Big Twelve:

Bloomington 35, Peoria Manual 14, F

Champaign Central 42, Peoria Richwoods 0, F

Peoria 70, Normal West 63, F

Urbana 0, Normal Community 61, F

Central State Eight:

Chatham Glenwood 62, Springfield Southeast 45, F

Decatur Eisenhower 28, Decatur MacArthur 7, F

Jacksonville 10, Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin 55, F

Springfield 52, Lincoln 0, F

Springfield Lanphier 7, Rochester 52, F

Sangamo:

Maroa-Forsyth 70, New Berlin 7, F

Petersburg PORTA 0, Virden North Mac 50, F

Pittsfield 0, Auburn 48, F

Pleasant Plains 10, Athens 27, F

Williamsville 49, Riverton 0, F

Non Conference:

Arcola 14, Central A&M 34, F

Argenta-Oreana 58, Macon Meridian 14, F

Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond 24, Oakland Tri-County 19, F

Bradley-Bourbonnais 34, Champaign Centennial 0, F

Cerro Gordo-Bement 22, Warrensburg-Latham 28, F

Champaign St. Thomas More 22, Olympia 0, F

Colfax Ridgeview 3, LeRoy 28, F

Decatur Lutheran 29, Toledo Cumberland 6, F

Tri-Valley 28, Bloomington Central Catholic 6, F

El Paso-Gridley 31, Heyworth 0, F

Fisher 6, Tuscola 61, F

Kincaid South Fork 0, Sullivan-Okaw Valley 42, F

Macomb 6, Limestone 38, F

Metamora 33, Pontiac 10, F

Mt. Zion 25, Mahomet-Seymour 0, F

Normal U-High 13, Washington 49, F

Pawnee 33, Shelbyville 20, F

Peoria Notre Dame 62, Rock Island Alleman 28, F

Peoria Heights 32, Cambridge Ridgewood 14, F

Rantoul 6, Charleston 14, F

St. Joseph-Ogden 13, Wilmington 48, F

Steator 17, East Peoria 6, F

Tolono Unity 0, Decatur St. Teresa 27, F

Tremont 0, Dee-Mack 37, F

Caleb Hanson accounted for five Monticello touchdowns Friday night as the Sages routed Nokomis 47-7 at Nokomis to open the 2016 high school football season.

Hanson ran for three touchdowns and threw for two more. He was 8 of 11 for 189 yards.

Hanson ran for 108 yards while Lucas Lieb had 10 carries for 82 yards and a touchdown.

Braden Snyder spelled Hanson at quarterback late in the third and scored a touchdown. He was 3 of 8 for 65 yards.

Nathan Graham had four receptions for 95 yards and a touchdown.

Isiah Florey hooked up with Hanson on the Sages first play from scrimmage for a 50 yard touchdown. His only reception.

Johnny Dawson also had a 48 yard catch and run.

The Sages are 1-0 and will make the trip to take on Sherrard.

Game time next Friday is approximately 7:30 pm.

Hear all the action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com.

In a game heard Friday night on The Big 1520AM & 92.3FM WHOW, the Clinton Maroons picked up a Week 1 win downing non-conference foe Villa Grove Heritage, 40-22.

The Maroons jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead with a 5 play 80-yard scoring drive on their first possession, however an early injury to top running back, Alec Cooley, shifted momentum to the Blue Devils.  Villa Grove would go on to score twice in the first half, one TD was a 100 yard interception return.  The Maroons wouldn't find the end zone again in the half.

The Maroons regained the lead quickly in the second half.  Senior Dalton Whitted took the opening kickoff 80 yards for a score, and then Senior Canaan Issac picked off a pass for a 45-yard interception return for a score.  The Maroons would never trail again as they used a pounding ground game to rack up yards and points leading to the 40-22 final.

Senior quarterback Noah Griffin led the Maroons on the ground with 17 carries for 148 yards and a touchdown.  Sophmore tailback Kolby Winter ran 15 times for 61 yards and a TD.  Senior running back Alec Cooley had 6 carries for 52 yards before going down with an ankle injury on the Maroons second possession.  Cooley's status for Week 2 is not yet known.

The Maroons had a tough time through the air, as Griffin was 5 of 11 for 73 yards with 2 interceptions.  He did also throw two touchdowns, both to Dalton Whitted.  

Whitted was named the Stephan York Country Financial Maroons Player of the Game for his 3 touchdown night.  The senior linebacker also provided some key plays on defense.

Villa Grove-Heritage was led by Junior quarterback Codie Baker.  He went 19 of 44 passing for 230 yards with a TD and an interception.

The Maroons are on the road in Week 2 as they travel north to Braidwood to take on Reed Custer.  Varsity kickoff is expected to be around 7:30 Friday night.  Hear the game on The Big 1520AM & 92.3FM WHOW, and streamed live online at DeWittDailyNews.com.

Former Illinois coach Tim Beckman is working as a volunteer assistant with No. 22 North Carolina's defense.

UNC team spokesman Kevin Best said Wednesday in an email to The Associated Press that Beckman can scout and evaluate film. He can interact with players but cannot instruct them as a coach.

Illinois fired Beckman shortly before the 2015 opener after a law firm hired by the university concluded he interfered in player medical decisions and pressured players to play through injuries. Beckman denied the accusations and said he was considering legal steps to defend himself before receiving a $250,000 settlement from the school.

Beckman and UNC coach Larry Fedora were assistants at Oklahoma State in 2007.

UNC visits Illinois on Sept. 10.

Major league ERA leader Kyle Hendricks pitched six effective innings and the Chicago Cubs finished off a three-game sweep, beating the San Diego Padres 6-3 Wednesday.

Hendricks (12-7) gave up two runs and four hits, striking out eight and leaving with a 2.19 ERA. He has allowed no more than three earned runs in 17 straight starts.

There Cubs relievers took over for the NL Central leaders, with Aroldis Chapman pitching the ninth for his 29th save in 32 chances.

Willson Contreras homered and Ben Zobrist drove in two runs as the Cubs won for the 22nd time in 27 games. At 81-45, they are 36 games over .500 for the first time since ending the 1945 season at 98-56.

The Padres have dropped nine of their past 12. Paul Clemens (2-3) took the loss.

Mike Montgomery (1-1, 2.77) starts Friday in the opener of a three-game series at Dodger Stadium.

Tommy Joseph and Cesar Hernandez homered to back Jerod Eickhoff, and the struggling Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago White Sox 5-3 on Wednesday night.

Philadelphia showed some spark at the plate and on the mound after getting outscored a combined 18-1 over the previous two games against St. Louis and Chicago. The Phillies came away with the win after dropping five of seven and salvaged a two-game split in their first trip to Chicago's South Side since 2004.

Joseph and Hernandez both had two hits and went deep against James Shields (5-16). Aaron Altherr added two RBI singles.

Eickhoff (9-12) did his part, allowing two runs and four hits over six innings.

Jeanmar Gomez worked the ninth for his 34th save in 38 chances. He gave up an RBI single to Avisail Garcia before Dioner Navarro grounded out with runners on first and third to end the game.

Anthony Ranaudo (1-1, 9.42) makes his third start for the White Sox as Chicago opens a four-game series against the Seattle Mariners.

The ballpark currently called as U.S. Cellular Field will become known as Guaranteed Rate Field starting in November. The Chicago White Sox and the mortgage company announced a 13-year naming rights deal on Wednesday.

The White Sox are below .500 this season and haven't made the playoffs since 2008.

The agreement was approved by the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, which owns the ballpark. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The White Sox hold a one-year option that could extend the deal through 2030.

The ballpark has been known as U.S. Cellular Field since 2003 after being called new Comiskey Park from 1991 to 2002.

Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler never expected at the outset of training camp that his offensive line would include Garry Williams at right tackle, Ted Larsen at right guard and Cornelius Edison at center.

That's who is blocking for Cutler heading into Saturday's third preseason game at home against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Larsen moved from center to right guard after Pro Bowl right guard Kyle Long went out with a shoulder injury. So Edison, a former practice squad player, is at center. And Williams is replacing Bobby Massie, who is ill.

The Bears did get running back Jeremy Langford back on the field after missing three practices with a foot injury.

The 2016 golf season is underway for area high schools and in Clinton, improvement is the theme of the season.

Golf coach Randy Workman says the team will be led by junior stand out Chase Reynolds. He says Reynolds has high expectations, those he has worked hard to meet.

Workman says the rest of the squad looks like they could be good. Early on there are some exciting signs for the team for the upcoming season.

Workman expects as the season gets going, the experienced players he has will continue to improve.

Workman says he usually will play the golfers at their meets that have compiled the best scores across the season. 

Illinois State senior wide receiver Anthony Warrum was selected as one of 40 players from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) to be named to the College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) 2016 FCS National Performer of the Year Watch List by the organization Tuesday. 

A 2016 preseason All-America selection, Warrum earned Third-Team All-America honors from the Associated Press and STATS FCS following the 2015 season and was named to the College Sporting News 2015 Fabulous Fifty FCS All-America Team.  A First Team All-MVFC pick at wide receiver, the Fishers, Indiana, native set an Illinois State single-season record and led the MVFC with 15 receiving touchdowns and ranked second in the league with 1,290 yards on 58 receptions. 

Warrum's name also appeared near the top of several national rankings at the end of the year, as he finished the season ranked No. 2 in receiving touchdowns (15) and yards per reception (22.2), No. 4 in receiving yards (1,290) and No. 8 in receiving yards per game (99.2) among all receivers in FCS football.

The 2016 FCS National Performer of the Year Award will be announced on Jan. 11, 2017. The winner will receive a 22-inch K-9 optic crystal tower with an eight-inch crystal football on top. 

>>Arrieta, Cubs Blank Padres

Jake Arrieta threw eight scoreless innings of two-hit ball to become the NL's first 16-game winner and Kris Bryant and Addison Russell homered, leading the Chicago Cubs over the San Diego Padres 5-3 on Tuesday night.

Arrieta (16-5) allowed a single to Alex Dickerson in the second and Christian Bethancourt's double in the eighth. Arrieta has two no-hitters in the past year.

The Padres brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the ninth, but Aroldis Chapman got the last two outs for his 28th save after Felix Pena was charged with three runs.

Bryant's 33rd home run tied him with Colorado's Nolan Arenado for the NL lead.

Russell smacked his fifth homer in five games, a two-run shot that put the Cubs ahead 4-0 in the fifth.

Arrieta won for the fourth straight start. He had six strikeouts and three walks.

Christian Friedrich (4-10) lost his eighth consecutive decision.

Kyle Hendricks (11-7, 21.6) has 16 straight starts in which he's allowed three runs or fewer, the longest streak in the majors this season. He's 2-0 with a 1.26 ERA in four starts against the Padres. Hendricks has won all but three road games this year.

Paul Clemens (2-2, 4.82), who was claimed off waivers last month, worked five innings in his last outing on Thursday but didn't figure in the decision. He surrendered three runs on eight hits and three walks to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

>>White Sox Beat Phillies

Jose Abreu homered for a third straight game, Carlos Rodon threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings and the Chicago White Sox beat the slumping Philadelphia Phillies 9-1 on Tuesday night.

Abreu hit a two-run home run and Justin Morneau followed with a solo shot in the fifth off Jake Thompson (1-3), who gave up seven runs and eight hits in five innings.

Rodon (4-8) allowed three hits and has a 1.46 ERA in his past four starts after missing most of July with a sprained left wrist suffered when he slipped on the dugout steps.

Adam Eaton tripled, singled and scored twice and Tim Anderson tripled, reached base three times and drove in a run as Chicago built a 9-0 lead in its third straight win.

