CINCINNATI (AP) — Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run homer, Tommy Edman added a solo shot among his three hits and the St. Louis Cardinals held off the Cincinnati Reds 5-4 on Sunday to split their four-game series. Jack Flaherty’s scoreless streak was snapped at 23 innings, but he allowed only one run in five frames as St. Louis stayed in first place in the NL Central, just ahead of the Chicago Cubs. Carlos Martinez gave up three straight hits and two runs to open the ninth but hung on for his 14th save, striking out Eugenio Suàrez to end it. Suàrez homered early but also committed a costly error at third base and grounded into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the seventh.

Reds rookie Aristides Aquino went 0 for 2 with two walks after hitting 10 home runs in his previous 11 games. Suàrez went deep in the first inning, his first at-bat after missing Saturday’s game with a sprained left thumb. That run was the first against Flaherty (7-6) since a 5-3 win over Houston on July 26. The right-hander had thrown seven scoreless innings in each of his three previous August starts. He improved to 3-0 in four starts this month after allowing three hits with three walks and five strikeouts.

Left-hander Alex Wood made his fifth start for the Reds after spending the first four months of the season on the injured list with a lower back problem. Wood (1-2) gave up eight hits and five runs — four earned — in five innings, with one walk and six strikeouts. Goldschmidt wiped out a 1-0 deficit with his 28th homer, driving in Edman in the third. Yadier Molina reached on Suàrez’s two-base throwing error and scored on Lane Thomas’ single in the fourth. Edman hit his fifth home run with one out in the fifth. One out later, Goldschmidt and Marcell Ozuna teamed up on back-to-back doubles for a 5-1 lead.

The Reds loaded the bases with one out in the seventh against Giovanny Gallegos. Andrew Miller came on to walk in a run before John Gant got Suàrez to bounce into a double play.
UP NEXT
Cardinals: RHP Dakota Hudson (11-6) pitches Monday night at home against the Brewers in a matchup of NL Central contenders. Milwaukee has roughed up Hudson for 15 hits and 10 runs — nine earned — in eight innings over two starts this season.  Pre-game is at 5:50, with the 1st pitch at 6:45.

CINCINNATI (AP) — Aristides Aquino keeps hitting historic home runs.
Cincinnati’s red-hot rookie had a three-run homer, Nick Senzel added a leadoff shot and the Reds dropped the St. Louis Cardinals back into a tie with Chicago for first place in the NL Central Division with a 6-1 victory on Saturday.

With the Reds leading 2-1 in the fifth, Aquino followed two-out singles by Josh VanMeter and Freddy Galvis with a no-doubt drive to center field on Miles Mikolas’ first pitch for his second homer in two nights, his 10th in his last 11 games and 11th in his 17th career games. Aquino is the first rookie since 1900 with 11 homers in his first 17 games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
THROWBACK SATURDAY
The Reds wore replicas of the uniforms worn by the 1976 team, the 11th in a series of 15 throwback outfits the team is wearing to help celebrate the 150th anniversary of baseball’s first all-professional team. The Cardinals wore for the 10th time this season the road alternate “victory” blue uniforms the team wore in the 1980s. St. Louis is 1-9 in those uniforms.
UP NEXT
Cardinals: RHP Jack Flaherty (6-6) has allowed 10 hits and three walks with 11 strikeouts in 11 1/3 shutout innings over two starts against Cincinnati this season.
Reds: LHP Alex Wood (1-1) has issued three walks and amassed 15 strikeouts in 19 1/3 innings over his first four starts since coming off the injured list on July 28.

Pre-game coverage on KJAN at 11:15-a.m.  First pitch at 12:10.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The shirts read “shut out the noise.” Shutting out the pain of suddenly losing the man behind the mantra will take far longer for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Still, there was something about the game-day routine that brought a sense of relief and normalcy just six days removed from the death of wide receivers coach Darryl Drake.

The receivers walked out to pregame warmups wearing gear with “shut out the noise” emblazoned on them, the phrase Drake adopted for his group heading into the 2019 season. The Steelers took the field with “DD” stickers on their helmets, stickers that will remain there all season. Players gathered on the sideline to kneel in prayer. A moment of silence was held just before the national anthem.

Then the ball was kicked off and Pittsburgh went back to work, keeping Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in check in a 17-7 victory on Saturday night.
UP NEXT
Chiefs: Host San Francisco next Saturday.

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) — A softball slugger from Iowa and a baseball player from Florida won the inaugural Little League Home Run Derby on Saturday at the Little League World Series.

Everest Ouellette of Palm Harbor, Florida, topped in the baseball competition after he hit his 15th home run — the one that sealed the victory — in walk-off fashion. He edged Nate Hawton-Henley of Oakton, Virginia, who had a few dozen family and friends from his hometown in attendance.

“Everest was incredible,” said ESPN analyst and former big leaguer Mark Teixeira, who was an honorary coach for the event. “He really won it because of the last minute there of the final round. When he gets on, you can see a lot of home runs in a row.”

Everest and Nate both advanced from the East Regional, which was held at SunTrust Park in Atlanta, and have gotten to know each other well throughout their journeys to Williamsport. “(Nate) is very competitive,” Everest said. “He’s one of my best friends of the tournament and he’s just super friendly and nice.” Everest hit a total of 37 home runs throughout all three rounds.

