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Hawkeye Ten Conference
(3-0) Lewis Central 25-25-25, Clarinda 18-16-17
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Fortunately for the Milwaukee Brewers, they didn’t slip up.
The Brewers clinched their first playoff spot since 2011 by ensuring at least a spot in the NL wild-card game, helped Wednesday night when a rookie St. Louis pinch-runner suddenly fell on his way to the plate in a 2-1 win over the contending Cardinals.
“I saw him go down and luckily we were able to put a tag on him and get him out,” Brewers reliever Josh Hader said. “I’ve never seen that before but it was definitely good on our side.”
The Brewers (92-67) remained a half-game behind the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs. Milwaukee’s win also sealed a postseason berth for the Cubs.
Milwaukee began the day 3 ½ games ahead of Colorado for the top wild-card slot. St. Louis (87-71) entered a half-game behind the Rockies for the final wild-card berth.
The Cardinals missed a big chance to tie it in the eighth inning. Matt Carpenter drew a two-out walk and was lifted for pinch-runner Adolis Garcia. Jose Martinez then hit a slow roller to third baseman Mike Moustakas, who threw wildly to first.
Garcia was waved home, but slipped rounding third base and fell halfway to the plate. He got to his feet and had no chance, easily tagged out after second baseman Hernan Perez made a strong throw.
“The kid’s giving you everything he’s got, it’s just unfortunate he fell,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. “It’s one of those things that happened. Clearly, it would’ve tied the game but it wasn’t for lack of effort. Things happen and he was giving everything he had.”
Milwaukee turned that break into a three-game sweep at Busch Stadium. And while the Brewers enjoyed an enthusiastic celebration in their clubhouse, the prospect of catching the Cubs still hung in the air.
“We like our chances, but obviously winning the division would be huge,” outfielder Ryan Braun said. “The wild-card game, no matter how good you are, it is always somewhat of a coin flip. So we have to take care of business. We have to continue to win games and continue to play the way we’ve played to this point and hopefully find a way to win the division.”
Milwaukee advanced to the NL Championship Series in 2011 before being eliminated in six games by the eventual World Series champion Cardinals.
Jhoulys Chacin pitched five strong innings and Travis Shaw hit a pair of RBI singles for Milwaukee.
“When you’ve got games left still and you’ve got something to play for there’s stuff ahead of us, but you do this to enjoy what you’ve accomplished,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “We know that we’ve made the playoffs, we have a chance to play in the playoffs and we have three big games left.”
Chacin (15-8), who had lost his last three decisions, gave up one run on just one hit over five innings. He needed a season-low 60 pitches and faced three batters over the minimum.
“We definitely caught a break there, it was a strange play,” Counsell said of the Garcia fall. “We pitched really well tonight. Chacin was brilliant. It was just a really well played game.”
Xavier Cedeno, Corbin Burnes, Hader and Jeremy Jeffress combined for four shutout innings as the Brewers held the Cardinals to a season-low two hits. Jeffress earned his 13th save in 18 chances.
Milwaukee now returns to Miller Park to take on the lowly Detroit Tigers in the three-game series starting Friday to end the regular season. The Cardinals travel to face the Cubs for the three-game set.
Shaw’s single scored Christian Yelich, who walked all five times he came to the plate, and gave the Brewers a 1-0 lead in the third.
Shaw broke a 1-all time with an RBI single off Dakota Hudson in the fifth, again scoring Yelich, to make it 2-1.
“It’s cool,” Shaw said. “I mean anytime you do that it’s cool but especially on a clinching night, it feels pretty good.”
Yelich, who reached on a walk by Chasen Shreve (3-4), became the ninth inherited runner out of 18 that Hudson has allowed to score.
“Hopefully this is the first of many celebrations and rightfully so to celebrate this moment,” Yelich said. “But we’ve got a big weekend ahead so we’re going to enjoy it tonight and get back to work.”
Cardinals starter John Gant stranded runners in each of his first four innings before being lifted with one out in the fifth. It is the fourth time in his last five starts that Gant failed to go more than 4 1/3 innings.
