CLEVELAND—Mark Buehrle bounced back from a poor outing to earn his 160th career win.The left-hander hopes it isn’t his last in a White Sox uniform.Buehrle (12-9), whose contract is up after this season, pitched six effective innings and the inconsistent offense awoke for seven runs in the seventh and eighth innings to beat the Cleveland Indians 8-4 Wednesday night. Sox fans may see him only once more for their team. Buehrle is due to start Tuesday against Toronto.The White Sox pulled within a half game of second-place Cleveland in the AL Central, well behind division champion Detroit. Alejandro De Aza hit a tiebreaking, two-run single off Ubaldo Jimenez (4-3) in a three-run seventh. The Sox blew it open with four runs on three homers off reliever Chad Durbin in the eighth.Buehrle was ready to go back out if needed. He said he felt strong, after going 0-3 with an 11.74 ERA in three previous September starts, allowing 33 hits in only 15 1/3 innings.The skid included a career-worst 15 hits in 6 1/3 innings in a 7-2 loss to Kansas City last Thursday. The left-hander left that start after being hit in the left arm by a line drive off the bat of Alcides Escobar.Tyler Flowers broke a scoreless tie with an RBI double in the fifth off Jimenez.Travis Hafner hit his 13th homer in the sixth to put Cleveland ahead 2-1. But Jimenez, acquired from Colorado at the July 31 trading deadline, couldn’t hold the lead.Jimenez walked Dayan Viciedo with one out in the seventh. Viciedo scored the tying run on Brent Morel’s booming double to left-center. With two outs, Gordon Beckham walked and De Aza put Chicago ahead by slashing a single to left-center.De Aza, recalled from Triple-A Charlotte on July 27, has hit .350 (36 for 103) with 19 RBI in his last 32 games.Alexi Ramirez and Alex Rios hit solo homers and Morel added a two-run shot in the eighth. Jason Kipnis had a sacrifice fly and Carlos Santana an RBI single in the bottom half off White Sox reliever Jason Frasor.Jimenez gave up four runs and six hits over seven innings, striking out seven. His overall record dropped to 10-12, including 6-9 with Colorado before the former NL All-Star was dealt to Cleveland for four prospects.Buehrle needs to throw 1 2/3 innings to become the sixth pitcher since 1980 to work 200 innings or more in 11 consecutive seasons. Four of the others — Don Sutton, Gaylord Perry, Phil Niekro and Steve Carlton — are Hall of Famers. The fifth is 355-game winner Greg Maddux, a virtual lock for enshrinement once he becomes eligible in 2013.Guillen said White Sox fans should salute Buehrle, who made his first appearance for the team in relief on July 16, 2000.

NOTES—Guillen isn’t sure OF Carlos Quentin will play again this season. Quentin, out since Aug. 20 with a sore left shoulder, was activated Sept. 12, but feels soreness when taking batting practice. … White Sox 1B Paul Konerko sat out with a stiff back. … Indians SS Asdrubal Cabrera, who sat out the second game of a doubleheader Tuesday with a stiff back, said he felt better and was available, but didn’t play. … Acta said RHP Josh Tomlin, despite throwing well in a simulated game Tuesday, is done for the year. Tomlin, out since Aug. 25 with a strained right elbow, had hoped to start Saturday in a doubleheader against Minnesota. With Cleveland eliminated, Acta said there is no reason to push Tomlin and that RHP Mitch Talbot, recently recalled from Triple-A Columbus, will start. Trainers pronounced Tomlin fit and expect him to be ready to return to the rotation in spring training. … Phil Humber (9-8) will oppose Jeanmar Gomez (4-2) in a matchup of right-handers in the final meeting this year with Cleveland on Thursday. The White Sox lead the series 11-6.

