laying 24 straight days. He has a little soreness on his left side but certainly could have started, Maddon said. Heyward pinch-hit in the eighth and shattered his bat on a weak grounde

The Chicago Cubs are relieved to escape New York after a humiliating four-game sweep by the Mets. Matthew Judon Jersey .It was terrible, it was bad, said Cubs catcher Miguel Montero following Sundays 14-3 loss at Citi Field. They outplayed us. Simple as that. We didnt play good enough. We didnt hit good enough. We didnt pitch good enough. I mean, overall, we were sloppy.Chicago has not been swept in a four-game series in New York since June 17-20, 1985 at Shea Stadium.But the Cubs (51-30) now return to friendlier turf for the Fourth of July. Theyre 25-11 this season at Wrigley Field and face an opponent theyve recently beaten up on with Mondays opener of a three-game Wrigley Field series against the Cincinnati Reds (30-53). A Thursday makeup against Atlanta follows.The Cubs swept three games at Great American Ballpark before running into a Mets buzz saw last weekend.Its been arguably the seasons roughest stretch for a team that sprinted to one of the best starts in franchise history and had the major leagues best record most of the way.But the four-game series that concluded on Sunday featured two one-run games and two Mets blowouts, including rough outings by ace pitchers Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester, named National League pitcher of the month for June just two days earlier.Lester, who was rocked for eight runs on nine hits in 1 1/3 innings of work on Sunday, insists theres no cause for panic.We werent going to be on that pace that we were on for the entire season, he said. Thats 162 games. Its a long year, six months. Theres a lot of things that can happen. And you guys are seeing it now. Were a little banged up, two big key components of our bullpen are not here right now. Dex (Dexter Fowler), which makes the offense go it seems like a lot, is still rehabbing.Chicago still leads the National League Central by a comfortable eight games over second-place St. Louis and 10 1/2 games in front of third-place Pittsburgh.The Cubs are 22 games in front of last-place Cincinnati, which has dropped eight of its last 10 including Sundays 12-1 loss to Washington. That game featured 6 2/3 innings of no-hit baseball from Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg.Its tough. Its not fun, at all, Reds outfielder Jay Bruce told reporters on Sunday. I dont think anyone here is having much fun. We just have to get better. It is a grind.The Reds send left-hander Cody Reed (0-2, 9.00 ERA) against Cubs righty Kyle Hendricks (6-6, 2.76).Reed makes his fourth career appearance and second against the Cubs. He took the loss in a 9-2 decision on June 29. On June 18 he became Cincinnatis 26th pitcher and 12th starter this season.Hendricks is 2-1 with a 4.04 ERA in six all-time starts against the Reds. Gus Edwards Jersey . The Americans, skipped by John Shuster, seized the advantage in the eighth end by scoring five points for a 7-3 lead. The Czechs pulled two back in the ninth, but Shusters team of third Jeff Isaacson, second Jared Zezel and lead John Landsteiner ended with another point to secure the last Olympic berth on offer. Elvis Grbac Jersey . -- Jakob Silfverberg is making himself right at home with the Anaheim Ducks, scoring four goals in his first four games. http://www.customravensjersey.com/custom...large-663d.html . Louis Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey last Sunday. The fine is the fourth this season for Goldson. He was fined $30,000 for a hit on the New York Jets Jeff Cumberland in Week 1. NEW YORK -- A streak or two of celebration whipped cream was still stuck in Brandon Nimmos hairline as he peeled off his baseball socks in the clubhouse Thursday night.Plenty of time to clean up, the Mets rookie figured. For now, he just wanted to hang onto this feeling.Yoenis Cespedes socked a colossal home run , Jeurys Familia pitched out of a huge jam in the ninth inning and Nimmo keyed a three-run rally in the seventh that sent New York past the Chicago Cubs 4-3 in their first meeting since last years NL Championship Series.Im