KANSAS CITY — So many hits. So few runs.

In their most inefficient effort of what’s shaping up to be a third straight 100-loss season, the Kansas City Royals collected 15 hits Sunday, including two home runs. But out of all that they managed to score only four runs.

The surging Oakland Athletics were grateful to escape with a 6-4 victory and get out of town with a split of their four-game series.

“How many double plays did they turn?” Royals manager Buddy Bell asked with a shake of his head.

Three, he was told.

“It seemed like we hit into one every inning.”

Nick Swisher had a two-run home run and Jay Payton a two-run double for the A’s, who have won eight of their past 10 games to stay atop the AL West. Their August record of 14-4 is second-best in the majors behind only the Los Angeles Dodgers.

But it was a bad day for the A’s in one important sense. Earlier Sunday, they put closer Huston Street on the 15-day disabled list with a strained groin muscle he suffered while pitching on Friday night. Huston, whose 29 saves were sixth in the AL, was scheduled for an MRI on today.

“He’s a big part of our team,” said Justin Duchscherer,Inter Milan shirt, who pitched the ninth and gave up Mark Grudzielanek’s inside-the-park home run. “We’re going to miss him. But we can’t do anything about it but go out there and do the best we can when we have to pitch.”

It’s the 14th time the A’s have used the disabled list this year, their most since they also used it 14 times in 1998.

“It’s nice to go out there with all our weapons. We haven’t had that all season,” manager Ken Macha said.

Kirk Saarloos (6-6) survived six shaky innings for his third straight victory. He gave up nine singles, a double and Reggie Sanders’ solo home run. He also had 12 groundball outs.

“When that ball’s down and sinking good, they hit it into the ground,” Macha said.

In a day of frustration for the Royals, Saarloos’ last inning was easily the most exasperating of all.

After Mark Teahen led off with a single and Emil Brown grounded into a double play,Paris Saint Germain shirt, Sanders, Ryan Shealy,Napoli shirt, Paul Bako and Joey Gathright all had solid singles. Sanders scored on Bako’s hit, but then Bako was caught between second and third following Gathright’s single and became an easy putout.

“Five hits in one inning and they only get one run,” Macha said. “A little bit of a baserunning mistake wound up being key there.”

Andres Blanco and David DeJesus then singled leading off the seventh against reliever Joe Kennedy. But Grudzielanek grounded into the Royals’ third double play in three innings and Teahen hit a weak grounder to second,Real Madrid shirt, leaving the Royals with only one run despite getting six straight singles.

“We had them against the ropes a few times but the double plays killed us. Absolutely killed us,” said Grudzielanek, whose inside-the-parker was his first and No. 90 in the Royals 37-year history.

“We had a ground ball pitcher. We were probably a little overly aggressive with him. We should have been a little more selective.”

Runelvys Hernandez (3-8) went 42/3 innings and was charged with four runs and four hits. He walked four and struck out two.

The A’s loaded the bases in the first and got a sacrifice fly from Eric Chavez before Payton’s two-run double. Mark Kotsay’s sacrifice fly made it 4-0 in the third.

Grudzielanek’s ball sliced away from Bradley and then kept rolling along the wall away from him.

Was Grudzielanek thinking home run?

“With my wheels right now, the way I feel? No,” he said.

COLUMBIA – Hickman senior outside hitter Chloe Perkins picked a good night to return to the lineup, but it had nothing to do with Senior Night festivities or simply playing in Hearnes Center.

With the third game’s scored tied at 1-1 between the Kewpies and rival Rock Bridge,Santos shirt, Perkins,Bayern Munich shirt, having missed several games because of injury, helped save Hickman’s point by diving and keeping the ball up with her hand flat on the floor. Fans yelled in surprise, and once Hickman earned the point moments later,South Africa football shirt, its energized team celebrated the loudest it had all night.

“That’s just an awesome play,” Kewpies coach Greg Gunn said. “When you win a rally like that, that’s huge for momentum. Especially when you have an awesome defensive play like that that saves it for you. And then you’re able to convert and win the point, win the rally and keep the momentum. That was huge.”

Hickman won 25-20, 25-15, 25-21, but Rock Bridge coach Beth Newton thinks the closer scores are indicative of her team’s positive direction.

“We’ve improved a lot,” Newton said about her team, which over the past eight games has gone 5-2-1.

Newton was particularly pleased with freshman Nici Thaler and seniors Courtney Darkow and Alex Perry.

