Miles Mikolas pitched eight shutout innings, Nolan Arenado hit an RBI double and Nolan Gorman drove in a run with a sacrifice fly as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Kansas City Royals 2-1 on Tuesday night to split the two-game set between the I-70 rivals.

Mikolas (4-1) matched a career-high with 10 strikeouts and allowed three hits in working a season-high eight innings. The strikeout total matched the 34-year-old right-hander's effort against Milwaukee in 2019.

The Cardinals got a run in the sixth with two outs against Carlos Hernández (0-2). Paul Goldschmidt reached first on an infield single. Arenado hit a run-scoring double to left-center. Arenado has a team-high 18 RBIs in interleague play this season.

St. Louis extended its lead to 2-0 in the eighth Gorman's sac fly off Aroldis Chapman, scoring Tommy Edman.

Zack Greinke started for the Royals but didn't figure in the decision. The 39-year-old right-hander pitched five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and a walk with six strikeouts. He ranks first in starts (526) and innings pitched (3,309 1/3), second in wins (224) and third in strikeouts (2,929) among active pitchers.

After off days Wednesday and Thursday, the Cardinals return Friday, continuing a stretch of 13 of 15 games on the road between May 22-June 7.

In a game heard on WHOW, Romy González homered in his third straight game, Andrew Vaughn drove in three runs and Chicago beat the Los Angeles Angels 7-3 on Tuesday night.

The White Sox looked as if they were headed toward their fourth straight loss after Los Angeles grabbed a 3-1 lead against Lucas Giolito (4-4). But the White Sox turned it around in a big way, scoring five runs in the fourth against Tyler Anderson (2-1).

Vaughn smacked a three-run double to put Chicago on top. González, a utility player, drove him in with a double, stole third and scored when Urshela allowed catcher Chad Wallach’s throw to wind up in left field, stretching it to 6-3. He made it a four-run game with a solo homer in the sixth against Chase Silseth.

Luis Robert Jr. and Jake Burger each had three hits, and the White Sox came out on top despite a shaky start by Giolito. The right-hander lasted five innings, giving up three runs and four hits.

White Sox RHP Lance Lynn (4-5, 5.83 ERA) looks to win his fourth straight start Wednesday, while the Angels go with RHP Jaime Barría (1-2, 1.55). Lynn has a 1.89 ERA in his past three outings. Barría is set to make his second start and 13th appearance.

Nico Hoerner homered and Chicago made the most of a rare gaffe by Tampa Bay, handing Shane McClanahan his first loss of the season with a 2-1 victory over the Rays on Tuesday night.

The game was tied at 1 when Ian Happ led off the sixth with a shallow fly ball that dropped between Tampa Bay second baseman Brandon Lowe and right fielder Josh Lowe in a miscommunication between the fielders.

Happ hustled into second with a double. After Seiya Suzuki struck out and Trey Mancini bounced to second, Mike Tauchman hit a tiebreaking RBI single into left field.

That was enough for Chicago, which topped the majors' best team for the second straight day after entering the series with a four-game losing streak.

Julian Merryweather (1-0), Mark Leiter Jr. and Adbert Alzolay combined for four innings of one-hit ball in relief of Kyle Hendricks. Merryweather earned his first major league win, and Alzolay got six outs for his second save.

Hendricks yielded six hits, struck out three and walked three in five innings. It was his second start of the season after he was sidelined by a right shoulder strain.

Cubs OF Cody Bellinger (left knee contusion) was scheduled for cage work and throwing. 

Rays right-hander Zach Eflin (7-1, 3.17 ERA) faces Cubs left-hander Justin Steele (6-2, 2.77 ERA) in the series finale on Wednesday afternoon. Eflin is 3-0 with a 3.60 ERA in his last three starts. Steele is coming off his worst outing of the season, yielding five earned runs and 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings in a 9-0 loss to Cincinnati.

NASCAR suspended Chase Elliott for one race on Tuesday, one day after the five-time most popular driver and former Cup champion deliberately wrecked Denny Hamlin in the Coca-Cola 600.

Hendrick Motorsports said in a statement it will not appeal the suspension and Corey Lajoie will replace Elliott in the No. 9 Chevrolet this weekend at Gateway, outside of St. Louis.

Elliott denied deliberately crashing Hamlin with a dangerous left hook into Hamlin’s car during the rain-rescheduled race Monday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Hamlin countered with simulated data he posted on social media after the crash, then double-downed on calls for Elliott to be suspended on his Tuesday podcast.

Hamlin owns the car driven by Bubba Wallace, who was suspended one race last year for deliberately hooking Kyle Larson in a race in Las Vegas. The move is considered one of the most dangerous in NASCAR.

Corey LaJoie, the driver of the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro for Spire Motorsports, announced on social media Tuesday he will slide into the No. 9 for Hendrick Motorsports Sunday. 

In a game heard on WHOW, Matt Thaiss and Brandon Drury homered during a fast start for the Angels, who graciously welcomed Hendriks back to the majors before holding off the Chicago White Sox for a 6-4 victory Monday night.

Drury hit a three-run shot and Thaiss followed with another drive during a four-run first inning against a shaky Michael Kopech. Griffin Canning (4-2) struck out nine in six innings, and Mike Trout finished with two hits.

Hendriks pitched the eighth in his first big league appearance since he was diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The crowd of 23,599 roared when he walked out to the bullpen after the fourth, and then saluted the All-Star closer with a standing ovation when he entered the game.

Hendriks stood behind the mound and soaked in the scene as the crowd cheered. The Angels also applauded, and Thaiss waited before stepping into the batter’s box - giving Hendriks more time to appreciate the moment.

The Angels scored two runs on Zach Neto’s sacrifice fly and Trout’s RBI single, but the crowd still cheered as Hendriks walked to dugout when the inning was over.

Eloy Jiménez, Andrew Vaughn and Romy González homered for Chicago in its third consecutive loss. Kopech (3-5) struck out 10 in 4 1/3 innings, but he also hit two batters, threw two wild pitches and walked two.

After Canning departed, Ben Joyce pitched an impressive seventh in his big league debut for the Angels. He struck out two on sinkers of 101.8 mph and 100.6 mph.

Carlos Estévez got three outs for his 13th save. Jiménez hit a leadoff homer and Chicago put two on with one out, but pinch-hitter Jake Burger popped out and Yasmani Grandal was robbed of a hit on a diving play by Neto.

Angels slugger Shohei Ohtani was shaken up after he was hit on his right shin by a pitch in the first. He stayed in the game after he was visited by a trainer and Nevin.

With Trout on third and Ohtani on second following a wild pitch, Drury drove a 1-0 fastball deep to left-center for his ninth homer. Thaiss then made it 4-0 with a 414-foot shot to center.

Chicago got one back on Jiménez's two-out RBI single in the first, extending his hitting streak to 10 games. Vaughn went deep in the fourth and González connected in the fifth.

Angels left-hander Tyler Anderson (2-0, 4.81 ERA) and White Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito (3-4, 3.98 ERA) take the mound on Tuesday night. Anderson pitched six innings of one-run ball in a 7-3 win against Boston last week. Giolito is 2-2 with a 4.57 ERA in his last four starts.

Marcus Stroman threw a one-hitter, and the Chicago Cubs beat the major league-leading Tampa Bay Rays 1-0 on Monday.

Stroman (5-4) dazzled in his fourth complete game and second shutout in nine major league seasons. His only other shutout was against the Cubs during his 2014 rookie season with Toronto.

Stroman set a season high with 105 pitches and matched one with eight strikeouts. The right-hander walked one in winning his third straight start and helped the Cubs bounce back from a weekend sweep by Cincinnati.

The only hit Stroman allowed was when Wander Franco delivered a flare for a clean single to left leading off the seventh. Stroman walked Brandon Lowe and got out of that jam by getting Randy Arozarena to fly out and Josh Lowe to ground into a double play. The only other Rays runner to reach base was when Luke Raley was hit by a pitch leading off the third.

The shutout was the sixth this season for Chicago. Stroman was the first Cubs pitcher to go the distance without allowing a run since Alec Mills' no-hitter at Milwaukee on Sept. 13, 2020.

Stroman made a neat play in the second when he snagged Taylor Walls’ comebacker and flipped the ball from his glove to his throwing hand before delivering an underhand toss to first for the out.

When it came to hits, there weren't many close calls before Franco's single. And he ended the game by retiring Franco on a grounder to first, just the third shutout against the Rays this year.

The Cubs got their run in the fourth when Seiya Suzuki led off with a single, took second on a wild throw by third baseman Taylor Walls and scored on Mike Tauchman’s sacrifice fly. 

Rays LHP Shane McClanahan (8-0, 1.97 ERA) looks to increase his major league-leading win total, while Cubs RHP Kyle Hendricks (0-1, 6.23) makes his second start since returning from a capsular tear in his right shoulder.

Josh Staumont and Mike Mayers came within six outs of the first combined perfect game in major league history before Nolan Arenado lined a leadoff single in the eighth inning of the Kansas City Royals' 7-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday.

St. Louis was shut out for the sixth time and has scored 13 runs in its last six games.

Adam Wainwright (2-1) allowed three runs and nine hits in five innings for the Cardinals, playing their 18th game in a stretch of 19 days in a row. The Cardinals and the Royals have back-to-back days off Wednesday and Thursday.

Zack Greinke (1-5, 4.55) starts Tuesday for the Royals and RHP Miles Mikolas (3-1, 4.23) for the Cardinals. Grienke is 13-7 with a 3.48 ERA against St. Louis. Mikolas pitched a four-hit shutout in his only game against the Royals on May 21, 2018.

Ryan Blaney held off William Byron to win the rescheduled Coca-Cola 600 on Monday at Charlotte Speedway, giving team owner Roger Penske a sweep of the Memorial Day weekend’s top races in the United States.

Blaney took the lead from Byron on a restart and led the final 26 laps to win his first Cup Series race since the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona in August of 2021.

Byron finished second, followed by Martin Truex Jr., Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick.

The 5 1/2-hour race included five wrecks in the final 50 laps, including one with 26 to go when last week's All-Star race winner Kyle Larson spun and took out defending Cup champion Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell.

Blaney had passed Byron on the previous restart, and then got the jump on him again on the final restart and ran away with the checkered flag.

It was a rain-soaked weekend at Charlotte, which washed out practice and qualifying and postponed the race to Monday. That meant drivers began the race without ever having turned a lap in the NextGen cars at the 1.5-mile oval for the first time in Coca-Cola 600 history.

More rain caused the race to be red-flagged for nearly an hour after 158 laps, making the longest Cup race of the year even longer.

Defending race champion Denny Hamlin was left fuming after his day ended with a wreck on lap 186, prompting him to call for NASCAR to suspend its most popular driver Chase Elliott.

Hamlin claimed the Hendrick Motorsports driver intentionally wrecked him by hooking his right rear bumper following a dust-up earlier in the race.

Elliott denied intentionally wrecking Hamlin in retaliation.

Hamlin wasn't the only one fired up.

During the rain delay television cameras caught Aric Almirola throwing punches at Wallace after the two exchanged words. Wallace refused to say what sparked the altercation, and said he wasn't surprised at what unfolded.

Kevin Harvick finished 11th in his final Coca-Cola 600.

Alex Bowman returned to the No. 48 Chevy after missing a month with a fractured vertebra and managed to complete all 400 laps. Bowman finished 12th.

The Cup Series heads to Madison, Illinois, on Sunday, where 2022 Cup champion Joey Logano outdueled Kyle Busch in overtime to win the inaugural race at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Remember WHOW is your home for Chicago White Sox baseball. Our next broadcast is tonight at 6:30pm versus the Los Angeles Angels.
 

José Ramírez hit a two-run double with two out in the ninth inning, lifting the Cleveland Guardians to a 4-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.

Ramírez’s clutch hit off Ryan Helsley (3-4) rolled to the wall in right-center, scoring Myles Straw and Steven Kwan, who had drawn one-out walks.

Helsley retired Andrés Giménez to start the ninth, but walked both Straw and Kwan on four pitches. Amed Rosario was retired on a fly ball before Ramírez delivered.

Xzavion Curry (1-0) pitched three scoreless innings for his first major league win.

Paul Goldschmidt hit one of three solo homers for St. Louis in the fifth inning. Goldschmidt, Arenado and Alec Burleson each had two hits.

The Cardinals trailed 1-0 before breaking out in the fifth against Hunter Gaddis.

Burleson led off with a shot to right for his fourth homer. After Tommy Edman flied out, Andrew Knizner hit a drive to left for his fourth homer. Lars Nootbaar then grounded out before Goldschmidt's 10th homer capped the rally.

Nolan Gorman’s single chased Gaddis, who allowed five hits in 4 2/3 innings.

St. Louis left-hander Jordan Montgomery was charged with two runs and seven hits in five-plus innings. The Cardinals have dropped his last eight starts.

Cardinals reliever Génesis Cabrera worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth by getting pinch-hitter Will Brennan to bounce into a double play.

Matt McLain had a career-high four hits in his 12th big league game, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the slumping Chicago Cubs 8-5 on Sunday for a three-game series sweep.

Spencer Steer hit a two-run homer in Cincinnati's fourth win in its last five games. Kevin Newman reached five times on two singles and three walks, and Nick Senzel had two hits and two RBIs.

Patrick Wisdom homered twice and drove in five runs in Chicago's fourth straight loss. He hit a three-run shot in the second and a two-run drive in the eighth in his eighth career multihomer game.

Cincinnati starter Graham Ashcraft (3-3) pitched five innings of three-run ball in his first win since April 15. The right-hander was 0-3 with a 12.98 ERA in his previous four starts.

Alexis Díaz worked the ninth for his 12th save. Dansby Swanson singled with one out, but Díaz struck out Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki to close it out.

Cubs left-hander Drew Smyly (5-2) permitted five runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings in his first loss since April 3. He went 5-0 with a 2.13 ERA in his previous nine starts.

Cincinnati went ahead to stay with two runs in the fifth. TJ Friedl had a pinch-hit RBI single, and Newman's bases-loaded walk in a 13-pitch at-bat against Jeremiah Estrada brought home another run.

Steer's seventh homer drove in Jonathan India and gave the Reds a 7-3 lead in the sixth. Senzel added an RBI double in the eighth.

Clinton science teacher and baseball coach John Hickman has sat in the same middle-school-sized school desk chair in the Maroons dugout for over 25 years as the baseball coach of Clinton High School.

It's a seat that's treated the Maroons' head man well in that time. A front row spot for five Sectional Championship appearances, several Okaw Valley Conference titles, and numerous skilled athletes that went on to incredible things at the next level. 

In Coach Hickman's tenure, five players have gone on to play Division I baseball while numerous others have made the next level. He says each of those individuals had to work very hard to become the type of player that reached that level of success. 

While many in the community know Coach Hickman for his baseball coaching, many more in the community and across the country know him for his teaching and impact in the classroom. As a biology teacher, Hickman says it was simply his goal to effectively teach students and get them to enjoy learning.

Many programs, including Clinton, have struggled to keep up numbers in their baseball programs. While it's not just baseball, Coach Hickman lays out some of the unique challenges facing youth baseball in America today.

Coach Hickman has compiled over 300 wins at Clinton High School. When the Maroons beat Argenta-Oreana 11-1 on May 3, that was Coach Hickman's 300th win. 

Coach Hickman has a busy summer coming up with family milestones on the calendar but hopes when it all settles he might be able to give golfing a try and is hoping a chance to help coach at Millikin University might work out for him. 

Alex Faedo struck out a career-high 10 batters in six innings and the Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox 7-2 on Thursday night.

Hear tonight's action on WHOW.

Nolan Gorman hit a tiebreaking double in the eighth inning and scored on a wild pitch, helping the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds 2-1 on Thursday for their 13th win in 18 games.

Miles Mikolas (3-1) won his third straight decision, allowing five hits over seven scoreless innings, which matched his season high. He struck out five and walked none.

Giovany Gallegos gave up a two-out RBI single to Stuart Fairchild in the ninth before striking out Luke Maile for his fifth save in six chances.

Matthew Liberatore (1-0) is to start Friday’s series opener at Cleveland in his second start an third appearance this season.