Jedd Gyorko’s sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the fourth made it 1-all.
Cardinals infielder Paul DeJong hung back to watch the Brewers’ on-field celebration.
“They earned it,” DeJong said. “It’s something that I want. It’s something that I’ve done in the minor leagues. I really wanted to be out there doing it with us but we’re going to have to keep pushing and try to pull something out.”
UP NEXT
Brewers: RHP Zach Davies (2-7, 4.65 ERA) begins the three-game series at home Friday night against Detroit and RHP Jordan Zimmermann (7-8, 4.31 ERA). Davies, who is making his first career start against the Tigers, gave up two runs in four innings in a loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates last Saturday.
Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (2-3, 4.08 ERA) gets the start in the opener of a three-game series at Chicago and RHP Kyle Hendricks (13-11, 3.49 ERA) on Friday afternoon. Wainwright leads all active pitchers with 15 wins against the Cubs and his 11 career wins at Wrigley Field is third all-time in franchise history behind Bob Gibson (15) and Harry Brecheen (13).
The Iowa Association of Track Coaches released their Week 6 cross country rankings on Tuesday evening. Here is a look at area ranked teams and individuals.
Class 3A Boys
Teams
14. Glenwood
Individuals
30. Jalen Petersen, Atlantic
Class 3A Girls
Teams
2. Harlan
4. Glenwood
9. Atlantic
Individuals
3. Janette Schraft, Glenwood
6. Taylor McCreedy, Atlantic
23. Raegan Anderson, Denison-Schleswig
29. Brielle Baker, Creston
30. Aubrey McIntyre, Glenwood
Class 2A Boys
Individuals
2. Jerry Jorgenson, Treynor
8. Jordan Hustak, Missouri Valley
Class 2A Girls
Teams
3. Panorama
Individuals
6. Ella Waddle, Panorama
29. Tori Castle, Treynor
Class 1A Boys
Teams
2. Nodaway Valley
14. AC/GC
Individuals
5. Joshua Baudler, Nodaway Valley
7. Noah Nelsen, AC/GC
12. Justin Ambrose, Boyer Valley
15. Louden Foster, West Central Valley
17. Noah Jorgensen, Sidney
25. Leo Garrigan, St. Albert
Class 1A Girls
Teams
1. Logan Magnolia
14. AHSTW
15. AC/GC
Individuals
1. Emma Lucas, Bedford
2. Peyton Pogge, Tri-Center
3. Courtney Sporrer, Logan-Magnolia
4. Taylor Sporrer, Logan-Magnolia
5. Kate Crawford, AC/GC
16. Gracie Springman, St. Albert
23. Lauryn Embleton, AC/GC
28. Alexis Post, Riverside
30. Sophia Broers, Nodaway Valley
Full Team rankings here.
Full Individual rankings here.
Girls Team Top 5
Girls Individual Top 5
Boys Team Top 5
Boys Individual Top 5
Hawkeye Ten Conference
(3-0) Creston 25-25-25, Atlantic 11-15-19
(3-0) Lewis Central 25-25-25, Atlantic 13-13-9
(3-0) Lewis Central 25-25-25, Creston 12-18-15
(3-0) Abraham Lincoln 25-27-25, Glenwood 14-25-15
(3-0) Kuemper Catholic 25-25-25, Shenandoah 16-12-13
(3-0) Red Oak 26-25-29, Harlan 24-14-27
Corner Conference
(3-2) Fremont-Mills 21-25-25-12-15, East Mills 25-16-15-25-11
(3-0) Griswold 25-25-25, Essex 15-19-17
(3-0) Sidney 25-25-25, South Page 9-8-8
Western Iowa Conference
(3-2) Logan-Magnolia 25-12-13-25-15, AHSTW 18-25-25-20-13
(3-0) Treynor 25-25-25, Riverside 12-15-13
(3-0) Tri-Center 25-25-25, IKM-Manning 15-11-9
(3-0) Underwood 25-24-25-25, Audubon 21-26-13-14
Pride of Iowa Conference
(3-1) East Union 25-25-19-25, Martensdale-St. Marys 14-11-25-19
(3-1) Mount Ayr 25-22-25-25, Lenox 21-25-18-11
(3-1) Nodaway Valley 25-25-20-25, Central Decatur 13-23-25-23
(3-0) Southwest Valley 25-25-25, Bedford 23-19-14
Rolling Valley Conference
(3-1) Ar-We-Va 23-25-25-25 Coon Rapids-Bayard 25-15-19-18
(3-0) CAM 25-25-25 West Harrison 18-14-11
Other Scores
(3-0) Thomas Jefferson 26-25-25 Sioux City West 24-23-15
By JAY COHEN, AP Sports Writer
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Milwaukee’s last NL MVP thinks he is about to get some company.
