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Kansas City finishes off sweep of Rangers, extends AL Central lead

RoyalsKANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The last time Jason Vargas pitched against the Texas Rangers, it seemed like every runner that reached scoring position somehow managed to cross home plate.

The exact opposite happened Wednesday night.

Vargas pitched shutout ball into the seventh inning, Alex Gordon hit a two-run homer and the Kansas City Royals held on for a 4-1 victory that finished off a three-game sweep.

“I felt I was effective,” Vargas said. “They had some opportunities and we were able to make some plays and get out of them.”

Vargas (11-7) stranded four runners in scoring position before turning over a two-on, two-out mess to Kelvin Herrera, who escaped the jam. Louis Coleman gave up a run in the eighth before Wade Davis finished off the inning, and Greg Holland worked a perfect ninth for his 42nd save.

The victory along with Detroit’s 7-0 loss to Cleveland allowed the Royals to extend their lead to 1 1/2 games over the Tigers in the AL Central. They are off Thursday before a crucial trip that takes them through the wild card-chasing Yankees and into a three-game set in Detroit.

“I guess momentum is nice,” Royals manager Ned Yost said, “but I don’t believe in that stuff too much. You know we have to go play good baseball. We have to do what we do.”

Nick Tepesch (4-9) allowed all four runs over 6 2/3 innings for Texas.

The Royals grabbed the lead off him in the fourth when Omar Infante led off with a single and Gordon homered to deep center. In the seventh, Salvador Perez and Billy Butler doubled to provide a bit of cushion, and pinch runner Terrance Gore scored on a stolen base and a throwing error.

That was more than enough to doom Texas to its fifth straight loss.

The biggest problem for the injury plagued Rangers lately has been situational hitting, and it manifested itself again in three close losses to Kansas City. They were 1 for 15 with runners in scoring position Wednesday night, making them 3 for 28 over the course of the series.

The sweep of Texas was the first at home for the Royals in seven seasons.

Tepesch, who grew up in nearby Blue Springs, Missouri, kept giving the Rangers a chance. He retired his first eight batters and then bounced back from Gordon’s homer to retire eight of nine.

Vargas proved to be just a little bit better.

The veteran left-hander, winless in his last six starts against Texas left runners on the corners in the first inning, and somehow navigated leadoff doubles in the third, fourth and sixth.

“We put ourselves in position,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “It wasn’t just one part of the lineup. It was up and down. It was almost everybody had an opportunity.”

By the time Vargas trudged off the mound on a humid night at Kauffman Stadium, a small but festive crowd of 15,771 had risen to its feet to give him a parting ovation.

“He pitched great,” Yost said. “He was sharp tonight. Had his good command, spotted his fastball well. His changeup was really working for him. He just pitched a good game.”

ROYALS C-RISP-Y

While the Rangers had all kinds of problems with runners in scoring position, the Royals were a bit better — 1 for 4. They only left one on base, the fewest they’ve stranded since June 21.

BIG HOME RUNS

Gordon has hit 19 homers this season, 10 of which have given the Royals the lead. “I just think Alex Gordon is a phenomenal player,” Yost said. “He’s an MVP in book.”

BELTRE IN BEAST MODE

Adrian Beltre went 1 for 4, extending his hit streak to 20 games against Kansas City. Ivan Rodriguez holds the club record with a hit in 23 straight games against the Royals.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rangers: RHP Scott Baker has been scratched from his start Thursday against Seattle with a stiff neck. Washington hopes he’ll be able to go Friday. … RHP Yu Darvish (elbow inflammation) will be examined Thursday in Texas. It remains unlikely he’ll return his season.

Royals: INF Christian Colon broke the middle finger of his right hand Tuesday night. Yost said he could still be called upon to bunt or pinch run.

UP NEXT

Rangers: LHP Robbie Ross (2-5, 5.63) will move up one day to start in Baker’s place. Ross tossed five shutout innings against Houston his last time out.

Royals: RHP James Shields (12-7) starts the Royals’ series opener in the Bronx.

