Local Sports

Maroons Topple Indians

In a game heard on WHOW, the Clinton Maroons defeated the Pawnee Indians by a score of 54-6 on Friday night. The Maroons were led by Kolby Winter who had 201 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. Ty Petty, Garrett Wayne, and Clayton Welch each contributed one touchdown.

 

With the win, Clinton improves to 2-0 on the season.

 

Tune in Friday, September 7, as the Maroons take on Shelbyville at home. You can hear the game live on the Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM/106.5 FM WHOW, online at dewittdailynews.com, and on the WHOW app. Game time is set for 7pm with pregame beginning shortly before.

Cubs past Braves 5-4

Tommy La Stella hit the first pinch-hit homer of his career against his former team, carrying the Chicago Cubs to a 5-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves in a matchup of NL division leaders Thursday night.
 
Chicago stopped off at SunTrust Park for a single game before the start of a regularly scheduled 10-game road trip, making up a contest that was washed out May 17.
 
La Stella, who got his start with the Braves organization, made it a fruitful layover. After Atlanta went ahead with a three-run fifth, the infielder launched a two-run shot off Mike Foltynewicz that nearly reached the Chop House restaurant above the right-field seats .
 
It was also La Stella's first homer of the season.
 
Freddie Freeman had three RBIs for the Braves.
 
Foltynewicz (10-9) was roughed up after an otherwise dominating August in which he went 3-1 with a 1.38 ERA over his first five starts. The right-hander surrendered six hits and five runs (four earned) over six innings.
 
Mike Montgomery came off the disabled list to make his first start for the Cubs since Aug. 7. He allowed four runs on eight hits in 4 2-3 innings.
 
Brandon Kintzler (2-3) claimed the win by getting the final out of the fifth. Pedro Strop worked the ninth for his 11th save.
 
The Cubs jumped ahead with two runs in the second, taking advantage of Foltynewicz's balk and an error by shortstop Ozzie Albies, who unleashed a bad throw trying to get Jason Heyward at the plate. Chicago increased the lead to 3-0 on Willson Contreras' run-scoring double in the third.
 
Atlanta broke through in the fourth, scoring a run after Montgomery retired the first two hitters. Ronald Acuna Jr. singled, Johan Camargo was hit by a pitch and Freeman singled to right.
 
Those three were in the middle of things again in the fifth as the Braves surged ahead. Acuna and Camargo started the inning with singles, before Freeman drove one the opposite way to left center. Heyward stretched out but failed to get a glove on the ball, which rolled all the way to the wall for a two-run triple .
 
Making matters worse for Chicago, Heyward had leave the game because of tightness in his right hamstring. He was able to walk slowly off the field, getting a hug from former teammate Freeman on his way to the Cubs dugout.
 
Kurt Suzuki put the Braves for the first time, driving home Freeman with a sacrifice fly.
 
The lead didn't last long.

Red Sox rally past White Sox 9-4

Even when they are down, the Boston Red Sox are one confident bunch.
 
Jackie Bradley Jr. and company always think they have plenty of time.
 
Bradley hit a sacrifice fly in Boston's four-run seventh inning and a tiebreaking single in the ninth, helping the Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox 9-4 on Thursday night.
 
Boston (93-42) earned its third straight win and increased its AL East advantage to 8 1/2 games over the New York Yankees, who blew a late lead in an 8-7 loss to Detroit. The Red Sox trailed late in the game each of the last three days - and won each time.
 
Ian Kinsler sparked the winning rally against Chicago with a one-out single off Thyago Vieira (1-1) for the last of his three hits. Blake Swihart then walked before Bradley drove in Kinsler with a liner into right field.
 
The big league-best Red Sox poured it on from there. Andrew Benintendi added another RBI single and J.D. Martinez hit a three-run drive for his 39th homer, making it 9-4 and sending much of the crowd of 18,015 to the exits.
 
Mookie Betts also homered for Boston, and Ryan Brasier (1-0) pitched a perfect eighth for his first win in his 28th major league appearance.
 
Chicago (53-81) wasted a terrific start by Lucas Giolito, who struck out eight while pitching 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball. Avisail Garcia homered and drove in three runs, and Yolmer Sanchez collected three hits in the opener of a 10-game homestand.
 
The White Sox had won five of six, including two of three in their previous series against the Yankees. But they were unable to put away the powerful Red Sox, who scored 11 times in the seventh inning of a 14-6 victory against Miami on Wednesday night.
 
Chicago got off to a fast start behind Garcia, who is batting just .159 (17 for 107) with 37 strikeouts in 28 games in August. Garcia hit a two-run drive to center in the first and a sacrifice fly in the second, helping the White Sox build a 4-0 lead against Rick Porcello.
 
Giolito threw a career-high 113 pitches before he was pulled after Brock Holt walked in the seventh. The 6-foot-6 right-hander got a big ovation as he made his way to the dugout, but the cheers quickly faded as the Red Sox pounced on Jeanmar Gomez.
 
Kinsler and Swihart greeted Gomez with consecutive singles, driving in Holt for Boston's first run. Bradley then hit a sacrifice fly before Betts connected for his 29th homer, tying it at 4 with a towering drive just over the wall in left.

Bears fall to Bills 28-27

AJ McCarron made a shaky case for a roster spot, leading a surge in the fourth quarter after struggling for most of the game, and the Buffalo Bills closed the preseason with a 28-27 victory over the Chicago Bears on Thursday night.
 
With both teams holding out their starters and few key reserves playing, the focus was on McCarron.
 
He ran for a touchdown and threw for three more in the fourth - including a 6-yarder to Keith Towbridge in the closing minute. That capped an 84-yard drive that was aided by two roughing-the-passer calls, including one against Isaiah Irving on a fourth down at the Buffalo 3.
 
McCarron was 13 of 34 for 156 yards and had an interception returned for a touchdown in the early going. He could be the odd man out if the Bills decide to go with two quarterbacks rather than three.
 
Tyler Bray made a case for the Bears to keep three quarterbacks. With Mitchell Trubisky and backup Chase Daniel not playing, Bray was 19 of 29 for 180 yards and an interception. Ryan Nall ran for 79 yards, including a 32-yard touchdown.
 
Signed to a two-year deal in free agency after spending the past four seasons as Andy Dalton's backup in Cincinnati, McCarron was considered the initial front-runner for the Bills' starting job because he had more experience than first-round pick Josh Allen and returning backup Nathan Peterman.
 
But he missed a little over a week after he bruised his right shoulder while being hit several times at Cleveland on Aug. 17. That injury along with his performance seemed to knock him out of the running for the starting job. It also raised questions about whether he will make the opening roster.
 
McCarron got off to a brutal start, throwing for just 39 yards and getting picked off twice in the first half.
 
His troubles really began after Cody Parkey kicked a 47-yard field goal on Chicago's first possession.
 
Moments later, McCarron threw a pass right to the Bears' Doran Grant along the sideline, resulting in a 33-yard touchdown return. And just like that, it was 10-0.
 
Parkey added a 23-yard field goal midway through the second quarter. Nall made it 20-0 with just under two minutes left in the half with his 32-yard TD run up the right sideline, though the Bears missed another opportunity in the closing seconds after McCarron got picked off again.
 
Chicago's Abdullah Anderson tipped a pass at the line, leading to an interception for John Timu. But Parkey's 39-yard attempt hit the right upright.

The Central Illinois Confrence

Clinton vs. Pawnee 7:00 PM at Pawnee
 
Newton vs. Sullivan 7:00 PM at Sullivan High School
 
Arcola vs. Tuscola 7:00 PM at Tuscola High School
 
Warrensburg-Latham vs. Decatur Lutheran at 7:00 PM
 
Central A&M vs. Nokomis at Nokomis 7:00 PM
 
Macon Meridian vs. Argenta-Oreana at Argenta Oreana 7:00 PM
 
Shelbyville vs. Cerro Gordo/Bement 7:00 PM at Bement High School
 
Decatur St. Teresa vs. Midland at Midland 7:00 PM

Mets pound Cubs 10-3

Todd Frazier hit a grand slam and drove in a season-high five runs to lead the New York Mets to a 10-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday and avenge a tough loss earlier in the day.

Frazier gave New York a 4-0 lead in the first inning with his drive against Alec Mills and added an RBI single in a two-run ninth.

Jason Vargas (5-8) won his third straight start. The Mets pounded out 16 hits and avoided a season sweep after dropping the first six games against the NL Central leaders.

The Cubs had won a season-high seven in a row after pulling out a 2-1 victory earlier Wednesday on Ben Zobrist's RBI single with the bases loaded in the 11th. That game was suspended in the top of the 10th because of rain the previous night.

Vargas gave up one run and four hits in 5 1/3 innings, striking out six and walking two. The veteran left-hander has a 1.62 ERA in his past three outings.

Mills (0-1) scattered five hits over five innings in his second major league start and did not allow a run after Frazier's grand slam.

He walked Michael Conforto with two outs in the first to load the bases. Frazier then launched a 2-0 pitch toward the back of the left-field bleachers - his fourth career grand slam and first since he hit one for the White Sox at Texas on May 9, 2016.

Ian Happ hit an RBI single for Chicago in the second, but the Mets scored four in the seventh to make it 8-1. Victor Caratini hit a two-run homer for Chicago in the ninth.

In the suspended game, Zobrist grounded the winning single up the middle off Daniel Zamora with one out in the 11th after Chicago loaded the bases against Paul Sewald (0-5).

Cole Hamels threw five scoreless innings. Jesse Chavez (5-2) got the win with a scoreless 11th, and Anthony Rizzo matched a career high with four hits.

New York's Jacob deGrom went eight innings, allowing one run and eight hits. He struck out 10 and walked one while lowering his ERA to 1.68. He also had two hits, including an RBI single to the shortstop in the sixth.

Pirates win over Cubs 2-0

Trevor Williams figured he might be in for a long night.

The Pittsburgh Pirates' right-hander surrendered a walk and a double to the first two St. Louis hitters he faced Wednesday.

The hottest pitcher in the National League had no reason to worry.

Williams bounced back from the rough beginning to record six strong innings, Starling Marte had an RBI single in the sixth, and the Pirates beat the Cardinals  2-0.

Williams (11-9) gave up three hits while striking out a career-high eight- all swinging.

Williams has allowed just four earned runs over his last eight starts and improved to 5-2 with an 0.75 ERA during that stretch. He has a major-league best eight starts of at least five innings without allowing a run.

Williams got out of the early jam with two strikeouts and a nifty over-the-shoulder catch by second baseman Adam Frazier.

Marte lifted a bloop single to left field off Miles Mikolas (13-4) to bring in Jordy Mercer with the first run. Gregory Polanco followed with a run-scoring single to help Pittsburgh win for just the second time in eight games.

Edgar Santana and Keone Kela each pitched an inning, and Felipe Vazquez got the last three outs to complete the five-hitter and get his 28th save in 32 chances.

Polanco, Frazier, and Corey Dickerson had two hits each for the Pirates.

The Cardinals, who dropped to 16-4 in their last 20, are now 4 1/2 games behind first-place Chicago in the NL Central. They hold the first wild card spot and have a half-game lead over Milwaukee.

St. Louis fell to 27-13 under manager Mike Shildt, who took over for Mike Matheny on July 15. Shildt was rewarded with a two-year contract on Tuesday.

Mikolas gave up two runs and eight hits over five innings. He struck out five and walked one.

The Pirates are 12-19 after winning 11 straight from July 11-24.

St. Louis infielder Matt Carpenter left the game in the fourth inning with a stomach ailment.

White Sox win 4-1

Ryan LaMarre homered and drove in a career-best four runs, Reynaldo Lopez stifled the Yankees again despite diminished velocity and the Chicago White Sox beat New York 4-1 Wednesday night.

LaMarre hit a pair of run-scoring doubles off starter CC Sabathia (7-5), then lifted a leadoff shot against Chad Green in the seventh. The 29-year-old had one previous homer this season and one all of last season between Triple-A and the majors.

Chicago has won five of six and 11 of 15. The rebuilding White Sox took two of three for their first series victory in the Bronx since 2005.

New York is 9-3 in its past 12 but fell 7 1/2 games behind AL East-leading Boston for the best record in the majors. The Red Sox beat the Marlins 14-6.

Jace Fry struck out Gleyber Torres and pinch-hitter Luke Voit with a runner on for his fourth save.

Sabathia struggled through a 32-pitch second inning that included LaMarre's two-run double and an 11-pitch walk to Yolmer Sanchez. LaMarre added his career-best third RBI on a double in the fourth to make it 3-0.

Ronald Torreyes hit a bases-loaded single for New York to make it 3-1 in the fifth, but then Brett Gardner struck out and Torres was thrown out at home on a wild pitch to end the inning. Torres took off after Lopez's pitch skipped past catcher Kevan Smith, but Smith fetched the ball at the backstop and whipped a throw to Lopez for the tag.

Lopez (5-9) allowed a run over seven innings despite lacking his best stuff. Lopez averages 95.5 mph on his fastball but sat at 90-91 in the first inning and only picked it up slightly from there. He was visited by a trainer in the second inning but remained in the game. He allowed five hits, struck out six and walked two.

Lopez also pitched one-run ball over seven innings against New York on Aug. 7.

Chicago starters have a 2.11 ERA over the past six games.

Sabathia allowed three runs over six innings in his second start since returning from the disabled list.

Cardinals beat Pirates 5-2

The month of August has been great for rookie pitcher Jack Flaherty and the St. Louis Cardinals.
 
Flaherty allowed just one run in seventh innings and Jose Martinez and Tyler O'Neill homered and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-2 Tuesday night in Mike Shildt's first game since being promoted to full-time manager.
 
Flaherty (8-6) retired his first 12 batters and gave up one run and four hits with no walks. He is 4-0 with a 1.13 ERA in five August starts. Flaherty has allowed only 14 hits and three runs in 32 innings, walking nine and striking out 38 batters in those starts.
 
A meeting two weeks ago with Cardinals legend Bob Gibson inspired Flaherty.
 
Flaherty improved to 3-1 against the Pirates.
 
The Cardinals have won six of seven and are 20-5 in August. Earlier in the day, St. Louis took off the interim tag on Shildt, who was put in charge after Mike Matheny was fired last month a day before the All-Star break.
 
St. Louis is 27-12 under Shildt. He was rewarded with a contract through 2020 after guiding the Cards back into playoff contention.
 
The Pirates have lost eight of 10.
 
Bud Norris pitched the ninth for his 28th save in 32 opportunities.
 
Martinez hit a two-run homer in the first off Ivan Nova (7-9). Martinez connected for his 16th homer after Matt Carpenter reached base on an infield single.
 
O'Neill hit a 436-foot homer into the left field bleachers in the fourth inning for a 4-0 lead. Martinez singled ahead of O'Neil's drive.
 
Josh Bell scored both runs for the Pirates. He doubled in the fifth and Colin Moran hit an RBI single.
 
Bell drew a leadoff walk from reliever Jordan Hicks in the eighth, took third on a bloop single by Moran and scored on a double play.
 
Paul DeJong was hit by a pitch to start the St. Louis eighth and an apparent two-run homer by Jedd Gyorko was overturned in a crew chief review. Gyorko was given a double and he was pulled because of discomfort in his left groin. Greg Garcia's single made it 5-2.
 
Gyorko said he hurt himself leaving the batter's box. He said it's ''tightness'' and he will be looked at Wednesday.

Mets-Cubs game suspended

The game between the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets was suspended with the score tied at 1 in the top of the 10th inning Tuesday night following a rain delay of 53 minutes.
 
The game will resume Wednesday at noon. The finale of the three-game series, scheduled for 1:20 p.m., will begin approximately 45 minutes after the conclusion of the suspended game.
 
Tuesday's showdown featured the marquee matchup of Jacob deGrom and Cole Hamels - the ERA leader in the majors versus one of the hottest pitchers in the league - and didn't disappoint.
 
DeGrom settled for a no-decision despite throwing eight strong innings. He allowed a run and eight hits, struck out 10 and walked one, lowering his ERA to 1.68.
 
After going the distance in his last start for Chicago's only complete game of the season, Hamels was lifted for a pinch hitter after five scoreless innings and 93 pitches. He allowed four hits, struck out eight and walked three while lowing his ERA to 0.69 in six starts since being traded from Texas to the Cubs in late July.
 
Brandon Kintzler took over in the sixth and immediately found trouble. Todd Frazier led off with a single and Jay Bruce followed with a walk. After Kevin Plawecki grounded out to third to advance both runners, lefty Jorge De La Rosa came on and got Brandon Nimmo to pop out to shortstop.
 
DeGrom then hit a sharp grounder to the left side. Baez fielded the ball on the outfield grass, but had no play, allowing Frazier to score and give New York a 1-0 lead.
 
The Mets had a chance to stretch the lead in the seventh when Jeff McNeil led off with a triple off the right-field wall. The ball might have been a homer earlier in the game, before the wind shifted prior to the sixth.
 