Pete Alonso launched his major league-leading 19th home run and Carlos Carrasco earned his first win this season as the New York Mets routed the Chicago Cubs 10-1 on Thursday to avoid a three-game sweep.

Brett Baty knocked in New York's first two runs and the Mets pounded out 15 hits on a chilly night at Wrigley Field to ruin Kyle Hendricks’ season debut for the Cubs in his return from a serious shoulder injury.

Jeff McNeil had three hits and scored three times. New York got four straight base hits with two outs in a three-run third inning and took a 4-1 lead on Starling Marte's two-run single.

Alonso added a two-run homer in the seventh and Brandon Nimmo laced a two-run triple in a three-run eighth.

Dansby Swanson homered in the first off Carrasco (1-2), who pitched 6 2/3 effective innings in his fifth start this year and second since missing about a month with an elbow injury.

Justin Steele (6-1, 2.20) opposes Cincinnati RHP Hunter Greene (0-4, 4.68) when the Cubs host the Reds.

Marcus Ericsson held off Pato O’Ward after a late restart and won under caution to give Chip Ganassi Racing its fifth Indy 500 victory. 

The 107th running of the Indy 500 runs Sunday morning. Alex Palou inherited the lead on Lap 65, then drove away from the pack to win the Indianapolis Grand Prix by 16.8006 seconds over Pato O’Ward.

Race time is 10 am Sunday morning.

Kyle Larson rallied from the rear to win the non-points All-Star Race in the series’ return to historic North Wilkesboro Speedway for the first time since 1996. 

The cup series takes its annual Memorial Day Weekend place at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca Cola 600. Denny Hamlin needed overtime to earn his first win in 31 starts at the track. He led three times for 15 laps after starting on the pole, including the final lap last year. 

The second half of the regular season begins with Ross Chastain atop the standings but still seeking his first victory. Christopher Bell is second, 27 points back, followed by Kevin Harvick (-29) and Denny Hamlin (-36). 23XI teammates Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick were second and third in the All-Star Race, respectively.

Race time is 5 pm Sunday evening.

Kyle Larson outmuscled John Hunter Nemechek in the final lap to win at Darlington. He earned his first series win this season and 14th career as the Xfinity Series returns this week at Charlotte. 

Josh Berry earned his fourth career victory, leading the final 23 laps and five times for 89 laps overall last year at Charlotte. Race time is noon Saturday afternoon. 

Kyle Larson substituted for an injured Alex Bowman and won the Tyson 250 in overtime at North Wilkesboro. He led 138 of 252 laps as the Craftsman Truck Series heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend. 

Larson’s Trucks win kicked off a successful weekend highlighted by his All-Star Race victory. Ty Majeski was second, Matt DiBenedetto third and Carson Hocevar fourth. Points leader Corey Heim finished sixth after starting on the pole to hold a seven-point edge over Majeski in the standings with Zane Smith 16 back.

Last year, Ross Chastain passed Christian Eckes late and held off Grant Enfinger for the victory.

Race time is 7:30 pm tonight.

Formula One heads the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix Sunday morning at 8 am. 

Michael Kopech struck out nine and allowed two hits over seven dominant innings, and Romy González had a two-run double for the Chicago White Sox in a 6-0 victory over the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday.

Kopech (3-4), who retired the first 16 batters in his last start against Kansas City, did not allow a baserunner until Josh Naylor singled leading off the fifth. He walked one and extended his shutout streak to 15 innings in his last two outings, helping Chicago climb to 21-30 - a game behind Cleveland for third in the AL Central.

The Guardians only pushed one player into scoring position and were blanked for the sixth time. Andrés Giménez had the other hit off Kopech, who held the Royals and Cleveland to a combined three singles while striking out 19 in back-to-back wins.

In the month of May, Kopech is 3-1 with a 1.99 ERA in five starts, striking out 33 while surrendering just 13 hits in 31 2/3 innings. The turnaround has been dramatic after posting an 0-3 record and 7.01 ERA in April.

González’s drive into the right-field corner highlighted a five-run fourth against Guardians starter Cal Quantrill (2-3). Jake Burger and Zavala added sacrifice flies in the inning as the White Sox went up by six.

Reynaldo López and Jimmy Lambert wrapped up the combined four-hitter for Chicago, which is 7-2 since falling a season-low 14 games below .500 on May 14. The White Sox won their third straight series by taking two of three from the Guardians.

Quantrill entered the year with a perfect 14-0 record at Progressive Field but lost for the third time in four home decisions. The right-hander went four innings, giving up four hits and a season-high six earned runs, one of them on a wild pitch.

Giménez had a pair of hits and was thrown out trying to advance for the Guardians, who are 12-22 after starting the season with a 9-6 record. The defending AL Central champions have lost six of their eight home series.

Tim Anderson singled home Clint Frazier in the third to open the scoring. Former Cleveland first-round pick Frazier had two runs, singled and stole a base.

White Sox OF Luis Robert Jr. (right quadriceps) was held out of the lineup after exiting the game Tuesday, but doesn’t plan on missing additional time. 

White Sox RHP Lucas Giolito (3-3, 3.62 ERA) works Thursday against Detroit as the teams begin a four-game set at Comerica Park.

Illinois was eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament after a 6-3 loss to [6] Michigan (27-27) on Wednesday night at Charles Schwab Field Omaha.

The Wolverines opened the scoring with five runs in the bottom of the third to take a 5-0 lead.

Illinois got back into the contest by putting up a three-spot in the top of the sixth. Cam McDonald, Drake Westcott and Camden Janik started the frame with three-straight singles to load the bases with nobody out. Ryan Moerman picked up an RBI with a groundout to first to get the Illini on the board. Jacob Schroeder followed with a line-drive single back up the middle to score Westcott and put runners on the corners. Brody Harding then dropped in a bunt single to score Janik and cut the Michigan lead to two.

Jack Crowder kept Illinois in the ballgame by keeping the Wolverines off the board in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Crowder struck out five along the way, including big punchouts to end the sixth and seventh.

Michigan would tack on another run in the eighth to make it 6-3 and Illinois would go down in order in the ninth to end the game.

McDonald finished 2-for-4 with a run scored and finishes his Illini career among program leaders in games played (220, T-7th), games started (219, 5th) hits (255, 8th) and RBI (163, 9th).

Westcott went 2-for-4 with a run scored. 

The Fighting Illini finish the season with a 25-27 record and went 12-12 during Big Ten play.

Ben Lively earned his first victory as a starter since 2017, Kevin Newman drove in three runs and Cincinnati had its highest hit total in almost a year in a 10-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night.

Rookie shortstop Matt McClain hit the second homer of his big league career and Spencer Steer had a career-best four hits with two RBIs for Cincinnati, which pounded out 18 hits, the team's highest total since posting 20 against the Chicago Cubs last May 26.

Lively's last win as a starter came as a member of the Phillies on Sept. 29, 2017, against the Mets. A fourth-round draft pick by the Reds in 2013, Lively spent time with the Phillies and two seasons as a reliever for the Royals before a two-year stint in South Korea.

Lively (2-2) worked six innings, allowing five hits and two walks while striking out eight. It was the 31-year-old right-hander's longest effort since April 20, 2018, when he also went six inning for the Phillies in a 2-1 win over Pittsburgh.

The Cardinals' Brendan Donovan and Lars Nootbaar homered, hitting leadoff shots in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively.

St. Louis left-hander Steven Matz remained winless after giving up up four runs in the first inning. Matz (0-6) allowed a season-high 11 hits and matched a season high by allowing six earned runs.

St. Louis second baseman Nolan Gorman extended his career-best hitting streak to 14 games with a single in the third.

Reds RHP Luke Weaver (1-2, 6.54) will make his first start against his former team, while Cardinals RHP Miles Mikolas (2-1, 4.77) is looking for his first win at Great American Ball Park since April 14, 2018.

Marcus Stroman pitched eight efficient innings in his second straight win, leading the Cubs to a 4-2 victory over the New York Mets on Wednesday night.

Nico Hoerner homered in Chicago's second consecutive victory since coming home after a 2-7 trip. Seiya Suzuki also drove in a run with a double off Japanese countryman Kodai Senga.

Stroman (4-4) threw just 88 pitches in his longest outing of the season, 59 for strikes. The right-hander allowed four hits, struck out three and walked two.

Francisco Álvarez hit a two-run shot in the third, but that was it for the Mets. Stroman helped himself by starting a 1-6-3 double play in the sixth, and then pounded his chest in celebration.

On a windy, cool night at Wrigley Field, Mark Leiter Jr. worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save.

Senga (4-3) labored through five innings for New York, allowing three runs and six hits. Coming off a dominant performance against Tampa Bay, the rookie right-hander struck out six and issued a season-high five walks.

After Álvarez connected for his sixth homer, Chicago responded with three runs in the bottom half of the third. Dansby Swanson doubled home Hoerner, and Suzuki added a two-out RBI double off the wall in left. Suzuki then scored on Mike Tauchman's single.

Hoerner connected for his third homer in the sixth against Drew Smith. It was his first homer in his fifth game since returning from a left hamstring strain.

Chicago's Christopher Morel extended his hitting streak to his first 13 games this season with an infield hit in the fifth. But his homer streak ended at five games.

Kyle Hendricks will come off the injured list and start Thursday night for Chicago. Hendricks had been sidelined by a right shoulder strain. He hasn't appeared in a big league game since July 5. Jameson Taillon was slated to pitch for the Cubs, but he was pushed back to Saturday against Cincinnati. 

Carlos Carrasco (0-2, 8.68 ERA) is making his second start for New York since he was sidelined for more than a month by right elbow inflammation.

NASCAR has opened an investigation into how a derogatory message was broadcast on the radio channel of Bubba Wallace’s race team during last weekend's All-Star race.

Wallace, NASCAR's only Black driver in the Cup series, had just finished Sunday's race at North Wilkesboro Speedway when a person not on the 23XI Racing team said over the radio, “Go back to where you came from” and then added another non-racial expletive.

NASCAR spokesman Mike Forde said Wednesday the series immediately had its security and racing electronic teams look into the hack. He said Wallace did not hear the remark.

Forde said NASCAR is trying to determine who cracked Wallace's radio communications and how it was done, as well the best method toward preventing it from happening in the future.

Forde said the investigation was ongoing and would have happened no matter the nature of the comment.

NASCAR had already said earlier this week there were no plans to penalize Wallace after he appeared to make an obscene gesture on camera before a live interview with Fox Sports.

Alex Bowman has been cleared to return to racing this weekend for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway after missing four events with a fractured vertebra.

Bowman was injured April 25 while competing in a sprint car race in Hendrick Motorsports' teammate Kyle Larson's new racing series in West Burlington, Iowa. He was NASCAR's Cup Series points leader at the time of his injury and has dropped to 17th in the standings while sidelined.

NASCAR has granted Bowman a waiver to participate in the playoffs should he qualify. He is five points out of the 16th and final qualifying position with 13 races remaining in the regular season.

Bowman on Tuesday drove a Cup car for 170 laps during a NASCAR-approved medical evaluation test at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

Josh Berry subbed for Bowman in all three points races Bowman missed with a best result of 10th at Dover on April 30. He also competed in Sunday’s non-points NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro, finishing 15th after winning the All-Star Open.

Berry, 32, drives full-time for Hendrick Motorsports affiliate JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Seventh-seeded Illinois (25-26) fell to [2] Indiana (41-16), 4-3, in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament on Tuesday at Charles Schwab Field Omaha.

The Illini were locked into a pitcher's duel early with starter Jack Wenninger holding the Hoosiers scoreless through the first four innings of the ballgame. Wenninger struck out four and stranded three baserunners.

Illinois found the breakthrough in the top half of the fifth when Danny Doligale led off the inning with a walk and Branden Comia brought him home with an RBI-double into the right-center gap to make it 1-0.

Indiana would take the lead the bottom of the fifth by scoring twice. The Illini would send just one batter over the minimum against the Hoosiers from the sixth to the eighth, picking up just one hit against Hoosier pitching during that stretch.

TJ Constertina and Joe Glassey combined for 2.2 scoreless, and hitless, innings in relief to keep the Illini in the game, but the Hoosiers would make it a three-run game by scoring two more times in the eighth to make it a 4-1 contest.

Illinois attempted a furious rally in the ninth, which began with a two-out infield single from pinch-hitter Coltin Quagliano. Comia then worked a walk in a lengthy at-bat to load the bases for Cam McDonald. McDonald would reach on an error that would result in two runs scoring to make it a 4-3 game, but the Illini would leave runners on the corners to end the game.

Comia went 1-for-3 with a double, RBI and two walks, extending his season-high hitting streak to 12 games. 

The Fighting Illini will now face [6] Michigan in an elimination game tonight at 7:00 p.m. CT.

In a game heard on WHOW, Romy González's two-run double broke a seventh-inning tie to help Dylan Cease get his first win since April 10 as the White Sox, who opened the season so miserably, rallied for a 4-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday night.

González snapped a 2-2 tie with his first double this season, a hard shot off rookie Logan Allen (1-2), who was probably left in the game one batter too many by manager Terry Francona.

Yasmani Grandal homered for the White Sox, who started 7-21 but have won six of eight to stay within striking distance in the wide open and winnable AL Central.

Chicago's win was tainted with some concern as center fielder Luis Robert Jr. left in the eighth inning with soreness in his right hip/quadriceps area and is day to day. He leads the White Sox with 13 homers.

Cease (3-3) had gone eight starts since his last win at Minnesota last month. The right-hander allowed five hits in six innings, Keynan Middleton and Joe Kelly pitched an inning apiece and Kendall Graveman worked the ninth for his fourth save.

Rookie Will Brennan hit a solo homer for the Guardians, who have scored four runs or fewer in seven of eight games.

Josh Naylor's RBI double in the sixth gave Cleveland a 2-1 lead, but the White Sox countered with three runs in the seventh.

Allen gave up a leadoff single to Andrew Vaughn and Andrew Benintendi doubled. Grandal followed with a chopper that star third baseman José Ramírez misplayed for an error that allowed Vaughn to score.

White Sox OF Eloy Jiménez (appendectomy) will begin a rehab assignment at Double-A Birmingham this week. Manager Pedro Grifol said Jiménez will play the outfield and DH before being recalled. He's been out since May 6. 

Chicago RHP Michael Kopech (2-4, 4.83) starts the series finale against Cal Quantrill (2-2, 4.06).

Paul Goldschmidt homered in his first two at-bats and Adam Wainwright earned his first victory over Cincinnati since 2019 as the Cardinals defeated the Reds 8-5 on Tuesday night.

Since starting the season 10-24, the Cardinals have won 12 of their last 16 games.

Goldschmidt hit solo homers in the first and third innings off Reds starter Graham Ashcraft. He has nine home runs this season and has had three multi-homer games this year and 26 in his career.

Wainwright (2-0) earned his first victory over the Reds since Aug. 16, 2019, also at Great American Ball Park. He hasn’t beaten the Reds at home since 2016, and his 17 career losses against Cincinnati are his most against any opponent.

Wainwright had two strikeouts and a walk in 5 2/3 innings. He allowed eight hits and five earned runs. The Cardinals’ offense gave him a big boost on Tuesday.

In addition to Goldschmidt's early blasts, Tommy Edman hit a two-run triple that helped the Cardinals build a 7-3 lead in the fourth.

The Cardinals' Nolan Gorman singled in the third inning, extending his career-best hitting streak to 13 games.

Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado and manager Oliver Marmol were ejected for arguing a called strike in the third inning.

Reds rookie shortstop Matt McClain hit his first career homer in the third inning. Cincinnati had the bases loaded with two outs in the ninth. But Ryan Helsley got Jonathan India to ground into a force play for his sixth save.

Ashcraft (2-3) had allowed two or less runs in his first six starts, the first Reds pitcher to do that since Luis Castillo in 2019. But, he has averaged more than six runs allowed in every start since.

Ashcraft gave up 10 hits and seven earned runs in five innings. He struck out five and didn't allow a walk.

