Dave Riggert – Page 589 – St. Joseph Post Archive

Mustangs fall to Chillicothe Friday 7-1

Posted on July 10, 2015

The St. Joseph Mustangs were back at home Friday night inside Phil Welch Stadium, but St. Joe’s summer college baseball team had its two-game winning streak snapped as they lost to Chillicothe 7-1.

The Mustangs fall to 26-12 this season and 21-11 in the MINK League.

The Mudcats took a 2-0 lead in the first inning and eventually led 4-0 before St. Joseph scored its only run in the fifth inning.

Kyle Richards doubled with one out in the fifth and then Jackson Schnurbusch drove him in with a single.

The Mustangs had only six hits in the game as Richards went 2-for-4. Jacob Richardson added a double for St. Joe.

Mustangs’ starter Preston Felgate entered the game with a 0.30 ERA but he suffered the loss as he allowed four earned runs in 6.1 innings of work. Felgate drops to 4-2 this summer.

St. Joseph is back at home Saturday as they play a doubleheader against Branson. Game one will start at 3:00 p.m. and the second game will begin at 7:00 p.m. Game two will air on 680 KFEQ and here on StJosephPost.com.

St. Louis loses at Pittsburgh as Cole gets 13th win

Posted on July 10, 2015July 10, 2015

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Gerrit Cole ended a dominant first half of the season with another win.

Cole pitched seven strong innings to become the major leagues’ first 13-game winner and Neil Walker had a two-run homer among his three hits as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-2 on Friday night.

“I feel good. I feel strong. I feel healthy,” Cole said. “I feel like I’ve gotten better every time out in some area.”

Cole (13-3) allowed two runs — both on Matt Carpenter’s third-inning home run — and six hits while striking out three and walking two. He became just the second Pirates pitcher to win 13 games before the All-Star break, joining Dock Ellis, who had 14 in 1971.

“He’s found out, even this year, that misexecuted pitches can have some bad results,” Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said of the 24-year-old Cole. “You’ve got to meet the challenges of the game and he’s continued to do that through his first half in very strong fashion.”

Walker’s home run, his seventh, extended the Pirates’ lead to 5-2 in the fourth inning.

Mark Melancon pitched a scoreless ninth for his National League-leading 29th save in 30 opportunities.

The Pirates (51-35) won for the sixth time in seven games and drew within 4 1/2 games of the Cardinals (56-31) in the NL Central in the second of a four-game series between the teams with the best records in the major leagues.

“It’s still July so you don’t want to get too wrapped up in talking about a pennant race,” Walker said. “But the Cardinals are obviously a good team and they’ve been playing great all year. If we’re going to catch them, we’re going to have to beat them when we play them because you can’t count on other teams beating them, as good as they are.”

Jung Ho Kang and Jordy Mercer each had two of the Pirates’ 10 hits.

Lance Lynn (6-5) lasted just four innings and lost for the first time in seven starts. He was tagged for five runs and nine hits with five strikeouts and one walk.

Lynn has beaten the Pirates only once in his last nine starts.

“I kept falling behind the count and throwing pitches over the middle of plate,” Lynn said. “You can’t do that against any team, especially a good team like the Pirates because they’re a great fastball-hitting team.”

The Cardinals’ Jhonny Peralta and rookie Tommy Pham had two hits apiece.

The Pirates went ahead 3-2 in the third inning on RBI singles by Kang and Pedro Alvarez.

Carpenter’s ninth homer put the Cardinals ahead 2-1 in the top of the third, coming after a double by Pham.

Mercer doubled home the game’s first run in the first inning.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Decided to keep RF Matt Holliday (strained right quadriceps) on the DL until they return from the All-Star break on July 17 after considering activating him to serve as a pinch-hitter in this series. … RHP Matt Belisle (right elbow inflammation) has started a throwing program and could return by the end of the month.

Pirates: LF Starling Marte (strained left oblique) sat out his fifth straight game but is making enough progress that he might avoid the DL.

