ST. LOUIS (AP) — After a rough debut, Cleveland Indians rookie Shane Bieber has found his routine.

Edwin Encarnacion and Lonnie Chisenhall hit back-to-back homers, Bieber pitched six strong innings and the Indians beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 on Wednesday night.

Bieber (3-0) struck out seven to become the seventh pitcher in baseball’s modern era to strike out six or more batters in each of his first four major league starts. After giving up four runs in 5 2/3 innings in his first outing, Bieber has given up just two runs in his last three starts and lowered his ERA to 2.22.

The Indians avoided a series sweep and have won eight of 10. Cleveland starters improved to 17-2 with a 2.26 ERA across 26 starts in series finales, including wins in their last nine decisions.

Bieber jumped on a first-pitch fastball from Jack Flaherty in the fourth for a double, his first major league hit.

Jose Martinez snapped Bieber’s scoreless innings streak at 14 innings with a one-out RBI single in the third.

Encarnacion and Chisenhall gave the Indians a 2-0 lead in the second, marking Cleveland’s fifth back-to-back home runs this season.

Francisco Lindor walked and Michael Brantley doubled to spark a two-run third that extended the Indians’ lead to 4-0. Tyler Naquin doubled home another run in the sixth.

Flaherty (3-3) went four innings, his shortest outing this season as the Cardinals had their four-game winning streak snapped. It followed perhaps his most dominant start, in which he carried a no-hitter for 6 1/3 innings against Milwaukee on Friday.

Matt Carpenter walked, doubled and scored a night after scoring five runs and getting five hits.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Miles Mikolas (8-2, 2.69 ERA) will get the start as St. Louis hosts Atlanta and RHP Julio Teheran (5-5, 4.52 ERA) in the first of a three-game set Friday. Mikolas threw 2 1/3 scoreless relief innings in his only career appearance against the Braves on Aug. 15, 2012.

Hawkeye Ten Conference

Bedford 10, Fremont-Mills 3
CB Thomas Jefferson 10, St. Albert 0
Glenwood 9, Red Oak 3 (Game 1)
Glenwood 5, Red Oak 2 (Game 2)
Denison-Schleswig 12, St. Albert 0
Harlan 6, Sioux City East 1
Lewis Central 7, Kuemper Catholic 2
Shenandoah 10, Southwest Valley 0

Western Iowa Conference Tournament

IKM-Manning 10, Tri-Center 0
Treynor 10, Griswold 0

Rolling Valley Conference

Coon Rapids-Bayard 8, Woodbine 1
Exira-EHK 12, CAM 2
Glidden-Ralston 10, Boyer Valley 0
West Harrison 14, Ar-We-Va 2

Corner Conference

Fremont-Mills 13, East Mills 8
Sidney 12, Stanton 2

Pride of Iowa Conference

Lenox 10, Southwest Valley 0

Mount Ayr Classic

Lenox 10, Orient-Macksburg 0
Martensdale-St. Marys 18, West Central Valley 4
Mount Ayr 16, Murray 0
Murray 1, Wayne 0

Hawkeye Ten Conference

Denison-Schleswig 18, Red Oak 4 (Game 1)
Denison-Schleswig 11, Red Oak 0 (Game 2)
Harlan 5, Sioux City West 4
Kuemper Catholic 2, Lewis Central 1 (Game 1)
Lewis Central 9, Kuemper Catholic 5 (Game 2)
Martensdale-St. Marys 7, Creston 3
Shenandoah 4, Glenwood 3
St. Albert 13, Atlantic 1 (Game 1)
St. Albert 9, Atlantic 8 (Game 2)

Western Iowa Conference Tournament

Logan-Magnolia 6, AHSTW 5
Tri-Center 7, Treynor 5

Rolling Valley Conference

Ar-We-Va 6, West Harrison 3
Boyer Valley 4, Glidden-Ralston 2
CAM 22, Exira/EHK 0
Coon Rapids-Bayard 5, Woodbine 4 (10 inn)

Corner Conference

East Mills 16, Fremont-Mills 4
Essex/South Page 18, Clarinda Academy 8 (Game 1)
Essex/South Page 15, Clarinda Academy 0 (Game 2)
Sidney 7, Stanton 6