Ben Lively (1-2, 2.45) is facing the Cardinals for the first time. LHP Steven Matz (0-5, 5.05) hasn't allowed more than three runs in any of his four starts against the Reds.

Christopher Morel extended his homer streak to five games, helping the Chicago Cubs cool off the New York Mets with a 7-2 victory Tuesday night.

Matt Mervis and Seiya Suzuki also connected for the Cubs in the opener of a nine-game homestand. Dansby Swanson and Yan Gomes each had a run-scoring single, and Drew Smyly pitched four-hit ball into the sixth inning.

Morel hit a solo shot against Stephen Nogosek in the seventh, becoming the first player with a five-game homer streak for Chicago since Sammy Sosa in June 1998. Morel, another Dominican Republic native, was born a year later, in June 1999.

It was the ninth homer in 12 games for Morel, who was recalled from Triple-A Iowa on May 8. 

New York had won five in a row - all by one run. But Tylor Megill (5-3) turned in his worst start of the season and Tommy Pham committed a costly error, sending manager Buck Showalter to the loss on his 67th birthday.

Pete Alonso hit his big league-best 18th homer for the Mets, who dropped to 13-15 in a majors-high 28 road games.

Suzuki opened the Cubs' four-run second with a leadoff drive to center for his fifth homer in his last eight games. Gomes added a two-out RBI single on a high chopper to third, and Mervis made it 4-0 with a two-run shot for his first homer at Wrigley since he was brought up from Iowa on May 5.

Mervis and Swanson tacked on two-out RBI singles in the fourth. Mervis drove in Mike Tauchman, who reached second when his leadoff liner was dropped by Pham in left.

Megill was charged with six runs, four earned, and six hits in 3 2/3 innings. The 6-foot-7 right-hander was 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA in his previous two starts.

New York had a chance to get back in the game when Smyly (5-1) was replaced by Jeremiah Estrada with the bases loaded and no outs in the sixth. But Estrada limited the damage to one run on Alonso's grounder to third.

Cubs RHP Kyle Hendricks (shoulder strain) likely will return to Chicago's rotation at some point during the team's nine-game homestand. He hasn't pitched in a big league game since July 5. 

OF Cody Bellinger (left knee contusion) tracked pitches in the bullpen after doing some light drill work during the team's series in Philadelphia. 

Right-handers Kodai Senga (4-2, 3.77 ERA) and Marcus Stroman (3-4, 3.05 ERA) pitch on Wednesday night. Senga is coming off a dominant performance for New York, striking out 12 while throwing six innings of one-run ball in a no-decision against Tampa Bay. Stroman is 1-2 with a 4.35 ERA in four May starts for Chicago.

Mike Zunino connected for a two-run homer in the eighth inning to help Hunter Gaddis get his first major league win and lead the Cleveland Guardians over the Chicago White Sox 3-0 on Monday night.

Hear tonight's action on WHOW.

Nick Senzel hit a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning and the Cincinnati Reds snapped a four-game losing streak Monday night, cooling off the St. Louis Cardinals with a 6-5 victory.

Spencer Steer launched an early two-run homer and scored the winning run for the Reds. Ian Gibaut (4-1) struck out two in a hitless 10th to keep it tied.

Paul DeJong homered and drove in four runs for the Cardinals, who had won 11 of 14 since a 10-24 start.

St. Louis had the bases loaded in the ninth and two runners aboard in the 10th, but failed to score.

Steer began the bottom of the 10th as the automatic runner at second base. He advanced to third on a wild pitch by Helsley (2-3) and scored on Senzel's deep fly to right field.

Cincinnati jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first on an RBI double by Matt McLain and an RBI single by Tyler Stephenson.

DeJong hit a three-run homer off rookie left-hander Brandon Williamson in the second. It was DeJong’s fourth homer in six games.

Williamson made his second career appearance after an impressive debut Tuesday at Coors Field when he retired 14 consecutive batters in a no-decision.

In the third, Steer’s two-run homer off left-hander Jordan Montgomery put the Reds back ahead.

Montgomery is winless in his past eight appearances.

Pinch-hitter Lars Nootbaar tied it 4-all with an RBI double in the fifth.

The Reds took a 5-4 lead in the bottom half on a run-scoring groundout by Wil Myers. St. Louis tied it in the eighth when Nolan Gorman doubled to extend his career-best hitting streak to 12 games and scored on DeJong’s double.

Graham Ashcraft (2-2, 4.84 ERA) has produced five of the Reds’ eight quality starts. He’ll face Cardinals RHP Adam Wainwright (1-0, 5.74), who is four wins shy of 200 for his career.

The NFL draft will be in Green Bay in 2025.

The league announced the 2025 draft’s location on Monday during its spring meetings. The draft and related activities will take place inside and around Lambeau Field and Titletown, the collection of shops and restaurants surrounding the stadium. With an expected 250,000 visitors, the draft will be the largest event ever held in Green Bay, which has a population of 107,000.

Next year’s draft will take place from April 25-27 in Detroit. After being held at various New York locations from 1965-2014, the draft has made stops in Chicago (2015-16), Philadelphia (2017), Dallas (2018), Nashville (2019), Las Vegas (2022) and Kansas City (2023).

More than 2.2 million people have attended draft festivities since 2015. This year’s draft brought more than 312,000 fans to Kansas City.

Now it’s preparing to head to the league’s smallest market. The Packers first applied to host in 2016, and the NFL pushed them to answer questions about hotel space and transportation infrastructure.

Illinois (24-24, 12-12) claimed a 7-3 over UT Martin (21-32, 14-10) to open up the final series of the regular season.

The Skyhawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead after four innings.

The Illini got on the board with a two-spot in the bottom half of the fourth to tie the game. Cal Hejza led off with a single and Brody Harding followed with a walk. Branden Comia doubled into the left-center gap two batters later, extending his hitting streak to nine games, to bring the contest level.

UT Martin would briefly jump back into the lead with a run in the sixth, but Illinois immediately responded with two runs to take the lead back. Cam McDonald picked up his first two RBI of the game with a double down the right field line to bring home Harding and Comia, making it 4-3.

Harding would double the Illini lead in the seventh with a two-out RBI single and McDonald broke the game open in the eighth with a two-run homer to make it 7-3.

McDonald went 3-for-5 with a run, double, home run and four RBI. Comia went 2-for-5 with two runs, a double and two RBI extending his hitting streak to nine games.

Harding went 2-for-2 with two runs, two walks and two stolen bases. Every Illinois starter reached base safely in the win.

The Fighting Illini will be back in action tonight, with first pitch from Illinois Field scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT.

The Illinois State baseball team was edged by Valparaiso, 7-6, on Thursday at Emory G. Bauer Field as the Redbirds allowed three runs in the 8th inning.

Illinois State (18-30 overall, 7-18 Missouri Valley Conference) has been eliminated with from qualifying for the Missouri Valley Conference baseball tournament. The Redbirds could have qualified with a sweep of Valpo or taking two of three and Bradley sweeping Belmont.

Belmont blanked Bradley Thursday night 4-0. 

The Redbirds were led by freshmen Luke Lawrence and Daniel Pacella with Lawrence reaching base four times and scoring three times while Pacella homered and tallied four RBIs. junior Elijah Dale recorded 11 strikeouts in relief.

Pacella smacked a two-run homer in the 4th inning. 

Pacella added a two-RBI double in the 6th inning to regain the lead for Illinois State.

In the 7th inning, Lawrence tallied an RBI ground-rule double just inside the left field line before junior Auggie Rasmussen went off the center field wall for an RBI triple.

Valparaiso (20-23 overall, 10-15 MVC) secured a spot in the MVC Tournament.

Illinois State is scheduled to play Valparaiso Friday (1:00 p.m. CT) and Saturday (1:00 p.m. CT).

Cam Gallagher snapped a long hitless drought with an RBI single during Cleveland's two-run seventh inning, and the Guardians beat Dylan Cease and the Chicago White Sox 3-1 on Thursday to salvage the series finale.

Michael Kopech (1-4, 5.74 ERA) takes the mound against Kansas City RHP Zack Greinke (1-4, 5.01 ERA) on Friday to start a three-game set on the South Side. Hear tonight's game on WHOW.

Willson Contreras hit two three-run homers, Nolan Gorman also homered twice and the St. Louis Cardinals went deep seven times in a home game for the first time in 83 years to power past the Los Angeles Dodgers 16-8 in a slugfest Thursday night.

Nolan Arenado added a two-run homer, and Juan Yepez and Paul DeJong each hit solo homers run for St. Louis.

The Cardinals, who have homered in a season-high seven games in a row, hit seven in a home game for the first time since May 7, 1940, when they did it against the Brooklyn Dodgers. Yepez, Gorman and DeJong hit consecutive homers in the sixth inning.

Freddie Freeman hit a grand slam for his 300th career home run and Max Muncy added a solo homer for the Dodgers. Los Angeles leads the majors this season with five grand slams and rank second with 74 homers.

The teams’ nine combined home runs set a record for Busch Stadium.

St. Louis has won nine of 11 games after a 10-24 start to the season. The Cardinals have hit 27 homers in their last 11 games.

Adam Wainwright (1-0) allowed five runs - two earned - and five hits in 5 1/3 innings for the win in his third start this season.

Dodgers RHP Tony Gonsolin (1-1, 1.42) is 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA and 16 strikeouts in three career starts against St. Louis.

Cardinals LHP Steven Matz (0-4, 5.62) has made five career starts against the Dodgers, but this will be his first as a member of the Cardinals.

The NASCAR Cup series takes to North Wilkesboro for the first time in nearly 30 years this Sunday for the annual All-Star race and a $1-million prize.

This is a non-points exhibition at the midpoint of the regular season. The races will be the first for NASCAR at North Wilkesboro since 1996.

Practice and qualifying are this afternoon at 3 pm with the all-star pit crew challenge at 4:45. Two Saturday heats are at 6:30 pm and 7:15 pm. 

The all-star open is at 4:30 pm Friday and the all-star race is at 7 pm. 

William Byron avoided a crash six laps from the finish and won in overtime at Darlington last week's throwback race. Byron became the first three-time winner this season but stands just fifth in points, 42 behind non-winning points leader Ross Chastain. 

Christopher Bell is second, 27 points back, followed by Kevin Harvick (-29) and Denny Hamlin (-36). Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch, the only other multiple-race winners with two each, are 10th and 11th in points, respectively.

The XFinity series returns Memorial Day weekend at Charlotte Motorspeedway.

Christian Eckes led 82 of 158 laps and won under caution in double overtime at Darlington as the Craftsman Truck Series returns this week to North Wilkesboro.

The victory was the second for Eckes this season and the third of his career. It ended a five-race slump during which he’d finished no better than 15th. 

Stewart Friesen was second, followed by Tanner Gray, Byron and Carson Hocevar. Corey Heim led four times for 66 laps but finished just eighth. Defending series champion Zane Smith, the only other two-time winner, leads the point standings with Ty Majeski nine points behind and Heim 15 in arrears.

Practice for this week's North Wilkesboro is at 2 pm. Qualifying is tomorrow morning at 9:30 am with the race Saturday at 12:30 pm. 

Class 1A Baseball Regional semifinal action from Thursday

At Argenta-Oreana

Champaign St. Thomas More 10 F-6

Cerro Gordo 0

At LeRoy

LeRoy 11

Ridgeview 6

At Lexington

Dwight 6

Lexington 9

Class 2A Regional semifinal action Wednesday:

At Downs 

Tri-Valley 0

Bloomington Central Catholic 10

At Gibson City

Tolono Unity 6

Paxton-Buckley-Loda 4

At Sullivan

Shelbyville 12

Sullivan 2

Class 1A Regional championship baseball action Saturday

At Argenta-Oreana

Mt. Pulaski 11:00am

Champaign St. Thomas More

At Catlin 

Decatur St. Teresa 1:00pm

Salt Fork

At LeRoy

Delavan 11:00am

LeRoy

At Lexington

Heyworth 11:00am

Lexington

Class 2A Reginal Championship Baseball action Saturday

At Athens

Williamsville 11:00am

Maroa-Forsyth

At Tri-Valley

Tremont 11:00am

Bloomington Central Catholic

At Gibson City (Hear on WEZC/dewittdailynews.com)

Monticello 10:00am

Tolono Unity

At Sullivan

Carlinville 10:00am

Shelbyville

Class 1A Softball action from Thursday

At Villa Grove - REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Villa Grove 12 F-5

Watseka 0

Class 1A Softball Regional Championship Action

At Heyworth

Heyworth 4:30pm

Argenta-Oreana

At Meridian

LeRoy 4:30pm

Tuscola

Class 2A Regional Championship action

At Bloomington Central Catholic

Normal U-High 4:30pm

Bloomington Central Catholic

At Maroa-Forsyth

Tolono Unity 4:30pm

Maroa-Forsyth

At Sullivan

Marshall 4:30pm

St. Joseph-Ogden

At Buffalo

Olympia 11:00am (Saturday)

Carlinville

Jake Burger and Gavin Sheets both homered for the second straight game, leading the Chicago White Sox past the Cleveland Guardians 7-2 on Wednesday night.

Cleveland LHP Logan Allen (1-1, 3.43) faces Chicago RHP Dylan Cease (2-2, 4.86) in the series finale Thursday.

Matthew Liberatore tossed five shutout innings in his season debut and Paul DeJong homered to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 3-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night.

St. Louis has won eight of 10 after a 10-24 start to the season.

Milwaukee has dropped two of three following a three-game winning streak.

Nolan Arenado added a run-scoring hit for St. Louis, which remains in last place in the NL Central for the 22nd successive day after winning the division last season.

Liberatore (1-0), a 23-year-old left-hander, gave up three hits in a 95-pitch stint. He struck out six and left after giving up a leadoff walk to Willy Adames to start the sixth.

Relievers Andre Pallante, Giovanny Gallegos and Ryan Helsley combined to nail down the seven-hit shutout. Helsley recorded the final four outs for his fifth save in eight chances.

Corbin Burnes (4-3) gave up three runs on eight hits over six innings in the loss.

DeJong hit a two-run homer off Burnes with two out in the sixth to push the lead to 3-0.

Arenado, who had homered in his previous five games, drove in the first run of the game with a single off the glove of third baseman Brian Anderson in the first. It was his 1,000th career RBI.

The Cardinals won their third straight series and are beginning to dig out after the rough start.

St. Louis has now homered in a season-high six games in a row.

Milwaukee outfielder Owen Miller extended his hitting streak to 10 games with three hits. Miller has reached base safely in a career-best 19 straight games.

Brewers outfielder Tyrone Taylor hit what was first called a home run with two out in the fourth. The ball hit the top of the wall and bounced back into play. The call was reversed and Taylor had a double.

The Brewers stranded a season-high 12 runners. They went 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position in the game and were 2 for 21 in the series.

The Cardinals placed OF Dylan Carlson on the 10-day injury list retroactive to May 15. Selected the contract of OF Oscar Mercado from Triple-A Memphis. Carlson suffered a sprained ankle on Sunday in Boston.

Brewers RHP Adrian Houser (0-0, 5.19) will open a three-game series at Tampa Bay on Friday. He is making his third start after beginning the season on the injured list with a right groin strain.

Cardinals RHP Adam Wainwright (0-0, 7.20) takes on Los Angeles Dodgers LHP Julio Urias (5-3, 3.61) in the first of a four-game set on Thursday. Wainwright is 7-6 with a 2.79 ERA in 19 lifetime appearances against the Dodgers.

Kyle Tucker's two-run single capped a four-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Houston Astros beat the skidding Chicago Cubs 7-6 on Wednesday night to complete a three-game sweep.

Chicago built a 6-1 lead in the fourth behind two early homers from Seiya Suzuki and one by Christopher Morel.

But the Astros roared back late, scoring twice in the eighth before cutting the deficit to one on a two-run homer by Jake Meyers off Keegan Thompson with nobody out in the ninth. Thompson walked pinch-hitter Mauricio Dubón and was replaced by Brandon Hughes (0-2), who was greeted by Jeremy Peña's double.

Hughes intentionally walked Alex Bregman to load the bases before Dubón was thrown out at the plate on a grounder by Yordan Alvarez.