The Milwaukee Brewers‘ first division title in 29 years could be just days away. The team is tempering its excitement – for now.Shaun Marcum threw eight strong innings and the Brewers moved a step closer to the NL Central championship with a 5-1 win over the Cubs on Tuesday night.Marcum (13-7) allowed five hits and one run and chipped in at the plate by doubling and scoring during Milwaukee’s four-run third inning.Rickie Weeks drove in two runs and Nyjer Morgan reached base three times, stole a base and scored two runs to help the Brewers reach 91 wins for the first time since 1992.Milwaukee needs a combination of three wins or Cardinals losses to clinch the division. The Cardinals beat the Mets 11-6 on Tuesday night, meaning the earliest the Brewers can wrap up the Central is Friday, when Milwaukee opens a series against Florida.Randy Wells (7-5) allowed six hits and five runs in five innings.Marcum threw just 97 pitches, struck out seven and didn’t walk a batter during an efficient performance that came on the heels of two poor starts in which he allowed 10 runs in 11 2/3 innings. Marcum has never lost three straight starts.The only damage against Marcum came on Starlin Castro’s leadoff homer in the sixth. Castro has reached base in 33 straight games, the longest such streak by a Cubs shortstop since Woody English in 1929. Castro has 336 career hits, surpassing Glenn Beckert’s franchise record for hits by a player in his first two seasons (post-1900). The Brewers didn’t get a hit off Wells until Marcum’s one-out double in the third ignited Milwaukee’s big inning. Marcum scored on Corey Hart’s double. Morgan singled in Hart, stole second and scored on Ryan Braun’s RBI single. Weeks capped the inning by singling home Braun.Darwin Barney doubled twice for the Cubs.The day Milwaukee fans have been waiting three decades for may be looming just around the corner, but for the Brewers, there is only tomorrow’s game.

NOTES—Aramis Ramirez left the game after the sixth inning because of a mild strain in his right quad and is listed as day to day….Brewers 1B Prince Fielder walked twice and surpassed the 100-walk mark for the third straight season….Former Cubs general manager Jim Hendry spent some time on the field before the game chatting with players, coaches and media. Hendry was fired on Aug. 19 after more than 16 years with the organization, including over nine years as the team’s GM. His permanent replacement has not been hired though Randy Bush is filling in on an interim basis…..Cubs special assistant to the general manager Gary Hughes resigned on Tuesday, effective Oct. 31. The scouting guru has been with the organization since 2002 and has spent 44 years in professional baseball, working with a total of nine different franchises…..Matt Garza will start the Cubs’ home finale on Wednesday, his first start since throwing a career-high 124 pitches in a complete-game no decision against Houston on Sept. 16. He’ll face Randy Wolf, who is 1-1 with a 1.37 ERA in three starts against the Cubs this season.

CLEVELAND—The White Sox and Cleveland Indians spkit a pair of one run games in their Day-Night double header.

Asdrubal Cabrera’s leadoff home run in the fourth broke a tie game, and the  Indians defeated the Sox 4-3 in the first game.Fausto Carmona (7-15) allowed three runs in six innings and won for the first time since Aug. 17.Travis Hafner and Kosuke Fukudome also homered off Gavin Floyd (12-12), who hasn’t won since Aug. 29. The Sox have lost eight of their last nine games.The teams, who were eliminated from the AL Central race last week when Detroit clinched the division, are battling for second place. The Indians lead the White Sox by 2½ games.Hafner’s two-run homer in the first gave Cleveland the lead, but The White Sox tied the game in the second on Adam Dunn’s RBI double and Alejandro De Aza’s run-scoring single.Cabrera’s home run put Cleveland ahead and was his 24th of the season. Cabrera, who entered Saturday’s game against Minnesota in an 0-for-20 slump, has eight hits in his last 13 at-bats. He has homered in back-to-back games.Fukudome homered with one out in the fifth.Carmona struck out three and walked two. Relievers Joe Smith, Vinnie Pestano and Chris Perez, who recorded his 35th save, blanked Chicago over the final three innings.The Sox first four hitters reached against Carmona in the second. Singles by A.J. Pierzynski and Alex Rios started the inning. Dunn, batting .165 when the game began, slapped a double down the third base line that scored Pierzynski. De Aza’s single to right tied the game.De Aza added an RBI groundout in the sixth.Floyd gave up four runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out seven and didn’t walk a batter.

