KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Reigning NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes was sharp in his only series of the Chiefs’ preseason opener, leading them downfield for an early touchdown against Cincinnati. Bengals counterpart Andy Dalton also was solid in engineering a touchdown drive, though Kansas City went on to win 38-17 at Arrowhead Stadium.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Adam Wainwright gave up a home run on the first pitch of the game but not much else, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1. The contending Cardinals won their second in a row after ending a five-game losing streak.

DETROIT (AP) — Mike Montgomery struck out a career-high 12 in seven innings as the Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers 7-0. Jorge Soler homered and scored twice for the Royals, who had lost six of seven. The Tigers were trying to win three straight games for the first time since May 28-31.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Sam Mikulak cruised to his sixth national title at the U.S. men’s gymnastics championships, though the picture behind the two-time Olympian remains murky with less than a year to go before the 2020 Games. The 26-year-old Mikulak posted a two-day all-around total of 174.150, more than five points clear of runner-up Yul Moldauer and third-place finished Akash Modi. Mikulak tied a modern era record with his sixth title and appears to be gaining momentum a year out from his third Olympics.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Corey Baird had his first multi-goal game to help Real Salt Lake beat Sporting Kansas City 2-1 for its third road win of the season. Baird, a 23-year-old homegrown, side-netted a low left-footer in the 70th minute to give Real Salt Lake a 2-1 lead.

National Headlines

NEW YORK (AP) — The Mets have won 15 of 16 and are on their best roll since a 16-1 run in 1990.They edged the Nationals 4-3 on Saturday. They pulled within a half-game of Washington for the first National League wild card.

TORONTO (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a go-ahead, two-run triple in the seventh inning and Toronto dealt New York its second straight loss following a season-high nine game winning streak. The final was Blue Jays 5, Yankees 4. The Blue Jays had trailed 4-3 in the seventh.

BALTIMORE (AP) — Rookie Yordan Alvarez hit three of Houston’s six home runs and drove in a career-high seven runs to help the Astros to the highest scoring game in franchise history — A 23-2 rout of the Orioles. The win was the eighth straight for the Astros, who became the latest team to feast on the reeling Orioles. Baltimore has allowed a major league-leading 240 homers and lost five straight.

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) — Patrick Reed handled the strong gusts and a drier golf course at Liberty National with a 4-under 67 that gave him a one-shot lead over Abraham Ancer of Mexico going into the final round of The Northern Trust. Reed has not won since the 2018 Masters, a drought of 39 tournaments worldwide.

Saturday Scores

INTERLEAGUE
Final Milwaukee 3 Texas 2

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Toronto 5 N-Y Yankees 4
Final L-A Angels 12 Boston 4
Final Kansas City 7 Detroit 0
Final Houston 23 Baltimore 2
Final Minnesota 4 Cleveland 1
Final Chi White Sox 3 Oakland 2
Final Tampa Bay 5 Seattle 4

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final San Francisco 3 Philadelphia 1
Final Miami 7 Atlanta 6, 10 Innings
Final Cincinnati 10 Chi Cubs 1
Final N-Y Mets 4 Washington 3
Final St. Louis 3 Pittsburgh 1
Final San Diego 8 Colorado 5
Final L-A Dodgers 4 Arizona 0

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – Day two of the City Stroke Play championship saw Nick Hague continue his recent dominance of city events. He once again posted the low round of the day with an even par 72, increasing his lead from 5 shots entering the day to 11 when the round was completed. Derek Lehman is 11 shots behind and in second place while Mike Kinney, Craig Wolf and Bill Closs sit 5 behind him tied for third. It looks like unless Nick misses his alarm in the morning he will add to his 2 year win streak of all city tournaments.

By DAVE HOGG
Associated Press

DETROIT — Mike Montgomery struck out a career-high 12 in seven innings as the Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers 7-0 Saturday.

Jorge Soler homered and scored twice for the Royals, who had lost six of seven.

The Tigers were trying to win three straight games for the first time since May 28-31, against the Orioles and Braves.

Montgomery (2-5) picked up his first win of the year as a starter, allowing four singles without walking a batter. He struck out 10 Royals for Seattle on June 13, 2015.

Spencer Turnbull (3-10) pitched six innings, allowing two runs on three hits and a walk.

Neither team had a baserunner until Whit Merrifield singled to start the fourth. Turnbull retired the next two batters before Jorge Soler homered off the brick wall behind the stands in right-center. It was Soler’s second homer in as many games and 33rd of the season.