Tucker then lined a single to center field. Bregman slid home with the winning run just before catcher Yan Gomes got the tag down. The play was reviewed and the call was confirmed.

Bregman had been thrown out at the plate in the sixth on a hit by Tucker and knew he couldn't let it happen again.

Bregman homered in the first and tied a season-high with three hits as the Astros extended their winning streak to four games.

Suzuki, who also homered in the ninth inning Tuesday night, kept it going with a solo shot in the first off rookie J.P. France before smacking a two-run drive off him in the third to make it 5-1.

Suzuki became the first Japanese-born player to homer in three straight plate appearances in the majors and the first Cubs hitter to do it since Kris Bryant on May 17, 2019.

It was the second career multi-homer game for Suzuki, who is in his second MLB season after playing professionally in Japan for nine seasons. Suzuki, who walked twice, singled in the sixth to equal a season-high with three hits.

Morel went deep for the second time this series with his home run in the fourth inning, but Houston's late rally sent the Cubs to their fifth consecutive loss.

The bullpen collapse spoiled a strong start by Drew Smyly, who yielded four hits and one run with eight strikeouts in six innings. He has allowed two earned runs or fewer in his last eight starts.

France, who made his major league debut May 6, allowed nine hits and six runs - both season highs - in 3 2/3 innings. Bryan Abreu (2-0) pitched a scoreless ninth for the win.

Peña tripled to start the Houston eighth and scored on a double by Bregman to trim the deficit to 6-2. José Abreu’s two-out single scored Bregman, but Mark Leiter Jr. struck out Chas McCormick to end the inning.

Morel drew a leadoff walk before a triple by Dansby Swanson made it 1-0 in the first. A sacrifice fly by Ian Happ made it 2-0 before Suzuki padded the lead with his first homer of the night.

Bregman’s solo shot with one out in the bottom half cut the margin to 3-1.

Happ doubled to start the third before Suzuki sent a slider from France to the seats in left field to make it 5-1.

Bregman singled with one out in the sixth before Tucker doubled off the wall in left field with two outs. But Bregman was thrown out at home on the play with a great throw by Happ to end the inning.

Cubs CF Cody Bellinger was out of the lineup for a second straight game after injuring his knee making an acrobatic catch Monday night. Manager Cody Ross said Bellinger would likely return Friday.

Both teams are off Thursday before Chicago opens a series at Philadelphia.

AJ Bailey and the Mt. Pulaski Hilltoppers made quick work of Argenta-Oreana in a 12-1 five-inning, run-rule win Wednesday in Class 1A Regional semifinal boy's baseball action from Argenta.

Bailey allowed an unearned run across five innings. He struck out seven and permitted two hits. 

The Hilltoppers used a seven-run third inning to get up big.

Jackson Fricke hit a bases-clearing three-run double finishing 1-for-3. Chance Payne and Liam Smith were 2-for-3. Payne drove in a run. 

The Hilltoppers were very active on the bases. Landon Smith, Liam Smith, Payne, Bailey, Franklin Wade, Clay Aylesworth, and Luke Martin all stole bases. Evan Cooper had two steals. 

The Bombers finish the season at 5-17. 

Mt. Pulaski is 27-4 overall. They meet the winner of this afternoon's game between Champaign St. Thomas More and Cerro Gordo-Bement on Saturday morning for the Regional championship.

Class 1A Regional semifinal action from Wednesday

At Salt Fork

Decatur St. Teresa 8

Danville Schlarman 2

At Cissna Park

Armstrong 12 F-6

Fisher 2

At LeRoy

Delavan 5

Bloomington Cornerstone Christian Academy 0

At Lexington

Heyworth 8

Roanoke-Benson 2

At Tuscola

Stewardson-Strasburg 10 F-5

Tuscola 0

Arcola 3

Meridian 1

Class 2A Regional semifinal matchups

At Athens

Williamsville 1

Petersburg-PORTA 0

Maroa-Forsyth 15

Buffalo Tri-City 0

At Quincy Notre Dame

Warrensburg-Latham 2

Pittsfield 8

At St. Joseph-Ogden

St. Joseph-Ogden 2

Bismarck-Hennin 4

Class 1A Regional softball semifinal action

At Illini Bluffs

Pawnee 6

Delavan 1

At Heyworth

Fisher 4

Argenta-Oreana 10

Class 2A Regional softball semifinal action Wednesday

At Bloomington Central Catholic

Bloomington Central Catholic 6

Tri-Valley 2

At Herscher

Clifton Central 6

Lexington 13

At Maroa-Forsyth

Tolono Unity 4

Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond 2

Warrensburg-Latham 2

Maroa-Forsyth 9

>>Sox Offense Stays Hot In Win Over Guardians

Jake Burger and Gavin Sheets both homered for the second straight game, leading the Chicago White Sox past the Cleveland Guardians 7-2 on Wednesday night.

Cut: 517soxraw : CUE:

Cleveland LHP Logan Allen (1-1, 3.43) faces Chicago RHP Dylan Cease (2-2, 4.86) in the series finale Thursday.

In a game heard on WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com, Luke Teschke was sharp over 4 1/3 shutout innings, and the Sages used a big fourth inning to roll Clifton Central 10-0 in five innings from Gibson City in Class 2A regional semifinal action Wednesday.

Teschke struckout nine and was lifted with one out in the fifth inning at 59 pitches. If the Illinois State-commit had thrown 60 pitches, he would be unavailable for Saturday morning's Regional Championship game.

The junior walked one and no-hit the Comets. Spence Mitze struck out one in 2/3 of an inning to close out the win.

Monticello led 3-0 when they exploded for seven runs in the fourth inning. Eli Craft started with a soft line drive base to hit to left. With junior Dylan Brown attempting to bunt, a wild pitch moved courtesy runner Raiden Colbert to second.

Brown ended up drawing a walk, Ike Young then reached on an error when his attempted bunt ended up in a wide throw to third base where Colbert was ruled safe. 

With the bases loaded, Biniam Lienhart drew his third walk of the game to bring home a run and run the score to 4-0. 

Matt Swartz brought home the next two runs with a base hit to right field to make it 6-0. 

Teschke sent a routine flyball to left field that was dropped and scored two more to make it 8-0. 

Jacob Trusner brought home the next run with a sac fly to right field to make it 9-0. 

Logan Chupp was hit by a pitch and Craft reached again on a misplayed fly ball in right field that brought in the final run of the inning. 

Clifton Central ended the inning on a double play when Brown drove a ball to center field where Kankakee College commit Amarion Paxton threw a strike on a line to cut down Chupp tagging from third.

Paxton took the loss on the hill for the Comets. 

Lienhart scored three runs and dew three walks in three at-bats for Monticello. Swartz was 1-for-2 with a walk and two runs batted in. Teschke, Trusner, and Vance drove in runs for the Sages.

Vance's RBI involved a phenomenal defensive play and piece of base running.

In the third inning, a Teschke run-scoring hit brought in Lienhart for the second time. Sophomore Carter Foran came in to run for Teschke.  

After a passed ball moved Foran to second with Trusner batting. Trusner would be hit by a pitch setting up first and second with one out. Vance grounded a ball to the right of second baseman Jayce Meier who slipped fielding it. Falling to the ground, Meier was able to still get the throw to first base and get Vance.

Running hard the whole way, Foran scored from second on the play ahead of a late throw to the plate to make it 3-1. 

Clifton Central ends its season 20-7 overall. 

Monticello is 21-4 overall. They will play the winner of Thursday's matchup between Tolono Unity and Paxton-Buckley-Loda Saturday morning at 10 am for the Regional championship. It will be the Sages' sixth straight Regional championship appearance. Hear the action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

In a game heard Wednesday afternoon on WHOW, the Clinton Maroons fell to the Tremont Turks, 6-0, in the Class 2A Regional Semifinals at Tri-Valley High School.  
 

Tremont jumped out to a one run lead in the bottom of the first when a lead off error turned into a run on a Griffin Meeker sacrifice fly.  Clinton was able to hold off the Turks until a four run third inning put the lead at 5-0.  Tremont added another run in the bottom of the sixth.  
 

Clinton was stymied at the plate most of the day by Tremont's Ethan Zaayenga (Zahn-gay.)  The senior picked up the win on five innings of work in which he allowed only one hit while striking out eight.  Meeker pitched two innings of relief allowing only two hits, and striking out two.  Caleb Edwards led the Turks at the plate going 3 for 4 with a double.  Tremont improves to 21-5 on the year, and advances to face either Tri-Valley or Bloomington Central Catholic in Saturday's Regional Championship. 
 

Clinton's Jack Manning was named the WHOW / Serv Pro of DeWitt/Piatt County Player of the Game. The freshman went the distance on the mound despite the third inning struggles.  He finished with six innings pitched allowing six runs, three earned, while walking two and striking out one. Manning was one of three Maroons to get a hit Wednesday.  Preston Curtis and Aiden Toohill were the others. 
 

The Maroons end their season at 11-12 overall.  
 

Emma Slayback struck out 15 in a complete game shut out sending Heyworth to a 7-0 win over Blue Ridge and a Regional Championship Tuesday afternoon in Heyworth.

Slayback faced two batters over the minimum allowing a hit and walking just one batter.

Cassie Zimmerman had the lone base hit for the Lady Knights.

For the Lady Hornets, Brooke Monteggia was 2-for-4 with six RBIs, a double, and run scored. Bailey Brooks was 4-for-4. Emily Rogers finished 2-for-4 with the other RBI for Heyworth. 

Slayback tripled going 1-for-4 at the plate.

The Lady Hornets to got 17-4 overall. They will take on the winner of today's Fisher/Argneta-Oreana matchup on Friday in Regional Championship action.

Blue Ridge finishes its season 12-14 overall. 

Class 1A Regional softball scores

At Meridian

LeRoy 2

Arcola 1

Meridian 3

Tuscola 4

Class 2A Regional softball scores

At Buffalo 

Olympia 13 F-5

North Mac 0

At Fieldcrest

Tremont 10 F

El Paso-Gridley 0

At Sullivan

Marshall 16

Shelbyville 6

St. Joseph-Ogden 9

Sullivan 0

In a game heard Tuesday evening on WHOW, the Clinton Lady Maroons saw their softball season come to an end at the hands of the Normal U-High Pioneers, 13-5, in Class 2A Regional Semifinal action at Bloomington Central Catholic High School.  
 

The Lady Maroons got on the board first in the top of the second on an Ashley Armstrong sacrifice fly that scored Kylee Issac.  The Pioneers would tie the game in the bottom half of the inning, but Clinton re-took the lead, 3-1, in the third on a two run double from Reice McCormick.  Normal U-High turned on their offense in the fourth inning scoring six runs to go up, 7-3, including a three run blast by Emme Steward. The Pioneers would add six more runs over their final two at bats.  Clinton would get a lift in the fifth off a Heidi Humble solo homerun, and an RBI groundout by Alivyah Haynes, but it wasn't enough to overcome U-High.  
 

McCormick was named the WHOW / Serv Pro of Piatt/DeWitt County Player of the Game.  The Senior went two for four with two doubles, and two runs batted in for the Lady Maroons.  Ashley Armstrong took the loss in the circle for Clinton. The Junior tossed five and two thirds innings giving 10 runs on 17 hits while striking out two and walking two.  Humble went two for three with the homer, and Haynes finished one for three with and RBI.  The Lady Maroons end their season at 9-21 overall. 
 

Normal U-High advances to Saturday morning's Regional Championship to face either BCC or Tri-Valley.  
 

Speaking of Tri-Valley, don't forget that the Clinton Maroons travel to Downs Wednesday afternoon in 2A Regional baseball action to take on Tremont.  First pitch is 4:30pm, and you'll be able to hear the action on all WHOW platforms.

A fast start for the Monticello offense helped them hold off a late rally by Mt. Pulaski in an 8-7 non-conference, regular-season finale win Monday at Mt. Pulaski High School.

Monticello jumped out to a 6-0 lead after two innings. The Hilltoppers answered with a two-run second and then a two-run fourth inning to make it 6-4. A couple of runs in the fifth inning helped keep Mt. Pulaski at bay during a three-run bottom of the seventh inning.

Jacob Trusner paced Monticello going 1-for-2 with a two-run double, two runs scored and two walks. 

Colton Vance was 2-for-3 with two RBis and two runs scored. 

Biniam Lienhart was 2-for-5 with a run batted in and run scored. Matt Swartz was 2-for-3 with a run scored.

Eli Craft dove in a run while Luke Teschke, Ike Young, and Carter Foran had hits for the Sages.

Luke Martin was 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored for the Hilltoppers. Clay Aylesworth doubled and drove in three runs finishing 1-for-3. AJ Bailey, Evan Cooper, Landon Smith, Jackon Fricke, Chance Payne, and Liam Smith had base hits for Mt. Pulaski. 

Martin and Cooper drove in runs.

The Hilltoppers drop to 26-4 overall. They will take on Argenta-Oreana Wednesday afternoon in Argenta in Class 1A Regional semifinal action. 

Monticello finishes the regular season 20-4 overall. They will take on Clifton Central Wednesday in Class 2A Regional semifinal action from Gibson City. Hear the action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

The Blue Ridge Lady Knights used a nine-run second inning to route Decatur St. Teresa 16-1 in a four-inning, run-rule Regional Class 1A quarterfinal matchup in Farmer City.

Lily Summers drove in four runs and tripled as part of a 2-for-4 game. Cassie Zimmerman was 1-for-2 with three RBIs. Presley Hardesty and Carsyn Stiger drove in a pair while Ellie Schlieper tripled and drove in a run to help her own cause in circle. 

The Lady Knights walked nine times and struck out just twice on the game. 

Schlieper struck out six, walked one and permitted just two hits in four innings of one-run ball. 

Blue Ridge is 12-13 overall. The Lady Knights will battle top-seeded Heyworth tomorrow (Tuesday) in Regional semifinal action at Heyworth High School. 

In a game heard Monday afternoon on WHOW, the Clinton Maroons topped Prairie Central, 4-2, in Class 2A Regional baseball action at Clinton High School.  
 

A four run third inning, and a masterful performance on the mound led Clinton to the win. 
 

The Maroons broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the third when a lead off walk, a Mason Walker double, and an rbi single from Josh Bass plated Jack Manning.  Walker would score on an rbi bunt by his brother, Colton.  Preston Curtis also drove in a run in the inning for the Maroons.  Prairie Central would scratch across an unearned run in the fifth, and then Hawks catcher Noah Nagel homered in the sixth, but the Maroons would hold onto the two run win. 
 

Mason Walker went the distance on the mound for Clinton despite dealing with an apparent blister on his throwing hand.  The Junior lefty allowed only two runs on two hits over seven innings, while striking out 12, and walking three.  He improves to 5-1 on the mound this season.  
 

Walker also led the Maroons at the plate going 2 for 3 with a double.  He was named the WHOW / Serv Pro of Piatt/DeWitt County Player of the Game. Other Maroons notables included Jack Manning, who went 1 for 3 with a double and a walk;  Josh Bass was 1 for 2 with a RBI, and Preston Curtis was 1 for 2 with an rbi and a walk.

Prairie Central ends the season at 8-19 overall.  
 

The Maroons improve to 11-11 on the year, and advance to take on Tremont Wednesday afternoon at 4:30 at Tri-Valley High School in Downs.  You can hear the action on all WHOW platforms! 
 

The Clinton Lady Maroons scored four runs in the top of the seventh inning and rallied to a 6-4 win over Monticello in Regional quarterfinal action Monday afternoon in Monticello.

Brooke Reeves finished 3-for-4 at the top of the order for the Lady Maroons with a run scored. Kylee Isaac doubled twice, drove in two, and scored twice while Ariana Humes finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and run scored.

Heidi Humble, Aliviyah Haynes, and Ashley Armstrong also added RBIs for Clinton.

Marrissa Miller hit a solo home run for Monticello. Isabella Beery doubled twice finishing 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored. Sadie Walsh was 2-for-3 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored for the Lady Sages.

Lucy Leatherwood finished 2-for-3 with a run scored at the bottom of the Monticello lineup while Avery Schweitzer added a double.

