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Wacha, three home runs send Cardinals over Brewers 6-1

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MILWAUKEE (AP) — Michael Wacha is tweaking his delivery and getting results.

The St. Louis righty pitched two-hit ball for 6 2/3 innings and the Cardinals hit three home runs to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 6-1 on Tuesday night.

Harrison Bader, Matt Carpenter and Francisco Pena each hit solo drives to help St. Louis top the NL Central leaders.

Wacha (6-1) allowed just one run. He walked four and struck out three, and combined with two relievers to limit the Brewers to three hits.

“They’ve got a tough lineup over there. They’ve got a really good team,” Wacha said of the Brewers, who had won 10 of their previous 12 games. “It’s all about execution out there on the mound. Guys were playing great defense behind me.”

Wacha improved to 6-0 over his last 10 starts with a 2.31 ERA in that span.

“He was in control all the way,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “He ran into a little bit of trouble late.

“He’s not relying on just the fastball-changeup,” he said. “He has altered his mechanics to be able to make the high pitch and to get right back to being in the bottom of the zone when he wants to. It’s a lot harder than it sounds.”

The Cardinals took control by scoring four times in the second inning off Zach Davies (2-5). Bader led off with a home run, Carpenter walked with the bases loaded and Jedd Gyorko wound with a two-run single when his slowly hit grounder escaped the reach of second baseman Hernan Perez.

Davies, making his second start since coming off the disabled list with a right rotator cuff injury, allowed five runs and eight hits over five innings.

“Everything hasn’t felt great the last couple games starting back, but you’re at the top level, you’ve got to find it some time,” Davies said.

Perez got the Brewers’ first hit with a soft single to center to lead off the fifth. The only other hit off Wacha was a sharp single by Eric Sogard in the seventh, the last batter the Cardinals pitcher faced.

“He had command of all his pitches tonight, hitting his spots well,” Sogard said. “You’ve just got to try and get a mistake and make the most of it.”

Milwaukee scored in the seventh on a pinch-hit double by Jonathan Villar off reliever Sam Tuivailala. Jordan Hicks finished with two perfect innings, striking out four.

STREAK STOPS

The Brewers’ string of errorless games ended at eight and a strange play was the culprit. Catcher Manny Pina was called for catcher’s interference, allowing Marcell Ozuna to reach base leading off the third inning. Milwaukee is 12-14 when it commits an error and 23-7 when it does not.

FEELING GOOD

Cardinals catcher Francisco Pena tied his career high with three hits, including a long home run off the center-field background off reliever Dan Jennings in the eighth. “It felt great,” Pena said. “I’m just trying to swing at my pitch and not the pitcher’s pitches, and when I do that I think I’ll be real good.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: OF Dexter Fowler remained out of the lineup for a third straight game after being hit by a pitch on the right knee on Saturday in Pittsburgh. Fowler is hitting .157 in 43 games this season. … RHP Carlos Martinez is scheduled for a Thursday start with Double-A Springfield and will be limited to 50-60 pitches. He was placed on the disabled list on May with a right upper back strain.

Brewers: SS Tyler Saladino sprained his left ankle on a play in the third inning and had to be helped off the field. Saladino jammed his ankle into the second-base bag as he took a throw from Perez on a force play. Saladino, who was hitting .324, is headed to the disabled list, Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. He added that SS Orlando Arcia would be a candidate to return from Triple-A Colorado Springs.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Alex Reyes returns after missing all of last season following Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. In four rehab starts in the St. Louis minor league system, Reyes has tossed 23 scoreless innings while striking out 44 of 82 batters faced.

Brewers: RHP Junior Guerra (3-3, 2.98 ERA) will make his 10th start of the season and second against the Cardinals.

— Associated Press —

MWSU’s Spratt Stadium Pavilion named in honor of Bill Snyder

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ST. JOSEPH – The architect of the greatest turnaround in college football history will be honored at Missouri Western State University. The Bill Snyder Pavilion will be dedicated on Thursday, July 12 on the west end of Craig Field at Spratt Memorial Stadium. Missouri Western’s Board of Governors unanimously approved naming the facility for Snyder, who has been head football coach at Kansas State University for 26 seasons and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015. Snyder was born and raised in St. Joseph and attended Missouri Western when it was St. Joseph Junior College in 1959.

