St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Chris Carpenter delivers a pitch to the Cincinnati Reds. UPI/Bill Greenblatt

The Red cannot figure out Chris Carpenter. In the final meeting between the division rivals, the Cardinals were able to cut into Cincinnati’s lead by a game after a 4-2 series win on Sunday at Busch Stadium. Carpenter has won his last ten decisions against the Reds.

The Cards got a timely blast from Matt Holliday in the sixth inning which put the Cardinals on top. With two outs, Albert Pujols was walked intentionally and Holliday homered off Reds starter Homer Bailey, his 25th of the year.

As far as Carpenter, he struck out a season high 11 batters in 7.1 innings. This season, Carpenter is 5-0 with a 1.78 ERA against the Reds. This was the final meeting of the season between these two teams as the Cardinals look to cut into their seven game deficit in the Central Division with 28 games to play.

Alex Gordon homered and Kyle Davies pitched six innings while Joakim Soria shut the door again in the ninth as the Royals beat the Detroit Tigers Sunday afternoon 2-1. Davies has struggled against Detroit at “The K,” but the right-hander got the best of them in the series finale.

Davies gave up just one run on three hits, while walking three and striking out four. His lone mistake was a solo homer to Casper Wells in the fifth. In the bottom of the sixth, Alex Gordon hit the first pitch he saw from relief pitcher Brad Thomas.

Joakim Soria pitched his 30th consecutive save finishing off a good outing from Davies and middle relief.

Ameren UE pledges to put $5 million toward energy assistance programs for its customers over the next year.

Tim Fox with Ameren UE says the first $1 million will be for the company’s existing ‘Dollar More’ program. Ameren will use that to match dollars that are donated to the program by customers who want to lend a hand to others who are having trouble paying their bills.

“The customer calls us and says they’re having a problem paying their bill. Then we will locate a Dollar More agency near them and put them in touch. Then the agency does the job of verifying eligibility and dispersing the funds,” Fox said.

Historically, customers have donated about $700,000 a year to the program. The United Way works with about 40 human service agencies in the state to distribute the funds. Customers in need can call Ameren at 1-800-552-7583 or call the United Way’s 2-1-1 hotline. Fox says Ameren UE anticipates a huge increase in need.

“What’s happened, especially this summer with the extreme heat, is it’s really driven the need up greatly. I was talking with a woman from United Way and she said that they’ve been getting about 1,100 calls a day,” Fox said.

Fox says the other $4 million that w will be put toward programs that haven’t been completely developed yet. He expects the announcements for those in the coming months.

“All I can say is we are trying to reach a broader base of customers. So as the programs are developed we’ll be looking at ways of reaching other customer groups,” Fox said.

He says many customers are in need of this type of assistance for the first time due to the tight economy, or in some cases, layoffs. Those are the types of people Fox says they want to include.

“In the past we’ve rolled out programs like one we called Clean Slate, which literally wiped customers’ past due balance clean. I think that program ended up totaling about $5 million when all was said and done, we did a couple of different installments of it. It’s a significant commitment and we’re hoping to help some people out,” Fox said.

Ameren UE says the money for these donations come from shareholder funds, not from money customers pay for service.

AUDIO: Ryan Famuliner reports [1 min MP3]

He had been there four years earlier and had noted it would be a good place for a fort and trading post.  Now it was 1808 and he stood again on the bluff, seventy feet above the Missouri River.  Yes, he thought, the fort should go here. He was William Clark and was carrying out the thoughts of Thomas Jefferson, who wanted to see a trading post or fort established along the Missouri River to protect the whites and make peace with the Indians.

AUDIO

Missouri Tigers quarterback Blaine Gabbert throws the football in the first quarter against the Illinois Illini. UPI/Bill Greenblatt

It was a tale of two halves for the Missouri Tigers in their 23-13 win over Illinois in the sixth and final matchup of the current Arch Rivarly.  (Click here for postgame video)

Mizzou just looked a bit out of rhythm in the first half, maybe a little sluggish? Illinois came out strong and were using a strong running attack behind first year starter and former Rockhurst standout Nathan Scheelhaase. However, in the second half the defense forced three turnovers and the Tigers outgained Illinois 262-85 in the second half as MU turned a 10 point deficit into a 10 point win.

