WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) — Josh Bell homered and drove in four runs to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates over the St. Louis Cardinals 6-3 in the Little League Classic on Sunday night. The teams played at renovated Bowman Field, a minor league ballpark located 5 miles from where the Little League World Series is taking place. Sitting in the front rows were admiring Little Leaguers who got to mingle with the big league stars earlier in the day, part of a Major League Baseball initiative to celebrate youth baseball.

After the final out of the first regular-season game in Williamsport, the Pirates shook hands on the field as usual after a victory. And then, in a nod to Little League baseball, both teams lined up at home plate and shook hands with each other, throwing in some hugs and high-fives to finish off a feel-good day.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Cristie Kerr and Paula Creamer won singles matches Sunday to help the U.S. beat Europe in the Solheim Cup. Gerina Piller sealed it with a birdie putt that put her 3 up over Florentyna Parker with three to play. The Americans also won the Cup in 2015 and are 10-5 in the biennial tournament.

Kerr beat Mel Reid 2 and 1, and Creamer edged Georgia Hall 1 up after Hall missed a 4-foot par putt on the 18th hole. Lexi Thompson halved Anna Nordqvist after trailing by four holes, and Angel Yin halved Karine Icher.

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

CINCINNATI (AP) — Rookie Patrick Mahomes threw a pair of touchdown passes, solidifying his spot as the Chiefs’ primary backup, and three Kansas City quarterbacks threw for a score on Saturday night during a 30-12 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. Kansas City (1-1) got a lot to like out of its offense overall and its top pick in particular. The Chiefs scored on each of their first five possessions for a 30-9 lead. Alex Smith was 8 of 9 for 83 yards with a TD, and Tyler Bray threw an 18-yard touchdown on his first play.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Trevor Bauer pitched 6 1/3 innings as the Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals 5-0 on Saturday night. Bauer (12-8) won his fifth straight decision — the longest winning streak of his career that started after a July 17 loss. He gave up seven hits, walked two and struck out four.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Adam Frazier homered, doubled and singled as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-4 Saturday to end a six-game losing streak. The Cardinals scored 11 runs in each of their two wins to start this series. Paul DeJong hit a two-run homer in the eighth and Jose Martinez homered in the ninth.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Terence Crawford stopped Julius Indongo in the third round Saturday night to become the undisputed world champion at 140 pounds. Crawford sent Indongo to the canvas with a right to the body in the last minute of the second round and just missed with a massive left hook before the bell. Midway through the third round, Crawford caught Indongo with a left hook to the body that put him down writhing in pain. Crawford (32-0, 23 knockouts) was in his home state for the fifth time in nine fights but for the first time in Lincoln.

All games non-district

CLASS 8-Player:

Bedford 60, Essex 24
CAM 70, Lenox 36
Ar-We-Va, Westside 44, Stanton 42
Woodbine 70, West Harrison, Mondamin 21

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

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The United States swept the afternoon fourball matches to take a 5 1/2-2 1/2 lead over Europe in the Solheim Cup at Des Moines Golf and Country Club. Lizette Salas and U.S. newcomer Danielle Kang each won two matches, teaming to beat Carlota Ciganda and Caroline Masson 1 up for the Americans’ lone full point in the morning foursomes, then leading the U.S. to its first ever fourball sweep in the afternoon.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals have placed reliever Joakim Soria on the disabled list with a left oblique strain and recalled right-hander Kevin McCarthy from Triple-A Omaha. The 33-year-old former closer has had a roller-coaster season for Kansas City, compiling a 3.96 ERA in 53 appearances as the primary setup man for Kelvin Herrera.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Corey Kluber put together another Cy Young-worthy performance before leaving with a sprained right ankle Friday night, and Jay Bruce homered twice to help the Cleveland Indians rout the Kansas City Royals 10-1 in the opener of their three-game series. Jason Kipnis and Bruce took Ian Kennedy deep in the first inning, and Bruce added a three-run shot in the seventh to finish with five RBIs.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Matt Carpenter homered in the second inning to send the St. Louis Cardinals on to an 11-10 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates Friday night. St. Louis has won 10 of their past 13 games despite losing three straight from August 13th through 16th.

ELIZABETH, N.J. (AP) — An NFL linebacker who had a New Jersey gun charge against him dropped says people started looking at him differently and accusing him of being a thug even though the case against him “was false.” Former Chicago Bears and Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Khaseem Greene’s lawyer says the gun charge was dropped last month because the man who said he gave Greene a weapon admitted he lied. Greene said Friday the legal trouble has been “probably the toughest time” of his life “emotionally and mentally.”

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The United States swept the afternoon fourball matches to take a 5 1/2-2 1/2 lead over Europe on Friday in the Solheim Cup at Des Moines Golf and Country Club.

Lizette Salas and U.S. newcomer Danielle Kang each won two matches, teaming to beat Carlota Ciganda and Caroline Masson 1 up for the Americans’ lone full point in the morning foursomes, then leading the U.S. to its first ever fourball sweep in the afternoon.

Salas and rookie Angel Yin routed Ciganda and Emily Pedersen 6 and 5, and Kang and Michelle Wie topped Madelene Sagstrom and Jodi Ewart Shadoff 3 and 1. In the other fourball matches, Brittany Lincicome and Brittany Lang beat Masson and Florentyna Parker 3 and 2, and Stacy Lewis and Gerina Piller edged Charley Hull and Georgia Hall 2 and 1

In the morning foursomes, Americans Cristie Kerr and Lexi Thompson rallied to halve with Hull and Mel Reid. For Europe, Hall and Anna Nordqvist beat Paula Creamer and Austin Ernst 3 and 1, and Karine Icher and Catriona Matthew topped Lewis and Piller 1 up.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Jim Field.