Led by Christian Yelich’s silky smooth game, the Brewers are closing in on the playoffs.
Yelich homered and drove in a career-high six runs, and surging Milwaukee hurt St. Louis’ postseason chances with a 12-4 victory over the Cardinals on Tuesday.
“Just trying to help the boys out any way you can,” Yelich said. “A lot of guys came through in some big situations for us. That was a lot of fun tonight.”
Ryan Braun went deep twice and Jesus Aguilar also connected as Milwaukee lowered its magic number for clinching a playoff spot to one. But the Brewers are thinking bigger after their fifth win in six games put them just a half-game back of the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs.
“I think the division is kind of what’s on our mind right now,” manager Craig Counsell said, “and I think we’ve earned that with the last two days.”
Milwaukee (91-67) leads Colorado by 3½ games for the top wild card. St. Louis (87-71) dropped a half-game behind Colorado for the second NL wild card after the Rockies routed Philadelphia 10-3.
“We have four games to play, and we feel good about the club we have and the kind of guys we have and the character we have and the talent we have,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. “We’ll control what we can control and we’ll get after it and let the chips fall.”
Following Wednesday’s series finale, Milwaukee closes the regular season with a weekend set at home against lowly Detroit. St. Louis also is off Thursday before beginning a three-game series against the slumping Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Yadier Molina hit a three-run homer for the Cardinals, who had won six of seven before their 6-4 loss to Milwaukee on Monday night. Marcell Ozuna went 3 for 3 with a walk.
St. Louis left the bases loaded in the fifth and seventh innings when Jedd Gyorko came up empty each time. Third baseman Mike Moustakas turned an inning-ending double play on Gyorko’s chopper near the bag in the fifth, and Gyorko flied to right for the final out of the seventh.
“This one’s kind of on me,” Gyorko said. “I’ve got to find a way to get the job done in those situations.”
Milwaukee scored 11 runs with two out, including its first six. Yelich came up with the bases loaded in the fourth and tripled into the gap in right-center, lifting the Brewers to a 6-0 lead. After Lorenzo Cain was intentionally walked with two out in the ninth, Yelich hit a three-run drive to center.
“It’s part of the game, but at the same time, it’s a challenge,” Yelich said of the walk to Cain. “As a competitor, you want to answer the challenge.”
Yelich is batting .346 with seven homers and 28 RBIs in 22 games this month. He has 33 homers, 104 RBIs, 110 runs and 181 hits on the year, all career highs.
Braun, who won the MVP award in 2011, said he thinks Yelich is about to join the club.
“I can’t foresee a scenario in which he doesn’t win it,” Braun said. “He’s been so incredible for us in every facet of the game.”
Taylor Williams (1-3), the second of six Milwaukee relievers after Gio Gonzalez pitched four innings, got three outs for the win. The Brewers used nine pitchers in their series-opening victory.
Cardinals rookie Austin Gomber (6-2) was tagged for five runs and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings.
LONG GONE
Cardinals first baseman Matt Carpenter and Shildt were ejected in the seventh inning. Carpenter argued with home plate umpire Will Little after he was called out on strikes, and then was thrown out as he walked toward the dugout.
