w/ Chris Parks

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ST. LOUIS (AP) — Nationals manager Dave Martinez was awake most of the night after Washington lost on a walk-off grand slam Sunday.

He likely won’t be catching up on that missed sleep Monday.

Paul DeJong handed the Nationals their second straight walk-off loss, capping a back-and-forth finish with a game-ending solo homer in the ninth inning of the St. Cardinals’ 7-6 victory Monday night.

DeJong took Koda Glover (0-1) deep leading off the ninth on a 3-1 pitch. A night earlier, Ryan Madson allowed a game-ending ninth-inning grand slam to the Chicago Cubs’ David Bote in a 4-3 defeat.

Washington’s bullpen has blown saves in three of its past four games. All-Star closer Sean Doolittle has been on the disabled list since early July, and top setup man Kelvin Herrera went to the DL with right rotator cuff impingement last week.

The usually stoic DeJong wasn’t quite sure how to celebrate his first career walk-off homer. He started calm, keeping his head down as he rounded the bases. After coming around third, though, he whipped his helmet into the grass, threw his arms down and bellowed out a roar.

The Cardinals recorded their 10th walkoff of the season and DeJong became the sixth different player to end a game in grand fashion.

The Cardinals have won six in a row and moved to nine games over .500 for the first time this season.

DeJong’s 380-foot drive ended a wild final two innings.

Matt Carpenter and Jedd Gyorko homered in the eighth inning to put St. Louis up 6-4. Gyorko started the rally with a leadoff drive, and Carpenter followed with a three-run homer off Sammy Solis.

The Nationals tied it at 6 in the top of the ninth on RBI singles by Daniel Murphy and Matt Wieters off closer Bud Norris. Dakota Hudson (3-0) relieved Norris and stranded two baserunners by retiring Wilmer Difo and Adam Eaton.

Juan Soto and Bryce Harper homered for the Nationals, who have lost five of seven.

Gyorko sparked St. Louis’ big eighth inning with his homer off Justin Miller. Kolten Wong and Patrick Wisdom then singled to set up Carpenter’s 33rd homer. Carpenter has homered in seven of his past 10 games. He extended his major-league leading on-base streak to 31 games with a first-inning bunt single. He has 17 homers during that string.

Harper won a 10-pitch battle with starter Miles Mikolas by drilling his 29th homer leading off the fourth to lead 2-1.

Ryan Zimmerman added a run-scoring double in the second for the Nationals.

Jose Martinez had four hits for the Cardinals.

Mikolas gave up four runs on four hits over seven innings. He struck out four and walked one.

Tommy Milone started for Washington and gave up two runs on 10 hits over 4 1/3 innings.

UP NEXT

LHP Gio Gonzalez (7-8, 3.39) will face RHP John Gant (4-4, 3.89) in the second of the four-game series Tuesday. Gonzalez has allowed just two earned runs over 14 innings in two starts this season against St. Louis. Gant made his major league debut against Washington on April 6, 2016 as a member of the Atlanta Braves.

w/ Chris Parks

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals were a .500 team after a loss on July 25, but since then they’ve been the hottest team in the National League.

Yadier Molina broke a tie with a two-run single in the seventh inning, Tyson Ross won his St. Louis debut and the Cardinals defeated the Kansas City Royals 8-2 on Sunday to win their fifth straight, matching a season high.

The Cardinals moved eight games above .500, equaling their season high set on June 11, and are a National League-best 12-4 since July 27. Manager Mike Matheny was fired on July 14 in an attempt to jump-start the disappointing team.

Molina’s bases-loaded single in the seventh scored Harrison Bader and Patrick Wisdom, who had two hits, drove in a run and scored two in his major league debut. Wisdom’s RBI single had tied it at 2-2.

The Cardinals concluded a three-city trip with a 7-2 record.

Ross, who last pitched on Aug. 3 for San Diego, was an emergency starter, replacing Luke Weaver, who was scratched after cutting his right index finger on the aluminum foil cover of his clubhouse meal on Saturday night.

Ross (7-9), who made 22 starts with the Padres before the Cardinals claimed him on waivers last week, allowed two runs on four hits and two walks in six innings.