“I am so very honored to be recognized in this manner by Missouri Western, the Board of Governors and Steven L. Craig,” Snyder said. “Very thoughtful and greatly appreciated. Although I only attended the school when it was St. Joseph Junior College and for only one year, it was truly the springboard and the foundation for the entirety of my undergraduate education and through my life-long career. My sincere gratitude to those mentioned above and to the entire caring community of St. Joseph which has also favorably impacted my life.”

The pavilion was built and donated by Steven L. Craig, the benefactor for whom Craig Field and the Craig School of Business at Missouri Western are named. It was Craig who initially proposed naming the pavilion for Snyder.

“I’m very honored to have played a small part in recognizing Coach Snyder. His work at Kansas State, in turning around that program, is one of the most remarkable coaching feats in the history of college football.” Craig said. “Coach Snyder has never forgotten his humble beginnings or his hometown, St. Joseph, and has continued to give back to this community over and over again.”

“We are thrilled to be able to honor a distinguished native son of St. Joseph in this way,” said Dr. Robert Vartabedian, Missouri Western’s president. “Coach Bill Snyder is dedicated to the development of student-athletes on the field, in the classroom and in preparation for life. He truly exemplifies the best in college athletics, and I’m glad that his legacy will live on here.”

The pavilion features two different levels for hosting outdoor events, barbecue areas and an 80-foot flagpole displaying a 20-foot by 30-foot American flag. The pavilion will also feature a bronze plaque of Coach Snyder as well as a dedication to those who have served in our military.

“This addition to Spratt Stadium will further enhance the game day experience for our athletes, coaches, students and fans,” said Josh Looney, Missouri Western’s director of athletics. “It’s the finishing touch on one of the finest stadiums in NCAA Division II. We are appreciative of Steve Craig’s generous support to make this happen and honored that the pavilion will sport the name of one of the most iconic leaders in athletics and education.”

In 1989, Snyder took over a struggling Kansas State program that had just become the first Division I program to lose 500 games and had gone winless in two consecutive seasons. In a short time, he turned the Wildcats into a national championship contender that advanced to 11 straight bowl appearances and tallied six 11-win seasons over a seven-year stretch. He retired in 2005, but returned to the Kansas State sidelines in 2009, adding his seventh 11-win season and second conference championship in 2012. Overall, his record stands at 210-110-1 as he prepares for his 27th season at the helm.

Snyder was born and raised in St. Joseph, the son of Marionetta Snyder and grandson of George and Marie Owens. He graduated from Lafayette High School in 1958. Snyder began his full-time coaching career in 1964 as an assistant at Indio High School in California. In 1966 he served as a graduate assistant at USC, under legendary coach John McKay before becoming head coach at Indio High in 1967. He accepted the same position at Santa Ana Foothill High School in 1969, where he stayed until 1973.

In 1974, Snyder became the offensive coordinator and swimming coach at Austin College in Sherman, Texas. He joined the North Texas staff in 1976 and helped orchestrate an impressive turnaround with a three-year record of 26-7. Snyder followed head coach Hayden Fry to Iowa in 1979, helping build a program that went from 17 consecutive losing seasons to eight straight bowl games.

Snyder is a member of eight Halls of Fame: the College Football Hall of Fame, Kansas Sports Hall of Fame, Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, William Jewell Hall of Fame, Lafayette High School Hall of Fame, Austin College Athletic Hall of Fame, Holiday Bowl Hall of Fame and Kansas State Hall of Fame. He received Missouri Western’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2014.

Snyder has also been active in many organizations, including Chairman of the Kansas Mentors Council and the Kansas Leadership Council, Board of Directors for Kansas Leadership Center, Board of Directors of Prairiefire Museum of Natural History, Board of Trustees for the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame, Terry C. Johnson Cancer Research Center Advisory Council, Manhattan Community Foundation Board of Trustees, Kansas State University Foundation Board of Trustees and Honorary Co-Chairman of the Kansas Masonic Partnership for Life.