Brandon Dixon broke up Montgomery’s perfect game with a leadoff single in the fifth, but was caught stealing.

The top three in Detroit’s order — Victor Reyes, Niko Goodrum and Miguel Cabrera — went 0-6 with six strikeouts the first two times through the order.

The Royals made it 4-0 off Gregory Soto in the seventh. With two out, Soto misplayed a grounder by Meibrys Viloria. He recovered with time to throw out the bulky Viloria, but threw the ball into right field, allowing Soler and Bubba Starling to score.

The inning could have gotten, but right-fielder Travis Demeritte made a running catch of a drive to deep right-center by Humberto Arteaga and got Soto out of the inning.

Hunter Dozier made it 5-0 with an RBI triple in the eighth, and Merrifield added a two-run double in the ninth.

NEGRO LEAGUE TRIBUTE
The Royals wore the uniforms of the Kansas City Monarchs, while the Tigers were dressed as the Detroit Stars as part of Detroit’s annual Negro League weekend.

TRAINER’S ROOM
Royals: SS Adalberto Mondesi (shoulder) is taking grounders and throwing, but has not begun to swing a bat. He’s been out since injuring his shoulder on July 17.

Tigers: LF Christin Stewart (concussion) was recalled from his rehab assignment with Triple-A Toledo after his symptoms returned. He was able to do a cardio workout on Saturday. … CF JaCoby Jones missed his second straight game after being hit in the wrist on Thursday.

UP NEXT
The teams finish their four-game series on Sunday with Detroit’s Daniel Norris (3-9, 4.76) facing Jakob Junis (7-10, 4.88).

By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Sports Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Patrick Mahomes picked up where he left off from his record-breaking debut as a starter, marching the Kansas City Chiefs downfield for a first-quarter touchdown in what became a 38-17 preseason victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday night.

Mahomes did a bit of everything on the only series by the Chiefs’ first-team offense, going 4 for 4 for 66 yards while adding a 10-yard scramble and inducing an an offside penalty.

Andy Dalton was nearly as sharp for Cincinnati, going 7 of 9 for 80 yards while leading his team on a 14-play, 75-yard touchdown march to open the game. Dalton did it without the services of injured wide receiver A.J. Green or his top two running backs, Joe Mixon and Giovani Bernard.

The most interesting thing to happen in the game came late in the first half, when Kyle Shurmur was marching the Chiefs downfield. His throw to Byron Pringle down the sideline was picked by safety Brandon Wilson, scuttling the drive and giving Cincinnati a chance with the ball.

But under a rule change approved by NFL owners in March, pass interference calls can be reviewed — a response to the controversial non-call in the NFC title game last season. And when officials reviewed the play Saturday night, they decided that cornerback Tony Lippett had caused interference.

The penalty gave the Chiefs the ball back and they wound up kicking a field goal.

In a delicious coincidence, the provision passed by a 31-1 vote of owners at the league’s annual meeting in Phoenix. The only team that voted against the rule was Cincinnati.

EARLY EXIT
Chiefs CB D’Montre Wade, who has been competing for a backup job, was ejected in the third quarter for hitting a defenseless receiver near the head. The Bengals ended the drive with a field goal.

ROOKIE WATCH
Chiefs WR Mecole Hardman caught a shuffle pass from Shurmur in the second quarter and went 17 yards for a touchdown. The second-round pick finished with two catches for 31 yards in his debut.

EYE ON THE BALL
Bengals punt returner Darius Phillips recovered his own muffed punt in the second quarter, but he wasn’t as fortunate in the third. The Chiefs’ Deon Yelder recovered his next one, and quarterback Chase Litton proceeded to hit running back Darwin Thompson with a 29-yard touchdown throw.

INJURIES
Bengals SS Clayton Fejedelem was carted off with a right ankle injury. TE Cethan Carter left with a neck strain, RB Trayveon Williams hurt his ribs and DT Christian Ringo hurt his thumb.
Chiefs TE John Lovett left early in the second half with a shoulder injury.

MISSING STARS
Bengals DT Geno Atkins joined Mixon and Bernard in getting the night off. The Chiefs sat RB Damien Williams, who recently returned from a hamstring injury, and DE Frank Clark, who has been dealing with a sore wrist after signing a $104 million, five-year deal in the offseason.

