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

UNDATED (AP) — A curse-filled clubhouse victory speech by St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Shildt that went viral after a player posted it on social media showed a different side to the usually mild-mannered skipper _ and while he was sorry that his colorful language got leaked, he did not feel bad about the gist of his message. The NL Central champion Cardinals are getting set to host the wild-card Washington Nationals for Game 1 of the best-of-seven NL Championship Series.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The relationship between Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Texans counterpart Deshaun Watson goes back well beyond the 2017 draft, when along with Mitch Trubisky they were considered among the best prospects at their position. Now, two of the bright young QBs in the league will square off when Houston visits Kansas City on Sunday.

UNDATED (AP) — This is not an easy year to be an offensive coordinator in the Big Ten. The conference includes the top four teams in the FBS in scoring defense: Wisconsin, Penn State, Iowa and Ohio State. Move over to the yards-based total defense stat, and those same teams occupy four of the top five spots. Advanced stats also give high regard to the defenses at Michigan, Michigan State and Northwestern.

UNDATED (AP) — The Nittany Lions expect to run into their first real challenge in Kinnick Stadium where the Hawkeyes will try to rebound from a close loss to Michigan in their Big Ten opener. Both teams are propelled by top 10 defenses.

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — David Perron’s second goal of the game proved to be the winner as the St. Louis Blues beat the Ottawa Senators 6-4. Oskar Sundqvist, Jay Bouwmeester, Brayden Schenn also scored for the Blues. Ryan O’Reilly had a goal and three assists and Jake Allen made 25 saves in his season debut. Vitaly Abramov, Artem Anisimov, Chris Tierney and Anthony Duclair scored for the Senators, who are off to their worst start after losing three straight games in regulation.