bobby Poyner in the third inning.
 
Palka smacked his 20th home run in the fourth off William Cuevas - four pitches after he hit a long drive just foul and completed a jog around the bases before heading back to the plate.
 
Anderson doubled to lead off the sixth and scored on a fielder's choice.

Suarez, Dixon homer, Reds beat Cardinals 6-4 in 10 innings

Eugenio Suarez's two-run homer off of Bud Norris in the 10th inning lifted the Cincinnati Reds to a 6-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday. The blast gave Suarez RBIs 99 and 100 this season. His previous RBI high was 82 in 2017.
 
After Suarez's career-high 31st of the season, Brandon Dixon hit a solo homer four pitches later as the Reds hit back-to-back homers for the fifth time this season, the sixth and seventh home runs given up by Norris (3-4).
 
They came right after Michael Lorenzen (2-1) pitched out a bases loaded, nobody out jam in the ninth without giving up a run to send the game to extra innings. Raisel Iglesias earned his 25th save in 29 chances despite allowing a run for the fourth time in his last five outings.
 
The Reds won for just the third time in their last 11 games, including the last two against the Cardinals, snapping their series winning streak at 10. St. Louis (76-61) fell a half game behind the Milwaukee Brewers into the second wild card spot in the National League.
 
Billy Hamilton sparked a two-run first inning with a leadoff double. Scooter Gennett's single scored Hamilton and Joey Votto took home on a Luke Weaver wild pitch.
 
Weaver, making his first start since Aug. 16, needed 40 pitches to get through the first. He also pitched out of a bases loaded jam in the second before settling in and being lifted for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the fourth.
 
Reds starter Anthony DeSclafani ran into trouble in the fourth, giving up an RBI double to Harrison Bader and an RBI bunt single to Greg Garcia to tie it at 2-2. His 3 2/3 inning performance was his shortest outing since July 15, when he last just 3 1/3 innings in a 6-4 loss to the Cardinals also at Busch Stadium.
 
Hamilton used his speed to stretch a leadoff single to right into a double in the seventh. He moved to third on a Jose Peraza sacrifice and trotted home to break a 2-2 tie on a Votto fly to center.
 
Bader used his legs to tie it for the Cardinals in the eighth, beating out a slow grounder to short for a bases loaded infield single to tie it 3-3.
 

Week 2 Area Football Scores

Central Illinois:

 

Newton 49, Sullivan 21, F

Arcola 0, Tuscoal 34, F

Warrensburg-Latham 33, Decatur Lutheran 6, F

Central A&M 49, Nokomis 7, F

Meridian 14, Argenta-Oreana 46, F

Shelbyville 22, Cerro Gordo-Bement 45, F

Decatur St. Teresa 68, Midland 6, F

 

Illini Prairie:

 

Bloomington Central Catholic 7, Prairie Central 40, F

Tolono Unity 10, Pontiac 20, F

St. Joseph-Ogden 21, Rantoul 6, F

Champaign St. Thomas More 38, Olympia 32, F

 

Heart of Illinois (large):

 

El Paso-Gridley 42, Deer Creek Mackinaw 22, F

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley 41, Eureka 12, F

Tri-Valley 29, Fieldcrest 20, F

 

Heart of Illinois (small):

 

Fisher 26, Tremont 21, F

Heyworth 52, Flanagan 0, F

LeRoy 26, Ridgeview 21, F

 

Big Twelve:

 

Champaign Centennial 21, Champaign Central 48, F

Normal Community West 27, Normal Community 49, F

 

Central State Eight:

 

Springfield Lanphier 39, Decatur Eisenhower 6, F

Rochester 42, Normal University 7, F

 

 

Apollo:

Mt. Zion 13, Lincoln 3, F

Mahomet-Seymour 49, Charleston 20, F

 

Sangamo:

 

Maroa-Forsyth 35, New Berlin 7, F

 

Little Okaw:

 

Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond 13, Villa Grove 40, F

Monticello Defeats IVC 52-7

Monticello came out playing like an All-State team as they would crush the Illinois Valley Central Gray Ghosts in Friday nights game. Monticello would go on a defensive strike holding the Gray Ghosts to just 7 points. The Sages would go on to score 52 points. 
 
In the 1st quarter, Monticello came ready to play as IVC would throw two early interceptions. IVC's Alex Merlo would throw straight to the Sage's, Cole Reedy and Alex Bundy. Alex Bundy running his all the way back for a pick-six putting the first points up for The Sages. Then on the second score would be from the Sages offense as quarterback Braden Snyder would find Chris Brown putting the Sages up an early 14 points in the first quarter. About mid-way through the first quarter, Branden Burton would be injured with a broken leg. 
 
As the 1st quarter went on IVC would continue to struggle and not find the end zone. Monticello's quarterback Synder would be spot on as he would continue to find Chris Brown, Asher Bradd, and Devin Graham in the end zone putting the Sages up 35 to 0 finally ending the first quarter. 
 
In the 2nd quarter, Monticello would look to slow it down. Coach Welter would have Luke Rudolph attempt a 35-yard field goal on the far right hash mark. Rudolph had enough power as he would put it right through the goal posts, plus 20 yards. Monticello would continue to add points throughout the quarter. IVC would get close to scoring from the 2-yard line, but Monticello played strong and stopped IVC making them turn the ball over. Bradd would then get a handoff to the left running for 98 yards scoring another touchdown for the Sages bringing the score to 45 points. 
 
The Sages would look to find another touchdown off a loose ball from IVC. Sages would drive down the field putting another touchdown up and running out the 2nd quarter making the score 52 to 0.
 
In the 2nd half would be slow as Coach Welter would swap out starters and backups slowing down the team. The clock would continue to run the rest of the game. 
 
Late in the 4th quarter, IVC would find the end zone on a jet sweep left from Kesean Hobson putting the score 52 to 7. 
 
The clock would run out ending the game, making the final score 52 to 7 in favor of the Sages.
 
Play of the Game: Handoff from Braden Synder to Asher Bradd with Riley Austin clearing a huge hole for a 98-yard touchdown rush.
 

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