“She’s (Perry) a great server,” Newton said. “When she goes back, we know that she can get on a run, and we needed it at that point.”

Perry served for much of Rock Bridge’s rally to a three-point lead midway through the final game.

Hickman senior middle hitter Leslie Gregory noticed, too.

“They were more prepared for us this time,” she said.

Coincidentally, these teams will play each other again at yet another venue,Real Madrid shirt, Tuesday night in Troy. Hickman is the No. 3 seed in the Class 4, District 9 tournament, and Rock Bridge is No. 6.

“It’ll be pretty interesting just to see them again,” Gregory said.

Newton feels the same way.

“We can always buck up and come at ‘em again,” she said.

ST. LOUIS — Motivated by his worst start of the year, Matt Morris was at his best against the San Francisco Giants.

Morris threw a seven-hitter for his seventh career shutout and the St. Louis Cardinals took advantage of Jerome Williams’ wildness for a 6-0 victory on Sunday.

“I needed today,” Morris said. “I wanted to go out there and put my piece in today.”

The Cardinals avoided a sweep after losing the first two games of the three-game series, and beat the Giants for the second time in seven games at home the past two seasons.

The NL Central leaders have won 16 of 20 overall,Peru football shirt, and 13 of 16 at home.

“If we’re lucky,Dortmund shirt, we might see them in the playoffs,” Giants manager Felipe Alou said. “That club there, that will make the playoffs.”

Morris (11-6) threw his 15th career complete game to bounce back from his worst start of the season, when he lasted 1 2/3 innings and gave up seven runs in the Cardinals’ 11-8 comeback victory against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday. He helped himself by inducing double plays to end the fourth, fifth, sixth,Lyon shirt, and ninth, emphasizing his sinker.

Much of this season,Real Madrid shirt, he has relied more on changing speeds.

Please see Cards, page 3B

Former five-star recruit Sheldon Richardson will not practice with Missouri during the first week of fall camp,Real Madrid shirt, according to the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

According to the Post’s Ben Frederickson, Richardson checked into camp Wednesday and has been accepted to MU, but will not practice until the NCAA finalizes his clearance of eligibility.

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The 6-foot-4, 290-pound defensive lineman originally signed with the Tigers out of high school but was forced to enroll first at a junior college in California,AS Roma shirt, The College of the Sequoias.

Missouri’s fall camp opens Thursday, with a 3:45 p.m. practice.

The television inside the Jefferson City Country Club Wednesday featured golfers preparing for today’s Masters Tournament under a warm Georgia sun.

A peek outside the window of the same clubhouse,Villareal shirt, however, displayed high schoolers competing under slightly different conditions. It was a golfer’s worst nightmare: cold weather mixed with gusting winds.

“It was extremely cold,” Hickman junior Nick Wilson said. Though no one blamed the weather completely for poorer scores, many golfers admitted it was a detrimental factor.

“I almost feel like I complain about it too much,” Rock Bridge senior Mark Kollias said. “It’s really not that big of a deal, but I probably let it affect me too much today.”

Rock Bridge coach Doug Daniels said that the elements usually affect golfers more when they play poorly.

“It’s like if you’re a quarterback and you are playing fine in the rain, then it doesn’t bother you. But if you miss a few passes, all the sudden it’s in your head,” Daniels said.

Host Jefferson City appearedleast affected by the weather, finishing first with 161 strokes. Hickman was second,Sevilla shirt, shooting 169. Rock Bridge placed third with 170 strokes, and Helias finished last at 171 strokes. Jefferson City’s Will Nixon shot the best individual score with a 1-under par 35.

Daniels said that the course difficulty was another reason for inflated scores. He said that it is probably the toughest course that his players will see all year.

Hickman ace Chris Johnson agreed.

“This course is so hard, especially when there’s wind. If you’re a little off, you hit it in the trees,l.a.galaxy shirt,” Johnson said. “But there are no excuses. I didn’t play well, anyway.”

Hickman coach Clark Swisher created a positive out of the weather.

“What they have to learn from this is your expectations have to change on a day like today. The weather’s cold, wind’s blowing,Real Madrid shirt, ball’s wet…Your goal should be around 40,” Swisher said.

Wilson was the only golfer under 40 for Hickman or Rock Bridge. He shot a 39 which was 3-over par. Joe Neal, John Treche and Mark Kollias all shot 42 for the Bruins.

The Bruins and Kewpies will likely face the same conditions today as they tee off at 8:30 a.m. at Tanglewood in Fulton.

