The Class B7 American Legion Senior District Tournament begins Friday in Gering.  Chadron is the top seed and will open the tournament at Oregon Trail Park.  below is a look at the weekend schedule and link to the tournament bracket.

B7 Senior Legion Baseball District Tournament

Oregon Trail Park – Gering, NE

Friday – 12:30 – #1 Chadron vs. #6 Morrill
Friday – 4:00 – #3 Alliance vs. #4 Ogallala
Friday – 7:30 – #2 Gering vs. #5 Sidney

Saturday – 12:30 – CHD/MOR Loser vs. GER/SID Loser
Saturday – 4:00 – CHD/MOR Winner vs. ALL/OGA Loser
Saturday – 7:30 – GER/SID Winner vs. ALL/OGA Winner

Sunday – 2:00 – Semifinals
Sunday – 5:30 – Loser’s Bracket Game 2
Sunday – Additional Games Possible based on Tournament Outcome

 

B7 District Bracket and Results Link: B7 Tournament

Carlos Gonzalez lined a two-run double for his first extra-base hit in nearly a month, Gerardo Parra reached base five times , scoring three runs, and the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 9-7 on Tuesday night.

Mark Reynolds added a three-run homer in the first for the Rockies, who have won three in a row. It was also win No. 1,000 for Colorado at Coors Field.

Antonio Senzatela (10-3) regrouped from an erratic start to allow four runs, three earned, over five innings. His 10 wins are the most among rookies in the majors this season.

Greg Holland struck out the side in the ninth for his major league-leading 30th save.

It wasn’t exactly a memorable 25th birthday for Padres starter Dinelson Lamet (3-4) as he surrendered six runs, five earned, in four innings.

 

Nicholas Castellanos homered twice and drove in five runs, Detroit scored five times in the second inning and the Tigers cruised from there to a 9-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night.

After trading slugger J.D. Martinez to Arizona for a package of prospects before the game, the Tigers proved they didn’t need him in the lineup — at least for one night — to win their fourth straight game.

Castellanos also tripled to finish a double shy of the cycle. Victor Martinez drove in a pair of runs, and the Tigers, who began selling ahead of the July 31 trade deadline, still managed to give fill-in starter Matt Boyd (3-5) plenty of support in his return from the minors.

 

Elsewhere in the major leagues:

Hanley Ramirez hit drive out of Fenway Park in the 15th inning, giving the Boston Red Sox a 5-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in a rain-delayed game that ended at 1:09 a.m. Wednesday. Ramirez connected for his 15th homer with one out off Mike Bolsinger (0-3), sending a drive over the left-field wall against the Blue Jays’ eighth pitcher. Hector Velazquez (2-1), Boston’s fifth pitcher, got the win.

Adeiny Hechavarria and Shane Peterson hit consecutive two-out RBI singles off closer Santiago Casilla in the ninth inning and Tampa Bay rallied to beat the Oakland Athletics 4-3 Tuesday night. The win kept the Rays two games behind Boston in the AL East — the closest they’ve been to the top since Aug. 26, 2013.

Conor Gillaspie celebrated his 30th birthday by delivering a big hit for the San Francisco Giants. Gillaspie started the winning rally in the 10th inning with a pinch-hit double and Eduardo Nunez ended it with an RBI single that helped the Giants snap a three-game losing streak by beating the Cleveland Indians 2-1 Tuesday night.

Bryce Harper hit a long, impressive homer over Mike Trout’s head the first inning. A few minutes later, Trout hit a homer of similar length and impressiveness. About three hours after that, the Washington Nationals finished off another win, beating the Los Angeles Angels 4-3. It was the Nationals’ sixth straight victory.

Willson Contreras hit a three-run homer, John Lackey earned his first win in a month and the Cubs won their fifth straight game with a 5-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves Tuesday night. Rain delayed the start of the game for 2 hours, 30 minutes.

Chris Herrmann capped a six-run fifth inning with a two-run homer, and the Arizona Diamondbacks slugged their way past the Cincinnati Reds 11-2 shortly after trading for slugger J.D. Martinez. Rey Fuentes added a pinch-hit, three-run shot in the seventh, All-Star outfielder Jake Lamb had a two-run triple and Arizona ended a five-game skid by tying a season high with nine extra-base hits — one from each spot in the order.

Clayton Kershaw pitched seven scoreless innings for his major league-leading 15th victory and the Los Angeles Dodgers edged the Chicago White Sox 1-0 for their 10th straight victory. Kershaw (15-2) made his first start since the All-Star break, scattering seven hits and a walk to post his 11th win in a row.

— Evan Gattis homered twice to back up a solid start by Brad Peacock and help the Houston Astros to a 6-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners. Gattis hit solo shots in the second and sixth innings off Sam Gaviglio (3-5) for the eighth multihomer game of his career.