The long day ended on a high note for the Sox as Alexei Ramirez’s seventh-inning single broke the game’s final tie and led to a 5-4 victory and a split with.Asdrubal Cabrera’s solo home run and six strong innings from Fausto Carmona gave Cleveland a 4-3 victory in the first game.The teams, who were eliminated from the AL Central race last week when Detroit clinched the division, are battling for second place. The Indians lead the White Sox by 1½ games.Trailing 4-0 in the fifth, the Sox scored a run in the fifth and two runs in both the sixth and seventh. Matt Thornton (2-5) pitched 1 1/3 innings for the victory in the second game and Chris Sale went the final 1 2/3 innings for his seventh save. Cleveland took a 4-3 lead into the seventh before the Sox rallied against rookie reliever Zach Putnam (0-1). Tyler Flowers started the rally with a single and took third on Gordon Beckham’s third double of the game. Juan Pierre’s groundout tied the game before Ramirez’s bloop single to center over a drawn-in infield gave the visitors the lead.Beckham became the first White Sox player to have three doubles in a game since Aaron Rowand in 2005.Both teams started rookies in the second game. Dylan Axelrod, making his second major-league start, allowed four runs in 4 2/3 innings for the White Sox while Zach McAllister, in his third big-league start, gave up two runs in 5 1/3 innings for the Indians. Cleveland used four rookie pitchers in the second game, which led to problems finding the plate. Putnam hit Paul Konerko in the hip in the seventh inning. Josh Judy hit Beckham in the back and Ramirez in the shoulder in the ninth. Guillen wasn’t happy seeing so many of his players get drilled, but didn’t think it was intentional. Cleveland managed one hit off Axelrod through three innings before scoring four times in the fourth. Jim Thome’s RBI single gave Cleveland the lead. Matt LaPorta’s run-scoring double and sacrifice flies by Grady Sizemore and Jack Hannahan completed the scoring. McAllister held the White Sox scoreless until the fifth when Beckham’s RBI double scored yje Sox first run. Alejandro De Aza’s two-run double off Rafael Perez in the sixth cut the lead to one.

NOTES—The first game was the makeup of a July 23 rainout at Progressive Field. … Ozzie Guillen says Mark Buehrle will start Wednesday night. Buehrle (11-9, 3.74 ERA) has sore biceps after being hit with a ball in his last start…..RHP Ubaldo Jimenez (4-2, 4.56) will start for the Indians. … Guillen played most of his regulars in Tuesday’s first game. … The White Sox are 10-6 against the Indians with two games to play in the season series. … Indians 3B Jack Hannahan was a defensive replacement in the eighth inning, his first appearance since straining his left calf Sept. 4.He started game two. … C Lou Marson struck out in all three at-bats. … The Indians are playing nine games in seven days on their final homestand of the season. Cleveland played a makeup game with Seattle on Monday and will play another day-night doubleheader against Minnesota on Saturday. … The Indians recalled RHP Corey Kluber from Triple-A Columbus.