The Lady Sages finish the season 10-16.

Clinton goes to 9-20 and will take on Normal U-High tomorrow afternoon at 4:30 at Bloomington Central Catholic in Regional semifinal play. Hear the action on WHOW and its many digital platforms. 

Illinois (23-24, 12-12) was shutout in their Big Ten finale, 3-0, by Rutgers (32-19, 13-8) on Sunday at ShoreTown Ballpark.

Illinois finishes Big Ten play with a 12-12 record. They have finished .500 or better in conference play in four-straight seasons.

Illini starter Julius Sanchez started with two scoreless frames, but Rutgers found the breakthrough in third, scoring twice on four hits to take a 2-0 lead.

Illinois would only collect four more hits the rest of the way and were not able to advance a runner past second base in the contest.

Connor Milton went 2-for-4 with a double and Branden Comia went 1-for-3 with a walk - extending his hitting streak to eight games.

The Illini lost the series opener 5-4 but came back to win Saturday, 9-7.

Illinois baseball will be back in action on Thursday, as the Fighting Illini welcome UT-Martin to Illinois Field for the final series of the regular season. 

The Illinois State baseball team was held scoreless in the final four innings of Sunday's Senior Day game against Duffy Bass Field as the Redbirds dropped a 3-2 decision to UIC.

Illinois State (18-29 overall, 7-17 Missouri Valley Conference) limited UIC (26-21 overall, 12-12 MVC, winners of seven-straight) to a trio of runs as senior Derek Salata threw seven innings before junior Elijah Dale threw a pair of scoreless frames.

UIC scored twice in the 2nd inning before Illinois State got a run back on an RBI by freshman Luke Lawrence, but the Flames responded with a run in the 5th inning.

Sophomore JT Sokolove tripled in the 5th inning and was brought home by junior Luke Cheng's sacrifice fly.

Junior Auggie Rasmussen's on-base streak of 27 games was snapped.

Illinois State is scheduled to travel to Valparaiso for a May 18-20 series. As it stands, Illinois State controls its MVC Tournament destiny as sweeping the Beacons would put ISU in the eight-team tournament field. The 'Birds could also make the MVC Tournament field if ISU wins twice and Bradley sweeps Belmont.

In a game heard on WHOW, Yainer Diaz hit his first major league home run to back rookie Hunter Brown and help the Houston Astros beat the Chicago White Sox 4-3 on Sunday for their fourth win in five games.

Yordan Alvarez hit a two-run double in the first, advanced on shortstop Tim Anderson’s throwing error and scored on Kyle Tucker’s sacrifice fly as the Astro built an early lead. Diaz, who debuted last September, homered off Lucas Giolito (2-3) in the fourth for a four-run advantage.

Luis Robert Jr. homered for the third consecutive game and Jake Burger also went deep for the White Sox, who have lost four of five and seven of 11.

Burger, recovered from a strained oblique that had sidelined him since May 3, cut the deficit to 4-3 with a two-run homer in the sixth.

Brown (4-1) allowed three runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings, walked one and tied his career high with eight strikeouts.

Ryan Pressly pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his seventh save in seven chances.

Robert drove his 11th homer in the fourth.

Giolito allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings.

White Sox C Carlos Pérez was optioned to Charlotte. C Yasmani Grandal (right hamstring tightness) was available Sunday and could return to the lineup Tuesday, Grifol said. Grandal was scratched Saturday after he left Thursday’s 4-3 loss at Kansas City. 

RHP Liam Hendriks (non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma) struck out one in 1/3 of an inning in a rehab appearance with Charlotte as he nears a return.

Chicago had yet to announce its starter for Tuesday against Cleveland and RHP Shane Bieber (3-1, 2.61).

Nolan Arenado and Andrew Knizner each hit a two-run homer, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Boston Red Sox 9-1 on Sunday night to complete a three-game sweep.

Paul DeJong added a solo shot and Arenado drove in four runs for the Cardinals, who won for the sixth time in seven games since an eight-game losing streak. Their previous two wins came on ninth-inning rallies against closer Kenley Jansen at Fenway Park.

Lars Nootbaar had three hits and scored three times for St. Louis, and Paul Goldschmidt added two hits and an RBI. Miles Mikolas (2-1) pitched six innings of one-run ball, allowing four hits with two walks.

Rafael Devers had an RBI single for Boston, which lost for the fifth time in six games.

It was the first series sweep this season for St. Louis (16-25), which owns the NL’s worst record. Arenado homered over the Green Monster once in each game of the series.

The Cardinals finished a six-game road trip to Wrigley Field and Fenway Park at 5-1.

DeJong’s shot into the center-field seats broke a 1-all tie in the second. Knizner’s drive came in the fourth, also going out to center.

Boston’s Enmanuel Valdez had a two-run homer overturned by review in the seventh on a drive that replays showed hooked foul just short of Pesky's Pole.

Génesis Cabrera escaped a bases-loaded jam in the seventh, getting Masataka Yoshida to fly out to end the inning.

Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras was stretching and squatting with a catcher’s mitt in the clubhouse before the game. After a break from catching, Contreras is slated to be back behind the plate Monday against Milwaukee. He was moved to DH on May 5.

Jack Flaherty (2-4, 6.18 ERA) is scheduled to start the opener of a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers at home, facing RHP Freddy Peralta (4-2, 3.32).

Trevor Larnach hit a three-run homer, Joey Gallo homered for the second straight game and Louie Varland pitched 6 1/3 solid innings for the Minnesota Twins in a 16-3 win against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday.

Varland (1-0) earned his second career win in his ninth major league start for his hometown Twins, who won their second consecutive series. They posted season highs in runs and hits (18) for the second game in a row after Saturday’s 11-1 victory against Chicago.

Minnesota hit eight home runs over the final two games of the series, and the 29 runs in the series established a Twins record for most in a three-game set at Target Field, which opened in 2010.

Marcus Stroman gave up six runs in 2 2/3 innings.

Christopher Morel and Seiya Suzuki homered for Chicago, which has lost five of seven. Morel’s third homer in five games since being recalled from Triple-A landed in the third deck in left field, projected at 461 feet by MLB’s Statcast.

Jameson Taillon (0-2, 6.41 ERA) will start the first game for Chicago in Houston on Monday against LHP Framber Valdez (3-4, 2.38). Taillon is coming off his shortest outing of the season after he gave up four runs in 2 2/3 innings against St. Louis last Tuesday.

William Byron avoided a wreck between Ross Chastain and Kyle Larson on a restart six laps from the end and held on to win the Goodyear 400 in overtime at Darlington Raceway on Sunday.

Byron, who got pushed out of the way by winner Joey Logano two laps from the end here a year ago, drove away from Kevin Harvick during a green-white-checkered finish for his third victory of the season and the seventh of his career.

Harvick was second and Chase Elliott third, his best finish since returning to NASCAR from a broken leg while snowboarding.

Brad Keselowski was fourth, followed by Bubba Wallace, Harrison Burton, Kyle Busch, Justin Haley, Ryan Blaney and Chris Buescher.

It was the 100th win for Hendrick Motorsports' No. 24 car and the organization's first victory at Darlington since Jimmie Johnson won the 2012 race.

It looked like 2021 champ Larson or points leader Chastain had the strongest cars and figured to be there at the end. Instead, Chastain was alongside Larson during a restart and admitted trying to squeeze his competitor against the wall in turn two. Both wound up wrecking.

Larson finished 20th and Chastain, who punched Noah Gragson in a pit-road confrontation a week ago at Kansas, was 29th.

Larson moved into the lead when Denny Hamlin went to the pits with 30 laps remaining and was in prime position for victory until tangling with Chastain.

Martin Truex Jr. started from the pole and led 146 of the first 151 laps before he was clipped by Chastain at the end of stage.

Next week is the NASCAR All-Star Open at revamped North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina. The 0.625-mile short track was a regular on the NASCAR schedule from 1949 through 1996 before the series left. But after a spirited effort to revive the old, country track, owner Speedway Motorsports would host the all-star race as part of NASCAR's 75th anniversary celebration.

The Clinton Maroons started fast and rolled past Cerro Gordo-Bement 10-4 in the regular season finale Friday afternoon in high school boy's baseball action at Clinton High School.

Brock Wilson went six innings of two run ball, one was earned. The freshman struck out seven and walked zero while permitting five hits.

Brooks Cluver paced the Maroons at the plate going 3-for-4 with a double. Mason Walker was 2-for-4 with a double.

Clinton finishes the regular season 10-11 overall. They'll host Prairie Central Monday in a Regional quarterfinal at 4:30 pm. Hear the action on 1520 AM/92.3 FM/106.5 FM WHOW and at its many digital platforms.

Jack Buckalew was sharp in his final tuneup before the postseason begins next week, holding down Mt. Zion in a 9-1 non-conference boy's baseball win Friday afternoon in Monticello.

On senior day at Monticello High School, the veteran right-hander struck out eight, permitted three hits and did not walk a batter in 4 2/3 innings of one-run ball. 

Jacob Trusner was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Biniam Lienhart was 2-for-4 with a double. Ike Young drove in two with a triple and Spence Mitze was 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Sages.

Brendan Doyle's solo home run in the fifth inning was the only offense the Braves could muster Friday. 

Mt. Zion is 15-11. 

Monticello is 20-4 overall. They'll play a final tune up game at Mt. Pulaski Monday before action in the GMCS Regional starting next Wednesday. 

Hear Sages postseason baseball action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

Mt. Pulaski had to rally but the Hilltoppers bats finally came alive late and beat Warrensburg-Latham 10-9 in non-conference high school boy's baseball action Friday afternoon in Mt. Pulaski.

The Cardinals jumped out to a 7-1 thanks to a five-run fourth inning.

The Hilltoppers responded scoring four runs in the bottom of the frame to cut the deficit to 7-5, then went ahead for good with a five-run fifth inning to go up 10-7. 

The Cardinals got two back in the top of the sixth but the Hilltoppers held them off the rest of the way for the victory. 

Chance Payne doubled twice going 3-for-3 with three RBIs. Jackon Fricke doubled and drove in three runs for the Hilltoppers, who drew 12 walks against Warrensburg-Latham pitching. 

Evan Cooper doubled and Liam Smith triped as well for Mt. Pulaski. AJ Bailey, Landon Smith, Luke Martin and Evan Cooper all recorded RBIs for the Hilltoppers. 

John Hall was 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs to lead the Cardinals.

Warrensburg-Latham drew their own nine walks against Hilltoppers pithcing. Evan Gottman was 1-for-4 with a double and two RBIs for Warrensburg-Latham. 

Jakob Helm and Kristopher Lawson drove in runs for the Cardionals while Nick Shelsta stole a base. 

The Cardinals finished the regular season 19-8 overall. It's off to the postseason for them.

Mt. Pulaski is 26-3. They will take on Monticello Monday in its final tuneup before postseason play begins next Wednesday. 

Heidi Humble's solo homerun was all the offense Clinton could muster against Buffalo Tri-City in an 11-1 regular season finale defeat Friday afternoon in Buffalo. 

Avery Smith had two hits for the Lady Maroons who were run-ruled after a six-run fifth inning by Tri-City.

Anelise Thompson and Ariana Humes had base hits for Clinton.

The Lady Maroons finish the regular season 8-20 overall. They will take on Monticello in a Regional quarterfinal matchup Monday afternoon in Monticello. 

Blue Ridge used a ten-run fifth inning to run-rule Bethany-Okaw Valley 14-4 in five innings in the Lincoln Prairie Conference finale Friday afternoon in Farmer City.

Cassie Zimmerman was 2-for-3 with a double, triple, two RBIs and two runs scored. 

Lily Enger doubled, walked twice, drove in a run and scored a run finishing 1-for-2. Alexis Wike was 2-for-4 at the top of the Lady Knights lineup and drove in a run and scored a run. 

Blue Ridge was very active on the base paths. Lily Summers and Carsyn Stiger stole four bases apiece. Enger, Zimmerman, Carmen Ellise and Presley Hardesty each stole two bases. 

Ellie Schlieper struck out ten in five innings. The sophomore allowed four runs, just one was earned, on seven issues and issued three walks. 

Blue Ridge is 10-15 on the season and wraps up the Lincoln Prairie Conference 4-5. They are at Delavan Saturday before beginning Regional play Monday hosting Champaign St. Thomas More in a Regional quarterfinal matchup.

El Paso-Gridley was too much for Mt. Pulaski and took home an 8-3 non-conference victory in high school boys' baseball action Thursday in El Paso.

The Hilltoppers got on the board first with a 2-run first inning but the Titans scored the game's next eight runs and the Hilltoppers could muster little offense after in an effort to comeback.

Luke Martin was 1-for-3 with two RBIs. Jackson Fricke was 1-for-1 with a double and a walk. Liam Smith was 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored for Mt. Pulaski while Clay Aylesworth stole two bases. 

Martin pitched four innings in relief of Chance Payne. Martin struck out seven allowing three runs, one was earned, on four hits, and issued one walk. 

The Hilltoppers committed an uncharacteristic three errors in the game. 

Mt. Pulaski is 25-3 on the season. They host Warrensburg-Latham this afternoon. 

Luke Martin homered and doubled while driving in three runs, Evan Cooper struck out ten in six shutout innings as Mt. Pulaski dispatched Havana 10-0 in a six inning, run-rule win Wednesday in non-conference high school boy's baseball action from Mt. Pulaski.

Martin finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored for the Hilltoppers. Mt. Pulaski put a run across in each of the first two innings and blew the game open with a four-run third inning then a three-run fourth inning.

Cooper allowed three hits and a walk. He faced four over the minimum. 

Chance Payne doubled and drove in two runs finishing 3-for-4. Cooper was 2-for-3 with an RBI for Mt. Pulaski. 

The Hilltoppers go to 25-2 overall. They travel to El Paso-Gridley this afternoon.

The Blue Ridge Lady Knights came out on top in a back-and-forth 5-4 win in non-conference high school girl's softball action Wednesday from Donovan.

Blue Ridge got on the board first with a three-run third inning to go up 3-0 but Donovan answered getting two runs back in the bottom half of the frame and went up 4-3 with two more in the fourth inning.

The Lady Knights went ahead for good when Carmen Ellis tripled in the go-ahead run with the score tied at 4-4 in the sixth inning. 

Cassie Zimmerman doubled twice finishing 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored. 

Lily Enger, Carsyn Stiger, and Lily Summers had base hits for Blue Ridge. Stiger, Summers and Ellis drove in runs as well. Ellie Schlieper struck out ten across seven innings. The sophomore allowed four unearned runs and permitted seven hits and issued zero walks. 

Blue Ridge goes to 9-13 overall. The Lady Knights host Bethany-Okaw Valley Friday. 

A late rally by Monticello fell short as the Mattoon took home a 6-4 non-conference win in high school girl's softball action in Mattoon.

Monticello fell behind 6-0 but rallied with four runs in the sixth inning. Isabella Beery, Lynnsey Trybom, Cassidee Stoffel, and Avery Schweitzer drove in runs in the four-run frame. 

Lucy Leatherwood and Sadie Walsh added hits for Monticello. Walsh's double was the only extra-base hit for the Lady Sages. 

Monticello wraps up the regular season 10-15 overall and will head to the postseason hosting Clinton in a Regional quarterfinal game on Monday afternoon. 

In a game heard Wednesday afternoon on WHOW, the Clinton Lady Maroons topped the visiting Eureka Hornets, 6-3, in non-conference softball action. 
 

Eureka opened the scoring in the top of the first on an RBI groundout that scored Reagan Linder.  Linder would lead the Hornets offensively going 4 for 4 with two triples and a run batted in.  
 

The Eureka lead was short lived as the Lady Maroons answered back in the bottom of the first on a Heidi Humble rbi single.  Clinton would take the lead in the bottom of the second, going up 2-1 when Avery Smith crossed the plate.  The Hornets would tie it again in the top of the third at two each, but Clinton took the lead for good in the bottom of the third on Sarah Mills' RBI single.  The Lady Maroons added two more in the fourth on Aliviyah Haynes' two run single to lead 5-2.  Each team would add a run in the fifth, but Clinton would hold on. 
 