Freddy Galvis homered off Chris Beck in the seventh to end a 17-inning scoreless streak for the Phillies, who have dropped five of seven.

James Shields (5-15, 5.98 ERA) faces RHP Jerad Eickhoff (8-12, 3.91) to close the series Wednesday night. Shields has a 17.36 ERA in four starts this month.

>>Mets Power Past Cardinals

Wilmer Flores and Justin Ruggiano homered as the Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-4.

The offense helped Robert Gsellman (1-0) get the decision. Gsellman, pressed into action after starter Jonathon Niese left with an injury in the first inning, pitched 3 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run.

Jose Reyes reached four base times and scored three runs. Asdrubal Cabrera had three hits, drove in a run and scored once.

Jeurys Familia earned his 42nd save, one shy of the Mets' season record set by Familia last year and Armando Benitez in 2001.

Cardinals lefty Jaime Garcia (10-9) gave up a season-high six runs at home, in just four innings. New York broke a 22 1/3-inning streak in which Garcia hadn't given up an earned run at home to the Mets.

Brandon Moss reached three times and drove in a run while Randal Grichuk's solo homer in the sixth extended the Cardinals' home run streak to 12 games.

Yadier Molina had three hits and an RBI for St. Louis.

Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets robbed Stephen Piscotty of a solo homer in the sixth with a leaping catch over the left field wall.

Jacob deGrom (7-6, 2.73 ERA) is looking to bounce back after allowing a career-high eight runs and 13 hits in a 10-7 loss to San Francisco on Aug. 18. He is 1-1 with a 4.38 ERA in two career games against St. Louis.

Carlos Martinez (11-7, 3.24 ERA) allowed one run over seven innings in an 8-2 win over Houston on Aug. 17. He is 2-1 with a 1.31 ERA in his career against New York.

>>White Sox Activate OF Garcia From DL

The White Sox have activated outfielder Avisail Garcia off the 15-day disabled list.

Chicago made room on the 25-man roster Tuesday by optioning outfielder Jason Coats to Triple-A Charlotte.

Garcia had been sidelined since Aug. 7 with a sprained right knee and is coming off a three-game rehab assignment at Charlotte. He's hitting .240 with nine homers and 36 RBIs in 86 games with the White Sox.

Coats is hitting .189 in three stints with the White Sox this season.

>>Tebow Sets Date, Time For Private Workout For MLB Teams

No matter what you think about former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow's baseball aspirations, we're now one step closer to the story's resolution.

That's because Tebow has scheduled a private showcase for next week. According to Jon Heyman, Tebow's showcase will take place next Tuesday in Los Angeles and will be closed to the public.

Tebow is almost certainly going to sign a contract with some organization. He's an impressive athlete with good raw power and a reputation as a high-makeup individual. Those are positive traits.

Still, it's hard to see him reaching the upper-minors, let alone the majors.

The available footage of Tebow taking hacks shows a long, stiff swing that's going to lead to huge strikeout totals. Add in his lack of recent exposure versus high-level pitching, and the likelihood that he's limited to an outfield corner or first base, and there's a good chance he whiffs himself out of organized ball in a hurry.

Of course, that doesn't make Tebow's attempt a complete failure -- it just means that the storybook ending isn't happening.

>>Cardinals Crush Phillies

Mike Leake pitched seven strong innings and contributed at the plate, and the Cardinals homered four times Sunday to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 9-0.

Jedd Gyorko, Stephen Piscotty, Brandon Moss and Jeremy Hazelbaker went deep.

Jhonny Peralta added three hits as the Cardinals finished a 6-3 road trip. They remained 1 1/2 games ahead of Miami for the final wild-card spot in the National League.

The Cardinals got six extra-base hits to set a club record of 14 straight games with at least three extra-base hits.

Leake (9-9) gave up seven hits and struck out eight. Philadelphia had homered in 14 straight games before getting blanked by Leake and two relievers.

Moss hit his 23rd homer and Leake added his single later in the fourth for a 4-0 lead.

Piscotty connected in the fifth, the eighth home run Velasquez has allowed in three games.

After Monday's day off, the Cardinals begin a six-game homestand with the Mets. St. Louis RHP Jaime Garcia (10-8, 4.11) opposes LHP Jonathon Niese (8-7, 5.30). Garcia has won three straight games and is 2-2 with a 1.58 ERA in six career starts against the Mets.

>>Quintana Leads White Sox Past A's

Jose Quintana pitched seven strong innings to earn a career-best 10th win and Jose Abreu homered for the second straight game to lead the Chicago White Sox to a 4-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Sunday.

Todd Frazier had three hits and drove in two runs, and Justin Morneau added an RBI double in Chicago's three-run first as the White Sox took the final two games of the series and handed Oakland its seventh loss in eight games. Tim Anderson also had three hits.

Khris Davis hit his 32nd homer, a two-run shot, off Quintana (10-9) who finished with nine wins in each of the previous three seasons. The left-hander allowed struck out six and walked one in this one while allowing eight hits, and improved to 5-1 with a 2.25 ERA in his last nine starts.

Zach Neal (2-3) allowed four runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings.

Following a day off on Monday, LHP Carlos Rodon (3-8, 4.26) takes the mound against Jake Thompson (1-2, 8.79) when Chicago hosts the Phillies in the first of a two-game set.

>>Rockies Use Big First Inning To Down Cubs

Nolan Arenado broke out of a slump in a big way, hitting two homers and driving in six runs Sunday to boost the Colorado Rockies over the Chicago Cubs 11-4.

Arenado hit a three-run homer during a seven-run burst in the first inning, then added another three-run drive in the fourth. He leads the majors with 104 RBIs - he had a big league-high 130 last year - and tops the NL with 32 home runs.

Arenado was 1 of 16 on the Rockies' homestand before getting four hits. He passed Cubs slugger for the NL homer lead.

Jorge De La Rosa (8-7) tossed eight innings, giving up a pair of home runs to Addison Russell.

De La Rosa delivered a two-run single in the first as the Rockies quickly ended Jason Hammel's 22-inning scoreless streak.

Jon Lester (13-4, 2.86) opens the Cubs' three-game series in San Diego on Monday. It will be the first start of Lester's career in Petco Park.

>>Cubs Pitchers Lackey, Rondon To DL

The Chicago Cubs have put pitcher John Lackey on the 15-day disabled list because of strained right shoulder.

The Cubs made a series of moves Friday before their scheduled game in Colorado.

The 37-year-old Lackey has made 24 starts this year in his first season with the NL Central leaders. He is 9-7 with a 3.41 ERA.

Lackey's move to the DL was retroactive to Monday.

The Cubs also put right-handed reliever Hector Rondon on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right triceps. He is a 2-3 with a team-leading 18 saves and a 2.47 ERA. That move was retroactive to Wednesday.

Right-hander Felix Pena and left-hander Rob Zastryzny had their contracts selected from Triple-A Iowa.

To make room on the 40-man roster for the two additions, right-handers Dallas Beeler and Aaron Brooks were transferred to the 60-day disabled list.

Jimmy Butler believes he would be a better NFL wide receiver than Demaryius Thomas and Antonio Brown.

Speaking at a Team USA basketball practice, Butler told ESPN he would be better than two of the best wideouts in the entire league (Brown is unquestionably the best right now).

"I really love the game of football. I think I'm really good at it. I could probably take Demaryius Thomas' spot, Antonio Brown's spot," Butler said.

Kevin Durant called him an "idiot" multiple times and said he wouldn't even own him in fantasy football.

"Jimmy's not as good a receiver as the worst receiver in the NFL," Draymond Green said.

Thomas was actually asked by ESPN what he thinks about Butler and gave him some props but said it wouldn't be that close.

"Deep down inside he knows he's not better than me," the Broncos receiver said

And after hearing all the comments, Butler finally caved, acknowledging he might not actually be better at football than the guys who play it professionally.

"I might have exaggerated a little bit about being better than Demaryius and Antonio," Butler said. "But they're not going to find out I said this on camera."

Earlier this week after South Korean Si Woo Kim dropped a 60 in the second round to take the lead at the Wyndham Championship, he was asked how he would celebrate.

"Not so much celebrate today," Kim said. "After this week, play good, I celebrate."

Time to celebrate.

The 21-year-old touched off his first PGA Tour win with a 3-under 67 in the final round at Sedgefield Country Club to follow up a 68-60-64 start. He finished at 21 under for the week and won by five strokes over Luke Donald and six over Hideki Matsuyama and Brandt Snedeker. It got tight for a bit down the back nine as Kim's lead waned to three, but Kim was able to open it back up at the end and cruise home to the $1 million plus first prize.

Kim played the last three seasons on the Web.com Tour but has been terrific in his first full year on the PGA Tour. He'd made nearly $2 million and was easily in the top 50 in the FedEx Cup points race even before taking home the trophy this week.

He's the youngest PGA Tour winner ever from Asia and the youngest international winner on the PGA Tour since 1978, according to Justin Ray of Golf Channel.

Jim Furyk had a real chance to catch Kim late in the day on Sunday but made bogey at the eagle-able No. 15 and finished T10.

With the Ryder Cup hanging in the balance, Snedeker went 65-67 on the weekend and will likely jump back into the top eight in the Ryder Cup standings after finishing T3. 

Kris Bryant homered twice, doubled and drove in five runs while going 5 for 5 and the Chicago Cubs overcame a career-high seven walks by Jake Arrieta to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-6 Thursday for a four-game sweep.

Bryant tied Colorado's Nolan Arenado for the NL lead with 30 home runs. The Cubs won for the 18th time in 21 games and improved the best record in the majors to 77-43.

Chicago led 5-0 when Arrieta (15-5) issued a pair of two-out walks in the fourth. Kirk Nieuwenhuis followed with a three-run homer.

Hernan Perez hit a solo homer in the sixth off Arrieta, who allowed four runs and three hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Aroldis Chapman worked the ninth for his seventh save with the Cubs.

Bryant singled and scored in the first, hit a two-run homer in the third and had an RBI double in the fourth off Zach Davies (9-6). Bryant hit a solo homer off Blaine Boyer in the sixth and added an RBI single in the eighth off Corey Knebel for his second career five-hit game.

Tyler Naquin lofted a game-ending sacrifice fly in the ninth inning that lifted the Indians over the Chicago White Sox 5-4 Thursday night.

The AL Central-leading Indians scored a single run in each of the last five innings to overtake Chicago. Cleveland improved to 6-2 on an 11-game homestand.

Abraham Almonte doubled to begin ninth off Jacob Turner (1-2). With Roberto Perez batting, a passed ball by Dioner Navarro moved Almonte to third.

Francona then sent Naquin to the plate with a 1-0 count. The rookie drove the first pitch he saw to center field, deep enough that Adam Eaton couldn't prevent Almonte from scoring.

Andrew Miller (7-1) earned the win with one inning of scoreless relief.

Tom Brady sat out his second straight preseason game, while the guy that will replace him at the start of the regular season continued to make progress.

Brady did not go through pregame warmups Thursday night and never made it to the field for the New England Patriots' 23-22 win over the Chicago Bears.

Brady had been expected to make his debut after missing last week's game to attend memorial services for a family member.

Jimmy Garoppolo will start the first four games of the regular season while Brady serves his "Deflategate" suspension, and he made the most of the extra playing time.

He threaded a 16-yard touchdown pass in the back of the end zone to A.J. Derby late in the first half for his first TD pass of the preseason. He played the entire first half and one series in the second half, finishing 16 of 21 for 181 yards.

Jay Cutler and Chicago's offense started the game with a lot more pep following an anemic effort in the opener last week.

