Missouri’s all-time leading receiver is now a member of the Chicago Bears. Chicago took Jefferson City native, Justin Gage, in the fifth round of last weekends NFL Draft. In his time at Mizzou Gage set eight season and career school receiving records. But Gage’s exploits at Missouri also set conference marks as well. His 200 catches for 2,704 yards and 18 touchdowns was the best ever in the history of the Big 12. He was a Big 12 first-team selection each of his last two seasons. Now he joins a Chicago Bears team that was 24th in the league in receiving in 2003 averaging just 207.3 yards in the air last season. Marty Booker was the team’s only standout, catching 91 passes. Bears GM Jerry Angelo said he hoped Gage and fellow draftee Dobby Wade of Arizona push the starters in training camp. Gage is one of four former Tigers to hook up with NFL teams this week. Fellow Jeff City graduate, Kirk Farmer signed a free agent deal with the Rams, defensive tackle Keith Wright was taken in the sixth round by the Texans and defensive back Taurus Ferguson signed went the free agent route with the Raiders.

The Cardinals were 2-4 on their latest road trip and that required a 20-inning game. They came home and unleashed their frustrations on the Mets with a 13-3 win at Busch Stadium. St. Louis jumped all over Mets starter Al Leiter, taking a 4-0 lead in the first. Albert Pujols, Edgar Renteria and Scott Rolen drove in runs with doubles in the inning. Rolen and Renteria finished with four RBI’s apiece. Pitcher Matt Morris went six strong innings to get his second win of the season allowing two runs off five hits, two walks and five strikeouts. The Cardinals remained two games behind the first-place Cubs who beat Giants 4-2.

Does a two game losing streak constitute a slump? For the Kansas City Royals in 2003 it does. They dropped their second straight with a 7-2 loss at Boston. The Royals took a 2-0 lead with Carlos Beltran’s inside the park homer in the thid and Mike DiFelice’s tradtional round-tripper in the fourth. But starter Chris George allowed a run in the fifth and three more in the sixth to surrender the lead. The Red Sox piled on with three more in the bottom of the ninth to put it out of reach. George, who dropped to 3-2 on the season lasted 5 1/3 innings, was charged with three earned runs to get the loss. Tim Wakefield went six for the Sox to get his third win of the season. Tonight’s game has been moved one hour from 5:05 local time to 6:05.

At T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O’Fallon the sound of wood hitting the bat was heard. Saint Louis and Mizzou played their fourth annual Wooden Bat game. The Tigers liked it, while the Billikens are probably ready for their trusty aluminum bats. Mizzou took the game 6-0. Junior Danny Hill threw 7 1/3 innings of shut out ball to get the win. A four-run third inning put the Tigers on top. Kyle Johnson’s two-run homer in the eighth made it 6-0. Mizzou improved to 29-15 on the season, while the Billikens dropped to 15-24. It was MU’s 14th straight win over SLU.