UP NEXT:

Cardinals RHP John Lackey (7-5 3.09) faces RHP A.J. Burnett (7-3, 1.99) on Saturday night. Lackey has made five straight quality starts with a 1.75 ERA in that span. Burnett has a 1.66 ERA in his last six starts.

— Associated Press —

K-State’s Snyder one of 23 coaches on Dodd Trophy watch list

Posted on July 10, 2015July 10, 2015

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder was one of 23 coaches nationally and four from the Big 12 Conference to be named to the preseason watch list for the 2015 Dodd Trophy, officials from the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl announced Friday.

The architect of the “greatest turnaround in the history of college football,” Snyder enters his 24th season at K-State and in December will be just the fourth person in the history of college football to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as an active coach.

A five-time national coach of the year honoree and seven-time conference coach of the year recipient, Snyder is the only two-time Dodd Trophy winner (1998, 2012) on the watch list and joins fellow Big 12 coaches Art Briles, Gary Patterson and Bob Stoops as candidates.

Snyder has compiled an amazing 187-94-1 record in his 23 years as the helm of the Wildcat program. He ranks 32nd all-time in victories among FBS coaches and continues to climb the ladder with each win.

The head coaches on the watch list represent programs with the highest ideals of leadership, scholarship and integrity on and off the field – the three pillars of legendary coach Bobby Dodd’s philosophy. Each of the coaches sits at the helm of programs with winning records, superior Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores and graduation rates, and a strong commitment to service within their communities.

Additional watch lists – adding to or narrowing the field – will be released throughout the fall, and the winner of the 2015 Dodd Trophy will be announced in Atlanta during Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl week. Starting in September, the Dodd Coach of the Week Award will also be presented weekly to the coach whose program embodies the award’s three pillars of scholarship, leadership and integrity, while also having success on the playing field during the previous week.

— KSU Sports Information —

Royals’ Moustakas, Cards’ Martinez win final All-Star vote

Posted on July 10, 2015July 10, 2015

NEW YORK (AP) — Kansas City Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas and St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Carlos Martinez are going to the All-Star Game as winners of the final fan vote.

Martinez surged ahead of Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto in voting that ended Friday afternoon to become the sixth Cardinals player to make the NL roster for Tuesday’s Mid-Summer Classic in Cincinnati.

A first-time All-Star, Martinez might’ve gotten a voting boost from his outing Thursday night, pitching 7 1/3 scoreless innings against the NL Central-rival Pirates. The 23-year-old Martinez is 10-3 with 2.52 ERA this season.

“When I saw names like Cueto and Kershaw and Tulowitzki, I really didn’t feel like I had a very good chance to win,” Martinez said ahead of the Cardinals’ game at Pittsburgh. “That’s why I’m so thankful to all the fans and all their help.”

Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and Mets closer Jeurys Familia were also in contention.

Moustakas, 26, becomes the seventh Royals player set to participate in the All-Star Game. Also a first time All-Star, Moustakas was hitting .301 with seven homers and 31 RBIs for the AL Central leaders.

He beat out Minnesota’s Brian Dozier, Tigers outfielder Yoenis Cespedes and Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts for the last American League spot. Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner was in the final five, but he replaced Moustakas’ injured teammate Alex Gordon on the roster Wednesday.

“The best fans in baseball. They proved that in the voting and again with the second voting. They’ve been with me the whole way,” Moustakas said in Kansas City. “It’s an exciting time to be a Royal.”

Moustakas had been away from the team for the previous four games to be with his ailing mother, missing out on much of the campaigning for the final spot.

“When I’m hanging out with my mom, all that other stuff doesn’t really matter,” he said. “I get to hang out with her, talk to her and see how she’s doing. It really puts everything else in perspective.”

Dozier was grateful for all the support from the Twins and their fans. Minnesota parked a bulldozer outside Target Field and the second baseman got support from fellow athletes such as Brett Favre, the Wild’s Zach Parise and Ryan Carter and the Vikings’ Chad Greenway.

