Sports – Page 759 – St. Joseph Post Archive

Cardinals stay hot with 5-0 win at Cincinnati

Posted on September 8, 2014

CINCINNATI (AP) — Everything has fallen into place, allowing the St. Louis Cardinals to pull away.

Matt Carpenter broke a scoreless tie with his two-run single in the seventh inning, Matt Adams added a three-run homer, and the Cardinals extended their surge in the NL Central by beating the Cincinnati Reds 5-0 on Monday night.

St. Louis has won nine of 10, going from two games out to a season-high 4 1/2 games up in the division. The Cardinals are 10-3 against the Reds this season and 40-24 against the NL Central overall.

“Everything is clicking right now,” Adams said. “Our starting pitching is just unbelievable right now, and our offense is doing what it’s capable of doing.”

Shelby Miller (9-9) gave up three hits while pitching into the eighth in his first victory in three starts against Cincinnati this season. Two relievers finished the three-hitter.

Miller faced the minimum 12 batters over the first four innings — Brandon Phillips singled but was taken out in a double play. Devin Mesoraco led off the fifth with a double but was stranded at second, the only Red to reach scoring position.

The Cardinals didn’t walk a batter and turned a pair of double plays. As a result, their pitchers faced only 28 batters, one over the minimum.

Miller is putting together his best stretch of the season by turning to his curveball, a pitch he used less frequently early in the season. He allowed only three hits in seven innings of a 1-0 win over the Pirates his last time out.

“It’s just building confidence in that pitch,” Miller said. “I feel it’s the second-best pitch I have.

“The biggest thing is just using it. The more you use it, the more you get a feel for it and you can throw it where you want to.”

Carpenter’s single off Manny Parra (0-3) left Cincinnati’s bullpen 0-14 since the All-Star break, part of Cincinnati’s 16-33 slide over that time. The Reds have dropped eight of their last 10 and fallen 10 games under .500 for the first time since 2009.

The Reds had two pitchers leave the game because of injury.

Reds starter Dylan Axelrod threw only seven pitches before pulling his right oblique. Left-hander David Holmberg relieved and went a career-high 5 2/3 innings, allowing four hits while throwing 81 pitches.

Right-hander Pedro Villarreal took a grounder off his forearm in the ninth and left the game. Ondrusek replaced him and gave up Adams’ three-run homer on his second pitch.

“That was a beautiful swing by Matt Adams,” manager Mike Matheny said. “That was one of the loudest ones I’ve ever heard.”

The Reds went through seven pitchers overall, including four in the decisive seventh. Parra gave up Randal Grichuk’s pinch-hit double and Kolten Wong’s infield single. After Miller’s sacrifice, Carpenter singled to right for a 2-0 lead.

SLUMP BUSTER

Slumping Cardinals OF Matt Holliday got Sunday off. He was back in the lineup on Monday and singled to end the slide at 0 for 10. He later added another single.

STATS

Carpenter has driven in a pair of runs in each of the last two games. He has three straight multihit games. … Wong extended his hitting streak to five games. … The Reds are 10 games below .500 for the first time since Sept. 23, 2009. They’re a season-high 13 games out of first place. … Holmberg’s outing was the longest by a Reds reliever since Carlos Fisher threw 5 2/3 innings during a 19-inning game on May 25, 2011, at Philadelphia.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: INF Greg Garcia, OF Tommy Pham and RHP Sam Tuivailala were promoted from Triple-A Memphis. C Audry Perez and OF Rafael Ortega were designated for assignment to create room on the 40-man roster.

Reds: SS Zack Cozart was in the lineup for the third straight game after missing time because of a sore right wrist. He is in an 0-for-16 slump.

UP NEXT:

Cardinals: Michael Wacha (5-5) makes his third start of the season against Cincinnati. The Cardinals are 5-2 at Great American Ball Park this season and have won six straight against Cincinnati overall.

Reds: Mike Leake (10-11) is coming off his worst start of the season. He gave up a season-high seven runs and three homers in only four innings of a 9-7 loss at Baltimore on Thursday.

— Associated Press —

Missouri-Indiana to kick at 3 PM on SEC Network

Posted on September 8, 2014September 8, 2014

The University of Missouri football game on Sept. 20th against the Indiana Hoosiers has been selected for a 3 p.m. (central time) kickoff from MU’s Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field, and the game will be televised live on the SEC Network.

