SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Carlos Martinez pitched seven effective innings for his third consecutive win and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Francisco Giants 3-2 on Saturday. Martinez allowed one run on six hits with three strikeouts and did not walk a batter for the third time this season. The right-hander also drove in the Cardinals’ first run with an RBI double in the third. Kolton Wong had two hits and scored a run, disgruntled outfielder Dexter Fowler added a sacrifice fly and Francisco Pena singled in a run.

Yadier Molina was given the day off after experiencing soreness in his right shoulder. LHP Tyler Lyons (elbow strain) began his rehab assignment and threw 13 pitches in one scoreless inning for Triple-A Memphis. Lyons has been out since June 6. RHP Luke Gregerson (shoulder impingement) threw nine pitches in a rehab appearance with Double-A Springfield.
UP NEXT
Giants LHP Madison Bumgarner (1-3, 2.58 ERA) pitches the series finale Sunday against Cardinals RHP Jack Flaherty (3-4, 3.19). Bumgarner has lost five of his last six starts against St. Louis. Flaherty allowed five runs in four innings during his only career appearance against San Francisco in 2017.

NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — Defending IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden’s up-and-down season is back on an upswing after a dominant win at Road America two weeks ago. Newgarden is back at Iowa Speedway — the scene of perhaps his most impressive performance back in 2016 — in hopes of closing the gap further on series leader Scott Dixon.

Newgarden is fourth, 50 points behind Dixon, despite a series-high three wins in 10 starts. That’s because the Tennessee-born Newgarden finished eighth or worse in a five-race stretch that began in Indianapolis and ended in Texas.

Newgarden got things going in the right direction in Wisconsin two weeks ago, leading all but two of 55 laps, and he feels as though his No. 1 Chevy will have an advantage after testing the newly designed aero package at Iowa on June 27.
Indianapolis 500 winner Will Power won his 52nd career pole on Saturday, with Newgarden set to start second. Ryan Hunter-Reay was third, followed by Simon Pagenaud.

“Us testing here is a benefit…(and) I think it’s more important this year just because it’s a new car — and Iowa is its own animal,” said Newgarden, who led a record 282 of 300 laps to win at Iowa two years ago. “Even having been to Phoenix, another short oval, I don’t think a lot of that really applies here because Iowa is just crazy unique. It’s a lot bumpier.”

Despite being one of the few drivers to run in each of Iowa’s previous 11 races, Dixon has never won here. His best finish was third in 2016 — even though he has claimed the pole three times. Dixon didn’t test here either, but he’s been dominant of late for Chip Ganassi Racing. Dixon has two wins (Belle Isle and Texas) during a stretch of six consecutive top-four finishes. He qualified sixth on Saturday.

Winning at Iowa typically isn’t a problem for the resurgent Hunter-Reay, who entered the weekend tied for second with Alexander Rossi, 45 points back of Dixon. Hunter-Reay took first for Andretti Autosport at Iowa in 2012 — the year he won the championship — and in 2014 and 2015. He was second in 2013 and tied a season high with a third-place finish a year ago.

Hunter-Reay’s No. 28 Honda also topped last month’s test in Newton as well, and he and his team have clearly found the speed that eluded Hunter-Reay during back-to-back disappointing seasons. But Hunter-Reay acknowledged that, between the new setups and what could be much warmer conditions on Sunday, it should be an interesting race to say the least. The qualifying results haven’t seemed to matter much at Iowa either, since no pole-sitter has gone on to win the race.

“We have some good momentum going here at Iowa,” Hunter-Reay said. “It’s just that nobody really knows how the race will play out. Once we get into 50 laps on tires, we still have to go another 20, 30 more. It’s going to be really light, very busy behind the wheel. Just a lot less downforce to deal with this year.”

w/ Chris Parks

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — On a night the slumping Giants broke out of their offensive funk and ended a four-game losing streak, second baseman Joe Panik was forced out with a groin strain and is likely headed to the disabled list.

