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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). Malik Beasley Nuggets Jersey . Walcott is available for Saturdays home match against Southampton as Arsenal looks to extend its two-point lead at the top of the Premier League. The Gunners are currently the second highest scorers in the league but Wenger insists Walcott will add something extra to his team. Alex English Jersey . McCarthy, a player who played some games in the second tier for Wigan at the start of this season, would go on to shine inside Evertons midfield, outplaying the man he was brought in to replace, on one of the grandest stages in English football. On Saturday, it was fitting that Manchester Uniteds most recent dagger into the chest was delivered by Frenchman Yohan Cabaye, a wonderfully gifted central midfielder who put on an outstanding effort for Newcastle at Old Trafford. http://www.nuggetsprostore.com/kids-carmelo-anthony-nuggets-jersey/ . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity football teams. Tyler Lydon Jersey . The Masters champion and winner of last weeks Australian PGA has a three-round total of 14-under 199 at Royal Melbourne. "Im in a really good position for tomorrow," Scott said. Gary Harris Nuggets Jersey . Sgt. Eric ONeal says most of the arrests at Monday nights game were for public drunkenness, though one person was taken into custody on suspicion of trying to steal a seat from the stadium. While there is nothing unusual about Oklahoma leading the Big 12 and being the conferences highest-ranked team, there is a big difference with that scenario this season.For the first time in the history of the 20-year-old conference, the Big 12 is going into November without a top-10 team.Weve had plenty of years where we have, so thats just where it is today, Bob Stoops, coach of the 12th-ranked Sooners, said Monday during the weekly Big 12 coaches teleconference.Baylor and West Virginia both dropped out of the top 10 -- to 13th and 14th respectively, right behind the Sooners- after suffering their first losses of the season within a matter of hours Saturday. Oklahoma (6-2, 5-0 Big 12) moved up four spots in the latest poll.Still, the Big 12 title is far from settled since those three teams all have to play each other.That was mentioned after the game, you lose one, youre still in good shape, West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said. Its just the way the Big 12 is in the round-robin situations. Everybody gets a crack at everybody else. Nobodys getting any scheduling advantages.Oklahoma, which has won a record nine Big 12 championships, plays Thursday night at Iowa State before consecutive games against Baylor and at West Virginia. The Sooners then end the regular season at home against 22nd-ranked Oklahoma State (6-2, 4-1), which beat the Mountaineers 37-20 for its fourth straight victory since losing at Baylor.When asked about the Big 12s lack of a top-10 team, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said every league other than the SEC has gone through ups and downs. He said improved non-conference schedules could certainly be part of that.Theres been so much talk to up the ante there. ... Youve got to be careful on who challenge and take on in the preseason, Gundy said. If your teams not ready and you get banged around a little bit, then essentially, you could be out of the latter part of the year in these rating systems that we have. I just think theres some ups and downs in conference play, and youve got to take the good with the bad.The Cowboys had that disputed loss to Central Michigan before a win oover Pittsburgh prior to Big 12 play.dddddddddddd. Oklahoma had losses to Houston and Ohio State before its current five-game winning streak in the conference.After losing at Texas, and before going to Oklahoma on Nov. 12, Baylor is home Saturday against TCU.A lot of things can happen here in the next five weeks. I think for the league, its going to be really, really exciting, Baylor acting head coach Jim Grobe said. I think our players understand with West Virginia getting beat, and weve got everybody that still has a chance to win it left to play, our destinys kind of in our own hands.QUARTERBACK CHANGE?TCU made an in-game quarterback switch against Texas Tech, replacing struggling dual-threat starter Kenny Hill with Foster Sawyer. Coach Gary Patterson said after the game that offensive coaches made that decision. Asked who would start at Baylor, Patterson initially said Monday that he didnt expect anything to change. That means probably Kenny is, he said. When later asked why he was sticking with Hill, Patterson responded, I didnt say I was going to stick with Kenny Hill. I just said I hadnt talked to anybody all day. That was before the coaches had their first game-planning meeting of the week.HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?A week after a 66-59 loss to Oklahoma, Texas Tech finished regulation at TCU tied 17-17 before winning 27-24 in double overtime. So how did the Red Raiders go from their fourth loss in less than two seasons with more than 50 points to winning a more traditional scoring game? Im still trying to figure it out myself, coach Kliff Kingsbury said. I thought coach Patterson had a great surprise-type game plan that we werent really prepared for.NOT IMPRESSEDKansas State coach Bill Snyder is two wins short of 200 in his career, all in 25 seasons with the Wildcats. Asked about moving up the list of all-time winningest coaches, Snyder said he didnt have a comment on that. Not a meaningful statistic to me, he said.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '