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Category: Sports

Kansas City loses at Pittsburgh 2-1 in 11 innings

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PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pinch-hitter Ryan Lavarnway drove in the winning run with a single in the 11th inning, Jameson Taillon struck out a career-high 11 and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Kansas City Royals 2-1 on Tuesday night.

It was just the second at-bat of the season for the 30-year-old Lavarnway, the Pirates’ fourth-string catcher. He hit .288 in 77 games in with Triple-A Indianapolis. Lavarnway has played 142 career games with five teams.

Starling Marte led off the 11th with an infield single off Burch Smith (1-6). Josh Bell walked and Burch struck out Francisco Cervelli before Adam Frazier was intentionally walked to load the bases, setting up Lavarnway’s walk-off hit to shallow center.

Pinch-hitter Hunter Dozier tied the game in the ninth with a double off Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez that scored Jorge Bonifacio. Left fielder Corey Dickerson threw to shortstop Jordy Mercer, who relayed home to throw out Salvador Perez and preserve the tie.

Vazquez had not blown a save since May 31, a string of 24 consecutive opportunities converted.

Taillon threw seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and a walk. His previous career high in strikeouts was 10, set on July 12.

Kyle Crick (3-2) retired the side on 10 pitches in the 11th to earn the win.

Colin Moran had a pinch-hit home run with two outs in the seventh inning, his 10th homer this season.

It looked like the Royals might get to Taillon in the top of the seventh. With runners on second and third, Brian Goodwin hit a flyball to right fielder Pablo Reyes, who threw out Ryan O’Hearn at the plate.

Eric Skoglund allowed three hits and struck out two in six innings, his first start this season in which he did not allow a run.

The Pirates improved to 14-5 in interleague play, the second-best record in the majors behind the Boston Red Sox.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Pirates: Frazier did not start but said he was “fine” after fouling a ball off his right knee and leaving Monday’s game with discomfort. He grounded into a fielder’s choice in the ninth and remained in the game in left field. … C Elias Diaz (hamstring) made his first appearance since Aug. 31. He walked as a pinch-hitter in the ninth.

Royals: Perez was a late scratch with a recurrence of a nagging left thumb injury. He singled in the ninth. … RHP Jorge Lopez (bruised rib) has still not thrown a between-starts bullpen session. His next turn in the rotation is Thursday against Detroit. The team has not announced a probable pitcher.

UP NEXT

Royals: Heath Fillmyer (3-1, 4.76 ERA) is scheduled to start the series finale Wednesday. The rookie allowed 10 runs over his previous two starts.

Pirates: Chris Archer (4-8, 4.66 ERA) has lost three straight decisions and is 1-4 with a 5.19 ERA since returning from an abdominal injury in early July.

— Associated Press —

McCarthy takes fourth as MWSU men finish play at NSU Classic

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MUSKOGEE, Okla. – Missouri Western Men’s Golf finished the third round at the NSU Classic in the near-100 degree heat on Tuesday. Patrick McCarthy jumped from ninth place up to fourth place by shooting one of the best third rounds of anyone in the field, finishing the day with a 68. The Griffons finished tied for ninth in the team standings.

McCarthy was able to jump five spots in the final round on Tuesday. He matched his first round 68 with another score of 68 in the final round to end the NSU Classic at nine-under par. McCarthy was named to the NSU Men’s Golf Classic All-Tournament team for his top-five finish. His fourth-place finish gives McCarthy his best finish of the early season after getting sixth at the Mule Invitational in the team’s only other tournament.

McCarthy was not the only Griffon to shoot up the leaderboards in the final round. Tom Buffington shot a 69 in the third round, vaulting him up 18 spots to finish the tournament 26th. Buffington had the second-best score for the Griffons with an overall score of 214.

Missouri Western will have some time off before heading to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the Western New Mexico Fall Intercollegiate on October 1.

— MWSU Athletics —

Cardinals win 3rd straight, send Braves to 4th straight loss

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ATLANTA (AP) — Paul DeJong hit a two-run homer, Yadier Molina added a two-run single in a four-run eighth inning and the St. Louis Cardinals won their third straight game with an 8-1 victory over the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night.

Austin Gomber pitched five effective innings for St. Louis, which holds a slim lead for the second NL wild card. The Cardinals top the National League with 36 victories since All-Star break, and their 43 road wins this season rank second.

Atlanta’s division lead dropped to 5 1/2 games over Philadelphia as the Braves lost their fourth in a row after a season-best six-game winning streak. They are 38-38 at SunTrust Park and have dropped 14 of 18 at home.