just ecstatic, Nimmo said after his first big league home game. Im just overjoyed and so thankful right now.Chicago put runners on second and third with no outs against Familia, who got two strikeouts and a bases-loaded popup for his 27th save, most in the majors.He screamed and pumped his arms repeatedly after Javier Baez popped up to end it.I think our last three at-bats were a little bit too anxious, said Kris Bryant, who fanned for the first out in the ninth. But hes supposed to do that. Thats why hes the closer on their team.Baezs throwing error at second base allowed Nimmo to score the go-ahead run, and the Mets overcame a 3-0 deficit to stop their four-game slide.New York, which swept Chicago last October to reach the World Series, had lost nine straight regular-season games to the Cubs dating to August 2014.We made one mistake on defense, but otherwise it was a pretty good game of baseball, Chicago manager Joe Maddon said.Bryant hit a two-run homer for the major league-best Cubs. Baez added a solo shot off rookie Steven Matz before a scuffling Mets lineup finally pushed back in the opener of a four-game series between banged-up teams.Cespedes launched a solo drive off John Lackey in the sixth that soared into the third deck in left field, two or three rows deep. The ball came off the bat at 110 mph and would have traveled 441 feet unimpeded, according to MLBs Statcast. ESPN Stats & Info had it at 466 feet.Either way, it was thought to be the first home run to reach the third deck at Citi Field, which opened in 2009.Thats not unfamiliar territory to Cespedes, though. He sent several shots up there three years ago -- while winning the All-Star Home Run Derby.I think it woke us. I really do, Mets manager Terry Collins said. He hadnt hit one in a while and that was a big one. I really think that got the guys energized.Travis dArnaud singled with one out in the sseventh, chasing Lackey. Ronnie Stanley Jersey. Joel Peralta (0-1) walked slumping pinch-hitter Alejandro De Aza before Nimmo, starting for injured outfielder Curtis Granderson, singled on the ninth pitch of a gritty at-bat for his first career RBI.Thats a big league at-bat for the kid, teammate Neil Walker said. Those are the at-bats that give you confidence, especially as a young guy. So I cant say enough about how he grinded through that and how big a hit that was.The throw to third allowed Nimmo to reach second, and the Mets had two runners in scoring position. With the Cubs playing their infield in, Walker hit an RBI chopper toward the middle against reliever Pedro Strop.Figuring he had no play at the plate, Baez threw to third in an attempt to get Nimmo. But the wide throw ticked off Bryants glove and rolled into foul territory, letting Nimmo cross the plate with a big smile on his face.He was definitely a sparkplug for us today, Walker said. This is how we have to grind right now.Erik Goeddel (1-0) struck out two in 1 2/3 hitless innings for the win.Getting beats one thing. When you feel like you kind of gave one away, let one go, thats a different kind of loss, Lackey said.TRAINERS ROOMCubs: RF Jason Heyward was rested against the left-hander with Chicago in the middle of playing 24 straight days. He has a little soreness on his left side but certainly could have started, Maddon said. Heyward pinch-hit in the eighth and shattered his bat on a weak grounder back to the mound against lefty Jerry Blevins, stranding two runners.Mets: Granderson was out of the lineup again after an MRI revealed a mild strain of his right calf, general manager Sandy Alderson said. Granderson was unavailable off the bench and is expected to miss at least a couple of games. A reinforcement could arrive Friday in Gold Glove outfielder Juan Lagares (sprained left thumb), nearly ready to come off the 15-day DL. Lagares played his third rehab game with Double-A Binghamton on Thursday night.UP NEXTCubs RHP Jason Hammel (7-4, 2.58 ERA) starts Friday night against RHP Jacob deGrom (3-4, 2.67), who won Game 3 of the NLCS last year at Wrigley Field. The 2015 All-Star is 0-4 in 10 starts since beating San Francisco on April 30. Chicago has lost Hammels last four outings after going 9-2 in his first 11. ' ' '