REBELS TO START EARLY

COLUMBIANA — In an effort to beat the rain, the Beachwood at Crestview sectional baseball tournament game set for today will start at 3:30 p.m. It was originally set for 5 p.m. None of the other area teams scheduled to play today have adjusted their schedules. Rainy weather is expected to start Friday afternoon and extend into Sunday.

GUARDIANS SWEEP TIGERS

DETROIT (AP) — Patrick Bailey hit a solo home run, Joey Cantillo threw 5 2/3 shutout innings and the Cleveland Guardians extended their winning streak to six games with a 3-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Thursday.

Brayan Rocchio had three hits, including two doubles, and scored a run. Daniel Schneemann and Jose Ramirerz drove in the other runs for the Central Division-leading Guardians, who completed a four-game series sweep.

Cantillo (4-1) limited the Tigers to three hits while striking out six. Hunter Gaddis got the last three outs for his first save.

Cleveland has won nine of its last 10 games, while the Tigers have lost six straight and 14 of their last 16.

Dillon Dingler hit his team-leading ninth homer for the Tigers. Starter Casey Mize (2-3) gave up two runs and four hits without a walk while striking out five in 6 2/3 innings.

The Guardians scored a pair of two-out runs in the third. Rocchio and Schneemann hit back-to-back doubles to right field for the first run. Ramirez brought in Schneemann with a single.

Detroit loaded the bases in the first inning. Cantillo then settled in, allowing only a single and two walks before he departed.

Bailey led off the eighth against Burch Smith with his second homer this season. Dingler homered off Tim Herrin in the bottom of the inning.

PIRATES TOPPLE ST. LOUIS

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Brandon Lowe homered, Marcell Ozuna drove in two runs and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-2 on Thursday.

Rookie Konnor Griffin extended his hitting streak to eight games with a double. He also scored a run and stole a base. Griffin went 6 for 13 in the series and improved to 13 for 33 during his streak.

Braxton Ashcraft (3-2) struck out nine in seven innings. He gave up one run on four hits and two walks.

The Pirates won their fourth consecutive road series against National League Central opponents.

Ozuna, a former Cardinal, singled with one out to score Spencer Horwitz and Griffin, extending the lead to 4-1 in the sixth.

Henry Davis hit a leadoff homer in the seventh and Bryan Reynolds drove in a run with a ground out, making it 6-1.

Lowe, who also singled, hit a 3-2 fastball that bounced off the top of the wall just inside the left-field foul pole in the first inning. It was originally declared an inside-the-park home run before the stat was changed by the scorer.

The Pirates went ahead 2-1 in the fourth inning. Griffin scored on a fielder’s choice by Jake Mangum.

A two-out home run by Iván Herrera in the third inning tied the score at 1-1. Herrera also scored in the eighth on a single by Jordan Walker.

Dustin May (3-5) pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on six hits and two walks while striking out seven.

WARNER INDUCTED INTO NORTHERN IOWA HOF

Almost a decade after he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Kurt Warner is finally entering the Northern Iowa athletics hall.

Warner, who was among eight former UNI athletes announced as 2026 inductees on Thursday, won one Super Bowl and played in two others during an improbable 12-year NFL career that ended after the 2009 season.

The Burlington native was a member of four straight conference championship teams at UNI and was the Panthers’ starting quarterback as a senior in 1993. He went to training camp with the Green Bay Packers and was cut, stocked shelves at a Cedar Falls grocery store and was an Arena Football League star three years with the Iowa Barnstormers.

In 1998, after leading NFL Europe in touchdowns and passing yards, he joined the St. Louis Rams and became the team’s starting quarterback in 1999. He led the Rams’ “Greatest Show on Turf” offense to a Super Bowl victory over the Tennessee Titans in 2000 and was the game’s MVP.

BERLIN BIDS FOR 2036 GAMES

BERLIN (AP) — Berlin’s state parliament has given the go-ahead for the city’s bid to rehost the Olympic Games on or after the 100th anniversary of the 1936 Games staged by the Nazis.

“Our bid is a genuine promise for future generations,” Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner said during the 90-minute debate that preceded the vote Thursday. “We want positive development for Berlin.”

Wegner’s CDU political party received support from rival SPD members and the far-right AfD for the Berlin Olympic and Paralympic plans that he first presented in May last year in the same stadium where Jesse Owens defied Adolf Hitler in the 1936 Games.

Berlin’s state government approved the concept this month for a bid that relies mostly on existing sports facilities and envisages using city landmarks such as the city park at the former airport Tempelhof.