ST. LOUIS (AP) — Adam Wainwright recovered from a shaky start to earn his 14th win, tying for the major league lead, and rookie Kolten Wong homered twice to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night.

Jhonny Peralta’s two-run double keyed a three-run first off Brandon Workman and Wong had his first multihomer game. The Cardinals took two of three from their stripped-down opponents, who beat them in the World Series last fall but are in last place in the AL East.

Wainwright needed 66 pitches to slog through the first three innings after the start was delayed by rain for more than an hour for the second straight night.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Those who think Mark Mangino can fix Iowa State’s offense point to the program’s wide receivers as a major reason for their optimism. The Cyclones look like they’ve got a lot of potential targets in the passing game.

Iowa State’s receiving corps could be as deep as it’s been in years. Led by junior Quenton Bundrage, the Cyclones should have multiple options for whoever wins the starting quarterback competition between Grant Rohach and Sam Richardson.

Iowa State opens on August 30th against North Dakota State, the three-time defending FCS champion.

The Atlantic Golf & Country Club will host the 56th annual Tournament of Champions Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  The 54 hole event features golfers in three divisions: Championship, Senior and Super Senior, competing for titles.  Golfers qualify through their home club tournaments.  Defending champion Brad Hartkopf of Atlantic will battle in the 43-man Championship divison.  21 golfers will compete for the Senior title and 10 others are in the Super Senior division.  KJAN will have live coverage all weekend long on AM 1220 & FM 101.1.  You can also listen to our live stream at www.kjan.com or on your phone with the free KJAN app for iphone or android.  Follow the results each day on our sports page at www.kjan.com.  And, check out the KJAN TV page for live video from the first tee.  Listen Thursday afternoon at 4:30 for live interviews with area golfers at catch our live tee-to-green coverage beginning Friday morning at 8:35.

Click this link for the first round tee times:  2014 TofC Round 1

w/ Jim Field

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Redemption was a big theme Wednesday in Cedar Falls, as the U-N-I football team held their annual Media Day activities. The Panthers suffered through an injury-plagued, 7-5 season last year. But the Panthers have eighteen starters back this season, Panther coach Mark Farley says that group will play a large role in dictating how the new season goes. “That will be the basis of this football team. There’s good talent at some of the younger positions, but it always goes back to if you’ve got talent and leadership — guys that are invested in the program because they’ve been here — those are the ones who will battle for you in those tight situations that will make the difference between a good season and a great season,” Farley says. “The opportunity is there. We have to take advantage of that opportunity.”

The 2013 season saw the Panthers lose starters to injury at several key positions, including wide receiver, middle linebacker, and in their secondary. But according to Farley, the upside of dealing with those setbacks is a deeper team this season. Farley says they probably have more depth and more talented depth this year than they have had in the past. He says those are players who have the ability to come in and have the knowledge to play the game.

The Panthers open their season at Iowa on August 30. Farley says that playing an F-B-S team to begin the season presents a whole separate set of challenges. “We have to get this team to a very high level again for that first football game. If we don’t it’s going to be a very long afternoon. So we’ve got to get to a very high level,” Farley says. “Once we get to that level now you’ve got to sustain that for 12 more weeks — very hard to do. Sometimes the way you want to build a program is to keep growing it through the season and then everybody says you are better in the second game than you were in the first. We’d better be good in the first or we won’t have anything left in the second.”

According to Farley, 105 U-N-I players spent their summer in Cedar Falls preparing for the season. He says that shows their commitment on and off the field. “Now that’s different from other universities because at the F-B-S you get scholarships in the summer. At the F-C-S, if you stay, you pay. And you stay there because you want to be there, you stay there because you want to be there for your teammates. That number changes at F-C-S,” Farley says. “When you have 105 guys in the weight room all summer long working, when it is on them, that just shows the commitment and what they want to do with their team and what they want to do with their talent. That says a lot for them.”

U-N-I was picked to finish 3rd in the Missouri Valley Football Conference by the league’s coaches. The Panthers are 15th in the preseason F-C-S poll released by The Sports Network.

(Radio Iowa)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Quarterback Andy Dalton is armed with a new contract that could keep him with the Bengals through the 200 season. It may just set the market for Chiefs counterpart Alex Smith. On Thursday night, Smith will get a chance to prove whether the two of them are truly comparable when the Chiefs play the Bengals in the preseason opener for both teams.

Dalton has led Cincinnati to the playoffs in each of his first three seasons, but he’s yet to win a playoff game. The Bengals were bounced by the Chargers last season. Smith helped to turn around a two-win team prior to his arrival, going 11-5 and making the playoffs last year. But the Chiefs blew a 38-10 second-half lead in a 45-44 playoff loss in Indianapolis, leaving Smith and the rest of the team eager for the start of a new season.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Xander Bogaerts drove in both runs, including a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the ninth inning, as the Boston Red Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 on Wednesday night. The matchup of Shelby Miller and Joe Kelly, former teammates who were each other’s best man, was a high quality draw that brought out their best. Each allowed a run in seven innings.

Junichi Tazawa worked a perfect eighth and Koji Uehara worked around two hits in the ninth for his 23rd save in 25 chances. Boston won for just the third time in 14 games and snapped St. Louis’ three-game win streak. Trevor Rosenthal allowed two hits and a walk in the ninth.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Brandon Scherff garnered national attention in a most unlikely way for an Iowa player. Scherff went viral on Twitter. Coach Kirk Ferentz doesn’t even allow his players to use the social media site. But Hawkeyes strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle recently posted a video of Scherff performing three lifts of 443 pounds from his knees to his shoulders as teammates watched in amazement.

It was a 30-second glimpse into why many consider Scherff the best lineman in the county. The 6-foot-5, 320-pound senior’s blend of strength and athleticism is why he’s expected to be the third Iowa tackle in six years to be taken in the first round of the NFL draft.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Des Moines is pushing hard for a shot at hosting the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The Des Moines Area Sports Commission, Iowa State University and Global Spectrum, the company that operates Wells Fargo Arena, announced Wednesday that they’re bidding to host NCAA tournament games in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Des Moines has long wanted to host the men’s basketball tournament at Wells Fargo Arena, which opened downtown in 2005. But Iowa’s capital city has had to settle for less prestigious events like the women’s basketball and wrestling tournaments. Des Moines ranked first in attendance among women’s basketball regional sites in 2012. The 2013 wrestling championships drew strong crowds as well.

The city also hosted the NCAA outdoor track and field championships in 2008, 2011 and 2012 at Drake Stadium.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Iowa will face Texas in New York’s Madison Square Garden on Nov. 20. The Hawkeyes announced Wednesday that they’ll face the Longhorns in the semifinals of the 2K Classic tournament. Iowa will then play either California or Syracuse the next day.

Texas is expected to be one of the top teams in the nation next season. The Longhorns bring back most of their contributors from last season, when they finished 24-11, and they’ve added star freshman Myles Turner. Iowa will also play at North Carolina and host Iowa State in what should be its toughest non-conference schedule under fifth-year coach Fran McCaffery.