With the infield playing in, De La Rosa got Austin Jackson to line out to short, Michael Conforto to line out to first and then struck out Jay Bruce - following an intentional walk to Frazier - to end the threat.
 
Kyle Schwarber led off with a single in the bottom of the inning. Albert Almora Jr. tried to sacrifice him to second, but bunted the ball right to deGrom, who fired to second for the force out. Pinch-hitter Ben Zobrist then hit a sharp grounder that went under the glove of Bruce at first base and rolled into right, putting runners on the corners with one out.
 
David Bote followed with a sacrifice fly to center that tied it.

Yanks rally past White Sox 5-4

Pinch-hitter Neil Walker connected for a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning, and the New York Yankees rallied from a four-run deficit to defeat the Chicago White Sox 5-4 on Tuesday night.
 
Aaron Hicks hit a tying homer in the eighth and rookie Miguel Andujar also had a two-run shot to help the injury-depleted Yankees win for the ninth time in 11 games. With the second-best record in the majors, they began the night 6½ games behind first-place Boston in the AL East.
 
Walker batted for Ronald Torreyes with one out and launched the first pitch he saw from Dylan Covey (4-12) way over the right-center wall for his ninth home run of the season. As he neared home plate, Walker tossed his helmet high in the air and was swarmed by teammates.
 
With the Yankees down by two, Giancarlo Stanton singled leading off the eighth to snap an 0-for-14 slump. Hicks drove a full-count pitch from Juan Minaya to right and shouted excitedly in the direction of the Yankees' dugout as he trotted toward first.
 
Dellin Betances (4-3) struck out two in a perfect ninth.
 
New York was blanked on one hit by James Shields over the first five innings. Brett Gardner began the comeback with a leadoff triple in the sixth, and Andujar connected for his 22nd homer two outs later.
 
After a single and a walk ended Shields' night, Jace Fry retired slumping Greg Bird on a liner to deep right.
 
Bird also lined into a double play and flied out to deep right. With the score tied in the eighth and a runner on second, he popped out on a 3-1 pitch. White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson tripped over oncoming left fielder Nicky Delmonico but held onto the ball for the final out of the inning.
 
Anderson exited with a bruised left ankle. He was replaced in the ninth by Jose Rondon.
 
Making his 400th career start, the 36-year-old Shields threw 98 pitches on a 96-degree night. He hasn't won on the road since opening day at Kansas City.
 
Shields left leading 4-2 but remained 5-15 overall, tied with Baltimore right-hander Alex Cobb for the most losses in the majors.
 
Showing signs of improvement, the rebuilding White Sox had won four straight and 10 of 13.
 
Chicago chased Yankees starter Lance Lynn with consecutive two-out singles in the sixth. Yolmer Sanchez greeted Jonathan Holder with an RBI single, and Delmonico made it 4-0 when he plopped a two-run single into left field.
 
Delmonico scored easily from first base in the fifth when Gardner bobbled Avisail Garcia's RBI double in left field.

Bears Coach Matt Nagy feels good about Leonard Floyd

Third-year Chicago Bears pass-rusher Leonard Floyd is dealing with a broken hand, but the team expects him to be ready for the start of the regular season. At least, that's how new head coach Matt Nagy feels about it right now. 
 
Nagy noted that other players in the past have played with clubs but have nevertheless experienced success on the field. 
 
Floyd suffered the injury during the team's preseason game against the Denver Broncos a couple weeks ago. He had surgery to repair the injury, but Nagy said he expects that Floyd will return to practice during the week leading up to the team's season opener against the Packers. "It's not tomorrow, it's not the next day," he said, per the team's official website. "It's still a few days, probably closer to the true Packers week." 
 
As our Sean Wagner-McGough wrote on Tuesday morning, the team needs Floyd to show up in a big way this season -- and he has the potential to provide a serious boost to the Bears' pass rush. 
 
In 2016, as he struggled to put on weight, he flashed serious potential, finishing with seven sacks and as Pro Football Focus' 11th-most productive pass rusher among 3-4 outside linebackers. But injuries (including a scary neck injury and a scary concussion) limited him to 12 games. In 2017, Floyd tallied only 4.5 sacks in a 10-game season cut short by a knee injury. Before going down, he was the 10th-most productive pass rusher among all 3-4 outside linebackers, per PFF. 
 
It might be somewhat difficult for Floyd to access his full array of moves early in the season given the club he'll be wearing on his hand, but his speed around the edge should still be there. That'll benefit the Bears as they attempt to take a step forward this season, and once he gets fully healthy, Floyd should be able to get back to being the player the team envisions him being, which will help even more.

Cardinals Come Home To Play Pirates

One might think that the St. Louis Cardinals are due for a fall after nine consecutive series wins.
 
Don't run that theory by first baseman and MVP candidate Matt Carpenter.
 
Carpenter and St. Louis will get a chance to test that theory tonight when they welcome the Pittsburgh Pirates for the opener of a three-game series in Busch Stadium.
 
The Cardinals (72-58) own the National League's first wild-card spot and sit four games behind the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central. They also have a home-heavy schedule in the season's last five weeks, playing 19 of their final 31 games in front of friendly fans. They have just one road trip longer than three games for the year's remainder.
 
For a team that is 11-4 at home under interim manager Mike Shildt, the chance to spend most of the year's remainder in familiar surroundings has to be an advantage. Then again, St. Louis fans were last heard turning Coors Field into Busch Stadium West in the last few innings on Sunday, even chanting "MVP" as Carpenter did a postgame interview on FS Midwest.
 
Watching Jack Flaherty (7-6, 2.97 ERA) pitch has been a neat experience at times. The rookie right-hander, who takes the mound for the series opener, has received the endorsement of none other than Hall of Famer Bob Gibson, who probably likes how Flaherty works inside with purpose.
 
Flaherty had everything going for him in his last start Wednesday night at the Los Angeles Dodgers, although he settled for a no-decision in a 3-1 Cardinals win. Flaherty took a no-hitter into the sixth inning for the third time this year before a Joc Pederson homer knee-capped that bid.
 
In Flaherty's last four starts, including a 2-1 win on Aug. 5 at Pittsburgh, he was allowed just 10 hits and two runs in 25 innings, walking nine and whiffing 33. He has faced the Pirates four times this year, going 2-1 with a no-decision.
 
Opposing him will be veteran right-hander Ivan Nova (7-8, 4.20), who has pitched well in his last three starts but is just 1-2 despite giving up no more than two runs in each game. Nova permitted only four hits and two runs in six innings Wednesday night against Atlanta at PNC Park but suffered a 6-1 defeat.
 
The former New York Yankees pitcher's last appearance against St. Louis resulted in an 8-4 loss on Aug. 4, when he gave up eight hits and four runs in four innings, walking three and fanning three.
 
Pittsburgh (64-67) has lost seven of 10 to fall out of contention in the division and wild-card races.
 

White Sox keep rolling with 6-2 win over Yanks

Carlos Rodon pitched two-hit ball over seven innings, Yoan Moncada doubled in two and the surging Chicago White Sox beat the New York Yankees 6-2 on Monday night for their fourth straight win.
 
Rodon (6-3) allowed a two-run shot to Gleyber Torres but was strong otherwise, and Chicago's bullpen closed out a three-hitter. The White Sox have won 10 of 13 and clinched their first winning month of the season by improving to 15-10 in August.
 
Rodon is 5-0 with a 1.84 ERA in his past nine starts. The 25-year-old left-hander hasn't lost since June 30.
 
New York (83-48) missed an opportunity to gain ground on the idle Red Sox, falling 6 1/2 games back of the AL East leaders.
 
Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka (9-5) dodged trouble early, including a no-out, bases-loaded jam in the fourth. Tanaka fanned Matt Davidson on three pitches and got Omar Narvaez to chase a two-strike slider. Moncada hit a sharp grounder that deflected off the mound and part of Tanaka's glove right to the shortstop, Torres, who threw to first to end the threat.
 
Chicago broke through in the sixth on a mix of luck and timely hitting. With one out, Palka tapped a broken-bat dribbler up the third base line for a single. After a walk to Davidson, Narvaez made contact on a check swing that rolled less than halfway toward third for another infield hit.
 
Moncada then grounded a two-run double into right-center field to tie it at 2. Nicky Delmonico followed with a sacrifice fly, scoring Narvaez for a 3-2 advantage.
 
Yolmer Sanchez led off the seventh with a single to left that was misplayed by Shane Robinson, letting Sanchez advance to second. Tim Anderson then doubled, scoring Sanchez and adding to Chicago's lead.
 
Tanaka allowed four runs and matched a career high with ten hits over seven innings.
 
Anderson brought home Adam Engel in the ninth on an error by first baseman Luke Voit and later scored on a wild pitch.
 
Torres broke a scoreless tie in the fourth by crushing an 0-1 changeup an estimated 444 feet over the center field wall into Monument Park, scoring Miguel Andujar with his 20th home run.
 
Andujar and Torres are the first pair of rookies in Yankees history to reach that mark.
 
Up next for the White Sox: RHP James Shields (5-15, 4.59 ERA) has not won on the road since opening day at Kansas City, sporting a 6.13 ERA away from home during that span. The 13-year veteran is tied with Baltimore's Alex Cobb for most losses in the majors.

Lester helps Cubs beat Mets 7-4

Jon Lester pitched six innings, drove in two runs with a timely single off Noah Syndergaard and made two nice plays in the field, helping the Chicago Cubs beat the New York Mets 7-4 on Monday night for their sixth consecutive victory.
 
Anthony Rizzo homered and Daniel Murphy reached three more times from the leadoff spot as NL-leading Chicago moved a season-high 24 games over .500 by improving to 5-0 against New York this year. Murphy, who began his career with the Mets, is batting .407 (11 for 27) in six games since he was acquired in a trade with Washington.
 
Lester was in line for his 15th win before Kevin Plawecki hit a solo homer off Steve Cishek (4-1) in the seventh, tying it at 4 on a warm and windy night at Wrigley Field. But the Cubs went ahead to stay with two runs in the bottom half, including Ben Zobrist's tiebreaking double off Jerry Blevins (1-2).
 
New York loaded the bases in the ninth before Jesse Chavez struck out Amed Rosario and Austin Jackson for his third save of the season, helping the Cubs (77-53) increase their NL Central lead to 4 1/2 games over idle St. Louis.
 
Michael Conforto also homered for New York, which had won four of six. Syndergaard allowed four runs and nine hits, struck out six and walked three in six innings.
 
Lester was hit hard early on, including Conforto's massive leadoff drive in the second - a projected 472 feet to the bleachers above the batter's eye in center field. Rosario then made it 3-1 with a two-out RBI single, but the Mets lost out on a chance for more when Wilmer Flores popped up with the bases loaded.
 
The Cubs responded with three runs in the third, capped by Lester's big hit. Syndergaard issued an intentional walk to Kyle Schwarber with two outs, loading the bases, but Lester wrecked the Mets' strategy by dumping a two-run single into left-center.
 
Lester also helped himself in the field. The left-hander, who has had trouble throwing to bases, picked off Rosario after he reached on third baseman David Bote's error in the fifth. He also speared Jose Reyes' line drive for the final out of his outing.
 
Up next for the Cubs,  Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom (8-8, 1.71 ERA) and Cubs left-hander Cole Hamels (9-9, 3.82 ERA) square off tonight in a matchup between two of baseball's hottest pitchers. DeGrom, one of the leading contenders for the NL Cy Young Award, has a 1.26 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 35 2/3 innings over five August starts. Hamels is 4-0 with a sparkling 0.79 ERA in five starts since he was acquired in a July 27 trade with Texas.

Cardinals beat Rockies 12-3

Matt Carpenter led off the game with a double to right.
 
It was the start of a double feature - a big day for him and another big series win for the Cardinals.
 
Carpenter tied a St. Louis record with four doubles, pitcher Austin Gomber had a two-run infield single in a six-run first inning and the Cardinals routed the Colorado Rockies 12-3 on Sunday.
 
Carpenter matched a franchise mark that Joe ''Ducky'' Medwick set on Aug. 4, 1937, against the Boston Bees (now Braves). Carpenter doubled twice in the first, had another in the third and lined his fourth in the seventh on a day when St. Louis pounded out 16 hits. The first baseman wound up 4 for 5 with two RBIs.
 
The Cardinals took two of three from the Rockies in a series between NL playoff contenders. It was the ninth straight series St. Louis has captured.
 
The score was 6-0 before many of the fans even had time to settle into their seats. The Cardinals sent 11 batters to the plate in a wild first and had seven hits off Tyler Anderson, including a two-run homer by Tyler O'Neill. Anderson later intentionally walked Yairo Munoz to get to Gomber, who bounced a high hopper for an infield hit. A hustling Harrison Bader scored from second.
 
The runs in the first were scored with two outs.
 
Wearing ''Big G'' on the back of his uniform as part of Players' Weekend, Gomber (4-0) threw six efficient innings and allowed two runs, one earned, to become the first left-handed Cardinals starter to win at Coors Field since Kent Mercker on July 24, 1999.
 
Despite St. Louis leading 10-2 after three innings, the crowd predominantly stayed around. This provided a big incentive: A screening of ''The Sandlot'' at the ballpark following the game.
 
Anderson (6-7) was booed as he walked off the mound after allowing six runs and getting just two outs. He was replaced by Chad Bettis.
 
The left-hander has been tinkering with a new release point to better utilize his 6-foot-3 frame. He hasn't won since July 4, and has a 15.09 ERA over his last three outings.
 
Up next for the Cardiansl, RHP Jack Flaherty (7-6, 2.97 ERA) takes the mound Tuesday when the Cardinals open a three-game series against Pittsburgh. Flaherty needs six strikeouts to reach 150 and tie Paul Dean (1934) for sixth-most in a season for a rookie in Cardinals history.

Bears win over Chiefs 27-20

Bears coach Matt Nagy decided to rest his starters for the next-to-last preseason game rather than use it as the customary regular-season tuneup.
 
And the backups proved that they're also ready for the regular season. Backup quarterback Chase Daniel directed touchdown drives on the first three possessions and the Bears defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 27-20 on Saturday.
 
The Bears played in the Hall of Fame Game and have been practicing since July 20, and Nagy liked what he'd seen in practices.
 
So he decided Friday to keep starters out of what normally would be a dress rehearsal for the regular-season opener at Green Bay on Sept. 9.
 
Daniel replaced Mitchell Trubisky against the Chiefs, the team Nagy last year served as offensive coordinator. Nagy didn't think Trubisky, who is in his second year as a starter, would have benefited greatly after about 2,000 preseason and training camp snaps.
 
Playing against Chiefs defensive starters and then the backups, Daniel led the Bears to a 24-10 halftime lead.
 
Daniel, a Chiefs backup quarterback from 2013-15, finished 15 of 18 for 198 yards and two touchdowns. The first two Bears touchdown drives came against Kansas City's starting defense, minus injured safety Eric Berry and four other injured players.
 
Wide-open receiver Kevin White caught Daniel's 29-yard TD pass in the first quarter to break a 7-7 tie, and Daniel then found Javon Wims for a 7-yard TD pass in the back corner of the end zone and a 21-10 lead.
 
Benny Cunningham ran in from 13 yards for Chicago's first TD and Cody Parkey added a 48-yard field goal just before halftime.
 
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes II and the starting offense played into the third quarter against the backup Bears defense, and showed inconsistency.
 
Mahomes flipped a short pass to the right side and Kareem Hunt turned it into a 19-yard TD for a 7-7 tie. Then he led a 49-yard drive ending in Harrison Butker's second-quarter 47-yard field goal.
 
Mahomes didn't produce a big play on Saturday, and finished 18 of 24 for 196 yards. He left the game with the Chiefs down 24-10 in the third quarter.
 
The Chiefs had eight penalties for 85 yards and a third-quarter drive ended at the Chicago 5-yard line.

White Sox beat Tigers 7-2

Michael Kopech pitched six impressive innings for his first major league win and the Chicago White Sox scored four runs in the third on their way to a 7-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Sunday.
 
Kopech (1-0) allowed a run and seven hits in his second career start. The highly touted right-hander was limited to two scoreless innings when it rained in his debut Tuesday against Minnesota. He threw 86 pitches Sunday, finishing with four strikeouts and no walks.
 
Daniel Palka homered for Chicago, and Ronny Rodriguez went deep for Detroit.
 
Jace Fry came on in the ninth for the White Sox with the bases loaded and one out, and he retired the final two batters for his third save.
 
Jordan Zimmermann (6-6) allowed five runs and eight hits in six innings for the Tigers, who retired Alan Trammell's No. 3 in a pregame ceremony that delayed the start of the game for almost a half-hour.
 
Kopech's first few days in the majors included an apology from the rookie after racist and homophobic tweets of his surfaced from 2013. He told the Chicago Sun-Times on Thursday that things he said were "immature and inappropriate."
 
Kopech took the mound Sunday and shut out the Tigers for the first five innings. He hit two batters in the fourth but retired Rodriguez on a fly to center with the bases loaded to end the threat.
 