The Braves’ magic number remained at seven as they try to clinch a division title for the first time in five years. Philadelphia beat the New York Mets 5-2.

Anibal Sanchez (6-6) allowed four hits and two runs and struck out six in five innings. He faced the minimum through his first three innings and retired his first batter in the fourth before Jose Martinez singled and DeJong hit his 19th homer.

DeJong, who is hitting .500 with four homers and 10 RBI in five career games against Atlanta, added a run-scoring single in the eighth off Dan Winkler. DeJong’s homer was his 14th on the road.

Gomber (6-1) gave up six hits, one run and three walks while striking out five for his fifth victory in his last six decisions, but it wasn’t easy for the rookie.

After Ronald Acuna Jr. hit his 26th homer to begin the third, Gomber escaped a bases-loaded jam on Ender Inciarte’s lineout to end the inning. Gomber got Inciarte to fly out to strand a runner at third to end the fifth.

Molina’s single in the eighth off Sam Freeman scored three runs. He was credited with two RBI, and a third run scored because Acuna made an error in left field.

Tyler O’Neill, who entered as a pinch-runner in the eighth, had a run-scoring double and Marcell Ozuna followed with an RBI single to make it 8-1.

STRONG BULLPEN

John Brebbia and Jordan Hicks faced the minimum in the sixth and seventh, Dominic Leone pitched around a walk in the eighth and Mike Mayers faced five batters in the ninth. The Cardinals improved to 69-6 when leading after seven.

STILL STRUGGLING

After walking 39 in their last five games, the Braves didn’t issue a free pass until the eighth, when Jonny Venters, Winkler and Freeman each walked a batter. Of the 35 runs allowed on this homestand, 15 reached with a walk.

WELCOME SOUTH

St. Louis has won eight straight games in Atlanta dating to 2016, the best run since the Cardinals took 11 road games in a row from the Braves from 1967-68.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Jack Flaherty (8-7, 2.86 ERA) will make his first career appearance against Atlanta. The 22-year-old rookie pitched six innings, allowing four hits and one run, in losing his last start 3-0 to the Dodgers.

Braves: RHP Touki Toussaint (1-1, 4.67 ERA) gets his fourth career start as he faces St. Louis for the first time. The 22-year-old rookie is 1-1 with a 3.31 ERA as a starter.

— Associated Press —

Western’s Menke named MIAA Offensive Player of the Week

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The MIAA announced Tuesday that Missouri Western forward Cassidy Menke was voted MIAA Offensive Player of the Week. It is Menke’s first time receiving the award this season, as she earned the honor three times last season.

Menke earns the honor after leading the Griffons to a 2-0 weekend against Lindenwood and Northwest Missouri. Menke scored her first goal of the weekend against the Lions to put the game away at 3-1. She was getting good looks all night on Friday, totaling four shots on goal in the game.

In Sunday’s game against the Bearcats, Menke scored her third goal of the season in the 10th minute to put the Griffons up 1-0. The Griffons held that lead the entire game and defeated the Bearcats 4-0. She also set up the next Missouri Western goal as she assisted Claire Meyers’ goal in the 65th minute.

Menke is first on the team with three goals and seven total points. The program’s all-time leader in career goals has been a key part of the Griffon offense in the early season, with the fifth-most shots of anyone in the MIAA.

— MWSU Athletics —

Northwest’s Ross earns MIAA cross country honor

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Northwest Missouri State University freshman Caroline Ross earned the MIAA’s co-female cross country athlete of the week honor for her performance this past weekend at the Woody Greeno/Jay Dirksen Invitational in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Ross (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Cedar Falls HS) clocked in a with a time of 24:01 for the 6,000 meter course. Ross placed fifth overall in the gold division race.

— Northwest Athletics —

Royals lose at Pittsburgh on Stallings’ walk-off single

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PITTSBURGH (AP) — Rookie Jacob Stallings hit a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth inning to rally the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 7-6 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night.

After Jordan Luplow grounded into a double play, Kevin Kramer walked and moved to second on Kevin Newman’s single. Stallings then singled into left field off Ben Lively (0-3), scoring Kramer.

It was Stallings’ second career game-ending hit. The catcher also had one in 2016.

The Pirates scored twice with two outs in the eighth inning to tie the game at 6-all. The first run scored when first baseman Ryan O’Hearn failed to handle a throw from third baseman Hunter Dozier on a grounder by Pablo Reyes. Starling Marte followed with an RBI triple.

Newman had three of Pittsburgh’s 15 hits, and the rookie shortstop extended his hitting streak to six games as the Pirates won for the ninth time in 12 games.