Geovany Soto hit a pair of two-run homers and a run-scoring single, leading the Cubs to a 5-2 victory against the Brewers on Monday night. Milwaukee’s loss and St. Louis’ victory against Philadelphia kept the Brewers’ magic number for clinching the NL Central at four. They are looking for their first division title in 29 years. Now, the earliest the Brewers can clinch is Wednesday, which will be the end of a three-game set at Wrigley Field.With Milwaukee’s loss, the NL East champion Phillies clinched home-field advantage throughout the postseason. The Cubs snapped a six-game losing streak to the Brewers. Soto connected against Narveson (10-8) in the third and Marco Estrada in the sixth. He also singled in Marlon Byrd in the fourth. Soto has three career multihomer games, each coming against the Brewers. Casey Coleman (3-8) had a career-high eight strikeouts in six inning, yielding one run and two hits. The right-hander was 0-5 with a 7.98 ERA in his previous 10 appearances.Jeff Samardzija and Sean Marshall combined for two scoreless innings before the Cubs went to closer Carlos Marmol for the ninth. Marmol provided some drama by giving up a solo home run to Casey McGehee and allowing back-to-back singles to Mark Kotsay and Lucroy. With runners on first and second and one out, Marmol struck out Taylor Green and Corey Hart to end the game.Narveson was pulled for a pinch hitter in the fifth inning. He allowed three runs, two earned, and four hits. Despite sweeping Cincinnati over the weekend, the Brewers have lost seven of their past 12 games.Jerry Hairston Jr. went deep in the third for his first home run since joining the Brewers on July 30. The Cubs responded in the bottom half. Carlos Pena led off with a walk and Soto cleared the bleachers in left field for his 16th home run. It was Narveson’s first start since allowing six runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings during a 7-2 loss to Philadelphia on Sept. 8.

NOTES—Randy Wells is Tuesday’s scheduled starter. He is 5-0 with a 3.57 ERA in his past nine starts. … RHP Shaun Marcum is scheduled to start for the Brewers on Tuesday. In his past two starts, Marcum allowed 10 earned runs in 11 2/3 innings. … The Cubs called up C Steve Clevenger and RHP Rafael Dolis from Double-A Tennessee. … Starlin Castro has reached base in 32 consecutive games.

NEW ORLEANS—When Drew Brees needed a 12-yard completion to keep a drive alive against the Bears’ vaunted defense, he stepped up in the pocket and aired it out instead.The aggressive approach produced a stunning 79-yard scoring pass to Devery Henderson and set an energizing tone that carried the Saints to a lopsided 30-13 triumph Sunday over a Bears franchise that had dominated the series in recent years.Brees completed 70.3 percent of his passes (26 for 37) for 270 yards and three touchdowns, including a clutch 4-yard scoring pass to Robert Meachem on third-and-goal and a swing pass to Darren Sproles that produced a 12-yard score as New Orleans (1-1) won for the first time this season.Jay Cutler had little chance of keeping up against a Saints defense determined to regain an intimidating edge, and which beat up on him with six sacks.Facing heavy blitzing and without injured receiver Roy Williams, Cutler passed for 244 yards and a score, but completed only 42 percent of his passes (19 of 45) and fumbled once on a sack and by Turk McBride. Jonathan Vilma recovered on the Bears 29, setting up Meachem’s score, which gave New Orleans a 23-13 lead in the third quarter.Running back Matt Forte had 117 yards receiving to go with 49 yards rushing for the Bears (1-1), who lost guard Gabe Carimi and safety Major Wright to injuries after entering the game without several other injured starters.Saints defenders had talked all week of bouncing back from their last outing at Green Bay, where they yielded five touchdowns and missed a slew of tackles in a 42-34 season-opening loss.They brought relentless pressure against a Bears offensive line that started the game without injured guard Lance Louis and then lost Carimi, their other starting guard, to a right knee injury.Roman Harper and Junior Gallette each had two sacks.Cutler was hit repeatedly as he threw, including once from behind by safety Malcolm Jenkins, after which the Bears’ beleaguered quarterback remained briefly on his knees with hands over each side of his helmet.

“It was a long day out there,” Cutler said. “I had to throw a lot of balls before I wanted to. … The Saints were the better team today. They rushed me hard and forced our offense to do things we didn’t want to do.”