Zimmermann yielded two straight singles to start the third. He nearly got out of the inning after Yolmer Sanchez lined into a double play, but Tim Anderson followed with a double and Avisail Garcia hit a two-run single.
 
Palka then lined a two-run shot just fair down the line in right to make it 4-0. It was his 19th homer of the year.
 
Yoan Moncada hit an RBI triple in the sixth before the Tigers finally scored in the bottom of the inning. Victor Martinez hit an RBI double, and Rodriguez again came up with the bases loaded, this time with one out. The count went to 3-0 before Rodriguez took a strike and hit the next pitch on the ground for a double play.
 
Rodriguez did hit a solo homer in the ninth.
 
The White Sox have won nine of their last 12.
 
Chicago will begin a three-game series against the Yankees in New York later on tonight. Carlos Rodon (5-3) starts for the White Sox against Masahiro Tanaka (9-4).

Cubs win 9-0 to complete sweep

Kyle Hendricks allowed two hits in seven innings, David Bote and Kyle Schwarber homered and the Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 9-0 on Sunday to complete a four-game sweep.
 
Jason Heyward went 4 for 4 with a triple and drove in two runs for the NL Central-leading Cubs. Bote added two hits and three RBIs.
 
Hendricks (10-10) struck out five and walked one. He has given up two runs in his last 14 innings.
 
Tucker Barnhart had two hits for the last-place Reds, who have dropped five straight and been shut out nine times.
 
The Cubs have homered in a season-high 11 straight games and won five straight.
 
Hendricks was lifted for a pinch-hitter after throwing 98 pitches. Randy Rosario worked the final two innings to complete the three-hitter.
 
A balk by Robert Stephenson scored Anthony Rizzo in the seventh inning before Schwarber smacked a two-run home run to right field, his 24th of the season.
 
Bote hit a two-run homer over the left-field bleachers for a 5-0 lead in the third inning. Five of his six home runs this season have given the Cubs the lead or tied a game. Bote's previous homer was a walk-off against the Reds in the 10th inning on Friday.
 
The Cubs scored three unearned runs in the first. Daniel Murphy hit an infield single, was safe at second a throwing error and scored on Willson Contreras' groundout. Heyward tripled to bring in another run when center fielder Billy Hamilton fell trying to catch his line drive. Heyward then scored on Bote's single.
 
Heyward's single drove in another run in the fifth inning. He was 0 for 14 in his previous three games.
 
Homer Bailey (1-12) allowed six runs - three earned - and eight hits in five innings to remain winless since May 12. The Reds have lost 17 of his 18 starts.
 
Up next for the Cubs LHP Jon Lester (14-5, 3.64) is scheduled to start against the visiting Mets and RHP Noah Syndergaard (9-3, 3.38) to open a three-game series tonight. 

Week 1 Area Football Scores

Central Illinois Conference:

 

St. Teresa 27, Tri-Valley 14, F

Meridian 13, Decatur Lutheran 22, F

Central A&M 33, Westville 0, F

Shelbyville 38, Pawnee 20, F

Sullivan-Okaw Valley 13, Nokomis 22, F

Warrensburg-Latham 20, Cerro Gordo-Bement 15, F

 

Illini Prairie:

 

Monticello 51, Olympia 0, F

Champaign St. Thomas More 9, St. Joseph-Ogden 30, F

Chillicothe 34, Tolono Unity 13, F

Bloomington Central Catholic 14, Pontiac 35, F

 

Heart of Illinois:

 

Hoopeston 12, Fisher 52, F

El Paso-Gridley 28, Heyworth 0, F

Eureka 19, LeRoy 14, F

Deer Creek-Mackinaw 14, Tremont 13, F

Paxton-Buckley-Loda 0, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley 28, F

 

Big 12:

 

Peoria 48, Champaign Centennial 14, F

Normal Community 43, Peoria Richwoods 7, F

Normal Community West 44, Peoria Notre Dame 13, F

 

Central State Eight:

 

Decatur Eisenhower 6, Jacksonville 14, F

Danville 12, Bloomington 21, F

Springfield 6, Decatur MacArthur 8, F

Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin 42, Normal University 0, F

 

Apollo:

Lincoln 20, Macomb 13, F

Mt. Zion 12, Limestone 6, F

Washington 52, Mahomet-Seymour 7, F

 

Sangamo:

 

Maroa Forsyth 35, Virden North Mac 6, F

 

Little Okaw:

 

Oakland 16, Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond 7, F

Monticello flys past Olympia 51-0

First Friday night lights was yesterday and many of the high school teams had great starts, Monticello being one of those teams. The Monticello Sages played against the Olympia Spartans in their first season game.
 
The 1st quarter started off slow for both teams as Monticello and Olympia would throw for a couple of incompletions. Monticello's Asher Bradd would pick off Spartan's quarterback Jackson Castleman return it for a touchdown. A helmet to helmet contact would be called on Monticello bringing the touchdown back. Monticello would then put the first points up on the board with a pass from Bryan Snyder to Bradd, for 22 yards, giving the Sages an early 7-0 lead.
 
Later on, Spartans would have the ball and lose it as Sage's defense would strip it away from Castleman and returning it all the way back for a touchdown making the score 13-0.
 
Spartans would struggle to find any momentum but tailback Matthew Cooksey would get some first downs. After reaching about the 30-yard line Cooksey would lose the football on a fumble to Sage's defensive lineman Riley Austin. Sage's would get another touchdown from a pump fake go to Bradd increasing the score even more 27-0. Before the half Sage's would score another touchdown increasing the lead even more to 34-0.
 
After the half Coach Cully Welter would start switching players in and out to give younger players some experience at the varsity level. Luke Rudolph would help tack on some points for a field goal from 26-yards out in the mid-third making the score 37-0. Nic Tackels and Henry Dawson came in at the third quarter as Tackels would look 30 yards deep on a post route to Dawson for a one-handed grab.
 
Monticello would end up rushing for over 110 plus yards and score another touchdown to get the final score 51-0.
 
Players of the Game: Asher Bradd, Nic Tackels, and Henry Dawson
 

Clinton Maroons Defeat South Fork Ponies 48-0

As heard on WHOW, the Clinton Maroons defeated the South Fork Ponies by a score of 48-0 on Friday night. The Maroons were led by junior quarterback Ty Berter who was 8 of 12 passing for 111 yards and 3 touchdowns. Berter also ran the ball 4 times for 26 yards. Junior runningback Tyrese Petty had 5 carries for 26 yards and 2 touchdowns. Senior Kolby Winter had 12 carries for 50 yards and 2 touchdowns, 1 catch, and a 34 yard touchdown catch. Junior tightend Clayton Welch had 2 catches for 42 yards and a touchdown. Clinton led the game 42-0 at halftime.

 

South Fork was led by junior quarterback Shawn Goebel who was 3 for 11 passing for 26 yards and 2 interceptions. He was sacked 3 times and had 8 carries for 28 yards.

 

The Maroons start out 1-0 on the season and the Ponies start 0-1.

 

Tune in next week as Clinton takes on Pawnee. You can hear the game live on the Big 1520 AM/92.3/106.5 FM WHOW, online at dewittdailynews.com, and on the WHOW app. Kickoff is set for 7pm.

Clinton Football Preview

Football season is now getting underway. Clinton's head football coach Chris Ridgeway spoke with Jared White about the season and tips he uses to prepare his team.
 
 
Clinton will be at home tonight playing against South Fork. Kick off is set for 7 p.m.
 
Looking at teams around the area.
 
Central Illinois Confrence
St. Teresa vs. Tri-Vallye @ Home 7 p.m.
Meridian vs. D. Lutheran @ Home 7 p.m.
Central A & M vs. Westville @ Home 7 p.m.
Shelbyville vs. Pawnee @ Home 7 p.m.
Sullivan-Okaw Valley vs. Nokomis @ Away 7 p.m.
Tuscola vs. Villa Grove-Heritage @ Away 7 p.m.
Warrensburg-Latham vs. Cerro Gordo-Bement @ Home 7 p.m.

Chiefs still without 3 defensive starters for preseason game

The Chiefs will remain without three defensive starters, including star safety Eric Berry, when they visit the Chicago Bears for their third preseason game this weekend.
 
Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Thursday that Berry was still dealing with a heel injury that has kept him out of practice the past few weeks. Berry returned during the summer from a torn Achilles tendon only to have the heel injury crop up early in training camp.
 
Defensive end Allen Bailey is out with a knee injury and cornerback Steven Nelson with a concussion.
 
Reid was optimistic that middle linebackers Anthony Hitchens and Reggie Ragland would be on the field for the first time together. Both have dealt with nagging injuries throughout camp.
 
The Chiefs visit the Bears on Saturday before facing the Packers in their preseason finale.
 

Cubs beat Reds 7-1

Even though complete games are rare these days, Cole Hamels still likes to finish what he starts.
 
The 13-year veteran went the distance Thursday night to continue his dramatic turnaround with the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs, who got home runs from Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez in a 7-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
 
 
Hamels (4-0) allowed eight hits, struck out seven and walked two in his 17th career complete game and the first by a Cubs pitcher this season. His ERA in five starts with Chicago is 0.79.
 
Before being traded to the Cubs last month, the 34-year-old lefty was 5-9 with a 4.72 ERA in 20 starts for the Texas Rangers, including 1-3 with an 11.12 ERA in his last four.
 
Hamels, though, never doubted he could turn things around.
 
Hamels had allowed just two earned runs in his first four starts with Chicago, but the Reds jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning as Phillip Ervin beat out an infield single with two outs, scoring Billy Hamilton from third base.
 
The Cubs quickly answered. After Baez reached on an error with one out, Rizzo hit the first pitch he saw from starter Anthony DeSclafani (6-4) into the bleachers in right for a 2-1 Chicago lead. Baez's homer in the third made it 3-1.
 
The Cubs added another in the fifth and then broke it open with three runs in the seventh.
 
Cincinnati loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, but Hamels got Tucker Barnhart to ground into a game-ending double play on his 114th pitch.
 
Up next, the Cubs will recall RHP Alec Mills from Triple-A Iowa to start the second game of the series Friday. Mills has pitched two scoreless innings of relief for Chicago this season. The 26-year-old is 5-12 with a 4.84 ERA in 23 starts at Iowa.

Tigers rout White Sox 7-2

Matthew Boyd pitched six scoreless innings and Ronny Rodriguez hit his first career home run to lift the Detroit Tigers to a 7-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday.
 
Rodriguez also hit an RBI double, and Nicholas Castellanos and Mikie Mahtook homered off James Shields (5-15). All three of Detroit's homers were solo shots in the sixth inning.
 
Boyd (8-11) allowed six hits, walked one and struck out six.
 
Jose Rondon hit a two-run homer in the eighth for the White Sox, who fell to 3-10 this season against Detroit.
 
Chicago manager Rick Renteria missed his fourth straight game since experiencing lightheadedness Monday in Minnesota. The White Sox said he was back in Chicago and would have further testing.
 
Shields allowed seven runs and 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings. He is now 1-8 with 6.12 ERA on the road this year.
 
Rodriguez opened the scoring with a run-scoring double in the fourth, and Grayson Greiner followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.
 
In the sixth, Detroit hit three home runs in a span of four batters, with Mahtook and Rodriguez connecting for back-to-back drives that gave the Tigers a 5-0 advantage. Jim Adduci added a two-run double in the seventh.

Cardinals beat Dodgers 3-1

For the second straight game, the St. Louis Cardinals rallied to win. And for the second time in the series, they did it on a ninth-inning homer off All-Star closer Kenley Jansen.
 
Paul DeJong hit the go-ahead, two-run homer Wednesday night for a 3-1 victory and the Cardinals' first sweep at Dodger Stadium since 2006.
 
The Cardinals' eighth straight road win helped them improve to 17-4 this month, the most wins in the majors. They've homered in 15 straight games, one off the current season mark of 16 in a row by Philadelphia.
 
St. Louis remained 2 1/2 games behind the NL Central-leading Cubs.
 
The Dodgers closer, who became a father for the third time earlier in the day, gave up consecutive homers to Jedd Gyorko and Matt Carpenter in the series opener Monday. 
 
That was Jansen's first game back after missing time because of an irregular heartbeat.
 
This time, Gyorko got a broken-bat single off Jansen (0-5), and DeJong followed with his 14th homer to left-center, giving the Cardinals their first lead of the game.
 
The Dodgers went quietly in the ninth, with Jordan Hicks striking out Cody Bellinger, Brian Dozier and Chris Taylor to earn his fifth save.
 
Dakota Hudson (4-0) got the win with one inning of relief.
 
Los Angeles loaded the bases in the eighth, but Manny Machado grounded out to end the inning. The Dodgers stranded 30 runners while getting swept for the third time this season.
 
They dropped to 32-33 at home, falling below .500 at Dodger Stadium for the first time since June 30.
 
Rookie Tyler O'Neill launched his first career pinch-hit homer in the top of the eighth off Scott Alexander, tying it 1-all.
 
Jack Flaherty and Walker Buehler dueled in a stellar matchup of rookie pitchers, although either figured in the decision.
 
Flaherty held the Dodgers hitless through 5 1/3 innings. Joc Pederson broke through after Buehler struck out leading off the sixth, slugging his 19th homer to right field for a 1-0 lead.
 
Flaherty gave up just that one hit in six innings. The 22-year-old right-hander from nearby Burbank struck out 10 and walked two on 101 pitches.
 
Buehler scattered three hits over seven innings, struck out a career-high nine and walked two on 104 pitches.
 
The Dodgers have lost three in a row and they dropped four games behind NL West-leading Arizona in pursuit of a sixth straight division title.
 

Cubs break out 8-2 win over Tigers

Jon Lester pitched into the sixth inning and the Chicago Cubs homered three times, finally breaking out of their offensive funk in an 8-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night.
 
The Cubs had scored exactly one run in each of their previous five games. David Bote ended that streak with a two-run homer in the fifth, and Lester (14-5) allowed a run and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.
 
Five Chicago relievers finished. Pedro Strop came in with the bases loaded in the eighth and walked in a run, but he retired James McCann on a grounder to end that threat with the Cubs still up 4-2.
 
Javier Baez and Anthony Rizzo hit consecutive homers in the ninth for Chicago to break the game open. Baez's drive, a three-run shot, was his 26th of the year.
 
Francisco Liriano (3-9) allowed four runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.
 
Daniel Murphy singled home a run in the fifth in his first game with the Cubs after being acquired in a trade from Washington on Tuesday.
 
Lester, who pitched six innings in a 1-0 win over Pittsburgh last Thursday, was sharp again in Detroit. He allowed an RBI single to Ronny Rodriguez in the second, but that was all the scoring against him for Detroit.
 
Liriano didn't get out of the second inning in his previous start, but he blanked Chicago for the first four innings before running into trouble in the fifth. The first six Chicago hitters of that inning reached base, and Bote's drive put the Cubs up 2-1, snapping an 0-for-16 drought for the Chicago third baseman.
 
Murphy added his RBI single, although a baserunning blunder by Willson Contreras and a double-play grounder by Rizzo helped Liriano escape the inning with only three runs in.
 
Contreras hit an RBI infield single in the sixth to make it 4-1.
 
The NL Central-leading Cubs snapped a three-game losing streak.
 
Up next for the Cubs: they will start a four-game home series against Cincinnati on Thursday night. Cole Hamels (3-0) takes the mound for the Cubs.

White Sox roll past Twins 7-3

Adam Engel broke a tie with a two-run homer in a five-run fifth, Carlos Rodon continued his torrid stretch with six strong innings and the Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins 7-3 on Wednesday.
 
Nicky Delmonico and Tim Anderson also homered off Twins starter Kyle Gibson (7-10), helping send him to only his second loss in seven career decisions at Guaranteed Rate Field.
 
Chicago won for the sixth time in eight games.
 
The White Sox sent 11 batters to the plate against Gibson and Gabriel Moya in the fifth to snap a 2-2 tie.
 
Omar Narvaez drew a walk before Engel hit an 0-2 fastball over the left-field fence. Yolmer Sanchez followed with a walk and advanced to second on Avisail Garcia's one-out single. Sanchez scored when second baseman Logan Forsythe couldn't handle Daniel Palka's hard grounder that was ruled an error. Delmonico was walked intentionally, and Matt Davidson hit a two-run single that knocked Gibson out of the game. The right-hander gave up seven runs (four earned) on seven hits and four walks in 4 2/3 innings.
 
Rodon (5-3) allowed four of the first five batters to reach base before he settled down. He allowed three hits and three walks and improved to 5-1 with a 2.31 ERA over his last 10 starts.
 
Xavier Cedeno, Juan Minaya and Hector Santiago combined for three innings of one-run relief.
 
Forsythe led off the game with a walk and, one out later, Jorge Polanco hit a homer into the left-field bleachers, the first off Rodon in 26 innings. He didn't allow another hit until Forsythe's infield single with one out in the fifth.
 
Chicago pulled even on solo homers by Delmonico in the second and Anderson in the fourth. The homer was Delmonico's fourth in the last six games, while Anderson's 17th matched his career high of a year ago.
 