The Bears gained 78 yards of offense in the first half of their 22-0 loss to Denver last week. Chicago gained 59 yards in its first drive Thursday and surpassed last week's total in its second possession.

Cutler played three series, completing 8 of 12 passes for 83 yards. Jeremy Langford also had a nice game, rushing eight times for 55 yards and a touchdown.

CB Jacoby Glenn started in place of Kyle Fuller (sore knee), but left in the third quarter with a concussion. TE Zach Miller and WR Eddie Royal both sat out Thursday's game as they recover from concussions.

Eddie Lacy's powerful running early on helped propel the Green Bay Packers to a 20-12 win over the Oakland Raiders on Thursday night.

Lacy had nine carries for 45 yards, capped by a 1-yard touchdown dive on third-and-goal, to highlight a 14-play, 74-yard drive to start the game as the Packers again played without quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

The Packers' rushing attack carried the offense with 145 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown run by third-string back John Crockett.

Derek Carr ran Oakland's offense for a half Thursday, but wasn't effective.

The third-year starter completed 9 of 13 passes for just 38 yards and had an underthrown pass to standout receiver Amari Cooper picked off by Damarious Randall.

Raiders running back Latavius Murray had six carries for 19 yards against a Green Bay defense that was without three key starters, including linebackers Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers.

Matthews and Peppers, who have yet to play in the preseason, have been threatened with suspensions by the NFL if they don't cooperate with the league's investigation of the players' alleged link to performance-enhancing drugs.

A day after the Packers activated Jordy Nelson from the physically unable to perform list, the star receiver suited up for and participated in pregame warmups.

After he missed the 2015 season because of a torn ACL in his right knee, it's uncertain if Nelson could play Green Bay's next exhibition game, Aug. 26 at San Francisco, when Rodgers expects to have extended playing time.

Veteran S Morgan Burnett remains sidelined because of a back injury that flared up before last week's first game. Micah Hyde again made the start in Burnett's absence.

Earlier this week, the NFL threatened four players with suspensions if they didn't cooperate with the league's investigation into allegations that they all received performance-enhancing drugs from the Guyer Institute in Indiana.

Three of the players are currently on NFL rosters -- Steelers linebacker James Harrison and Packers linebackers Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers -- and Harrison said Tuesday that he was "definitely" prepared to sit over the NFL's interview demands.

But with little leverage, apparently all three players have decided to meet with the league, according to USA Today's Tom Pelissero.

The fourth player, Mike Neal, is currently a free agent. Pelissero reports that he has not agreed to be interviewed.

According to CBSSports.com NFL insider Jason La Canfora, the Harrison meeting will come on Aug. 28.

The SEC's opening weekend is filled with marquee games against strong Power Five opponents. It's probably a good thing, then, that Florida opted to open against UMass because the Gators will be without one of their best players.

In a statement released Wednesday morning, coach Jim McElwain said junior cornerback Jalen Tabor and redshirt sophomore tight end C'yontai Lewis are not involved with team activities and suspended for the opener against the Minutemen for violating team policy.

A source told CBS Sports that an altercation between Tabor and Lewis was the cause for the suspension.

The biggest loss is Tabor, who anchors one of the better secondaries in college football.

Lewis is an emerging receiving option for the Gators, having scored two touchdowns last season. He was expected to see his playing time in crease in 2016.

McElwain has also announced that redshirt sophomore Luke Del Rio will be the Gators starting quarterback in their season opener against UMass on Sept. 3.

Del Rio had been battling with Purdue graduate transfer Austin Appleby and freshmen Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask for the starting job in camp. He will now work as the starter with the first team for the remainder of fall practice into the team's first game.

Del Rio will step into the void left by Will Grier and Treon Harris, the two quarterbacks that started games for the Gators in 2015. Both Grier and Harris transferred out of Gainesville, Florida, this offseason, Grier after being suspended a calendar year by the NCAA for use of a banned substance.

Del Rio was at Alabama in 2013 as a walk-on before transferring to Oregon State in 2014.

Tennessee announced early Thursday that athletic director Dave Hart will retire June 30, 2017.

Tennessee Chancellor Jimmy Cheek made the announcement yesterday. He too announced earlier in the summer that he's also stepping down in 2017.

Tennessee introduced Hart, 67, as its athletic director in September 2011, meaning he led the athletic department during a time when men's basketball coach Cuonzo Martin left UT for California, in part, because Martin didn't feel like Hart publicly or privately supported him properly when fans launched a petition to fire Martin and replace him with former Vols coach Bruce Pearl. Hart subsequently hired Donnie Tyndall but had to fire him less than a year later because of an NCAA investigation that was launched at Southern Miss, where Tyndall had previously coached.

Hart's time at Tennessee also includes him firing football coach Derek Dooley and replacing him with Butch Jones, who is 10-14 in SEC games through three seasons. But the biggest stain is a federal Title IX lawsuit that claimed the university had a "hostile sexual environment" and violated laws in the way that it handled sexual violence cases, specifically cases involving student-athletes. Tennessee announced last month that it had settled the lawsuit for $2.48 million.

Hart was previously the AD at East Carolina and Florida State.

He worked at Alabama, his alma mater, before moving to Tennessee.

Jorge Soler hit a three-run homer during a five-run first inning, Jon Lester pitched into the seventh and the Chicago Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers 6-1 on Wednesday night for their 17th win in 20 games.

Soler's shot capped the inning after RBI singles by Ben Zobrist and Addison Russell.

Lester (13-4) got his fourth straight win, giving up one run and three hits in 6 2/3 innings while striking out seven. He hasn't lost since July 3.

Brewers starter Jimmy Nelson (6-13) walked leadoff batter Dexter Fowler then hit Kris Bryant with a pitch to set the table in the first.

Soler's homer on a 2-2 pitch was a convincing smash that landed just under the videoboard atop of the left-center field stands.

Nelson is 1-10 over his last 14 starts.

Adam Eaton's ninth-inning grand slam off closer Cody Allen capped a five-run rally and lifted the White Sox to a 10-7 win Wednesday night over the Cleveland Indians.

Allen (2-5) retired the first hitter before Chicago loaded the bases on infield singles by Todd Frazier and J.B. Shuck, and a walk to Tim Anderson.

Dioner Navarro's bloop hit down the left field line scored a run before Eaton homered to right on an 0-2 pitch for his first career grand slam.

Jacob Turner (1-1) pitched the eighth and David Robertson retired the final two hitters with two on in the ninth for his 30th save.

Anderson hit a two-run homer and Frazier had a two-run double for the White Sox.

Anthony Ranaudo, recalled from Triple-A Charlotte before the game, allowed five runs in four innings.

Chicago was 2-8 against Cleveland, including seven straight losses going into the game.

Carlos Rodon is seeking his first back-to-back wins of the season. He allowed one run in six innings in his last start, a 4-2 victory at Miami.

Danny Salazar (sore elbow) will be activated off the 15-day disabled list to start the series finale. 

Carlos Martinez took a no-hitter into the sixth, Jeremy Hazelbaker and Brandon Moss hit home runs and St. Louis beat the Houston Astros 8-2.

Martinez (11-7) pitched seven innings of three-hit ball, allowing a run while striking out seven. He retired 15 of the first 16 batters before giving up a leadoff double to Teoscar Hernandez in the sixth.

Martinez had allowed 14 runs over his previous three starts.

Eight Cardinals batted in the three-run third, highlighted by Stephen Piscotty's two-run single and Yadier Molina's RBI double.

Hazelbaker bashed a 3-2 pitch from Fister in the fourth for his first home run since July 29. Moss blew it open in the seventh with a three-run homer off Tony Sipp.

The Cardinals have won four straight and have a slim lead for the second NL wild-card spot over the Pirates and Marlins.

Adam Wainwright (9-7, 4.72 ERA) starts against Philadelphia on Friday. 

Cubs infielder Tommy La Stella will report to Double-A Tennessee, and Chicago manager Joe Maddon said he hopes La Stella will be back with the big league team by early September.

La Stella was optioned to Triple-A Iowa on July 29, but refused to report there, and the Cubs placed him on the temporary inactive list on Aug. 9. La Stella told ESPN.com at the time that he was contemplating retirement.

"He's reported to Double-A, and moving on up to Triple-A, and he'll be back here probably by the first of September," Maddon said before the Cubs game against Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night.

Maddon said Cubs management had been talking extensively with La Stella as he tried to decide whether to remain in baseball.

He said La Stella needs at-bats before he can return to the majors, and is expected to play short stints at Tennessee and then Triple-A Iowa before returning to the Cubs.

La Stella, 27, was hitting .295 in 51 games for the Cubs this season before the demotion.

When it comes to the iron fist of the NFL, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has a unique perspective on the league's latest attempt to suspend several players.

Not only is Rodgers teammates with two of the players who are being threatened with suspension -- Julius Peppers and Clay Matthews -- but he's also a former teammate of one of the other players (Mike Neal) involved in the league's Al Jazeera investigation.

Although some players might not be willing to speak out against the NFL, Rodgers had no problem calling the league out during an interview with Jim Rome on Wednesday.

The Packers quarterback said that the league's latest investigation is setting a "bad precedent." The league has threatened to suspend Matthews, Peppers, Neal and James Harrison if they don't cooperate with the Al Jazeera investigation by Aug. 25.

"I think it's pretty typical of how things have been going with [the NFL] lately," Rodgers said on the Jim Rome Show. "It sets a bad precedent."

The allegations against the four players were made in December in a report that was released by Al Jazeeera America. Peyton Manning was also named in the report, but he has since been cleared. Much of the report was based on the testimony of Charlie Sly, who has since recanted everything he said.

One of Rodgers' biggest problems with the NFL's investigation is that the league is holding an investigation despite the fact that there's no proof of anything after Sly recanted his testimony.

Without proof, the Packers quarterback sees the investigation as a situation where the league is bullying the players involved, Rodgers also pointed out that the league could "bully" anyone into an interview even if there's no proof of wrongdoing.

"I think that any wild accusation -- accredited, legitimate or unlegitimate -- they're going to try and bully these guys into testifying," Rodgers said.

The two-time MVP also added that the entire investigation is a black eye for the NFL.

Trevor Cahill came off the disabled list to throw five innings of two-hit ball in his first start in nearly 16 months, and the Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-0 Tuesday in the opener of a day-night doubleheader.

Mike Montgomery followed Cahill and pitched two innings, Hector Rondon worked the eighth and Joe Smith walked two in the ninth before Aroldis Chapman got two outs to close a three-hitter.

Cahill (2-3) also drove in a run with a safety squeeze bunt, and the Cubs added runs on a wild pitch and Addison Russell's sacrifice fly off Matt Garza (4-5).

Cahill allowed two walks and struck out Manny Pina with a runner on third to end the fifth on his 84th pitch.

Jason Hammel threw seven innings of two-hit ball, Anthony Rizzo jumped onto a wall to make a remarkable catch of a foul ball, and the Chicago Cubs beat the banged-up Milwaukee Brewers 4-1 on Tuesday night to sweep a day-night doubleheader.

Javier Baez hit a two-run homer while Hammel (13-5) struck out seven to extend his scoreless streak to 22 innings.

Rizzo wowed the fans when the first baseman jumped on the wall with both feet, leaned into the crowd and made a one-handed grab of Keon Broxton's popup.

Jon Lester (12-4, 2.93) faces RHP Jimmy Nelson (6-12, 4.07) on Wednesday night.

Jedd Gyorko and Tommy Pham each homered to help the Cardinals beat the Houston Astros 8-5 on Tuesday night for their third straight win.

Gyorko has 11 of his 18 homers since July 18, including three in his past four games. It's helped keep St. Louis in the NL wild-card race despite injuries to top hitters like Matt Carpenter and Aledmys Diaz.