Bartolo Colon faltered in the fifth inning after a decent start and his Minnesota debut ended with a two-run double by Gary Sanchez. That sent the New York Yankees on their way to a 6-3 victory over the Twins. Making his 514th major league start after joining his 10th Major League team, the 44-year-old Colon allowed eight hits and four runs with no walks and three strikeouts.

Francisco Cervelli and Josh Harrison homered during a sixth-inning rally and the streaking Pittsburgh Pirates welcomed outfielder Starling Marte back with a 4-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night. Ivan Nova (10-6) survived six innings to get the win. Felipe Rivero got the save. Marte went 1 for 3 in his return from an 80-game suspension for violating the performance-enhancing drug policy.

Michael Wacha threw a three-hitter for his first career shutout, Matt Carpenter had four hits, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Mets 5-0 Tuesday night. Wacha had eight strikeouts, one walk and faced four hitters above the minimum. He has won his last four starts and improved to 7-3. The Mets committed three errors and have lost three straight and eight of 11.

Chris Davis homered in a six-run first inning, added a grand slam in the fourth and finished with a career-high six RBIs to help the Baltimore Orioles breeze past the Texas Rangers 12-1. It was the 19th career multihomer game for Davis, making his fifth start since coming off the disabled list with an oblique strain.

Maikel Franco had three hits, including a tie-breaking home run in the eighth inning, to help lift the Philadelphia Phillies to a 5-2 victory over the Miami Marlins. National League home run leader Giancarlo Stanton hit his 29th for the Marlins, who have lost four of five. Cameron Perkins drove in two runs for the Phillies and Pat Neshek (3-2) pitched a scoreless seventh for the victory.

 

Yankees, Diamondbacks make big trades

The New York Yankees have acquired infielder Todd Frazier and relievers David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle from the Chicago White Sox for reliever Tyler Clippard and three prospects.

The deal was announced Tuesday night, less than two weeks before the nonwaiver trade deadline.

The Yankees are aiming for a playoff run, while the White Sox made their second big trade in a week — last Thursday, they sent ace Jose Quintana to the crosstown Cubs for four minor leaguers.

 

Meanwhile, the Arizona Diamondbacks acquired star outfielder J.D. Martinez from the Detroit Tigers for a package of prospects, hoping to solidify a trouble spot while making a run toward the playoffs. The 29-year-old Martinez is hitting .305 with 16 home runs and 39 RBIs.

Detroit received Double-A infielder Dawel Lugo, switch-hitting infield prospect Sergio Alcantara and shortstop Jose King in the deal Tuesday. Lugo is regarded as the Diamondbacks’ No. 2 overall prospect.

Arizona holds the top spot in the NL wild-card race despite problems in left field this season. The Diamondbacks trail NL West-leading Los Angeles by 10 ½ games.

The Alliance Spartans are a win away from the championship series in Nebraska City at State Legion Baseball.

Alliance handed Auburn a robust 9-2 defeat to knock Auburn out Monday afternoon setting up this afternoon’s showdown with Springfield at 4:00.  The Spartans are now guaranteed no worse than fourth at Junior’s State.

Alliance hammered out 17 hits including five doubles and broke open a 1-0 game in the fifth inning with three runs to take a 4-0 lead. Six different Spartans drove in a run and Trevor Dubray pitched a complete game with six strikeouts for the win.

Waverly beat Springfield 7-2 to advance and will play Bennington tonight (Tuesday) in the semis.

The Alliance – Springfield Game will be carried live on AM 1400, KCOW Tuesday at 4:00 Mountain Time and streamed live on panhandlepost.com.

If the Spartans win they’ll get the winner of tonight’s game in the finals tomorrow.  Having lost once in the tournament, Alliance would have to win twice Wednesday to be crowned State champs.

Charlie Blackmon’s fourth leadoff homer of the season hit the facing of the third deck, hard-throwing rookie German Marquez tied a career-high with nine strikeouts and the scuffling Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 9-6. Trevor Story added a two-run double as part of a five-run third to help the Rockies win back-to-back games for the first time in nearly a month.

 

Gregory Polanco doubled twice, drove in two runs and threw out a potential go-ahead run at the plate to lead the surging Pittsburgh Pirates to a 4-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night. Polanco finished 4 for 4 and is hitting .446 this month. Francisco Cervelli added two hits for the Pirates, who pulled within six games of the first-place Brewers.  Brewers catcher Stephen Vogt left the game in the fifth inning after a collision with Pirates pitcher Chad Kuhl at the plate. Vogt caught an incidental elbow to the head from Kuhl, and both players were down for several minutes. Kuhl remained in the game, but Vogt had to be helped to his feet and left to be evaluated for a neck strain and left knee strain. Vogt held onto the ball and Kuhl was called out.

