CHICAGO - Preparing for the final weekend of the regular season, the St. Babe Herman Jersey . Louis Cardinals hoped to easily move past the non-contending Chicago Cubs.Instead, they ran into Chicagos buzzsaw a€” Jake Arrieta.Arrieta (10-5), coming off a one-hit shutout against Cincinnati last week, limited St. Louis to two hits and an unearned run while striking out 10 in seven innings, leading the Cubs to a 3-1 victory.Hes got swing-and-miss stuff in the strike zone and hes got the ability to get it out of the strike zone as well, and that makes him tough, Cardinals infielder Matt Carpenter said. Anytime you got a guy with that type of electric stuff, you kind of feel like youre on defence up there. Anytime he gets ahead of you, youre in a bad spot.Arrieta outdueled St. Louis John Lackey (3-3), both on the mound and at the plate. After Lackey intentionally walked Logan Watkins in the fourth inning, Arrieta hit a two-run triple a€” the first triple of his career and the first by a Cubs pitcher since 2012. The Cubs never surrendered the lead.Its amazing that that at-bat is the one that does it, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said.Lackey gave up two runs and five hits in 6 2-3 innings. He struck out eight, his most since joining the Cardinals at the trade deadline.The Cardinals, who clinched a playoff berth earlier in the week, remained 1 1/2 games ahead of Pittsburgh in the NL Central. The Pirates lost at Atlanta, reducing St. Louis magic number to three for clinching the division title.Im tired of looking up there and waiting for somebody else to help us, Matheny said following the game. Nobodys helped us all season long. Why are they going to start now?The Cardinals loss assured NL East champion Washington will open a division series at home.The Cardinals were held without a hit through four innings but managed two singles in the fifth. Yadier Molina came in to score on Welington Castillos throwing error, cutting the Cubs lead to 2-1.Molina has hit safely in seven consecutive games and 12 of his past 14.Chris Valaika had a pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth to extend the Cubs lead to 3-1.The Cardinals mounted a two-out rally in the ninth, but Hector Rondon worked out of the jam for his 13th consecutive save and his 27th in 31 opportunities this season.After the game, Arrieta took pride in playing the role of spoiler.To pitch well against them, at this time of the season with the implications on the game that are there, its meaningful, Arrieta said. Its just another positive thing to use moving forward into the off-season.Arrieta has allowed two or fewer runs in 19 of 25 starts this season.TRAINING ROOMCubs: SS Starlin Castro will miss the remainder of the season, according to manager Rick Renteria. Castro injured his left ankle sliding into home against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sept. 2.Cardinals: OF Jon Jay missed Wednesdays game due to a personal matter. He will rejoin the team on Friday in Arizona.UP NEXTCubs: LHP Eric Jokisch (0-0, 1.74) will make his first career start on Friday when the Cubs open a three-game set at Milwaukee.Cardinals: RHP Michael Wacha (5-6, 3.18), who missed approximated three months earlier this season with a stress reaction in his throwing shoulder, starts for the Cardinals on Friday against Arizona.WRIGLEY FACELIFTNow that the Cubs regular-season schedule is over, improvements and renovations at the 100-year-old ballpark a€” including constructing a large video scoreboard in left field a€” are expected to begin soon. The scoreboard and other outfield signs are expected to be in place by the start of next season, but the new home clubhouse isnt slated to be completed until 2016. Manny Machado Jersey . Five straight losses (and six in the past seven) now dot the schedule – matching their longest skid of the year – after they fell again in New Jersey on Sunday night, topped 3-2 by Cory Schneider and the Devils. Yasmani Grandal Jersey . Napoli beat high-flying Hellas Verona 3-0 to keep up the pressure on the top two while AC Milan had another disappointing night as four goals from teenage forward Domenico Berardi saw relegation-threatened Sassuolo come back from two goals down to win 4-3. http://www.dodgersteamproshop.com/Dodgers-Joc-Pederson-Kids-Jersey/ .S. President Barack Obama saluted the Stanley Cup winning Chicago Blackhawks at the White House on Monday -- a rare moment for a president hungry to see more victorious teams from his hometown.MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The Dallas Mavericks have struggled at times this season to close out. They didnt let that happen against the Memphis Grizzlies. Dirk Nowitzki scored 26 points, Brandan Wright added 17 and the Mavericks used a second-half surge to grab a 110-96 victory over Memphis on Wednesday night. "Weve obviously had a little trouble sometimes finishing games with leads, especially on the road," said Nowitzki, who was 10 of 14 from the field, including 3 of 4 from beyond the arc. "Teams are putting pressure on us and really getting into us, and we havent really responded well to that. But (against the Grizzlies) I thought we were solid." Samuel Dalembert and Monta Ellis had 14 points apiece and Dalembert added 10 rebounds. Vince Carter had 13 points and seven assists to help the Mavericks win their third straight game. Zach Randolph scored 25 points for Memphis, while Courtney Lee finished with 22. James Johnson added 17 and Nick Calathes scored 16 starting his third game in place of injured starting point guard Mike Conley. Dallas began its rally in the closing minutes of the third quarter and carried it into the fourth, eventually leading by as many as 17. The Mavericks are eighth in the Western Conference, two games ahead of the Grizzlies for the last playoff spot. Dallas also assured itself of winning the season series with its third win over Memphis this season. "If we would have won it, we would still be able to make the playoffs. If we lose, it doesnt change anything," said Memphis centre Marc Gasol, who had 12 points. "We have a lot of games left. . Of course, we would like to win every game, but if you lose, you move on. If you win, you move on. Theres no other way around it." The Mavericks dominated the paint, holding a 56-32 advantage in points and 35-32 edge on the glass. "To get 40, 50 points in the paint on them is impressive," Nowitzki said. "It means we were driving the ball and sharing. . Anytime we holld our own on the boards with this team and almost double them on points in the paint, thats a fantastic job for us. Kenley Jansen Jersey. " Memphis led 55-52 at halftime after having a basket taken away by a clock malfunction at the end of the half. Ellis scored with 10.1 seconds left, and on the ensuing Memphis possession Johnson appeared to hit a layup with less than a second left. But the clock didnt start properly following Ellis basket, and officials ruled that if it had, Johnson would not have gotten the shot off in time. "In the first half, we didnt defend very well," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "We knew we were going to play better in the second half." The Mavericks took their first lead of the game on a 3-pointer by Nowitzki early in the third period, but then the game settled into poor shooting on both sides. The result was a quarter with six ties and three lead changes. Dallas broke a 71-all tie by closing the period with a 7-1 push for a 78-72 lead. That started a 14-3 Mavericks rally spanning the quarters. When Wright converted a 3-point play with 8:27 left, Dallas had stretched the lead to 14 points. The Mavericks 110 points snapped a Memphis string of seven games during which the Grizzlies had not allowed an opponent to surpass 90 points. "They always have five guys on the floor that you have to guard, and they can all shoot," Memphis coach Dave Joerger said. "I did a poor job at getting us ready against the multiple action pick-and-rolls that they ran. "Defensively, we were awful." NOTES: It took 7 minutes after the teams left the floor at halftime for officials to review the final play before disallowing Johnsons basket. ... Mavericks F Shawn Marion returned after missing two games with shoulder and rib contusions and had eight points. ... Calathes, who hadnt committed a turnover in the last two games starting for Conley, had six turnovers. ... Nowitzki has five straight games with at least 23 points. Wholesale Spain Jerseys Cheap Juventus Jersey Cheap Cristiano Ronaldo Jersey Wholesale AC Milan Jerseys Cheap Arsenal Jerseys Cheap A.S. 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