Locally, Snyder has returned to St. Joseph many times for fundraisers and events supporting education and the YMCA.

Snyder was awarded the 2015 Excellence in Mentoring Award by MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership in recognition of his longstanding commitment to meeting the mentoring needs of young people in Kansas.

After attending St. Joseph Junior College, Snyder received his B.A. from William Jewell in 1963. He earned his M.A. from Eastern New Mexico in 1965. Snyder and his wife, Sharon, have two sons and three daughters. They also have eight grandchildren and one great-grandson.

Details about the July 12 dedication ceremony featuring Snyder, Craig and other dignitaries will be announced at a later date.

— MWSU Athletics —

Missouri Western Board approves Chiefs contract for 2018

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ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Missouri Western State University Board of Governors formally approved a contract Tuesday with the Kansas City Chiefs to keep the NFL team’s training camp in St. Joseph this year.

According to a press release, the contract, which formalizes the agreement Missouri Western and the Chiefs announced in January, also includes an option for an additional one-year extension that would cover training camp in 2019.

“We are quite proud of our relationship with the Chiefs, and we’re pleased to welcome them back this summer, and we hope for many years to come,” said Dr. Robert Vartabedian, Missouri Western’s president.

Under the agreement, the Chiefs and Missouri Western agree to cost-reducing measures related to rental equipment and labor expenses. Other conditions of the 2015 contract amendment and the original 2009 contract remain in place.

“We are pleased that the Missouri Western Board of Governors approved the contract agreement that we reached early in 2018,” Chiefs President Mark Donovan said. “The entire Missouri Western community and the city of St. Joseph have fully embraced Chiefs training camp and have provided our team with tremendous facilities and service for almost a full decade. We are very excited for the upcoming season and know our fans are going to enjoy getting their first glimpse of the 2018 team on the campus of Missouri Western this summer.”

The Chiefs have held training camp on the campus of Missouri Western every year since 2010, when the club returned its training camp to the state of Missouri for the first time in 20 years. The 2018 version of Chiefs Training Camp will mark the ninth year at Missouri Western.

The Chiefs expect to announce this year’s training camp schedule next month.

Royals lose series opener against Minnesota 8-5

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Miguel Sano belted a two-run homer, Eddie Rosario hit a three-run double and the Minnesota Twins snapped a four-game skid with an 8-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night.

Lance Lynn (3-4) pitched six effective innings to win his second consecutive start after a dreadful stretch in his first season with the Twins.

Sano extended his hitting streak against the Royals to 15 games. He is batting .373 with six home runs and 26 RBI in those 15 games.

The slugger drove a 1-1 pitch from Jakob Junis out to center field with Brian Dozier aboard in the fifth inning.

Rosario drilled a three-run double in the eighth off Burch Smith. Dozier’s sixth-inning single scored Mitch Garver, who added a two-run double in the ninth.

Lynn allowed two runs and six hits. He’s given up two runs and 11 hits over 12 2/3 innings in his past two outings.

The right-hander worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the second by striking out Alcides Escobar and retiring Ramon Torres on a grounder. The Royals went 4 for 19 with runners in scoring position and stranded 12 overall.

Fernando Rodney got four outs for his 11th save in 14 chances. He gave up a ninth-inning homer to Jorge Soler.

Jon Jay had four hits for Kansas City, including three doubles, to extend his hitting streak to 10 games.

Junis (5-4) permitted three runs on six hits and walked a career-high four. He struck out seven.

The Royals tied it at 2 in the fifth when Mike Moustakas’ double scored Jay and Whit Merrifield, who walked.

Kansas City got two runs in the eighth. Zach Duke’s throwing error on Jay’s bunt single allowed Escobar to score. Merrifield’s single knocked in Torres with the second run.

NOT SO SWEET AT HOME

The Royals have lost 19 of 26 at Kauffman Stadium.