The Cardinals roughed up ace Dallas Keuchel (7-12) to overcome a rocky outing from starter Jaime Garcia (10-8). Garcia gave up five runs and seven hits in five innings, including three home runs.

Seung Hwan Oh pitched a scoreless ninth, striking out three, for his 12th save.

Houston's Alex Bregman hit his first major league home run in the first in his 78th career at-bat.

The Cardinals evened the score 4-4 in the fifth with Pham's two-run homer and later extended the lead to 8-4 when Gyorko homered off reliever Pat Neshek for his 18th of the season.

Yadier Molina added two RBIs for St. Louis despite going 0 for 4.

Jason Castro had a solo home run for Houston in the sixth.

Carlos Martinez (10-7, 3.34) will try to get his first win in four starts. He has a 7.36 ERA across his first two August starts after entering the month with a 2.99 ERA on the season.

Doug Fister (11-7, 3.61) looks to replicate earlier success against St. Louis. He allowed five hits and two runs in 7 1/3 innings against the Cardinals on June 14, earning the win. He also won his last start against Minnesota despite allowing five runs and eight hits in seven innings.

Corey Kluber allowed one run in six innings to win his fourth consecutive start, and the Cleveland Indians defeated the Chicago White Sox for the seventh straight time, 3-1 on Tuesday night.

Kluber (13-8) struck out seven and walked two, allowing his only run on Justin Morenau's one-out homer in the sixth. Kluber is 5-0 with a 1.80 ERA in seven starts since a July 3 loss at Toronto.

Andrew Miller retired six straight batters, and Cody Allen pitched a perfect ninth for his 23rd save in 25 chances to complete a seven-hitter.

Cleveland opened a six-game lead over second-place Detroit in the AL Central. The Indians have outscored the White Sox by a combined 36-13 in their last seven meetings.

Anthony Ranaudo will be recalled from Triple-A Charlotte to start the second game of the series. He will replace RHP Carson Fulmer, who was optioned to Charlotte.

Carlos Carrasco posted a no-decision in his lone start against the White Sox this season, allowing two runs in 7 1/3 innings on June 19 at Progressive Field.

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo jumped onto a wall and plucked a foul ball from above a group of fans at Wrigley Field during a game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night.

Rizzo leapt atop the side wall with both feet just past the tarp, leaned into the crowd and made a circus catch of Keon Broxton's foul pop. He then dismounted back onto the field standing up and broke into a wide smile.

The Wrigley Field crowd followed with "MVP, MVP" chants.

Fans were still buzzing and stood and cheered for the All-Star after the final out of the fifth.

>>Brewers Slugger Braun Leaves Game After Crashing Into Wall

Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun has limped off the field in the second game of a doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs after crashing into the wall trying to catch a foul ball.

Braun crumpled feet-first into the side wall at Wrigley Field in the fourth inning Tuesday night as Ben Zobrist's fly fell out of his reach. Braun was slow to get up as the trainer and manager Craig Counsell ran out to check on him.

Braun got to his feet and flexed his left knee several times before walking to the dugout under his own power. Ramon Flores replaced him.

Braun was the second Brewer to leave the game with an injury. Starting pitcher Chase Anderson left after two batters with a bruised quadriceps when he took Kris Bryant's liner off his left leg.

It's probably a good thing the Patriots and the Bears only play each other once every four years because they don't seem to like each other very much.

The two teams almost got into an all-out brawl on Monday during the first day of their joint practices. According to NESN.com, the brawl started when Bears wide receiver Alshon Jeffery and Patriots defensive back Malcolm Butler started going at it during an 11-on-11 drill.

The two went from grabbing each other's facemasks to an all-out shoving match. A few teammates then noticed the pushing and shoving, and at that point, almost everyone on both teams decided to join the melee.

Butler got kicked out of practice.

There was also a small skirmish between Martellus Bennett and a few Bears players. However, that one didn't turn into a brawl.

It's not a complete surprise that Bennett was picking a fight with the Bears. For one, he spent the past three seasons playing for Chicago, and two, he doesn't seem to care for Jay Cutler very much.

Kyle Long and Chris Long got into each other's faces after practice, but that's normal, they're brothers.

>>Pats' TE Gronkowski Leaves Practice With Injury

Tight end Rob Gronkowski left the first day of joint practices between the Patriots and Bears on Monday with an apparent lower-body issue.

Gronkowski made awkward cut while running a route during 7-on-7 drills. He grimaced after the play and paused briefly before jogging back gingerly to rejoin his teammates.

Gronkowski was led back to the locker room by a trainer and did not return.

Later, tempers flared between Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler and Bears receiver Alshon Jeffery, leading to an extended shoving match. It intensified into about a 30-second scrum after teammates intervened. Both players were ejected from practice.

A shorter incident occurred toward the end of the workout between Patriots lineman Nate Solder and Chicago linebacker Lamarr Houston.

>>Broncos Lose Starting DE

It's a good thing the NFL regular season doesn't kick off for another three weeks because the Broncos are going to need that time to figure out who's going to replace Vance Walker.

The team announced that Walker will miss the entire 2016 season after suffering a torn ACL during practice on Monday. The injury means that the Broncos will now be going with Plan C at defensive end.

Plan A was Malik Jackson, but that plan fell through in March when Jackson decided to sign with the Jaguars. After Jackson's departure, the Broncos turned to Walker, who was expected to be a full-time starter this season after starting four games in 2015.

With Walker out, the Broncos will now likely turn to one of three guys to replace him: Jared Crick, Adam Gotsis or Billy Winn.

Last season marked Walker's first year in Denver. Before that, the veteran defensive lineman had stops in Atlanta (2009-12), Oakland (2013) and Kansas City (2014).

The Colts have claimed guard Donovan Williams off waivers from Chicago and placed punter Michael Palardy on waivers.

Starting guard Denzelle Good and backup offensive lineman Kevin Graf both were injured in Saturday night's 19-18 victory at Buffalo.

The 6-foot-3, 315-pound Williams signed with Chicago as an undrafted rookie out of Louisiana-Lafayette in May. He was waived by the Bears on Saturday.

Palardy signed with the Colts on Aug. 6 after Pro Bowl punter Pat McAfee hurt his knee at training camp. He also has spent time with Baltimore, Carolina, Oakland and the St. Louis Rams but never appeared in an NFL game.

>>Diamondbacks Outlast Mets

Welington Castillo, just back from a six-day leave due to complications in the birth of his son, matched his career high with four hits to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 10-6 victory over the New York Mets on Monday night.

He doubled twice, drove in two runs and scored twice for the Diamondbacks, who swept the Mets in three games last week in New York.

Left-hander Robbie Ray (5-11), who threw seven scoreless innings but got no-decision against the Mets last Wednesday, allowed two runs and eight hits in five innings in his first victory in five starts. He struck out five and walked two.

Paul Goldschmidt had three hits, including a triple and double and scored three times. Yasmany Tomas hit a two-run homer off Hansel Robles in the eighth.

Neil Walker had three hits for the Mets, including a solo home run in the ninth off Edwin Escobar, just called up from Triple-A Reno.

Arizona scored three unearned runs in the first inning and led the rest of the way.

Noah Syndergaard (9-7, 2.75 ERA) gets the start for the Mets tonight opposite Braden Shipley.

>>Pirates Down Giants

Gregory Polanco had a homer and four RBIs, Ryan Vogelsong won in his return to AT&T Park and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the San Francisco Giants 8-5 on Monday night.

Andrew McCutchen added two hits, two RBIs and made a spectacular diving , backhanded catch in the eighth to help Pittsburgh move within one game of idle St. Louis for the second NL wild card.

That was enough for Vogelsong (2-2) to win despite an up-and-down outing.

Vogelsong, who spent parts of seven seasons with the Giants and won two World Series, allowed four runs over 5 2/3 innings. He walked three and struck out one.

Denard Span had three hits, including a home run, and Eduardo Nunez also homered for the Giants.

Francisco Cervelli singled, walked twice and made a sparkling defensive play to tag out a runner at home to help Vogelsong win for the first time since coming off the 60-day DL after being hit in the eye with a line drive on May 23.

Tony Watson, the fourth Pirates reliever, retired three batters for his sixth save.

Stephen Piscotty hit a three-run homer, Brandon Moss followed with a solo shot one out later and the St. Louis Cardinals used a five-run eighth inning to beat the Chicago Cubs 6-4 on Sunday night.

Piscotty hit his 17th homer off setup man Hector Rondon (2-3), who entered with a 3-1 lead in his first appearance since Aug. 2 following a triceps injury. After pinch-hitter Kolten Wong and Greg Garcia singled, Piscotty lofted a shot to deep left-center field that put the Cardinals ahead 4-3.

Moss added his 21st homer, then Randal Grichuk doubled in a run off Travis Wood.

The Cardinals split a four-game series with major-league leading Chicago, which dropped its second straight following an 11-game winning streak.

Matt Bowman (2-4) got three outs in the seventh in relief of Mike Leake for the win.

Cardinals closer Seung Hwan Oh got the final five outs, including three strikeouts in the ninth, for his 11th save in 12 chances.

Lovie Smith knows his Illinois team will have to heavily rely on senior quarterback Wes Lunt.

But the first-year Illini coach said Sunday he wants his team to run the ball.

Smith said during preseason media day that he is confident sophomore Ke'Shawn Vaughn can carry the load. And Smith said he believes in backup Kendrick Foster despite the junior having only 15 career carries.

Smith also said he wants his tight ends to catch passes and to use a fullback in the pass and run games.

Illinois has not used a true fullback in several seasons. And Illini tight ends have often been talented, but played small roles in the offense.

Illinois opens Sept. 3 against Murray State and plays four of its first five games at home.

Award-winning singer-songwriter, Adele, was approached for the NFL's Super Bowl Halftime show but turned it down.

She told the Los Angeles crowd during a recent show, per Variety.com quote - "First of all, I'm not doing the Super Bowl. I mean, come on, that show is not about music. And I don't really -- I can't dance or anything like that. They were very kind, they did ask me, but I said no."

"Maybe next time," she said.

Ryan Moore won the John Deere Classic on Sunday for his fifth PGA Tour title, closing with a 4-under 67 for a two-stroke victory over Ben Martin.

The 33-year-old Moore finished at 22-under 262 at TPC Deere Run, playing the final 46 holes without a bogey and making only one in 74 holes. He won for the first time since successfully defending his CIMB Classic title in Malaysia in 2014.

Martin had three straight back-nine birdies in a 68.

Whee Kim of South Korea shot 67 to tie for third with Morgan Hoffmann (71) at 17 under.

Moore birdied Nos. 2, 4, 9 and 10 and closed with eight pars. He had a five-stroke lead when Hoffmann bogeyed the 12th hole. Martin, playing with Moore in the final twosome, birdied Nos. 12-14, but couldn't get closer than two strokes.

Moore opened with three straight 65s in the event thrown off schedule by rain Thursday and Friday.

Jordan Spieth chose not to defend his title because he didn't think it would be appropriate in light of his decision to skip the Rio Olympics.

>>Rizzo Walks With Bases Loaded in 11th To Send Cubs Past Cards

Anthony Rizzo drew a bases-loaded walk from Zach Duke with two outs in the 11th inning and the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 on Thursday night for their 10th consecutive win.

Pinch-hitters Willson Contreras and Jorge Soler led off with singles against the lefty Duke (2-1) and Dexter Fowler walked to load the bases with one out. Kris Bryant struck out before Rizzo took a 3-1 pitch inside to give the Cubs their longest winning streak since getting 12 straight in 2001.