Most of Cutler’s passing success came on dump-offs to Forte, a New Orleans-area native who played home games in the Louisiana Superdome when he starred for Tulane.
The Saints also allowed 60 yards rushing, with 12 of those yards on Cutler’s scramble.Brees completed passes to eight targets, including three to Henderson for 103 yards. Tight end Jimmy Graham had six catches for 79 yards, ending one reception with a forceful head-on collision that shook up Wright.Sproles caught eight passes for 43 yards. The Saints had 118 yards rushing, with rookie Mark Ingram gaining a team-leading 51.Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher, who spent part of the past week away from his team following the sudden death of his mother, said returning to the field was an emotional struggle, but added that was not to blame for his unit’s inability to sustain its dominance of a week ago against Atlanta.

“This was a real tough game to play today, but I went out there and gave it my all,” Urlacher said. “That’s a high-powered offense we were playing against. We were on a real high last week after winning against Atlanta. We don’t have the same feeling now.”

The Bears scored first on Dane Sanzenbacher’s 8-yard catch, capping a drive highlighted by Forte’s 42-yard run.New Orleans cut it to 7-3 on John Kasay’s 31-yard field goal, then vaulted into the lead on Brees’ deep heave to Henderson. Still possessing the breakaway speed that made him a star at LSU, Henderson split Wright and Chris Conte to make the over-the-shoulder catch, then slipped their diving tackle attempts to make it 10-7 early in the second quarter.Kasay added field goals of 29 and 53 yards in the first half.Robbie Gould pulled the Bears to 16-10 with a 42-yard field goal in the final seconds of the first half, then added a 38-yarder in the third quarter for the final Bear points.

NOTES—The Bears were the only NFC team Saints coach Sean Payton had not beaten since becoming New Orleans’ coach in 2006. Payton, who grew up in suburban Chicago, had been 0-3 against the Bears, including the NFC title game to end his 2006 season….After opening the season scoring one TD on their first seven trips inside an opponents’ 20, the Saints converted on two straight trips against the Bears in the second half….Of the Bears 246 yards from scrimmage, Forte had 166…..Bears receiver Earl Bennett left with a chest injury in the first half.

KANSAS CITY—A.J. Pierzynski went on the disabled list for the first time in his career when he was hit by a pitch from Bruce Chen on Aug. 12 and broke his left wrist.Pierzynski got a measure of revenge Sunday against Chen and the Kansas City Royals, homering twice among his four hits and driving in four runs as the White Sox snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 10-5 victory over the Royals.Paul Konerko and Pierzynski had back-to-back homers leading off the seventh against rookie reliever Louis Coleman. It was Konerko’s 30th home run. Konerko, who also singled home Juan Pierre in the eighth for his 103rd RBI, has reached 30 home runs and 100 RBI for the fifth time in his career.The White Sox took an early 4-0 lead in ending the Royals’ seven-game winning streak, Kansas City’s longest run since notching seven in a row Sept. 13-18, 2008. Pierzynski’s three-run homer off Jesse Chavez in the eighth struck the right-field foul pole. It was Pierzynski’s fourth career multihomer game — the past two have been at Kauffman Stadium, his previous coming July 9, 2010.Brent Morel’s double in the second scored Pierzynski and Dayan Viciedo, who had both singled.In the fourth, Adam Dunn doubled home Alex Rios for his first extra-base hit against a left-hander, in his 89th at-bat this season. Dunn stopped at third on Viciedo’s single and scored on Gordon Beckham’s sacrifice fly.The Royals scored a pair of runs in the fifth with Yamaico Navarro and Billy Butler getting the RBI. Johnny Giavotella’s triple in the sixth scored Jeff Francoeur, cutting the White Sox lead to 4-3. Giavotella’s third hit in the ninth scored Eric Hosmer.Hosmer, who had three hits, had an RBI single in the seventh. The Royals collected 15 hits.Left-hander John Danks (7-12), who was 0-3 with a 10.91 ERA in his previous three starts allowed 10 hits and four runs in six-plus innings.Chen (11-8) took the loss and is 1-3 in four September starts. He allowed four runs on nine hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings.