ROSTER MOVES

Twins: Claimed INF Taylor Motter off waivers from Seattle. Motter has a .197 batting average in 132 games over three major league seasons with the Mariners and Rays. He will report to Triple-A Rochester.

Royals: RHP Scott Barlow was recalled from Triple-A Omaha, where he was 1-1 with a 3.94 ERA in seven games. LHP Eric Stout, who yielded two homers and three runs in one-third of an inning Sunday at Texas, was optioned to Omaha.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: RHP Ervin Santana (right middle finger surgery) will make his second minor league rehab start Tuesday for Class A Fort Myers. . 1B Joe Mauer (neck strain) has been taking batting practice and grounders at Target Field. “He hasn’t had any setbacks,” manager Paul Molitor said. “We don’t want to get too excited about the potential of him being ready sooner than later.” Mauer could be activated Thursday when the Twins return home.

Royals: LHP Eric Skoglund (Grade 1 UCL strain) was relieved after an MRI revealed he won’t need Tommy John surgery. “They said the UCL looks strong, it was just the fluid buildup,” Skoglund said. “It’s exciting news that nothing was going on with the UCL. Just kind of get strong now in that area and let that fluid get out and get back to work. I was freaking out when I was in Texas. It wasn’t a good feeling, especially when I found out it (surgery) was a possibility.”

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Kyle Gibson, a Missouri product, is 6-4 with a 3.46 ERA in 16 career starts against the Royals.

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy is coming off his best outing of the year, when he allowed one run in a season-high 7 2/3 innings to beat the Rangers.

— Associated Press —

Cardinals fall at Milwaukee Monday 8-3

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MILWAUKEE (AP) — With Jesus Aguilar hitting so well, Ryan Braun walked into manager Craig Counsell’s office with the unusual request of asking to be dropped lower in the Milwaukee batting order.

Counsell obliged, and the move paid immediate dividends.

Jonathan Villar and Christian Yelich homered, while Braun had three hits to lead the Brewers to an 8-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday.

“To this point in the season I’ve really been unlucky hitting third, so maybe you move to fifth and it changes the luck a little bit,” said Braun, who is batting .245 in 42 games.

Braun, dropped those two spots in the lineup, went 3 for 3 with a double, two singles and an intentional walk while scoring three times. It was the first time Braun batted lower than fourth in the lineup since Sept. 23, 2014 at Cincinnati, when he was batting fifth.

Aguilar took over at first base when Eric Thames went on the disabled list April 25 and is batting .315 with nine home runs and 30 RBI, hitting third while Braun was on the disabled list with a back injury. Braun returned from the DL on Thursday, and the stats prompted him to suggest to Counsell to leave the slugging Aguilar in the third spot.

“I didn’t know if he (Counsell) was going to be hesitant, or afraid to bring it up, like he might offend me or something,” Braun said. “So I went in there yesterday and said things are going so well, obviously Aggie’s swinging the bat so well, offensively the team’s in a good place, I think it makes a lot of sense to leave him there.”

Milwaukee starter Brent Suter (5-3) allowed three runs in five innings, but hit a two-run double in the fourth that gave Milwaukee a 4-0 lead. Milwaukee won for the 10th time in 12 games.

St. Louis starter Luke Weaver (3-5) lost his third consecutive start, allowing four runs on five hits and two walks with three strikeouts in four innings.

“You try to find the positives in any type of failure situation, and I feel like I’ve been strong, I’ve made some good pitches, though some statistics or whatever might not show up in a positive way,” Weaver said.

The Brewers were shut out 5-0 by the Mets on Thursday. Since then, they’ve scored 37 runs in four games, all victories.

Milwaukee broke open the game in the seventh inning. With two outs and Yelich on second, the Cardinals intentionally walked Braun to face Villar. The second baseman hit the second pitch from Brent Cecil into the Milwaukee bullpen for an 8-3 lead.

“We had a good offensive day today, a bunch of innings where we put pressure on (Weaver) and we came through in a couple of those situations,” Counsell said.

Yelich hit his sixth homer, singled, stole two bases and scored twice.