Such is life for manager Bruce Bochy and his beleaguered ballclub this season.

Andrew McCutchen hit an RBI single to drive in Hunter Pence from second base in the seventh inning and the Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 on Friday night.

But San Francisco’s win was tempered by the loss of Panik, who was injured while running from first to third on Gorkys Hernandez’s double in the fourth.

Panik, a Gold Glove winner in 2016, missed 31 games this season with a sprained left thumb. His latest injury had Bochy and his staff scrambling to make roster moves after the game. Rookie Alen Hanson is the likely replacement until Panik returns.

Pence reached on a pinch-hit single off John Brebbia (1-2) leading off the seventh. After Hanson sacrificed Pence to second and Posey was intentionally walked, McCutchen pushed a 2-2 pitch into left field to drive in the go-ahead run.

Pablo Sandoval homered, Buster Posey singled twice and Brandon Crawford scored on a wild pitch to help the Giants’ slumping offense break out.

Reyes Moronta (5-1) retired one batter to earn the win. Will Smith pitched the ninth for his third save.

Kolton Wong had two hits and two RBIs for the Cardinals.

St. Louis was limited to five hits after setting a season-high with 18 on Friday.

DEJONG RETURNS

Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong was activated from the disabled list after missing 45 games with a fracture in his left hand. DeJong had not missed a game this season before getting hurt.

“I was kind of anxious before the game just to get out there and start playing because I’ve been waiting for this moment for a while,” said DeJong, who went 1 for 3 with two runs scored.

UP NEXT

Cardinals RHP Carlos Martinez (5-4, 3.20 ERA) goes for his third consecutive win Saturday. Martinez pitched two-hit ball over nine innings, but left with a no-decision the last time he faced the Giants on May 20, 2017. RHP Jeff Samardzija (1-4, 6.56) will come off the disabled list to pitch for San Francisco in his first start since May 29.

Creston 6 , Atlantic 3
Atlantic 5, Carroll 3
AC/GC 9 , Orient-Macksburg 1
CB Thomas Jefferson 5, St. Albert 4
Denison-Schleswig 7 , Bellevue 0
Glenwood 7 , CB Abraham Lincoln 3
Harlan 14 , LeMars 9
Harlan 4 , LeMars 0
Martensdale-St. Marys 15 , Des Moines, Hoover 7
Martensdale-St. Marys 17 , Des Moines, Hoover 1 (4 Innings)

Class 1A

Region 6
Martensdale St. Marys 12, Moravia 5
Wayne 4, Lenox 1

Region 7
Glidden-Ralston 9, Grand View Christian 8 (10 innings)
Collins Maxwell 4, Coon Rapids-Bayard 0

Region 8
Akron-Westfield 6, Westwood 4
West Monona 1, Riverside 0

Class 2A

Region 2
Mount Ayr 1, Treynor 0
Logan-Magnolia 9, Underwood 4

Region 3
IKM-Manning 8, Panorama 1
Earlham 4, Ogden 1

Class 3A

Region 3
North Polk 5, Kuemper Catholic 1
Roland-Story 11, Saydel 2

Region 4
Atlantic 8, Creston 1
Clarke 6, Chariton 2

The Atlantic softball team picked up an 8-2 win over Creston on Friday night in a Class 3A Region 4 Semifinal. The Trojans used strong pitching and some hot hitting streaks to advance to a Regional Final for the third straight season.

Creston struck first with a lead-off single from Chloe Hagle that eventually scored, but the Trojans immediately responded. Atlantic ripped off 4 straight hits in the bottom of the first and brought home three runs to grab control of the lead and the game. Atlantic Head Coach Terry Hinzmann loved the way his team responded.

Ally Anderson was phenomenal in the circle allowing 2 runs on 6 hits with 11 strikeouts and 2 walks. After the game Ally said she felt better about her performance compared to the Tuesday win over Shenandoah.

