ST. LOUIS (AP) – John Lackey threw seven strong innings after a shaky beginning, Trevor Rosenthal escaped his own jam in the ninth and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Kansas City Royal 4-3 on Thursday night.

Randal Grichuk and Matt Carpenter hit two-run homers as the Cardinals won in the makeup of a rainout last month.

As in the originally scheduled game, St. Louis and Kansas City led their league in wins and Lackey (9-5) and Chris Young (8-6) were the scheduled starters.

Rosenthal, pitching for the third straight day, took over to begin the ninth with a 4-2 lead. Alex Rios led off with a single and Omar Infante followed with a triple.

The Royals went on to put runners on second and third with no outs, but Rosenthal held on for his 30th save in 32 chances. Mike Moustakas grounded out to end it.

The Junction City Brigade scored 10 runs, had 12 hits, drew two walks, and had two batters hit by a pitch. Despite that they barely held on to defeat the Rossville Rattlers 10-8 Thursday night in game one of their Cowdin Cup Playoffs semifinal round series at Rathert Field in Junction City.  This is the Mid Plains League postseason tournament.

Brigade pitcher Phillip Muldrow struck out Jonathan Valuenza-Reece of Rossville in the top of the ninth with the bases loaded to end the game.  Two Brigade errors had helped the Rattlers load the bases with two out.

Seth Wheeler, Junction City coach, said it was the first time this season Junction City has had a game like that. “That’s just a competitive baseball game where offensively both teams were really stubborn, putting pressure on the defense, having competitive A-B’s all day long. It was a lot of fun.  It was a long game, but it was a lot of fun.”

The game took more than three hours to play.

Game two of the best two-out-of-three series is Friday night in Rossville at 7 p.m.  The winner of the series will advance to the tournament championship game Sunday.  In the other Cowdin Cup Playoffs semifinal Thursday night the Midwest Athletics defeated the Liberty Monarchs 11-1 in the opening game of a best two-out-of-three series.

Bob Hiatt, 87, Junction City, has been selected by Area Agencies on Aging in Kansas to be honored as Keeping Seniors in the Game first pitcher on Monday, August 3 at the 7 p.m. feature game of the National Baseball Congress World Series.

The 81st NBC World Series will be played at Wichita’s Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. Games begin Friday, July 24 and continue until Saturday, Aug. 8.

Hiatt is one of 16 Kansans over the age of 80 selected for the honor.

The Keeping Seniors in the Game initiative recognizes the vitality and contributions of older Kansans and raises awareness of Area Agencies on Aging. Hiatt was nominated for the Keeping Seniors in the Game by the North Central-Flint Hills Area Agency on Aging.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Edinson Volquez pitched effectively into the eighth inning against his old team to lead the Kansas City Royals over the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-1 on Wednesday night. Volquez picked up his first victory since June 26th. He allowed one run on eight hits, while walking one and striking out eight.

The Royals have placed left-hander Jason Vargas on the disabled list with a torn ligament in his elbow. Vargas left his start against Pittsburgh on Tuesday night after throwing just 26 pitches. He had an MRI on Wednesday that revealed the extent of the injury.

The Junction City Brigade will host the Rossville Rattlers in the semifinal round of the Cowdin Cup Playoffs….the Mid Plains League postseason baseball tournament.

This will be a three-game series.

Game one between the Brigade and the Rattlers will be Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Rathert Field in Junction City. Game two will be Friday night in Rossville, and if a game three is necessary it will be Saturday night at Rathert Field.

The winner of that series will advance to a single tournament championship game  Sunday against the winner of the other semifinal round series between the Midwest Athletics and Liberty Monarchs.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Royals have placed left-hander Jason Vargas on the disabled list with a torn ligament in his elbow, an injury that typically requires season-ending Tommy John surgery.

Vargas left his start against Pittsburgh on Tuesday night after throwing just 26 pitches. He had an MRI on Wednesday that revealed the extent of the injury.