The Tigers, currently 2-0 on the season, are preparing for a Saturday home game at 11 a.m. against the defending Fiesta Bowl champion UCF Knights, while Indiana (1-0) is coming off a bye week and will play at Bowling Green this Saturday. The Hoosiers opened their 2014 season with a 28-10 home win over Indiana State on Aug. 30th.

The contest will mark the second-straight season, and the 12th time overall, that the two schools will meet on the gridiron. Mizzou claimed a 45-28 road win in Bloomington, Ind. last year on the way to a 12-2 season. The Sept. 20th game will be Indiana’s first appearance in Columbia since 1991, when the teams played to a 27-27 tie. Interestingly, each of Indiana’s last two appearances at Faurot Field have ended in ties, as the schools also played to a 28-28 standstill in 1988. Indiana leads the overall series by a 6-3-2 count.

Plenty of good seats remain available for the Mizzou-Indiana game, and can be ordered online at www.MUTigers.com, or by calling 1-800-CAT-PAWS (884-PAWS locally).

— MU Sports Information —

Johnson, Devito Out For The Season

Posted on September 8, 2014September 9, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Pro Bowl linebacker Derrick Johnson and starting defensive tackle Mike DeVito will miss the remainder of the Kansas City Chiefs’ season after MRI exams confirmed that both players ruptured their right Achilles tendons in Sunday’s loss to Tennessee.

Johnson went down without getting touched near the end of the first half. Eight plays later, early in the second half, DeVito went down at nearly the same spot on the field.

The blows are significant to a Chiefs team that was already missing several key pieces to injuries and suspensions, and was routed 26-10 by the Titans at Arrowhead Stadium.

Johnson had four tackles before getting carted off the field, moving him within 15 of 1,000 for his career. That would surpass Gary Spani for the franchise record.

Waters Nabs Big 12 Player of the Week Honors

Posted on September 8, 2014September 8, 2014

MANHATTAN, Kan. – After accumulating 377 total yards – including a career-best 138 rushing yards and two touchdowns – in a 32-28 victory at Iowa State, Kansas State senior quarterback Jake Waters earned Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors, the conference office announced Monday.

The accolade is the first of Waters’ career and the first by a Wildcat offensive player since Collin Klein in 2012.

Waters led K-State to its first double-digit comeback victory on the road since 2010 and the first overall since 2011 as the Wildcats trailed the Cyclones, 28-13, with 1:36 remaining before halftime. The Wildcat signal caller capped a 10-play, 84-yard drive just prior to halftime with a one-yard rushing touchdown to pull the Wildcats within eight at 28-20. After a scoreless third quarter, Waters ran for 59 yards on only seven carries (8.4 yards per rush) in the fourth quarter and guided the Wildcat offense on a pair of touchdown drives, including the final drive that ended with his own game-winning eight-yard touchdown run with one minute, 30 seconds remaining in the contest.

MIAA announces weekly football honors

Posted on September 8, 2014September 8, 2014

The first Athletes of the Week for the 2014 campaign came out as football was announced today. Central Oklahoma’s Chas Stallard earned Offensive Athlete of the Week, Emporia State’s Deshawn Dinwiddie earned Defensive Athlete of the Week and UCO’s Seth Hiddink was named Special Teams Athlete of the Week.

MIAA Offensive Athlete of the Week
Chas Stallard, QB, Central Oklahoma

Stallard shined in his first-ever college game, rushing 17 times for 107 yards and a touchdown in addition to hitting 15-of-23 passes for 204 yards and a score leading UCO to a 26-7 road win over Fort Hays State. The redshirt freshman threw a 28-yard TD pass on a flea-flicker to give the Bronchos a 7-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter, then led an 80-yard TD drive hitting 4-of-4 passes for 42 yards before scoring on an 11-yard scramble late in the period to give UCO a 14-0 halftime lead. Stallard had runs of 29 and 44 yards during third-quarter field goal drives as UCO won its first season-opener since 2007. The 6-0 redshirt freshman quarterback is a native of Cleveland, Okla. where he competed at Cleveland High School.

