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CHRISLEE—ST.LOUISPOST-DISPATCH The St. Louis Cardinals' Jedd Gyorko, right, is congratulated by Matt Carpenter a er hitting a two-run home run Friday against the Oakland Athletics in St. Louis. ByJoeHarris TheAssociatedPress ST.LOUIS JeddGyorkohomeredand Luke Weaver pitched six strong in- nings to earn his first major league win as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Oakland Athletics 3-1 on Friday night. Gyorko's 423-foot shot in the first extended the Cardinals' home run streak to 15 games, the longest ac- tive streak in the majors, and made it 2-0 after just two batters. Weaver (1-1) gave up one run and four hits in a career-high six innings in his home debut for the Cardinals. Five of his seven strikeouts were looking. Cardinals center fielder Randal Grichuk made a diving catch on a sinking drive by Stephen Vogt to end the fifth, and Jhonny Peralta made a sprawling stop at third base and threw out Khris Davis to start the sixth. Yonder Alonso's solo homer in the second inning was the A's only run. Seung Hwan Oh got the last three outs for his 13th save helping the Car- dinals get their first interleague win at home in eight tries this season. Ross Detwiler (1-3) gave up three runs and six hits while striking out six in 5 1/3 innings. The Cardinals capped the scoring in the sixth thanks to alert base run- ning. Brandon Moss read a soft fly perfectly off the bat of Yadier Molina and advanced from first to third as the ball fell beyond the reach of A's second baseman Max Muncy in short center field. Molina then intention- ally got into a run-down on a shal- low fly ball by Peralta, allowing Moss to score. Oakland's Ryon Healy singled in BASEBALL WeaverleadsCardinalsoverA's Alonsohitssolohomerunin2ndinningtoprovide Oakland's only run while Detwiler allows 3 runs CARDINALS3,ATHLETICS1 Up next: Oakland Athletics at St. Louis Cardinals, 4:15p.m. Saturday, TV on CSN-CA. THESCORE By Steve Reed The Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. Tom Brady looked sharp in his preseason de- but, throwing a 33-yard touchdown pass to Chris Hogan in helping the New England Patriots to a 19-17 pre- season win over the Carolina Pan- thers on Friday night. Brady relieved Jimmy Garop- polo late in the first quarter and completed a 37-yard pass to Aaron Dobson on his first play from scrim- mage, leading to a field goal. On his second drive Brady heaved a per- fectly placed over-the-shoulder pass to Hogan down the right sideline for a 9-0 lead. Brady's other two drives failed to produce points. While Brady was on the mark, league MVP Cam Newton struggled mightily in his most extensive play- ing time of the preseason. Newton was intercepted twice and the Pan- thers failed to get any points on his eight first-half possessions. Over- all, the Panthers scored just three points in 10 Newton-led drives. The sixth-year quarterback was high on some passes and didn't get much help from his receivers, who had problems getting separation and dropped four passes, including one by Brenton Bersin on a fourth- and-2 at midfield. New England's defense shut down the league's highest-scoring offense from a year ago. They also intercepted Derek Anderson and allowed only one passing play of NFL PRESEASON BRADY PLAYS WELL, PATS TOP PANTHERS New England's star quarterback throws 33-yard touchdown pass, also leads drive for field goal MIKE MCCARN — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Carolina Panthers' Cam Newton (1) tries to escape the grasp of the New England Patriots' Markus Kuhn (94) during the second half Friday in Charlotte, N.C. BOB LEVERONE — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The New England Patriots' Tom Brady (12) throws a pass under pressure from the Carolina Panthers' Vernon Butler (92) during the first half of a preseason game Friday in Charlotte, N.C. By Rachel Cohen The Associated Press NEW YORK Serena Williams is "starting to feel a little bet- ter." Novak Djokovic is "getting there." The U.S. Open's top seeds in both singles brackets are com- ing off injuries, and neither has played since an early loss at the Olympics. Friday was the first time either had discussed the health problems that stymied them in Rio de Janeiro and forced them to withdraw from the hard-court warmup at Cin- cinnati. For Williams, it's a sore right shoulder that she revealed started bothering her almost immediately after her Wimble- don victory. She said she prac- ticed for just two days before the Olympics and has spent lit- tle time on court since as she un- dergoes physical therapy. For Djokovic, it's a sore left wrist that he revealed he hurt in Rio a few days before his first-round Olympic loss to Juan Martin del Potro, a player who knows plenty about how that injury hinders a righty's two- handed backhand. "I'm just hoping that Monday when the tournament starts I'll be able to get as close to the max- imum of executing my backhand shot as possible," said Djokovic, who sounded a bit more optimis- tic than Williams on Friday. Williams acknowledged she'd prefer to have played more com- ing into the Open — she's had just three singles matches since Wimbledon — and needs to practice more. "I'm just now starting to feel a little better," she said. "Hope- fully just every day I will keep U.S. OPEN TENNIS Top seeds Williams, Djokovic battle injuries By Doug Ferguson The Associated Press FARMINGDALE, N.Y. Patrick Reed's place in the Ryder Cup is looking better with each round at The Barclays, and so are his pros- pects of winning. Even with a careless finish Fri- day at Bethpage Black, Reed rode a fast start to a 3-under 68 and a two-shot lead over Emiliano Grillo and Rickie Fowler going into the weekend of the opening FedEx Cup playoff event. The Barclays is the final tour- nament for Americans to earn one of the eight automatic spots on the Ryder Cup team. Reed, who has gone 55 tournaments worldwide since his last victory, came into the week at No. 8. At the moment, that's no lon- ger a concern. "Really, I'm going into this week trying to win a golf tourna- ment," Reed said. "If I take care of me and do what I need to do this week, then Ryder Cup will take care of itself. So I'm not go- ing into this week looking at it as, 'Oh, I need to do this for the Ryder Cup.' I'm going in this to think, 'All right, I need to go win a golf tournament."' Reed was at 8-under 134. Fowler mostly likely needs third place alone to have any chance of qualifying for the Ry- der Cup, and he has done his part. He played bogey-free in the swel- tering heat, though still missing plenty of birdie chances. Par is never bad on the Black Course, however, and Fowler shot a 69. He has dropped only one shot all week, missing a 4-foot par putt Thursday that spun out of the back of the cup. "Any time you can go bogey- free out here at this place, it's good golf," Fowler said. "Feel very good about my ball-striking and tee-to-green right now. See if we can get some more putts to go in." Grillo also had a 69, opening with a double bogey and finish- ing with a bogey. Ryan Moore (68) was three shots behind, while defending champion Jason Day (70) and Jor- dan Spieth (67) were four back. Day tied for the lead early in the round when he ran off four straight birdies on the easier front nine. But his tee shots got wild, he finished some swings with only one hand on the club, and he dropped four shots around the turn. "I'm really looking forward to the weekend," Day said. "I feel like I'm really close." Spieth missed the cut at The Barclays a year ago, and he started off Friday in that direc- tion when his approach to the tough 10th buried in the lip of a deep bunker. Spieth had to play away from the green and made double bogey. And then he decided to start over. His caddie, Michael Greller, PGA TOUR Reed has a 2-shot lead at Barclays Event kicks off FedEx Cup playoff schedule TENNIS PAGE 2 GOLF PAGE 2 FOOTBALL PAGE 2 A'S PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, August 27, 2016 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1