Jay Cutler threw for 333 yards and two touchdowns, Michael Bush added a pair of scoring runs and the Bears spoiled Andrew Luck’s debut in beating the Indianapolis Colts 41-21 Sunday.It didn’t start out that well as Cutler was sacked on the first play of the season,the Bears picked up a false start penalty right after that, and it resulted in a three and out. Luck and the Colts then went three and out, but from his own three,Cutler on first down dropped back out of the shot gun into his own end zone and threw a pass right to Colts LD Jerrell Freeman who simply walked into the end zone and it was 7-0 indy. On the next series,the Bears woke up. Cutler who was 1-10 to start, then suddenly connected on 14 of his next 17. He drove the Bears 80 yards in 11 plays,with Matt Forte’s runs of 32 and 15 yards left the ball on the Colts 1 and Michael Bush scored his first of two TD.s to tie the game at 7. Early in the second quarter, The Bears finished a 95 yard drive that ate up 5:52 off the clock and Cutler hit Brandon Marshall in the end zone for the first time since they were in Denver.A robbie Gould field goal from 35 yds made it 17-7. Indy got their first offensive TD when Donald Brown scored on a nifty 18 yard run with 3:17 before halftime, but the Bears had a last second 72 yard drive as Bush again scored from the 1 and it was 24-14 at halftime.
The Bears pretty much put it away on Forte’s 6 yd run and a 26 yard Gould TD in the third period, then Cutler hit Rookie Alshon Jeffery who came uo with a great catch to finish a 42 yard bomb,and the scoring. Marshall had nine catches for 119 yards and his one touchdown in his first game since being reunited with Cutler. Matt Forte ran for 80 yards and a score, and also had 40 yards receiving.

Luck finished his first NFL game 23 of 45 for 309 yards with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Donnie Avery early in the fourth quarter. He also was intercepted three times — twice by Tim Jennings — in an up-and-down debut for a quarterback with huge shoes to fill.The No. 1 pick in the draft is stepping in for four-time NFL MVP Peyton Manning, who missed last season with a neck injury and now plays for Denver.Reggie Wayne caught nine passes for 135 yards. But it was a familiar result for a team with new management and a new coach in Chuck Pagano after winning just two games last season.

NOTES—Charles Tillman suffered a leg injury in the second quarter and did not return….The Bears trek up to Green Bay to face the Packers Thursday night….The Bears are 2-0 against the Colts since losing to them in Super Bowl 41….Adam Podlesh was healthy enough to punt in this game.

LES

Mike Moustakas stroked a go-ahead single in the 10th inning to lift the Kansas City Royals to a 2-1 win over the White Sox on Sunday.The Royals plated both their runs with two outs in the 10th off Brett Myers (2-3), the seventh of eight White Sox pitchers in the game.The rally started after Alcides Escobar was thrown out, leaving the bases empty and two outs. Myers walked Billy Butler, who was replaced by pinch runner Jarrod Dyson. Salvador Perez, Moustakas and Jeff Francoeur then hit consecutive singles, the last two driving in runs.Kelvin Herrera (3-2) got the win after preserving a scoreless tie in the ninth by getting Alex Rios to hit into a double play with the bases loaded.Greg Holland walked two and gave up Gordon Beckham’s RBI double in the 10th, but escaped with his 13th save by striking out Alejandro De Aza and Ray Olmedo with the tying run on third.One day after the first-place White Sox snapped a six-game losing against Kansas City, the Royals won for the 10th time in 15 games against the Southsiders this season.Jeremy Guthrie held the Sox to six hits over eight shutout innings, striking out four, but left with a no-decision. He’s thrown 23 2-3 innings against the White Sox this season without allowing an earned run.Guthrie was trying to win a fifth straight decision for the first time in his career. The Royals have won the last seven games he’s taken the mound, during which he’s 4-0 with a 1.70 ERA.Hector Santiago threw four scoreless innings, and four White Sox relievers added five more shutout frames before the Royals broke the deadlock in the 10th. Myers didn’t retire any of the four batters he faced.The White Sox though,kept their two-game lead over Detroit in the AL Central, but helped Guthrie’s cause by running into three outs on the bases. Francoeur threw out pinch-runner Alexei Ramirez at third to end the seventh for his big league-leading 18th outfield assist.Guthrie retired 10 straight batters in one stretch. He took a no-hitter into the eighth inning in his last start against the White Sox, a no-decision in the Royals’ 5-2 win on Aug. 19.Santiago struck out eight in his second major league start after holding Minnesota to one run over five innings on Sept. 3. His first 36 big league appearances this season came in relief.Johnny Giavotella walked three times and stole two bases for Kansas City.