Ashley Armstrong pitched seven solid innings picking up the win for Clinton.  She allowed 3 runs on 8 hits while striking out 7, and walking none.  At the plate, the Lady Maroons were led by Alaina Soberalski's 3-hit day.  The Senior also made a great inning ending double play in the field in her last home game to earn the WHOW / Serv Pro of Piatt/DeWitt County Player of the Game. Humble and Haynes both finished 2 for 3 with 2 RBI, and Mea Kivlehan went 2 for 4 for Clinton, who as a team tallied 14 hits on the day. 
 

The Lady Maroons improve to 8-20 on the season, while Eureka falls to 5-18.  The Lady Maroons travel to Tri-City on Friday to wrap up their regular season.  They will travel to Monticello on Monday for the first round of the 2A Regionals. 
 

In a game heard on WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com, Clinton freshman Jack Manning went toe-to-toe with Illinois State-commit Luke Teschke but the Monticello junior overpowered the Maroons in a 4-0 win Wednesday in non-conference high school boy's baseball action at Clinton High School.

Manning and Teschke matched zeros on the scoreboard for four innings before the Sages finally scratched across a run on Biniam Lienhart's infield single scoring Ike Young.

Teschke labored through five shutout innings while striking out 11 and walking three. He permitted two hits.

Manning went six innings of one-run ball, allowing six hits, a walk and struck out five.

Jacob Trusner's three run home run in the seventh inning broke the game open for Monticello. The senior finished a frustrating 1-for-4.

Manning frustrated the Monticello bats all afternoon.

Colton Walker put on a show in left for the Maroons. The sophomore made a tremendous sliding catch as big brother Mason slid out of the way on a drive to gap in the fourth inning off the bat of Colton Vance. 

The brothers both went for a fly ball in the third inning on a fly ball from Raiden Colbert. The younger of the Walkers took a put-out away from big brother on the play.

Lienhart finished 2-for-4 with a pair of stolen bases for Monticello. Sophomore Matt Swarts was 2-for-3 and Dylan Brown was 2-for-3 for the Sages. 

Brock Wilson and Josh Bass finished 1-for-3 for Clinton. Mason Walker was 0-for-2 with a walk. Jaxon Reynolds finished 0-for-2 with a walk as well.

The Maroons drop to 9-11 overall while Monticello moves to 19-4.

Clinton finishes its regular season Friday hosting Cerro Gordo-Bement. 

Monticello wraps up its home schedule hosting Mt. Zion Friday and has a last-minute game at Mt. Pulaski on Monday before the postseason opens next Wednesday. 

Evan Foster struck out 15 batters and added a double at the plate leading Maroa-Forsyth over Clinton 9-0 in non-conference high school boy's baseball action Tuesday in Forsyth.

The Maroons managed just three hits and drew two walks as a team. 

Mitch Williams was 3-for-5 for Maroa-Forsyth. Kaiden Maurer was 2-for-5 and Zayn Giles finished 2-for-2. 

Mason Walker permitted five runs but only three were earned for Clinton. Walker struck out six and walked five. 

The Maroons fall to 9-10 overall while the Trojans improve to 23-3.

Clinton hosts Monticello this afternoon. Hear the action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

In a game heard on WHOW, Andrew Vaughn's two-run homer in the sixth inning broke a 1-1 tie and lifted the Chicago White Sox to a 4-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night.

Lucas Giolito (2-2) allowed two runs on five hits over six innings in a game that started two hours late because of rain.

Kendall Graveman worked the ninth for his first save. He said the delay played into his hands.

Jordan Lyles (0-6) threw a complete game, the first by a Royals pitcher in more than two years, allowing four runs on six hits with no walks. Brad Keller was the last Kansas City starter to go the distance, in his 11-0 shutout of Pittsburgh on Sept. 13, 2020.

Vinnie Pasquantino homered in the first and drove in both of the Royals' runs.

Seby Zavala had a two-out RBI single in the seventh for Chicago.

Luis Robert made it 1-1 in the fourth when he lined the first pitch from Lyles 430 feet into the bullpen in left. It was the first baserunner Lyles allowed.

Chicago RHP Lance Lynn (1-4, 6.68 ERA) faces Kansas City’s Brad Keller (2-3, 4.67) in the third game of the four-game series.

Paul DeJong, Nolan Gorman and Lars Nootbaar homered, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 6-4 on Tuesday night for their season-high third straight win.

DeJong put St. Louis in front when he opened the ninth inning with a drive to left-center off Javier Assad for his third homer this year. Dylan Carlson then tripled and scored on Andrew Knizner's bloop double into shallow right field.

It was DeJong's sixth homer in the ninth at Wrigley and No. 14 overall for his career at the ballpark. DeJong grew up in Antioch, Illinois, about 60 miles north of Chicago, and played college ball at Illinois State.

Dansby Swanson and Christopher Morel homered for Chicago in its third consecutive loss. Swanson finished with three hits and three RBIs.

The Cubs went 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position and left nine runners on base. They are batting .189 (27 for 143) with runners in scoring position in the last 17 games.

Assad (0-2) pitched five scoreless innings in relief before faltering in the ninth.

Chicago trailed 4-3 before Morel connected against Andre Pallante in the sixth, sending a solo shot into the bushes in straightaway center field. It was Morel's first game of the season after he was recalled from Triple-A Iowa on Monday.

St. Louis opened a 4-1 lead with three runs in the third, chasing Jameson Taillon. Nootbaar hit a one-out solo drive that traveled an estimated 431 feet to right-center. With two out and two on, Willson Contreras, Brendan Donovan and Paul DeJong walked to bring home two more runs.

Taillon departed after Donovan's walk. The right-hander remained winless in five starts in his first season with Chicago.

Swanson responded with a two-run shot in the bottom half, a drive off Jack Flaherty that landed in the basket in right for his third homer of the season.

Flaherty worked out of a bases-loaded jam in his final inning, retiring Seiya Suzuki on a fly ball to the warning track in left in the fifth. The right-hander allowed seven hits and issued five walks.

Cardinals 3B Nolan Arenado returned to the starting lineup after he was scratched for the series opener because of neck stiffness. 

Justin Steele (5-0, 1.45 ERA) looks to build on his fast start when he faces fellow left-hander Jordan Montgomery (2-4, 3.29 ERA) in the series finale on Wednesday night. Steele pitched seven sparkling innings in Chicago's 4-1 victory over Miami last week. Montgomery is 0-4 with a 3.72 ERA in his last five outings for St. Louis.

Willson Contreras had two hits and two RBIs in his return to Chicago, including a tiebreaking double, and the Cardinals beat the Cubs 3-1 on Monday night.

St. Louis also got a strong effort from its bullpen in its second straight win after an eight-game losing streak. Génesis Cabrera (1-0), Jordan Hicks and Ryan Helsley combined for 4 2/3 innings of one-hit ball in relief of Miles Mikolas. Helsley got his fourth save.

Contreras singled and scored on Dylan Carlson's single in the second. He made it 2-1 when he rocketed a double off the wall in center in the sixth, and then added a run-scoring fielder's choice in the eighth.

Dansby Swanson hit an RBI double in the fifth to account for Chicago's only run. Marcus Stroman (2-3) pitched six innings of two-run ball.

Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner departed with left hamstring tightness after he got hurt running the bases in the fifth. Hoerner is batting .303 on the season.

It was Chicago's fifth loss in seven games.

The Cubs had a chance for another run in the fifth, but Nick Madrigal was cut down by Brendan Donovan on Cody Bellinger's fly ball to left. Third baseman Patrick Wisdom also lost out on an opportunity for an inning-ending double play when he contemplated throwing home on Contreras' run-scoring grounder in the eighth.

Cardinals 3B Nolan Arenado was scratched because of neck stiffness in what the team said was a precautionary move.

Right-handers Jack Flaherty (2-4, 6.29 ERA) and Jameson Taillon (0-2, 5.29 ERA) take the mound Tuesday night. Flaherty lasted just 2 1/3 innings in his previous start with St. Louis, surrendering a career-high 10 runs in an 11-7 loss to the Los Angeles Angels. Taillon is looking for his first win in his fifth start for Chicago since signing with the team in free agency.

Connor Bedard is going to the Chicago Blackhawks thanks to a big win in the NHL draft lottery that could alter the future of the storied Original Six franchise.

The Blackhawks won the lottery Monday night for the right to choose Bedard, the league’s most anticipated drawing since Connor McDavid in 2015. Bedard as a generational talent has drawn comparisons to McDavid and three-time Stanley Cup champion and two-time playoff MVP Sidney Crosby, whom he idolized growing up.

Chicago will try to get back to hockey’s mountaintop with Bedard as the new face of the franchise, replacing departed stars Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews who combined to help them win the Cup three times from 2010-2015. After committing last year to a full-scale rebound, this is the Blackhawks’ first lottery win since 2007 when they got Kane.

Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly unveiled a placard featuring the Blackhawks logo at 8:22 p.m. EDT, signifying they had gotten the No. 1 pick and setting off a wild celebration among fans at a watch party. Chicago had the third-highest odds of winning the lottery at 11.5%, behind Anaheim’s 25.5% and Columbus’ 13.5%.

League-worst Anaheim won the lottery for the second pick and will get to choose among a trio of talented forwards: Canadian Adam Fantilli, Russian Matvei Michkov and Swede Leo Carlsson.

Columbus is set to pick third, continuing the Blue Jackets’ run of lottery losing. 

Bedard has been the presumptive top pick in the 2023 draft for several years, considered the best prospect available since McDavid — and before that, Crosby.

A native of North Vancouver, British Columbia, Bedard led all junior players across Canada with 72 goals and 143 points this past season while playing for the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League. He doesn’t turn 18 until July.

The Blackhawks were once considered among the NHL’s model franchises. But the team’s reputation was tarnished by a 2021 investigation that found some of the organization’s top leaders mishandled allegations that an assistant coach sexually assaulted a player during the team’s title run in 2010, leading to a $2 million fine and the resignation of then-GM Stan Bowman.

In a game heard on WHOW, MJ Melendez homered and drove in four runs, Nick Pratto had a three-run double during an eight-run sixth inning, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 12-5 on Monday night.

Melendez hit a 431-foot, two-run shot in the fourth against Dylan Cease and then had a two-run single in the sixth as the Royals turned a 4-4 game into a rout. Kansas City had its highest-scoring game this season and won consecutive home games for the first time since winning four straight at Kauffman Stadium last Sept. 20-23.

Jose Cuas (2-0) relieved Zack Greinke with two out in the sixth and retired the only batter he faced, then watched as Kansas City's offense handed him the victory.

The Royals are averaging nearly 7 1/2 runs per game in May.

Cease (2-2) gave up seven runs on nine hits in five-plus innings as his ERA rose from 4.58 to 5.58. The right-hander had a 2.20 ERA in 32 starts last season, when he finished second in AL Cy Young Award voting.

Gavin Sheets homered for the White Sox, a 423-foot drive to center off Greinke in the sixth that tied the game at 4-4. Andrew Vaughn had a two-run double for Chicago in the third that made it 3-1.

Jackie Bradley Jr. had a two-run double in the sixth for the Royals and finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored.

Cease gave up a single, a hit batter and a walk to start the sixth. Reliever Aaron Bummer allowed an RBI single by Michael Massey, followed by Bradley's double. After two outs and a walk, Melendez came through with his big hit to chase Bummer. Jimmy Lambert came on, issued a walk and gave up Pratto's bases-clearing double.

White Sox 3B Yoan Moncada may rejoin the team during this series, but it will more likely be when Chicago returns home to host Houston on Friday. Moncada, who has been on the 10-day IL with back tightness, is on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte.

The teams continue their four-game series on Tuesday night with Chicago's Lucas Giolito (1-2, 3.67 ERA) opposing Kansas City's Jordan Lyles (0-5, 6.69).

Illinois (22-22, 11-10) crushed a season-high six home runs en route to a 10-3 victory over Michigan State (28-16, 10-8), completing the series sweep on Sunday at Illinois Field.

It was Michigan State that would get on the board first in this one, pushing a run across in the first to start the game. Illinois immediately responded their first time up, with Drake Westcott and Jacob Schroeder launching back-to-back solo shots to give the Illini a 2-1 lead.

The Orange and Blue added to their lead in the second when Cal Hejza doubled home Camden Janik, who started the inning with a walk. Westcott then continued his torrid stretch at the plate by slugging another two-out solo home run to make it 4-1. Dating back to his final at-bat on Saturday, the Edwardsville, Ill., native had homered in three-straight plate appearances.

Julius Sanchez, bolstered by the run support, settled in on the mound and kept the Spartans off the board. Sanchez put up three-straight scoreless frames, picking up two strikeouts and inducing two double plays. None of the six hits that he allowed in his outing went for extra bases.

Michigan State would score twice in the fifth to cut the lead to one, but TJ Constertina entered the game in relief and stranded a pair of runners to keep Illinois in front. Constertina would work a total of 1.2 scoreless innings, striking out three batters and allowing just one hit.

The Illini grabbed one of those runs back in the sixth when Janik launched a solo home run two batters into the inning to make it a 5-3 ballgame.

Alex Vera and Korey Bunselmeyer each tossed a scoreless frame in relief to keep Illinois in front, combining for two strikeouts and allowing just one hit.

The Illini broke the game wide open in the eighth by scoring five times to put the contest out of reach. Ryan Moerman led off the inning with a home run and Danny Doligale would double home a pair of runs four batters later. Branden Comia then stepped up and slugged a two-run shot to cap the scoring in the inning and making it a 10-3 game.

Jack Crowder worked a quick 1-2-3 ninth to give Illinois its first Big Ten series sweep of the season.

Westcott was 2-for-5 with two runs, two home runs and two RBI and finished 8-for-15 (.533) in the series with eight runs, five home runs and 10 RBI. Comia went 2-for-5 with a run, home run and two RBI. Janik went 1-for-2 with three runs, a home run, RBI and two walks.

The Fighting Illini will be back in action on Friday when they begin their final Big Ten series of the season at Rutgers. 

The Illinois State baseball team earned a crucial Missouri Valley Conference win over Evansville, 7-2, at Duffy Bass Field as the 'Birds moved into the top eight of the MVC standings with two weekends left to play in the regular season.

Derek Salata threw seven innings with seven strikeouts and JT Sokolove broke a 2-2 tie in the 6th inning with a solo homer before the Redbirds piled on four more runs.

Illinois State (18-26 overall, 7-14 MVC) also got three hits and two RBIs from Daniel Pacella; two hits and three RBIs from Nick Strong; and a two-inning save by Elijah Dale.

Rasmussen's on-base streak moves to 24 games, the longest by a Redbird this season tallying his seventh multi-steal game of the season as he swiped three bases. Rasmussen is up to 22 steals in 2023, the most in the MVC and most by a 'Bird since Sean Beesley stole 27 in 2014.

Illinois State lost Friday and Saturday before taking the rubber game of the series on Sunday.

Illinois State is scheduled to host UIC from May 12-14 in the penultimate conference series prior to the eight-team MVC Tournament.

Paul Goldschmidt homered three times, Brendan Donovan hit a three-run drive and the St. Louis Cardinals stopped an eight-game losing streak with a 12-6 win over the Detroit Tigers on Sunday.

Goldschmidt, had four hits and four RBIs in his third three-homer game, the first since March 29, 2019, against Milwaukee. He hit solo homers in the first and third innings off Alex Faedo and a two-run drive in the eighth against Tyler Holton.

Lars Nootbaar added a two-run single to cap off a seven-run sixth inning for the Cardinals, who had been on their longest skid in 16 years.

Jake Rogers hit a grand slam for the Tigers, whose five-game winning streak was stopped. Spencer Torkelson also homered for Detroit.

St. Louis sent 12 batters to the plate in the sixth to take control 10-6. The Tigers committed three errors in the frame.

All three of Goldschmidt's home runs came with two strikes.

St. Louis has won only two of 12 series' this season and is 11-24. The Cardinals got their first home win since April 19.

Donovan homered off Mason Englert (1-2) for an 8-6 lead in a seven-run sixth. Dylan Carlson and Andrew Knizner followed with hits around an error. and Nootbaar added a double.