— Associated Press —

Missouri Western men’s golf finishes 3rd at Missouri Intercollegiate

riggertMissouriWesternThe Missouri Western Men’s Golf team finished in a tie for third place at the rain-shortened Missouri Intercollegiate Championships at the Porto Cima Country Club. The tournament started Monday and was scheduled to run through Wednesday, but weather forced a cancellation of the last day. MWSU shot 601 through two rounds.

Missouri Western finished only behind William Woods University and Missouri Southern State who took first and second place respectively. William Woods ended the tournament with the top three golfers. Stan Gautier and David Houlding each finished with a (-6) for William Woods earning themselves the low score of the competition.

The Griffons had two individuals place in the top-10. Freshman Cory Knight finished on top for the Griffons with scores of 71 and 73, shooting an even par and tying him for fourth place. Senior Scott Sheldon finished seventh, shooting a 73 both rounds.

Missouri Western hopes to build off this weekend’s successful outing as they head to Jefferson City, Mo. as Lincoln University host their fall classic on Sunday, September 7 – Tuesday, September 9 starting at 8 a.m.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Cardinals get walk-off win, sweep Pittsburgh

CardsST. LOUIS (AP) — Peter Bourjos had no trouble calling the 310th hit in his big league career the biggest.

Hitting in the eighth spot, Bourjos singled home the winning run in the ninth inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 1-0 Wednesday to stretch their winning streak to five.

“I had a walkoff hit in Anaheim, but I think at this point, we’re leading the division and it’s a big game in September and the one in Anaheim was in August,” Bourjos said. “So this is the biggest hit.”

Yadier Molina walked with two outs in the ninth on a 3-2 pitch from Mark Melancon (2-4), who had entered an inning earlier. It was the first time Melancon’s pitched more than one inning since Oct. 2, 2012.

Molina advanced to second on John Jay’s single and scored on the hit by Bourjos, easily beating the throw home from center fielder Andrew McCutchen.

“I was just hoping that Yadi was able to score,” Bourjos said. “I wasn’t too sure with McCutchen playing out there. I didn’t know if he was playing shallow or deep, and I watched the play develop, and luckily Yadi was able to beat the play.”

Molina saw third base coach Jose Qquendo waving an arm to send him.

“I was thinking home plate all the way,” Molina said. “No one was going to stop me there.”

Despite having A.J. Pierzynski on the bench, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said he did not consider pinch-running for Molina, a slow-footed All-Star catcher.

“Two outs in that situation and we’re in a tight game, his value to me being behind the plate outweighs what we’re going to get on the bases from someone,” Matheny said. “If he gets thrown out, it’s a different conversation right now. He’s done such a great job in big games, we need him out there.”

St. Louis moved into sole possession of the NL Central lead for the first time Monday and extended its lead to 2 1/2 games with a three-game sweep that dropped the Pirates five games back. Pittsburgh has lost 10 of its last 12 road games, falling to a major league-worst 17-29 away from home in day games.

“They were just a little bit better than us every game,” Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. “I mean, we’re playing competitive baseball. We’ve got to find a way to score a run every now and then when we’re out there and have some shutdown innings. We’re not going to back down. We’ll take the day off. We’re going to catch our breath and try and set some stakes down in Chicago.”

Trevor Rosenthal (2-6) pitched a one-hit ninth, aided by the eighth double play he’s induced this season. Both of his wins have come against the Pirates on ninth-inning walkoffs.

Pinch-hitter Gregory Polanco drew an 11-pitch walk leading off the eighth against Carlos Martinez, who retired the next three batters.

St. Louis starter Shelby Miller allowed three hits and three walks in seven innings. The Pirates’ Edinson Volquez gave up three hits and two walks in 6 1/3 innings.

Plate home umpire Ron Kulpa issued a warning to both benches in the fifth inning after Miller threw a high fastball that sailed behind McCutchen. In the fourth, Volquez had hit Matt Holliday and Matt Adams back to back.

Hurdle was not pleased.

“This guy has been hitting it in a teacup all day and he’s not near anybody all day,” Hurdle said of Miller. “Then you fire that pitch. If he hits him, maybe you toss him. He (Kupla) was there in Arizona when McCutchen got hit.

“He (Volquez) hits him (Adams) in the foot when it’s 0-2. He’s not trying to hit him. He’s not trying to hit Holliday when it was 0-2 and runs it to 2-2. From my perspective, it was an ambush. It was a cheap shot. Ron’s got to make the call he makes and that’s what he chose to make.”