“I understand the importance of staying in these games,” Carpenter said. “So when I get thrown out of the game as I’m walking away, that’s something I have a problem with.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Brewers: All-Star reliever Jeremy Jeffress was available after he missed the series opener because of neck spasms.
Cardinals: 2B Kolten Wong returned to the starting lineup for the first time since he left Friday’s victory over San Francisco with cramps in both hamstrings. He struck out swinging as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning of Monday’s loss. “Obviously at this point of the season no one’s 100 percent,” he said. “For me as long as I know I can run and I can play I’m going to be out there.”
UP NEXT
Brewers right-hander Jhoulys Chacin (14-8, 3.61 ERA) and Cardinals right-hander John Gant (7-6, 3.53 ERA) pitch Wednesday night in the series finale. Chacin is 0-3 with a 4.34 ERA in four September starts. Gant lasted just 2 2/3 innings in his last outing, yielding one run and four hits Friday against the Giants.
AMES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State kicker Connor Assalley earned national recognition for the four field goals he made in last week’s victory over Akron. That was a great sign for the Cyclones’ special teams — and a troubling one for their offense.
Iowa State (1-2, 0-1 Big 12) is thrilled that Assalley, a sophomore walk-on in his first season as a starter, has been 7 for 7 on field goals since taking over for Garrett Owens. But the bigger takeaway is that the Cyclones already have had to settle for field goals seven times in the red zone, a clear indication of an attack that has yet to find its footing.
Iowa State, which ranks 120th out of 130 teams nationally with 18.7 points a game, travels to face TCU (2-2, 0-1) on Saturday. Coach Matt Campbell isn’t panicking about his red zone offense yet. “It is too early to sit here and say, ‘Gosh, where are we with only three games so far being played,’ and playing some good opponents,” Campbell said. “But I see some areas of improvement where we wanted to make improvement, and time will tell where we get to.”
The Cyclones have played mostly strong defense in 2018, allowing just 21 points a game after a breakout season a year ago. So it looks like Iowa State can lean on its defense more often than not and still push for an upper-division finish in the Big 12.
But the Cyclones have simply got to get more out of their offense.
The only Power Five team averaging fewer points per game than Iowa State is Louisville, which is in transition after two seasons of leaning on Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson. And what’s such a head scratcher about the Cyclones’ struggles on offense is that they have a star of their own in running back David Montgomery, who is as electric in space as anyone in America.
The problem is that they haven’t gotten Montgomery in space nearly enough.
Iowa State’s offensive line was supposed to be better in 2018. It hasn’t been, and never is that more evident than when the Cyclones try to get Montgomery going between the tackles. Montgomery is averaging just 3.8 yards a carry and has sprung only one run longer than 20 yards. But he also had his first 100-yard game and a 1-yard TD in the 26-13 victory over Akron, giving Campbell hope that the Cyclones are getting closer to freeing Montgomery up.
“The key to success is continuing to find ways to get your best players the ball in critical situations,” Campbell said. “I think that’s where I felt really excited about what I saw (last) Saturday, that we could get (Montgomery) the ball and force feed it in his hands.” All the attention that opponents are paying to Montgomery has allowed Iowa State to get its other offensive star, wide receiver Hakeem Butler, the space he needs to make big plays.
Butler has caught 14 passes for 297 yards and three touchdowns, including two of over 50 yards in a loss to Oklahoma. “If I make plays, hopefully it will open (space) up for him, and I know a lot of people are keying on him so it’s been open for me,” Butler said of Montgomery. “It’s vice versa for both of us.”
The Orient-Macksburg Cross Country Invitational was held on Monday evening and the Creston girls and Earlham boys came away with team titles.
Bedford’s Emma Lucas was the individual girls champion, while Joshua Baudler of Nodaway Valley won the boys race.
Girls Team Top 5
Girls Top 5 Individuals
Orient-Macksburg XC Girls 2018
Boys Team Top 5
Boys Top 5 Individuals
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