they kissed the guard and bit and I was able to put another

ST. LOUIS -- The plan called for Adam Wainwright to get a little tuneup for the NL division series opener. The right-hander was so efficient, he stayed in there long enough to earn his 19th victory, an RBI and a triumphant exit, too. "I wanted to stay sharp," Wainwright said after the St. Louis Cardinals showed no letup after clinching the NL Central, beating the Chicago Cubs 6-2 Saturday for their fifth straight win. "Ten days off is too much, I think, between starts. Its good to get in there, get some good work in, get a knock and get the win." Matt Holliday homered for the second day in a row and Yadier Molina drove in two runs for St. Louis (96-65), which entered the day tied with Atlanta for the NL lead in wins. All three of them were taken out before the finish and manager Mike Matheny removed Wainwright (19-9) after getting the first out of the sixth so hed get an ovation. "Youve got to tiptoe around how you do that, we want to make sure we respect the other club," Matheny said. "It worked out fine." The start time was moved up three hours to avoid a forecast of storms. The Cardinals mailed vouchers to all ticket holders, whether they attended or not, for a game in 2014. The crowd of 42,520 was a few thousand shy of a sellout. Wainwright allowed two hits in 5 1-3 shutout innings and tied for the league lead in victories with Washingtons Jordan Zimmermann, who lost his last scheduled start Wednesday in St. Louis. According to STATS, Wainwright is the third Cardinals pitcher to lead the league in victories twice, also doing it with 19 wins in 2009. Dizzy Dean (1934-35) and Mort Cooper (1942-43) are the other Cardinals pitchers to twice lead the league in wins. Bob Gibson did it once. The Cubs averted a second straight shutout loss by scoring twice in the ninth against former St. Louis closer Edward Mujica. Anthony Rizzo led off with a homer and Donnie Murphy had an RBI double against Mujica, who has allowed 18 hits in 7 1-3 innings with two blown saves this month and lost his job to rookie Trevor Rosenthal. Mujica has 37 saves but is in danger of getting left off the post-season roster for the first round. Matheny was noncommittal about using Mujica in the regular-season finale, saying hed see "how he feels." Seth Maness earned his first career save by getting Darwin Barney on a double play ball. Edwin Jackson (8-18) allowed six runs and eight hits in 2 2-3 innings before leaving with mild side discomfort that he said bothered him as the game went on. He leads the majors in losses. "At the end of the day Ive got three more years here to look forward to," Jackson said. "I definitely look forward to changing things and changing everything around." The Cubs have lost 11 of 14, scoring two or fewer runs nine times in that stretch. Wainwright got his sixth RBI of the season with a single off third baseman Donnie Murphys glove in a four-run third. Wainwright entered 1-6 with a 5.16 ERA at home against the Cubs. Hes 6-0 with a 3.72 ERA at Wrigley Field. Holliday hit his 22nd homer, a two-run drive in the first that put his average at .300 and likely wont play Sunday to keep it there. The Cardinals broke away in the third when Holliday and Matt Adams drew one-out walks ahead of Molinas two-run double, and Pete Kozma had an RBI single. NOTES: Jake Westbrook (7-8, 4.67) gets a spot start Sunday in place of Joe Kelly (9-5, 2.81), wholl follow him in relief. Westbrook has battled elbow and back issues and has pitched once this month, and in his past four starts since July 29 has allowed 19 earned runs in 21 1-3 innings. "Im excited to get the opportunity," Westbrook said. "Ive been throwing, just not as fast as its going to be tomorrow. Hopefully itll be a good day." The Cardinals are unlikely to pick up a $9.75 million mutual option next year on the 36-year-old Westbrook. ... Jeff Samardzija (8-12, 4.33) starts for the Cubs. ... Molina has four hits and five RBIs in the first two games of the series, giving him a team-leading 16 RBIs against the Cubs. ... According to STATS, Jackson is among four pitchers since 2000 to throw a no-hitter and later lose 17 or more games. Also on the list are Ubaldo Jimenez last year, Derek Lowe in 2011 and Justin Verlander in 2008, all with 17 losses. Mike Foltynewicz Braves Jersey .J. -- The NHL reduced its penalty against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday for signing Ilya Kovalchuk in 2010. Dale Murphy Jersey .What they got was a bevy of players chipping in to pick up the slack.Josh Smith scored 18 points and James Harden added 17 as the Rockets used a balanced scoring effort to outlast the Mavericks for a 99-94 victory. https://www.cheapbraves.com/1813o-jerry-royster-jersey-braves.html . Louis Cardinals pitcher Jaime Garcia will have surgery on his left shoulder this week and is expected to miss the rest of the season. Satchel Paige Jersey . Yahoo! Sports columnist Marc Spears says that the Boogie Smooth album may have been an elaborate April Fools prank. Joe Torre Braves Jersey .The Williams siblings, with 25 Grand Slam titles between them, will have a couple of Madisons joining them, too.Madison Keys had a 6-4, 7-5 upset win over two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova on Saturday night, and Madison Brengle beat Coco Vandeweghe 6-3, 6-2 in an all-U.MONTREAL -- Rachel Homan and Team Canada have served notice theyre ready to defend their title at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. The defending champions grabbed the early lead and held on for a 9-6 win in nine ends over Quebecs Allison Ross on Sunday