Baylee Newell had a three run night as she led off the game with a single and sparked a two out rally in the fifth with a single. She was excited about the opportunity to play in the Regional Final on Monday.

Kaylee LeMasters took the loss for Creston allowing 6 earned runs on 7 hits with 4 strikeouts and 7 walks. Creston ends the season at 12-19.

Atlantic improved to 29-5 on the season and will next host Clarke of Osceola on Monday in the Class 3A Region 4 Final. Clarke won their Semifinal game 6-2 over Chariton. We’ll have coverage of that Regional Final on KJAN with pregame at 6:40pm and first pitch at 7:00pm on Monday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Drake University and its former head athletic trainer fired in 2016 after 31 years on the job have agreed to settle his wrongful termination lawsuit. KCCI reports that the university admits no wrongdoing in the settlement. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Scott Kerr filed the lawsuit after he says he was abruptly fired when a medical condition forced him to urinate in a dirty training room whirlpool. Kerr said he had been diagnosed with an enlarged prostate and another condition that caused him to urinate more frequently. Kerr said he urinated in the whirlpool because he didn’t have time to get to a bathroom. Kerr said he thoroughly cleaned the whirlpool tank afterward.

His lawsuit said he was fired because of his disability, age and gender.

Class 1A, 2A, and 3A Regional Semifinals are set to be played tonight. Here is a look at the schedule for area teams.

Class 1A

Region 6
Moravia @ Martensdale St. Marys 7:00pm
Wayne @ Lenox 7:00pm

Region 7
Glidden-Ralston @ Grand View Christian 5:30pm
Coon Rapids-Bayard @ Collins Maxwell 7:00pm

Region 8
Westwood @ Akron-Westfield 7:00pm
Riverside @ West Monona 7:00pm

Class 2A

Region 2
Mount Ayr @ Treynor 7:00pm
Underwood @ Logan-Magnolia 7:00pm

Region 3
Panorama @ IKM-Manning 7:00pm
Earlham @ Ogden 7:00pm

Class 3A

Region 3
Kuemper Catholic @ North Polk 7:00pm
Saydel @ Roland-Story 7:00pm

Region 4
Creston @ Atlantic – ON KJAN Pregame 6:40pm, First pitch 7:00pm
Chariton @ Clarke 7:00pm

SOFTBALL

Corner Conference Tournament

East Mills 9, Essex 5
Semifinal: Fremont-Mills 6, Stanton 5
Semifinal: Sidney 14, East Mills 3
Championship:  Sidney 16, Fremont-Mills 6

BASEBALL

Hawkeye Ten Conference

Anamosa 8, Denison-Schleswig 7
Harlan 8, Shenandoah 0
Kuemper Catholic 13, Perry 1
Lewis Central 7, Creston 2 (Game 1)
Lewis Central 8, Creston 6 (Game 2)
Red Oak 14, East Mills 7
St. Albert 11, Des Moines Christian 0

Western Iowa Conference

AHSTW 5, Sidney 4
IKM-Manning 5, Exira-EHK 4
Stanton 10, Griswold 0
Missouri Valley 6, West Harrison 5
Tri-Center 1, CAM 0
Independence 16, Treynor 6
Wahlert Catholic 4, Treynor 1

Rolling Valley Conference

Ar-We-Va 10, Whiting 2
Boyer Valley 11, Fremont-Mills 0
Glidden-Ralston 4 ACGC 1 (10 inn)
Ogden 3 Coon Rapids-Bayard 0
Panorama 3 Glidden-Ralston 2 (8 inn)

Other Scores

CB Abraham Lincoln 5, Sioux City North 4 (Game 1)
CB Abraham Lincoln 11, Sioux City North 8 (Game 2)
Mount Ayr 13, Orient-Macksburg 1
Nodaway Valley 10, Lenox 8
Sioux City West 10, CB Thomas Jefferson 0 (Game 1)
Sioux City West 14, CB Thomas Jefferson 4 (Game 2)