“This is good for us. We’re going to see who can persevere through this ugliness,” Swisher said.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Washington played without running back Clinton Portis and defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth,Valencia shirt, meanwhile Jacksonville’s starters played most of the first half in a 24-17 triumph Thursday night that prevented a winless preseason for the Jaguars.

Several of the Washington starters stayed in just one series, and the Redskins (1-3) even skipped right over backup quarterback Todd Collins and on the second drive turned things over to rookie Chase Daniel, the former standout quarterback at Missouri.

Daniel, battling Colt Brennan for the third-string job, completed 8 of 16 passes for 85 yards and a touchdown. But he fumbled on Quentin Groves’ sack,Celtic shirt, and Jacksonville (1-3) scored three plays later.

Washington’s first turnover was just as costly. After Josh Scobee’s 23-yard field goal on the opening drive, Anthony Alridge fumbled the ensuing kickoff. Tiquan Underwood scooped it up at the 3-yard line, fell down and then crawled across the goal line for a 10-0 lead.

With most starters on the sideline and quarterbacks switching just about every drive, the Redskins couldn’t find a rhythm. Dropped passes didn’t help. Marko Mitchell dropped one,Villareal shirt, and Antwaan Randle El let a perfectly thrown deep ball from Jason Campbell slip through his fingers.

Campbell completed 4 of 6 passes for 33 yards.

Brennan was 10 of 14 for 83 yards before leaving the game with a hamstring injury.

Washington scored on Shaun Suisham’s 48-yard field goal in the third quarter, Dominique Dorsey’s short TD run in the fourth and Daniel’s 4-yard TD pass Mitchell with 48 seconds left.

Former Missouri basketball player Jon Sundvold, former Missouri football coach Al Onofrio and former Missouri and St. Lois Cardinals football player Mel Gray will be inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in January.

Sundvold, Onofrio and Gray are three of 15 people to be inducted. The Columbia College volleyball program will also be honored.

One of only two players in Big Eight history to play on four consecutive league championship teams, Sundvold played on Missouri teams that had a cumulative record of 100-28.

A guard from Blue Springs, he twice won all-conference, all-district and all-Big Eight Tournament honors, and was an all-American in 1983. Sundvold is one of only four players to have his jersey, No. 20, retired. He played professionally for the Seattle SuperSonics, San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat.

He was a second-team choice on the Big Eight’s all-decade team and was named the MVP of Missouri’s own all-decade team in the 1980s. Sundvold was a 1990 University of Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame inductee.

He owns Sundvold Capital Management in Columbia and often serves as a color commentator on Missouri basketball broadcasts.

In 1971, after spending 12 years as an assistant coach, Albert Joseph Onofrio was named the head football coach at Missouri, a post he held until 1977. While his record hovered at the .500 level, he was noted for having pulled upsets, mainly on the road.

He coached four All-Americans and 30 NFL players. He led Missouri to two bowl games,Inter Milan shirt, in the 1972 Fiesta Bowl, a loss to Arizona State in Tempe, and in the 1973 Sun Bowl, a win over Auburn in El Paso, Texas. A 1993 inductee to the University of Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame, Onofrio died Nov. 5, 2004.

Gray lettered in football and track from 1968-70 at Missouri, earning All-American honors three times in track and All-Big Eight honors in football in 1969, when he caught 25 passes for 705 yards and a school-record nine touchdowns.

Gray was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals, and was an all-pro receiver during a career that lasted from 1971-82. He was chosen to Missouri’s all-century team in 1990.

The Columbia College volleyball team had a record of 167-2 from 1998-2001. Columbia College participated in four straight NAIA National Volleyball championship matches, winning three. Columbia College holds the NAIA record for consecutive home court wins with 126.

Other inductees include: Jim Edmonds, outfielder, St. Louis Cardinals; Emmitt Thomas, cornerback, Kansas City Chiefs; Jamie Quirk, catcher, Kansas City Royals; Mickey Owen, catcher, St. Louis Cardinals; Richard Lehman, sports medicine, St. Louis; Rex Sinquefield, chess, St. Louis; Lawrence Walls, football coach,Juventus shirt, Sumner High School, St. Louis; Jim Pearson, golf/football coach, Kickapoo High School, Springfield; Richard Hantak, NFL official, St. Louis; Ellen Port, golf, St. Louis; Clyde Lear, sports media,Real Madrid shirt, Jefferson City; Gene Ruble,Glasgow Rangers shirt, basketball, Missouri State University; New Haven High School basketball; St. John’s, Springfield.

