OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Mike Fiers isn’t the least bit surprised by his eight-game winning streak. He’s also not that impressed. Fiers took a shutout into the sixth inning to keep his unbeaten streak intact, and the Oakland Athletics beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-3 on Saturday night. Pinch-hitter Chad Pinder delivered a three-run homer to keep the A’s unbeaten in three games against the Cardinals this season. Stephen Piscotty added two hits against his former team and made a leaping catch at the outfield wall to take away a hit from Matt Wieters in the fifth. Piscotty was activated off the injured list before the game. Fiers has gone at least five innings and allowed three runs or fewer in 18 consecutive starts, the longest such streak by an A’s pitcher since at least 1908.

Fiers (10-3) allowed one run and six hits over 5 2/3 innings in his first start against St. Louis since 2015. The right-hander walked one and struck out four. Fiers last lost on May 1. He pitched his second career no-hitter six days after that and has the second-longest active winning streak in the AL since then. He is 8-0 with a 2.26 ERA during his dominant run. Paul Goldschmidt singled and doubled to extend his hitting streak to 11 games for St. Louis. Earlier in the day, he was named NL player of the month for July.

The loss dropped the Cardinals a half-game behind the first-place Chicago Cubs in the NL Central.
ROSTER MOVES
St. Louis placed outfielder Tyler O’Neill on the 10-day injured list with a left wrist sprain. The move is retroactive to Thursday.
UP NEXT
Tanner Roark makes his A’s debut after being acquired at Wednesday’s trade deadline. Roark went 6-7 with a 4.24 ERA in 21 starts for Cincinnati. Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright (7-7, 4.47) makes his second start against Oakland this season. Wainwright took the loss on June 26 despite allowing just two runs in 6 2/3 innings.

The State Baseball Tournament wrapped-up Saturday at Principal Park, in Des Moines, with the Championships in Classes 1A thru 4A.

CLASS 1A: The top-seeded Newman Catholic Knights, backed by a high-powered offense and stellar pitching, defeated the second-seeded Alburnett Pirates 11-1 in six innings to win the Class 1A state championship Saturday at Principal Park. It was the Knights’ third consecutive state championship. Newman finishes the season at 38-3 with its eighth 1A state championship in program history. Alburnett ends its season at 34-6. It was its first state championship game and its second state tournament appearance ever.

CLASS 2A: Anthony Potthoff and the second-seeded Van Meter Bulldogs shut out the top-seeded North Lynn Lynx 6-0 to win the Class 2A state championship Saturday at Principal Park. It’s the second state title for the Bulldogs, who also won the 1A title in 2003. North Linn averaged 9.6 runs coming into the game, and hadn’t been blanked all season. The Van Meter Bulldogs finish the season with a record of 34-3. The North Lynn Lynx fall short in their quest for the first state title in school history, and finish the season at 40-6.

CLASS 3A: The top-seeded Cedar Rapids Xavier Saints defeated the third-seeded Central DeWitt Sabers 8-1 to win the Class 3A state championship Saturday at Principal Park. The Saints added to the state title they won in 2006. Senior Bryson Bastian had a complete game with 11 strikeouts for the win, his ninth of the year. The Xavier Saints finished the season with a record of 41-2. The Central DeWitt Sabers’ quest for their first state title in school history fell short, as they finish the season 38-4.

CLASS 4A: The sixth-seeded and defending 4A champions Urbandale J-Hawks remained on top, knocking off the top-seeded Johnston Dragons 8-2 to win the Class 4A state championship before a big crowd Saturday night at Principal Park. Last year, Urbandale defeated the 6-7-8 seeds to win the 4A title. This year, the J-Hawks defeated the 3-2-1 seeds — in that order — to repeat. The Urbandale J-Hawks finish the season at 31-14, with their fourth Class 4A state title. The Johnston Dragons end the season at 36-6.

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

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Nelson Cruz homered and drove in five runs to help the Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 11-9. Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco and Eddie Rosario each had two hits for the Twins, who used a five-run seventh inning to maintain a three-game lead over Cleveland in the AL Central.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs are still haunted by the memory of their overtime loss to the Patriots in last season’s AFC title game. They were so close. Four inches, in fact. That’s how far offside a Chiefs player was, a penalty on which the game turned. Now, as they get deeper into training camp, they are walking a fine line _ using the painful defeat as motivation and dwelling on an outcome they can never change.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White says an Illinois license plate featuring the St. Louis Cardinals will be sold in support of public schools. The license plate was unveiled Thursday by White at Busch Stadium prior to the Cardinals game against the Chicago Cubs. The plates with the Cardinals “Birds on Bat” logo will be available for purchase after Labor Day. White says the plate offers an opportunity for fans to express pride for their team, while supporting public education in Illinois.