Mike Montgomery (4-5) allowed a single and two walks to load the bases in the 11th before striking out Matt Carpenter to end the threat. He won his first game for Chicago since being acquired from Seattle last month.

The Cardinals fell 13 games behind Chicago in the NL Central and lost Matt Holliday in the 10th after he was hit on the right hand by Mike Montgomery's 94 mph fastball.

>>Duffy, Royals Beat White Sox

Danny Duffy pitched his first complete game to win his eighth straight decision, Cheslor Cuthbert had two hits and drove in a run and the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 2-1 on Thursday night.

Duffy (9-1) limited the White Sox to seven singles, struck out six and walked none. He has not lost since June 6 and has a 1.73 ERA in his past five starts. Duffy threw 98 pitches, 71 for strikes.

Cuthbert tripled home Jarrod Dyson in the sixth and is second among AL rookies with 93 hits, 24 multihit games and a .303 batting average. Dyson was initially called out trying to steal second, but the Royals appealed and the call was overturned.

Cuthbert then scored the go-ahead run on Eric Hosmer's single off Carson Fulmer (0-2). Fulmer has an 8.47 ERA in eight relief appearances.

>>Cubs Place Strop on DL

Chicago Cubs reliever Pedro Strop will be sidelined four to six weeks with a torn meniscus in his left knee.

The right-hander will undergo arthroscopic surgery Friday after getting hurt fielding a grounder in the eighth inning of Wednesday's victory over the Los Angeles Angels.

Strop was placed on the 15-day disabled list and right-hander Justin Grimm was recalled from Triple-A Iowa. With reliever Hector Rondon also sidelined with a triceps injury, the NL Central-leading Cubs will have to shuffle bullpen roles ahead of closer Aroldis Chapman.

The 31-year-old Strop, who has a 2.89 ERA in 50 appearances this season, bolted off the mound and slid in front of third baseman Javier Baez to field Yunel Escobar's slow roller.

The timetable calls for Strop to return toward the end of the regular season and be ready for the playoffs.

>>Cards Put 1B Adams on DL, Recall OF Grichuk

The St. Louis Cardinals have placed first baseman Matt Adams on the 15-day disabled list and recalled outfielder Randal Grichuk from Triple-A Memphis.

Adams was scratched from the Cardinals' lineup before Wednesday's game against Cincinnati with left shoulder inflammation. The DL stint is retroactive to Wednesday.

Adams is hitting .249 with 12 home runs and 44 RBIs in 95 games, including going 10 for 26 as a pinch-hitter.

The 24-year-old Grichuk is hitting .213 in 84 games with the Cardinals this season. He was available for Thursday night's game at the Chicago Cubs.

Andrew Loupe topped the John Deere Classic leaderboard at 8 under Thursday when first-round play was suspended because of darkness at rain-soaked TPC Deere Run.

The 27-year-old former LSU player was facing a 6-foot par putt on the par-4 15th hole when play was called for the day.

The tournament was delayed for 3 1/2 hours by a storm that dropped just over an inch of rain. The round resumed at 3:08 p.m., with none of the afternoon starters able to finish.

Loupe had five birdies in a seven-hole stretch on the front nine and added birdies on the 11th, 13th and 14th.

Zach Johnson, Patrick Rodgers and Ryan Moore were in at 65, and Tom Gillis also was 6 under with two holes left. Johnson won the 2012 tournament. He's from just up the road in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Mark Sanchez made a strong opening argument for the Denver Broncos' starting quarterback job, throwing for 99 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter, and the defending Super Bowl champions beat the Chicago Bears 22-0 in the preseason opener on Thursday night.

Sanchez came through with just the sort of performance he needed if he's going to beat out Trevor Siemian.

He completed 10 of 13 passes in the first quarter and led a game-opening 76-yard touchdown drive. He was intercepted by Jerrell Freeman on the Broncos' second possession.

Sanchez maintained his cool against Chicago's pressure and kept the opening drive going by completing three third-down passes - including a 32-yard TD to a wide open Demaryius Thomas along the right side.

As for Siemian, the former Northwestern star looked comfortable throwing short passes and was 7 of 12 for 88 yards in the second quarter.

It was a rough start for a Bears team looking for more after going 6-10 in coach John Fox's first season.

Jay Cutler threw for 18 yards and got sacked twice in the first quarter. Brian Hoyer threw for 81 yards in the second period but was sacked three times.

On a positive note for the Bears, Alshon Jeffery played after being limited by a strained hamstring and caught a 12-yard pass. And Kevin White caught his first pass for Chicago after missing his rookie season because of a fractured shin.

RB Ka'Deem Carey was being evaluated for a concussion after getting shaken up in the third quarter. WR Eddie Royal and TE Zach Miller sat out because of concussions.

Illinois coach Lovie Smith says redshirt freshman quarterback Jimmy Fitzgerald is leaving the team.

Smith said Wednesday that he and Fitzgerald met Tuesday to discuss the move. Smith said the quarterback is leaving to "get a fresh start" at another school. The release did not say where Fitzgerald plans to go.

Fitzgerald said in the release that he plans to "consider other opportunities for my collegiate career." The Champaign native came to Illinois from Centennial High School.

The move leaves three scholarship quarterbacks on Illinois' roster: senior Wes Lunt, redshirt sophomore Chase Crouch and redshirt freshman Jeff George, Jr.

Matt Carpenter and Jhonny Peralta homered to back up a second straight dominant start by Jaime Garcia as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 on Wednesday night.

Jaime Garcia (9-8) needed just 85 pitches to get through 8-plus innings and 19 of his 24 outs were ground balls or strikeouts. The lefty has given up two runs in his last 16 innings.

Carpenter's homer in the first inning was his second leadoff home run of the season and 11th of his career. It was also Carpenter's second career homer against Reds starter Anthony DeScalfani.

Peralta's solo homer in fourth was the 200th of his career. Peralta is hitting .345 in August.

Seung-Hwan Oh earned his 10th save in 11 tries.

Carlos Martinez gets the call in the opener of a four-game series at Chicago. In two starts against the Cubs this year, both at home, he's 1-1 with a 5.25 ERA.
 

Jason Hammel won his career-best fifth straight start, pitching four-hit ball over six scoreless innings, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Los Angeles Angels 3-1 on Wednesday night for their season-high ninth straight win.

The major league-leading Cubs matched their longest streak since Aug. 6-15 of last year and moved a season-best 30 games over .500 (71-41). They come into a four-game set against St. Louis at Wrigley Field with three straight series sweeps after consecutive victories over the Angels.

Hammel (12-5) struck out six, walked two and helped himself at the plate when he singled and scored in the fifth against Ricky Nolasco to make it 2-0.

Addison Russell made it 3-1 with a solo homer off JC Ramirez in the eighth.

Dexter Fowler chipped in with two hits, including an RBI double. Anthony Rizzo drove in a run with a single, and the Cubs won for the 12th time in 13 games.

Lorenzo Cain's two-out single in the 14th inning scored Christian Colon from second base and the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 3-2 on Wednesday night.

Colon opened the inning with a single and Paulo Orlando sacrificed him to second. Cain laced a single to center to score Colon, ending the 4-hour, 34-minute game, the longest by the Royals this season.

Dillon Gee (4-5), the eighth Kansas City pitcher, struck out three in two perfect innings to pick up the victory. Matt Albers (2-5) was charged with the loss.

Jarrod Dyson led off the 13th inning with a triple, but the Royals failed to get him home. Dan Jennings struck out the next three batters: Drew Butera, Alex Gordon and Alcides Escobar.

RHP Miguel Gonzalez is 0-1 with a 3.65 ERA in two starts this season against the Royals. He'll be opposed by Danny Duffy who is 4-0 with a 3.67 ERA in nine home starts this season.

The Chicago Bears have signed offensive lineman Mike Adams and waived offensive lineman Nick Becton.

Adams sat out last season with a back injury after making 20 starts with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2012-2014. Becton has appeared in six games for the San Diego Chargers (2013), New Orleans Saints (2014) and Chicago Bears (2015).

The Bears announced the moves Wednesday. Chicago hosts Denver in the preseason opener on Thursday.

Chicago Cubs pitcher Luiz Escanio has been suspended for 144 games for a positive test for a metabolite of Boldenone, his second violation of baseball's minor league drug program.

Escanio, a right-hander who turned 24 on July 1, was suspended for 72 games on June 18 last year following a positive test for Stanozolol metabolites. He returned and was 3-1 with a 1.45 ERA this year for the Dominican Summer League Cubs2.

His latest suspension was announced Wednesday.

On Monday, San Francisco outfielder Chuckie Jones was suspended for 100 games for a third positive test for a drug of abuse. Jones was suspended for 50 games on April 9 last year following his second positive test for a drug of abuse.

He was on the voluntarily retired list and has not played this season.

There have been 66 suspensions this year under the minor league drug program and 13 under the major league program.

>>Astors Cut Ties With OF Gomez

The Astros on Wednesday designated center fielder Carlos Gomez for assignment. That means the team has 10 days to release Gomez or seven days to put him on waivers for purposes of trading him or outrighting him to the minors with his consent.

While the move comes as a surprise, Gomez has indeed struggled badly in 2016. In his age-30 season, Gomez has hit .210/.272/.322 (63 OPS+) in 85 games this season. Over that span, he's hit just five home runs. Gomez showed signs of decline last season, but as recently as 2014 he was competing at an All-Star level. He's in the final year of a three-year, $24 million contract and is owed the balance of a $9 million salary for 2016.

The Astros originally acquired Gomez in a trade with the Brewers leading up to the 2015 non-waiver deadline. That deal sent four prospects to Milwaukee and also landed Mike Fiers in Houston.

For the time being, Jake Marisnick figures to hold down center field for the Astros. To take Gomez's place on the roster, the Astros have recalled right-hander Jandel Gustave.

The foreign trips college basketball teams annually take typically feature little more than group photos at tourist sites and mostly uninteresting games.

Wichita State's trip is going differently, though.

Coach Gregg Marshall was ejected from Tuesday night's game against McGill University in Montreal, at which point he charged two referees.

There was no contact. But it was intense and reportedly the result of several questionable calls (and non-calls) during a game that featured Wichita State's Rauno Nurger suffering a concussion and cut on his chin that required three stitches.

Wichita State announced Wednesday that Marshall is suspended for the Shockers' final exhibition.

Marshall, after the game, explained his reaction to The Wichita Eagle.

"I'm definitely not proud of my reaction to that situation," said Marshall, who has led Wichita State to five straight NCAA Tournament appearances -- including the 2013 Final Four. "But, at some point, your players have to know you're going to stand up for them and [that] you've got some fight in you. Once I reacted, I said 'I might as well get my money's worth.'"

Wichita State ended up winning the game 77-71.

Marshall accepted the suspension. 

Todd Frazier hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning and Justin Morneau had four hits to lift the Chicago White Sox over the Kansas City Royals 7-5 on Tuesday night.

Frazier is tied for the major league lead with 31 homers, and his latest came on the first pitch from Kelvin Herrera (1-4) after a single by Jose Abreu and a double by Morneau.

David Robertson (3-2) blew a save in the ninth when Alcides Escobar's two-out single scored pinch-runner Jarrod Dyson.

Dan Jennings struck out Eric Hosmer to end the game, logging his first career save.

White Sox All-Star left-hander Chris Sale is 0-3 in five starts since a July 2 victory over Houston. He gave up three runs and seven hits in the first 2 1/3 innings but did not allow a hit after that. He threw 115 pitches in seven innings, striking out seven and walking one.

Kris Bryant hit his 28th home run, John Lackey outpitched friend and former teammate Jered Weaver, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Los Angeles Angels 5-1 Tuesday night for their eighth straight victory.