Detroit took a 6-3 lead with five runs in the sixth, all after shortstop Tommy Edman's two-out error.

Miguel Cabrera followed with a run-scoring single. Pinch-hitter Zach McKinstry drew a walk before Rogers homered off JoJo Romero.

Torkelson hit his third homer of the season in the fourth inning.

Miles Mikolas (1-1, 5.79) takes on Cubs RHP Marcus Stroman (2-2, 2.18) in the first of a three-game set in Chicago on Monday.

In a game heard on WHOW, Hanser Alberto had four hits, a career-high four RBIs and the Chicago White Sox scored 11 runs in the second inning to rout the Cincinnati Reds 17-4 on Sunday.

The 11 runs are the most for the team in one inning in 16 years and the third-most ever for the franchise. The White Sox had 11 runs in the fifth at Kansas City on Sept. 17, 2007.

The offensive outburst could be a big boost for the White Sox who will be without designated hitter Eloy Jiménez for up to six weeks following his appendectomy.

The White Sox, who's struggled this season with runners in scoring position, delivered plenty of big hits against Graham Ashcraft (2-1) in the second, sending 14 batters to the plate.

Alberto hit a two-run homer to snap Ashcraft’s 33-inning homerless streak. Andrew Benintendi had a two-run single, and Andrew Vaughn tripled in two more runs.

Gavin Sheets hit a three-run homer off Casey Legumina to cap the historic frame.

Michael Kopech (1-3) allowed four solo homers by pitching six innings to earn his first victory of the season.

Dylan Cease (2-1, 4.58) will face RHP Zach Greinke (1-4, 5.25) in Monday's series opener in Kansas City.

Garrett Hampson scored on Adbert Alzolay's balk in the 14th inning, and the Marlins stopped a five-game slide by outlasting the Chicago Cubs for a wild 5-4 victory on Sunday.

Hampson opened the inning on second as the automatic runner. He advanced on Luis Arraez's groundout and trotted home when Alzolay (1-2) was called for a balk with a 2-2 count on Jesús Sánchez.

Steven Okert (1-0) got three outs for the win, and Andrew Nardi pitched the 14th for his first career save. Tucker Barnhart struck out with a runner on third for the final out of the majors' longest game by innings so far this season.

Miami improved to 11-0 in one-run games, matching the 1972 New York Mets for the record for most consecutive wins in one-run games to begin a season.

Yuli Gurriel hit his third homer for the Marlins, who were outscored 34-12 during their losing streak. It was the team's first win since it closed out a three-game sweep of the Cubs in Miami on April 30.

Miami also scored in the 10th on Joey Wendle’s pinch-hit triple and the 13th on Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s sacrifice fly. Wendle was reinstated from the 10-day injured list before the game.

Chicago responded with run-scoring singles by Nico Hoerner in the 10th and Ian Happ in the 13th. The Cubs put runners on second and third with one out in the 11th, but Happ was cut down at the plate on Trey Mancini's bouncer to third and Matt Mervis grounded out.

The Cubs also rallied with two runs in the ninth, spoiling an impressive performance by Sandy Alcantara. Cody Bellinger hit a run-scoring double and scampered home on Eric Hosmer's tying single through a drawn-in infield.

Alcantara departed after Hosmer's hit on his season-high 113th pitch. The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner struck out nine and walked none in 8 1/3 innings. He is winless in his last five outings.

The Cubs got a stellar start from Hayden Wesneski, who pitched six innings of one-run ball. The right-hander struck out six and walked none on a sunny day at Wrigley Field.

Gurriel led off the fifth with a drive into the basket in left for his first homer since April 25. Jorge Soler added a two-out RBI single in the eighth against Brad Boxberger.

The Marlins had runners on second and third with one out in the fifth. But Nick Madrigal cut down Jean Segura at the plate on Jon Berti's grounder to third and Chisholm struck out swinging.

Mervis had two hits for Chicago in his third major league game. But he also was thrown out by Sánchez when he tried to take third on Miguel Amaya's single in the fifth.

Marcus Stroman (2-2, 2.18 ERA) starts Monday night in the opener of a three-game series against St. Louis. RHP Miles Mikolas (1-1, 5.79 ERA) takes the mound for the Cardinals.

Denny Hamlin bumped Kyle Larson off the lead heading onto the backstretch of the final lap Sunday, giving him a clear path to the finish line at Kansas Speedway and ending his Hamlin's 33-race winless drought in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Hamlin went to the front on the record 38th lead change of a chaotic race at Kansas for his fourth victory at the track and the 400th win overall for Joe Gibbs Racing. It was Hamlin's first trip to victory lane since last year's Coca-Cola 600.

Larson had held Hamlin off for about 30 laps, despite fighting a rapidly loosening car. Hamlin had pulled up to his bumper with three laps to go but fell away crossing the start-finish line, then lined up for one more try that he made stick.

William Byron spent more than 50 laps riding around two laps down before rallying onto the lead lap, and even fighting for the lead down the stretch before finishing third. Bubba Wallace, who won the fall race at Kansas, was fourth and Ross Chastain rounded out the top five.

Chastain, who has drawn the ire of many drivers this season with his aggressiveness, found himself in another heated confrontation on pit road after the race. He had gotten into Noah Gragson with about 60 laps to go and sent him for a spin, and Gragson walked up to the Trackhouse Racing driver afterward to make his displeasure known.

Chastain eventually threw a right hook, Gragson tried to throw a punch of his own and crew members had to separate them.

Hamlin took the opening stage for his second of the season, and Martin Truex Jr. finished second after his win in last Monday's rain-delayed race at Dover. The top four spots and six of the top seven belonged to Toyota.

The second stage ended in a mess when a caution flew and the leaders pit with eight laps to go. Joey Logano took the lead, tying the Kansas Speedway record with the 26th change in the race. And when the green flag dropped, Kyle Busch jammed up behind a four-wide move and went for a spin, bringing out another caution and giving Logano the stage win.

Next week is the “Throwback Weekend” at Darlington, and it's increasingly become a family affair. Elliott's No. 9 car for Hendrick Motorsports will look like his father Bill Elliott's car from 2003; Ryan Blaney's No. 12 will pay homage to father Dave Blaney's old sprint car; and the No. 21 of Harrison Burton will look like father Jeff Burton's old paint scheme.

An eight-run first inning propelled Decatur St. Teresa past Clinton 12-2 in five innings of Central Illinois Conference high school baseball Thursday in Decatur.

Billy Guyse tripled and drove in four runs to pace th Bulldogs.

Mason Walker hit a triple for Clinton who committed four errors on the game. 

Brock Wilson permitted ten runs for the Maroons but only six were earned. 

Clinton drops to 9-9 overall and 7-7 in the Central Illinois Conference. The Maroons travel to Maroa on Tuesday.

Ashley Armstrong struck out nine across four perfect innings and the Clinton Lady Maroons blasted Decatur St. Teresa 18-0 in a run-rule, four-inning win in Central Illinois Conference girl's softball action Thursday in Decatur.

Heidi Humble homered and drove in three for Clinton. Avery Smith was 2-for-4 with two doubles and drove in four runs. Alaina Soberalski, Aliviyah Haynes, and Mea Kivlehan drove in two runs apiece.

Clinton goes to 7-20 overall and 4-10 in the Central Illinois Conference.

They travel to take on Champaign Centennial on Monday.

Monticello scored eight runs in the fourth inning, propelling them past Rantoul 12-0 in five innings in Illini Prairie Conference boy's baseball action Thursday in Rantoul.

The win clinches the Illini Prairie Conference for the Sages, who wrap up the conference slate 8-1.

Ike Young was sharp over five innings. The sophomore struck out eight and allowed five hits. 

Luke Teschke was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Eli Craft was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. Biniam Lienhart doubled and drove in a run while Logan Chupp was 1-for-3 with an RBI. 

Monticello is 17-4 overall. They host Warrensburg-Latham this afternoon at Monticello High School.

A three-run seventh sent Monticello past Rantoul 4-1 in Illini Prairie Conference high school girl's softball action from Rantoul Thursday.

Sadie Walsh had a two-run single that broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the seventh inning.

An inning earlier, Avery Schweitzer singled home the tying run. 

Lynssey Trybom and Catie Swartz added base hits for Monticello, who did not have an extra-base hit among its four.

Reese Patton was excellent in circle for Monticello. The junior went the distance allowing a run on three hits with no walks and seven strikeouts.

Monticello is 10-11 overall and 5-4 in the Illini Prairie Conference.

They host Fisher this afternoon.

Jackson Fricke hit a grand slam home run and drove in five runs propelling Mt. Pulaski in a dominating 16-2 win over Fisher in non-conference high school boy's baseball action Thursday in Fisher.

AJ Bailey hit a triple and drove in two runs for the Hilltoppers. Evan Cooper, Chance Payne, and Liam Smith drove in a pair of runs as well. 

The Hilltoppers drew nine walks against Fisher pitching.

Landon Smith allowed two runs across four innings. The junior struck out five, walked four and allowed four hits. 

The Hilltoppers are 24-2 on the season. They return to action Monday when they travel to Buffalo to take on Tri-City. 

It was another big offensive performance for Mt. Pulaski as they rolled past Athens 16-1 in Tomahawk Conference action Wednesday in Athens.

Clay Aylesworth was a triple short of the cycle finishing 3-for-4 with a homer, a double and drove in five to pace the Hilltoppers.

AJ Bailey, Chance Payne, and Luke Martin each drove in two. 

Martin, Bailey, Liam Smith, Landon Smith, and Jackson Fricke added doubles. Bailey was a home run short of the cycle as he was 3-for-4 adding a triple. 

Payne tossed four innings of one-run ball. He did not allow a hit but issued five walks to seven strikeouts. 

The Hilltoppers are 23-2 overall and finish 6-0 in the Tomahawk, winning the conference in 2023. 

The Hilltoppers are at Fisher this afternoon.

Monticello hit three home runs and powered its way past a struggling Tuscola squad, 22-1 in a four-inning, non-conference win Wednesday in Tuscola.

Jacob Trusner, Logan Chupp and Luke Teschke all left the yard Wednesday. Trusner drove in four and added a double, Chupp drove in four, and Teschke drove in three.

The blowout allowed Monticello to go deep into its bench. Sophomore Carter Foran was 2-for-2 with a double and two RBIs. Sophomore Matt Swartz was 1-for-2 with three RBIs. 

Biniam Lienhart finished 2-for-2 for the Sages who scored ten runs in the first inning.

Spencer Mitze pitched three innings allowing a run on six hits, he issued a walk and struck out four. 

The Sages go to 16-4 overall. They travel to Rantoul this afternoon.

The Maroa-Forsyth bats came alive late and rolled to an 11-2 non-conference victory over Monticello Wednesday afternoon in Forsyth.

Megan Holub was 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs for the Lady Trojans. Lainey Larner was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs while Taylor Crouch, Valerie Foulke, and Peyton Peterson all drove in two for Maroa-Forsyth.

Marrissa Miller hit another home run for Monticello Wednesday. She was 2-for-2 with a double and two RBIs. Sadie Walsh was 3-for-4 with a double for the Lady Sages while Isabella Beery and Lynnsey Trybom each went 2-for-3.

Maroa-Forsyth goes to 16-9 overall. They are at Warrensburg-Latham Friday. 

Monticello goes to 9-11. They will travel to Rantoul this afternoon. 

In a game heard Wednesday afternoon on WHOW, the Clinton Maroons downed the visiting Argenta-Oreana Bombers, 11-1, in six innings.  It was the Maroons second straight short game after pummeling Central A&M 15-0 in four innings on Tuesday. 
 

Wednesday's non-conference matchup started with the Bombers jumping out to a one run lead in the top of the first on two hits and an error. However, the Maroons would tie it up in the bottom half of the inning on Colton Walker's RBI grounder that scored Jack Manning. 
 

From there, Manning was masterful on the mound.  He went the distance tossing six innings of five hit ball only allowing the one run with four strikeouts and only one walk to pick up the win.  The freshman also led Clinton at the plate going 3 for 5 with 2 RBI.  Jack Manning was named the WHOW / Serv Pro of Piatt/DeWitt County Player of the Game.  

The Maroons would add a run in the second, two in the third, and then five in the fourth.  They put Argenta away with two in the bottom of the sixth on Manning's two run single to wrap up the 11-1 win.  
 

Clinton saw contributions throughout the lineup.  Other notables included Noah Bass, who went 2 for 3; Colton Walker went 1 for 2 with 2 RBIs; Preston Curtis was 2 for 3 with an RBI, and Mason Walker went 1 for 4 with an RBI triple. 
 

Argenta-Oreana was led by Rylan Lawson's 2 for 3 day.  Dylan Ragsdale took the loss for the Bombers, who drop to (5-13) on the season.  They'll travel to Cumberland on Friday. 
 

Clinton improves to (9-8) overall.  They'll return to CIC play Thursday on the road at St. Teresa. 

It was also announced during the broadcast that Clinton will host Prairie Central in the first round of the Class 2A Baseball Regionals on May 15th. You'll be able to hear that game on all WHOW platforms.  
 

Keep tabs of our Maroons coverage on WHOW by clicking the Sports Broadcast Schedule icon at DewittDailyNews.com.  
 

Mason Walker legged out an inside-the-park home run and struck out ten in four shutout innings as Clinton beat Central A&M 15-0 in a four-inning, run-rule victory Tuesday at Clinton High School in Central Illinois Conference boy's baseball action.

Walker faced just two batters over the minimum permitting a hit and issued a walk. 

Josh Bass smashed two doubles finishing 2-for-4. Brock Wilson had two doubles and finished 3-for-3. Jack Manning was 3-for-4 and Preston Curtis was 3-for-3.

The Maroons go to 8-8 overall and 7-6 in the Central Illinois Conference. They host Argenta-Oreana in non-conference action Wednesday. Hear the action on WHOW and its many online platforms.

Central A&M took advantage of five Clinton errors in an 11-2 victory Tuesday in Central Illinois Conference high school girl's softball action from Clinton.

Alaina Soberalski and Heidi Humble drove in the only Lady Maroons runs. Soberalski was 2-for-3 with a walk while Humble was 1-for-3 with a walk. Aliviyah Haynes and Brooke Reevs recorded the other Clinton hits. Mea Kivlehan walked twice and scored two runs. 

Alana Harlow hit a home run for the Lady Raiders.

The Lady Maroons fall to 6-20 overall and 3-10 in the Central Illinois Conference.

They will travel to Decatur St. Teresa Thursday afternoon for another Central Illinois Conference matchup. 

Evan Cooper and Luke Martin drove in three runs apiece and paced Mt. Pulaski over Argenta-Oreana 8-2 in non-conference high school boy's baseball action Tuesday in Argenta.

The Hilltoppers scored all its runs in the second, third and fourth innings. 

Martin finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and walked twice. Cooper was 1-for-4. Landon Smith and Liam Smith drove in the other two runs for the Mt. Pulaski who goes to 22-2 overall. 

AJ Bailey went 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball. He issued four walks, permitted seven hits and struck out eight for the win. 

MJ Hall finished 3-for-3 with a double for the Bombers. 

Argenta-Oreana travels to Clinton Wednesday.

Mt. Pulaski travels to Athens Wednesday for a Tomahawk Conference tilt.

A balanced offensive performance paced Heyworth over Blue Ridge 13-3 in non-conference high school girl's softball action from Heyworth Tuesday afternoon.

Macie Toepke homered for the Lady Hornets and scored twice, Emma Slayback and Paylin Williams drove in three runs apiece, and Morgan Kessler finished 4-for-5 with an RBI at the top of the order.

Carsyn Stiger and Carmen Ellis doubled for Blue Ridge. Alexi Wike and Stiger finished 2-for-4. Stiger had a pair of RBIs and Ellie Schlieper went 3-for-3 with an RBI. Ellis was 2-for-3 for the Lady Knights.

Heyworth improves to 15-4 overall.

Blue Ridge is 8-12. They will wait until next week before they return to action traveling to Fisher on Monday.

Sectional seedings were announced Tuesday for high school boys' baseball and high school girls' softball in Class 1A and 2A.