“I wouldn’t say it’s disappointing,” Dozier said before playing the Tigers in Minneapolis. “It’s kind of crazy in the fact of how that’s the voting process, but we had a lot of fun with it.”

— Associated Press —

Tigers’ Boehm, Brothers named to preseason watch lists

Posted on July 10, 2015

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou football saw senior standouts Evan Boehm (Lee’s Summit, Mo.) and Kentrell Brothers (Guthrie, Okla.) land on more preseason award watch lists on Friday (July 10). Boehm earned a spot on the Outland Trophy Watch List, which honors the nation’s top interior lineman (offense and defense). Brothers is now up for the Bronco Nagurski Award, which honors the top defensive player in the college football.

Boehm started all 14 games a season ago, anchoring an offensive line that was a key cog in an 11-3 season and a second consecutive SEC East Championship. He has started 40 consecutive games across the Mizzou offensive line, dating back to the 2012 season before shifting to the center spot full time in 2013. Boehm was a First Team Freshman All-American by College Football News at left guard in 2012. This is the second major award watch list that Boehm has landed on this summer after being named to the Rimington Watch List Wednesday.

The Outland Trophy winner is chosen from three finalists who are a part of the FWAA All-America Team. The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the entire membership, selects the 26-man first team and eventually the three Outland finalists. Committee members, then by individual ballot, select the winner. Only interior linemen on offense or defense are eligible for the award; ends are not eligible.

Brothers, the SEC’s top returning tackler from a season ago, is on the Bednarik Watch List for the first time in his career. The Bednarik Award has been presented to the College Defensive Player of the Year since 1995. Brothers accounted for 122 total tackles in 2015 (62 solo, 60 assists) while totaling 5.0 tackles-for-loss, four pass break-ups and a team-leading three forced fumbles. He started all 14 games a season ago and was an All-SEC Second Team pick by the Associated Press. This is Brothers’ second major watch list this summer after earning a spot on the Bednarik Award Watch List Tuesday.

The Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner will be chosen from five finalists who are part of the 2014 FWAA All-America Team. The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the association’s entire membership, selects the 26-man All-America Team and eventually the Nagurski finalists. Committee members, then by individual ballot, select the winner, the best defensive player in college football during the FWAA’s 75th anniversary year.

The annual Bronko Nagurski Trophy Banquet, presented by ACN, will be held on Dec. 7 at the Westin Hotel in Charlotte. In addition to the 2015 Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner’s announcement, the banquet will also celebrate the recipient of the Bronko Nagurski Legends Award, sponsored by the CTC and Florida East Coast Railway. Ohio State’s Randy Gradishar, a member of the FWAA’s 1973 All-America team and a College Football Hall of Famer, will be honored.

— MU Sports Information —

KSU’s Barnett, McDaniel & Whitehair earn preseason honors

Posted on July 10, 2015July 10, 2015

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State seniors Dante Barnett, Danzel McDaniel and Cody Whitehair were named to watch lists for awards announced by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) on Friday. Barnett and McDaniel are on the watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy – presented to the nation’s most outstanding defensive player – while Whitehair is on the watch list for the Outland Trophy as nation’s most outstanding interior lineman.

The inclusion of Barnett and McDaniel on the Nagurski Trophy watch list marks eight Wildcat candidates in the last five years to be up for the award. Both Barnett, who was named a candidate for the Bednarik Award on Tuesday, and McDaniel are first-time candidates.

Whitehair is a two-time candidate for the Outland Trophy as he was named to the preseason watch list in 2014, while the Wildcats have had candidates for the award five times in the last three seasons.

A product of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Barnett is one of 88 players on the 2015 Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list after a season in which he recorded 77 tackles, four tackles for loss, three interceptions and 11 total passes defended. He earned Second Team All-Big 12 honors from the league’s coaches in addition to picking up all-conference accolades from ESPN and Phil Steele.