Edgar Santana (3-3) pitched a 1-2-3 ninth.

O’Hearn’s 11th home run in 36 games since making his debut July 31 led off the top of the eighth and gave the Royals a two-run lead.

Bell drew Pittsburgh to 5-4 in the seventh with a run-scoring single.

O’Hearn’s RBI double capped a four-run fifth inning and put the Royals on top 5-3. That followed consecutive run-scoring singles by Adalberto Mondesi, Alex Gordon and Salvador Perez.

Gordon doubled in the game’s first run in top of the third inning, and Corey Dickerson countered with an RBI single in the bottom half. Frazier’s two-run single in the fourth gave the Pirates a short-lived 3-1 lead.

Kansas City’s Brad Keller allowed four runs and 10 hits in six-plus innings. Pittsburgh’s Joe Musgrove also pitched six innings, giving up five runs and eight hits.

Keller got his first major league hit when he singled off Musgrove to lead off the fifth inning. It came in Keller’s second career at-bat after he struck out in the second.

O’Hearn’s homer to right field off Steven Brault was the first allowed by the left-hander in 117 career plate appearances against left-handed batters.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Pirates: 2B Frazier (right knee discomfort) left for a pinch-runner immediately after hitting his double. . C Francisco Cervelli (flu-like symptoms) was scratched from the original lineup. . C Elias Diaz (strained right hamstring) has been cleared to play after sitting out since Aug. 31. . Pitching coach Ray Searage underwent cervical surgery and assistant pitching coach Justin Meccage is taking his place.

AND 31 YEARS LATER . . .

Royals 2B Whit Merrifield played his first game in Pittsburgh. Merrifield’s father, Bill, was called up by the Pirates for one day late in the 1987 season then sent to instructional league to make the conversion from third baseman to first baseman.

Bill Merrifield did not appear in a game and never returned to the major leagues.

REMEMBERING MAC

A moment of silence was held for rapper/singer Mac Miller, who died last week. Miller was a Pittsburgh native and Pirates’ fan.

UP NEXT

Royals: LHP Eric Skoglund (1-5, 6.19) makes his third appearance and second start Tuesday night. He had been sidelined from May 26-Sept. 6 with a sprained ligament in his left elbow.

Pirates: RHP Jameson Taillon (13-9, 3.37) has allowed three earned runs or less in 19 straight starts.

— Associated Press —

Tigers’ McCann named Lou Groza Star of the Week

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COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou junior K Tucker McCann has been named among the Lou Groza Awards Stars of the Week, announced Monday by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission. This is the first time that McCann has earned this distinction.

Mizzou is still undefeated thanks to kicker McCann’s 25-yard field goal as time expired to give the Tigers a 40-37 road victory over Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind., Saturday. The junior from O’Fallon, Ill., was 4-for-5 on field goals with makes of 40, 31 and 29 yards in addition to the game-winner. His lone miss was blocked from 50 yards out. He added four PATs for a 16-point game. With eight field goals on the season, McCann is tied for second in the nation and leads the SEC in scoring through three weeks of play.

McCann and the Tigers return home this Saturday to host No. 2/3 Georgia in a battle of SEC East unbeatens. The game will air at 11 a.m. on ESPN 1550 AM.

— Mizzou Athletics —

Wong begins Cardinals’ homer parade in 11-6 win over Braves

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ATLANTA (AP) — Kolten Wong hit the first of four St. Louis homers, Miles Mikolas won his third straight start and the Cardinals beat the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves 11-6 on Monday night to give their playoff push another boost.

St. Louis has 35 victories since the All-Star break, most in the National League, and has won two straight after losing four in a row. The Cardinals, who also got homers from Paul DeJong, Harrison Bader and Yadier Molina, began the night tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the second NL wild card.

The Braves took a third consecutive loss after winning a season-best six straight games. They remained 6 1/2 games ahead in the division following Philadelphia’s loss to the Mets, which reduced Atlanta’s magic number to seven as the Braves try to clinch their first NL East title in five years.

Mike Foltynewicz (11-10) walked three of the first five batters he faced — one intentionally — and hit Yadier Molina with a pitch before Wong’s opposite-field, two-run single gave St. Louis a 3-0 lead in the first.

Atlanta pitchers have issued 32 walks over the last four games, all at home, where they are 38-37 and have dropped nine of their last 12.

Mikolas (16-4) allowed four hits, two runs and one walk while striking out six in five innings. The right-hander, who leads the NL in fewest walks per nine innings, improved to 16-0 when getting at least two runs of support, and the Cardinals are 21-3 in those games.

