The St. Louis Cardinals are National League Central Division champions for the third straight year. Jason Heyward belted a grand slam and Tyler Lyons tossed seven scoreless innings as the Cardinals crushed the Pirates, 11-1, in the finale of a day-night doubleheader at PNC Park. Lyons allowed just four hits and no walks as he moved to 3-and-1. St. Louis also became the first 100-win team since the 2011 Phillies with the victory.
Jon Lester struck out nine over eight innings helping the Cubs to a 10-3 win over the Reds at Great American Ball Park. Lester improved to 11-and-12 allowing one run. Austin Jackson had three hits and drove in five for Chicago, which is two-and-a-half behind the Pirates for home field in the NL Wild Card game. The teams close out the three-game series this afternoon.
Eric Hosmer’s two-run homer in the top of the 10th lifted the Royals to a 5-3 win over the White Sox in Chicago. Jose Abreu launched his 30th homer of the season for the Sox. David Robertson took the loss.
The Blue Jays are division champs for the first time in over two decades. Toronto wrapped up the AL East title with a 15-2 thrashing of the Orioles in the opener of a doubleheader. It’s the Jays’ first division title since 1993.
Bulls guard Derrick Rose is recovering from surgery after taking an elbow to the face in Tuesday’s practice. The former NBA MVP suffered a fractured left orbital bone. The Bulls say they expect the oft-injured Rose to resume basketball activities in about two weeks.
Hurricane Joaquin [[ wah-KEEN ]] could force the postponement of at least one NFL game this weekend. CBS Sports reports Sunday’s game between the Eagles and Redskins in Landover, Maryland may need to be rescheduled due to the storm.
Next year will be driver Tony Stewart’s final season competing in the Sprint Cup Series. The 44-year-old, three-time Sprint Cup champion says 2016 will be his last year in NASCAR’s top circuit. Clint Bowyer will take over Stewart’s number-14 Chevrolet in 2017.
Illinois is at home this weekend for its Big Ten opener against Nebraska. The Fighting Illini are off to a 3-and-1 start after Saturday’s 27-25 win over Middle Tennessee. The Huskers are 2-and-2 after beating Southern Miss. Nebraska blew out Illinois 45-14 last season in Lincoln.
Coming up this Friday Night, It’s the Talk 101 High School Game of the Week presented by World of Powersports as the Eisenhower Panthers play host to Springfield Lanphier for their Homecoming game. The Dale’s Southlake Pharmacy Pregame Show gets underway at 6:30p.m. and the kickoff follows at 7:00p.m. Join Scott Busboom and Glen Purvis this Friday Night from Eisenhower High School with all the action. You can also listen to the game online at www.decaturradio.com.
Coming up this Saturday night, it’s Millikin University football on Talk 101 as The Big Blue are back at home hosting North Central in the 100th Homecoming Game. The Pepsi Pregame Show gets underway at 5:30p.m. and the kickoff follows at 6:00p.m. Join Scott Busboom and Kevin Hale this Saturday night from Frank M Lindsey Field with all the action. You can also listen to the game online at www.decaturradio.com.