Yairo Munoz hit his first major-league homer in the fifth, a two-run shot, and Matt Carpenter hit his sixth, a solo shot, later in the inning to pull the Cardinals within 4-3.

IN THE CLUTCH

The Brewers scored all eight runs with two outs, going 4 for 11 with runners in scoring position. St. Louis was 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position. “The guys are working hard, going about their at-bats, and some days we score runs and some days we don’t,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: OF Dexter Fowler was not in the starting lineup for the second consecutive game after being hit in the right knee with a pitch from Pittsburgh’s Trevor Williams. RHP Alex Reyes, who struck out 44 in 23 innings while allowing no runs and seven hits in four minor-league rehab starts, will make his first start since 2016 on Wednesday in Milwaukee. Reyes underwent Tommy John surgery in February 2017.

Brewers: Suter took a line drive from Harrison Bader off his chest in the second inning, but recovered to make the throw to first for the out. “I’ve actually taken one off the head before,” he said. “I was kind of trying to make sure my face was protected and it hit my chest. It’s one of those scary moments in baseball.”

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Michael Wacha (5-1, 2.88 ERA) will be on the mound in the middle game of the series. He has held opponents to two runs or less in each of his last seven starts.

Brewers: RHP Zach Davies (2-4, 4.74) will make his second start since coming off the disabled list Thursday. He was the losing pitcher in the Cardinals’ 8-4 win on April 2 at Miller Park.

— Associated Press —

Missouri State earns NCAA Tournament berth in Oxford Regional

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SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – For the 11th time in program history, the Missouri State Bears have been selected to play in the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship. The Bears drew the No. 3 seed in the Oxford (Miss.) Regional as part of the 64-team NCAA field that was announced Monday morning.

Making their third NCAA Tournament appearance in the last four seasons, the Missouri Valley Conference champion Bears (39-15) will face the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (48-9) in opening-round action at 2 p.m. (CDT) Friday (June 1) at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field. The top-seeded Ole Miss Rebels and fourth-seeded Saint Louis Billikens will meet Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. in the other regional pairing.

In their last Championship appearance in 2017, the Bears captured their third Regional title by going 3-1 at the Fayetteville (Ark.) Regional. MSU knocked off Oklahoma State in the opening round, before taking two of three games with host Arkansas to win the crown. The Bears then took on perennial power TCU in the Fort Worth Super Regional, falling in two games to the Horned Frogs.

Missouri State was one of two Missouri Valley Conference teams selected for the NCAA Tournament, marking the fourth time in the last seven seasons the league has earned multiple postseason bids. MVC Tournament and regular-season runner-up DBU drew the No. 3 seed in the Fayetteville Regional and will face Southern Miss as its opening-round opponent.

Regional play continues through Monday (June 4) with a double-elimination format. The 16 regional winners will advance to the Super Regional round, which will be contested June 8-11, with the eight winners of the three-game, head-to-head series moving on to the 2018 NCAA Division I Men’s College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha in Omaha, Neb., June 16-27.

— MSU Athletics —

Royals hang on to win series finale at Texas 5-3

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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jason Hammel is starting to look more like the pitcher who won 15 games with the World Series champion Chicago Cubs two years ago. On Sunday, he was helped by a bullpen that had just enough to deliver the win.

Hammel struck out 10, Drew Butera and Salvador Perez homered, and the Kansas City Royals held on to beat the Texas Rangers 5-3.

Hammel pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings. He gave up four hits, including three doubles, and two walks.

“A tip of the cap to the bullpen for coming in and covering those innings,” Hammel said. “For a very aggressive team like that, you can get quick outs and get deep into a game if you can execute early.”

Perez and Butera each homered off Cole Hamels (3-5), who allowed five runs on eight hits and three walks in 6 1/3 innings with a season-low two strikeouts.

Hammel (2-5) left with runners on the corners and one out. Jurickson Profar grounded into an inning-ending double play on Tim Hill’s second pitch.

Kelvin Herrera, the last of five Royals relievers, pitched a scoreless ninth inning after allowing a leadoff single for his 11th save in 12 chances.