COLUMBIA The final minutes of Saturday night’s Missouri women’s basketball game was played at a frantic pace. There were full-court presses,Football shirts, turnovers, defensive stands and defensive breakdowns before Nebraska’s last-second halfcourt heave missed its mark and the Tigers escaped with a 67-66 victory.

But there might not have been a busier place at Mizzou Arena in the closing minutes than the scorers table.In the final 1:41, Missouri coach Cindy Stein made 11 substitutions. There was rarely a change of possession where the Tigers didn’t field a different lineup than they did on the one before.

Juniors Marissa Scott and and Toy Richbow spent the most time jogging from the bench to the scorers table. They were subbed in on defensive possessions while junior Jessra Johnson and redshirt freshman Bekah Mills were subbed in when the Tigers had the ball.

Stein said she made so many substitutions for a number of reasons but primarily because of Scott’s versatility,Glasgow Rangers shirt, which enabled the Tigers to put more defensive pressure on the Cornhuskers in the final possessions.

“Marissa can guard anybody on the floor whether it’s a post or a guard,” Stein said. “They’re (Scott and Richbow) very effective in the halfcourt going off on-ball screens, so obviously having her (Scott) play that position so we can switch on them was going to be critical.”

Stein said junior forward Jessra Johnson’s four fouls also played a role in her late-game decision making. She said Johnson’s ability to inbound the ball against a press, which Nebraska used for most of the game, made it crucial that she not foul out. Limiting her defensive possessions prevented that from happening.

Stein admitted changing her lineup so frequently risked ruining her team’s rhythm, and the Tigers hardly finished the game flawlessly. They committed five turnovers in the final 2:23, giving Nebraska a chance to win. But Stein said her reserves were not responsible for that.

“I thought our subs provided good energy,” Stein said.

Even if the substitutions had caused some confusion on Missouri’s side, it also served to manufacture some miscues for the Cornhuskers when they were setting up their press.

“I actually thought their substitutions bothered us a little bit,” Nebraska coach Connie Yori said. “We didn’t get matched-up obviously a few times,Fulham shirt, and they threw it over the top of us some.”

The victory improved the Tigers’ record to 10-6 and 1-2 in Big 12 play. Nebraska fell to 9-7 and 0-3.

The Hickman girls’ track and field team placed seventh out of 22 teams at the Vicki Reeves Invitational in Parkway South on Saturday.

Sarah Hall led the way for the field events. She placed first in the discus and the shot.

Victoria Jackson also had a strong meet,Bordeaux shirt, placing first in the long jump and second in the 100 meters with a time of 12.8 seconds.

Galit Rudelson added a vault of 10 feet to place first.

“Our field events were great today,Juventus shirt, they scored us big points,Sunderland shirt,” coach Stewart Johnson said.

The Mid-Missouri Mavericks met with the Boone County Commissioners Monday afternoon to discuss the team’s proposal for a new privately-funded stadium.

“We made a presentation regarding the possibility of building a new stadium out at the fairgrounds,” Mavericks’ co-owner and president Gary Wendt said. “They couldn’t have been more professional or more receptive.”

Presiding commissioner Keith Schnarre said that he and his fellow commissioners will begin evaluating the proposal at a work session today.

“We have to study it to see if we have any interest or not,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of discussion to do. If we have more interest, we have more talks (with Wendt).”

The presentation outlined the costs for a new stadium at between $5 and $6 million. The figure includes an optional $1 million to be spent on upgrades.

“At least it’s something that doesn’t involve public money, which is better off than other proposals we’ve had in the past,” Schnarre said.

He said he couldn’t answer how likely the proposal was to being approved until initial discussions took place.

Under the plan, the stadium would be completed in time for the 2007 Frontier League season.

“They’re wanting to go pretty fast,South Africa football shirt,” Schnarre said. “Government moves pretty slow.”

Wendt and his brother, Greg, bought the Canton (Ohio) Coyotes of the Frontier League in October 2002,Celtic shirt, then moved the team to Columbia for the 2003 season.

The Wendt group made a deal with MU, signing a five-year lease to play at Taylor Stadium. One provision of the lease allowed the Mavericks to opt out after two years. Staying for a third,Porto shirt, though, meant that the full five-year term would be in effect.

Wendt discussed a privately-funded stadium earlier this month with city officials that included mayor Darwin Hindman and city manager Ray Beck.