Blaine Gabbert postgame comments

Blaine Gabbert finished 34-48 for 281 yards with two TDs and one INT.  T.J. Moe caught 13 passes for 101 yards and De’Vion Moore led Mizzou with 82 yards rushing as the Tigers finished with 122 as a team.

T.J. Moe’s postgame comments

Defensively, the Tigers came up with three interceptions and Aldon Smith recorded two sacks.  Smith led the team with 10 tackles with three tackles for loss.  Andrew Gachkar had two pass breakups and he forced Scheelhaase to fumble in the first half after Gabbert’s turnover.

Andrew Gachkar’s postgame comments

1st quarter highlights

The key to Illinois’ first drive came when the Illini got flagged for a false start on a 3rd and 6, but Tiger DE Jacquies Smith hit quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase after the whistle and got flagged for a late hit giving Illinois a first down when it could have been 3rd and 11. The Tigers held Illinois out of the end zone after Illinois had a first and goal, holding Illinois to three points. After the Tigers started the game with a three and out, Illinois churned out a 9:14 drive covering 17 plays, 64 yards.

On Missouri’s second drive, Blaine Gabbert connected on a third down conversion, a 14 yard completion to Jarrell Jackson and then a 19 yard catch and run from Wes Kemp to put Mizzou into Illinois territory. However, two plays later, Gabbert cough up the ball on a keeper giving the Illini the ball back at their 35 with 2:59 to play in the first quarter. Missouri’s defense came up big when Scheelhaase got popped by Andrew Gachkar running for a first down and coughed up the ball giving Mizzou the ball back at their 47.

2nd quarter highlights

On first and ten from the 27, on the second play of the quarter, Gabbert was chased out of the pocket and had Jackson open in the end zone and a flag was thrown for pass interference, but instead Jackson stepped out of bounds earlier and became ineligible, negating a 15 yard penalty.

Two plays later, Grant Ressel, who struggled this fall camp with FG kicking, missed wide right on a 37 yard field goal attempt. After the missed attempt, Scheelhaase’s first deep pass was way off the mark and Jasper Simmons came up with an easy INT giving the ball right back to Mizzou.

Tailback De’Vion Moore saw his first action and had three carries for 15 yards. Then, freshmen Henry Josey picked up 10 yards on his first collegiate run. The Tigers were looking to establish their run game. When Gabbert did throw on third down, he went to TJ Moe twice who came up with first down catches. Moe finished the first half as Mizzou’s top receiver brining in six passes for 52 yards. The Tigers got on the board when Ressel made good from 33 yards capping a 12 plays, 45 yards in 5:26 to tie the game 3-3.

On Illinois’ next possession, tailback Mikel Leshoure peeled off a 42 yard run. On a third and ten following that long run, MU cornerback Kip Edwards was flagged with a pass interference penalty. Illinois made good from there connecting on a 12 yard touchdown pass from Scheelhaase to A.J. Jenkins making the score 10-3 Illinois with 2:10 to play in the first quarter. The drive covered 82 yards in 8 plays in 4:46.

As Mizzou went into their two minute offense, Kemp dropped a wide open pass at the Illinois 30 and Gabbert got dumped for a 14 yard sack with :52 to play in the half and Mizzou had to punt the ball away. With :18 left, Scheelhaase rattled off a 20 yard run, setting up a 52 yard kick from Ryan Dimpke as time expired to give Illinios a 13-3 halftime lead. The Tigers were outgained 196-137.

