ST. LOUIS (AP) – Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo homered and combined for seven RBIs and the Chicago Cubs earned their fifth straight win, beating the St. Louis Cardinals 8-5 in the middle game of a three-game series on Tuesday night. The Cardinals have the best record in the majors at 87-51, but have dropped five of six. Their lead over Pittsburgh in the NL Central slipped to 4 1/2 games. The Cubs are 6 1/2 back and are second on the NL wild card race behind the Pirates.

St. Louis was down 8-0 before pinch-hitter Randal Grichuk sparked a five-run seventh with a two-run homer estimated at 451 feet in the seventh. Jason Hammel (8-6) allowed three runs in six-plus innings for Chicago, which has won five in a row. Michael Wacha (15-5) gave up six runs in four innings, his shortest outing of the season and on 10 days’ rest.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa state medical examiner says Tyler Sash, a safety who won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants after starring at the University of Iowa, has died at the age of 27. John Kraemer, the director of forensic operations for the medical examiner, tells The Associated Press that his office is investigating Sash’s death along with police in Oskaloosa, Iowa, Sash’s hometown. No cause of death has been determined, but an autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday morning.

Sash started 37 games for the Hawkeyes from 2007-10, earning first-team All-Big Ten honors as a senior. He was fourth all-time in interception return yardage in the Big Ten when he graduated, and his 13 picks were fifth-best in school history.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Chiefs could have Pro Bowl defensive tackle Dontari Poe and offensive tackle Eric Fisher back for their season opener Sunday in Houston.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid and general manager John Dorsey said Monday that both were progressing nicely from injuries. Poe had back surgery that kept him out all of training camp, and Fisher had a sprained ankle that kept him from playing the final three preseason games.

Reid also said that Fisher, the former No. 1 overall draft pick, would move from left tackle to right tackle. Donald Stephenson has been handling the quarterback’s blindside while Fisher has been out, and Reid has been pleased with the way he has performed.

AMES, Iowa (AP) – Dale Pierson goes by SACKMAMBA45 on Twitter, and he showed why in Iowa State’s season opener. The senior had three sacks and an interception in the Cyclones’ 31-7 victory over Northern Iowa on Saturday. Pierson will face a better offensive line when Iowa visits next Saturday, but his effort and the talent on the rest of the defensive line have fueled hopes that this unit could be one of the best in coach Paul Rhoads’ tenure.

Pierson decided on his Twitter handle after announcing that he would sign with Iowa State and learning that a Cyclone fan had posted that the team just picked up a sack mamba.

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Dexter Fowler had a leadoff home run and two-run double the first two innings and Dan Haren worked seven innings for the Chicago Cubs, who whipped the St. Louis Cardinals 9-0 on Monday. The NL Central-leading Cardinals maintained a 5 1/2-game lead over Pittsburgh, which lost 3-1 to Cincinnati. The Cubs are 7 1/2 games back. Addison Russell’s three-run homer capped a five-run third that made it 8-0. The Cubs have won four in a row and got an 11-game trip off to a rocking start.

Haren (9-9) had five strikeouts and two walks. He contributed a single and sacrifice fly in Chicago’s second victory in eight games in St. Louis this season. Lance Lynn (11-9) surrendered six runs in 2 1-3 innings on nine days rest after getting extra time to recover from a sprained ankle in his last start.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.6MB)

Subscribe: RSS

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Gerrit Cole pitched seven scoreless innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates used home runs from Aramis Ramirez, Sean Rodriguez and Starling Marte to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-1 Sunday night. Cole (16-8) gave up two hits, struck out seven and walked three as he bounced back from his worst start of the season. He threw a 99 mph fastball on his 94th pitch.

Second-place Pittsburgh cut the Cardinals’ lead in the NL Central to 5 1/2 games and earned its first series victory at Busch Stadium since April 2013. The teams are 8-8 against each other with one series to play at Pittsburgh in the final week of the season. John Lackey (11-9) gave up three runs and 10 hits in 7 1-3 innings but extended his streak of quality starts at home to 15.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Cameron Dye and Sarah Haskins both finished Sunday’s Des Moines Triathlon more than two minutes ahead of the competition. The Des Moines Register reports that Dye finished the swimming, biking and running competition in 1 hour, 47 minutes and 48 seconds.

The former University of Iowa swimmer finished 2:05 ahead of the next finisher. Haskins claimed the women’s title by finishing in 2:00:28. She never lost the lead after the second bike leg.