CANTON, Ohio (AP) — At one end of the room sat Tony Gonzalez. All the way across it was Ed Reed. Sometimes in the past, that’s as close to each other as the two new Hall of Famers cared to be. Same thing for Champ Bailey and Ty Law when it came to covering Gonzalez, the game-changing tight end and matchup nightmare for defensive backs. They’re all part of the Class of 2019 that will be inducted Saturday night. On Friday, they spoke about each other _ and the honor of entering the pro football shrine together.

The State Baseball Tournament wraps-up today at Principal Park, in Des Moines, with the Championship games:

CLASS 1A: 11:00 a.m. —#1 Newman Catholic, Mason City (37-3) vs. #2 Alburnett (34-5)

CLASS 2A: 1:30 p.m. —#1 North Linn, Troy Mills (40-5) vs. #2 Van Meter (33-3)

CLASS 3A: 4:30 p.m. —#1 Xavier, Cedar Rapids (40-2) vs. #3 Central DeWitt (38-3)

CLASS 4A: 7:00 p.m. —#1 Johnston (35-5) vs. #6 Urbandale (30-14)

Class 3A

Semifinals – Friday, August 2

Xavier, Cedar Rapids 4, Marion 1

Central DeWitt 4, Assumption, Davenport 1

Class 4A

Semifinals – Friday, August 2

Urbandale 10, Iowa City, West 2

Johnston 7, Dowling Catholic, W.D.M. 0

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Jim Field.

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White says an Illinois license plate featuring the St. Louis Cardinals will be sold in support of public schools. The license plate was unveiled Thursday by White at Busch Stadium prior to the Cardinals game against the Chicago Cubs. The plates with the Cardinals “Birds on Bat” logo will be available for purchase after Labor Day. Fans will be able to order random number, personalized or vanity plates.

White says the plate offers an opportunity for fans to express pride for their team, while supporting public education in Illinois. According to the secretary of state’s office, the cost of a random number Cardinals plate for a currently titled vehicle with valid Illinois registration will be $69. Pricing varies for vanity and personalized license plates.

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

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jack Flaherty struck out nine in seven strong innings and Matt Wieters hit a three-run homer as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 8-0 in a matchup of NL Central leaders. The Cardinals won two games in the three-game set and claimed first in the division, a game ahead of Chicago. The Cubs have lost four of six overall and 11 of their last 16 on the road.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Scott Frost starts his second year at Nebraska with an experienced quarterback and high expectations. The Cornhuskers went 4-2 after an 0-6 start last season and are a trendy pick to win the Big Ten West. The reason Nebraska is favored in a wide-open division is Adrian Martinez. He was the most productive freshman quarterback in the nation. The defense is expected to continue the improvement that started last season. Nebraska allowed an average of 14 fewer points over the last six games.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State lost star wide receiver Hakeem Butler to the NFL a year earlier than it expected to. Graduate transfer La’Michael Pettway joined the Cyclones in hopes of joining Butler in the pros in 2020. The 6-foot-3 Pettway led Arkansas in catches a season ago. He will be counted on to replace the 1,318 yards and nine touchdowns that Butler had last year.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The former head football coach at a Kansas community college where a defensive lineman died of heatstroke after the first day of practice says the death was an act of God. KCUR reports that the comment by former head coach Jeff Sims on Wednesday comes nearly one year after 19-year-old Braeden Bradforth collapsed following practice at Garden City Community College. Sims says, “It’s unfortunate what happened, but God has a plan.”

CLASS 3A:

11:00—#1 Xavier, Cedar Rapids (39-2) vs. #4 Marion (33-5)

1:30—#2 Assumption, Davenport (32-4) vs. #3 Central DeWitt (37-3)

CLASS 4A:

4:30—#2 Iowa City, West (34-7) vs. #6 Urbandale (29-14)

7:00—#1 Johnston (34-5) vs. #4 Dowling Catholic, W.D.M. (31-11)

Class 1A Semifinals

Newman Catholic, Mason City 10, Don Bosco, Gilbertville 0 (5 innings)

Alburnett 4, St. Mary’s, Remsen 3

Class 2A Semifinals

Van Meter 3, West Sioux, Hawarden 0

North Linn, Troy Mills 3, Des Moines Christian 0