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othering fans. Sianis supposedly placed a curse on the franchise, and since then, its been mostly losing with a few close calls

in News 02.06.2019 04:01
von jj009 • 1.455 Beiträge

CHICAGO -- All thats left for the Chicago Cubs to do is make history.The Cubs came home to Wrigley Field with a 3-2 lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship Series and a chance Saturday night to end a more than seven-decade wait to return to the World Series.Were not going to run away from anything, manager Joe Maddon said. Its within our reach right now. But I do want us to go after it as though its, again, hate to say it, but Saturday. Lets just go play our Saturday game and see how it falls.For a franchise defined more by heartbreak and losing, this will be no ordinary Saturday. Then again, this has been no ordinary season.The Cubs led the majors with 103 wins and ran away with the NL Central title. They won more games than any Cubs team since 1910, and if they beat Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers, theyll face Cleveland in their first World Series since 1945.That, of course, will put them on the verge of their first championship since 1908.But before they can think about that, they have to get to the World Series, and their first opportunity comes against one of the games most dominant pitchers in Kershaw. The Cubs will go with major league ERA leader Kyle Hendricks in Game 6.Game 7 would be on Sunday, if necessary.Weve won two games in a row before, said Los Angeles Adrian Gonzalez. Nothing says we cant do it Saturday and Sunday.The Cubs put themselves in this position by shaking off back-to-back shutout losses and combining to score 18 runs in the past two games.Jon Lester threw seven solid innings, Addison Russell continued his resurgence at the plate with a tiebreaking home run and the Cubs beat the Dodgers 8-4 on Thursday night.Russell has gone deep in back-to-back games and is 5 for 10 after going 1 for 24 to start the postseason. Anthony Rizzo is also connecting, with five hits and a homer over the past two games after going 2 for 26. Javier Baez continues to come through with big hits and making sensational plays at second base.Now, its up to Kershaw to cool off the Cubs.The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner is 2-0 with a 3.72 ERA in three starts and one relief appearance this postseason and has been erasing a reputation for struggling in the playoffs. He came through with two decent starts against Washington in the NLDS and closed out the series-clinching win.He was nothing short of spectacular against Chicago in Game 2, pitching two-hit ball over seven innings before Kenley Jansen closed out a 1-0 victory.Kershaw was ready to pitch Thursday on three days rest. Hell get five between starts instead, though he will be pitching for the fourth time in 12 days.Were down a game, but weve won on the road before, manager Dave Roberts said. Weve won two games before. And I think that for us its an isolated focus on Game 6. We get a rested Kersh. So with that, we feel good.But its the Cubs who are in position to move on.World War II had just ended the last time they won the pennant, and the World Series that year is remembered as much for a goat and a curse as it is for the Detroit Tigers winning in seven games.The Cubs angered Billy Goat Tavern owner Billy Sianis when they asked him to leave Game 4 because the odor of his pet goat Murphy was bothering fans. Sianis supposedly placed a curse on the franchise, and since then, its been mostly losing with a few close calls for the franchise.The Cubs had a 2-0 lead against San Diego in the 1984 NLCS, only to see the Padres win the final three games in that best-of-five series.Thirteen years ago, the Cubs returned home up 3-2 over the Marlins in the NLCS. And, well, fans still have nightmares over that one.Chicago was five outs from the World Series with Mark Prior on the mound only to see everything come apart.A fan named Steve Bartman reached up for Luis Castillos foul as Moises Alou leaned into the stands.The ball deflected off Bartmans hands. Alou went wild. Shortstop Alex Gonzalez later booted a potential inning-ending double play. Prior melted down on the mound.The Cubs lost that game, and they went on to drop the series finale even though they had Kerry Wood starting.Weve heard the history, but at the same time were trying to make history, Dexter Fowler said. Swell Traveler Sale . - After leading the Saints to a fourth playoff appearance in five seasons, Drew Brees expressed confidence in the direction of his team and, perhaps more importantly, showed a willingness to listen to contract proposals if the team needs his help getting under the NFLs salary cap. Swell Water Bottle Wholesale . By having more great seasons. Manning was the only unanimous choice for the 2013 Associated Press NFL All-Pro team Friday. http://www.ukswellbottle.com/swell-bottle-green-jasper.html . Fernandez, coached in Toronto by former two-time Olympic silver medallist Brian Orser, scored 267.11 points and is the first champion to successfully defend since Russias Evgeny Plushenko in 2005 and 2006. Swell Wholesale . Pettersen, winner of last years Evian Championships, had nine birdies and three bogeys, holding off a series of challengers led by Marion Ricordeau of France. The second-ranked Norwegian made her season debut after missing the LPGA Tours opening event last month in the Bahamas because of a shoulder injury. Swell Bottle 17 Oz Sale . Nigeria beat surprise package Ethiopia 2-0 in the second leg of their playoff for a comfortable 4-1 aggregate victory. Victor Moses converted a 20th-minute penalty after an Ethiopian handball, and Victor Obinna made certain of Nigerias place in Brazil with his powerful free kick in the 82nd at UJ Esuene Stadium. HOUSTON -- The Houston Texans placed defensive end Devon Still on injured reserve Wednesday because of a foot injury that required surgery.Still made a comeback this season after spending all of 2015 as a free agent following three seasons with the Bengals. Still appeared in three games for the Texans this season and had three tackles.Still became an inspiration by sharing details of his now 6-year-old daughter Leahs fight with cancer when he was with the Bengals. Cincinnati kept him on the roster in 2014 in part so hed have health insurance to cover her treatments. The Bengals donated more than $1 million in sales from Stills No. 75 jersey to Childrens Hospital in Cincinnati for pediatric cancer research and treatment during her fight.With Leah in remission, Still rededicated himself to football this offseason and earned a spot on Houstons roster. He had an opportunity for more playing time in the wake of the season-ending injury to J.J. Watt before he suffered his injury on Sunday.What hes ggone through the past couple of years with his daughter Leah .dddddddddddd.. we feel for the guy, coach Bill OBrien said. He did a good job for us while he was here and Im sure hell come back from this and play more football in this league.Though he didnt say anything specific about the injury, Still tweeted a message that seemed to address his latest setback.No matter who you are life will always test what youre made of, he tweeted.He ended that tweet with the hashtags never give up and always strong.In other injury news, the Texans expect veteran left tackle Duane Brown to return on Sunday if he doesnt have any setbacks this week. Brown has been out since surgery in January to repair a torn quadriceps.Houston signed defensive end Brandon Dunn to take Stills spot on the roster.---Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '

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