ERST LESEN! » starts have been against the Mets

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs will experience the thrill of winning the National League Central title in unusual fashion after they host the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday afternoon.Milwaukee won the series opener 5-4 on Thursday night, preventing the Cubs from clinching before a sellout crowd at Wrigley Field.Chicago, though, wrapped up its first division title since 2008 when the St. Louis Cardinals lost to the San Francisco Giants 6-2 about 1 1/2 hours later. The Cubs decided not to hang around the clubhouse to await the Cardinals outcome, instead choosing to wait another day to celebrate.The Cubs boast three starting pitchers with legitimate cases for NL Cy Young Award attention, but the Brewers came to town this week with some pitching that has even surpassed Chicagos of late.Brewers right-hander Chase Anderson (8-11, 4.53 ERA) may be emblematic of the improvement as he brings a 4-1 record and 2.30 ERA over his last nine starts into the Friday game.Since Aug. 22, Milwaukee pitchers have posted a big league-leading 2.73 ERA over the past 23 games, allowing 40 runs in 131 2/3 innings.That narrowly tops second-place Chicago, which has a 2.90 ERA in the same span followed by the Los Angeles Dodgers (3.05).Its certainly a positive side. I think it tells you that its in there and that we can have above average pitching here, Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. The 25 games is not 162 games and thats what this team over here (the Cubs) have done. ... (But) knowing that weve got it and weve got six guys doing it is a good thing for us.Anderson is 8-11 with a 4.53 ERA as he makes his 29th appearance and 28th start of the season.He started Saturday in St. Louis and earned a no-decision in a loss, allowing three hits in 5 2/3 shutout innings. Anderson is 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA in two starts against Chicago -- both this season.The Cubs counter with right-hander John Lackey, who makes his third start since an August stay on the disabled list with a right shoulder strain. He missed 19 games after being sidelined on Aug. 19 (retroactive to Aug. 14).Lackey is 0-1 since coming back. He didnt get the decision in a five-inning start Sept. 4 in the Cubs 3-2 victory over the Giants and allowed two runs over six innings in a 2-1 Chicago loss in Houston on Sunday.Lackey is 9-8 with a 3.35 ERA as he makes his 27th start of the season and 15th at home. He is 5-2 with a 3.09 ERA in 10 career starts against Milwaukee, including 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA in two starts this season.Cubs manager Joe Maddon said he has no concerns whether Lackey is fully recovered from his shoulder issues.No, hes been good, Maddon said. Ive not noticed anything. Hes been fine.Chicago brings two of its aces back around to conclude the series.Right-hander Jake Arrieta (17-6, 2.91 ERA) goes against Brewers rookie Zach Davies (10-7, 3.87) on Saturday. Davies and fellow rookie Junior Guerra have combined for 19 wins this season, the third most combined by two rookies in franchise history.Right-hander Kyle Hendricks (15-7, 2.03) who pitched eight no-hit innings in his last outing, pitches Sunday against righty Wily Peralta (6-10, 5.42).Fake Jerseys For Sale . Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC failed to make the postseason while Montreal Impact fell at the first hurdle losing heavily to Houston Dynamo in the Eastern Conference Knockout Round. 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The Lightning are 2-0 so far on a four-game road trip, giving the club five straight wins as the guest and improving Tampas away record this season to 11-8-2.NEW YORK -- Four young pitchers helped the New York Mets reach the World Series last season.Only one has not spent time on the disabled list this season.Noah Syndergaard can be considered the survivor of the young rotation and he will be on the mound Monday night when the Mets open a three-game series with the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field.Syndergaard is 13-8 with a 2.43 ERA to go along with a 1.12 WHIP and 205 strikeouts. Those are similar numbers to what the Mets thought Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz might individually provide before injuries derailed the trio.Instead, Harvey was limited to 92 2/3 innings and 17 starts before having thoracic outlet surgery in July.DeGrom was supposed to bookend the top of the rotation with Syndergaard until GM Sandy Alderson announced Saturday he was not pitching the rest of the season because of an ulnar nerve in his elbow, which requires surgery.Matz might return from a strained left shoulder that has kept him sidelined since Aug. 14. Even though he had a 30-pitch bullpen session Saturday, its unknown when he will be back.Those three have combined for 373 innings, but none since deGrom pitched five innings on Sept. 1 against Miami. Last year, the quartet combined for 651 1/3 innings during the regular season and postseason.Even without three-fourths of their rotation, the Mets are a game ahead of San Francisco for the first wild-card spot. They have won 20 of 27 after Gabriel Ynoa struck out eight in 4 2/3 innings, Michael Conforto had a two-run single and T.J. Rivera homered in a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Twins on Sunday.Its a tremendous feeling because Im so proud of the way theyve handled themselves in there because they could have (folded), Collins said. They dont because theyre pros, but at any time when things were really tough, they could have insisted, Oh, Jesus, its not going to happen this year and theyve never done that.I think they realize, theyve played this hard, this long, might as well finish it out. Itd be a tremendous achievement to have that (wild card) game here, but itd be a tremendous achievement to get in.Syndergaard has helped matters by going 3-1 with a 1.06 ERA in his last five starts since a 2-0 win at San Francisco on Aug. 21. He has 34 strikeouts in that span, including 10 on Tuesday at Washington when he pitched seven innings but did not get a decision in a 10-inning win decided by Riveras home run.Atlanta willl be second straight last-place team to visit New York after winning a series from a playoff contender.dddddddddddd The Twins visited New York after getting two games in Detroit and the Braves are making their trip after taking two of three from Washington.The Braves scored 13 runs in their last two wins after dropping the series opener. In Sundays 6-2 victory, Matt Wisler pitched 5 2/3 innings before the game was called because of rain with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning.We told him, going back isnt a bad thing all the time, Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. A lot of guys that have been successful here have had to do it over the years. Its good when they go down, work on things and put it use. We just want him to trust himself, conviction in his pitches. If he can believe in himself the way we believe in him, hes going to be something.The Braves are hoping Snitker might make similar comments about Aaron Blair at some point. Blair takes a 0-6 record and an 8.28 ERA into Monday.He has been on the disabled list since Sept. 3 with a right knee strain and has not pitched since allowing five runs and eight hits in four innings during a 13-4 loss at San Francisco on Aug. 28.Blair made 11 of his 12 starts before the All-Star break. Three of those starts have been against the Mets and the right-hander is 0-2 with an 8.04 ERA in those outings.Besides seeing if Blair can pitch effectively, the Braves will see if Freddie Freeman can keep rolling.Freeman had two hits to extend his hitting streak to 22 games, tying Minnesotas Brian Dozier for the longest active streak in the majors. He is batting .342 (29-for-85) with four homers and 19 RBI since the streak began Aug. 24 and Atlanta is 12-10 in those games, with the last two after his wife gave birth to their first child.Freeman also has reached base in a career-best 38 straight games. It is the longest by an Atlanta player since Chipper Jones had a 41-game streak in 2008.Freeman often hits the Mets well and this year has a .365 average (23-for-63) in 16 games against New York. During Atlantas three-game sweep in New York on June 17-19, he was 7-for-13.The Mets have won seven of nine meetings this season. They won five of the first six, but the Braves completed a three-game sweep on June 17-19 in New York. ' ' '