In Class 1A boy's baseball, Mt. Pulaski received the top seed in the Champaign St. Thomas More sub-sectional A. Decatur St. Teresa is the second seed, Champaign St. Thomas More received the fourth seed. 

Other seeds in the sub-sectional include Cerro Gordo-Bement receiving the seventh seed, Argenta-Oreana the eighth seed, and Decatur LSA the tenth seed. 

Salt Fork and Argenta-Oreana are Regional hosts in the sub-sectional. 

Blue Ridge received the ninth seed in Sub-Sectional B of the Champaign St. Thomas More Sectional. 

Delavan is the top seed in sub-sectional A of the Illinois Wesleyan Sectional. Heyworth is the second seed while LeRoy received the fourth seed. LeRoy will host a Regional. Lexington is the eighth seed and will host a Regional while Ridgeview is seeded ninth and Hartsburg-Emded is seeded 11th.

Other Class 1A seedings, Meridian is the sixth seed in sub-sectional B of the Altamont Sectional. Central A&M is the eighth seed of the same sectional and Tuscola is seeded tenth. Neoga and Tuscola will host the Regionals. 

In Class 2A, Monticello is seeded second in sub-sectional A of the Millikin Sectional. St. Joseph-Ogden is the top seed followed by Tolono Unity. 

GCMS is the eighth seed and will host a Regional. St. Joseph-Ogden is the other Regional host. 

Clinton received the seventh seed in sub-sectional B of the Millikin Sectional. Tri-Valley will host a Regional and is the fourth seed. Bloomington Central Catholic is the fifth seed.

Maroa-Forsyth is the third seed of sub-sectional B of the Pleasant Plains Sectional. Warrensburg-Latham is the fourth seed. Quincy Notre Dame and Athens are Regional hosts. 

Shelbyville is the third seed of sub-sectional A of the Pleasant Plains Sectional. Sullivan will host a Regional and is the seventh seed. 

Checking in on girl's softball - Clinton is the ninth seed of sub-sectional A in the Tolono Unity sectional. Monticello is seeded eighth in the same sub-sectional. The top seed is Tolono Unity followed by Normal U-High, Bloomington Central Catholic and Warrensburg-Latham rounding out the top four. Maroa-Forsyth is seeded fifth, then Tri-Valley and Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond. 

The Regional hosts are Bloomington Central Catholic and Maroa-Forsyth.

In sub-sectional B, Sullivan received the fifth seed while Shelbyville is the sixth seed. The Regional sites in the sub-sectional are Sullivan and Teutopolis.

Other area softball teams seeding includes Lexington seeded fifth in sub-sectional A of the Pontiac Sectional. GCMS is seeded sixth. 

Class 1A girl's softball seedings, Heyworth will host a Regional and is the top seed in sub-sectional A of the Tuscola Sectional. LeRoy, Fisher, and Meridian are the top four seeds. Tuscola, Argenta-Oreana, Arcola, Blue Ridge, Decatur St. Teresa and Champaign St. Thomas More round out seeds five through ten.

Meridian is the other Regional host.

The brackets are expected to be released Friday afternoon. 

Evan Cooper hit for the cycle and Mt. Pulaski outslugged New Berlin 20-11 in a non-conference win in high school baseball action Monday afternoon from Mt. Pulaski.

Cooper finished 6-for-6 with five RBIs. Jackson Fricke drove in three runs finishing 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and runs scored.

Liam Smith drove in three in a 2-for-5 afternoon for the Hilltoppers who rallied with 13 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. New Berlin entered the frame with an 11-7 lead. 

The Hilltoppers go to 21-2 overall. They hit the road for a non-conference matchup with Argenta-Oreana this afternoon.

In a game heard on WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com, Monticello got contributions from its entire lineup and Jack Buckalew was solid across five innings leading Monticello past St. Joseph-Ogden 11-5 in an Illini Prairie Conference win Monday in Monticello.

St. Joe put up three runs in the top of the third inning but the Sages answered with six runs in the fourth, all with two outs.

Jacob Trusner powered a drive through a vicious blowing across the field to the base of the center field fence for a two-run double that tied the game then Spencer Mitze plated two runs with a single with the bases loaded that gave the Sages a 6-3.

Luke Teschke would add a two-run single two innings later that put Monticello up 9-4 and then back-to-back RBI groundouts by Mitze and Wade Carroll put the Sages up 11-4 in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Buckalew battled through five innings. He allowed three runs on six hits with no walks and had five strikeouts.

Mitze game breaking base hit and solid defense in left field through Monday's wind earned him the ServPro of Piatt/DeWitt County Player of the Game.

The Spartans fall to 21-6 overall and 7-1 in the Illini Prairie Conference.

The Sages go to 15-4 overall and 7-1 in the IPC. A win Thursday at Rantoul guarantees Monticello a share of the Illini Prairie Conference title. 

Monticello travels to Tuscola Wednesday and wraps up the Illini Prairie Conference slate on Thursday at Rantoul.

Marrissa Miller capped a come-from-behind win with a walk-off grand slam as Monticello stunned St. Joseph-Ogden 13-10 in Illini Prairie Conference high school girl's softball action Monday from Monticello.

Miller's grand slam was the second home run of the day and her two home runs were two of five hit by the Lady Sages. Emma Stoerger, Lynnsey Trybom and Sadie Walsh all went deep.

Miller drove in a game-high five runs and scored three times. Trybom finished 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored. 

The Lady Sages go to 9-10 overall and 4-4 in the Illini Prairie Conference. They are at Maroa-Forsyth Wednesday afternoon before wrapping up the Illini Prairie Conference slate Thursday at Rantoul.

Clinton's comeback against Tri-Valley came up short in an 8-5 loss Monday afternoon in high school girl's softball action from Clinton High School.

Reice McCormick doubled twice and drove in three runs for the Lady Maroons who fell behind 6-2 in the fourth inning but rallied for three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning but could not finish off the comeback.

Aliviyah Haynes drove in two runs and Kylee Isaac finished 2-for-4 for Clinton.

Brooke Reeves, Alaina Soberalski, Heidi Humble, Avery Smith and Ashley Armstrong all had hits for the Lady Maroons.

Clinton is 6-19 on the year. They host Central A&M on Tuesday. 

Luke Cheng hit a two-run home run in the top of the 12th inning to give Illinois State a 10-7 lead and the Redbirds held on to beat Southern Illinois in a Missouri Valley Conference thriller Sunday in Carbondale.

Auggie Rasmussen drove home what was ultimately the winning run in the 12th inning, but Cheng's first career homer put two insurance runs on the scoreboard as Scherbenske threw a scoreless 12th inning.

Trailing 2-1, Daniel Pacella launched a deep home run to right field on the 10th pitch of the at-bat to put the 'Birds on the board in the 4th inning.

The Salukis added a run in the 5th inning, but the Redbirds rallied to tie the game at 3-3 behind a Noah Rabin sacrifice fly and Rasmussen's speed forcing a throwing error to plate the tying run.

SIU retook the lead in the 7th inning, but Rabin smashed a two-run homer to put ISU ahead 5-4 in the 8th inning.

Southern Illinois tied the game in the 8th inning prior to Tyler Woltman drawing a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch in the 10th inning to plate a run.

The Salukis tied the game in the bottom of the innings before Judah Morris delivered a pinch-hit single to score Rasmussen and give ISU the lead at 7-6 in the 11th inning.

One last time, SIU scored once to tie the game through 11 innings.

Illinois State is 17-23 overall and 6-12 Missouri Valley Conference.

Illinois State is scheduled to travel to Iowa Tuesday for a 6:05 p.m. CT contest.

Illinois (19-21, 8-10) dropped their series against Ohio State (21-21, 5-13) after a 15-9 defeat at Bill Davis Stadium on Sunday.

Illinois played long ball again in the first inning, with Cam McDonald going deep with a two-run shot to left, bringing home Branden Comia, who doubled to lead off the ballgame. The Buckeyes would respond with three runs of their own their first time up to take a 3-2 lead after one.

The Illini would jump back in front in the second, scoring three times to take a 5-3 lead. Brody Harding delivered an RBI-single to tie the game and Camden Janik was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to give Illinois the lead. McDonald would follow with a bases-loaded to walk for his third RBI of the game, pushing the lead to two.

Ohio State would push one run across in both the second and third innings to tie the game, but broke the contest wide open by scoring five times on six hits in the fourth to take a 10-5 lead. 

Trailing 14-5, Illinois mounted a late rally in the eighth, scoring four times in the frame to make it 14-9. McDonald collected his fourth RBI of the game with a single and Ryan Moerman picked up an RBI of his own two batters later. Jacob Schroeder then doubled in a pair of runs with one out, but the Illini were unable to keep the line moving in the inning. The Buckeyes would add their final run of the game in their half of the eighth.

Comia would double with one out in the ninth to pick up his fourth hit of the ballgame, but Illinois was unable to push any runs across in the inning.

McDonald finished 2-for-5 with two runs, a home run, four RBI and a walk. Comia was 4-for-5 with two runs and two doubles - his first four-hit game of the season.

Every Fighting Illini starter reached base safely in the loss but Illinois left 12 runners stranded on base in the loss.

The Illini lost Friday 10-2 but rebounded for a 7-0 win on Saturday.

The Fighting Illini will be back in action on Tuesday, where they will take on Indiana State at Sycamore Stadium in Terre Haute, Ind. 

In a game heard on WHOW, Andrew Vaughn capped Chicago's seven-run ninth inning with a three-run homer, and the White Sox stopped a 10-game losing streak with a wild 12-9 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday.

Yasmani Grandal also homered and Adam Haseley had four hits as Chicago won for the first time since April 18. It was the longest slide for the team since it also dropped 10 in a row in 2013.

Chicago finished with a season-high 18 hits. It was the franchise's biggest ninth-inning comeback since it trailed 10-4 against Minnesota on Sept. 7, 2007, before winning in extra innings.

Jake Burger sparked the winning rally with a one-out RBI double against Jalen Beeks (0-2). Oscar Colás then hit a sacrifice fly and Elvis Andrus made it 9-8 with a run-scoring single.

After Lenyn Sosa's single, Beeks was replaced by Garrett Cleavinger. But Haseley greeted Cleavinger with a tying single and Vaughn followed with his third homer of the season, a drive to left field that led to a big celebration at home plate.

Aaron Bummer (1-1) got the win after he allowed two runs in the top of the ninth.

Luke Raley homered twice and drove in three runs for Tampa Bay, which went 6-1 against Chicago this season. Taylor Walls and Christian Bethancourt also

connected.

Michael Kopech (0-3, 7.01 ERA) starts Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game series against Minnesota. RHP Joe Ryan (5-0, 2.81 ERA) takes the mound for the Twins.

After getting a 1-0 win Saturday, the Los Angeles Dodgers relied on small ball again in their 6-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.

Noah Syndergaard got his first win in a Dodgers uniform while the lineup got some timely hits and took advantage of mistakes by St. Louis pitchers, including eight walks.

On a day when the Dodgers were 1 for 15 with runners in scoring position, David Peralta epitomized what type of game it was. He drove in two runs, but both came on ground outs.

Chris Taylor's double in the fourth inning was the only Dodgers' run to come in via a hit. Three came in via ground outs, one on a sacrifice fly and the go-ahead run crossed the plate after a wild pitch.

The Dodgers have gone deep in 22 of their 28 games this season. Sunday though marked the first time they have not homered in consecutive games.

After getting off to a slow start, the Dodgers have won seven of their last 10 and posted their first three-game series sweep of the season.

Syndergaard (1-3), who signed a one-year contract during the offseason, allowed three runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings.

St. Louis was swept in a series for the second time this season and went 2-8 on its season-long 11-day, 10-game road trip. At 10-19, the Cardinals are 10 games behind Pittsburgh in the NL Central. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it is the first time since 1907 St. Louis has been at least 10 games behind the division leader at the end of April.

The game was tied at 3 in the fifth inning when the Dodgers plated the go-ahead runs. Will Smith led off with a double before Zack Thompson (1-2) walked Max Muncy and Jason Heyward to load the bases. After James Outman struck out, Drew VerHagen came on and threw a wild pitch on a sweeper with a 2-2 count to score Smith.

Muncy made it 5-3 when he came across on Peralta's grounder. Peralta also had an RBI grounder in the fourth inning.

Evan Phillips worked a scoreless ninth for his third save.

The Cardinals took a 2-0 lead in the second on Dylan Carlson's sacrifice fly and an RBI single by Brandon Donovan, but were unable to make it stand.

After an off day, St. Louis returns home to begin a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels. LHP Steven Matz (0-3, 6.23 ERA) takes the mound Tuesday against LHP Patrick Sandoval (2-1, 3.16).

Luis Arraez hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the eighth inning to give the Miami Marlins a 4-3 win over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday and a sweep of the three-game series.

Jon Berti drew a leadoff walk against reliever Keegan Thompson (1-1) and advanced to third on Jesús Sánchez’s single. Arraez then drove the first pitch from Thompson to deep center to score Berti.

Tanner Scott (2-1) pitched a scoreless eighth around two singles and A.J. Puk closed with a perfect ninth for his fifth save. Garrett Hampson doubled twice for the Marlins, who won their fourth straight and are 10-0 in one-run games.

The Cubs were 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position. Chicago’s Nico Hoerner singled in the seventh, extending his consecutive games on base streak to 25.

Justin Steele limited Miami to three runs and seven hits in six innings. It ended the left-hander’s string of 12 consecutive starts of allowing two runs or fewer dating back to July 20, 2022.

Cody Bellinger drove a 2-0 pitch from Marlins reliever Andrew Nardi into the facade in right for his seventh homer in the sixth inning to tie the game at 3.

Two innings earlier, Bellinger hit a game-tying sacrifice fly and Seiya Suzuki tripled after Marlins centerfielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. misjudged the drive that got past his outstretched glove. But Miami retook the lead in the bottom half on Hampson’s RBI double.

Drew Smyly (2-1, 3.21 ERA) will start the opener of a four-game series at Washington on Monday against Nationals LHP Mackenzie Gore (3-1, 3.00).

Rain postponed the NASCAR Cup Series race scheduled for Sunday at Dover Motor Speedway until Monday.

The race will start at noon at the Monster Mile.

This is the second straight year Dover’s only Cup race was postponed because of rain. Dover will hold a Monday race for the fifth time in 105 career Cup races. Martin Truex Jr. has won twice at Dover on Mondays.

Kyle Busch starts on the pole Monday and Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell joins him on the first row. Ford drivers benefited from the rain, with Ryan Blaney starting third, followed by Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher and Chase Briscoe.

Busch, enjoying a successful first season at Richard Childress Racing, won last week's race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Chance Payne hit a solo home run and Evan Cooper pitched a complete game as the Mt. Pulaski Hilltoppers picked up a big 6-1 win over Illini Bluffs in Tomahawk Conference boy's baseball action Saturday in Mt. Pulaski.

Payne allowed an unearned run and struck out five in facing just four over the minimum. 

Jackson Fricke doubled twice and drove in two while AJ Bailey was 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored.

The first five in the Hilltoppers order scored a run. Evan Cooper and Luke Martin had RBIs for Mt. Pulaski who goes to 20-2 overall and 5-0 in the Tomahawk Conference.

With Illini Bluffs going to 5-2 in conference play, the Hilltoppers control their own destiny in the Tomahawk the rest of the way. They begin another busy week with a non-conference game today hosting New Berlin. 

Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond was too much for Blue Ridge in a 19-3 four inning romp Saturday in Lincoln Prairie Conference softball action in Arthur.

Blue Ridge was able to put runs on the board in the first three innings as Cassie Zimmerman hit a solo home run and drove in two to pace the Lady Knights offense. 

Lily Enger doubled and scored a run for Blue Ridge. Ellie Schlieper, Lily Summers, and Carmen recorded hits.

Kailee Otto went deep twice and drove in six for the Lady Knights who go to 16-8 overall and 8-1 in the Lincoln Prairie.

Blue Ridge falls to 8-11 and 3-5 in conference play. They return to action Tuesday for their only game of the week at Heyworth.