Pride of Iowa Conference

East Union 5, Nodaway Valley 3
Lenox 11, Southwest Valley 1

Other Scores

Southeast Warren 11, West Central Valley 3

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

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

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Oregon State’s Trevor Larnach hit a tie-breaking two-run homer in the top of the ninth after Arkansas blew a chance to lock up a national championship, and the Beavers forced a third and deciding game in the College World Series finals with a 5-3 win. Cadyn Grenier singled in the tying run after three Arkansas fielders watched his foul ball drop between them.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Edwin Encarnacion and Lonnie Chisenhall hit back-to-back homers, rookie Shane Bieber pitched six strong innings and the Cleveland Indians beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1. Bieber struck out seven to become the seventh pitcher in baseball’s modern era to strike out six or more batters in each of his first four major league starts.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Mike Moustakas’ solo homer opened a five-run seventh inning that snapped an extended run-scoring slump for the Kansas City Royals, who held off the Milwaukee Brewers in the ninth for a 5-4 win. Danny Duffy allowed five hits over six effective innings for the Royals, who split a two-game interleague series with the NL Central-leading Brewers.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Kansas City Royals have placed reliever Justin Grimm on the 10-day disabled list with a right shoulder injury, filling the right-hander’s spot in the bullpen by recalling Jason Adam from Triple-A Omaha. The move made retroactive to June 24 was announced before the Royals’ game at the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Iowa High School Athletic Association released the postseason baseball brackets for Classes 1A and 2A on Tuesday. The district quarterfinals will begin in Class 1A on July 10th, Semifinals on July 12th, Finals on July 14th, and Substate Finals will be played on July 17th. In Class 2A district quarterfinal pigtail games will be played on July 7th, Semifinals on July 10th, and District Finals on July 14th, and Substate Finals on July 17th. Here is a look at first round match-ups for local teams.

Class 1A (First Round on 7/10)

District 13
Stanton vs. Murray (@ Nodaway Valley) 5:00pm
Southwest Valley @ Nodaway Valley 7:00pm
Lamoni vs. Orient-Macksburg (@ Lenox) 5:00pm
East Union @ Lenox 7:00pm

District 14
East Mills vs. Sidney (@ St. Albert) 5:00pm
Clarinda Academy @ St. Albert 7:00pm
Griswold vs. Bedford (@ Fremont-Mills) 5:00pm
Essex @ Fremont-Mills 7:00pm

District 15
Audubon vs. Earlham (@ Madrid) 5:00pm
IKM-Manning @ Madrid 7:00pm
Exira-EHK vs. Coon Rapids-Bayard (@ CAM) 5:00pm
Glidden-Ralston @ CAM 7:00pm

District 16
West Harrison vs. Woodbine (@ Tri-Center) 5:00pm
Whiting @ Tri-Center 7:00pm
Westwood vs. West Monona (@ Ar-We-Va) 5:00pm
Boyer Valley @ Ar-We-Va 7:00pm

Class 2A (Pigtail games 7/7, District Semifinals 7/10)

District 11
Pella Christian vs. Clarke (@ Mt. Ayr) 5:00pm
Albia @ Mount Ayr 7:00pm

Centerville and I-35 await winners.

District 14
Southeast Valley vs. Panorama (@ Woodward-Granger) 5:00pm
Woodward Academy @ Woodward-Granger 7:00pm

Van Meter and Ogden await winners.

District 15
AHSTW vs. Shenandoah (@ Clarinda) 5:00pm
Red Oak @ Clarinda 7:00pm

Underwood and Treynor await winners.

District 16
West Central Valley vs. Logan-Magnolia (@ Missouri Valley) 5:00pm
AC/GC @ Missouri Valley 7:00pm

Kuemper Catholic and MVAOCOU await winners.

Full brackets can be seen here.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Matt Carpenter helped the St. Louis Cardinals beat two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber in a way no one has before, then he stuck around to make some history of his own.

Carpenter homered twice, matched a career best with five hits and helped chase Kluber in the shortest start of the right-hander’s career in the Cardinals’ 11-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night.

Carpenter, who also scored a career-best five runs, is the 19th player ever with five hits, including two home runs, and five runs in a game. He’s the first Cardinals player to do it.

“I don’t know, that leaves me kind of speechless,” said Carpenter, who also drove in three. “It’s pretty cool. Wow, there’s been some really good players come through here. You would have figured somebody would have put together a night better than that.”

Kluber (11-4) allowed six runs in 1 2/3 innings and has lost two of his past three decisions. He gave up six hits, including homers to Carpenter and Jose Martinez, and walked one on 48 pitches.

Prior to Tuesday, Kluber’s shortest start had been two innings against the Tampa Bay Rays in 2013. His previous low this year was a five-inning game on June 15 against Minnesota when he took his third loss of the season.

“He’s human,” manager Terry Francona said. “Don’t think guys go 35 starts without having a bump in the road.”

It was a far cry from his only other appearance against the Cardinals. He struck out a career-best 18 in a 2-0 victory on May 13, 2015.

Carlos Martinez (4-4) settled down after a rough first inning for his first victory since May 2. He had lost three straight decisions over his previous five starts. He went six innings, allowing two runs, six hits and a walk while striking out eight.

St. Louis has won four straight after struggling through a 2-8 stretch. Cleveland entered the series on a seven-game winning streak before dropping the first two of this three-game set.