 

Josh Tomlin struck out five and pitched into the eighth inning to win back-to-back starts for the first time this year, and the Cleveland Indians capitalized on two costly errors to rally and beat the San Francisco Giants 5-3. Tomlin allowed six hits and three runs without walking a batter in 7 1/3 innings. Cleveland snapped a season-high four-game skid with its first victory against the Giants in the last seven tries.

 

Jake Odorizzi and two relievers combined on a two-hitter, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Oakland Athletics 3-2. Steven Souza hit his 19th home run, Evan Longoria also went deep and reached base three times while Adeiny Hechavarria added two hits for the Rays, who won for the third time in four games since the All-Star break.

 

Paul DeJong homered against the New York Mets for the fourth straight game and Adam Wainwright hit an RBI double while winning his fourth consecutive start, sending the St. Louis Cardinals to a 6-3 victory. Tommy Pham capped a six-run sixth with a three-run homer.

 

Ryan Zimmerman set the Nationals’ career home run record with a solo shot, and Bryce Harper connected again on Monday as Washington powered its way to a 6-1 victory for a four-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds. Zimmerman’s 235th career homer moved him ahead of Vladimir Guerrero for most in Expos and Nationals history.

 

Giancarlo Stanton homered twice and Dee Gordon hit an RBI single with two outs in the 10th inning that sent the Miami Marlins over the Philadelphia Phillies 6-5. Justin Bour also homered for the Marlins, who ended a three-game losing streak. Philadelphia has dropped eight of 10.

 

Eddie Rosario had two RBI doubles and Eduardo Escobar added the go-ahead, pinch-hit single in the eighth inning to help the Minnesota Twins to a 4-2 victory over the New York Yankees. Brian Dozier had two hits and Adalberto Mejia gave up one run and struck out four in 5 1/3 innings for the Twins. Yankees star slugger Aaron Judge went 0 for 3 with an intentional walk and is 1 for 21 since his electric performance in the All-Star Home Run Derby.

 

Steve Pearce hit a solo homer, then added the go-ahead single in the eighth inning in Toronto’s 4-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox. The Blue Jays led 3-0 after two innings but Boston scored three in the seventh, tying it when Dustin Pedroia hit Dominic Leone’s only pitch off the Green Monster to tie it. One run scored, and Mookie Betts was thrown out at the plate. Toronto went back in front in the eighth when Pearce singled to score pinch-runner Ezequiel Carrera from third.

 

Seth Smith hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning, and the Baltimore Orioles used a strong performance by its struggling pitching staff to beat the Texas Rangers 3-1. Chris Tillman allowed one run and two hits over six innings for the Orioles.

 

Kyle Seager and Danny Valencia hit back-to-back homers in the 10th inning to lift the Seattle Mariners to a 9-7 win over the Houston Astros. The wild back and forth game was tied at 7-7 entering the 10th when Seager, who finished with three hits, connected off Tony Sipp on a shot to the seats in right field. Valencia added an insurance run when he launched a slider to center field three pitches later.

 

Nicholas Castellanos and Mikie Mahtook went deep, Jordan Zimmermann smothered the Royals with strikes and the Detroit Tigers proceeded to trounce Kansas City 10-2 to open a four-game series. Ian Kinsler added three extra-base hits for the Tigers, who knocked American League wins leader Jason Vargas from the game after 2 2/3 innings in his first start since the All-Star break.

 

Jon Lester bounced back from the shortest start of his career by allowing only one run in seven innings and Chicago stopped Atlanta’s ninth-inning comeback to give the Cubs a 4-3 win over the Braves.

Ian Desmond provided an instant spark for the slumping Rockies in his return from the disabled list, and Nolan Arenado hit one of Colorado’s three homers Sunday during a 13-4 rout of Steven Matz and the New York Mets. Charlie Blackmon was credited with an inside-the-park home run and Gerardo Parra also went deep to help the Rockies win for only the sixth time in 21 games. Despite the recent slide, Colorado began the day with a five and a half-game lead in the race for the second NL wild card.

 

It’s hard to believe the Los Angeles Dodgers were a second-place ballclub six weeks ago. They now own baseball’s best record and are threatening to run away with the National League West.

Justin Turner hit a first-inning homer and the Dodgers earned their ninth consecutive win by holding off the Marlins, 3-2 in Miami. Turner also hit a sacrifice fly and raised his batting average to .374 while helping Los Angeles move 35 games over .500 for the first time since 1977.

Rich Hill combined with four relievers to record 16 strikeouts and no walks. Kenley Jansen worked out of an eighth-inning jam before nailing down his 23rd save.

The Dodgers have compiled a major league-leading 11 series sweeps and have won 29 of their last 33 to improve to 64-29, 10 1/2 games ahead of Arizona in the NL West.