Aubrey Clark of Johnston, Iowa, beat Jeylene Joza of Jersey City, New Jersey, in a tiebreaker in the championship round of the softball bracket. Even though Aubrey admitted afterward that she got nervous as the two-minute clock wound down in each round, she was aided a couple of times by late home runs to advance to the championship round, where she defeated Jeylene.

“Once I got my first (home run), that’s when I started to feel not as much pressure,” Aubrey said. “When I know that it’s my last pitch, I just put a lot more into it.”
Aubrey finished with 12 total home runs, including the winning home run that came on her final swing in the tiebreaker of the championship. But she almost didn’t get that far.

In the first round of the competition, she hit a home run on her final swing in the tiebreaker of the round just to move on to the second round. “It feels great,” Aubrey said. “I never thought I would be able to come here.”

Added to the opening weekend of Little League World Series to generate a little buzz and expand the number of players exposed to LLWS atmosphere, a few hundred fans gathered and cheered each home run that sailed over pink fences set up in the outfield. The event was held at Bowman Field in downtown Williamsport, where the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates will play in the Little League Classic on Sunday night.

The 7:18-a.m. Sportscast with Ric Hanson.

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Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

CINCINNATI (AP) — Dexter Fowler hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs, Paul DeJong and Paul Goldschmidt added two-run shots and the St. Louis Cardinals rocked Luis Castillo on the way to a 13-4 romp over the Cincinnati Reds. Kolten Wong had a solo homer among his four hits and Fowler, Marcell Ozuna and Tommy Edman each had three as the Cardinals piled up a season-high 18 hits and moved into sole possession of first place in the NL Central.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Mike Montgomery outpitched Noah Syndergaard, and the Kansas City Royals ended their scoreless drought in a 4-1 victory over the New York Mets. The hottest team in the majors until this week, the Mets have lost four of five after a 15-1 stretch propelled them into the crowded NL wild-card race.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — Of all the things the Kansas City Chiefs wanted to accomplish during their three-week getaway to training camp at Missouri Western, returning home with everyone healthy probably topped the list. Not only did they accomplish that, they actually improved their roster depth. Now the trick is to remain healthy while preparing for the regular season back in Kansas City, where the Chiefs will resume their camp next week.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Jim Field.

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(Radio Iowa) — Several casinos around the state held ceremonies and began taking their first sports bets Thursday, as it became legal at noon. The sports book operator counted down three-two-one and the ribbon was cut to cheers at the Prairie Meadows Casino in Altoona. Republican state senate majority leader Jack Whitver of Ankeny says some Iowans were already betting illegally. ” We decided the right path forward was to bring sports wagering out of the darkness into a controlled, regulated environment that offers consumer protection along the way,” Whitver says.

The state will collect taxes from sports gambling, but it may only be a small percentage of what is already collected from casinos. Whitver and State Senator Tony Bisignano of Des Moines made the first bets at Prairie Meadows. Bisignano bet on the New York Yankees to win their game and Whitver – who was a standout wide receiver at Iowa State — picked the Cyclones to beat Iowa this year in football. Customers lined up after the ribbon cutting to place their bets. Mick Schminkey of Pleasant Hill put 40 dollars down on a few N-F-L preseason games. He says he’s been waiting for Iowa to approve sports gambling since the Supreme Court threw out a federal ban last year. Eventually Schminkey hopes to win a few bets, but this was for the experience. “It’s just fun to have that first bet in my pocket. I probably won’t ever throw this ticket away, unless I win,” Schminkey says.

Iowa is one of the early states to adopt sport betting but others are close behind. Places like Oregon, Illinois and Indiana are working out the final details. A similar ceremony took place at the Isle Casino Hotel in Bettendorf . Bettendorf Mayor Bob Gallagher placed the ceremonial first legal sports bet on his alma mater. “Seeing as though I am an Iowa grad, my son goes to school there, and I was actually Herky the Hawkeye while in school, I’m going to take the Hawkeyes in their season total wins to beat seven and a half,” Gallagher says.

William Hill is running the sports betting for the Isle and Vice President Michael Grodsky says they are ready for sports gamblers.”Any questions you have at all or any concerns you have about how to bet or what way to make a bet, we are here for you,” Grodsky says. “We know this is brand new to the midwest, and we’re excited to be here.” Eighteen of the 19 state-licensed casinos plan to offer sports betting. Ten of them were ready to go for the first day and the rest are expected to complete the process in the next week or so.

Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

CINCINNATI (AP) — Sonny Gray struck out 10 while pitching five scoreless innings, and the Cincinnati Reds held off the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1. Gray, Robert Stephenson, Michael Lorenzen and Raisel Iglesias combined for a two-hitter. Iglesias surrendered Kolten Wong’s check-swing RBI double in the ninth before retiring pinch-hitter Matt Wieters on a fly ball to center to finish his 24th save.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — Of all the things the Kansas City Chiefs wanted to accomplish during their three-week getaway to training camp at Missouri Western, returning home with everyone healthy probably topped the list. Not only did they accomplish that, they actually improved their roster depth. Now the trick is to remain healthy while preparing for the regular season back in Kansas City, where the Chiefs will resume their camp next week.

UNDATED (AP) — USA Football is piloting the game’s first long-term development program in the hopes of growing the game and catching up to other sports around the world. The sport’s governing body has launched its Football Development Model. Six youth leagues will team up with USA Football in the hopes of attracting more young players and improving skills. The leagues will experiment with new ways to coach fundamentals in practice and different ways to play the game.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Jim Field.

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