Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Hall of Famer Lou Brock, the dynamic leadoff hitter and base stealer who helped the St. Louis Cardinals win three pennants and two World Series in the 1960s, has died at 81. Dick Zitzmann, the outfielder’s longtime agent and friend, confirmed Brock’s death. Brock arrived in St. Louis in June 1964, swapped from the Chicago Cubs for pitcher Ernie Broglio in one of baseball’s most lopsided trades. Brock was an anchor for St. Louis as its combination of speed, defense and pitching made a top teams in the ’60s. Brock lost a leg from diabetes in recent years and was diagnosed with cancer in 2017.

CHICAGO (AP) — Paul Goldschmidt hit a three-run homer off a struggling Jon Lester, and the St. Louis Cardinals gained ground in the NL Central race with a 7-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs. St. Louis pulled within 1 1/2 games of Chicago with its third consecutive win over the division leaders, sweeping a doubleheader on Saturday after the Cubs won 4-1 in the series opener Friday night. The longtime rivals have one game left in their pandemic-shortened season series on Monday. Tommy Edman also homered for the Cardinals, who improved to 14-0 when they score at least five runs this season.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Edwin Encarnación hit a three-run homer, Dallas Keuchel threw five scoreless innings and the Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 8-2 on Sunday to complete a four-game sweep. Keuchel left the game with lower back stiffness after throwing a few warmup pitches before the sixth inning and is considered day to day. He threw 49 pitches, allowed two hits and struck out two. The AL Central-leading White Sox went ahead 5-0 in the seventh inning against reliever Josh Staumont. Encarnación hit a 448-foot blast into the second deck of the fountains beyond the wall in left-center to score Yasmani Grandal and Jose Abreu.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs are content to defend their Super Bowl title largely with the team that won it. After signing a handful of veteran free agents during an offseason unlike other, the Chiefs waived the majority of them Saturday as they trimmed down to 53 players for the start of the regular season. Among the notable names were running back DeAndre Washington, who was signed from Oakland, and former Miami safety Adrian Colbert. Most of the players waived as the Chiefs trimmed from their 80-man camp roster ahead of their opener Thursday night against Houston were inexpensive fliers and undrafted free agents.