NOTES—Ramirez was a late scratch from the Sox starting lineup after arriving late to U.S. Cellular Field. He was replaced by Olmedo, who went 0 for 4 and committed an error. Ramirez leads AL shortstops with 66 RBIs, but he’s just 1 for 25 lifetime against Guthrie. … The White Sox were also without Adam Dunn and Kevin Youkilis for a third straight game. Dunn is considered day-to-day with a strained right oblique, while Youkilis is expected back on Monday after returning home for the birth of his son. …The Sox open a key four-game home series against Detroit on Monday. The Tigers have won seven straight against the White Sox and 10 of 14 overall this season. Perez stretched his career-best hitting streak to 14 games with the hit, the longest streak by a Royal this season.

PITTSBURGH—Mabey the Cubs should play more often in PNC Park.Alfonso Soriano hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning to give the Cubs the go-ahead runs and they completed a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 4-2 win on Sunday.Soriano followed Anthony Rizzo’s leadoff single in the eighth with his second homer in as many days and 28th of the season, sending the first pitch from Jason Grilli (1-6) into the Cubs bullpen in left-center.Josh Vitters and Anthony Recker each hit solo home runs for the Cubs in the fourth.The Cubs are 6-20 on the road since the All-Star break, with five of those wins coming at PNC Park. The Cubs had lost eight consecutive road games when they arrived in Pittsburgh.Andrew McCutchen homered and Brock Holt had three hits for the Pirates, who have lost seven of nine and continue their freefall out of contention.Pittsburgh (72-67) peaked at 16 games over .500 this season but now needs to go 9-14 just to avoid extending their North American major professional sports record of consecutive losing seasons to 20.Pittsburgh loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, but Cubs closer Carlos Marmol struck out Gaby Sanchez and got Pedro Alvarez to fly out to left to earn his 18th save.Joe Mather went 3 for 5 for the Cubs (54-86), who have the majors’ second-worst record.The Cubs road sweep was their first since Aug. 1-4, 2010, in Pittsburgh. The Pirates were swept in three games at home for the first time this season.Soriano had six RBIs in the series. His 94 on the season are the most since he put up 95 during his only season with the Washington Nationals in 2006.A pair of rookie left-handers started and pitched well but came away with no-decisions.Making the third start of his career, Chris Rusin allowed one run on five hits with four strikeouts in five innings. He left the game in line for his first major league victory, but the Pirates tied it in the seventh when Holt scored on a balk by James Russell (7-1).Pittsburgh’s Jeff Locke gave up the homers to Vitters and Recker in the fourth but overall scattered seven hits over six innings.The Pirates left 13 men on base – at least one during each of the first seven innings. They stranded two four times, including when Dave Sappelt caught Garrett Jones’ sinking liner to right to end the fifth.McCutchen’s homer, his 25th, was his NL-leading 173rd hit. It ended a streak of five consecutive homerless games for the Pirates – their longest of the season.Grilli earned the loss in relief for the second straight night.

NOTES—Pittsburgh is 9-20 since Aug. 8. … The Pirates activated RHP Chad Qualls from the disabled list before the game. He retired both batters he faced in the eighth. … Locke singled in the fifth, his first hit in the majors. … The Pirates will play three games at the Reds starting Monday. The previous time Pittsburgh played in Cincinnati Aug 3-5, it entered trailing by 3 1/2 games in the NL Central. Five weeks later, the Pirates are in third place and 11 back. … The Cubs head to Houston, where they will play their final series there against the Astros with both teams part of the National League. The Astros move to the AL West next season.

TEMPE—Taylor Kelly completed 18 of 24 passes for 249 yards and a touchdown, and Arizona State rolled past Illinois 45-14 on Saturday night to improve to 2-0 under new coach Todd Graham. Kelly’s backup, Michael Eubank, was 5 of 5 passing for 69 yards and two touchdowns and ran 7 yards for a score. Chris Coyle matched a school record for tight ends with 10 catches, totaling 131 yards and two scores. He caught six passes for 73 yards all of last season. llinois (1-1) was without quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase because of an ankle injury, but the Illini’s biggest problem was on defense, especially against the pass.Illinois joined Nebraska (to UCLA) and Wisconsin (to Oregon State) as Big Ten teams to lose at Pac-12 schools on Saturday.