McDaniel was a community-college transfer prior to the 2014 season and did not disappoint in his first season as he totaled 59 tackles, five tackles for loss, one sack and four passes defended. He came away with an interception-return touchdown in K-State’s win at No. 11 Oklahoma, while his lone sack of the year came at Iowa State on the Cyclones’ final drive to help preserve a four-point victory. For his efforts, he earned Second Team All-Big 12 honors from the league’s coaches.

Whitehair, a native of Abilene, Kansas, was one of 82 players on the 2015 Outland Trophy watch list. He has started 38 of his 39 career games, including all 13 games at left tackle in 2014 as he picked up All-Big 12 honors from the league’s coaches, Associated Press and Phil Steele.

Five finalists for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and six or seven semifinalists for the Outland Trophy will be announced on November 19, while three finalists for the Outland Trophy will be chosen five days later. The winner of each award will be announced on ESPN as part of The Home Depot College Football Awards Show on December 10.

K-State opens its 120th season of football on Saturday, September 5, as the Wildcats hosts South Dakota at 6:10 p.m.

— KSU Sports Information —

Nebraska’s Collins on Outland and Nagurski Trophy watch lists

Posted on July 10, 2015July 10, 2015

Nebraska junior defensive tackle Maliek Collins continues to roll up the preseason honors. On Friday, the Kansas City native was named to the preseason watch lists for the Outland Trophy and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy.

The Outland Trophy is presented annually to the nation’s top interior lineman, while the Nagurski Trophy is presented to the nation’s top defensive player. Both awards are selected by the Football Writers Association of America. Earlier this week, Collins was named to the watch list for the Bednarik Award, presented to the College Defensive Player of the Year by the Maxwell Football Club.

The 6-2, 300-pound Collins will man the interior of the Nebraska defensive front in 2015. Last season, Collins emerged as a dominant force at defensive tackle, leading the team with 14 tackles for loss, while adding 4.5 sacks. He was at his best against the toughest foes, with 12 of his 14 tackles for loss coming in Big Ten Conference games or the bowl game against USC. Collins was named co-Defensive MVP for the Huskers in 2014, and was a second-team All-Big Ten pick.

Collins was one of 15 Big Ten players named to the Nagurski Trophy Watch List and among 11 Big Ten linemen on the Outland Trophy list.

Nebraska has a long tradition with the Outland Trophy. Husker players have won a nation-leading nine Outland Trophies, most recently Ndamukong Suh in 2009. The Outland Trophy is presented each year at a banquet in Omaha. Suh also captured the Nagurski Trophy in 2009.

— NU Sports Information —

South defeats North 4-1 in inaugural MINK League All-Star game

Posted on July 9, 2015July 9, 2015

The first-ever MINK League All-Star game took place Thursday night inside Phil Welch Stadium in St. Joseph and the South All-Stars defeated the North 4-1.

The South squad scored all four runs in the fourth inning as Branson’s Nelson Mompierre drove in two runs with a single, Nevada’s Taylor Walker had an RBI ground out and Branson’s Garrett Mays had a two-out RBI single.

Chillicothe’s Robert Beltran suffered the loss as he allowed all four runs in the fourth inning.

Two St. Joseph Mustangs’ helped the North All-Stars get their only run in the eighth. Josh Cassidy led off the inning with a walk and eventually scored on a ground out by St. Joe’s Trent Hill.

Earlier in the day, Ozark’s Andrew Kendrick won the home run derby as he defeated Chase Hamilton from Clarinda in the final round 1-0.

The St. Joseph Mustangs are at home Friday night as they host Chillicothe as 7:00 p.m. inside Phil Welch Stadium.

Kansas City rolls past Rays to finish off four-game sweep

Posted on July 9, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jarrod Dyson did his best impression of Alex Gordon with his glove. Lorenzo Cain and Salvador Perez did the same with their bats.

Along with a strong return from the disabled list for right-hander Yordano Ventura, the Kansas City Royals proved with an 8-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday that they could be just fine without their injured star outfielder.

“We do have a confident team here,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “We think we can get through these things. We think we have the ability to overcome these things.”