Willson Contreras also homered and Ben Zobrist added an RBI double for the major league-leading Cubs, who won their 70th game and moved a season-high 29 over .500.

Kole Calhoun homered on Lackey's third pitch, but the former Angels right-hander later retired 12 straight. Lackey (9-7) allowed three hits over eight innings, and all six of his strikeouts were looking.

Weaver (8-9) gave up four earned runs and another one that was unearned when he dropped a throw to first base for an error during the Angels' fifth straight loss.

Bryant homered over the left-field bleachers in the fifth.

>>LaStella Refuses Minor League Assignment

Cubs infielder Tommy La Stella has refused to report to Triple-A Iowa after being optioned to the minors nearly two weeks ago, and Chicago placed him on the temporary inactive list Tuesday.

La Stella started at third base for the Cubs in last year's wild-card victory over Pittsburgh. He was optioned to the minors on July 29 when Chicago activated outfielder Chris Coghlan off the disabled list.

The left-handed hitting La Stella is batting .295 with a .388 on-base percentage in 105 at-bats with the Cubs and didn't take the demotion well.

La Stella told ESPN.com in a phone interview that he's contemplating retirement and doesn't want to play for another team.

La Stella will continue to get paid while he's on the inactive list.

>>White Sox Place OF Garcia on DL

The Chicago White Sox put outfielder-designated hitter Avisail Garcia on the disabled list with a right knee sprain before Tuesday's game against the Kansas City Royals.

Garcia is hitting .240 with 11 doubles, nine home runs and 36 RBIs in 86 games.

The White Sox recalled outfielder Jason Coats, who is hitting .329 with a .390 on-base percentage in 65 games with Triple-A Charlotte. Coats went 2 for 22 with one double in 12 games in two previous stints this season with the White Sox.

>>Prince Fielder To Retire

Rangers DH Prince Fielder recently underwent major neck surgery for the second time in his career. At the very least, Fielder will miss the remainder of the 2016 season.

Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal indicated yesterday Fielder will hold a press conference today to announce his career is over.

Sources have confirmed to multiple Rangers writers that Fielder is indeed done.

The Rangers will reportedly be able to get some financial relief from insurance. According to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News' Evan Grant, the Rangers can recoup $6-million from the Detroit Tigers and $9-million from insurance. The team remains responsible for $9-million.

Fielder, 32, is batting .212/.292/.334 on the season with eight home runs in 89 games.

While Fielder has certainly run into his deep decline phase, he's had an impressive career: .283/.382/.506 (134 OPS+) across parts of 12 big-league seasons with the Brewers, Tigers, and Rangers.

Rosenthal also reports Fielder is not announcing his retirement. If Fielder were retiring, then he'd be walking away from all that money. Since, instead, he's not able to play for medical reasons, the Rangers still must pay the balance of his contract.

Jose Abreu and Avisail Garcia homered in a five-run second inning, and the Chicago White Sox chased Jordan Zimmermann early in his return from the disabled list, snapping Detroit's eight-game winning streak with a 6-3 victory over the Tigers on Thursday.

Zimmermann (9-5) allowed six runs and six hits in 1 2/3 innings, failing to strike out a batter in his first outing since June 30. He had been out with a right neck strain.

Jose Quintana (9-8) allowed three runs and eight hits in 7 1/3 innings. David Robertson pitched the ninth for his 26th save in 30 chances.

Chicago won for only the second time in eight games.

Miguel Cabrera and Ian Kinsler homered for Detroit, but the Tigers fell to three games behind AL Central-leading Cleveland.

Brandon Phillips had three hits and left-hander Brandon Finnegan allowed two singles in six innings on Thursday, leading the Cincinnati Reds to a 7-0 victory and a rare series win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Reds took two of three, giving them only their fifth series win in the last 23 between the NL Central rivals.

Phillips had a single and a pair of doubles, scored three times and drove in a run against former teammate Mike Leake (8-9). Ramon Cabrera drove in three runs, and Eugenio Suarez knocked in a pair.

Finnegan (7-8) allowed only a pair of singles, and then left after throwing 79 pitches on a humid, 88-degree afternoon. The bullpen gave up three more singles while closing out Cincinnati's fourth shutout, which is tied with Milwaukee and Pittsburgh for the fewest in the NL.

Reds first baseman Joey Votto went 0 for 4, ending a 17-game hitting streak that was the longest of his career.

Leadoff hitter Matt Carpenter is expected to come off the DL over the weekend. He's missed 29 games with a strained right oblique. He went 4 for 12 during a rehab assignment with a homer and a double.

St. Louis returns home and starts a three-game series against Atlanta. LHP Jaime Garcia (7-8) is 2-1 in seven career starts against the Braves with a 4.32 ERA.

>>Bears Sign FB

The Chicago Bears have signed veteran fullback Darrel Young and waived rookie Joe Sommers.

The Bears announced the moves on Thursday, a week after players reported to training camp.

Young has started 36 of his 90 career games, totaling 185 rushing yards on 51 attempts and seven touchdowns with the Washington Redskins from 2010-15. He also had 45 receptions for 432 yards and six touchdowns.

Sommers had joined the Bears as an undrafted free agent out of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

The Bears also announced offensive lineman Amini Silatolu has passed his physical. Silatolu signed with the team on July 20 after four seasons with the Carolina Panthers. Silatolu was declared active/PUP before training camp because of a knee injury.

>>Carroll Kicks DE Bennett Out of Practice

On Thursday, the day after Michael Bennett called Jay Cutler the worst quarterback in the NFL (here's a response to that) and made some other unfiltered quips about his fellow players stationed elsewhere around the league, Bennett experienced a bit of a tumultuous day in Seattle.

He got kicked out of practice by Seahawks coach Pete Carroll.

ESPN's Sheil Kapadia explains:

During a team drill, in between snaps, left guard Mark Glowinski appeared to get into it with Bennett and defensive end Cliff Avril.

Bennett had to be restrained by defensive tackle Jordan Hill and others before practice continued. He sat out the rest of the session.

After practice ended, Bennett was still upset. He got into a shouting match with the offensive linemen who were huddling on the field before Avril escorted him into the locker room.

Carroll said, per ESPN, quote - "It's translating into sometimes we lose a little bit of the poise that we need. We can't play like that. You get in a skirmish, you get thrown out. That's what happens. So that happened today. And that's just the way you do it, the way we do it."

>>Cardinals Use Fast Start To Down Reds

Brandon Moss drove in a pair of runs during St. Louis' four-run first inning, extending his season-long streak against the Reds, and the Cardinals held on for a 5-4 victory over Cincinnati on Wednesday night to even their series.

St. Louis had lost back-to-back games on walk-off hits, including a 7-5 loss to the Reds on Tuesday night that ended with a three-run homer off Seung Hwan Oh. The Cardinals' fill-in closer was the one celebrating this time after getting his eighth save in 10 chances.

St. Louis sent nine batters to the plate against Cody Reed (0-6) in the first inning, with Moss and Greg Garcia each driving in a pair of runs. Stephen Piscotty added a solo homer, the Cardinals' fifth in two games.

Moss and Jhonny Peralta returned from the disabled list at the start of the series and have contributed as the teams split the first two games. Moss is 5 for 9 with three doubles and a homer.

Michael Wacha (7-7) gave up a pair of runs in five innings as he won his fifth straight decision, and the bullpen took it from there.

Joey Votto extended his career-high hitting streak to 17 games with an RBI single in the first inning. It's the longest streak by a Reds player since Brandon Phillips hit in 22 in a row in 2007. Votto is 29 for 58 (.500) during the streak.

The Cardinals' Yadier Molina went 0 for 2, walked and was hit by a pitch, ending his 16-game hitting streak.

Piscotty's 15th homer made it 5-2 in the fifth. He was involved in helping the Reds cut the deficit in the sixth.

>>Cubs Rally Past Marlins for Series Sweep

The Chicago Cubs rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning - capped by a bases-loaded walk for a tie and a wild pitch to score the winning run - for a 5-4 victory over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday and a sweep of the three-game series.

Ben Zobrist drew a bases-loaded walk with two out to tie the score. With Willson Contreras at the plate, Marlins closer A.J. Ramos (1-1) threw a wild pitch to allow Matt Szczur to score the winning run from third base.

It was Ramos' second blown save of the season in 33 chances.

Jeff Mathis hit a two-run home run, Christian Yelich homered and drove in a pair of runs and Tom Koehler tossed six strong innings to give the Marlins a 4-1 lead heading to the bottom of the eighth.

Justin Grimm (1-0) pitched the ninth inning for the win. Chicago has won seven of eight.

>>Tigers' Martinez Returns from DL, Leads Detroit Past White Sox

J.D. Martinez broke an eighth-inning tie with a pinch homer on the first pitch he had faced since June and the Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox 2-1 on Wednesday night for their eighth straight victory.

Playing for the first time since fracturing his elbow June 16, Martinez received a long standing ovation on his way to the plate to hit for James McCann leading off the inning.

The cheers got a lot louder when Martinez launched Chris Sale's first pitch into the shrubs above the centerfield fence. Martinez took a curtain call after the inning, much to the crowd's delight.

The White Sox put their first two runners on against Francisco Rodriguez in the ninth, and Melky Cabrera moved to third on Justin Morneau's fly out. Rodriguez struck out Todd Frazier, but walked Avisail Garcia to load the bases. Dioner Navarro grounded out to second to end the game.

Sale (14-5) took the loss, allowing two runs on six hits in an eight-inning complete game. He walked one and struck out 10.

Shane Greene (2-2) got the win after pitching out of a seventh-inning jam, while Rodriguez picked up his 30th save.

The Olympic village, where athletes from all around the world stay during competition, is a dangerous place in Rio de Janeiro this time around. The water is unsanitary, athletes have already been robbed of their possessions and money, and Australian big man Andrew Bogut was roasting the accommodations and the IOC shortly after arriving in Brazil. So how are high profile athletes like the USA Basketball teams going to deal with something like this?

They're not. Neither the men's nor women's teams for USA Basketball will be staying in the Olympic village. That hasn't happened since 1988 before the NBA and Team USA started allowing professional players to participate in the games. Instead, they will stay aboard a luxury cruise liner with over 200 rooms while they participate in the 2016 Olympics.

It won't keep the U.S. basketball players from supporting the other American athletes during events and hanging out in the Olympic village. They've still done that during every Olympics while staying away from the village. They're just going to make sure the high profile athletes have the ability to play shuffleboard and do some karaoke -- or whatever you do on cruise ships -- during their down time.

There are just three tournaments before the FedEx Cup Playoffs start.

Another PGA Tour season is set to close up shop however with the Travelers Championship this week then the John Deere Classic and Wyndham Championship to touch things off.

Bubba Watson: 14-1
Matt Kuchar: 20-1
Zach Johnson: 25-1

It's impossible to put together solid fields the week after a major but there are a lot of potential U.S. Ryder Cup players sitting right on the edge of the eight automatic qualifiers, which will be something to keep an eye on as the week progresses. If Matt Kuchar or Patrick Reed win this week, they will lock up a spot at Hazeltine.

Bubba Watson, Kuchar and Reed will try and garner some momentum before heading to Rio next week for the 2016 Summer Olympics. 

Five-time defending national champion North Dakota State has been tabbed as the favorite to win this year's Missouri Valley Football Conference title.

The Bison earned 37 of a possible 39 first-place votes in the preseason poll conducted among the league's coaches, sports information directors and select media representatives.

Northern Iowa received the other two first-place votes to finish second in the poll, followed by South Dakota State, Illinois State and Youngstown State.