When Hammel held St. Louis to one run in seven innings to win last Wednesday, it ended a string of 13 winless starts for the 35-year-old. He went into Sunday’s game leading the American League in hits allowed with 71.

“His record doesn’t indicate the way he’s pitched,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “Days that he’s gotten beat, it’s been on two or three pitches. He’s been around the plate extremely consistently the last two.”

The Rangers’ runs came on seventh-inning homers by Joey Gallo, his 15th of the season with one on, and Robinson Chirinos, his seventh.

Texas went 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position, 0 for 7 during the first three innings. In the eighth inning, Jason Adam put runners on the corners with one out before striking out Gallo and getting Rougned Odor to pop to third.

“It’s about being able to calm yourself down, put together a quality at-bat,” Texas manager Jeff Banister said. “But today, Hammel, their guy, I thought made some quality pitches in those situations.”

SELF-INFLICTED TEXAS HEAT

Hamels didn’t allow more than two earned runs in any of his previous five starts. He blamed himself for not having adequate “mound presence” Sunday, not moving on and forgetting the previous batter.

“Haven’t had games like that in a while where you let the emotions get the best of you,” he said. “I’m sure I’ll probably have to issue some apologies for the language that I was probably using. I’ll probably deal with that with my father.”

HAPPY HOMECOMING

Royals rookie Hunter Dozier, who grew up about 45 miles north of Globe Life Park in Denton, Texas, had a two-out, two-run single in the first inning. The 2013 first-round draftee had his third straight multihit game and first multi-RBI game.

“This is a dream come true,” said Dozier, who’s playing first base with Lucas Duda on the disabled list. “It was cool I was able to make this trip, see the family and stay at home.”

SHORT HOPS

Jon Jay has hit in nine straight games and 18 of his last 19. … Nomar Mazara’s two-out walk in the bottom of the first was the first issued by Hammel in 62 consecutive batters. … Hamels’ 11 combined hits and walks were his most this season. … Shin-Soo Choo extended his on-base streak to 14 games.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: With LHP Eric Skoglund (left UCL sprain) placed on the 10-day disabled list Saturday, rookie RHP Brad Keller will make his first major league start Wednesday vs. Minnesota.

Rangers: LHP Matt Moore (right knee) will be activated off the 10-day DL and start Wednesday at Seattle.

UP NEXT

Royals RHP Jakob Junis (5-3) has 14 wins in his first 30 career appearances, tied for the most in franchise history with Rich Gale (1978) and Jose Rosado (1996-97).

Rangers RHP Doug Fister (1-4) has allowed 15 earned runs in his last four starts, raising his ERA from 2.88 to a season-high 4.22.

— Associated Press —

St. Louis rallies past Pittsburgh 6-4

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PITTSBURGH (AP) — Harrison Bader stepped to the plate with a chance to pull the St. Louis Cardinals even knowing the heat Pittsburgh closer Felipe Vazquez was going to send his way.

So Bader dug in and swung as Vazquez’s 99 mph fastball ran in on his hands. When it dropped for a single in the eighth inning, the game was tied. Moments later, Vazquez’s control abandoned him and the Cardinals were on their way to a 6-4 victory over the slumping Pirates on Sunday.

“Obviously, it was pretty firm,” Bader said. “It was just working inside the baseball and I got enough on it to just muscle it out there. That was a good one.”

The Cardinals won for just the fourth time in 19 games when trailing after seven innings by pouncing on Pittsburgh’s bullpen. Jedd Gyorko’s pinch-hit, two-run single off Edgar Santana in the seventh pulled St. Louis within one.

The Cardinals quickly loaded the bases off Michael Feliz (0-2) and the Pirates brought in Vazquez with one out in the eighth. Bader dumped the fourth pitch he saw from Vazquez just over the outstretched hands of second baseman Sean Rodriguez. Vazquez walked Yairo Munoz on four pitches to hand St. Louis the lead and the Cardinals added another run when Carson Kelly bounced into a fielder’s choice.

