ST. LOUIS (AP) — Paul Goldschmidt hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning and Marcell Ozuna followed with a two-run homer, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-2. Goldschmidt’s single went under the glove of Pirates shortstop Kevin Newman, scoring Dexter Fowler to break a 2-all tie.
DETROIT (AP) — Edwin Jackson pitched well into the seventh inning in his return to the Detroit Tigers, overcoming an inside-the-park home run to lead off the game and beating the Kansas City Royals 5-2. The Tigers, who beat Kansas City a day earlier, posted back-to-back wins at home for the first time since they swept the Royals in their first home series of the season. Detroit, which has the worst record in the majors, hadn’t won two straight anywhere since late May.
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — As part of a vast offseason overhaul of the Kansas City defense, the Chiefs released longtime safety Eric Berry and several other backups. Then, they used a second-round draft pick on Juan Thornhill, hopeful that the big-play ability he showed at Virginia would translate quickly to the NFL. Now, they get to see him in action in the preseason.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Simone Biles is comfortably ahead after the first night of the US women’s gymnastics championships even if she wasn’t particularly pleased with her performance. Biles posted a score of 58.650, well clear of Sunisa Lee in second place. Still, Biles appeared less than thrilled at times. She didn’t quite land her first tumbling pass and looked angry after her uneven bars set. Still, she’s well on her way to a record-tying sixth national title.
National Headlines
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) _ The Indians have won the first two games in a four-game series at Minnesota, and can take over the AL Central lead with another win tonight. After trailing the Twins by 11½ games on June 3, Cleveland has gone 41-16 to tie them for the division lead. Adam Plutko will try to pitch Cleveland into first place when he faces All-Star Jake Odorizzi. The Twins have lost four in a row for the first time this season.
NEW YORK (AP) _ Noah Syndergaard tries to keep the Mets surging when he starts at home tonight against Washington. New York has won seven in a row and 14 of 15. The Mets rallied for four runs in the ninth inning last night to beat the Nationals 7-6, pulling within 1 1/2 games of them for the top NL wild-card spot. Syndergaard has a 1.78 ERA in five starts since the All-Star break and hasn’t allowed a homer since July 6. Washington’s Patrick Corbin will make his fifth start against New York this season.
BALTIMORE (AP) _ Aaron Sanchez makes his second start for Houston tonight at Baltimore. In his debut after being acquired from Toronto on July 31, Sanchez pitched the first six innings in a combined no-hitter against Seattle. Aaron Brooks starts for the Orioles. The Astros have won seven in a row and 17 of 20 to open a 10-game lead over Oakland in the AL West. They’ve also tied the Yankees for the best record in the league at 76-40.
TORONTO (AP) _ The AL East-leading Yankees could get a couple of their big hitters back in the lineup this weekend. Catcher Gary Sanchez, who’s been sidelined by a strained left groin, is expected to be activated off the injured list for this afternoon’s game at Toronto. Infielder Gleyber Torres, who’s missed three straight games with a core injury, also might return during this series.
UNDATED (AP) _ Three more NFL preseason games are on the schedule tonight. The L.A. Rams visit Oakland, Cincinnati goes to Kansas City and Dallas is at San Francisco.
Friday Scores
INTERLEAGUE
Final Milwaukee 6 Texas 5
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Oakland 7 Chi White Sox 0
Final Houston 3 Baltimore 2
Final Toronto 8 N-Y Yankees 2
Final Detroit 5 Kansas City 2
Final Boston 16 L-A Angels 4
Final Cleveland 6 Minnesota 2
Final Tampa Bay 5 Seattle 3
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Atlanta 8 Miami 4
Final N-Y Mets 7 Washington 6
Final Cincinnati 5 Chi Cubs 2
Final St. Louis 6 Pittsburgh 2
Final Arizona 3 L-A Dodgers 2, 11 Innings
Final San Diego 7 Colorado 1
Final Philadelphia 9 San Francisco 6
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE PRESEASON
Final Pittsburgh 30 Tampa Bay 28
Final Minnesota 34 New Orleans 25