UP NEXT
Bengals: At Washington on Thursday night.

Chiefs: At Pittsburgh next Saturday.

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

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – Day one of the City Stroke Play golf tournament looks very similar to how it’s looked for the last two years of city championships. Nick Hague is on top after shooting a 3-under par 68 on Friday at Carey Park. Hague carded 4 birdies and only one bogey as he has already taken a commanding 5 shot lead after one round. Jake Winchester and Bill Closs each shot 73’s and are tied for second entering Saturday’s second round at Crazyhorse Golf Club. If Hague was to hold on and win this weekend he will have won or been a part of (team) the last 6 city golf tournaments.

That’s not something he’s going to give up easily and the only question is can anyone stay close enough Saturday to give themselves a chance going into Sunday’s final round at Prairie Dunes

MANHATTEN, Kan. – Kansas State football has continued to make progress under new head coach Chris Klieman and his staff. Fall practice is under way.

Klieman told reporters attending media day that’s he’s pleased with where the Wildcats are at right now in the fall. “Even though it’s early on I was a little concerned with where we would pick up from where we left off in the spring. Would it be from practice four or from practice fourteen, and really that we were able to pick up from practice fourteen and continue on.”

Klieman stated one area where the Wildcats need to continue to improve is in special teams. “Simply because there so’s much emphasis in the spring, offensive schemes, defensive schemes and those guys learning that. Now they have a pretty good grasp of those, we need to continue to get better but now it’s on to the special teams and spending more time on those.”

Kansas State will open play on August 31 when the Wildcats host Nichols. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Other home games for K-State will include Bowling Green on September 7, Baylor October 5, TCU October 19, Oklahoma October 26, West Virginia November 16 and Iowa State November 30.

BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Nearly everything about Damon Sheehy-Guiseppi’s story is improbable, seemingly fictional.

Truth is, the Browns rookie returner has become a lovable NFL long shot.

On Thursday night, his inspiring, made-for-TV tale took a dramatic turn when Sheehy-Guiseppi, who briefly slept outdoors in Florida after deceiving his way into a free-agent workout where the Browns found him, returned a punt 86 yards for a touchdown. Cleveland opened the preseason with a 30-10 win over the Washington Redskins.

“I just saw the hole,” Sheehy-Guiseppi said afterward, describing his first punt return in a game in three years. “I ran as fast as I could to the hole and tried to take off.”

He flew, showing the speed that caught the eye of Alonzo Highsmith, Cleveland’s vice president of player personnel, in April.

And as the 24-year-old outran the Redskins, all of his teammates ran with him. They sprinted down their sideline and onto the field, intercepting him in the end zone. That’s where all of the Browns, including quarterback Baker Mayfield and star receiver Odell Beckham, tackled Sheehy-Guiseppi in a heartfelt celebration that showed how much they care for him.

“I felt all the love,” he said. “I couldn’t breathe under the pile. I was over there gasping for air, but I felt the love.”

Just a few months ago, Sheehy-Guiseppi decided to take one last shot at his dream of playing professional football.

A national junior college All-American at Phoenix College, he had been cut by a community college basketball team and ran track, all the while hoping to refine his return and pass-catching skills enough to warrant an NFL tryout.

Through a friend, he learned there would be a scouting tryout in Miami, so he made the trip without an invitation but convinced that if he could get in, his talent would shine.

Sheehy-Guiseppi found out that Highsmith would be in attendance, and this is where he used his elusiveness like never before. He had to persuade the person checking the list of invited players that he knew Highsmith, which just wasn’t true. So when he spotted Highsmith, Sheehy-Guiseppi quickly rushed over to him and introduced himself.

“Knew nothing about him,” Highsmith told the team’s website.

The handshake was enough to get Sheehy-Guiseppi on the field, and once he ran a 4.38 in the 40 and did some other things, Highsmith was sold and told him the Browns would bring him to Ohio for a closer look.

There was another wrinkle for Sheehy-Guiseppi. He had purchased a one-way plane ticket to Florida and had nowhere to stay before heading to Cleveland the next week.

Sheehy-Guiseppi considered sleeping on the beach before settling for a patch of grass next to a fence outside the facility of NFL combine trainer Pete Bommarito. He trained there for a week, starting his day at 6 a.m., lifting weights and doing conditioning work until 3 p.m. He showered at a nearby 24-hour fitness center and charged his phone at a laundromat.