“It happens fast, but it just shows you that hitting is always contagious,” Bader said. “You just do your best to pass the baton to the next guy. It was a really good team win. I wouldn’t be in that situation if it wasn’t for the guys in the game previous, what they did to allow me to have success up there.”

Vazquez has blown three straight save opportunities for the Pirates, who have dropped seven of nine. Director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said afterward that Vazquez experienced left forearm discomfort after his final two pitches. Vazquez was not available postgame and will be re-evaluated Monday.

“We haven’t seen him in this lane before as far as being inconsistent with the command, especially the fastball,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said before Vazquez was examined by the training staff. “It’s been something that’s really been in a good place. We’ll keep hunting it and so will he.”

Sam Tuivailala (1-0) picked up the win with a scoreless seventh. Bud Norris worked a perfect ninth for his 11th save.

Matt Carpenter went 2 for 4 for St. Louis and is hitting .422 (19 of 45) since May 16.

Rookie Austin Meadows continued his torrid start for the Pirates, going 2 for 3 to boost his average to .455 since making his major league debut on May 16. Adam Frazier hit a two-run triple off Miles Mikolas in the fifth, but Pittsburgh’s relievers couldn’t hold a 4-1 advantage after 6 1/3 solid innings by Jameson Taillon.

Taillon was charged with three runs when Gyorko’s looping fly ball to left off Santana fell for a hit in the seventh. Taillon allowed just five hits and struck out five but remains winless since April 8 as the Pirates lost for the first time all season when leading after seven innings (23-1).

The Cardinals’ comeback helped Mikolas avoid his first major league loss in nearly four years. Relying heavily on impeccable control after spending two seasons in Japan, Mikolas has been one of the biggest surprises in the majors and came in off a four-hit shutout against Kansas City that served notice his hot start was hardly a fluke.

He had little trouble through the first four innings before a rare walk opened the door for the Pirates in the fifth. Elias Diaz led off with just the seventh walk issued by Mikolas this season. Jordy Mercer followed with a single before Frazier wore him down, fouling off six pitches before sending a shot over Tommy Pham in center field to drive in Mercer and Diaz. Meadows followed with a sacrifice fly.

Mikolas tied a season high by allowing four runs in six innings as his ERA ticked up to 2.54.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Held OF Dexter Fowler out of the lineup a day after Fowler took a 91 mph pitch off the right knee from Pittsburgh’s Trevor Williams. … Bench coach Mike Shildt suffered a head contusion after getting hit by a foul ball off the bat of Pittsburgh’s Starling Marte while sitting in the dugout in the first inning. Shildt returned in the third inning after receiving treatment.

Pirates: Scratched C Francisco Cervelli due to flu-like symptoms. … The team will wait at least one more day before deciding whether Ivan Nova’s sprained left index finger is bad enough to put him on the disabled list. General manager Neal Huntington said left-hander Steven Brault or rookie right-hander Nick Kingham are the top options if Nova is out.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: Head to Milwaukee to take on the first-place Brewers on Monday. Luke Weaver (3-4, 4.31 ERA) starts in the opener.

Pirates: Host the Chicago Cubs for three games starting Monday. Chad Kuhl (4-2, 4.20 ERA) starts the opener. Kuhl is 1-4 with an 8.23 ERA in seven career starts against the Cubs.

— Associated Press —

MWSU’s Thompson finishes 8th at NCAA Track & Field Championships

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Phil Thompson finished his Missouri Western Track and Field career as the first-ever two-time All-American in the program’s history. Thompson took eighth in the triple jump at the 2018 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field National Championships just two month after taking third in the same event at the indoor national championships.

In the program’s first year, Thompson became its first-ever two-time national qualifier and with his 15.32m (50′ 3 1/4″) jump on Saturday at Johnson C. Smith University, he became the program’s first-ever two-time All-American. On a day of unpredictable weather in Charlotte, North Carolina, the senior transfer’s first jump of the day was the one that put him on the podium. After no competitors in the first flight managed to break the 15m mark, the second flight quickly rose to the top of the leaderboard, Thompson included. Charles Greaves of Texas A&M Kingsville won the competition with a 16.08m jump on his second attempt. The fourth, fifth and sixth place finishers all had their best jump on their second attempt. Kizan David of Lincoln (Mo.) just edged Thompson for seventh with a 15.36m on his second attempt.