The Indians used three singles and a walk to take a 2-0 lead in the first but had only three more singles against Martinez and none after the starter was pulled.

Carpenter answered the Indians’ fast start with his 14th home run. It was Carpenter’s third leadoff homer of the year and 18th in his career. He also led off the eighth with his 15th homer, a solo shot, on a 5-for-5 night. The five hits matched a mark he set June 14, 2014 at Kansas City, and he was a triple shy of the cycle.

“I don’t think you wish for a home run not to be a home run, but it would have been cool to do,” he said of the cycle. “It’s something I’ve never done, but I’ll take the home run, too.”

St. Louis manager Mike Matheny made several fielding changes in the late innings to let players get some rest. He said he considered pulling Carpenter but decided the potential cycle meant more than a couple of innings off.

“It was on our mind, but this is special for him and special for our fans,” Matheny said. “When he’s on, it’s impressive to watch his approach and what he can do when he’s got his swing going right.”

Jose Martinez’s 12th home run, a three-run blast to left field, chased Kluber. Kolten Wong added a two-run shot in the third, his sixth of the season.

RAIN DELAY

Tuesday’s game was delayed 1-hour, 26-minutes by rain, marking the second consecutive game between the Indians and Cardinals that was affected by inclement weather. The first pitch Monday was pushed back 1-hour, 21-minutes because of a thunderstorm.

TRAINING ROOM

Indians: RHP Carlos Carrasco is scheduled to throw 40 pitches off the mound Wednesday in St. Louis. If all goes well, he could begin his rehab assignment Saturday. Carrasco is currently on the 10-day disabled list with right elbow contusion.

Cardinals: SS Yairo Munoz was pulled after the third inning with a left ankle contusion. He fouled a ball off his leg during his last at-bat before grounding out to short and was replaced by Greg Garcia to start the fourth.

UP NEXT

Indians: RHP Shane Bieber (2-0, 2.45) makes his fourth start of his rookie season. After allowing 18 hits in his first two appearances, he gave up four but struck out nine and blanked the Tigers through seven innings in his last outing.

Cardinals: RHP Jack Flaherty (3-2, 2.50) is coming off his best start of his rookie year. He allowed a season-low one hit and tied a season-high with 13 strikeouts but didn’t figure in the decision in the 2-1 loss at Milwaukee. He’s given up two runs on six hits in his previous 18 1/3 innings over three games.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Arkansas didn’t hit much against Luke Heimlich and Christian Chamberlain in Game 1 of the College World Series finals. In fact, the Razorbacks struck out 16 times.

Somehow, some way, they sit on the cusp of their first national championship in baseball after beating Oregon State 4-1 Tuesday night.

They capitalized against a faltering Heimlich in a four-run fifth inning, got a strong start from Blaine Knight with shutdown relief pitching and mixed in a few big defensive plays. That enabled the Razorbacks to win on a night when they mustered just five hits.

“I feel fortunate to win the game,” Razorbacks coach Dave Van Horn said. “Baseball is a little different game sometimes, and you have eight innings where you don’t do much and you put together one inning. You pitch good enough and play defense, you can win. That’s kind of what went on tonight.”

The finals opener, delayed a day because of rain, seemed to have a little bit of everything — a fly ball lost in the sun that went for a ground-rule double, a runner interference call against Oregon State and an overturned foul call on a ball hit down the right-field line.

Nothing turned the game more than the sudden collapse of Heimlich.

“He started to lose it,” OSU coach Pat Casey said. “He didn’t throw the ball where he needed to. He’d been real good all year long, and certainly really struggled in that inning.”

After failing to get out of the third inning in both of his previous CWS starts, the Beavers’ ace was in full command while striking out five and limiting the Razorbacks (48-19) to one hit through four innings.

In the fifth, though, the senior left-hander issued a walk and hit two batters.

“He lost command of his fastball a little bit and was out of the zone, so as hitters we’re all just trying to be patient, see him in the zone, and he ended up also missing his spots a few times,” Arkansas outfielder Heston Kjerstad said. “That equaled a few more runs for us.”

Arkansas starter Blaine Knight (14-0) went back to the mound with a 4-1 lead, pitched another inning and left having allowed seven hits with six strikeouts. Barrett Loseke and Matt Cronin combined to pitch three scoreless innings of relief.

Michael Gretler’s base hit in the second put Oregon State (53-12-1) up 1-0. The Beavers looked ready to add to the lead when Kjerstad lost Trevor Larnach’s fly in the sun and it bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double.

Adley Rutschman was on first and Larnach on third when Tyler Malone grounded to first and Jared Gates threw to second to start a double-play attempt. Rutschman ducked as he approached the bag — rather than sliding or peeling off away from the play — and was called for interfering with shortstop Jax Biggers. It was ruled a double play, Larnach was ordered back to third base, and Knight struck out Gretler to end the inning.