Paul DeJong hit a two-run homer in a three-run ninth to cap the scoring.

Jason Hammel (2-12) entered in the seventh and retired none of the four batters he faced. He was charged with three runs.

Jakob Junis limited the Cardinals to three singles, walked none and struck out eight before leaving after six innings with a 2-1 lead.

Lucas Duda singled home Salvador Perez in the third to put Kansas City up 2-1. Alex Gordon scored in the first after an error by Wisdom, the first baseman.

The Royals have lost nine of 10 and are 15-46 since May 30.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Miles Mikolas will start the opener of a four-game series against the Washington Nationals at Busch Stadium.

2018 Champion Derek Jacobsen

Atlantic native Derek Jacobsen rallied to win the 60th annual Tournament of Champions at the Atlantic Golf and Country Club on Sunday.

Jacobsen started the final day a shot back of past champion Matt Weresh and fell behind a few strokes before eventually grabbing the lead on the 17th hole. Jacobsen had a strong stretch on the front nine scrambling for par on the 4th hole and following that with three straight birdies. It was a tight race until the end. Matt Weresh lead the entire day until a bogey at the 15th. That put three players in a tie for the lead at -1 for the weekend: Weresh, Jacobsen, and Zach Christensen.  The tie held through 16 and then Jacobsen launched a great drive on 17 and took advantage by getting close in two and making birdie. That gave him the one shot edge that he would hang on to. Weresh had a chance for birdie skate by the hole on 18 and Jacobsen just needed to tap in for par to win.

Jacobsen finished with a weekend total -2, 205. He shot rounds of 68-69-68 on the weekend to grab the win. Weresh was Runner-Up at -1. Zach Christensen finished 3rd at Even. Barry Smith was 4th at +3 and Andrew Martin, Matt Haley, and Jake Olsen finished at +4.

Senior Champ Darron Baker

Past Senior Champ Darron Baker was the Senior division champion by two shots with a weekend +12, 219. Baker shot rounds of 73-71-75 to beat out Daryl Armstrong who was two shots back.

Super Senior Champ John Willmore

John Willmore completed the Tournament of Champions grand slam by winning the Super Senior Division by one shot over two- time defending champ Arnie Leistad. Willmore shot +2, 209 for the weekend. He had rounds of 68-69-72. This was his first year playing in the Super Senior Division and the win adds to his prior titles in the Open and Senior Divisions.

Thanks to all of players, volunteers, AGCC staff, and spectators for another great year of the Tournament of Champions.

Derek Jacobsen, Darron Baker, John Willmore

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Luke Weaver cut his finger while opening a food tray in the clubhouse at Kansas City and was scratched from his start against the Royals. Weaver had been scheduled to pitch Sunday.

The accident occurred Saturday night when the righty sliced the index finger on his pitching hand on the aluminum foil covering a tray. Super glue was applied, but it did not hold sufficiently for Weaver to pitch deep into a game.

Tyson Ross, claimed by the Cardinals last week off waivers from San Diego, pitched in place of Weaver. “He cut it on the piece of the topping,” Cardinals interim manager Mike Shildt said. “We found out about in the seventh inning. It just made sense long term to give him the day off.”

“It’s on his right index finger. He probably could have started, but it just made sense to not push it and have him throw 90 or 100 pitches. We didn’t want him to miss another start,” he said. “We want to put this behind him and have him move on to the next start, and give Tyson Ross an opportunity. It’s worked out for Tyson and for us to have a quality starter, and he’s available and is on more than regular rest.”

The 24-year-old Weaver is 6-10 with a 4.66 ERA in 23 starts.

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

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jack Flaherty struck out nine in seven innings, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Kansas City Royals 8-3 for their fourth straight win. Harrison Bader and Jose Martinez each hit a two-run homer, helping the Cardinals move seven games above .500 for the first time since June 12. They are 15-9 since Mike Shildt was named interim manager on July 15.