Behind David, Thompson was second among the six MIAA competitors in the event.

— MWSU Athletics —

Royals lose to Texas in 10 innings on Choo’s walk-off HR

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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Bartolo Colon didn’t make history Saturday for the Texas Rangers, but his teammate Shin-Soo Choo did.

Choo became the top major league home run hitter born in Asia, connecting for a leadoff drive in the 10th inning that lifted the Rangers over the Kansas City Royals 4-3 on Saturday.

The South Korea native’s 176th career homer moved him past Hideki Matsui for the most by an Asian player.

“My dad told me when I was young, ‘Always first. You need to be first. In sports, people think about the first person,'” Choo said. “I remembered that.”

Choo hit a 3-1 pitch from Kevin McCarthy (3-2) the opposite way into the Royals bullpen for his eighth home run this year. It was his third career walk-off homer and first in five seasons with the Rangers.

“With a 3-1 count, I’m just looking for one pitch in one area, and try to swing hard,” Choo said.

Alex Claudio (3-2) got the win by working the 10th inning.

Colon, pitching two days after his 45th birthday, threw a season-high 102 pitches and gave up five hits in seven innings for Texas. He remained stuck on 242 career wins and will have to wait at least one more start to tie Juan Marichal for most wins by a native of the Dominican Republic.

In 97-degree heat, Colon allowed four hits during a three-run third. He gave up just two runners over the other six innings and struck out four.

“The most important thing is that we won,” Colon said through an interpreter. “If I didn’t win, that’s fine. I don’t think that much about [tying Marichal]. If it comes, it will come.”

The Royals did their only damage against Colon by getting to him early in counts in the third. After Hunter Dozier beat out an infield single, Alcides Escobar and Jon Jay each singled on the first pitch they saw, scoring one run.

Whit Merrifield then hit a 1-0 pitch into the left-field corner for a two-run double.

“[Colon’s] been around the league for a long time for a reason,” Merrifield said. “He doesn’t miss over the plate a whole lot, and when he does you’ve got to take advantage of it. We did a couple times.”

The Rangers tied it with runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings. Ronald Guzman, who had homered in his previous four starts, tied it with a two-out double off reliever Brad Keller.

Royals starter Ian Kennedy gave up five hits and two runs in five innings and hasn’t won since April 7, a stretch of nine consecutive starts.

CALLING THE SHOT

Joey Gallo had an RBI double and a key stolen base that led to the tying run, but his most impressive feat might have been calling Choo’s walk-off.

“Choo is one of the best hitters I’ve seen, the way he takes his at-bats every day,” Gallo said. “I went into the dugout and I said, ‘He’s going to hit a bomb.”’ I could just feel it with him because his swing has been so good lately.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: LHP Eric Skoglund, who started Friday night, was put on the disabled list with a left elbow sprain. He is likely to have an MRI on Monday. Kansas City called up LHP Eric Stout from Omaha for his second stint with the club this year. … Manager Ned Yost said Lucas Duda would remain on the disabled list, even though he’s eligible to come off, as he battles plantar fasciitis in his right foot.

Rangers: SS Elvis Andrus has started swinging a bat as he recovers from a fractured right elbow suffered on April 11. Andrus took dry swings Saturday and hopes to be taking batting practice by the end of next week. … LHP Matt Moore threw another bullpen session Saturday. He is on the disabled list with a sore right knee.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Jason Hammel (1-5, 5.70) takes the mound Sunday in the series finale. Hammel won for the first time in 2018 by holding the Cardinals to one run over seven innings Tuesday.

Rangers: LHP Cole Hamels (3-4, 3.38) starts Sunday for Texas. The lefty has won his last two starts, allowing just five hits in 13 innings against the Astros and Yankees.

— Associated Press —

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