3rd quarter highlights

Missouri looked a little more inspired in the 2nd half. DE Aldon Smith picked up his second sack forcing Illinois to punt and theTigers moved down the field from their 23 with the efficiency we’ve gotten use to seeing. Michael Egnew had three catches and De’Vion Moore ripped off a 21 yard run. (MU had just 23 net rushing yards in the first half). On third down, Gabbert was flushed out of the pocket. Rolling to his left he lofted a pass for the back of the end zone where TJ Moe got his feet down inbounds for a seven yard touchdown to pull the Tigers to within 13-10 with 9:38 to play in the third. The drive covered 77 yards in 10 plays.

After Illinois’ second three and out of the half, Moore ran 13 yards thanks to a big block from Jackson. Kemp then somehow got called for offensive interference while making a one handed catch, but he rebounded with a 14 yard catch. A penalty and two negative yardage plays on screen passes to Moe killed the drive. Mizzou outgains Illinois 147-12.

4th quarter highlights

T.J. Moe’s 26 yard completion burning Illinois’ Nate Bussey who demolished Moe on back to back screen passes in the third quarter. That gave Missouri a first down at the Illini 12. On third down, Gabbert found Egnew on a six yard toss to put MU up 17-13. With 13:26 to play, Moe had 12 catches for 94 yards and a score.

On Illinois’ first pass, Scheelhaase was picked off by Carl Gettis, pulling the ball down with one hand, but MU had to punt after taking over at the Illinois 43. Gettis then came up with a huge special teams play downing Matt Grabner’s 39 yard punt inside the one.

The back breaker came on a third down scramble by Blaine Gabbert who ran to his right and threw back across his body to complete an 11 yard pass to Rolandis Woodland. The Tigers turned that first down into three more points on a 27 yard field goal from Ressel to put MU up 20-13 with 7:21 to play.

Mikel Leshoure broke off a 26 yard run to give Illinois the ball at the Mizzou 42 yard line with under seven minutes to play. Scheelhaase was picked off for the third time of the game, this time Kenji Jackson coming up with the pick, but Mizzou gets hammered with a block below the waist and unsportsmanlike conduct. Instead of Missouri taking over at the Illinois 22 after the run back, MU got the ball at their 25 with 5:40 to play.

Bill’s top tweets. Make sure you follow every Mizzou game at twitter.com/missourisports.

Illinois will have to go 99 1/2 yards if they want to take the lead. Gettis downs Grabner’s 39 yd punt inside the one yard line.

Mizzou outgains Illinois 147-12 in the third quarter.

End of 3rd qtr. Illinois up 13-10. 58,060 in attendance…lowest in the six game Arch Rivalry series…off 4,700 fans from the average.

Scheelhaase getting his back and throwing elbow rubbed down with BenGay on the Illini sideline…do they even have BenGay anymore?

Did Mizzou think this game kicked off at 1:30 instead of 11:30? Defense with two stops in the 3rd qtr, now offense takes over at their 37.

Gabbert rolls out and find TJ Moe in the back of the endzone…great tiptoe catch. Mizzou trails 13-10. 9:38 to go in the third

Cincinnati starting pitcher Travis Wood pitched seven strong innings and hit his first career homer to lead the Reds to a 6-1 win against Adam Wainwright and the St. Louis Cardinals. Wainwright failed for the fourth start in a row to get his 18th win.

Wainwright (17-10) pitched five innings giving up five runs, two earned, and seven hits. Waino is 0-4 with a 4.88 ERA in his last four tries.

The Reds scored three unearned runs after St. Louis second baseman Aaron Miles booted a potential double-play grounder with one out in the first. Ramon Hernandez drove in Orlando Cabrera with a bases-loaded grounder and Jonny Gomes added a two-run double.  Then Wood hit his homer with two out in the fourth and Joey Votto singled in a run in the ninth to run his NL-best total to 98 RBIs, passing Albert Pujols for the lead. 

Cincinnati has won 15 of its last 20 games since dropping three in a row to St. Louis in early August.  Meanwhile the Cardinals are 6-14 after that sweep.

Rams’ head coach Steve Spagnuolo made the announcement official on Saturday afternoon. Sam Bradford, the overall number one pick in the NFL draft will start the season as the number one quarterback when the Rams take on Arizona.