MIAA Defensive Athlete of the Week
Deshawn Dinwiddie, LB, Emporia State

Dinwiddie had a game high ten tackles, two forced fumbles and returned a defensive PAT for a score as Emporia State held Missouri Southern to just 212 rushing yards in the Hornets 53-28 victory. His first forced fumble was on the Lions Michael Nelson two yards behind the line of scrimmage and was scooped up and returned for a touchdown by Kadeem Satchell to give the Hornets a 21-7 lead with 6:00 left in the half. It was the first defensive score for the Hornets since Sept. 8, 2012 at Neb.-Kearney and was followed 14 seconds later by another fumble return for a touchdown and a 27-7 Emporia State lead. After the Lions scored to cut the lead to 27-13 Deshawn returned the extra point that was blocked by his brother Deveon for a defensive PAT and 29-13 Hornet lead with 2:12 left in the half. He then forced a fumble on MSSU’s first possession of the second half that the Hornets would eventually score off of for a 36-13 lead. The 6-2 senior linebacker is a native of Hutchinson, Kan. where he competed at Hutchinson high school before playing two season’s at North Dakota State.

MIAA Special Teams Athlete of the Week
Seth Hiddink, K, Central Oklahoma

Hiddink scored 14 points in UCOs 26-7 road win over Fort Hays State, hitting all four field goal tries and both extra point attempts. He made two first-half PATs as the Bronchos took a 14-0 lead and then scored all 12 UCO points in the second half with field goals of 18, 37, 38 and 48 yards. Hiddink has made 13 consecutive field goals dating back to last season. The 6-4 sophomore kicker is a native of Wylie, Texas where he competed at Wylie High School.

— MIAA Press Release —

Jayhawk’s McDonald named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week

Posted on September 8, 2014September 8, 2014

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas senior cornerback Dexter McDonald was named the Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the Week Monday following his standout performance in the Jayhawks’ season-opening win over Southeast Missouri State.

McDonald, a native of Kansas City, Missouri, led the Kansas defense with the first multiple interception game of his career. He first picked off SEMO quarterback Kyle Snyder in the end zone and returned it 62 yards to keep the Redhawks scoreless in the first half. He then grabbed a second interception off of Snyder five minutes into the third quarter, returning it 10 yards. Additionally, McDonald was credited with two solo tackles and two pass breakups, giving him four passes defended in the game.

McDonald is the first Kansas player to be honored by the Big 12 Conference in its weekly awards since running back James Sims picked up the weekly offensive award on Nov. 18. He is the first Jayhawk to pick up the conference’s defensive honor since Justin Springer was tabbed for the weekly award on Sept. 11, 2010.

Additionally, McDonald was tabbed an honorable mention defensive back of the week by the College Football Performance Awards (CFPA), while his teammate Trevor Pardula was honored by the CFPA as an honorable mention punter of the week. The CFPA are based on objective scientific rankings of the extent to which individual players increase the overall effectiveness of their teams.

McDonald and his KU teammates will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 13 when the Jayhawks travel to Duke for a 2:30 p.m. (CT), game at Wallace Wade Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on the ACC Regional Sports Network, including FOX Sports Midwest locally.

NU’s Foltz named Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week

Posted on September 8, 2014September 8, 2014

Nebraska punter Sam Foltz was honored for his performance against McNeese State on Saturday, as he was named Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week. It is the first time the Grand Island native has received the Big Ten honor, and marks the second straight week a Husker has received a Big Ten weekly award.

Foltz averaged a career-best 51.2 yards on six punts in Nebraska’s 31-24 win over McNeese State on Saturday. Four of his six punts were placed inside the 20-yard line, helping the Huskers win the field position battle by more than 16 yards per possession. His four punts inside the 20 were the second-highest number of his career. In addition, five of his six punts went at least 50 yards, including a 61-yarder in the fourth quarter, while Nebraska had a net punting average of 48.0 yards on his six kicks.

His 61-yard punt in the fourth quarter was the third-longest punt of his Husker career, while all of his five second-half punts went for at least 50 yards. In addition, Foltz was also named the National Punter of the Week by the College Football Performance Awards

The Huskers return to action Saturday night as they travel to Fresno State. Kickoff is set for 9:30 p.m.