Forsythe's single off Minaya in the seventh, his third of the game, scored the final run.
 
Up next for the White sox: in what could be the final game of his White Sox career, RHP James Shields (5-14, 4.39) will start a four-game set at Detroit on Thursday afternoon. 

Cubs put Russell on DL

The Chicago Cubs have put infielder Addison Russell on the 10-day disabled list with a sprained left middle finger.
 
The Cubs announced the move Wednesday before their game at Detroit. The move is retroactive to Monday.
 
Chicago also added infielder Daniel Murphy to the 25-man roster. He was acquired Tuesday in a trade with Washington .
 
Russell is hitting .259 with five home runs and 37 RBIs this season. He's hit at least 12 homers in each of his previous three seasons in the majors.
 
Murphy is set to bat leadoff for Chicago on Wednesday night, playing second base. He's hitting .300 with six homers and 29 RBIs in 56 games so far this year.

Phillies get LHP Avilan from White Sox

The Philadelphia Phillies have acquired left-handed reliever Luis Avilan from the Chicago White Sox for minor league right-hander Felix Paulino.
 
Avilan has a 3.86 ERA with 14 walks, 46 strikeouts and two home runs allowed in 39 2/3 innings for the White Sox this season. Left-handed batters have a .214 batting average against Avilan.
 
He is 19-10 with a 3.09 ERA in 287 career games.
 
Paulino went 4-4 with a 3.91 ERA in 31 games between Single-A Clearwater and Double-A Reading.
 
To make room for Avilan on the 40-man roster, right-hander Jose Taveras has been designated for assignment.

Twins down White Sox 5-2

Michael Kopech's anticipated debut for the Chicago White Sox was cut short by a rain delay, and Eddie Rosario led the Minnesota Twins to a 5-2 victory on Tuesday night.
 
The game was tied at 2 before Minnesota pushed across three runs in the ninth. Jake Cave was thrown out when he tried to score from second on Mitch Garver's pinch-hit single, but Dylan Covey (4-11) issued an intentional walk to Joe Mauer before Rosario greeted Jace Fry with a tiebreaking RBI single into center field.
 
Jorge Polanco tacked on a two-run single as Minnesota won for the sixth time in eight games. Trevor May (2-0) pitched a scoreless inning for the victory, and Taylor Rogers got three outs for his second save.
 
The 22-year-old Kopech, one of baseball's top pitching prospects, struck out four in two scoreless innings before a 52-minute rain delay. Luis Avilan came in for the White Sox when the game resumed.

Cards beat Dodgers 5-2

Yadier Molina and Marcell Ozuna slugged two-run homers and St. Louis overcame a lack of communication in the outfield to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-2 on Tuesday night.
 
The Cardinals improved to a major league-best 16-4 in August and moved atop the NL wild-card standings by a half-game over Milwaukee.
 
They also climbed to 2 1/2 games back of the NL Central-leading Cubs.
 
The Cardinals have homered in 14 straight games. They won the opener 5-3 on consecutive ninth-inning homers by Jedd Gyorko and Matt Carpenter. This victory clinched their eighth consecutive series, equaling their longest streak since April 10-May 7, 2015.
 
Jose Martinez tied it with an RBI single in the third. Molina followed with a two-run shot to right center to make it 3-1, snapping an 0-for-17 skid and leaving him one hit shy of his 11th straight season with 100 or more.
 
With two outs in the seventh, Daniel Hudson hit Tyler O'Neill, setting the stage for Ozuna's two-run homer that extended the Cardinals' lead to 5-1.
 
The Dodgers' runs came in the second when Daniel Poncedeleon hit Yasiel Puig with the bases loaded and in the seventh on Manny Machado's 29th homer.
 
The Dodgers have stranded 25 runners in the first two games of the series.
 
For now, though, the Dodgers dropped 3 1/2 games behind the NL West-leading Diamondbacks, the farthest Los Angeles has been out of first place since July 1. The Dodgers fell to 32-32 at home.
 
In his second major league start, Poncedeleon allowed one run and five hits in four innings. He struck out a career-high eight and walked one pitching not far from his hometown of Anaheim.
 
Cardinals reliever Carlos Martinez got hit in the chest by a comebacker from Joc Pederson in the eighth. Martinez was knocked down and writhed on the ground as his teammates and a trainer ran to him. He soon got up and walked off under his own power as the inning ended.
 
Defensively, the Cardinals had a series of outfield miscues, all of them involving right fielder O'Neill.
 
He collided with second baseman Kolten Wong as they chased Yasmani Grandal's single in the second. On the next play, O'Neill dived and badly missed a single by Chris Taylor that loaded the bases for the Dodgers.
 
Weaver allowed one run and three hits in 2 1/3 innings of relief.
 
Bud Norris pitched the ninth for his 26th save.
 
Hyun-Jin Ryu (3-1) gave up three runs and four hits in four innings, struck out four and walked one.
 
LHP Jack Flaherty (7-6, 3.05 ERA) starts the series finale for the Cardinals. Rookie RHP Walker Buehler (6-4, 3.19) goes for the Dodgers.

Cubs fall 2-1 against Tigers

Jordan Zimmermann pitched six effective innings, Victor Martinez had three hits and the Detroit Tigers beat the slumping Chicago Cubs 2-1 on Tuesday night.
 
Zimmermann (6-5) allowed seven hits, struck out five and walked one, continuing Chicago's misery. Drew VerHagen, Joe Jimenez and Shane Greene combined for three innings of one-hit relief, closing out Detroit's second win in seven games.
 
The NL Central-leading Cubs were held to one run via homer for the fifth straight game, dropping the last three in the offensive slide.

Cubs acquire 2B Murphy in trade with Nationals

The Chicago Cubs have bolstered their struggling lineup by acquiring second baseman Daniel Murphy in a trade with the Washington Nationals.
 
The Cubs also announced Tuesday that right-hander Yu Darvish will miss the rest of the season after pitching just one inning in a rehab start for Class A South Bend on Sunday.
 
The deal for Murphy comes at an opportune time for NL Central-leading Chicago, which scored just one in each of its previous four games. Third baseman Kris Bryant is on the disabled list with an inflamed left shoulder, and shortstop Addison Russell was scratched from their series opener at Detroit due to right shoulder inflammation.
 
The Cubs brought in Murphy for Class A infielder Andruw Monasterio and a player to be named or cash. The 33-year-old Murphy is batting .340 (35 for 103) since the All-Star break. He has a .413 career batting average at Wrigley Field, according to STATS.

White Sox manager Rick Renteria released from hospital

Chicago White Sox manager Rick Renteria has been released from a Minnesota hospital after undergoing tests following an episode of lightheadedness.
 
The 56-year-old Renteria was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center before Monday night's 8-5 victory over the Twins. The team says Renteria will return to Chicago on Wednesday and undergo further testing at Rush University Medical Center.
 

Cards top Dodgers 5-3

Since the calendar turned to August, the St. Louis Cardinals have been on a tear.
 
They kept it up against Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen, who allowed ninth-inning homers to Jedd Gyorko and Matt Carpenter in his return from the disabled list in a 5-3 loss to the Cardinals on Monday night.
 
St. Louis improved to 15-4 this month, the most wins in the majors. The Cardinals have won six straight away from home and are 35-29 on the road.
 
Gyorko pinch hit and sent a 1-1 pitch into center field leading off. Carpenter followed with his NL-leading 34th homer, also to center, stunning the small crowd that remained through the 4-hour, 10-minute game.
 
Jansen (0-4) retired the next two batters before giving up a single to Marcell Ozuna. He got pinch-hitter Tyler O'Neill to end the inning, but the damage was done.
 
Jansen's return had been eagerly anticipated since the Dodgers' bullpen had a 5.17 ERA while he was out. He was activated earlier in the day after being cleared by a cardiologist. The All-Star had been hospitalized for an irregular heartbeat on Aug. 9 and was expected to be out a month. Jansen hadn't pitched since Aug. 7.
 
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had no regret about Jansen's early return.
 
Closer Bud Norris walked Matt Kemp leading off the bottom of the ninth before striking out the next three batters to end the game and get his 25th save.
 
Jose Martinez hit a solo shot in the first, making it the 13th straight game in which the Cardinals homered, the longest active streak in the majors this season.
 
Martinez's RBI single in the fifth gave St. Louis a 2-0 lead.
 
The Dodgers failed to score after threatening in the bottom of the eighth. Pinch-hitter Yasiel Puig reached on an infield single to the pitcher and took third on a wild pitch by Jordan Hicks.
 
After Hicks struck out Justin Turner, Brett Cecil (1-1) came in and intentionally walked Manny Machado. He took second on defensive indifference, putting runners on second and third, but Cody Bellinger lined out to end the inning.
 
Los Angeles stranded 14 baserunners.
 
Turner extended his 14-game hitting streak with a single in the first. Bellinger's 12-game hitting streak ended when he went 0 for 3 with a strikeout and a walk.
 
Pinch-hitter Max Muncy tied the game 3-all with a two-out, RBI single in the seventh off Hicks, who then walked Chris Taylor to load the bases. But Yasmani Grandal struck out swinging to end the inning.
 
The Dodgers scored in the fifth on Machado's RBI single and Bellinger's sacrifice fly to trail 3-2. Los Angeles had the potential tying run at second, but rookie starter Austin Gomber retired the next three batters.
 
Dodgers starter Alex Wood allowed three runs and seven hits in four innings, extending his streak of 12 straight outings with three earned runs or less. He struck out four and walked two.
 
Gomber gave up two runs and five hits in five innings of his fifth career start. He struck out four and walked four.
 
Up Next for the Cards Rookie RHP Daniel Poncedeleon (0-0, 2.04 ERA) replaces Luke Weaver in the rotation for the Cardinals. Poncedeleon tossed seven scoreless innings against the Reds on July 23 without allowing a hit in his only previous start of the season. 

White Sox beat Twins 8-5

Lucas Giolito and the Chicago White Sox were thinking about Rick Renteria all night long.
 
They banded together to get their hospitalized manager one of his favorite presents: another win.
 
Giolito struck out six in six innings, Matt Davidson homered and the White Sox spoiled Stephen Gonsalves' major league debut by holding off the Minnesota Twins for an 8-5 victory on Monday.
 
Chicago played without the 56-year-old Renteria after he was taken to a hospital for lightheadedness. He was going to stay overnight for observation.
 
Renteria was at the ballpark when the issue arose and was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center as a precaution. A team official said Renteria went through tests, but didn't have any further information.
 
Chicago won for the fourth time in five games in the makeup of snowed-out April contest. Davidson drove in three runs, and Jose Abreu had two hits and two RBIs.
 
Giolito (9-9) allowed three runs and five hits in his second straight win. The right-hander has a 3.24 ERA over his last five road starts.
 
Jake Cave and Max Kepler homered for the second straight day for Minnesota, which had won five of six.
 
Gonsalves (0-1) surrendered four runs in just 1 1/3 innings. Considered one of the team's top prospects, Gonsalves gave up six hits, walked two and hit a batter.
 
Giolito entered with a 6.15 ERA and an AL-high 72 walks. He walked two against the Twins.
 
Davidson's two-run shot in the seventh extended Chicago's homer streak to 12 games. It's the team's longest streak since hitting at least one in 15 straight games in 2012.
 
Up Next for the White Sox will ravel to Chicago for a two-game series. Right-hander Michael Kopech, one of baseball's top pitching prospects, is scheduled to make his major league debut on Tuesday. Kopech went 7-7 with a 3.70 ERA and 170 strikeouts in 126 1/3 innings for Triple-A Charlotte this season.

Chicago Bears' Deiondre Hall suspended for violation of NFL substance policy

Bears cornerback Deiondre' Hall has been suspended for the season opener at Green Bay for a violation of the NFL's substance abuse policy.
 
Hall can continue practicing in the preseason and play in the final two preseason games, but will not be allowed to practice during the week prior to the Sept. 9 opener. He'll miss the first game and can return to practice Sept. 10.
 
It's the first violation for Hall. A fourth-round draft pick in 2016 from Northern Iowa, Hall has played in 10 NFL games and is currently in a battle for a roster spot.

Bears lose Leonard Floyd, Adam Shaheen to injuries

The Chicago Bears are uncertain whether outside linebacker Leonard Floyd and tight end Adam Shaheen will be available to start the regular season after suffering injuries Saturday in a 24-23 preseason win at Denver.
 
Floyd underwent surgery Sunday to repair a broken bone in his right hand. Coach Matt Nagy said Monday that Floyd's hand won't be healed by the Sept. 9 season opener at Green Bay but that Floyd may play through the injury.
 
The ninth overall pick of the 2016 draft was injured while bracing himself as he fell after being blocked.
 
Floyd is being counted on as the Bears' top outside pass rusher. They did not re-sign Willie Young and Pernell McPhee in the offseason.
 
Nagy says Shaheen sprained his right ankle and the severity was still being determined.
 
It appears likely both will miss the final two preseason games. The Bears have home games Saturday against Kansas City and  Aug. 30 against Cleveland.

White Sox rally for 7-6 win over Royals

Omar Narvaez homered and drove in the go-ahead run with a single, Chicago relievers tossed seven scoreless innings and the White Sox rallied from a six-run deficit for a 7-6 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.
 
Avisail Garcia and Tim Anderson also homered for Chicago, which has won four of five.
 
Hector Santiago (5-3) allowed just two hits in four innings of relief to get the win. Jace Fry, the last of six relievers, got the final two outs for his second save.
 
Of Chicago's 46 wins, 26 have been come-from-behind affairs.
 
Ryan O'Hearn, Whit Merrifield and Alex Gordon homered for Kansas City, which dropped to 2-13 in the rubber game of series this season.
 
White Sox starter Reynaldo Lopez needed just 11 pitches to retire the side in order in the first, but was rocked for six runs and three homers (on 46 pitches) in the second. O'Hearn started things with a two-run shot, Merrifield made it 5-0 with a three-run blast and Gordon added a solo shot.
 
Kansas City starter Heath Fillmyer allowed just one hit in the first three innings, but then suddenly lost it. The right-hander faced six batters in the fourth and didn't record an out.
 
Jose Abreu and Daniel Palka had back-to-back singles to start things and Garcia hit a three-run homer to trim the deficit in half. After Nicky Delmonico singled, Anderson homered to make it 6-5. Narvaez followed with a solo blast to tie the score and chase Fillmyer.
 
In the fifth, Narvaez gave the White Sox a 7-6 lead with a two-out RBI single off Brian Flynn (3-4), scoring Garcia from second base.
 
RHP Lucas Giolito (8-9, 6.15) takes the mound tonight at Minnesota in the makeup of a game snowed out in April.

Pirates top Cubs 2-1 in 11 innings

Adam Frazier hit a game-ending homer in the 11th inning, and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs 2-1 on Sunday for a split of their four-game series.
 
Josh Harrison grounded out and Adeiny Hechavarria struck out before Frazier drove a 3-0 pitch from Brandon Kintzler (1-3) deep to right. It was Frazier's fifth homer of the season.
 
The Cubs had a prime scoring chance against Richard Rodriguez (3-2) in the top half of the inning, but came up empty. Addison Russell was picked off third by catcher Elias Diaz, and Albert Almora Jr. struck out looking with the bases loaded with two out.
 
NL Central-leading Chicago managed just one run in each game of the series, but took the first two behind strong pitching performances by Jon Lester and Cole Hamels.

Brewers beat Cardinals 2-1

Mike Moustakas hit a two-run double, giving Jhoulys Chacin all the runs he needed to beat St. Louis for the first time in his career with the Milwaukee Brewers' 2-1 victory over the Cardinals on Sunday.
 
Milwaukee (69-57) snapped a three-game losing streak and moved back ahead of St. Louis (68-57) for the second National League wild card. The Cardinals lost for just the second time in their last 12 games.
 
Chacin (13-4) entered the game 0-7 with a 6.90 ERA in nine career games, including eight starts, against the Cardinals, but shut them out through six innings as the Brewers avoided their first three-game sweep at St. Louis since July 1-3, 2016.
 
Chacin has won his last three starts and has given up three runs in his last 19 innings. The Brewers improved to 19-8 in his starts this season.
 
Jeremy Jeffress gave up a run in two innings of relief and Josh Hader pitched a perfect ninth to earn his 10th save in 13 opportunities for the Brewers.
 
Moustaskas hammered an 0-2 pitch down the first-base line to score Orlando Arcia and Lorenzo Cain, giving the Brewers a 2-0 lead in the third. Arcia and Cain each stole a base to help get them into scoring position ahead of Moustaskas.
 
John Gant (5-5) gave up two runs on six hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings. Gant has failed to make it past 4 1/3 innings in three of his last four starts.
 
Brett Cecil pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth, Tyson Ross followed with three scoreless innings and Mike Mayers added another as Cardinals relievers combined for 4 2/3 shutout innings.
 
Patrick Wisdom hit his first career home run 414 feet into the bleachers in left-center to lead off the eighth for St. Louis.
 
