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CHICAGO -- As the Cincinnati Reds wind down another losing season, manager Bryan Price is hoping todays pain is tomorrows gain.The thing is about September in our situation is, were looking at some of the younger players we brought up and sometimes there are painful lessons, Price said. Its hard to go through, but the only way these guys are going to learn how to pitch up here is to pitch.The latest tough lesson came Tuesday night.Jon Lester overcame an injury scare to throw seven strong innings, Anthony Rizzo drove in three runs and the Chicago Cubs moved closer to securing the NLs best record with a 6-1 victory over Cincinnati.Lester (18-4) extended his scoreless streak to 21 innings before Jose Perazas RBI triple in the fifth. He allowed six hits, struck out five, walked none and added an RBI double.Lester stayed in after Joey Vottos comebacker in the sixth left him with a welt on the wrist of his glove hand.Its fine, Lester said. Its my right hand. I dont need it. All its there for is to hold the glove.Rizzo had a two-run single in a four-run fourth and a run-scoring single in the sixth to give him 104 RBI. The Cubs 96th win reduced their magic number to three over Washington for clinching home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs.The Cubs, who wrapped up the NL Central last week, are trying to find the right balance of staying sharp while getting rest and avoiding injury before the postseason. Thats why the crowd gasped and the trainer and manager Joe Maddon quickly ran out of the dugout after Lester was struck by Vottos hard-hit ball.After David Ross singled with two outs in the second, Lester lined a fastball off Josh Smith (3-2) into right-center. The 39-year-old Ross, who plans to retire at the end of the season, lumbered around from first and belly-flopped into home without a throw to put the Cubs ahead to stay.Thats more of a collapse than a slide, Ross said. I figured if I went headfirst it would be considered a slide.Smith, making a spot start in a bullpen game for the Reds, left after allowing three hits over three innings.He did fine, Price said. Really, the only mistake was the first-pitch fastball to Lester. We know theres a pitcher hitting and the Cubs pitchers will be aggressive on a first-pitch fastball.Said Smith: To get the chance to go against him and go against that team is a huge opportunity for me. I just went out there and tried to make the best of it.The Cubs scored four two-out runs in the fourth off Wandy Peralta, who walked Lester before Dexter Fowlers RBI single. Kris Bryant followed with a bloop RBI double.We were hoping Wandy would give us a bit more than he did, Price said.With Washington losing 1-0 at Miami, the Cubs opened an eight-game lead over the Nationals with 11 left.CY YOUNG WORTHY?Lester lowered his ERA to 2.36 and improved his chances of winning the NL Cy Young Award. He twice finished fourth (2010 and 2014) for the AL prize.Its a huge, huge honor to even be in consideration, he said.TRAINERS ROOMReds RHP Homer Bailey (biceps) felt well enough that his bullpen session was moved up a day. Price was pleased and said its possible Bailey will get a start or two before the season ends. There hasnt been any issue regarding his surgically repaired elbow, Price said.UP NEXTCubs RHP John Lackey (9-8, 3.42 ERA), contending with Jason Hammel for the final postseason rotation spot, starts the series finale Wednesday night against RHP Robert Stephenson (2-1, 4.97). Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping . Two pressure cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the April 15 race in an area packed with fans cheering the passing runners. Three people were killed and more than 260 injured, including at least 16 who lost limbs. Jerseys NFL Authentic China . If ever they start actually putting pictures beside words in the dictionary, the Blue Jays left-handers mug will appear beside “Consistency. http://www.cheapnfljerseys.pro/ .ca NHL Power Rankings for the second straight week, ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. Wholesale China Jerseys . Philadelphia is 2-0 against the Senators this season and scored five goals in each victory. The Flyers recorded a 5-0 win in Ottawa on Nov. 12 and then earned a 5-2 home decision on Nov. 19. The Flyers have claimed three straight and four of the last five encounters with the Sens overall and Philly has won two in a row and three of its past four tests in Canadas capital city. Wholesale NFL Jerseys .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. NEW YORK -- The hair is shorter now, a tad thin on top. The shorts are shorter and the sleeves a little longer.But at the age of 30, Rafael Nadal still has the look of urgency in his brown eyes, the fierce concentration on his face, the perpetually furrowed brow.After the second point of Friday nights third game, there was another familiar sight -- a comforting one if you are a Rafa fan -- the vintage celebratory uppercut. It followed a terrific sequence when Nadal tracked down a deft drop shot by Andrey Kuznetsov and sent a deft forehand flick for a cross-court winner.All summer long there have been grave concerns about Nadals health, but after a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 victory, the No. 4 seed is into the fourth round of the US Open. Amazingly, Rafa hasnt been to the second week of a Grand Slam since last years French Open, and hasnt achieved that here in three years.Oh, and there was a sublime, scrambling, between-the-legs lob on the second-to-last point that set off a scissor-kicking, fist-pumping episode after he won the point.I couldnt see Andrey, [but] I imagined he was going very close to the net, Rafa explained in his on-court interview. The only chance was the lob shot. I was lucky that the ball was in.Nadal won nine of the last 11 games. Kuznetsovs serve was broken seven of 12 times.A few more takeaways:Rafa scores a 2016 hat trick: In this day and age, its not easy to beat someone three times in a single season. But three of Nadals 37 wins this year have come against the unfortunate 25-year-old Russian -- in three different continents: Asia (Doha), Madrid (Europe) and now North America. The overall head-to-head is 4-0, and Rafa has won 110 of 11 sets.ddddddddddddThe wrist seems to be OK: You may remember when Nadal pulled out of Roland Garros after the second round with a nicked-up left wrist and then was forced to skip Wimbledon. He has said that its not completely healed, but there were times when he was under duress that Rafa seemed to hit out completely from both sides. Roland Garros was a tough decision, then Wimbledon again, he said. But here I am in New York; thats a very special city.Maybe playing in Rio was a good idea: Back in the day, Rafa always thrived on a heavy tournament schedule. But given his growing history of injuries, going to the Olympics, which were wedged into the ATP World Tour calendar, seemed like bad play for a guy who passed on Wimbledon. But Rafa went, losing the bronze-medal match against Kei Nishikori. However, he won doubles gold with partner Marc Lopez. That gave him confidence heading into New York, and he looks remarkably fresh through three rounds. More importantly, some of that old confidence seems to be seeping into the two-time US Open champions consciousness.Next up: Nadal meets No. 24-seeded Frenchman Lucas Pouille on Sunday. Pouille knocked off No. 15 seed Roberto Bautista Agut in five sets Friday, a match that required 3 hours, 24 minutes. Rafa and Pouille have met only once previously, with Nadal winning 6-2, 6-1 last year in Monte Carlo, but Pouille is having the best season of his life. Two months ago, he reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Fortuitously, they practiced together before the Open. ' ' '