The Royals filled his spot in the rotation by recalling Yordano Ventura. The hard-throwing right-hander had been sent to Triple-A Omaha just a day earlier to work on his inconsistency and rebuild some confidence after a string of poor starts.

Vargas, who is 5-2 with a 3.98 ERA, was instrumental in the Royals’ run to the World Series a year ago. He went 1-0 with a 3.52 ERA in three postseason starts.

DALLAS (AP) – College Football Playoff Executive Director Bill Hancock says the Big 12 is “smart to sit back and wait” over adding a conference championship game.

Hancock said Tuesday at Big 12 media days that there was “no question” Ohio State benefited by winning the Big Ten championship over Wisconsin in a blowout that vaulted the Buckeyes into the inaugural four-team playoff. Ohio State beat Oregon for the national title.

Baylor and TCU were the top two teams left out of the playoff after sharing the Big 12 championship. The 10-team league could add a title game if a rule requiring at least 12 teams is removed.

Hancock said different outcomes in title games could have put both Baylor and TCU in the playoff, and Big 12 leaders “would have looked like a roomful of geniuses.”

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Chiefs have waived defensive back Justin Cox, who was charged with domestic assault, burglary and trespassing for an incident that occurred Monday in Starkville, Mississippi.

Cox was being held on $40,433 bond. The case is still under investigation.

This is the second time in the past year that Cox has been arrested for an incidence of domestic violence, though the previous charge was ultimately dropped. Cox instead pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of trespassing in January.

Cox signed with the Chiefs after going undrafted out of Mississippi State, in part because of his off-the-field issues. He was suspended the final three games last year after his arrest.

The results of first-round competition in the Cowdin Cup Playoffs, the Mid-Plains League postseason baseball tournament are in.

The Topeka Golden Giants defeated the Liberty Monarchs 7-1 in game one of a doubleheader, but Liberty defeated Topeka 8-1 in game two. The deciding game three of the series will be played Tuesday at 3 p.m. at Liberty High School.

Rossville defeated Baldwin City 6-5 in the opening game of a three-game series. Game two is Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at Baldwin High School. Game three, if necessary will be Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at Joe Campbell Stadium in Rossville.

The winner of the Baldwin City – Rossville series will advance to a semifinal round three-game playoff series against the Junction City Brigade. Game one will be Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Rathert Field in Junction City.  Game two would be Friday night in either Rossville or Baldwin City, depending which team remains in the tournament. Game three, if necessary, would be Saturday night at Rathert Field.

The winner of the Topeka Golden Giants – Liberty Monarchs series will advance to a three-game semifinal round series against the Midwest Athletics beginning Thursday.

There will be a single game championship contest in the tournament on Sunday on the field of the highest seeded team remaining in the tournament.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Kansas City Royals have reinstated Kris Medlen from the disabled list, putting the right-handed pitcher back in the majors for the first time since his second Tommy John surgery early last year.

The Royals made the move before Monday night’s game against Pittsburgh.

Medlen will begin in the Royals’ bullpen, although that could change later in the season. Kansas City signed him to a two-year contract in December.

Medlen went 10-1 as a reliever and starter for Atlanta in 2012, then went 15-12 while making 31 starts in 2013. He had elbow surgery in March 2014 and missed the whole season.

“He’s worked so hard to get back from the second Tommy John surgery and the rehab,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “It took about a year and a half to get through it. He provides depth down there. He’s a really good big league pitcher.

“The year that he had his rookie year in the big leagues was phenomenal. He’s got what we call pitch-ability. He commands the baseball well. He changes speeds extremely well. He’s a nice guy to have down in the ‘pen right now,” he said.

Yost said he would not use the 29-year-old Medlen on back-to-back days as a reliever.

With left-hander Jason Vargas coming off the disabled list Tuesday and scheduled to start against the Pirates, Yost said the Royals have seven starters. Medlen went 1-1 with a 3.546 ERA in six rehab starts with Triple-A Omaha and Double-A Northwest Arkansas and is stretched out to throw 100 pitches.

To make roster space for Medlen, the Royals optioned right-hander Yohan Pino to Omaha.