The Brewers had lost six of their last eight heading into the game.
 
 LHP Austin Gomber (3-0, 2.89 ERA) will kick off a six-game road trip tonight against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

White Sox prospect Michael Kopech to make debut on Tuesday

Touted pitching prospect Michael Kopech will make his major league debut with the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night at home against Minnesota.
 
The White Sox announced the move on Sunday.
 
The 22-year-old Kopech is one of the top arms in Chicago's loaded minor league system. The 6-foot-3 right-hander was acquired in the December 2016 trade that sent ace left-hander Chris Sale to the Boston Red Sox.
 
Kopech is 7-7 with a 3.70 ERA in 24 starts with Triple-A Charlotte this season. He has 170 strikeouts in 126 1/3 innings.
 
Kopech's fastball is consistently clocked in the upper 90s and occasionally hits 100 mph. He is rated No. 13 among MLB.com's top 100 prospects.

Cubs to face Pirates in 2019 Little League Classic

The Chicago Cubs will face the Pittsburgh Pirates in next year's Little League Classic.
 
The game will be held at Bowman Field on Aug. 18, 2019. The Cubs and Pirates will attend Little League World Series games earlier in the day.
 
The matchup was announced Sunday night during the Mets-Phillies game in Williamsport. It will once again be part of ESPN's Sunday night schedule.
 
Bowman Field, home of the Phillies' team in the Class A New York-Penn League, is about five miles from the site of the Little League World Series. It's the second-oldest minor league ballpark in the U.S.

Courtwright joins Illini staff

Curt Courtwright joined the Illinois baseball coaching staff as a volunteer assistant, head coach Dan Hartleb announced. Courtwright takes over the role after Casey Fletcher departed for a full-time assistant job at Valparaiso. 
 
Courtwright spent the previous three seasons at Eastern Illinois under head coach Jason Anderson, a former Fighting Illini and MLB pitcher. Courtwright helped instruct the infielders and hitters at EIU, helping the Panthers finish one double play shy of leading the nation in 2017.
 
Courtwright spent one year as an assistant at Rend Lake College in 2014, primarily working as the hitting and infield instructor as well as the recruiting coordinator, prior to his stop at EIU.
 
A native of Lincoln, Illinois, Courtwright competed at various levels of baseball. During his four-year career playing at Missouri State, Courtwright appeared in 158 games for the Bears and left as the school record holder for assists in a game. Courtwright played for the Glens Falls Golden Eagles in the New York Collegiate Baseball League and was named team MVP in 2008. In 2010, he played professionally for the Gateway Grizzlies of the Frontier League.
 
After his time with the Grizzlies, Courtwright began his coaching career. He was the head coach at Lincoln Community High School before serving as the hitting and infield coach for the Morehead City Marlins of the Coastal Plains League. 
 

Cubs 1-0 win over Pirates

Jon Lester pitched six innings to win for the first time in just over a month and Ian Happ homered as the Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 1-0 on Thursday night.
 
Lester (13-5) allowed five hits, struck out eight and had no walks while improving to 3-1 against the Pirates this season. His previous victory came July 15 at San Diego and he had gone 0-3 with a 10.32 ERA in five starts since the All-Star break.
 
Steve Cishek, Carl Edwards Jr. and Pedro Strop each pitched one inning to complete the six-hitter. Strop hit David Freese with a pitch with two outs in the ninth but converted his 10th save in 13 opportunities.
 
Happ connected with one out in the fourth inning off Ivan Nova (7-7) for his 13th home run, a drive deep into the right-center seats that was the game's only extra-base hit. There was a fair share of cheers while Happ rounded the bases as he is from suburban Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania.
 
Chicago (70-50) increased its lead in the NL Central to 3½ games over idle Milwaukee while moving a season-high 20 games over .500. Pittsburgh (61-61) lost its fourth straight to fall to .500.
 
Nova took his first loss since July 3 despite giving up only one run in 6 2/3 innings. The Pirates had won five of his six previous starts and he was 3-0 in that span.
 
The Pirates' best scoring opportunity came in the fifth inning when Josh Harrison and Adeiny Hechavarria hit consecutive two-out singles. Lester then struck out Nova, an .044 career hitter.
 
The Cubs had runners in scoring position in the third and seventh innings but failed to convert.
 
Chicago's Jason Heyward had two hits.
 
LHP Cole Hamels (7-9, 4.22 ERA) makes his fourth start Friday night since being acquired from Texas in a trade. He is 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA for the Cubs.

Nationals beat Cardinals 5-4

Bryce Harper had three hits and drove in three runs, Koda Glover earned the save in the first opportunity since Ryan Madson was placed on the disabled list, and the Washington Nationals snapped a four-game losing streak with a 5-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night.
 
The Nationals won for just the third time in their last 10 games and snapped the Cardinals' season-high, eight-game winning streak.
 
Tanner Roark (8-12) gave up four runs, three earned, in six innings.
 
Harper drove in the game's first run with a double in the first and knocked in two more with a bases-loaded single in the fourth to give the Nationals a 4-1 lead.
 
A pair of errors helped the Nationals extend their lead to 5-1 in the fifth. St. Louis committed three errors in the game after committing just four total errors during the winning streak.
 
The Nationals had opportunities to pad the lead, leaving the bases loaded in the third and fifth while stranding nine runners in the first five innings.
 
The Cardinals got within one in the sixth. After DeJong and Kolten Wong came up with back-to-back, two-out RBI hits, Harrison Bader hit a slow grounder to third. Anthony Rendon's throw to first got away from Ryan Zimmerman for an error, allowing Wong to score from second to cut the Nationals' lead to 5-4.
 
Just two of the four runs Luke Weaver (6-11) allowed in his 3 2/3 innings were earned. He gave up seven hits, including two to Roark, who scored both times.
 
Tyson Ross allowed one unearned run in 3 1/3 innings of relief.
 
Bader homered in the third and Matt Carpenter walked twice to extend his on-base streak to a career-high 34 games.
 
RHP Jack Flaherty (6-6, 3.22 ERA) kicks off a three-game series tonight as the Cardinals host the Milwaukee Brewers and RHP Freddy Peralta (5-3, 4.47 ERA).

Cubs' RHP Yu Darvish scheduled for rehab start Sunday

Chicago Cubs right-hander Yu Darvish will begin a rehab assignment Sunday with a minor league team to be determined.
 
Signed to a $126-million, six-year contract as a free agent in February, Darvish last pitched for the Cubs on May 20 and is 1-3 with a 4.95 ERA in eight starts. He has been sidelined with right triceps tendinitis and an impingement in his right shoulder.
 
Darvish made a rehab start June 25 with Class A South Bend but then felt pain in his arm afterward.

Rizzo leads Cubs past Brewers 8-4

 Anthony Rizzo homered, drove in three runs and stole two bases in his return to the cleanup spot, and the Chicago Cubs restored their three-game lead in the NL Central by topping the Milwaukee Brewers 8-4 on Wednesday.
 
Jason Heyward added three hits and two RBIs as Chicago bounced back nicely from its 7-0 loss to Milwaukee in the opener of the two-game series. David Bote had two hits, scored twice and made a terrific barehanded play at third base in his first action since he hit a game-ending grand slam in Sunday night's 4-3 victory over Washington.
 
Kyle Hendricks (9-9) struck out eight in six-plus innings on his bobblehead day, providing a lift for the Cubs after Jon Lester and Jose Quintana struggled in recent starts.
 
Wild card-leading Milwaukee had a chance to inch closer to Chicago, but instead lost for the fourth time in six games. Junior Guerra (6-8) lasted just 3 2/3 innings, and first baseman Eric Thames committed an error that helped set up a run.
 
The Brewers also lost left fielder Ryan Braun and catcher Manny Pina to injuries. Braun departed with tightness on the right side of his rib cage, and Pina was pulled after he collided with Javier Baez while he was diving back to second in the seventh.
 
Pina stayed in after the play and scored on Mike Moustakas' single. But Erik Kratz took over behind the plate in the bottom half of the inning.
 
Rizzo, who had been leading off for Chicago, drove a 0-1 pitch from Guerra into the basket in left for a two-run shot in the first. The big first baseman also blooped a run-scoring single into center in the Cubs' three-run fourth, helped by a partly cloudy sky that made life difficult for each team all afternoon.
 
The Brewers closed to 7-4 on Hernan Perez's RBI single in the seventh. But they wasted a chance for more when Travis Shaw popped out and Jonathan Schoop lined to left with the bases loaded, ending the inning.
 
Albert Almora Jr. then led off the bottom half of the inning with a line drive into the bleachers in left. It was his first homer since June 28 and No. 5 on the year.
 
LHP Jon Lester (12-5, 3.89 ERA) pitches tonight in the opener of a four-game series at Pittsburgh.

Cardinals beat Nationals for 8th straight win

Austin Gomber tossed six shutout innings in his fourth start of the year, Marcell Ozuna homered and the Cardinals won their season-high eighth straight game, 4-2 over the Washington Nationals.
 
The Cardinals, who are 18-9 since the All-Star break, captured their sixth successive series after taking the first three of the four-game set.
 
Gomber gave up three hits, struck out six and walked four. He wriggled out of a pair of jams while nursing a 1-0 lead.
 
Gomber ended his 99-pitch outing by striking out three successive batters after giving up a leadoff double to Bryce Harper in the sixth.
 
Gomber (3-0) struck out Michael A. Taylor looking with the bases loaded to end the fourth. He retired Anthony Rendon on a flyball with runners on first and third in the fifth.
 
Daniel Murphy homered in the ninth for Washington, which has lost four in a row and seven of nine to fall below .500 and nine games behind the first-place Atlanta Braves in the NL East. The current skid began with a loss to the Cubs on a two-out, walk-off grand slam.
 
Ozuna homered in the second inning, his 14th of the season and his first since July 30, covering 62 plate appearances.
 
Harrison Bader and Yadier Molina added run-scoring hits for St. Louis, which improved to 19-9 since Mike Matheny was fired and replaced by Shildt on July 15.
 
Bud Norris pitched the ninth to pick up his 23rd save in 27 opportunities,
 
St. Louis infielder Matt Carpenter extended his on-base streak to 33 games with a walk in the fifth. It's the longest current streak in the majors. Carpenter left the game in the seventh after he was hit on the hand by a pitch from Matt Grace, but X-rays were negative.
 
Washington starter Jeremy Hellickson (5-3) left in the fifth inning after he fell on his wrist on a play at the plate following a wild pitch. Hellickson gave up three runs, two earned, on three hits in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out two and walked two.
 
Bader, who had three hits, also made a diving catch of a liner off the bat of Harper in the fourth. Bader scampered home on a wild pitch in the fifth inning for a 2-0 lead.
 
The Cardinals, who have an NL-best 12-2 mark in August, remain one game behind Philadelphia for the second wild-card spot. They are four games behind Chicago in the NL Central.
 
RHP Tanner Roark (7-12, 4.12) will face RHP Luke Weaver (6-10, 4.66) in the finale of the four-game series.

White Sox take down Tigers 6-5

Jose Abreu and Matt Davidson each hit two-run home runs, combined for six hits and drove in five of Chicago's runs in a 6-5 win.
 
Abreu is hitting .336 with 17 homers in 84 games against the Tigers in his career, while Davidson is at .370 with seven homers in 23 games.
 
The White Sox have won two in a row after losing six of seven. They are 3-9 against the Tigers this season.
 
The Tigers have lost nine of 12.
 
Carlos Rodon (4-3) improved to 3-0 in his past seven starts, giving up three runs and five hits and a walk in eight innings. He struck out six in his seventh straight quality start.
 
Rodon thinks his partnership with catcher Omar Narvaez has played a major role in his hot streak.
 
Trailing 6-3 in the ninth, the Tigers put their first two runners on, but Jeanmar Gomez struck out James McCann. White Sox manager Rick Renteria brought in Luis Avilan, and Victor Martinez loaded the bases with a pinch-hit single.
 
Mikie Mahtook grounded into a force at second, allowing Nicholas Castellanos to score Detroit's fourth run, and Grayson Greiner's RBI single made it 6-5 with the tying and winning runs on base.
 
Avilan got Victor Reyes to fly out to shallow center, earning his second save.
 
Jordan Zimmermann (5-5) took the loss, allowing six runs and nine hits, including the two home runs. Zimmermann struck out four while falling to 1-5 with a 5.85 ERA in his past six starts.
 
The White Sox scored twice in the third. With one out, Nicky Delmonico's double put runners on second and third, and Yolmer Sanchez and Abreu followed with RBI singles.
 
The Tigers loaded the bases with no one out in the bottom of the inning. Jose Iglesias made it 2-1 with an RBI single before Castellanos put Detroit ahead 3-2 with a two-run single.
 
Davidson gave the White Sox a 4-3 edge with a fourth-inning homer, and Abreu's home run over the Chicago bullpen made it 6-3 in the fifth.
 
 The Sox are off today before starting a weekend home series with the Kansas City Royals. 

White Sox beat Tigers 6-3

Ryan LaMarre's line drive to left field bounced off the top of the bullpen shelter and into the hands of a familiar face, as LaMarre's uncle made the catch.
 
LaMarre, who hit the homer in his 168th plate appearance, acknowledged hitting one to a family member was a longshot.
 
The home run gave the White Sox a 4-3 lead in the second inning, and Lucas Giolito pitched out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the sixth inning as the White Sox held on to win 6-3.
 
Chicago won for the second time in eight games, improving to 2-9 against Detroit this season.
 
Giolito (8-9) allowed three runs and eight hits and one walk in six innings. He struck out seven to improve to 3-1 in his past six starts.
 
The Tigers got runners to the corners in the ninth, but Xavier Cedeno struck out Nicholas Castellanos to earn his first save since Aug. 11, 2015.
 
Blaine Hardy (4-5) took the loss, allowing four runs and six hits and a walk in four innings.
 
Both teams scored three runs in the first inning, Chicago getting its final two on a bizarre play. Daniel Palka's RBI single made it 1-0 and left the bases loaded with one out. Kevan Smith hit a fly ball to deep center, and all three runners tried to advance.
 
Palka stopped between first and second as Jose Abreu scored from third, and by the time the Tigers were able to finish off a sloppy rundown, Matt Davidson had scored from second for a two-run sacrifice fly double play as Palka was thrown out at second to end the inning.
 
In the bottom of the first, Victor Martinez made it 3-2 with a two-out, two-run double, and Jim Adduci followed with a game-tying single. The Tigers, though, never scored again.
 
LaMarre put Chicago back ahead with his family-finding line drive.
 
Zach McAllister replaced Hardy for the fifth inning, and the White Sox quickly took advantage. Tim Anderson and Avisail Garcia led off with singles, and Abreu made it 6-3 with a two-run double.
 
The Tigers loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth, but Giolito got out of it when James McCann popped out, Mike Gerber struck out and Victor Reyes popped out.
 
Renteria had relievers ready, but gave his starter a chance to save the game.
 
The teams finish the three-game series on Wednesday afternoon. Detroit's Jordan Zimmermann (5-4, 3.98 ERA) will face Carlos Rodon (3-3, 2.61).

Cardinals 6-4 win over Nationals

John Gant homered for his first major league hit and pitched one-run ball into the sixth inning, helping the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Washington Nationals 6-4 on Tuesday night for their season-high seventh consecutive victory.
 
Kolten Wong had three hits and three RBIs as St. Louis (65-55) pulled within four games of the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs and moved within one game of the Philadelphia Phillies for the second NL wild card. The Cardinals also improved to 18-9 since Mike Shildt was named interim manager on July 13, the most wins for a manager through his first 27 games in franchise history.
 
The Nationals (60-60) have dropped six of eight to fall eight games behind Atlanta in the NL East.
 
Gant (5-4) permitted four hits and struck out six in 5 1/3 innings. He has given up just two earned runs over 11 1/3 innings in his last two starts, both wins.
 
The 26-year-old Gant was 0 for 30 for his career when he drove a 1-1 pitch from Gio Gonzalez (7-9) over the wall in left in the second. The two-run shot gave Washington a 3-0 lead.
 
Gant, who has a reputation for being a stoic player, admitted to smiling ''once or twice'' once he got back to the dugout.
 
Wong's solo homer made it 6-1 in the sixth, but Washington responded with three in the eighth. Harper hit a two-run shot, and Daniel Murphy singled in Anthony Rendon.
 
Matt Adams then struck out looking against Dakota Hudson, ending the inning, and Jordan Hicks worked the ninth for his fourth save in eight chances.
 
Paul DeJong also doubled and scored for St. Louis one night after he connected for a game-ending homer in a 7-6 victory. Matt Carpenter walked in the sixth to extend his on-base streak to 32 games.
 
Gonzalez was charged with five runs and five hits in four innings. The veteran left-hander is just 1-4 in his last six starts.
 
The Nationals will start right-hander Jeremy Hellickson (5-2, 3.54 ERA) in the third game of a four-game set. Austin Gomber (2-0, 3.45 ERA) pitches for the Cardinals.