NOTES—Beckham, who leads AL second baseman with a .992 fielding percentage, was charged with his second error in 49 games when he mishandled Francoeur’s bouncer in the sixth. Navarro made his first start at shortstop For Royals. He had started five games at third base. Pierre leads the AL with 43 infield hits and 19 bunt hits. The Royals and White Sox are both off Monday. The White Sox play a doubleheader Tuesday at Cleveland and will start Gavin Floyd and Dylan Axelrod. RHP Luis Mendoza, who was the Pacific Coast League pitcher of the year after going 12-5 with a 2.18 ERA for Triple-A Omaha, will start Tuesday against Detroit, the AL Central champions. It will be Mendoza’s first big league start since Aug. 13, 2008, while with Texas.

Brett Myers benefited from a reversed homer call to beat the Cubs again and Clint Barmes had a two-run single to help the Houston Astros to a 3-2 victory on Sunday.With the Cubs down by a run in the eighth and Starlin Castro on first, Carlos Pena hit a drive to left that was initially ruled a two-run homer. The call was overturned after umpires reviewed video of the play.Pena was given a double and Castro was put on third base, then Marlon Byrd flied out to end the threat.The inning started off in strange fashion when Darwin Barney’s medium-depth fly to right was missed by Brian Bogusevic in right field and rolled to the warning track. Barney reached third standing up on a three-base error.After Castro walked, pinch-hitter Aramis Ramirez hammered a drive to the right-field wall that Bogusevic tracked down with a nice running catch, scoring Barney.Myers struck out Bryan LaHair before Pena hit a flyball to left that was originally ruled a two-run homer after appearing to strike the wall behind the basket in front of the fence and bounce back onto the field.After Mills protested, the umpires reviewed video of the play and determined that Pena’s ball struck the front of the basket.Cubs manager Mike Quade ran onto the field to argue and was eventually ejected by third base umpire Marty Foster. Quade admitted that the umpires were correct in reversing the home run, but felt that Castro should have scored on the play.

“Marty’s got the decision on whether it’s a home run or not, and he’s also got the decision on where the runner is,” Quade said. “I’m sure they got the technique correct, I just wonder how you can see both things.”

Byrd flied out against reliever Mark Melancon to end the inning.Meanwhile, as deliberations before and after the replay dragged on, the rain continued to fall and puddles began to form around the infield. The tarp was brought out and there was a rain delay of 1 hour, 7 minutes after the eighth.Once the game resumed, Melancon returned for the bottom of the ninth and struck out the Cubs in order for his 18th save.Myers (6-13) held the Northsiders to two runs — one earned — over 7 2/3 innings under a steady drizzle on a cool day at Wrigley Field. He improved to 13-3 lifetime against the Cubs.Myers outpitched Ryan Dempster (10-13), who overcame a shaky start to throw seven solid innings. Dempster held the Astros to two runs and seven hits but lost his season-high fifth straight decision.Coming off a 128-pitch, six-walk start in his previous outing, Dempster struggled through a 33-pitch first inning. Martinez hit an RBI single and Barmes singled home two runs in Houston’s three-run opening frame. Dempster gave up three hits and walked two in the inning.

NOTES—Castro doubled to lead off the first, becoming the first Cubs shortstop to reach safely in 31 straight games since Woody English, who had streaks of 34 games in 1929 and a 32 games in 1930. … DJ Lemahieu’s second-inning error gave the Cubs 127 miscues on the season, one more than last season and the team’s most since they had 139 errors in 1999. Entering Sunday’s game, the Cubs have committed at least seven more errors than every other team in baseball. … Casey Coleman will look to snap a five-game losing streak when he starts the series opener against Milwaukee’s Chris Narveson on Monday night. … Houston’s J.A. Happ try to avoid moving into a tie for the NL lead with 16 losses when he starts Monday’s series opener in Cincinnati.