NOT RUNNING WILD

Pittsburgh catcher Russell Martin threw out Jay attempting to steal third in the eighth. Martin has thrown out runners attempting to steal in four straight games and leads the NL with 25 runners caught stealing — four short of his league-high total last year.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Pirates: Infielder Pedro Alverez (left foot) sat out for the seventh consecutive game. Alverez left the Aug. 26 game against St. Louis in the seventh inning when he hurt the foot diving for a grounder down the first-base line.

Cardinals: Kolten Wong was back in the starting lineup at second base after a two-day absence.

UP NEXT:

Pirates: RHP Vance Worley (6-4, 3.01) starts Friday at the Chicago Cubs. He had lost three straight starts before beating Cincinnati 3-2 last Saturday.

Cardinals: RHP Michael Wacha (5-3, 2.79) starts Thursday at Milwaukee in his first big league appearance since June 17. Wacha missed 67 games because of a stress reaction in his right shoulder. He allowed one hit during two scoreless innings Sunday in an injury rehabilitation outing at Tulsa of the Double-A Texas League.

— Associated Press —

KU adds walk-on Josh Polllard to men’s basketball roster

KUKansas coach Bill Self announced Wednesday that guard Josh Pollard has joined the men’s basketball team as a walk-on. Pollard will be a freshman eligibility-wise for the 2014-15 season.

A native Cedar Hills, Utah, Josh Pollard, nephew of former KU men’s basketball standout Scot Pollard, graduated from Orem High School in Orem, Utah, in 2012. The 6-4 guard then served a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Los Angeles before enrolling at KU.

“Josh comes from the Pollard family we all know and love and is going to be a walk-on for us,” Self said. “He was a good high school player and I told him he would definitely have the opportunity to work out with our team. We’re excited to have him. We really don’t at what level he will be a contributor but he’ll have an opportunity like everyone else. I’m looking forward to seeing how he reacts to guys that have been involved with our program the last couple of years. I know he’s excited to be a part of it.”

While at Orem High School, Pollard, the lone senior on the team, led the Tigers to their first 4A state title in 2012, while averaging 8.8 points and 6.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game with 12 blocked shots and 54 steals. After winning just seven games the previous season, Orem went 24-1 in 2011-12 and Pollard earned all-region and all-state honors and was the Utah Valley Defensive Player of the Year.

Pollard, who has four brothers and three sisters, comes from an athletic family that includes his uncle, Scot, who following KU played 11 seasons in the NBA. Both his grandfather, Pearl Pollard, and his father, Alan, played basketball while in college with his grandfather at Utah in the 1950s and his father at BYU and USC in the 1980s. He is also the nephew of former BYU quarterback (2000-01) Brandon Doman.

— KU Sports Information —

Senate Dems could revisit minimum wage vote soon

money  cashWASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats may stage a campaign-season Senate vote as early as next week on their effort to increase the federal minimum wage — even though the measure seems doomed to lose again.

They’re also hoping to revisit a pair of other issues this month that like the minimum wage were scuttled earlier this year by Republicans.

One would let people refinance student loans at lower interest rates. The other would pressure employers to pay female workers the same as men.

All three measures seem sure to lose.

But congressional elections in which Republicans hope to capture Senate control are less than eight weeks away. Democrats and their supporters see the issues as a chance to win over working-class, female and younger voters — groups that often back Democratic candidates.

AP source: US to investigate Ferguson police

ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — A person briefed on the matter says the Justice Department plans to open an investigation into the practices of the Ferguson, Missouri, Police Department.

The person said the investigation, which follows a police officer’s shooting of an unarmed black man, could be announced as early as Thursday. The official said the investigation will look at the training and practices of the Ferguson department.

The investigation is separate from an ongoing civil rights investigation the Justice Department is conducting into the Aug. 9 shooting of Michael Brown. Local authorities are also investigating the shooting as well.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation, first reported by The Washington Post, had not yet been announced.