— NU Sports Information —

Missouri Western soccer breaks record with 6-0 win over East Central

Posted on September 7, 2014

The Missouri Western soccer team broke a record for most goals in a match on the way to a 6-0 victory over East Central University that propelled the program to its first-ever 2-0 start.

The squad broke the previous record for goals in a match (4) set against East Central on Aug. 29, 2008 when Sydney Andrews scored on a penalty kick to put MWSU up 5-0. The record would be set once again at the 84:11 mark when Drew Mantlo took a steal and launched it into the net from 23 yards out. Brittany Mueller, K.C. Ramsell, Sydney Cluck and Katie Kempf also added goals.

Sarah Lyle is now 2-0 with two shutouts in goal for the Griffons. It is the team’s first 2-0 start in program history.

Just two games into the season, Missouri Western has already matched its season win total from a season ago (2-14-2).

The Griffons open their home schedule this week for matches with Bemidji State on Sept. 12 at Spratt Stadium at 7 p.m., and Augustana on Sept. 14 at noon.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Beat-up Chiefs get blown out by Tennessee

Posted on September 7, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Titans were implementing a new offensive system under Ken Whisenhunt, a new defensive system under coordinator Ray Horton, and trying to make a whole bunch of new pieces fit.

Things couldn’t have gone much better in their regular-season debut.

Jake Locker threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns, the Titans’ new-look defense picked off Kansas City quarterback Alex Smith three times, and Tennessee rolled to a 26-10 victory over the Chiefs on Sunday.

“I don’t want to sound arrogant,” Locker said, “but I think we expected it to (go smoothly). We felt that way through minicamp, into fall camp and in the preseason. That was one of our expectations, that we were able to execute and we were going to be efficient on offense.”

Locker picked apart a Kansas City defense that lost Pro Bowl linebacker Derrick Johnson and starting defensive tackle Mike DeVito to Achilles injuries. He finished 22 of 33 while connecting with eight different players, including former Chiefs wide receiver Dexter McCluster.

“Jake did great,” Whisenhunt said. “All those things we’ve worked with, footwork-wise and technique-wise, and you saw it. That’s really exciting. But it’s just one game.”

Kendall Wright and Delanie Walker had TD catches for the Titans, and Ryan Succop was perfect on four field-goal attempts against the team that released him last weekend.

“There’s no question this was a special day,” Succop said. “It was an awesome day. Great to come back to Kansas City. I’m very thankful the day went the way that it did.”

Smith, who signed a four-year, $68 million extension last weekend, was just 19 of 35 for 202 yards in a haphazard performance by a Kansas City offense weakened by suspensions.

Leading wide receiver Dwayne Bowe was forced to miss the game following an arrest last November, and right tackle Donald Stephenson served the first game of his four-game suspension for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.

The Chiefs didn’t reach the end zone until Anthony Fasano’s TD catch in the fourth quarter.

Running back Jamaal Charles, who is the Chiefs’ biggest game-breaker, was a non-factor. He carried seven times for 19 yards and had four catches for 15 yards.

“All those things we did last year to win, we didn’t do them today,” Smith said. “We didn’t execute, didn’t execute in a lot of phases, especially offense.”

After Kansas City jumped out to a 3-0 lead, when Cairo Santos banged a 35-yard attempt off the right upright and through for the first field goal of his career, just about nothing went right. Santos missed a 47-yarder moments later and the Titans seized control.

Locker led his team 62 yards for a go-ahead touchdown, an easy toss to Walker in the back of the end zone. Succop followed with a field goal later in the half for a 10-0 lead.

Johnson went down with his Achilles injury just before the half, and DeVito was lost to a nearly identical injury on the first drive of the second half.

Locker capped that drive with a short TD pass to Wright, who managed to contort his body just enough to touch the pylon as he was going out of bounds. The touchdown gave Tennessee a 17-3 lead and started a shower of boos from a crowd that had been full of optimism.

“Those are guys who are kind of staples of their defense,” Locker said. “They were in there almost every snap, especially Derrick. You understand that’s going to change up their personnel a little bit. Yeah, you look at it and maybe understand where you can gain an advantage.”

It was an important opener for the injury-prone Locker. The Titans declined their fifth-year option on him in in the offseason, so the pressure is on Locker to perform this season.

He certainly did against a Chiefs defense that was full of questions entering the season, and has even more after a pair of serious injuries to key defensive players.