EVANSTON—Venric Mark ran for 123 yards and a late touchdown, Tyler Scott forced a key fumble and Northwestern beat Vanderbilt 23-13 Saturday night. Northwestern (2-0) didn’t score a touchdown in the first three quarters but managed 17 points in the fourth to come away with another dramatic win after beating Syracuse 42-41 in the opener.The Wildcats finally found the end zone when Mark ran it in from the 7 to give NU a short-lived 13-10 lead with 9:28 left in the game. Vanderbilt’s Zac Stacy then turned a short swing pass into a 55-yard gain that put the ball on the 14, but instead of a touchdown, the Commodores had to settle for a tying 26-yard field goal by Carey Spear.Northwestern caught a break on the next drive when Trevor Siemian’s 34-yard pass to Rashad Lawrence along the left sideline was ruled a completion even though he fumbled the ball as he went out of bounds. The call was upheld after a review, putting the ball on the Vanderbilt 22, and Jeff Budzien kicked an 18-yarder with 2:01 remaining to break the tie.Scott then forced a fumble when he sacked Jordan Rodgers on Vanderbilt’s next play from scrimmage, and Dean Lowry recovered the ball. That led to a 29-yard TD run by Kain Colter, sending Vanderbilt (0-2) to another difficult loss.Mark came up big again after tying a personal best with 281 all-purpose yards in the opener.Colter looked fine physically Saturday night after pulling himself out of the game in the closing minutes of last weeks contest because his bruised ribs made it too painful to throw. He managed to throw for 42 yards and run for 66 against Vanderbilt.Siemian completed 10 of 16 passes for 91 yards Saturday after throwing the winning TD last week.Rodgers threw for 217 yards for Vanderbilt. Chris Boyd had 76 yards receiving and Jordan Matthews added 75 with a TD catch on the game’s opening drive. Despite all that, the Commodores fell again.Suffering two losses to begin this season isn’t the start Vanderbilt envisioned after going 6-7 in 2011 and playing in only the program’s fifth bowl game ever in coach James Franklin’s debut season. The Commodores get a breather next week against Presbyterian before a gauntlet the following few weeks which begins with trips to Georgia and Missouri before home games against Florida and Auburn.The Wildcats host Boston College next Saturday.

PITTSBURGH—Jeff Samardzija pitched the Cubs’ first complete game in his final start of the season and they beat the fading Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 on Saturday night.David DeJesus singled in Welington Castillo with two outs in the eighth for the go-ahead run after Pittsburgh had tied the game at 3 in the bottom of the seventh.Samardzija (9-13) overcame a rocky first inning to allow two hits over his final 8 2-3 innings. With the 27-year-old in his first full season as a major league starter, the Cubs announced Friday their intention to shut him down for the season.Batting in the No. 9 spot in the order, Tony Campana had two hits and scored two runs. Alfonso Soriano hit his 27th home run for the Cubs, who arrived in Pittsburgh having lost 17 of their previous 18 road games but won for the second consecutive night.Pedro Alvarez two hits and two RBIs for the Pirates, who have lost six of eight and were passed by Los Angeles for third place in the NL wild card standings. Samardzija had nine strikeouts, allowing four hits, one walk and two earned runs in his first career complete game.Samardzija completes his season by pitching 174 2-3 innings – five more than he pitched over the course of his first four seasons in the majors combined. Before the game, Cubs manager Dale Sveum said he would be more likely to stick with Samardzija deeper in the game because there was no need to save him for a future start. Samardzija threw a season-high 120 pitches.He was not sharp to start the game, allowing a single to Brock Holt, hitting Andrew McCutchen and walking Garrett Jones before Alvarez’s single drove in Holt and McCutchen.But Samardzija settled in after that hit, retiring the next eight hitters and 19 of the next 20 until Rod Barajas reached via a throwing error by shortstop Starlin Castro with two outs in the seventh and the Cubs leading 3-2.Pinch-hitter Jeff Clement followed with a single off the wall in right, scoring pinch-runner Josh Harrison.Just as he said, Sveum stuck with Samardzija – not only in facing Clement but in letting him hit the following inning with the go-ahead run on second and one out.Samardzija grounded out, but Campana walked before DeJesus lined a single to right off Jason Grilli (1-5).Alex Presley’s throw arrived at about the same time as Castillo, but Castillo’s nifty slide eluded Michael McKenry’s tag. Castillo had led off the eighth with a single.The Cubs got a run in the second, third and fifth innings. Soriano led off the second with his 27th homer, the most he’s had since 2008. It was his fourth home run in his past nine games.Two days after the Cubs were involved in two dugout-clearing incidents against the Washington Nationals, home plate umpire Scott Berry warned both dugouts after James McDonald hit Anthony Rizzo with a pitch in the third. Samardzija plunked McCutchen in the first.The Cubs’ Steve Clevenger learned early Saturday he would be serving a one-game suspension for his role in the Saturday’s game.McDonald allowed three runs and seven hits in 5 2-3 innings.