CHAMPAIGN—Illinois coach Ron Zook joked last week that if there was a way to stop 6-foot-8 Arizona State quarterback Brock Osweiler it might involve a stepladder.It turns out Illinois had a plan, and it consisted of throwing just about everything but that ladder at Osweiler. It turned out that BOTH teams offenses were a joke.The Illini (3-0) sacked Osweiler six times and forced a pair of interceptions on their way to a 17-14 win over the No. 22 Sun Devils (2-1) on Saturday night.Nathan Scheelhaase delivered the win, turning one of those sacks into a 16-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Jenkins with less than 10 minutes left.With Illinois trailing 14-10, defensive end Whitney Mercilus hit Osweiler in the back and knocked the ball loose to linebacker Ian Thomas. Four plays later, Scheelhaase found Jenkins for the winning score.Scheelhaase was 11 of 15 for 135 yards. He threw one interception but also ran for 67 yards. Jenkins had six catches for 103 yards.The Sun Devils outgained Illinois 362-240. Each team had three turnovers.Osweiler completed 25 of 45 passes for 256 yards. He ran for a touchdown and threw for another, but also tossed two interceptions.Mercilus had two sacks, and Jonathan Brown had an interception and a sack that led to another interception.After two quarters of mistakes, the game turned on two drives in the second half.With Osweiler under pressure, and the Sun Devils failing to get anything from two drives that started in Illini territory, they decided to keep it on the ground late in the third quarter. Arizona State started at the Illinois 45 after the defense stuffed the Illini at their 4. Cameron Marshall, who spent much of the second quarter on the bench because of a leg injury, bounced outside to the right for 16 yards. Two plays later, he carried 265-pound defensive end Whitney Mercilus for 7 yards up the middle. That set up Osweiler with a first down at the 15.The quarterback dropped back and then ran through an opening on a draw. No one touched him until he bounced off Illinois cornerback Tavon Wilson one yard deep in the end zone. That gave the Sun Devils their first lead, 14-10, with 14:54 left in the game.After the Sun Devils held the Illini and got the ball back, Illinois turned the quarterback pressure on again.On second and 13 at the Arizona State 41, Mercilus delivered a hit to Osweiler’s back and the ball to Thomas at the Sun Devil 41.Scheelhaase then connected with Jenkins for the winning score. The ball was behind Jenkins who stopped to catch it, then spun to his left around a quickly closing defensive back before tiptoeing three yards down the sideline and into the end zone.

KANSAS CITY—The surging Kansas City Royals are giving their fans a glimpse of a brighter future.Mike Moustakas hit his third home run in four games and Jeff Francoeur hit a three-run homer and the Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 10-3 Saturday night for their seventh straight victory.The winning streak is the Royals’ longest since winning seven consecutive Sept. 13-18, 2008. The White Sox have lost seven in a row, matching their longest losing streak of the year.Moustakas, Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez, a trio of highly regarded rookies, combined to go 7 for 14 with two RBI and scored five runs.Everett Teaford (2-0), a rookie left-hander, has won both of his starts since moving into the rotation after 23 relief appearances.Nate Adcock, yet another rookie, worked the final three innings for his first major league save.Moustakas, who is hitting .519 during a seven-game hitting streak, said “absolutely” this can carry over until next season.Moustakas, who had three hits, homered in the fifth with Eric Hosmer, who had doubled aboard. Moustakas and Perez singled in the fourth and both scored on Alcides Esocbar’s triple.Francoeur hit his 19th home run in the eighth with Melky Cabrera and Hosmer on base.Perez and Cabrera each contributed three singles to the Royals’ 18-hit attack. Escobar doubled and tripled and drove in two runs.Teaford held the White Sox to four hits and one run — Alex Rios’ homer to lead off the second — while walking two and striking out four.Teaford pitched out of trouble in the third and fourth innings. He stranded runners at second and third in the third after a Moustakas two-base throwing error and a walk. Teaford retired Gordon Beckham on a fly to center to end the fourth with the bases full.White Sox rookie right-hander Zack Stewart (2-5), who was acquired in a July 27 trade with Toronto, allowed five runs and 11 hits in five innings. He has given up 18 hits and 11 runs in 10 innings in losing his past two starts.The White Sox scored two runs in the seventh off Adcock. Tyler Flowers scored on an Adcock wild pitch, while Brent Morel came home on a Juan Pierre ground out.