Brewers beat Cubs 7-0

Ryan Braun hit two of Milwaukee's four homers, Jhoulys Chacin struck out 10 in seven innings and the Brewers cut into Chicago's NL Central lead with a 7-0 victory over the Cubs on Tuesday.
 
Lorenzo Cain homered on Jose Quintana's second pitch. Braun hit a two-run drive in the first and third. Erik Kratz added a solo homer in the sixth and an RBI double in the eighth.
 
Chacin (12-4) allowed three hits and walked two. The right-hander is 6-1 in his past eight outings.
 
The Brewers pulled within two games of the Cubs after dropping eight of 11 against them. Milwaukee will try for a two-game sweep on Wednesday.
 
Quintana (10-9) got tagged for five runs and six hits in five innings after dominating the Brewers over seven previous starts.
 
Manager Joe Maddon got ejected for the second time in four games when plate umpire Phil Cuzzi called Ben Zobrist out on strikes in the sixth. Zobrist was also tossed by Cuzzi as the Brewers were getting ready to bat in the ninth.
 
Quintana came in with a 0.92 career ERA against the Brewers. He held them without a run in two of their first three meetings this season.
 
But Milwaukee needed just nine pitches to grab a 3-0 lead.
 
Cain hit his third career leadoff homer and second this season. Braun followed Jesus Aguilar's one-out single with a drive to left-center, and he hit a long one to left for his 35th career homer against the Cubs after Aguilar led off with a walk. A fan in the back row of the bleachers caught the ball, preventing it from going to the street.
 
The Brew Crew will toss RHP Junior Guerra (6-7, 3.40 ERA) as he has a 1.74 ERA in five career starts and eight appearances against the Cubs.  Chicago will go with RHP Kyle Hendricks (8-9, 4.02 ERA) as he looks for his third win in his last four appearances.  

Cardinals walkoff 7-6 over Nationals

Paul DeJong handed the Nationals their second straight walk-off loss, capping a back-and-forth finish with a game-ending solo homer in the ninth inning of the St. Cardinals' 7-6 victory Monday night.
 
DeJong took Koda Glover (0-1) deep leading off the ninth on a 3-1 pitch. A night earlier, Ryan Madson allowed a game-ending ninth-inning grand slam to the Chicago Cubs' David Bote in a 4-3 defeat.
 
Washington's bullpen has blown saves in three of its past four games. All-Star closer Sean Doolittle has been on the disabled list since early July, and top setup man Kelvin Herrera went to the DL with right rotator cuff impingement last week.
 
The Cardinals recorded their 10th walkoff of the season and DeJong became the sixth different player to end a game in grand fashion.
 
The Cardinals have won six in a row and moved to nine games over .500 for the first time this season.
 
DeJong's 380-foot drive ended a wild final two innings.
 
Matt Carpenter and Jedd Gyorko homered in the eighth inning to put St. Louis up 6-4. Gyorko started the rally with a leadoff drive, and Carpenter followed with a three-run homer off Sammy Solis.
 
The Nationals tied it at 6 in the top of the ninth on RBI singles by Daniel Murphy and Matt Wieters off closer Bud Norris. Dakota Hudson (3-0) relieved Norris and stranded two baserunners by retiring Wilmer Difo and Adam Eaton.
 
Juan Soto and Bryce Harper homered for the Nationals, who have lost five of seven.
 
Gyorko sparked St. Louis' big eighth inning with his homer off Justin Miller. Kolten Wong and Patrick Wisdom then singled to set up Carpenter's 33rd homer. Carpenter has homered in seven of his past 10 games. He extended his major-league leading on-base streak to 31 games with a first-inning bunt single. He has 17 homers during that string.
 
Harper won a 10-pitch battle with starter Miles Mikolas by drilling his 29th homer leading off the fourth to lead 2-1.
 
Ryan Zimmerman added a run-scoring double in the second for the Nationals.
 
Jose Martinez had four hits for the Cardinals.
 
Mikolas gave up four runs on four hits over seven innings. He struck out four and walked one.
 
Tommy Milone started for Washington and gave up two runs on 10 hits over 4 1/3 innings.
 
LHP Gio Gonzalez (7-8, 3.39) will face RHP John Gant (4-4, 3.89) in the second of the four-game series.

Tigers 9-5 win over White Sox

Nicholas Castellanos had a career-high five hits, including a go-ahead homer in the seventh inning, and drove in five runs as the Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox 9-5.
 
Castellanos had played in 113 of Detroit's first 118 games, but a bruised foot earned him the rare rest. He hit .216 in his previous 32 games.
 
Castellanos singled in the first, doubled and scored in the fourth, hit an RBI double in the fifth and hit a two-run home run off Jeanmar Gomez (0-1) in the seventh.
 
He came up again in the eighth with the bases loaded and two outs, needing a triple for the cycle, but settled for a two-run single that put the Tigers ahead 9-5.
 
It was the sixth five-RBI game of his career, including one against the White Sox on June 16. He's hitting .419 with four homers and 14 RBIs in 43 at-bats against Chicago this season.
 
Louis Coleman (4-1) got the win with a scoreless inning of relief. The Tigers are 9-1 against the White Sox this season.
 
Detroit is 3-1 since returning from a winless six-game road trip. Chicago has lost six of seven.
 
Detroit starter Artie Lewicki allowed three runs on six hits and three walks in 4 2/3 innings. Chicago's Reynaldo Lopez gave up four runs on seven hits and a walk in five innings.
 
It was 4-4 when Castellanos lined his 17th homer into the Tigers bullpen with one out in the seventh.
 
Adam Engel made it 6-5 with a homer off Alex Wilson in the eighth, but Victor Reyes restored the two-run lead with an RBI single in the bottom of the inning before Castellanos' fifth hit.
 
Chicago took a 3-0 lead in the third.
 
Engel led off the inning with a double, Lewicki hit Nicky Delmonico and Yolmer Sanchez put down a bunt single to load the bases with no one out. Jose Abreu made it 1-0 with a sacrifice fly, and Daniel Palka followed with an RBI single. Avisail Garcia drove home the third run with another sacrifice fly.
 
Jeimer Candelario's sacrifice fly made it 3-1 in the bottom of the third, and Victor Martinez's RBI double in the fourth scored Castellanos. The Tigers took the lead with two runs in the fifth. After loading the bases with no one out, Jose Iglesias hit into a double play to make it 3-3, and Castellanos followed with an RBI double.
 
Omar Navarez led off the sixth with a homer off Drew VerHagen to make it 4-4, and the White Sox started the seventh with back-to-back singles, but Coleman got out of the jam with a shallow fly ball and a double play.
 
The teams play the second game of their three-game series today, with Detroit's Blaine Hardy (4-4, 3.83) facing Chicago's Lucas Giolito (7-9, 6.23).

Bears, Roquan Smith agree to deal

The standoff between the Chicago Bears and No. 8 overall draft pick Roquan Smith is over.
 
A person familiar with the situation says the linebacker has agreed to a four-year contract that guarantees $18.5 million and includes an $11.5 million signing bonus. The person spoke Monday night on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been announced.
 
The Bears sent out a news release announcing Smith will be available to reporters after Tuesday's practice, though they did not say an agreement is in place.
 
Smith is the final pick from this year's NFL draft class to reach an agreement - because of a hangup over the contract language. The sides disagreed over whether the team would be allowed to take back guaranteed bonus money from him if he was suspended for disciplinary reasons, including a violation of the league's new rule preventing players from leading with their helmet.

Bote's grand slam in 9th lifts Cubs over Nationals 4-3

Pinch-hitter David Bote smashed a grand slam against Ryan Madson with two outs in the ninth inning to lift the Chicago Cubs to a 4-3 victory over the Washington Nationals on Sunday night.
 
Bote's long drive to center field came after Washington's Max Scherzer and Chicago's Cole Hamels delivered simply dominant starts.
 
Madson (2-5) came in with a 3-0 lead to start the ninth and quickly ran into trouble.
 
He gave up an infield single to Jason Heyward with one out and hit Albert Almora with a pitch. Madson then retired Kyle Schwarber on a foul pop before hitting Contreras to load the bases, but Bote drove a 2-2 pitch well beyond the center-field wall.
 
Teammates mobbed him as he crossed the plate and fans chanted "Bote! Bote!" It was quite a turn after the Cubs got shut down for most of the night. But they managed to take two of three in the first meeting between these teams since Chicago won the NL Division Series last year.
 
Bote's drive made a winner of Justin Wilson (4-3), who got the final two outs in the ninth.
 
The Nationals managed just three hits, but looked as though they were on their way with Scherzer tossing three-hit ball over seven scoreless innings. The three-time Cy Young Award winner struck out 11 and walked one.
 
Hamels was about as good, giving up just one run and one hit in seven innings. He struck out nine and walked one in his third start since Chicago acquired him from Texas.
 
The only hit he allowed was Daniel Murphy's single in the second to put runners on first and third. Mark Reynolds then drove in Ryan Zimmerman with a sacrifice fly.
 
The Nationals did not get another hit until Trea Turner tripled against Brandon Kintzler in the ninth. Back-to-back walks to Juan Soto and Bryce Harper - the second being intentional - loaded the bases for Zimmerman, who then chased Kintzler with an RBI single.
 
Wilson then retired Murphy on fly to left before Reynolds struck out looking.
 
The Cubs will send LHP José Quintana (10-8, 4.28) to the mound when they open a two-game series against Milwaukee on Tuesday. 

Cardinals rally to beat Royals 8-2

The St. Louis Cardinals were a .500 team after a loss on July 25, but since then they've been the hottest team in the National League.
 
Yadier Molina broke a tie with a two-run single in the seventh inning, Tyson Ross won his St. Louis debut and the Cardinals defeated the Kansas City Royals 8-2 on Sunday to win their fifth straight, matching a season high.
 
The Cardinals moved eight games above .500, equaling their season high set on June 11, and are a National League-best 12-4 since July 27. Manager Mike Matheny was fired on July 14 in an attempt to jump-start the disappointing team.
 
Molina's bases-loaded single in the seventh scored Harrison Bader and Patrick Wisdom, who had two hits, drove in a run and scored two in his major league debut. Wisdom's RBI single had tied it at 2-2.
 
The Cardinals concluded a three-city trip with a 7-2 record.
 
Ross, who last pitched on Aug. 3 for San Diego, was an emergency starter, replacing Luke Weaver, who was scratched after cutting his right index finger on the aluminum foil cover of his clubhouse meal on Saturday night.
 
Ross (7-9), who made 22 starts with the Padres before the Cardinals claimed him on waivers last week, allowed two runs on four hits and two walks in six innings.
 
Paul DeJong hit a two-run homer in a three-run ninth to cap the scoring.
 
Jason Hammel (2-12) entered in the seventh and retired none of the four batters he faced. He was charged with three runs.
 
Jakob Junis limited the Cardinals to three singles, walked none and struck out eight before leaving after six innings with a 2-1 lead.
 
Lucas Duda singled home Salvador Perez in the third to put Kansas City up 2-1. Alex Gordon scored in the first after an error by Wisdom, the first baseman.
 
The Royals have lost nine of 10 and are 15-46 since May 30.
 
RHP Miles Mikolas will start the opener of a four-game series against the Washington Nationals at Busch Stadium.

Indians hold off White Sox 9-7

Carlos Carrasco struck out nine in seven innings, and the Cleveland Indians held off the Chicago White Sox for a 9-7 win on Sunday.
 
AL Central-leading Cleveland had a 9-1 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth, and almost blew it. Run-scoring singles by Tim Anderson and Kevan Smith trimmed the Indians' lead to 9-5 in the ninth before manager Terry Francona replaced Dan Otero with Cody Allen.
 
Adam Engel greeted the closer with a two-run triple before Allen struck out Nicky Delmonico and Yolmer Sanchez for his 23rd save in 26 chances.
 
Carrasco (14-6) allowed one run and three hits. He retired his final 16 batters.
 
The Sox will head to Detroit to begin a series with the Tigers as RHP Reynaldo Lopez will get the start.

Koepka holds off Woods to win PGA Championship

Amid relentless pandemonium, Brooks Koepka ran off three straight birdies to end the front nine and seize control. When he was tied with Adam Scott through 14 holes, with Tiger Woods one shot behind, he delivered back-to-back birdies.
 
The last one was a laser of a 4-iron from 248 yards that settled 6 feet away, sending him to a dream finish of a year that began with the 28-year-old Floridian wondering if a wrist injury that kept him out four months would ever allow him to compete again.
 
He closed with a 4-under 66 for a two-shot victory over Woods and took his place among the elite in golf. Koepka became the fifth player to win the U.S. Open and PGA Championship in the same year, joining Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen.
 
It will be impossible to overlook him now, not with the Wanamaker Trophy to go with his back-to-back U.S. Open titles. Koepka won two of the three majors he played this year, and three of his last six. Not since Woods won four in a row through the 2001 Masters has anyone won majors at such an alarming rate.
 
The crowd was enormous, louder than anything in golf this side of Augusta National or a Ryder Cup, and Woods looked closer than ever to capping his comeback from four back surgeries with another major.
 
Even with two bogeys, Woods shot 64 for his lowest final round in a major. He finished at 266, beating by three shots his best 72-hole score in a major.
 
After wasting one chance to put it away by missing consecutive birdie chances from 7 feet, Koepka kept attacking flags and ran in birdie putts of 10 feet on No. 15 and 7 feet on No. 16 to end the drama. He tapped in for par on the final hole to set the PGA Championship scoring record at 264. It also tied the major championship record that Henrik Stenson set at Royal Troon two years ago in the British Open.
 
He also joined Jordan Spieth, Woods, Nicklaus and Tom Watson as the only players with three majors before turning 30 since World War II.

Bengals beat Bears 30-27

Andy Dalton made a solid debut in Cincinnati's revamped offense, throwing for a pair of touchdowns as the Bengals beat the Chicago Bears 30-27 on Thursday night.
 
The Bengals (1-0) were last in the league on offense last season, the worst finish in franchise history. They overhauled their leaky offensive line, and coordinator Bill Lazor injected more diversity into the playbook. It showed the first time out.
 
Dalton went 6 of 8 for 103 yards, completing four passes of at least 20 yards. He also had an interception that wasn't his fault - John Ross fell on his route and Kyle Fuller returned the pickoff 47 yards to the end zone.
 
The Bengals are hoping that Ross and running back Joe Mixon - their top two picks last season - emerge in the redesigned offense during their second seasons.
 
Ross had a 20-yard catch. Mixon - moved into the starring role with Jeremy Hill gone - made the game's most impressive play. He caught a short pass, stiff-armed one defender and spun away from another for a 24-yard touchdown .
 
The Bears (0-2) rested most of their starters during a 17-16 loss to the Ravens in the Hall of Fame game, including quarterback Mitchell Trubisky . His preseason debut Thursday didn't go very well.
 
Trubisky was in for two series that netted minus-1 yard on eight plays. The Bears' only first down on those series came on Carlos Dunlap's penalty for roughing the quarterback, a late hit on Trubisky. He missed on a deep sideline pass to Kevin White on his opening throw and finished 2 of 4 for 4 yards.
 
Bears will play at Denver on Saturday, Aug. 18.

Cardinals beat Marlins 7-1

Matt Carpenter, the NL home run leader, hit a tiebreaking homer for the second consecutive night Wednesday, and the St. Louis Cardinals won their fourth series in a row by beating Miami 7-1.
 
Carpenter put St. Louis ahead with a home run leading off the sixth inning, his 31st. His eighth-inning homer Tuesday helped beat Miami 3-2, and he has homered in five of the past six games, to the delight of his teammates.
 
Carpenter, who has raised his average from .140 on May 15 to .281, has resisted analyzing the remarkable turnaround.
 
John Gant (4-4) pitched six innings and allowed one run, which scored in part because of a defensive lapse. He and three relievers combined to retire 21 batters in a row.
 
Molina hit his 15th homer in the first and doubled home two runs in the ninth . The double came after Carpenter was intentionally walked for the 11th time this year.
 
Marcell Ozuna doubled home a run in the sixth and went 6 for 11 in the series against his former team. The Cardinals improved to 13-9 under Shildt.
 
Trevor Richards (3-7) allowed three runs in 5 2/3 innings for the last-place Marlins, who have lost eight of their past nine games.
 
Following a day off, the Cardinals open a three-game series at Kansas City, with LHP Austin Gomber (1-0, 4.10 ERA) scheduled to pitch Friday.

Royals top Cubs 9-0

Heath Fillmyer allowed three singles over seven innings for his first major league win, Adalberto Mondesi and Drew Butera each drove in three, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago Cubs 9-0 Wednesday night.
 
Anthony Rizzo drilled Fillmyer (1-1) with a line drive on the left foot on his third pitch, but Fillmyer stuck around and didn't allow another hit until David Bote and Tommy La Stella singled with one out in the seventh inning.
 
Mondesi belted a 2-0 pitch from Jose Quintana for a three-run homer in the seventh. It was Mondesi's fourth home run and his first since July 15, a span of 42 at-bats.
 