NOTES—It was the seventh time in the majors this season a team hit the pitcher eighth. The Cubs had not batted a pitcher eighth since at least 1974 – the earliest such research is available. …Darwin Barney played his 124th consecutive errorless game at second base, setting an NL record. Barney’s streak surpassed 1,000 innings Saturday. … Sveum termed OF Brett Jackson “day to day” due to a right knee injury sustained while crashing into the PNC Park outfield fence during Friday’s game. He won’t play until at least Tuesday. … RHP Jason Berken will make his Cubs debut starting the Sept. 15 game against Pittsburgh. Berken was acquired off waivers from Baltimore on Friday. … The Pirates announced their starters for their series in Cincinnati Monday-Wednesday: LHP Wandy Rodriguez, RHP Kevin Correia, RHP A.J. Burnett. … Rookie left-handers start against each other in the series finale Sunday: The Cubs’ Chris Rusin (0-2, 9.00) and Pittsburgh’s Jeff Locke (0-1, 4.82).

SOUTH BEND—Tommy Rees came off the bench to lead Notre Dame on a last-minute, winning drive Saturday as the No. 22 Irish got a 27-yard field goal from Kyle Brindza with seven seconds to go and beat Purdue 20-17.Rees, who was suspended for the opener after he was involved in a skirmish with police at a party in May, relieved starter Everett Golson late in the fourth quarter.Purdue (1-1) had tied the game at 17-17 when Caleb TerBush threw a 15-yard TD pass to Antavian Edison with 2:12 left, the score set up by Josh Johnson’s recovery of a Golson fumble. Golson was shaken up on the play and the Irish turned to Rees, who started 12 games last season.Rees connected on key third down passes of 10 yards to John Goodman and 21 yards to Robby Toma to get Brindza in position for the game-winning kick. Notre Dame is 2-0 for the first time since 2008.

Dayan Viciedo, Tyler Flowers and Paul Konerko each homered to back Chris Sale’s six solid innings and lead the White Sox to a 5-4 win over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.Sale (16-6) scattered five hits and struck out six over six innings, winning his eighth straight decision at U.S. Cellular Field and helping the Sox end a six-game skid against Kansas City. He allowed six baserunners in the first three innings before settling down to retire the last 10 batters he faced.Addison Reed finished up, extending his White Sox rookie record with his 26th save. He allowed a two-out double to Mike Moustakas on a muffed play by left fielder Jordan Danks. Brayan Pena and Johnny Giavotella stroked RBI singles, and pinch-runner Jarrod Dyson stole second, but Lorenzo Cain struck out to end the game.Viciedo hit a solo homer in the first for the game’s first run. Flowers connected with a two-run shot in the fourth and Konerko had a solo blast in the sixth. All three homers came off Bruce Chen (10-12), who had won his last four starts at U.S.Cellular.Thye White Sox also hit three homers in Friday’s 7-5 loss and has gone deep 28 times in its last 14 home games. Chen has allowed seven homers over his last two starts and 31 on the season, two shy of his career high.The Royals have dominated the season series against the first-place White Sox, winning nine of 14 against in the series even after Saturday’s loss. The six straight wins against Chicago matched a Kansas City record first set in 1982.The Sox had lost eight of 11 overall entering the game but still held a one-game lead over Detroit in the AL Central. The White Sox have had at least a share of the division lead since July 24.Sale improved to 9-2 with a 1.72 ERA in 12 starts on his home field.Chen struck out Alexei Ramirez looking in the first inning for his 1,000th career strikeout, but Viciedo made sure the celebration was short-lived by poking the next pitch into the right-field bullpen for his 20th homer, putting the White Sox up 1-0.Billy Butler’s two-out single to right tied the game in the third when Cain was ruled safe on a close play at the plate. White Sox manager Robin Ventura argued the play and he returned to the bench, but home plate umpire Mark Carlson ejected coach Mark Parent, who was yelling from the dugout.Cain again tried to score in the eighth behind Giavotella on Alcides Escobar’s RBI double, but he was gunned down by Ray Olmedo’s relay throw at the plate. Flowers, who walked twice, is hitting .356 with five homers and 10 RBIs in his last 11 games after hitting .182 with two homers in his first 33.Konerko hit his 22nd homer in the sixth, his first round-tripper since Aug. 21.

