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

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.

Jake Olsen fired a 4-under 65 on Saturday to claim a share of the lead after 36 holes of the 61st Annual Tournament of Champions. He now sits at 5-under for the tournament along with Jared Koch of Majestic Hills Golf Course who carded a 1-under round of 68 on Saturday. Nathan Zimmerman of the Treynor Recreation Area is just two shots back after playing an even par round on day two.

Olsen and Koch were back and forth with the overall lead on Saturday. Olsen got hot on the front nine, dropping 4 birdies in the final 5 holes to get to -5 overall. Koch played pretty steady on the front and dropped birdies in on 6 and 7 to end the front nine up one stroke. Olsen birdied the par-3 12th to grab a share of the lead at -6. Olsen would jump ahead one shot when Koch bogeyed on 15. Both players bogeyed the long par-4 16th, and Koch regained a share of the lead with a birdie on the 18th.

The top grouping of the final day will have Olsen, Koch, and Zimmerman joined by Past Champion Evan Schuler, who sits at +3, 141. That group will be the final group to tee off on #1 at 10:30am on Sunday.

The Senior Division is led by last year’s winner Darron Baker. He sits at +8 for the tournament after firing back to back 73’s to start the tournament. Don Newbury of Lakeview CC is one shot back at +8, while Past Champion Rick Thompson sits +10 and Daryl Armstrong of Crestwood Hills Golf Course is at +11. That group will tee off hole #1 at 9:40am on Sunday.

The Super Senior Division has two players sharing the 36-hole lead. Past Champion Arnie Leistad and Jim Mullenix of the Atlantic Golf and Country Club are both at +8, 146. Last year’s Champion in that division John Willmore is 5 shots back and Kenny Hinson of Nishna Hills is 6 shots off the lead. That group will tee off on hole 10 at 10:20am Sunday.

We’ll have full coverage of the final round on KJAN. Tune in for the action following our morning Church services a little after 11:00am.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — 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 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.

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.

UP NEXT
Bengals: At Washington on Thursday night.
Chiefs: At Pittsburgh next Saturday.