N.E. Kansas tribe in a race to stem the tide of diabetes

By Jim McLean

Billy Mills, in white shirt and khaki pants, walks along the new Kickapoo Diabetes Walking Trail during a dedication event. Others participating in the walk included, front from left, Miss Kickapoo Daryl Hooper, Kickapoo Chairman Steve Cadue and fitness director Lucas Holmes.-Photo by Phil Cauthon
Billy Mills, in white shirt and khaki pants, walks along the new Kickapoo Diabetes Walking Trail during a dedication event. Others participating in the walk included, front from left, Miss Kickapoo Daryl Hooper, Kickapoo Chairman Steve Cadue and fitness director Lucas Holmes.-Photo by Phil Cauthon

KHI News Service

KICKAPOO RESERVATION — It’s early on a Saturday morning and about 100 people – most of them members of the Kickapoo tribe – are gathering for the dedication of a new walking trail on the reservation, situated on about 20,000 acres in the glacial hills of northeast Kansas near Horton.

On hand to help with the ceremony is an athlete whose name may have faded a bit from public memory, but who still qualifies as a living legend here.
Billy Mills, looking much younger than his 76 years, steps to the microphone and starts to speak. He talks about how the values and spirituality of his Lakota Sioux culture sustained him as he fought to overcome poverty and prejudice on his way to winning an Olympic gold medal. And about his personal struggle with Type 2 diabetes, which wasn’t diagnosed until decades after his improbable victory in the 10,000 meters at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

Mills says the media of the day used to attribute his tendency to fade at the end of long races to a lack of character, when low blood sugar was the real cause. He thought about quitting but kept running.

“It’s our virtues and values that give us confidence, that give us direction and clarity of mind to start a project and stay the course,” says Mills, his voice rising with conviction. “I want us all to take the virtues and the values of our culture – and our traditions and spirituality – on our journey to defeat and control diabetes.”

Mills, co-founder of the nonprofit organization Running Strong for American Indian Youth, finishes his remarks and heads toward the new Kickapoo Diabetes Walking Trail to lead an initial group of walkers.

Agreeing to an interview while he walks, Mills says he hopes that his presence helps inspire people “to take control of their health.” But, he says, it’s the inspiration that he draws from people he meets that motivates him to spend Saturdays like this one far from his Sacramento, Calif., home.

“What inspires me is a lady who has lost 100 pounds and asks me to enter a fun run with her,” he says. “I enter the fun run and she beats me. That’s a true story.”

‘Creeping’ into youth

American Indians need all the star power and inspiration they can draw from it to reverse a disease trend that is devastating their communities. American Indian and Alaska Native adults are more than twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites to develop diabetes, according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But it’s the increasing number of American Indian children being diagnosed with diabetes that is perhaps most alarming. The rate of diabetes among American Indian and Alaska Native youth between 15 and 19 years old has jumped by more than 100 percent since 1990.

“Before, it (diabetes) had been largely with the adults, but now it’s creeping its deadly way into the youth,” says Steve Cadue, the Kickapoo chairman. “It’s terrible. We’re seeing diabetes getting down into the grade school ages.”

The half-mile walking trail and other initiatives, including diabetes management and cooking classes, demonstrate the Kickapoo’s determination to stem the tide. As does Cadue’s directive that gives Kickapoo Nation employees three hours a week to exercise or attend the classes during the workday.

Several of the anti-diabetes initiatives were catalyzed by a multiyear “vulnerable populations” grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Administered by the Association of American Indian Physicians (AAIP), the goal of the project, which is entering its fifth and final year, is to help the Kickapoo initiate sustainable programs to combat diabetes.
“I’m definitely seeing a difference,” says DeRoin, an AAIP member and a leader of the project. “It’s sort of like diabetes (awareness) is in the air. There are people who I had not seen as patients until they began to make significant changes who are now coming to me and saying with great pride, ‘This is what I’ve been able to do.’”

Partnerships also have been important to the project, DeRoin says. For several years, AARP Kansas has partnered with AAIP to bring Richard Hetzler – head chef of the Mitsitam Café at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian – to Kansas to help members of four tribes learn how to prepare ancestral dishes using nutritious ingredients.

“AARP has just been a total surprise and a fabulous partner,” DeRoin says. “In November, we’ll hold our fourth annual diabetes cooking class sponsored entirely by AARP Kansas.”