UNDATED (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs will be without starting safety Daniel Sorensen for the start of the season after he had surgery to repair a broken shin bone and damage to his left knee. Chiefs trainer Rick Burkholder described the injury Saturday as a tibial plateau fracture, which involves the upper part of the shin. Sorensen also damaged his medial collateral ligament and tore his meniscus when he was hurt last week.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — After largely avoiding the junior college and graduate transfer markets under coach Kirk Ferentz, Iowa found success a year ago with one-and-done running back James Butler. The Hawkeyes might have landed another good one in transfer Mekhi Sargent. Sargent parlayed one brilliant season at junior college power Iowa Western into a full ride with the Hawkeyes. Ferentz says he envisions a three-man backfield, with Sargent complementing freshmen Toren Young and Ivory Kelly-Martin.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Brooks Koepka will take a two-shot lead over Adam Scott into the final round of the PGA Championship after shooting a 4-under 66 that left him at 12 under for the tournament. Koepka is trying to become the first player since Tiger Woods to capture the U.S. Open and PGA in the same year. Woods did it in 2000 to join Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen as only the fourth player to do it.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Tiger Woods was one good putt away from an eagle that would’ve vaulted him into second place at the PGA Championship. Instead of one putt, he needed three. That disappointing par on the 17th hole left him four behind Brooks Koepka heading into the final day. Not as good as it could’ve been, but if he can get a few putts to drop, Woods knows he’ll have a chance.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Stewart Cink felt like someone turned back time on Saturday when he played alongside Tiger Woods in the PGA Championship. His game felt like it did years ago, too. Cink shot a 4-under 66 to climb into contention heading into the final round at Bellerive, the kind of run that nobody expected out of the 45-year-old.

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — New York Jets linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis has been suspended for the first game of the regular season without pay by the NFL for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. Pierre-Louis was arrested and charged in January with several misdemeanors, including possession of marijuana, after a traffic stop in suburban Kansas City.

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IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — After largely avoiding the junior college and graduate transfer markets under coach Kirk Ferentz, Iowa found success a year ago with one-and-done running back James Butler. The Hawkeyes might have landed another solid transfer back in Mekhi Sargent.

Sargent parlayed one brilliant season at junior college power Iowa Western into a full ride with the Hawkeyes — and it sounds as though he won’t have to wait long for playing time. Ferentz said Saturday that he envisions a three-man backfield in 2018 with Sargent complementing freshmen Toren Young and Ivory Kelly-Martin.

“Well, I think I speak as a staff, I think we’re all hopeful that we can get to that point. That was one of the primary reasons we made that move,” Ferentz said about using three backs this fall. “We have two freshmen that we really like, but we wanted to have at least three guys on campus.”

The third guy was supposed to be Toks Akinribade, but he was forced to retire from the game because of medical issues. That left the Hawkeyes scrambling to find another back after also losing Akrum Wadley (1,109 yards and 10TDs in 2017) and Butler to graduation. Though Butler was limited to just 396 yards because of injuries last season, he was a factor when he could find the field.

During that time, Butler’s de facto replacement was busy proving he belonged at a Power Five program. The 5-foot-10, 210-pound Sargent didn’t get the Division I opportunity he was hoping for despite rushing for 2,094 yards and 27 touchdowns as a senior at Key West High in Florida. Sargent chose instead to start his career at Iowa Western, where he racked up 1,449 yards rushing and 16 total touchdowns in just 10 games.

The offers predictably started coming in after last season, most notably from Louisville. But Sargent had been on Iowa’s radar after an impressive performance in a postseason game at nearby Northern Iowa in December. Sargent described his decision to choose Iowa over other schools earlier this summer as a “no-brainer.”
“I feel like it’s come pretty natural to adjust from the junior college level,” Sargent said.

Iowa will likely lean on Young as its main back and use Kelly-Martin in change of pace and third-down situations to start 2018. But Sargent will get a shot as well, and the opportunity to carve out a much bigger role could be there for him given the lack of experience in the Hawkeyes’ backfield. “The big question was, ‘How is Mekhi going to do with us?’ He was great in the summer program, great attitude, is a really impressive young guy, seems very humble and very appreciative, and now we’ve got seven practices under our belt,” Ferentz said. “And I’m not going to give a lot of scouting reports, but Mekhi looks like he’s really starting to warm up.”

Iowa (8-5 in 2017) opens its 20th season under Ferentz on Sept. 1 against Northern Illinois.