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Thousands of golfing fans from around the world have converged in central Iowa this week to watch a continental competition.Steve Mona, C-E-O of the World Golf Foundation, says “The Solheim Cup is one of — if not the most important, prestigious, well-watched tournaments in women’s golf.” Like the Ryder Cup competition for male golfers, women golfers compete for the Solheim Cup every two years. Des Moines Golf and Country Club is where Team U-S-A hopes to defend its title after beating Team Europe in Germany two years ago.

“It’s really different for a golf crowd, if you will, because in most cases at an individual tournament the fans are rooting for everybody, some maybe more than others,” Mona says. “But in this case, the fans are clearly rooting for one side over the other.” The rules of play make it different from a standard golf tournament, plus there are far fewer players on the course. This (Friday) morning, just four groups of four will be on the course, so spectators will be clustered together.

“It just adds up to a more electric atmosphere,” Mona says. Denver hosted the Solheim Cup in 2013 and Chicago hosted the competition in 2009. Mona says this year’s event is projected to have a 32-million dollar impact on the Des Moines area economy. “If the figures hold true, you will exceed the economic impact of those last two,” Mona says, “which is pretty impressive considering those are pretty big metro areas, i.e. Chicago and Denver.”

Mona says the Des Moines Golf and Country Club was chosen as the venue for the 2017 event because the course will challenge the professionals and can handle lots of spectators. Mona says another factor was the “tremendous interest” in golfing here from fans and local businesses. Early this week, after looking at ticket sales, Mona predicted a record number of spectators will follow the three days of competition.

“I knew how passionate Des Moines and the surrounding area is with respect to golf, Mona says, “and also the track record that the Des Moines Golf and Country Club had with the U.S. Senior Open.” A record crowd of more than a quarter of a million spectators attended the 1999 U.S. Senior Open in Des Moines — at the same course where the Solheim Cup is being played 18 years later. Mona suggests people who will be watching this competition in person get to the course early, to watch the golfers warm up.

“If you’re a golfer and you want to try to get better, you can learn a lot based upon how these top professionals warm up and how they go about doing that,” Mona says. Mona’s other tip for the fans is to try to position yourself close to the tee boxes, so you can hear the golfers talk with their caddies about which club to use and where to aim.

“And think about that in this context: you wouldn’t get to stand on second base at Yankee Stadium when the Yankees are playing a game…or you’re not going to stand on the free throw line in an NBA game, but you can stand five feet to10 feet away from a player getting ready to hit a shot,” Mona says, “so I would take advantage of that.” Mona has worked on the business side of the sport of golfing for 37 years. This will be the third Solheim Cup Mona has witnessed.

(Learfield Sports)

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

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Dexter Fowler’s two -run triple sparked the St. Louis Cardinals to an 11-7 comeback win over the Pittsburgh Pirates Thursday night at PNC Park. After trailing 5-1 at the end of the third inning, St. Louis rallied to avoid a fourth straight loss while Pittsburgh’s losing streak reached five games. The Cardinals remain third in the National League Central, one and a half games behind the Chicago Cubs.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Rally Cat may be coming back to Busch Stadium. The St. Louis Cardinals are taking claim to the now-famous cat that darted across the field during the August 9th game against Kansas City, just moments before Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina hit a grand slam. The Post-Dispatch reports the cat has officially been named Rally Cat by the St. Louis Feral Cat Outreach. The organization is currently caring for the feline.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Chris Long, the Philadelphia defensive end who grew up in Charlottesville, Virginia put his arm around teammate Malcolm Jenkins as a show of unity during the national anthem before the Eagles’ exhibition game Thursday night against Buffalo. Long, who starred in Charlottesville in high school at St. Anne’s-Belfield and went to the University of Virginia, was critical of white nationalists and the violence in his hometown last week.

NEW YORK (AP) — Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliott’s appeal of a six-game suspension over a domestic violence case will be heard by arbitrator Harold Henderson, who reduced Greg Hardy’s ban when the defensive end was with the Cowboys two years ago. Henderson is one of the people approved by Commissioner Roger Goodell to hear appeals under the NFL’s personal conduct policy.

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — Western Kentucky will host powerhouse Notre Dame in a challenging season-opening stretch that could feature four consecutive games against Power Five schools. The Lady Toppers will also face Iowa and Indiana of the Big Ten and Missouri of the SEC, in addition to hosting the 2nd-ranked Fighting Irish of the ACC.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Rally Cat may be coming back to Busch Stadium. The St. Louis Cardinals are taking claim to the now-famous cat that darted across the field during the Aug. 9 game against Kansas City, just moments before Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina hit a grand slam.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the cat has officially been named Rally Cat by the St. Louis Feral Cat Outreach. The organization is currently caring for the feline. But Cardinals spokesman Ron Watermon says the center promises to give the cat to the team after a 10-day quarantine ends Monday.

The cat ran into the outfield during the 6th inning, and a grounds crew worker eventually caught the feisty feline . Molina’s grand slam came on the next pitch after the delay, helping St. Louis win 8-5.