Butera hit a two-run, two-out double with the bases loaded in the second inning and added a sacrifice fly during a four-run eighth.
 
Jorge Bonifacio, who entered hitting .103 in his past 16 games, Brett Phillips and Hunter Dozier each had two hits and a walk and combined to score seven runs. Bonifacio had an RBI double in the eighth, while Phillips contributed an RBI triple.
 
Quintana (10-8) dropped to 3-10 in 25 starts against the Royals. He was removed after Mondesi's homer, giving up five runs on six hits and two walks.
 
The Royals snapped a six-game losing streak.
 
After a day off, RHP Kyle Hendricks will start Friday against the Nationals at Wrigley Field.

Yankees sweep White Sox with 7-3 win

 Luis Severino pitched seven effective innings in his first win in a month, Giancarlo Stanton hit his first grand slam in four years and the New York Yankees swept the Chicago White Sox with a 7-3 victory on Wednesday night.
 
Aaron Hicks also homered as wild card-leading New York closed out a 3-4 trip with its third consecutive win. Gleyber Torres reached three times on a single and two walks.
 
The Yankees bounced back nicely after they were swept by the big league-best Red Sox, an ugly four-game set that included Severino's third straight loss. The ace right-hander was a little better this time around, striking out eight while moving into a tie for the major league lead with his career-best 15th win.
 
Severino (15-5) retired 11 in a row after the White Sox used three straight hits to open a 2-0 lead in the first. After Tim Anderson led off the fifth with his 15th homer, Severino fanned the next two batters, and Austin Romine threw out Yoan Moncada trying to steal second, ending the inning.
 
White Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito (7-9) was tagged for seven runs and six hits in five innings in his first loss in a month. He was 2-0 with a 3.42 ERA in his previous four starts.
 
Giolito unraveled for a while in the second, beginning with Torres' leadoff walk on four pitches. After Miguel Andujar struck out, the next five batters reached safely.
 
Romine and Shane Robinson had consecutive RBI singles, tying it at 2. Brett Gardner was hit by a pitch before Stanton went the other way for his 27th homer, connecting for a high-arcing drive that landed just inside the foul pole in right.
 
It was Stanton's first slam since April 18, 2014, for Miami against Seattle and No. 6 for his career. He also homered in New York's 4-3 victory Tuesday night.
 
Hicks added a leadoff drive in the fifth for his 19th homer. His previous career high was 15 last year.
 
Chicago (41-73) had won a season-high four straight before the sweep by New York (71-42). Jose Abreu and Daniel Palka each had two hits and drove in a run for the White Sox.
 
Following an off day, LHP Carlos Rodon (3-3, 2.94 ERA) starts the opener of a three-game series against Cleveland.

Carpenter's home run in 8th send Cardinals over Marlins 3-2

Matt Carpenter, who has won two of the last three NL Player of the Week awards, hit his 30th home run, a tiebreaking drive in the eighth inning that lifted the St. Louis Cardinals over the Miami Marlins 3-2 on Tuesday night.
 
Carpenter sent a shot off Elieser Hernandez (2-6) into the Cardinals bullpen in right field homering for the fourth time in five games and increased his career high for home runs. Several St. Louis relievers celebrated with their arms in the air.
 
The home run almost did not happen. Carpenter looked at a pitch thinking it was ball four, but it was called a strike setting up a 3-2 offering.
 
Carpenter also extended his streak of reaching base safely to 26 games, tying a career high and is the longest active string in the majors.
 
Paul DeJong hit a tying, two-run homer in the seventh for the Cardinals, who have won eight of 12.
 
Marcell Ozuna had a pair of hits and is 5 for 8 in his first two games at Marlins Park since being traded by Miami to St. Louis in the offseason.
 
Miles Mikolas (12-3) pitched seven innings, allowing two runs and five hits.
 
Dakota Hudson pitched the eighth for St. Louis and was aided by an impressive defensive play when center fielder Harrison Bader charged in and made a diving catch to take a hit away from Martin Prado. Bud Norris worked around a walk and a wild pitch in the ninth for his 22nd save in 25 chances.
 
Pablo Lopez pitched seven innings and issued a walk before DeJong's homer.
 
Derek Dietrich had three hits for the Marlins, who have lost seven of eight.
 
Justin Bour hit an RBI single in the Miami first after Dietrich led off with a hit. JT Riddle tripled to begin the fifth and scored on a single by Miguel Rojas.
 
RHP John Gant (3-4, 4.12 ERA) is slated to start against RHP Trevor Richards (3-6, 3.92).

Cubs 5-0 victory over Royals

Mike Montgomery continues to dominate the club that drafted him out of high school.
 
Montgomery allowed five hits over six-plus innings, David Bote drove in a career-high three runs and the Chicago Cubs beat the Kansas City Royals 5-0 Tuesday night.
 
The Cubs upped their NL Central lead to 2 ½ games over second-place Milwaukee, which lost in San Diego.
 
Montgomery (4-4), who the Royals drafted in the first round in 2008, picked up his first win since June 29. Montgomery is 3-0 with a 0.40 ERA in four appearances against the Royals.
 
Bote's first career triple with two out in the first scored Ben Zobrist and Jason Heyward. His fifth inning single scored Javier Baez.
 
Victor Caratini, who led off the inning with a single, scored on Zobrist's sacrifice fly. Zobrist left in the bottom of the inning with left hip tightness, but will likely play Wednesday.
 
Ian Happ's sacrifice fly in the eighth scored Bote with the final run.
 
Keller (4-5) was removed after six innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and three walks.
 
The Royals had only one runner past second base, when Adalberto Mondesi swiped third in the seventh.
 
The Royals have lost six straight and are 14-43 since May 30. They are tied with Baltimore for the worst record, 34-79, in the majors.
 
 LHP Jose Quintana, who is 3-9 versus the Royals, will start the series finale.

Yankees over White Sox in 13

Miguel Andujar homered and singled in the go-ahead run in the 13th inning, Sonny Gray won in his first relief outing since 2013 and the New York Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox 4-3 on Tuesday night.
 
Andujar had three hits, including a go-ahead single in the 13th, and Giancarlo Stanton added a two-run shot as New York won its second straight following a five-game skid.
 
Gray (9-8) pitched three scoreless innings in his first appearance since losing his spot in the starting rotation. He allowed a hit and a walk while striking out four. Gray hadn't come out of the bullpen since his rookie season with Oakland.
 
After Stanton's homer made it 3-1 in the 10th, Jose Abreu hit a two-run homer against Zach Britton in the bottom of the inning.
 
Didi Gregorius started the 13th-inning rally with a one-out walk against Luis Avilan (2-1). After Gleyber Torres struck out, Luke Voit singled to put runners on first and second. Andujar then singled to left, scoring Gregorius.
 
Abreu's homer was his 20th this season, making him the 18th player with least 20 homers in each of his first five seasons.
 
Yankees starter CC Sabathia struck out 12 and allowed a run over 5 2/3 innings. The left-hander became the first player 38 or older with that many strikeouts in a game since Randy Johnson on Aug. 22, 2008, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
 
White Sox starter Reynaldo Lopez took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and allowed one run and four hits in seven innings.
 
Chicago took a 1-0 lead in the third on a sacrifice fly by Abreu.
 
With one out in the fifth, Lopez appeared to lose the no-hitter and shutout on the same pitch. Kyle Higashioka hit a drive to center that looked destined for the bleachers, but center fielder Adam Engel ran back and reached well over the wall to bring it back.
 
It was the second straight night Engel has taken away an apparent home run. On Monday, he robbed Greg Bird of a potential three-run shot when he made a leaping catch in the fourth inning.
 
Aaron Hicks broke up the no-hitter with a leadoff double in the sixth.
 
Andujar's homer leading off the seventh tied it at 1.

Hamels sharp again in Cubs' 3-1 win over Royals

Javier Baez went deep, Cole Hamels pitched six strong innings and the Chicago Cubs beat the Kansas City Royals 3-1 on Monday night.
 
Baez hit the first pitch from reliever Kevin McCarthy (4-4) in the sixth inning to center for his 25th home run, putting the Cubs ahead 2-1.
 
Baez doubled in the eighth to score Jason Heyward, upping his RBI total to an NL-leading 88.
 
Hamels (7-9) is 2-0 since the Cubs acquired him in a July 27 trade with the Texas Rangers. He allowed one run and seven hits.
 
Alcides Escobar's two-out second-inning single scored Rosell Herrera for the first earned run Hamels allowed at Kauffman Stadium in four career starts, covering 21 2/3 innings.
 
Royals starter Jakob Junis worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the fifth. Ben Zobrist and Heyward hit ground ball outs to end the inning.
 
The Royals loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the inning, but Hamels retired Hunter Dozier on a grounder to first baseman Anthony Rizzo on a full-count pitch.
 
Junis was removed after five innings and 87 pitches, allowing one run and five hits while striking out eight, one shy of his career high.
 
Zobrist led off the fourth with a triple and scored on Junis' wild pitch.
 
Cubs relievers Steve Cishek, Brandon Kintzler and Pedro Strop limited the Royals to one single over the final three innings. Strop earned his eighth save in 11 chances, working a spotless ninth.
 
The Royals have lost five straight and are tied with the Baltimore Orioles for the worst record in the majors at 34-78.
 
Rain delayed the game 22 minutes in the fourth.
 
Up next will be Cubs LHP Mike Montgomery, who was a 2008 Royals' first-round pick, starts the middle game of the series.  Royals rookie RHP Brad Keller is 3-3 with a 3.90 ERA in 11 starts since moving into the rotation on May 30.

White Sox fall 7-0 Yankees

Lance Lynn pitched two-hit ball into the eighth inning in his first start with New York, and the Yankees rebounded from their tough weekend in Boston by beating the Chicago White Sox 7-0 on Monday night.
 
Lynn provided a big boost for New York after it dropped a season-high five straight games, including a four-game sweep by the major league-leading Red Sox. The series concluded with Aroldis Chapman blowing a save opportunity in a 10-inning loss at Fenway Park late Sunday night.
 
Enter Lynn (8-8), who was acquired in a trade with Minnesota on July 30 and tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings in relief in his Yankees debut Wednesday. The veteran right-hander, who replaced Sonny Gray in New York's rotation, retired 19 in a row before Nicky Delmonico led off the eighth with a single to right.
 
After Tim Anderson flied out, A.J. Cole finished the three-hitter for the AL wild-card leaders.
 
The White Sox had won a season-high four straight. Adam Engel robbed Greg Bird of a potential three-run homer with an outstanding leaping catch over the wall in center in the fourth, but Chicago was shut out for the 10th time this year.
 
Manager Rick Renteria sent infielder Matt Davidson out to the mound for the ninth, and he struck out Giancarlo Stanton while pitching a scoreless inning for the third time this season.
 
Dylan Covey (4-8) was charged with four runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings. The right-hander dropped to 1-6 in his last seven starts.
 
Covey retired his first 10 batters before Stanton walked with one out in the fourth. Didi Gregorius, Aaron Hicks and Gleyber Torres followed with three straight hits, producing two runs.
 
The Yankees added two more in the fifth, and then broke it open with three runs in the eighth against Thyago Vieira. Torres hit his 18th homer with one out, and Neil Walker added a two-run shot.
 
Yankees left-hander CC Sabathia (6-4, 3.59 ERA) and White Sox right-hander Reynaldo Lopez (4-9, 4.47 ERA) pitch tonight.

Marlins hold off Cards 2-1

Javy Guerra cleaned up a ninth-inning mess created by Barraclough, getting Yadier Molina to hit into a double play to end the Marlins' 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
 
After Wei-Yin Chen (4-8) pitched 5 2/3 innings of one-hit ball, Miami led 2-0 going into the ninth and handed the game off to Barraclough.
 
Paul DeJong and Harrison Bader opened the inning with hard-hit singles, then Yairo Munoz walked. Pinch-hitter Kolten Wong struck out looking, but Matt Carpenter drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 2-1 and end Barraclough's night.
 
Guerra got Molina, a career .309 hitter with the bases loaded, to bounce into a double play for his first save since Sept. 27, 2014 while with the Chicago White Sox.
 
Barraclough had blown his last three save chances, allowing 10 runs in 2 1/3 innings.
 
Starlin Castro had two hits, including his ninth home run for the Marlins, who returned home after a six-game winless road trip.
 
Former Miami All-Star Marcell Ozuna returned for his first game at Marlins Park after being traded to St. Louis in the offseason and went 3 for 4 tying his season-high with hits in a game.
 
Luke Weaver (6-10) allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings for St. Louis.
 
Derek Dietrich doubled to begin the game for the Marlins and scored on a check-swing hit by Brian Anderson.
 
Castro's home run to left in the fourth gave Miami a 2-0 lead.
 
With one on and one out in the seventh, Munoz grinded out a 14-pitch at-bat, but Tayron Guerrero prevailed with a groundout. Pinch-hitter Greg Garcia struck out to end the inning.
 
Ozuna beat out an infield hit in the eighth, giving Jedd Gyorko an at-bat with runners on first and second with two outs. Drew Steckenrider was able to get out of the jam as Gyorko flew out to deep center.
 
Cardinals RHP Miles Mikolas (11-3, 2.75 ERA) is scheduled to start the second game of the series as he'll face RHP Pablo Lopez (2-2, 4.67) who allowed one run in six innings his last start, a no-decision at Philadelphia.

White Sox put OF Leury Garcia on DL

The Chicago White Sox have placed outfielder Leury Garcia on the 10-day disabled list with a left hamstring strain.
 
The White Sox also optioned catcher Dustin Garneau to Triple-A Charlotte before Monday night's game against the New York Yankees. Catcher Kevan Smith was activated from the paternity list, and outfielder Ryan LaMarre was brought up from Charlotte.
 
Garcia got hurt during Sunday's 8-7 victory at Tampa Bay. Garcia, who has made at least one start at six different positions this season, is batting .280 with four homers, 31 RBIs and 11 steals.
 
The White Sox could have promoted Eloy Jimenez to replace Garcia on the roster but decided to keep the young outfielder in Charlotte for now. Jimenez has been tearing up minor league pitching this season and is regarded as one of baseball's top prospects.

White Sox sweep Rays 8-7

Daniel Palka hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the ninth inning and the Chicago White Sox completed their first three-game sweep in a year by beating the Tampa Bay Rays 8-7 on Sunday.
 
It was Chicago's first three-game sweep since Aug. 8-10, 2017 against Houston. The White Sox's last three-game road sweep occurred April 25-27, 2016 at Toronto.
 
Palka had struck out in each of his first four at-bats before connecting on his 17th homer off Diego Castillo (2-2) with two outs.
 
Hector Santiago (4-3) went the final 1 1/3 innings for the win.
 
C.J Cron had a leadoff double in the ninth off Santiago and scored one out later on Kevin Kiermaier's two-base hit. After Brandon Lowe walked, Jesus Sucre hit into a double play.
 
Tampa Bay tops the majors in one-run losses (26) and one-run games (46).
 
Avisail Garcia had a solo homer in a two-run fifth and made it 6-4 on another solo shot during the seventh for the White Sox. It was his eighth career multi-homer game.
 
Ji-Man Choi tied it at 6-all with a two-run single in the seventh, an inning that saw the White Sox use four relievers.
 
Chicago starter James Shields left with a two-run lead but was denied his first road win since opening day. The one-time Tampa Bay ace threw a season-high 114 pitches, allowing four runs, five hits and four walks over six innings.
 
Tim Anderson had two RBI singles for the White Sox.
 
Joey Wendle had three hits, including a first-inning RBI single and a solo homer in the fifth that pulled the Rays within 5-4.
 
RHP Dylan Covey (4-7) will face New York Yankees RHP Lance Lynn (7-8) tonight.

Cardinals top Pirates 2-1

Matt Carpenter homered in two straight games entering Sunday. By contrast, Jack Flaherty had allowed at least one home run in each of his previous three starts.
 
Carpenter kept his streak going while Flaherty brought his to an end to lift the St. Louis Cardinals to a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
 
Flaherty (5-6) allowed three hits with seven strikeouts and one walk in six innings. It marked the first time he completed six innings since July 3, when he surrendered four runs in six against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
 
Carpenter hit a solo home run in the fifth inning - his career-high 29th of the season, tying him with Colorado's Nolan Arenado for the NL lead - and Jedd Gyorko singled to drive in a run later that inning to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead.
 
St. Louis took the final two games of the three-game series to move past Pittsburgh into third place alone in the NL Central.
 
Bud Norris retired the side in order with two strikeouts in the ninth for his 21st save.
 
Flaherty recovered after giving up four runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings of a 6-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies in his last start.
 
He got out of trouble twice on Sunday, first when the Pirates had runners on second and third with one out. Corey Dickerson struck out and Starling Marte grounded out to end the third inning. With runners on first and third two innings later, Flaherty forced Jordan Luplow into an inning-ending double play.
 
Carpenter's home run to right with one out in the fifth ended Trevor Williams' streak of 21 1/2 innings without allowing a run. That stretched back to July 6, when Williams (9-8) gave up three runs in the third inning of a 17-5 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.
 