The walking trail project was done in partnership with AAIP and the Sunflower Foundation, which has invested more than $2 million since 2005 in public trails and other building projects that help Kansans to be more physically active.

“It isn’t enough to have a program. You actually have to change the environment in which people live, work and play,” says Sunflower program officer Elizabeth Stewart, explaining the foundation’s commitment to “built environment” projects.

The Kickapoo trail project, she says, grew out of a chance meeting she had at a conference with someone who was working with the tribe on its efforts to curb diabetes.

“We were talking about trails and they said, ‘Gosh, we have no place to walk on our reservation. We have a lot of land but no place safe to walk,’” Stewart recalls. “So we went to work and came up with a plan and were able to partner with them to build this half-mile trail – the first on the reservation.”

Planning already is under way, Stewart says, to expand the trail system.

Dr. Ronnie Bell, an epidemiologist from Wake Forest University, is in charge of evaluating the five-year project. A member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, Bell says the data so far confirm DeRoin’s observations that progress is being made.

“I think there has been a tremendous amount of change as evidenced by a gathering like this,” Bell said. “In rural communities like this, oftentimes there aren’t resources to support exercise and healthy eating. So I think this is a great sign that people are embracing what’s going on here.”

It’s not reasonable to expect a five-year project to produce a significant reduction in the prevalence of diabetes among the Kickapoo, say Bell, DeRoin and others. What’s important, they say, is whether the tribe has institutionalized the kind of changes in diet, exercise and lifestyle that can lead to better health.

“Our goal for year five is to help the coalition look at all the varieties of ways they can sustain these efforts,” DeRoin says.

‘Seeing a difference’

Dr. Dee Ann DeRoin sees patients every Friday at the Kickapoo Nation Health Center. She says the project has helped people with diabetes and those at risk for the disease to make big changes in diet and lifestyle.

US officials say Ebola is likely to spread

CDC logoDAKAR, Senegal (AP) — U.S. health officials are warning that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is likely to spread to more countries.

During a telephone briefing with reporters, Tom Kenyon of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the disease is spreading faster than health workers can keep up with it. He says the world has the tools to stop the outbreak; they just have to be put in place. Kenyon says more treatment centers are being opened, and that he will be talking with the African Union about sending more health workers.

The World Health Organization says at least $600 million is needed to fight the outbreak, which has now killed more than 1,900 people. The agency says the top priority is providing protective gear to health workers in the affected areas.

Doctors and nurses have been especially vulnerable to Ebola because they work closely with Ebola patients.

The WHO announced today that a doctor in southern Nigeria exposed dozens of people to the Ebola virus by continuing to treat patients after he became ill. He died, and his widow and sister are sick with Ebola. About 60 others in the city of Port Harcourt are under surveillance.

Boeing official named to Mo. highway panel

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – An executive at the Boeing Co. has again been appointed to the state Highways and Transportation Commission by Gov. Jay Nixon.

Bryan Scott was appointed to the panel Wednesday, his second such nomination in less than a year.

Nixon originally appointed Scott to the commission last October but withdrew his nomination when the Senate did not confirm Scott by an early February deadline.

The new appointment means Scott can begin serving on the panel immediately, but he will still be subject to Senate confirmation when the Legislature convenes in January.

Scott is the director of quality for Boeing, where he has worked since 1988. He is a Democrat from St. Louis. His term on the transportation commission would run until March 1, 2017.

 

 

Democrat ends campaign in US Senate race in Kansas

Senator Roberts and Chad Taylor
Senator Roberts and Chad Taylor

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Democratic candidate in the U.S. Senate race in Kansas had ended his campaign.

Democrat Chad Taylor had been running against three-term Republican incumbent Pat Roberts. Taylor sent a letter Wednesday to the Kansas secretary of state, withdrawing from the race.

The race also has a viable independent candidate, Olathe businessman Greg Orman.

Taylor issued a separate statement saying he made the decision after consulting with his staff, supporters and Democratic Party leaders. He did not give a reason.

He said, “Effective today, my campaign is terminated.”

Taylor is the district attorney in Shawnee County, home of the state capital of Topeka. He won the office in 2008 and was re-elected without opposition in 2012.

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