“I have a lot of respect for Coach Reid and this football team and these fans,” Whisenhunt said. “We didn’t do great all the time, but we did enough. I’m very happy for that.”

— Associated Press —

Royals spoil Jeter’s special day with 2-0 win at Yankee Stadium

Posted on September 7, 2014

NEW YORK (AP) — Kansas City players tipped their caps to Derek Jeter when the retiring New York Yankees captain walked up to the plate in the first inning. Then the Royals went back to work trying to make some history of their own.

Yordano Ventura pitched three-hit ball into the seventh inning, and the AL Central leaders beat the Yankees 2-0 Sunday on a pair of unearned runs for their second shutout in the three-game series.

Trying for its first playoff berth since winning the 1985 World Series, Kansas City maintained a two-game lead in the AL Central over the second-place Tigers, who defeated San Francisco 6-1 on Sunday night. The Royals headed to Detroit for a three-game series that starts Monday.

“We’re playing great baseball,” manager Ned Yost said. “We’re pitching, and we’re playing defense and scoring runs and winning ballgames, and that’s all I can ask.”

Kansas City scored due to errors by pitcher Shane Greene in the second inning and right fielder Carlos Beltran in the third. The Royals won 1-0 Friday night on an unearned run following third baseman Chase Headley’s error and went 4-3 against the Yankees this year to take the season series for the first time since 1999.

And they won on Derek Jeter Day, when many Yankees stars of the past returned for a 45-minute ceremony that also included NBA great Michael Jordan and baseball ironman Cal Ripken Jr. Video messages from athletes, celebrities and even astronauts in space were shown throughout the day.

“Oh, man! That was, honestly, one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen,” Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas said. “Any time anyone came on that board or anyone they announced, I got chills.”

Royals pitcher Jeremy Guthrie suggested to his teammates that they tip their caps.

“He was my favorite player growing up,” Guthrie said. “I was there for the final game at (the original) Yankee Stadium. I was there when he recorded his 2,723rd hit that broke the hits record for the Yankees. … And now to be here for this — I’ve seen quite a few really cool moments.”

Kansas City, which hasn’t been in first place this late in a season since 1989, hopes to give its fans a reason to celebrate this fall.

Ventura (12-9) won his third straight start, leaving after a leadoff walk in the seventh — his fourth of the game.

“When I was able to throw the curve for a strike, it really helped all of the other pitches and made for quick innings,” he said through a translator. “When the curveball wasn’t getting over for a strike, that could have been the difference in the walks.”

With closer Greg Holland sidelined by a strained right triceps, Aaron Crow, Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis combined for one-hit relief.

Kansas City went ahead in the second when Josh Willingham reached on an infield single near the mound, advanced on Moustakas’ single and scored with two outs when Nori Aoki hit a slow roller that Greene (4-3) threw wildly past first base.

Beltran dropped Alex Gordon’s easy fly leading off the third, and Gordon stole second before scoring on a single by Eric Hosmer, his first RBI since July 29.

“Any way you can score runs is a good way,” Moustakas said. “It doesn’t matter how they get across as long as you’re scoring.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy headed back to Kansas City for an MRI of his sore left shoulder. Yost said Holland played catch, “felt much, much better today” and will have his status re-examined Monday.

Yankees: OF Brett Gardner missed his second straight game because of a lower abdominal strain.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Jeremy Guthrie (10-10) is slated to pitch Monday, with Justin Verlander (12-12) on the mound for the Tigers.

Yankees: RHP Hiroki Kuroda (10-8) starts Tuesday’s series opener against Tampa Bay RHP Chris Archer (8-8).

BIRTHDAY BOY

Pitching on his 29th birthday, Davis got his second save of the series — and his big league career. After Beltran singled over first leading off the ninth, Davis struck out Brian McCann on a 3-2 pitch, retired Mark Teixeira on a soft grounder to third and fanned Stephen Drew on another full-count pitch. Davis has 94 strikeouts in 63 1/3 innings this season and has allowed one run in 53 innings dating to late April. That run scored when he hit the Los Angeles Dodgers’ A.J. Ellis with a bases-loaded pitch on June 25.

ROAD WARRIORS

Kansas City is 6-0-1 in its last seven road series.

— Associated Press —