to emerge from the second day of play at the Maurice Richard Arena as the lone team yet to lose a match. "Its where I hoped wed be," said 24-year-old Homan (3-0). "You never know whats going to happen, but the teams playing really well. Weve just got to keep rolling." With previous victories of 8-3 over Manitoba and 9-3 over Ontario, both in eight ends, they have piled up points against some highly-regarded teams without yet having to go the full 10 ends. But Homan and the team were most concerned about giving up three to Quebec (0-4) in the second, which drew a roar from the 2,281 in the seats. "We gave up three in two, but thats alright -- mistakes will happen," said Homan. "Were learning the ice and different draws will be different weights." "I underthrew two halfway hits and that didnt turn out well and then Rachel threw one we thought was good but it sailed off," said Team Canada third Emma Miskew. "We got tricked a little on either the speed or the weight. "We didnt throw any more finesse shots after that because it tricked us a little." The evening draws saw two matches go to extra ends as both New Brunswick and P.E.I. pulled off victories. New Brunswicks Andrea Crawford (2-1) scored a single in the 11th end to take a 4-3 win over British Columbias 22-year-old skip Kesa Van Osch (1-3). And Kim Dolan (1-2) of P.E.I got her first victory of the tournament, 7-6 over Quebec in 11 ends. In the other late draws, Newfoundlands Heather Strong (3-1) edged Yukons Sarah Koltun (1-2) 6-5. Koltun scored singles in the ninth and 10th ends but fell short of the comeback. And Albertas Val Sweeting (3-1) scored three in the sixth end en route to a 5-4 victory over Nova Scotias Heather Smith (1-2). The afternoon draw saw some wild finishes. Stefanie Lawton (2-1) of Saskatchewan tied her game up with two in the ninth and then stole two in the 10th to win 8-6 over Sweeting. "Tied up coming home, without hammer, we know what we have to do," said Lawton, whose side gave up two in the 10th to lose 5-4 to Manitoba in the morning draw. "We have to put up two guards and get one on the button. "We got away with one when they kissed the guard and bit and I was able to put another on top of that and put the pressure on them. Theres going to be lots of games that will be battles. You just have to keep plugging away." Another cliffhanger saw Manitobas Chelsea Carey (2-1) get the point she needed in the 10th to defeat the B.C. side 7-6. And Ontarios Allison Flaxey (1-2) scored two in the 10th and a steal of one in an extra end to down Newfoundland by 8-7. Homan won last years Scotties as skip of Team Ontario, beating Jennifer Jones Winnipeg rink in the final. Jones isnt at this years tournament, havving won an ultra-competitive qualifying tournament to represent Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.dddddddddddd. Other top teams bowed out in their provincial championships, some citing mental fatigue from trying to make the Olympic team. But Homans side was spared that because they qualified automatically for the Scotties as the defending champions. "That definitely helped us," said Miskew. "Theres a lot of new faces here, but its nice to see a lot of young teams here." "We definitely have room to improve. We had a bad end but we were able to bounce back, so that was important for us. It seems every game you get a little better and thats our goal." Team Canada is part of the youth movement. Homan and Miskew are both 24, while second Alison Kreviazuk is 25. Theyve been playing together since they were young kids. Lead Lisa Weagle, 28, joined them later. Building a big lead in the morning draw against Ontario allowed them to give some playing time to their alternate, Stephanie LeDrew, who substituted for Weagle for the final two ends. "Its good to have her throw some shots and see the lines," Homan said of LeDrew. "You never know during a week if youre going to have to use her or not. "Hopefully not. Hopefully shell just be there to cheer us on, but its good to get her in early." LeDrew normally plays for Hollie Nicols Toronto rink, but she was brought in as an alternate by Homan for last years Scotties in Kingston, Ont., as well as for the 2013 womens world championship in Riga, Latvia. She got into three matches last year. "I know what it is to be prepared to jump in at a moments notice," said LeDrew. "I actually went for a jog around the arena in the sixth end to be prepared to go in the seventh, so I was warmed up and ready to rock." LeDrew said it is usually a team decision to get the alternate some playing time. "It tends to be on the ice between ends, if they have a big lead going," she said. "They see it as a good opportunity to throw the alternate in. "They also want to get me in because I have to play in two games, for at least one end in each game, in order to be eligible for the jewelry (prizes) at the end of the week -- the diamonds. So theyre being good to me." The match also pitted sister against sister as Alison Kreviazuk faced Lynn Kreviazuk, the Ontario second. "Actually, I havent played against Lynn in a few years, so this was kind of a first for me," Alison Kreviazuk said of her 22-year-old sister. "We get along great, so theres nothing negative. "They played really well, they just had a few bad breaks. I know shell pick it up for the next one." The morning draw saw more one-sided wins as Yukon downed P.E.I. by 10-3 in eight ends. Nova Scotia, beat New Brunswick by 12-2, also in eight ends. Yukon scored five in the eighth end to prompt P.E.I. to concede, while Nova Scotia had ends of four and five points in their romp over New Brunswick. ' ' '