“I know how important this is to you and the whole fan base, so let me…I’ve really got two things I want to hit you with. One is that the three quarterbacks that will be on our football team are (Sam) Bradford, A.J. Feeley, and Thad Lewis, so that you know that,” said Spags. “I did talk to the quarterbacks this morning, and visited with the team. We will start Sam Bradford against Arizona this week. We’re confident, the staff’s confident, the team’s confident. It’s well-deserved. He deserves this opportunity.”

They’d been good friends once but now one of them was backing down a hallway trying to get his pistol out of his vest pocket while the other pursued him step by step, pistol drawn, determined to inflict punishment for some heated words. Five shots were fired. One man fell to the floor badly wounded.  Another tumbled down a stairway. One man later became the president of the United States; the other became a great senator. They were both willing to throw away that future in this shootout.

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Former Missouri Tiger quarterback Chase Daniel has won the backup quarterback’s role in New Orleans behind Drew Brees. After his record setting career at Mizzou, Daniel was originally signed by Washington as an undrafted free agent in 2009. Daniel was then signed by the Saints following training camp and split time between the practice squad and active roster, working with the scout team. Daniel was the third string quarterback when the Saints won their Super Bowl last season.

The Saint Louis volleyball team fell to Creighton 22-25, 18-25, 21-25 in its home opener at Chaifetz Arena on Friday evening. Despite 11 serving errors by the Bluejays, the Billiken offense struggled in its first match of the Marcia E. Hamilton Active Ankle Challenge.

The Billikens were the first team to gain a significant advantage in the opening set. With Andrea Beaty at the service line, SLU put together a 6-0 run. Carly Marcum’s kill knotted the score at 4-4 before a Bluejay hitting error and a Beaty service ace put the Bills up 6-4. Megan Boken added back-to-back kills before another hitting error by Creighton completed the spurt.

The Bluejays responded with a 5-0 run to pull even at 9-9. Saint Louis was down 11-10 when a CU serving error kicked off a four-point run, which included an Ashely Gaillot ace and a kill from Alyssa Deno. The Billikens held onto a two to three-point lead until the Bluejays came storming back with a 4-0 charge to move ahead 20-18. SLU got as close as one point on two occasions but was never able to pull even.

Set two got away from the Billikens quickly as Creighton raced out to a 6-0 lead powered by three kills from Alicia Runge. A kill from Marcum and a Bluejay hitting error got SLU on the board. Saint Louis managed to stay within four points before CU broke away. Creighton’s advantage grew as large as eight points in set two. The Bills had just six kills in the second set along with five hitting errors.

In the third set, the teams endured 11 ties before either squad led by more than two points. A Boken kill broke a 15-15 stalemate and the Bills earned their largest lead of the set when a Creighton hitting error was followed by an ace by Beaty to make it 18-15. A double block by the Bluejays halted the rally before Hannah Kvitle recorded a kill to keep the margin at 19-16.

But Creighton scored the next seven points to take control of the set. Neither team hit well in the third set with the BIllikens managing just eight kills to go with 10 errors and Creighton posting 11 kills and nine errors.

Deno recorded a team-high seven kills to go with a career-high 15 digs. Boken chipped in six kills and a team-best 16 digs, while Marcum tallied five kills and a career-best four blocks. Kvitle dished out 23 assists, while Andrea Bolt and Beaty added 12 and 10 digs, respectively. Runge led all players with 15 kills, while Karisa Almgren added 12 kills.

Megan Bober finished with a double-double of 37 assists and 11 digs. Meanwhile, Nayka Benitez registered a match-high 18 digs and Savannah Smith put up a match-best seven blocks.

In the tournament opener, Wake Forest downed Iowa 25-19, 25-18, 21-25, 25-22. Kadija Fornah led the Demon Deacons with a match-high 17 kills and completed a double-double with 11 digs. Rachael Bedell paced the Hawkeyes with 12 kills, while Mallory Husz added 11.

SLU returns to action this morning at 9:30 against Wake Forest.