 

The Diamondbacks absorbed their fifth straight loss and 11th in 14 games as Matt Kemp’s three-run blast powered the Braves to a 7-1 win and a three-game sweep of Arizona. Brandon Phillips doubled three times and Jaime Garcia worked seven strong innings to help Atlanta reach the .500 mark for the first time since April 17. The Braves reached Zack Godley for seven runs over six innings and stayed 9 1/2 games behind the NL East-leading Nationals.

 

Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox split a pair with the New York Yankees.

CC Sabathia looked sharp as the Yankees took the opener, 3-0. Sabathia limited Boston to a pair of hits over six innings as the Yanks stretched the Bosox’s scoreless streak to 22 innings since Saturday’s 16-inning marathon at Fenway Park. Didi Gregorius hit a solo homer for the Bombers.

Boston’s shutout streak ended at 24 innings when Mookie Betts slammed a two-run homer in the bottom of the third to lead a 3-0 shutout of New York. David Price avoided his usual troubles with the Yankees, allowing seven hits and no walks while striking out eight over eight innings.

Boston now tops the AL East by three games over Tampa Bay and 3 ½ games over the Yanks.

Elsewhere in the majors:

— The Cubs completed a three-game sweep and pulled within 4 1/2 games of the NL Central lead by routing the Orioles, 8-0. Jose Quintana was outstanding in his Cubs debut as he three-hit the Birds while striking out a season-high 12 over seven innings. Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo homered for Chicago, which finished with 10 round-trippers in the series and moved over .500 for the first time since June 29.

— The Phillies trimmed Milwaukee’s lead in the NL Central as Nick Williams launched a grand slam in the sixth inning to lead a 5-2 triumph over the Brewers. Four relievers combined to shut out the Brewers over the final four innings escaping jams in the eighth and ninth when Milwaukee had the potential tying run at the plate.

— The Rays lost a half-game to Boston in the AL East standings after pinch hitter C.J. Cron connected for a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the eighth inning of the Angels’ 4-3 verdict over Tampa Bay. Cron’s blast came one inning after Logan Morrison hit his 26th homer, a two-run drive that tied it in the seventh. The Rays scored once in the ninth and loaded the bases with one out before Bud Norris got Tim Beckham to ground into a double play.

— The Athletics completed a three-game sweep by chasing Trevor Bauer in the first inning of a 7-3 win against the Indians. Ryon Healy and Jaycob Brugman hit two-run singles in the first off Bauer, who struck out a career-high 14 over seven innings of his previous start against Oakland on May 30. Matt Joyce had three hits and two RBIs against the sputtering Indians, losers four straight.

— Lorenzo Cain delivered a sun-aided, RBI single with two out in the bottom of the ninth to lift the Royals past the Rangers, 4-3. Cain’s routine fly ball became the game-winning hit after outfielder Shin-Soo Choo lost it in the sun despite wearing shades and shielding his eyes. Kansas City ended a five-game losing streak and climbed within two games of the AL Central lead.

— Mike Fiers struck out a season-high 11 over seven strong innings to pitch Houston past Minnesota, 5-3. The Twins led 3-2 until Nori Aoki hit a two-run double in the fourth to help the Astros take the rubber match of the series. The Twins remain 1 ½ games behind the AL Central-leading Indians, while the Astros pace the AL West by 15 ½ games over Texas.

— The Nationals slammed five home runs and earned their fourth straight win by thumping the Reds, 14-4. Daniel Murphy supplied a pair of round-trippers and five RBIs, while Adam Lind and Jose Lobaton added two-run shots. Anthony Rendon (rehn-DOHN’) also went deep for the Nats, who have homered 10 times in the series heading into the rare Monday wrapround finale.

— Nelson Cruz led off the 10th inning with a solo homer to complete the Mariners’ comeback from a 5-0 deficit in a 7-6 victory over the White Sox. Danny Valencia and Kyle Seager also went deep as Seattle completed a three-game sweep and won its fourth in a row. Chicago wasted two homers by Avisail Garcia.

— The Pirates beat the Cardinals, 4-3 on Adam Frazier’s game-ending single in the bottom of the ninth. St. Louis carried a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth before Jordy Mercer laced an RBI double and scored the winning run. Yadier Molina had put the Redbirds up 3-2 with an eighth inning home run, the first allowed by Juan Nicasio this year.

— Miguel Cabrera worked out a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the 11th to complete the Tigers’ 6-5 win over the Blue Jays. Jose Bautista’s two-run homer put Toronto ahead 5-4 in the fifth, but J.D. Martinez tied the score when he homered on Danny Barnes’ first pitch of the eighth.

— Hector Sanchez and Corey Spangenberg clubbed three-run homers off Jeff Samardzija to highlight the Padres’ 7-1 romp over the Giants. Spangenberg also tripled in the third and scored on Erick Aybar’s double. Samardzija is tied for the National League lead with 11 losses after contributing to the Giants’ sixth setback in seven games.