On a tight budget, he ate one or two meals a day, making sure one was ample enough to sustain him.

He eventually got to the team’s facility in Berea, where he displayed that same blistering speed Highsmith witnessed to Browns general manager John Dorsey. The team signed him, and for the moment, he’s an NFL player with all the training camp perks that go with it.

His chances of sticking around permanently are slim, but Sheehy-Guiseppi has already overcome longer odds.

When he entered Thursday’s game, the Browns players who were sitting on the bench got up to watch No. 15, who had only shown brief flashes of his breakaway gear during practices.

“He was telling us that he could run a 4.3,” said wide receiver Rashard Higgins. “We told him we haven’t seen that all camp. But it looked like he ran 4.3 to me.”

The spontaneous end-zone celebration was a touching tribute to Sheehy-Guiseppi, who has been known to show up at Cleveland’s facility at odd hours to work out.

“It is good to see good people, hard-working good people succeed,” said Browns coach Fredddie Kitchens. “He definitely fits the bill with being that. If you stick around after any practice, you will see him on the practice field getting extra running in and before practice getting extra work in. He is always at the office. He is a good kid.”

And there he was following Friday’s outdoor practice, back inside the Browns’ indoor field house to get in some extra work before retelling his amazing story.

He’s become an instant celebrity, but Sheehy-Guiseppi’s staying grounded and driven. Those traits, and some resourcefulness, have gotten him this far. He’s not about to change.

“Someone trying to chase their dreams,” he said when asked to describe his story. “Doing what they love and not listening to anyone else.”

By DAVE HOGG
Associated Press

DETROIT — Edwin Jackson pitched neatly 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 on Friday night.

The Tigers, who topped 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 a three-game winning streak in Baltimore and Atlanta from May 28-31.

Jackson (2-5) spent the 2009 season with the Tigers, going 13-9 with a 3.62 ERA and played in his only All-Star Game. Ten years later, he was just as good, allowing one run on four hits and two walks.

The 35-year-old righty, who has pitched for a major league record 14 teams, began this season with Toronto. He gave up a one-out single in the seventh and was replaced by Nick Ramirez, drawing a standing ovation on his walk back to the dugout and applauding the fans in return.

Whit Merrifield led off the game with his second career inside-the-park homer. His line drive evaded the leap of center fielder Victor Reyes and bounced hard off the wall. As Reyes and fellow outfielders Harold Castro and Travis Demeritte chased down the ball, Merrifield circled the bases and scored easily.

Tigers reliever John Schreiber, who grew up 25 miles south of Comerica Park, made his major league debut by pitching the ninth. The first hitter he faced, Jorge Soler, homered on a 3-1 pitch, and he allowed two more hits while getting two outs.

Joe Jimenez retired Nicky Lopez to end the game and earn his first save. He took over as closer when All-Star closer Shane Greene was traded to Atlanta.

Brad Keller (7-12) allowed five runs on 10 hits and three walks in six innings.

Dawel Lugo’s two-run single gave the Tigers the lead in the bottom of the first, and the game stayed 2-1 until the fifth.

Niko Goodrum led off the fifth with a triple to right-centerfield and scored on Miguel Cabrera’s single through a drawn-in infield.

Jake Rogers hit his third career homer to make it 4-1 in the sixth and Jordy Mercer scored later in the inning on a wild pitch.

The Tigers have nine wins against the Royals this season, more than a quarter of their season total of 35.

TRAINER’S ROOM
Tigers CF JaCoby Jones missed the game after being hit in the left wrist by a pitch on Thursday, but is not expected to go on the injured list. . The Tigers activated 2B Josh Harrison (hamstring) from the 60-day disabled list and gave him his unconditional release.

ROSTER MOVE
The Royals optioned RHP Kyle Zimmer to Triple-A Omaha, the day after he allowed two runs in 1 1/3 innings of relief, including a bases-loaded walk. Kansas City recalled LHP Eric Skoglund from Omaha.

SAME THING TEN YEARS LATER
Merrifield’s inside-the-park homer was the second Tigers start in a row that Jackson had allowed a home run to the game’s first batter. In his final start of 2009, on Oct. 2, Scott Podsednik hit a leadoff homer in an 8-0 win for the Chicago White Sox.

UP NEXT
The teams play the third of four games on Saturday evening with Kansas City’s Mike Montgomery (1-5, 6.02) facing Spencer Turnbull (3-9, 3.72).