After Freddie Freeman’s 22nd homer made it a one-run game in the third, the Cardinals went up 4-2 in the fourth on Wong’s ninth homer and 6-2 in the fifth on DeJong’s 18th homer and Marcell Ozuna’s RBI double. St. Louis improved to an NL-best 40-19 when hitting a road homer.

Foltynewicz allowed five hits, six runs and four walks with two strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. Coming off a complete-game victory at San Francisco, Foltynewicz had gone 4-2 with a 1.84 ERA in his last eight starts, but he couldn’t overcome a lack of fastball control.

Nick Markakis drove in a run with his NL-leading 42nd double, coming against Dakota Hudson in the seventh, to pull the Braves to 6-5. But then Jesse Biddle gave up a pair of two-out walks in the eighth, and Bader, a defensive replacement in the seventh, hit a three-run homer to put St. Louis up 9-5.

The Braves had a chance to do more damage in the bottom half of the inning against Carlos Martinez after Ronald Acuna Jr.’s RBI single cut the lead to 9-6, but Martinez struck out Freeman with the bases loaded.

Molina hit his 18th homer, a two-run shot off Arodys Vizcaino, in the ninth.

BAD MOVES

Cardinals CF Yairo Munoz made two errors in the sixth that let Atlanta cut the lead to 6-4. He dropped the ball after picking up Ender Inciarte’s single, allowing Inciarte to advance to second and Johan Camargo to third. Munoz made a throwing error to third on Tyler Flowers’ single, allowing both runners to score.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Manager Mike Shildt said RHP Bud Norris wasn’t available because of irritated skin on his right middle finger. Norris left Sunday night’s win over the Dodgers after walking the only batter he faced.

Braves: Camargo, the team’s everyday third baseman, went 1 for 5 in his return to the lineup after missing the past four games with left groin tightness.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: LHP Austin Gomber (5-1, 3.78 ERA) will make his first career start against Atlanta on Tuesday. Gomber allowed seven runs and nine hits in his last start, lasting three innings in a 9-7 loss to the Dodgers.

Braves: RHP Anibal Sanchez (6-5, 3.01 ERA) seeks his first victory since Aug. 3, a span of eight starts in which he’s 1-1 with a 3.02 ERA.

— Associated Press —

MWSU men’s golf sits tied for ninth after day one at Northeastern State

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MUSKOGEE, Okla. – Missouri Western Men’s Golf sits tied for ninth place after day one at the NSU Men’s Golf Classic. Patrick McCarthy leads the Griffons after the first two rounds and is currently tied for ninth on the individual leaderboards.

The Griffons got out to a hot start as a team and finished the first round with a score of 280. Missouri Western was in fifth place going into the second round but was unable to duplicate the results of the first round. The team finished the second round with a 292 and dropped down to ninth place going into Tuesday.

Patrick McCarthy played consistent in the first two rounds and finished -4. He posted a 68 in the first round before following with a 70 in the second round. McCarthy currently sits tied for ninth.

Tom Buffington is the second Griffon on the leaderboards with a 145 and tied for 44th. Buffington has the second-best round of anyone on the Griffons at the event, shooting a 69 in the first round.

Missouri Western will tee off the third round of the NSU Classic at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday.

— MWSU Athletics —

Missouri’s Knox earns SEC Freshman of the Week honor

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COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Football standout WR Jalen Knox (Mansfield, Texas) is the SEC Freshman of the Week, announced Monday by the league office. Knox is the first Mizzou player to earn an SEC weekly honor this season and it is the first career nod for Knox. He is the first Mizzou player to earn SEC Freshman of the Week honors since Nov. 20, 2017, when TE Albert Okwuegbunam earned the distinction.

Last Saturday at Purdue, Knox had a break-out performance in Saturday’s win at Purdue, as he caught five passes for 110 yards (both career highs), including his first collegiate touchdown, which came on a beautiful skinny post route that he took in stride and raced 59 yards untouched to paydirt to give Mizzou a 20-10 lead early in the second quarter. His contributions were crucial for the Tiger offense, as they were without the services for most of the game of senior WR Emanuel Hall, who was limited with a groin injury.

Knox turned in only the fifth 100-yard receiving game by a true freshman in Mizzou history. The feat was accomplished last in 2016 by former Tiger Dimetrios Mason (twice), and prior to that, in 1999 by Travis Garvin and in 1984 by Andy Gibler.

Knox and the Tigers return home this Saturday to host No. 2/3 Georgia in a battle of SEC East unbeatens. The game will air at 11 a.m. on ESPN 1550 AM.

— Mizzou Athletics —

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