Earlier in the day, the Royals announced that Gordon would miss at least eight weeks with a several strained groin muscle. Even in the best-case scenario, that would put his return at some point in September, when the Royals hope to be in the thick of the playoff chase.

In the meantime, they’ll have to do without him.

“Next guy in line has to step up. That’s it,” said Dyson, who started in Gordon’s place and made a spectacular over-the-shoulder catch at the wall in left to set the tone in the first inning.

Ventura (4-6) allowed three runs and four hits and three walks, striking out four. It was his first start since June 12, when an elbow condition began causing numbness in his hand.

“My arm felt good,” he said through a translator. “It was strong.”

Eric Hosmer, Cheslor Cuthbert and Kendrys Morales also drove in runs off Nathan Karns (4-5), the latest Rays starter to get pummeled by Kansas City. The Royals scored at least seven runs in every game of their first four-game sweep since September 2008, against Seattle.

Meanwhile, the Rays were swept in a four-game set for the second time in two weeks, after Cleveland did it June 29-July 2. Tampa Bay has lost 11 of 12 overall.

“It’s just one of those parts of the season that no one can really figure out why we’re there and how we’ve got here,” Karns said, “but we’re here.”

Even without Gordon’s hot bat in the lineup, the Royals struck first for the first time during their eight games this homestand. Hosmer doubled home Alcides Escobar in the first inning, and Cain followed with his two-run shot into the stands in left field.

All three runs were scored in the first five pitches.

The Royals tacked on another run in the second when Cuthbert tripled to right.

Ventura was cruising along through four innings, shutting out Tampa Bay — which had not scored a single run to support Karns in his past three starts.

But the Rays finally broke through in the fifth when David DeJesus and Asdrubal Cabrera strung together hits and Kevin Kiermaier and Rene Rivera walked to force in a run. John Jaso and Grady Sizemore added sacrifice flies to get Tampa Bay within 4-3.

The Royals answered with three runs in the bottom half. Morales hit a sacrifice fly to deep center, and Perez lined his two-run shot into the bullpen in left.

Karns allowed six runs and nine hits in six innings, the latest in a string of lousy Tampa Bay starts. Matt Moore and Matt Andriese failed to make it five innings the first two games of the series, and Chris Archer allowed a career-high nine runs Wednesday night.

Kansas City piled up 33 runs total in the four-game set, more than the reigning AL champions had scored in their previous 10 games combined.

“No excuse, `cause sometimes you’ve got to make your own break,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “It hasn’t been going well for us, obviously. We’ve had times throughout the season where it has and now it’s not going that well. We need to get home and hopefully change that around.”

SHH, KEEP QUIET

Cain was ejected prior to the eighth inning for arguing balls and strikes from the dugout. It was his second ejection of the season. Paulo Orlando replaced him in the lineup.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rays: Jaso came off the DL for the series opener and went 7 for 12 with a pair of walks. He had been out since the first week of the season with a bruised wrist.

Royals: LHP Jason Vargas (left flexor strain) will make a rehab start for Double-A Northwest Arkansas on Monday. The plan is to activate him from the DL after the All-Star break.

UP NEXT

Rays: RHP Erasmo Ramirez will start against Houston on Friday night.

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy will be on the mound against Toronto on Friday night.

— Associated Press —

Cardinals’ Martinez shuts down Pittsburgh in series opener

Posted on July 9, 2015

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Carlos Martinez made his case for inclusion on the National League All-Star team Thursday night by pitching 7 1/3 scoreless innings, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-1 in a matchup between the teams with the best records in the major leagues.

Martinez (10-3) scattered four hits while striking out five and walking three in improving to 7-1 with a 1.20 ERA in his last 10 starts.

The right-hander is one of the five players contending for the NL’s All-Star Final Vote. Fan voting ends Friday afternoon and the game will be played Tuesday at Cincinnati.

St. Louis (56-31) opened a 5 1/2-game lead on the Pirates in the NL Central. Pittsburgh (50-35) had its five-game winning streak snapped in the opener of a four-game series.

— Associated Press —