Rounding out the top 10 are Western Illinois, South Dakota, Southern Illinois, Indiana State and Missouri State.

NDSU captured its fifth consecutive Football Championship Subdivision crown in January with a 37-10 win over Jacksonville State.

This is the fifth straight season that the Bison have topped the conference preseason poll.

>>Hammel Outduels Fernandez As Cubs Beat Marlins

Jason Hammel threw six scoreless innings, Dexter Fowler had three hits and the Chicago Cubs beat Miami ace Jose Fernandez and the Marlins 3-2 on Tuesday night.

Hammel (11-5) extended Chicago's scoreless streak to 24 innings before the bullpen overcame Pedro Strop's shaky seventh. Aroldis Chapman hit 104.4 mph on the radar gun in a perfect ninth as the Cubs won for the sixth time in seven games.

Fernandez (12-6) allowed three runs and eight hits over six innings, losing consecutive starts for the first time since his 2013 rookie season.

Hammel, who gave up four hits, threw 80 pitches before being lifted for a pinch-hitter.

Adeiny Hechavarria and J.T. Realmuto each hit an RBI single in the seventh off Strop, who also committed a throwing error. Chris Coghlan's diving catch of Christian Yelich's looping liner to left field with two on ended the threat.

Tom Koehler (8-8, 4.18 ERA) returns from a pectoral injury and faces John Lackey (8-7, 3.69) to close the season series.

>>Cabrera, Tigers Beat White Sox

Miguel Cabrera hit his third home run in two games, Victor Martinez also went deep and the Detroit Tigers won their seventh straight by beating the Chicago White Sox 11-5 Tuesday night.

Andrew Romine and Cameron Maybin tripled in a six-run fifth inning for the Tigers. Cabrera had three RBIs, and Anibal Sanchez (5-12) won for the first time as a starter since April 28 - a span of 11 starts. He allowed one run and six hits in six innings.

Avisail Garcia homered twice and Todd Frazier hit his 30th for Chicago.

James Shields (3-6) held the Tigers scoreless for the first four innings, then got hit hard in the fifth. He had allowed only five runs in his previous four starts combined.

The teams play the second in a three-game series Wednesday night, with Chicago ace Chris Sale (14-4, 3.17 ERA) facing Detroit rookie Michael Fulmer (9-2, 2.50) in a matchup of two of the American League's best starters.

>>Schebler's Walk Off Homer Sends Reds Past Cardinals

Scott Schebler's three-run homer in the ninth inning rallied the Cincinnati Reds to a 7-5 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night in their first game without Jay Bruce. Schebler was called up earlier in the day to take his roster spot, and wound up winning a game.

Brandon Moss and Tommy Pham hit solo homers in the eighth for a 5-4 lead, but the Cardinals couldn't hold on in a game that had four lead changes in the last three innings.

Seung Hwan Oh (2-2) escaped a bases-loaded threat in the eighth, but gave up a pair of singles to start the ninth. Schebler connected for his second homer of the season.

Jumbo Diaz (1-1) fanned Oh with the bases loaded in the top of the ninth to keep it 5-4.

Joey Votto had an RBI double among his four hits and extended his hitting streak to a career-best 16 games. Yadier Molina doubled and extended his hitting streak to 16 games as well, the longest by a Cardinal since David Freese hit in 20 in a row in 2013.

Michael Wacha (6-7) has won his last four decisions covering seven starts. He's 3-1 in six career starts at Great American Ball Park.

>>Rockies Rookie Sensation Story To Have Season Ending Surgery

Rockies rookie shortstop Trevor Story will soon undergo surgery to repair torn ligaments in his left thumb. Thomas Harding tweets that Story says he'll miss the remainder of the 2016 season. Story initially sustained the injury on Saturday against the Mets, when he jammed his thumb while sliding head-first into second base. In the bottom half of that same inning, Story appeared to aggravate the injury while trying to make a play in the field.

Story, 23, is batting .272/.341/.567 (120 OPS+) on the season with an NL-leading 27 home runs in 97 games. He's also spent more than 800 defensive innings at shortstop in 2016.

Story leads all NL rookie qualifiers in OPS and home runs.

During Brandon Marshall's appearance on ESPN's First Take, he didn't just prop up his current quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick, by handing him the elite label. He also mended some old wounds by praising his ex-quarterback, Jay Cutler.

In a callback to 2014 -- the peak of Cutler and Marshall's relationship -- Marshall declared on live TV that Cutler can win MVP this season.

"I'll got out on a limb and say this again," Marshall started as Max Kellerman urged him to stop talking. "I truly believe if Alshon Jeffery stays healthy, and then you have Kevin White, if this rookie can come in and catch 55-plus balls, Jay Cutler can be MVP this year. I truly believe that."

Adding quote - "Listen, let me tell you why: He has all the tangibles. ... Listen, sometimes it just takes a little longer. ... Yes, even the work ethic," Marshall said. "This guy has been taking guys out all offseason to the side, bringing them to his house, bringing them to Nashville."

Marshall wasn't allowed to finish, as the First Take crew predictably reacted with chaos -- predictably, because there isn't a person on the planet besides Marshall that truly believes Cutler can win MVP.

Kyle Hendricks pitched a seven-hitter for his second career shutout, providing the Chicago Cubs' bullpen a needed breather in a 5-0 victory over the Miami Marlins on Monday night.

After a wild, 12-inning win a night earlier in which manager Joe Maddon used 22 players, Hendricks (10-7) threw 123 pitches and lowered his ERA to 2.22, third-best in the majors. He allowed three walks and struck out five.

Anthony Rizzo finished a home run shy of the cycle and reached base five times and Addison Russell had a two-run single in the first off wild Marlins starter Adam Conley (7-6). The lefty walked six, one intentionally, and hit a batter while needing 97 pitches to get through four innings.

The Cubs stranded nine runners in that span until Hendricks drove in Willson Contreras with a grounder through a drawn-in infield off Dustin McGowan in the fifth.

>>Cubs Add RP Smith

The Cubs have already added lefties Mike Montgomery and Aroldis Chapman to their bullpen this trading season, and now they've made it a third. It's now Joe Smith, with the Angels getting a minor-league pitcher in return, the Cubs have announced.

Smith is a low-velocity sidewinder, so he'll make for an interesting change of pace and style from the Cubs' arsenal of flame-throwers at the back-end like Chapman, Hector Rondon and Pedro Strop. Smith so far this season has a 3.82 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and 25 strikeouts in 37 2/3 innings.

From 2011-14, he had a 2.25 ERA, but he's regressed a bit the past two seasons.

In return, the Cubs send 20-year-old right-hander Jesus Castillo to the Angels. Castillo is 2-3 with a 3.27 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 38 strikeouts in 33 innings in Low-A this season. So there's some upside there, but it won't be untapped for a few years.

>>Rangers Acquire Coveted C Lucroy

According to Ken Rosenthal of MLB Network, the Rangers and Brewers are finalizing a trade to send catcher Jonathan Lucroy to Texas. Past that, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports that Brewers closer Jeremy Jeffress is also headed to the Rangers.

Headed back to the Brewers are top prospects Lewis Brinson and Luis Ortiz, reports TR Sullivan of MLB.com.

Lucroy, who vetoed a deal to the Indians on Sunday morning, is hitting .299/.359/.482 with 17 doubles, 13 homers and 50 RBI this season.

Brinson is a 22-year-old center fielder who Baseball America ranked as the 15th best prospect in baseball before the season started. In 77 games for Double-A Frisco, he's hitting just .237/.280/.431 with 14 doubles, six triples, 11 homers and 11 steals. Last season, though -- between three different levels, mostly Class A-Advanced -- he hit .332/.403/.601 with 31 doubles, eight triples, 20 homers and 18 steals.

As for the aforementioned prospect rankings, Ortiz was 64th. He's a right-handed pitcher and in 16 appearances between Class A-Advanced and Double-A, he has a 3.48 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 62 strikeouts against only 13 walks in 67 1/3 innings.

>>Rangers Acquire Beltran from Yankees

The Yankees continue their rebuild while the Rangers grab one of the best available bats in front of the MLB trade deadline, as Carlos Beltran is headed to the Rangers, reports Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports.

Passan further reports that pitcher Dillon Tate and more (reports indicate two more minor leaguers) would be going back to the Yankees. Tate was the fourth overall pick in the 2015 draft.

Beltran is 39 years old, but he's hitting like he's in his prime this season. Through 99 games, he is hitting .304/.344/.546 with 21 doubles, 22 homers and 64 RBI. He doesn't run anymore and might be better suited to DH than play in the outfield -- and the Rangers can accommodate this -- but this is a jolt of power to the middle of the order.

As for Tate, he is very highly touted. He headed into the season ranked as the 36th best prospect in baseball by MLB.com. He was as dominant as anyone in college for UCSB before being selected fourth behind Dansby Swanson, Alex Bregman and Brendan Rodgers in the 2015 draft.

This season, though, has been bad. In 17 outings in Class A, Tate has a 5.40 ERA, 1.62 WHIP and only 55 strikeouts in 65 innings. He's being knocked around, allowing 78 hits in those 65 innings.

>>Pirates Move Liriano

For the second time in the past few days, the Pirates made a surprise trade, sending left-hander Francisco Liriano and two prospects to the Blue Jays in exchange for righty Drew Hutchison.

Liriano's banishment from Pittsburgh comes after a messy 21-start stretch in which all of his rate statistics had gone the wrong way compared to the rest of his Pittsburgh tenure. He'd allowed more hits, more walks, and more home runs per nine, and had notched fewer strikeouts per nine than in all but one of his previous seasons while wearing the black and gold. The Blue Jays, then, are acquiring a challenge as much as anything -- getting Liriano back to good. If they can, his $13 million salary for 2017 could look like a bargain.

On the Pirates' side, they do get something in return beyond budget space, in the person of Hutchison. It wasn't long ago Hutchison looked like he could become a staple of the Jays' rotation. He's since struggled to find consistent success in the majors, however, and he'd spent most of the 2016 season in the minors. If Ray Searage, Pittsburgh's revered pitching coach, can help Hutchison regain his fastball-slider magic of old, then the Pirates could well walk away with a younger, more affordable starter on their hands.

>>Mets, Reds Finalize Bruce Deal

With the Mets' offense in a funk, they went looking for some power from outside the organization. It appears they have landed their man in right fielder Jay Bruce from the Reds. Initial reports had the Mets sending the Reds Brandon Nimmo and two others, but that deal fell through due to medical concerns with one of the Mets' lower-level prospects. The two sides continued to work and ended up settling on a deal that sends Dilson Herrera and Max Wotell.

Bruce can be a rental or be with the Mets through next season. It'll be their choice, as he has a $13 million team option for 2017.

Bruce, 29, is hitting .265/.316/.559 (128 OPS+) with 22 doubles, six triples, 25 homers and an NL-best 80 RBI so far this season. He made his third All-Star team after two pretty terrible years

The Mets have been utterly dreadful this season with runners in scoring position, hitting .206/.282/.324.

Bruce so far this season is hitting .360/.406/.719 with runners in scoring position. This isn't surprising, given his RBI total while playing for a bad team.

>>Dodgers Acquire Reddick, Hill From A's, Puig To Be Demoted

The Los Angeles Dodgers have acquired a pair of rentals from the Oakland Athletics. It's outfielder Josh Reddick and starting pitcher Rich Hill. The teams announced the deal on Monday.

Going to the A's are Frankie Montas, Grant Holmes and Jharel Cotton.