“It appeared Rutsch was doing everything he could to get out of the way,” Casey said. “The ball left the guy’s hand. They weren’t near one another, so I don’t agree with the call. We had that run taken off the board right there, so that makes it tough.”

The play seemed to swing the momentum Arkansas’ way.

Heimlich (16-3) issued a walk and gave up back-to-back singles for the Razorbacks’ first run in the fifth. Heimlich then hit two straight batters to bring home another run. Arkansas extended its lead to 3-1 after second baseman Nick Madrigal’s bobble trying to throw to second on a grounder.

Christian Chamberlain replaced Heimlich and walked the first batter he faced, making it 4-1. Chamberlain struck out 11 in 4 2/3 innings but also walked five.

Oregon State is in the same position it was in back in 2006 when it won its first title. The Beavers lost their CWS opener and lost Game 1 of the finals against North Carolina before winning the last two. They also are the first team since 2010 to make the finals after losing their first game in Omaha.

“We have to come out tomorrow with more of an edge,” Rutschman said. “There’s something about facing elimination that you can’t really explain. I hope we come with fire and energy tomorrow.”

HEIMLICH’S STRUGGLES

Heimlich’s first two appearances in Omaha didn’t draw much reaction from the crowd other than cheers from Oregon State supporters. That was mostly the case again Tuesday, though there were scattered boos when he was introduced before the game and a woman behind the Arkansas dugout stood and gave a thumbs-down with her right hand.

Last year, Heimlich left the team before the CWS when it was revealed he had pleaded guilty to molesting a young relative when he was 15. The university allowed him to return to the team this year. He served two years of probation and went through a treatment program but denied wrongdoing in recent interviews with Sports Illustrated and The New York Times.

UP NEXT

Game 2 is Wednesday. The winner of Game 1 has won 11 of the 15 finals since the best-of-three format began in 2003.

Hawkeye Ten Conference

Lewis Central def. Atlantic via forfeit (Atlantic had appeared to pick up a 9-2 win. Noah Bruckner had three hits for the Trojans. But officials conferred after the game an determined a pitch count rule violation had occurred to give Lewis Central the win.)
CB Thomas Jefferson 18, Glenwood 3
Clarinda 10, Shenandoah 1 (Game 1)
Clarinda 9, Shenandoah 4 (Game 2)
Creston 17, Red Oak 1
Harlan 7, St. Albert 4 (Game 1)
Harlan 10, St. Albert 2 (Game 2)
Kuemper Catholic 8, Denison-Schleswig 7

Western Iowa Conference Tournament

AHSTW 19, Underwood 13
IKM-Manning 5, Griswold 4
Logan-Magnolia 7, Missouri Valley 3
Treynor 5, Audubon 2
Tri-Center 2, IKM-Manning 0

Rolling Valley Conference

CAM 14, Orient Macksburg 0
Coon Rapids-Bayard 8, West Harrison 6
Glidden-Ralston 5, Ar-We-Va 3 (Game 1)
Ar-We-Va 15, Glidden-Ralston 4 (Game 2)
Woodbine 10, Whiting 0

Pride of Iowa Conference

East Union 6, Bedford 3
Lenox 5, Mount Ayr 4 (9 inn)
Nodaway Valley 4, Southwest Valley 3
Pleasantville 5, Central Decatur 0

Other Scores

Ankeny Christian 8, Lamoni 2
Sioux City East 9, CB Abraham Lincoln 6 (Game 1)
Sioux City East 12, CB Abraham Lincoln 2 (Game 2)

Hawkeye Ten Conference

Atlantic 4, Lewis Central 2
Denison-Schleswig 12, Kuemper Catholic 0
Harlan 10, St. Albert 0 (Game 1)
Harlan 15, St. Albert 5 (Game 2)
Shenandoah 4, Clarinda 3 (Game 1)
Clarinda 11, Shenandoah 3 (Game 2)
Red Oak 14, Creston 7

Western Iowa Conference Tournament

Audubon 13, Tri-Center 3
Griswold 9, Missouri Valley 8
IKM-Manning 12, Griswold 0
Logan-Magnolia 11, AHSTW 1
Riverside 3, Underwood 2
Treynor 11, Audubon 1

Rolling Valley Conference

Glidden-Ralston 3, Coon Rapids-Bayard 2 (8 inn)
Orient-Macksburg 6, CAM 3
Woodbine 12, Whiting 2
Woodbine 17, Boyer Valley 16

Corner Conference

CB Thomas Jefferson 9, Stanton 3
West Harrison 8, Sidney 5

Pride of Iowa Conference

Bedford 11, East Union 4
Martensdale-St. Marys 6, Southeast Warren 0
Mount Ayr 12, Lenox 0
Nodaway Valley 13, Southwest Valley 3
Pleasantville 4, Central Decatur 0