NOTES— Royals closer Joakim Soria remains sidelined with a strained right hamstring, which he injured Sunday. … White Sox DH Adam Dunn is 4 for 87 against left-handed pitching after a fourth-inning single off Teaford. …John Danks, who is 0-3 with a 10.91 ERA in his past three starts, will start Sunday for the White Sox. … LHP Bruce Chen, who struck out eight and held Minnesota to two hits in eight scoreless innings in winning his previous start, will be the Kansas City starter in the finale of this four-game series.

Soldier Field was not much of a Home Field advantage for the Northern Illimois Huskies.In fact the crowd was announced at just over 40,000,but there appeared to be about 15,000 less than that and about a quarter of the fans were rooting for Wisconsin,Try and shut down Montee Ball and James White, and Russell Wilson will throw all day long.It was the 31st straight regular-season victory over a nonconference team for the Badgers (3-0), who have one last warmup before their much-anticipated Oct. 1 game against new Big Ten member Nebraska at Camp Randall.The only blemish for the Badgers was Wilson’s interception in the third quarter, the first turnover of the season for Wisconsin.After scoring 45-plus points in each of their first two games, the Huskies (1-2) got a lone touchdown from Jasmin Hopkins. The loss dropped the Huskies to 4-27 against ranked teams, and spoiled new coach Dave Doeren’s reunion with his old team.Doeren spent the past five years as Wisconsin’s defensive coordinator before taking over at Northern Illinois (1-2).Wisconsin has been one of the better teams in the Big Ten for much of the past decade, and it won a share of the conference title last season. But those Badgers teams were built on power: running backs who could bulldoze their way over opponents and a big, physical defense.Thanks to the addition of Wilson, who transferred from North Carolina State, these Badgers have endless options.Just look at the stats. Wisconsin put the game out of reach by scoring on six of its first seven possessions. The exception? A missed field goal on the second drive, after the Badgers set themselves back with penalties for a chop block (15 yards) and a false start (five).NIU did manage to make things interesting for about 3 minutes at the end of the first quarter. Following that missed Wisconsin field goal, the Huskies put together their best drive of the day. Chandler Harnish completed passes of 20 yards to Nathan Palmer and another of 39 yards to Ashford to set up a 3-yard run by Hopkins that tied the game at 7 with 1:59 left in the first quarter. Hoping to build on their momentum, the Huskies went for the onside kick.But the Badgers recovered, and Wilson put a quick end to any hopes the Huskies had for the upset. He needed only three passes to give Wisconsin the lead again, connecting with Toon for the 16-yard score, then moved the Badgers 97 yards on their next drive after they’d been pinned to their own 3.With the offensive line giving Wilson what seemed like hours to throw, he took his time until he spotted Jacob Pedersen sprinting up the left side of the field, hitting him in stride for a 55-yard gain that took Wisconsin to the 2-yard line. Two plays later, Ball ran from a yard in to give Wisconsin a 21-7 lead.Ball has now scored in nine straight games, and has 22 touchdowns since last Oct. 23.Not to be outdone, backfield mate White scored on Wisconsin’s next drive. Wilson turned what should have been a sack into an 11-yard gain, and White scored two plays later on a 20-yard run, getting help from a great block by offensive lineman Peter Konz that allowed White to turn the corner and get outside.It was White’s second touchdown of the season.Northern got to the Wisconsin 25 just before halftime. But Mathew Sims’ field goal attempt was wide right and the Huskies never came close to scoring again.In fact, they got past midfield just once in the second half.