Hill is a 36-year-old lefty who hadn't made a start at the big-league level since 2009 until the Red Sox gave him four starts last September. He was outstanding and that has continued into this season. Through 14 starts, he's 9-3 with a 2.25 ERA (181 ERA+), 1.09 WHIP and 90 strikeouts in 76 innings. He's been troubled by blisters the past several weeks, but it's always possible the A's were being overly cautious with him so it didn't get worse and ruin his trade value.

Despite plenty of rumors, the Dodgers did not trade outfielder Yasiel Puig prior to Monday's non-waiver trade deadline. Puig remains with the organization, though he is not actually with the Dodgers right now.

According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, Puig "stormed off" after being informed he will be either traded or demoted to the minors Monday. He did not accompany the team on their flight to Denver for their upcoming series with the Rockies.

Tim Brown of Yahoo reports though Puig was instructed not to report to the stadium or the plane today as he was told he would be traded or demoted.

The Dodgers acquired outfielder Josh Reddick in a trade with the Athletics earlier month. Reddick joins Puig, Joc Pederson,Scott Van Slyke, and Andrew Toles as outfielders on Los Angeles' active 25-man roster. Howie Kendrick and Enrique Hernandez has outfield experience too.

Of course, trading or demoting Puig would not even be considered if his performance and durability had not taken such a big step back. He's hitting only .260/.320/.386 (93 OPS+) this season and has been battling nagging hamstring problems since last year.

The circumstances surrounding Rams running back Tre Mason are extremely strange and the team has become quite concerned about his well being, according to coach Jeff Fisher.

Mason was placed on the Reserve/Did Not Report list when the Rams began training camp, which followed on the heels of Mason being excused from OTAs for "personal reasons."

Fisher said he hasn't spoken with Mason since the 2015 season ended.

Combine the lack of contact with the Rams with previous police incidents -- Mason had the cops called to his house five times this offseason -- and there is very much a reason to be concerned for the running back.

At one point he looked like a promising option for Los Angeles, running for 765 yards in his rookie year and catching another 16 passes for 148 yards. He was an explosive, home-run threat of a back.

Fisher and GM Les Snead drafted Todd Gurley before 2015, however, and it made Mason largely irrelevant on the depth chart. He was clearly bothered by the draft-day decision and it cost him on the field. Mason carried the ball just 75 times in his second year with the Rams while Gurley ran his way to Rookie of the Year honors.

Now he's gone AWOL from the Rams and appears to be in a bad place, personally. 

>>Cubs Rally Past Mariners

Pitcher Jon Lester drove in Jason Heyward with a two-strike squeeze bunt in the 12th inning, and the Chicago Cubs overcame a six-run deficit to beat the Seattle Mariners 7-6 on Sunday night.

Heyward sparked the winning rally with a leadoff double off the wall in right-center. He advanced on Willson Contreras' fly ball to center against Cody Martin (1-1) before Lester managed to get a bunt down right in front of the plate.

Heyward made it home with a headfirst slide, 

sparking a frenzied celebration at Wrigley Field. Hector Rondon (2-2) pitched two innings for the win.

The Cubs trailed 6-3 before they pushed across three runs in the ninth against Steve Cishek, handing the sidewinding right-hander his sixth blown save in 31 opportunities. Addison Russell hit an RBI single and Contreras drove in another run when he hustled down the line to beat out a potential double-play grounder.

Kyle Hendricks (9-7, 2.39 ERA) takes on Miami LHP Adam Conley (7-5, 3.38 ERA) on Monday in the opener of a three-game series. Marlins outfielder Ichiro Suzuki comes to Wrigley Field just two hits shy of 3,000 for his major league career.

>>Dozier, Twins Power Pa

st White Sox

Brian Dozier homered twice and Ervin Santana posted another strong start one day before the trade deadline as the Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 6-4 on Sunday.

Kennys Vargas hit a two-run homer as part of a three-run first inning for Minnesota, which has won three of four games.

Vargas' towering blast in the first was hit an estimated 428 feet to straightaway center field and highlighted the quick start against Chicago's Carlos Rodon (2-8), who made his first start since July 5 after recovering from a sprained left wrist.

Santana (4-9) allowed three runs - one earned - in six innings with five strikeouts. Ryan Pressly gave up a double to Melky Cabrera but recorded his first save in three chances.

Chicago begins a series at Detroit with RHP James Shields (5-12, 4.68 ERA) starting against RHP Anibal Sanchez (5-11, 6.56). Shields pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings against the Chicago Cubs in his last outing.

>>Marlins Hold On For Win Over Cardinals

Derek Dietrich's pinch-hit, game-ending RBI triple with two out in the ninth inning helped the Miami Marlins beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 Sunday for split of their four-game series.

The Marlins' celebration began as Dietrich rounded third. Teammates doused him with water and then tore off his jersey.

The score was tied with two out in the ninth when Adeiny Hechavarria - who had made a costly throwing error earlier - singled off Matt Bowman (1-3). Dietrich then hit a drive into the left-field gap, and center fielder Tommy Pham's try at a sliding backhanded catch failed, allowing Hechavarria to score without a play.

Pham said he got his glove on the ball but didn't go after it full bore because left fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker was also in pursuit.

Andrew Cashner allowed one earned run in six innings in his Marlins debut. Cashner, the centerpiece of a seven-player trade Friday with San Diego, walked none and allowed four hits, including a homer by Greg Garcia.

Cardinals shortstop Aledmys Diaz left the game in the first inning with a bruised right hand after being hit by a pitch. Diaz, who is hitting .312 with 14 homers, is to undergo further examinations Monday.

Carlos Martinez hit Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton in the bottom of the first. There were no subsequent incidents, but Cashner took a postgame jab at the Cardinals.

Cashner was in line for the victory until the Cardinals made it 4-all with two runs in the eighth off Fernando Rodney, and the tying run scored on an ugly throwing error by shortstop Hechavarria.

Adam Wainwright (9-5, 4.16) is scheduled to start Tuesday at Cincinnati against Dan Straily (6-6, 3.84). Wainwright is 8-10 with a 4.44 ERA in 25 games against the Reds.

The Marlins edged the Cardinals on Sunday (MIA 5, STL 4) in a series finale with potential bearing on the postseason fray. The intensity of said contest was evident early on, when the Marlins and Cardinals exchanged hits batsmen in the first inning.

First, freshly minted Marlin Andrew Cashner hit Aledmys Diaz.

Fortunately, the Cardinals' rookie shortstop does not appear to be seriously hurt as the team tweeted Sunday he has a contusion and will have another MRI tdoay.

Cashner just a few days ago clipped Matt Holliday on the nose in what could've been a very serious situation. No doubt, that was still fresh in the minds of the Cardinals.

Given all that, it was perhaps not surprising that Carlos Martinez responded in the home half of the first by drilling Giancarlo Stanton.

After the game, Martinez of course denied intent and said he was merely trying to come inside on the uber-slugger, but you can judge the appearances for yourself. Numbered among those who didn't believe Martinez was his counterpart,

Cashner added, quote - "That's kind of the Cardinal way over there."

Spinning it forward, these two teams won't meet again in the regular season, but Sunday's win nudged the Marlins one game in front of the Cardinals for the second NL wild card spot. So perhaps an October renewal of hostilities is in store for these contenders and their respective ways.

Left-handed pitcher Zach Duke has been traded by the Chicago White Sox to the St. Louis Cardinals for minor league outfielder Charlie Tilson.

The deal was announced before the Cardinals' game Sunday at Miami.

Duke went 2-0 with a 2.63 ERA for the White Sox this year and leads the American League with 53 appearances. He made 169 career starts, all from 2005 to 2013.

Since 2014, Duke has appeared in 198 games, which ranks fourth in the majors during that span. The Cardinals become his seventh team.

The 23-year-old Tilson was the Cardinals' second-round pick in 2011 and is batting .282 this season for Triple-A Memphis. He has a .293 career minor league average in 471 games.

The Cleveland Indians added Andrew Miller from the Yankees in exchange for a prospect horde.

Miller, under contract through the 2018 season, is one of the best relievers in baseball. He entered Sunday with a 1.39 ERA and 11.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Clint Frazier and Justus Sheffield go to New York, who were the no. 1 and no. 5 prospects in the Indians system, according to MLB.com.

Jonathan Lucroy decided to veto the swap through the execution of his no-trade clause, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports Lucroy rejected the deal over playing time in 2017. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported earlier the Indians were not willing to offer financial inducement.

The Brewers will now re-enter negotiations with less leverage than they previously held. After all, Lucroy rejecting a trade could be viewed only as a theory before -- not a precedent. The good news, if there is any here, is that Lucroy cannot block a trade to the two other teams most often linked to him (the Mets and Rangers). The Dodgers have also been tied to Lucroy. At the same time, the Brewers clearly didn't find either of their packages' to be the best of the bunch, meaning they might have to take a lesser return to complete a trade.
 

The Chicago Bears signed outside linebacker Willie Young to a two-year contract extension on Saturday.

Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.

The 30-year-old Young signed with the Bears two years ago after spending his first four seasons with division-rival Detroit. He had a career-high 10 sacks that year before tearing his Achilles tendon in December, but bounced back to play in 15 games with 6 1/2 sacks last season.

The 6-foot-4, 260-pound Young even made his first career interception last year.

The Chicago Bears signed outside linebacker Willie Young to a two-year contract extension on Saturday.

Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.

The 30-year-old Young signed with the Bears two years ago after spending his first four seasons with division-rival Detroit. He had a career-high 10 sacks that year before tearing his Achilles tendon in December, but bounced back to play in 15 games with 6 1/2 sacks last season.

The 6-foot-4, 260-pound Young even made his first career interception last year.

Jimmy Walker's day began at 7:40 a.m. ET and ended nearly 12 hours later with him lifting the Wanamaker Trophy on the 18th green as he won the 98th PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club.

Thunderstorms on Saturday washed out the majority of the third round, so Walker and the rest of the final five pairings had to play 36 holes on Sunday to complete the championship. Because of the condensed schedule, which included starting the fourth round an hour after the final group teed off, players were not re-paired and the same duos went out on the course for Round 4.

For Walker, that meant playing both rounds with Robert Streb, who finished T7 at 8 under, and not Jason Day. Day was playing in the penultimate group with Emiliano Grillo, and the massive gallery usually reserved for the final pairing stuck with the defending champion rather than following the final pairing.

In a strange week at Baltusrol, it was fitting that the final round felt different. Walker, the 54-hole leader at a major championship, walked with a gallery that was a quarter the size of the one following Day for most of the afternoon.

The crowd at Baltusrol was waiting for the world's No. 1 player to rally up the leaderboard, but Day failed to give them the charge they craved. Day shot an even-par 34 on the front nine, and Walker never heard the roars that could have unnerved him early.

After two days of dreary, rainy conditions, the skies opened up briefly as the final groups made the turn, and a re-energized Day showed signs of life. He birdied the ninth to get back to even par and move one back of Walker. He birdied the 11th and murmurs began creeping up to Walker as he pushed into a tie at the top, but Walker was not fazed.

The eventual champion holed out a bunker shot for birdie on 10 to answer Day and stay one ahead. Then he doubled up on the birdie count on the 11th to pull two shots ahead, a gap Day could never close.

Walker outlasted a stacked leaderboard, led by the world's No. 1 player, and never blinked.

Draymond Green's Sunday Snapchat story took a turn for the worse when he posted a picture of his manhood to the popular social media platform. Amazingly, the photo remained on Green's account for a fair amount of time before he took it down.

Green's reason for posting the picture? He was hacked.

Saying you were hacked after posting something inflammatory or inappropriate has become commonplace these days, which is why many people had a hard time believing Green.

Perhaps knowing that saying he got hacked would not truly hold up, Green admitted to reporters on Sunday that he simply pushed the wrong button.