CHICAGO (AP) — Matt Carpenter homered in the 10th inning against Craig Kimbrel in the All-Star closer’s return, and the St. Louis Cardinals regrouped after blowing a late lead to beat the Chicago Cubs 5-4. Emerging ace Jack Flaherty shut down Chicago over eight innings, and despite a three-run ninth inning, the Cubs dropped a game behind Milwaukee for the second NL wild card and four games behind St. Louis for first place in the NL Central.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Nelson Cruz hit two of Minnesota’s four home runs and matched his season high with five RBIs, igniting another impressive power display by the first-place Twins during an 8-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals to keep their American League Central lead at four games. They have nine games to go. Miguel Sanó homered and hit the tiebreaking RBI double in the fifth following the ejection of Royals starter Mike Montgomery, who started that inning by giving up a home run to Mitch Garver.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Chiefs were in the mix to acquire Minkah Fitzpatrick. There have been rumors swirling about Jalen Ramsey. Patrick Peterson remains a popular topic. And while everyone wonders whether cornerback help will arrive in Kansas City, the Ravens and red-hot Lamar Jackson are coming to town for a big matchup this Sunday.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Two of the NFL’s exciting young quarterbacks, and their high-flying offenses, will meet on Sunday when Lamar Jackson and the Ravens visit Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. Much of the attention this offseason was focused on Kansas City, where the team’s young QB was coming off a record-setting MVP season. But Jackson has been just as good through two games this season, and both teams are 2-0 heading into Arrowhead Stadium.
AMES, Iowa (AP) — West Virginia, Kansas State and Kansas were supposed to occupy the Big 12 basement this season. Big wins last weekend over fellow Power Five schools stirred up some much-needed optimism in Morgantown, Manhattan and Lawrence with Big 12 play on the horizon.
UNDATED (AP) — Oklahoma State will try to extend an unprecedented streak at 12th-ranked Texas in the Big 12 Conference opener for both teams. The Cowboys have won their last five games in Austin, something no other team has ever done. Oklahoma State is 3-0 and has national rushing leader Chuba Hubbard. The Longhorns are home for another nationally televised Saturday night game. They lost to LSU in a top-10 matchup before winning last week against Rice in Houston.
National Headlines
NEW YORK (AP) _ The New York Yankees are AL East champions for the first time in seven years following a 9-1 pounding of the Angels. DJ LeMahieu belted a three-run homer and Brett Gardner provided a solo shot and a two-run double in New York’s 100th win. Cameron Maybin and Clint Frazier added eighth-inning homers after Masahiro Tanaka limited Los Angeles to a Kole Calhoun home run and just three other hits over seven frames.
UNDATED (AP) _ Minnesota’s 8-5 win over the Royals allowed the Twins to maintain their four-game lead over Cleveland in the AL Central. Nelson Cruz hit two of Minnesota’s four home runs and matched his season high with five RBIs. The Indians were 7-0 winners over the Tigers behind Mike Clevinger, who blanked Detroit despite allowing seven hits over six innings.
MILWAUKEE (AP) _ Milwaukee leads the Cubs by one game for the second NL wild card after five Brewers pitchers combined for 16 strikeouts in a 5-1 win over San Diego. Lorenzo Cain belted a solo homer in the fourth inning before immediately leaving the game with ankle soreness. Trent Grisham replaced Cain and hit a “Little League” home run, lining a double and moving to third on the throw before scoring on an errant toss to the plate.
ATLANTA (AP) _ Ronald Acuna Jr. belted his 40th home run and the Atlanta Braves clinched at least a tie for the NL East title by downing the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-4. Mel Ott is the only player younger than the 21-year-old Acuna to hit 40 home runs in a season, doing it at age 20 for the 1940 Giants. Freddie Freeman had two RBIs and Mike Soroka allowed two runs over five innings to move to 13-4.
Thursday Scores
INTERLEAGUE
Final Boston 5 San Francisco 4
Final Seattle 6 Pittsburgh 5 (11 Innings)
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final N-Y Yankees 9 L-A Angels 1
Final Toronto 8 Baltimore 4
Final Cleveland 7 Detroit 0
Final Minnesota 8 Kansas City 5
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Atlanta 5 Philadelphia 4
Final Milwaukee 5 San Diego 1
Final St. Louis 5 Chi Cubs 4 (10 Innings)
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Final Jacksonville 20 Tennessee 7