After the homer, Williams surrendered consecutive singles to Yadier Molina and Jose Martinez before Gyorko scored Molina with a single to left. Williams allowed those two runs on nine hits with three strikeouts in five innings.
 
Adam Frazier hit a home run off reliever Chasen Shreve to make it 2-1 in the seventh.
 
RHP Luke Weaver (6-9, 4.75) faces the Miami Marlins today.
 

Cubs lose 10-6 to Padres

Cubs ace Jon Lester was hit hard again and the San Diego Padres also battered Chicago's bullpen on their way to a 10-6 victory Sunday.
 
Cory Spangenberg put San Diego ahead to stay with a tiebreaking double off Carl Edwards Jr. (3-2) with two outs in the eighth inning. Hunter Renfroe hit a two-run homer and Travis Jankowski added a two-run single in the Padres' four-run ninth against Randy Rosario.
 
Renfroe finished with three RBIs, helping the last-place Padres salvage a split of the four-game series after they blew a four-run lead in the finale.
 
Spangenberg and Jankowski were inserted into the game as defensive replacements in the seventh inning. Craig Stammen (5-1) got the win despite allowing pinch-hitter Anthony Rizzo's tying single.
 
Lester was tagged for five runs and eight hits in five innings. The All-Star left-hander was 10-2 with a 2.18 ERA after beating the Dodgers on June 26, but has a 6.81 ERA in seven starts since that win in Los Angeles.
 
One of the biggest problems for Lester has been the long ball, and it hurt him again on Sunday. Freddy Galvis golfed a leadoff drive just over the wall in left in the second, and Franmil Reyes opened the fourth with a massive shot to center that traveled an estimated 477 feet.
 
The 34-year-old Lester has allowed at least one homer in each of his last seven starts. Getting him back on track could be the biggest key for Chicago as it tries to hold off Milwaukee in the competitive NL Central.
 
San Diego also got a two-run triple from Eric Hosmer with two outs in the second. Joey Lucchesi struck out nine in 5 2/3 innings after his start was pushed back a day due to an illness.
 
Javier Baez hit his career-best 24th homer and an RBI double for Chicago, which won five of seven in the season series against San Diego. Ben Zobrist added two hits after beginning the game on the bench, including his eighth homer in the ninth.
 
The Cubs trailed 5-1 before pushing across two runs in the fifth and seventh. Albert Almora Jr. singled in Zobrist in the seventh. After Baez struck out, Rizzo drove in Ian Happ with a perfectly placed blooper into left field.
 
 LHP Cole Hamels (6-9, 4.53 ERA) starts the opener of a three-game series at Kansas City tonight. It's Hamels' second start since he was acquired in a July 27 trade with Texas. RHP Jakob Junis (6-11, 5.12 ERA) pitches for the Royals.

Cardinals take down Rockies 6-3

Mike Shildt got a glimpse of the St. Louis Cardinals' future Wednesday night.

The interim manager was plenty encouraged by what he saw in a 6-3 win over the Colorado Rockies.

Rookie outfielder Tyler O'Neill hit a tiebreaking pinch single in the sixth inning and five rookie relievers dominated over 6 1/3 innings to lift the Cardinals.

Bader, also a rookie, had three hits and used his speed to leg out a double and set the stage for the winning tally.

St. Louis starter Luke Weaver allowed two runs in 2 2/3 innings before handing off to the bullpen. Daniel Poncedeleon followed with 2 1/3 scoreless innings, and Austin Gomber, Dakota Hudson, Jordan Hicks and Mike Mayers closed it out. Gomber (1-0) got his first career victory with a scoreless inning. Mayers allowed a run in the ninth but struck out three.

Bader doubled with one out off Kyle Freeland (9-7) to start the go-ahead rally. O'Neill followed with a run-scoring single up the middle, his first pinch hit in nine attempts, to break the 2-all tie. O'Neill was recalled from Triple-A Memphis on Tuesday.

''That was a big-time at-bat he took,'' Shildt said. ''You saw him bear down and take a nice swing. It was good to see.''

The relief corps allowed one run and two hits.

Yadier Molina added a two-run double in the eighth to push the lead to 5-2. Marcell Ozuna followed with a run-scoring hit.

The Rockies scored twice in the third, on hits by Trevor Story and Gerardo Parra.

Paul DeJong cut the early 2-0 deficit in half with an RBI hit in the third. Poncedeleon brought in Yairo Munoz with a groundout to tie it in the fourth.

Freeland gave up three runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out five and walked three.

 

St. Louis has won 17 of its last 21 at home against the Rockies.

The 3-hour, 59-minute game was the Cardinals' longest nine-inning game of the season.

Royals beat White Sox 10-5

Alex Gordon hit a two-run homer and drove in four, helping the Kansas City Royals pound the sloppy Chicago White Sox 10-5 on Wednesday night.

Gordon also walked and scored during Kansas City's five-run fifth. Brett Phillips added two hits and Ryan O'Hearn singled in a run in his second major league game as the last-place Royals posted consecutive wins for the first time since they won three in a row from July 20-22, matching their season high.

Jakob Junis (6-11) pitched 5 2/3 innings of four-run ball in his first win since May 18. The 24-year-old right-hander was 0-8 with a 6.67 ERA in his previous 10 starts.

Chicago lost for the sixth time in seven games. Yoan Moncada broke out of a slump with his fifth career leadoff homer, two hits and two walks, but he also committed one of two costly errors for the White Sox.

With one out and runners on first and second in the fifth, lumbering Kansas City catcher Salvador Perez hit a hard grounder to third. Yolmer Sanchez threw to second looking to start a double play, but the ball went off the top of Moncada's glove and into right field.

Whit Merrifield jogged home to make it 4-1 Royals. Lucas Duda, Rosell Herrera and Phillips followed with run-scoring hits, and a wild pitch brought home another run before Alcides Escobar lined to right for the final out of the inning.

Another error - this one on a bad throw by pitcher Dylan Covey (4-7) - helped set up Gordon's two-out, two-run double in the third. Covey was charged with seven runs, four earned, and five hits in 4 1/3 innings, dropping to 1-5 with an 8.89 ERA in his last six starts.

Gordon's drive to right off Tyler Danish made it 10-1 in the sixth. It was Gordon's first homer since July 10 and No. 7 on the year.

Junis, who is from Rock Hills, Illinois, about two hours west of Chicago, allowed six hits, struck out five and walked three. He surrendered five homers in 5 2/3 innings in a 6-3 loss to Chicago on April 26 in his first career appearance against the White Sox.

Junis was pulled after Leury Garcia's two-run single in the sixth. Garcia also had an RBI single in the eighth against Glenn Sparkman.

Cubs throttle Pirates 9-2

Cole Hamels had little trouble in his return to the National League, keeping the Pittsburgh Pirates in check over five innings to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 9-2 victory on Wednesday night.

Hamels (6-9), acquired in a trade with Texas last week, gave up one unearned run on three hits. The four-time All-Star struck out nine and walked two to pick up his first win for a National League team in more than three years.

Willson Contreras went 3 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs for the Cubs. Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist had three hits apiece while Kyle Schwarber and Javy Baez each added two hits and an RBI for Chicago. Reliever Brandon Kintzler worked 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief on his 34th birthday a day after arriving in a trade from Washington.

The Cubs wasted little time jumping on Pittsburgh rookie Nick Kingham (5-6), touching him for four runs in the first inning to give Hamels plenty of breathing room. Kingham needed 51 pitches to get through the first and didn't come out for the second.

Francisco Cervelli went 3 for 3 with an RBI for Pittsburgh and Starling Marte added two hits but the Pirates never threatened after falling into the early hole to lose for just the fifth time in their last 21 games.

Chicago brought in the 34-year-old Hamels to give its patchwork starting rotation a boost. The left-hander struggled at times for the Rangers this season and came in having won just twice since Memorial Day. His new teammates did their best to put him at ease, staking him to a four-run lead before he even took the mound.

The Cubs batted around in the first despite having the ball leave the infield just once. A pair of Pittsburgh errors helped, so did a wild pitch and a hit by pitch by Kingham, who is a leading candidate to lose his spot in the starting rotation after the Pirates traded for Chris Archer on Tuesday.

Steven Brault replaced Kingham in the second and fared no better, walking in a pair of runs as the Cubs quickly went up by five and cruised.

Hamels never retired Pittsburgh in order and needed 95 pitches to record 15 outs but had little trouble earning his 153rd career win and first for a National League team since pitching a complete-game shutout against the Cubs on July 25, 2015 while playing for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Pirates with 5-4 win over Cubs

Gregory Polanco hit his team-leading 19th home run, Francisco Cervelli added his 10th of the season and the Pittsburgh Pirates finished off a frantic trade deadline day with a 5-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night.
 
Hours after trading for Texas closer Keone Kela and Tampa Bay starting pitcher Chris Archer to give their postseason hopes a jolt, the Pirates won for the 16th time in 20 games by getting to Jon Lester (12-4) in the middle innings and holding on late.
 
Polanco's solo homer in the eighth gave Pittsburgh a two-run cushion. The Pirates needed it after closer Felipe Vazquez gave up a single to pinch-hitter David Bote leading off the top of the ninth and Addison Russell followed with a shot to the gap in right-center that scored Bote.
 
Russell sped to third on the play and was initially ruled safe, but the call was overturned upon review. Vazquez retired the next two batters to pick up his 24th save in 28 opportunities.
 
David Freese added a pair of RBI doubles for the Pirates, including a drive to the gap in right-center in the fifth that scored Polanco and put Pittsburgh ahead to stay.
 
Jameson Taillon (8-8) allowed three runs on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings of work, his lone mistake an offspeed pitch to Javy Baez in the fourth that Baez turned into a three-run homer that tied the game.
 
Baez finished 3 for 4, including his shot to the rotunda behind the left-field seats that boosted his season home run total to 22, but the Cubs hit into two double plays and left seven runners on base to lose for the third time in four games.
 
Lester hadn't lost on the road since falling to Cleveland on April 25. He needed 101 pitches to labor through five innings, giving up four runs on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
 
The Pirates were reeling three weeks ago but have moved into the playoff chase by posting the best record in the majors (16-4) since July 8.
 
General manager Neal Huntington splurged at the deadline, bringing in Archer and Kela while parting with young prospects in outfielder Austin Meadows and pitchers Tyler Glasnow and Taylor Hearn.
 
Huntington called the decision a difficult one but felt it was worth it with both Archer and Kela under team control through at least 2020. He stressed the moves were made to improve Pittsburgh's fortunes both now and in the future.
 
Either way, the Pirates enter August in the thick of a crowded NL playoff chase. Ten teams began play Tuesday within 5½ games of a postseason berth.
 
Cole Hamels will make his first start for the Cubs today when the teams wrap up their two-game set as he'll sqare off against Nick Kingham (5-5, 4.80 ERA).

Rockies power past Cardinals 6-3

Charlie Blackmon and Carlos Gonzalez each went deep, Gray pitched into the eighth inning and the Rockies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-3 on Tuesday night.
 
Jon Gray (9-7) has won his last four decisions, and the Rockies have won the last five games he's started. That includes three straight victories since a brief demotion to Triple-A to clear the young right-hander's head.
 
Gray struck out five over 7 1/3 innings, helping Colorado finish the month 17-6. Gray allowed three runs, two earned, with four hits and two walks.
 
Wade Davis got his 31st save in 35 opportunities with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. He saved a career-high 32 last year with the Cubs.
 
Colorado went ahead 2-1 on Blackmon's homer in the fifth. Ryan McMahon led off with a 12-pitch walk, and with two outs, Blackmon hit a 1-2 pitch into the right field bleachers. Blackmon's homer extended his hitting streak to 13 games.
 
The Rockies added two runs in the sixth to chase starter Jack Flaherty (4-6). Gonzalez walked with one out and Trevor Story doubled. Story has team-leading 69 RBIs.
 
Chasen Shreve, making his first appearance for St. Louis since coming over in a July 28 trade with the Yankees, gave up a double to Gerardo Parra.
 
Colorado's final two runs came when Gonzalez lined a homer just inside the right field foul pole off John Brebbia. Ian Desmond, who drew a one-out walk, scored ahead of Gonzalez.
 
Matt Carpenter led off with a home run, sending an 0-2 pitch into the right field seats. It was Carpenter's seventh leadoff home run this season. It was the 22nd of his career, passing Hall of Famer Lou Brock on St. Louis' career list.
 
Carpenter, who hit an MLB-leading 11 homers in July, leads the Cardinals with 26.
 
The Cardinals scored two runs in the eighth, cutting the lead to 6-3. St. Louis loaded the bases with one out against Gray. Seung Hwan Oh gave up a sacrifice fly to Carpenter, and a passed ball and throwing error by catcher Tom Murphy allowed Dexter Fowler to score.
 
Flaherty (4-6) pitched 5 1/3 innings. It marked the first time in five starts he pitched into the sixth inning. He allowed four runs, five hits and two walks. He struck out seven.
 
Kyle Freeland (9-6, 3.13) will be making his first start in St. Louis and second against the Cardinals.  The Cards will send  RHP Luke Weaver (6-9, 4.70) to the mound who will make his second career appearance against Colorado.
 

Royals beat White Sox 4-2

Ryan O'Hearn hit a two-run homer in his major league debut, helping Danny Duffy and the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 4-2 on Tuesday night.
 
Brett Phillips also hit a two-run shot for last-place Kansas City, which had dropped four of five. Duffy (7-9) pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings, rebounding nicely from a rocky start against Detroit.
 
It was Phillips' first hit since he was acquired Friday in the trade that sent third baseman Mike Moustakas to Milwaukee. Phillips had to use Hunter Dozier's bat for his Kansas City debut Sunday against the Yankees after his lumber got lost while he was flying to New York to join his new team.
 
He was reunited with his bats in time for the series opener against Chicago, and he looked quite comfortable on his fifth career homer in the seventh.
 
The White Sox lost for the fifth time in six games. They wasted prime scoring opportunities in the fourth and eighth, and another threat in the sixth was curtailed by a mental mistake by Tim Anderson - prompting manager Rick Renteria to replace the young shortstop.
 
Matt Davidson hit a two-run shot in the seventh for his eighth homer against the Royals this season. But Tim Hill got one out, Jason Hammel worked a rocky eighth and Wily Peralta finished for his sixth save.
 
O'Hearn bounced to first in his first at-bat in the second. He came up again with one out and a runner on first in the fifth, and drove a 1-0 pitch from James Shields (4-13) over the wall in right.
 
O'Hearn, an eighth-round pick in the 2014 draft, was promoted from Triple-A Omaha before the game. He turned 25 on Thursday.
 
Duffy allowed six hits, struck out seven and walked four. The left-hander went 3-2 with a 3.38 ERA in six July starts.
 
Duffy got some help when the speedy Anderson failed to run out a low liner to third baseman Rosell Herrera with runners on first and second in the sixth. Third base umpire Lance Barksdale ruled the ball hit the ground - it looked as if it might have been caught cleanly - and Herrera threw late to second.
 
But Whit Merrifield just jogged over and lobbed the ball to first baseman Lucas Duda for the final out of the inning. Renteria then put Nicky Delmonico in left and moved Leury Garcia to shortstop before the start of the seventh.
 
Jakob Junis (5-11, 5.06 ERA) and Dylan Covey (4-6, 5.40 ERA) pitch tonight.

Nationals trade reliever Kintzler to Cubs for minor leaguer

The Washington Nationals have traded reliever Brandon Kintzler to the Chicago Cubs, exactly a year after the right-hander moved in another deadline deal.
 
The NL Central-leading Cubs sent minor league pitcher Jhon Romero in the trade announced less than an hour before Tuesday's deadline.
 
Kintzler, who turns 34 on Wednesday, was 1-2 with two saves and a 3.59 ERA in 45 games this season. He had been especially tough in 14 games since coming back from the disabled list from a strained forearm.
 
Kintzler was an All-Star closer last year with Minnesota, then was traded on three weeks later on July 31 to Washington. The Nationals built up the back end of their bullpen in a postseason push, but were beaten by the Cubs in the NL Division Series.
 
Romero, a 23-year-old righty, was 1-2 with nine saves and a 3.27 ERA at Class A Myrtle Beach.
 
To make room for Kintzler on the 40-man roster, the Cubs transferred righty Justin Hancock to the 60-day disabled list.

Chicago Bulls re-sign guard Ryan Arcidiacono

The Chicago Bulls have re-signed guard Ryan Arcidiacono, giving the former Villanova standout a chance to earn a roster spot during training camp.
 
Arcidiacono, 24, split time between Chicago and the G League last season, averaging 2 points and 1.5 assists in 12.7 minutes with the Bulls. The 6-foot-3 guard also averaged 13.8 points, 5 rebounds and 8.6 assists in 37 games with the G League's Windy City Bulls, shooting 45.1 percent on 3-pointers.
 
During this year's NBA Summer League, Arcidiacono averaged and 7.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and four assists per game.
 

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