NOTES—Adam Dunn missed his third straight game because of a strained right oblique. Dunn originally suffered the injury at Baltimore on Aug. 30, then re-aggravated it on Wednesday. Ventura said Dunn will have to pass a series of tests by the team’s training staff before returning to action. … 3B Kevin Youkilis missed his second straight game after returning home to be with his wife, who gave birth to a boy on Friday. Ventura said Youkilis may return to the team on Sunday. … The White Sox are the only team in the majors with five players who have hit at least 20 homers, with Viciedo joining A.J. Pierzynski, Dunn, Alex Rios and Konerko … Salvador Perez extended his career-best hitting streak to 13 games with a single off Sale in the second.

Lorenzo Cain hit two home runs, including a tie-breaking, two-run shot in the ninth inning, as the Kansas City Royals beats the White Sox 7-5 on Friday night.Salvador Perez also hit a two-run homer for the Royals, who won their sixth straight against the White Sox.The Sox continued to rely heavy on the long ball, hitting three homers: Alexei Ramirez hit a two-run shot and Dewayne Wise and A.J. Pierzynski hit solo shots homers.Kelvin Herrera (2-2) pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning for the Royals.Johnny Giavotella led off the ninth with a single off Addison Reed (3-2). Cain followed with a deep home run to left center, giving the Royals a 7-5 lead. His seventh home run of the season gave him his first career two-homer game.Greg Holland pitched the ninth for his 12th save in 14 chances.The White Sox left the bases loaded in the first and eighth innings. Herrera got Jose Lopez to pop out in the eighth.With Adam Dunn and Kevin Youkilis missing from the top of the order, the White Sox jumped on starter Luis Mendoza early. Alejandro De Aza led off the first with a single and moved to second on Lopez’s groundout. After Wise walked, Paul Konerko drove in De Aza with a single.Billy Butler led off the second with a bloop single and Perez extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a two-run home run to left. It was his ninth of the season.Trailing 2-1, Wise led off the third with a triple, but failed to score. Konerko flied out to shallow right field then Rios followed with another pop fly to shallow right. Giavotella, playing second base, made the catch on Rios’ ball with his back to the plate and Wise tried to tagged from third, but Giavotella made a good throw to the plate to easily get Wise.Pierzynski tagged Mendoza with a leadoff home run in the fourth to tie the game at 2. It was his 25th of the season.With two outs in the fifth, Cain teed off on a slider from starter Francisco Liriano to give the Royals a 3-2 lead.Wise came back with a solo shot in the fifth to tie the game 3-3. It was his seventh of the season.White Sox manager Robin Ventura pulled Liriano after he issued consecutive walks in the sixth. Jeff Francoeur greeted reliever Nate Jones with an RBI double down the right-field line to put the Royals ahead. Eric Homer gave Kansas City a 5-3 lead with a sacrifice fly.Liriano has walked 15 batters in his last 14 innings. It was his third straight start that he couldn’t record an out after the fifth inning.After a leadoff single by Dayan Viciedo in the sixth, Ramirez tied the game 5-5 with his ninth homer of the season.Liriano was tagged for five runs and six hits with four walks in five innings.Mendoza didn’t fare much better. He was pulled after allowing five runs and 10 hits in 5 1-3 innings.

NOTES—Dunn (strained right oblique) was out after missing two games due to the same injury. Ventura said he hopes Dunn can return Saturday or Sunday. .. Youkilis left the team to be with his wife, who is expecting to give birth to their first child. Ventura said he hopes Youkilis returns this weekend. …Gavin Floyd (right elbow flexor strain) threw sliders, changeups and fastballs in a 55-pitch bullpen session Thursday. He plans on throwing curveballs in another session on Sunday and hopes to rejoin the White Sox rotation soon after. … Gordon set a career-high with his 46th double in the third inning.