SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) – St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Oscar Taveras died Sunday in a car accident in his native Dominican Republic.
The crash happened on a highway between the beaches of Sosua and Cabarete in Puerto Plata, about 215 miles north of the capital of Santo Domingo.
“I spoke to the mayor of Sosua, Ylana Newman … and she confirmed to us that Taveras lost control of his vehicle and went off the road,” police spokesman Jacobo Mateo Moquete told The Associated Press.
Angel Ovalles, the Cardinals’ representative in the Caribbean country, said late Sunday that Taveras was driving the car along with a young woman. Erico Rosario, one of Taveras’ representatives, also confirmed his death.
“He was killed in an accident,” Rosario said, weeping.
The 22-year-old Taveras made his major league debut this year. The promising slugger hit .239 with three homers and 22 RBIs in 80 games for the NL Central champions.
“I think he can be a star,” manager Mike Matheny said last Monday at his season-ending press conference. “He proved that at times. Right to the end, he was very, very much into the competition. Yes, he wanted to be the guy out there every day. You see some things offensively that absolutely excite you.”

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The St. Louis Rams lost wide receiver Brian Quick and right guard Rodger Saffold to injuries just two plays apart early in the second quarter of Sunday’s game against the Chiefs.
Quick hurt his shoulder while getting tackled near the Kansas City sideline on the first play of the Rams’ drive, and Saffold hurt his shoulder while blocking for running back Zac Stacy. Both of the players were questionable to return.

The Rams’ offensive line continued to sustain injuries later in the game. Center Scott Wells left in the third quarter with an elbow injury, shortly before left tackle Jake Long walked slowly off the field with an undisclosed injury.  The Rams were already playing with a depleted defensive backfield. Starting cornerback Janoris Jenkins and backup Trumaine Johnson were inactive with knee injuries.

The Chiefs lost cornerback Jamell Fleming to a hamstring injury early in the second half.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jamaal Charles ran for two touchdowns, Knile Davis returned a kick 99 yards for another score and the Kansas City Chiefs trounced the St. Louis Rams 34-7 on Sunday. Cairo Santos added a pair of field goals for Kansas City (4-3), including a career-best 53-yarder. Alex Smith was 24 of 28 for 226 yards, while Davis capped a run of 34 unanswered points with a short touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Conley Wilkens scored a fourth quarter touchdown – after a 70-yard drive – to lift Drake over Butler 21-19 on Saturday. Drake (5-3, 4-1 Pioneer Football League) won its 19th straight league home game. Butler (3-5, 1-4) took a 17-14 lead late in the third quarter on Sam Schrader’s 9-yard touchdown run. They recovered an on-sides kick, but Jon Treloar missed a 47-yard field goal. Drake then marched down the field, going 70 yards in 12 plays, culminating with Wilkins’ 2-yard score.

Andy Rice’s 22-yard first quarter touchdown pass to Lee Snell gave Drake a 7-0 lead. Butler responded with Malcolm Weaver’s 4-yard scoring toss to Brando Collins in the second. Treloar hit a 22-yard field goal and Butler led 10-7 at intermission.

Butler was driving midway through the third, but Drew Ormseth picked off Weaver and went 30 yards for the score as Drake went up 14-10.

MACOMB, Ill. (AP) – David Johnson rushed for 160 and two touchdowns to lead Northern Iowa to a 27-13 victory over Western Illinois on Saturday. Brion Carnes added 239 through the air with one score, a 20-yard pass to Chad Owens midway through the second quarter. Kevin Vereen Jr. caught six passes for 84 yards to lead the Panthers in receiving.

Michael Schmadeke kicked two field goals for the Northern Iowa (4-4, 2-2 Missouri Valley) who opened the game on a 20-0 scoring streak before eventually taking a 27-7 lead late in the fourth. Northern Iowa forced three turnovers, including two interceptions by Max Busher and Deiondre’ Hall.

Trenton Norvell led Western Illinois (3-6, 1-4) with 310 yards passing, including scoring strikes to Hi-C Scott and Quadarias Mireles of 32 and 44 yards, respectively.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — University of Iowa football player Reggie Spearman has been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, leading coach Kirk Ferentz to announce a minimum one-game suspension for the linebacker. Iowa City police records show the 19-year-old was arrested just after midnight Friday on suspicion of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Spearman was booked into jail around 1:30 a.m. Saturday and later released.

Ferentz said in a statement Saturday that he was disappointed to hear of the charge against Spearman and that team officials will “work with authorities in gathering all the facts.” Ferentz said that Spearman will face consequences other than the suspension, but did not provide details.

The Hawkeyes had a bye week, and host Northwestern next Saturday.

With Ric Hanson.

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Today (Saturday), marks the start of the pheasant hunting season in Iowa. Mick Klemesrud, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says weather conditions should be ideal for hunters this weekend, though there will be challenges. “We’ve got a lot of crops still out in the field and that could cause a little bit of tougher hunting if there’s a lot of standing corn for the birds to escape to,” Klemesrud says. “On the flip side of that, it could provide some better late season hunting because the birds haven’t been hunted that much.” He’s hopeful the number of hunters on opening day will be up this year after a drop in 2013.

“We’re hopeful that we can hit 60,000,” Klemesrud says. “Last year was our lowest on record of about 41,000. Traditionally, back in the late ’80s and ’90s, we’ve had opening day numbers around 200,000. We used to call it the largest sporting event in the state. We’re hoping that some of them come back.” Hunters should always get permission from land owners to hunt on their property. Klemesrud has some other safety tips.

“We always want to stress blaze orange, knowing the zone of fire, stay in a straight line, talk to everybody in the hunt so they all know what their role is and where there zones of fire are going to be,” he says. “You always want to be seen in the field. Go beyond the minimum. Wear as much blaze orange as you can.” The DNR says there was one hunting-related injury during the pheasant season last year. Learn more about the pheasant season at www.iowadnr.gov/hunting

(Radio Iowa)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright has undergone what the team describes as minor elbow surgery that should not set him back for next season. The Cardinals say Friday’s operation was an arthroscopic procedure to trim a small piece of cartilage from the right elbow. The 33-year-old Wainwright is expected to begin physical therapy in two weeks and resume his offseason throwing program in eight weeks.