INFO » halftime.Parker and his former Spurs teammate Boris Diaw -

CHICAGO -- On most days, Kris Bryants three solid plays at third base would have covered the defensive highlights for the Chicago Cubs.This time, Bryant had to settle for a perfect view of Addison Russells sliding grab in the seventh inning.I had a front-row seat and that was one of the best catches Ive seen, Bryant said.Bryant hit his 36th homer and Russell drove in two runs to help the Cubs to a 6-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night, completing a series sweep. But it was the defense by the left side of Chicagos All-Star infield that stole the show.Andrew McCutchens bases-loaded walk trimmed Chicagos lead to 5-2 with two outs in the seventh before Gregory Polanco hit a flare down the third-base line that looked like trouble for the Cubs.Russell sprinted over from shortstop and made a terrific catch near the home bullpen, drawing a huge ovation from the crowd of 38,137 at Wrigley Field and several swear words from his incredulous teammates.It was an awesome moment for us, Russell said.And a downer for the Pirates (67-64), who closed out a 4-3 trip that began with a sweep in Milwaukee. They trails the Cardinals by 2 1/2 games for the second NL wild card.The play by Russell down the line was fantastic, Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. If that ball gets in the corner you get a couple more runs.Jason Hammel pitched six innings of one-run ball as Chicago equaled the best August in franchise history with a 22-6 record, also accomplished in 1932. It was the Cubs first time with 22 wins in a month since it went 22-10 in September 1945.Heading into the final stretch of the season, the Cubs (85-47) are rapidly closing in on their first division title since 2008. They begin September with the majors best record at a season-high 38 games over .500 and a whopping 15-game lead over second-place St. Louis in the NL Central.You never even could imagine that you would have this kind of a lead at this particular point in the season, manager Joe Maddon said.Hammel (14-7) allowed three hits and struck out six in his first start since he was pulled in the third inning of a 3-2 loss at the Dodgers on Saturday, prompting the frustrated right-hander to meet with Maddon to discuss what he felt was a quick hook by the manager.Jordy Mercer had two hits and two RBI for Pittsburgh, which dropped to 3-12 against Chicago this year. Josh Harrison had two hits and drove in a run.Pitching for the third straight day, Aroldis Chapman worked a rocky ninth inning for his 32nd save in 35 chances. He threw three wild pitches and yielded Francisco Cervellis two-out RBI single before striking out Mercer with two on with his 11th pitch of the at-bat.I wasnt going down without a fight, thats for sure, Mercer said. What do you got to lose, right? He throws the hardest ball ever, so just battle and hope for the best.Bryant went 2 for 4 and reached base three times while extending his hitting streak to 13 games. The second-year slugger is tied with Colorados Nolan Arenado for the NL lead in homers and tops the majors with 111 runs scored.A brisk wind blowing in from left field was no match for Bryant, who drove an 0-1 pitch from Ryan Vogelsong (3-4) into the bleachers in left in the first. It was Bryants 10th homer in August.Bryant made a diving grab to rob Sean Rodriguez of an RBI single in the second. He went behind the bag to take a hit away from Harrison in the third and reached into the stands to retire Josh Bell on a foul popup in the fourth.He just plays well wherever you put him on defense, Maddon said. Hes just a good baseball player.WORTH NOTINGThe Pirates traded LHP Kyle Lobstein to the Baltimore Orioles for LHP Zach Phillips. The 29-year-old Phillips was 9-3 with one save and a 4.45 ERA in 49 appearances for Triple-A Norfolk this season. He will be assigned to Triple-A Indianapolis.TRAINERS ROOMCubs: RHP Joe Smith (left hamstring strain) and OF Chris Coghlan (right rib contusion) likely will be activated from the DL when major league rosters expand on Thursday.UP NEXTPirates: Following a day off, the Pirates begin a 10-game homestand with a weekend series against the Brewers. RHP Jameson Taillon (3-3, 3.39 ERA) takes on Milwaukee RHP Junior Guerra (7-3, 2.93 ERA) in the opener on Friday night.Cubs: LHP Mike Montgomery (1-1, 3.50 ERA) gets the ball when Chicago hosts San Francisco in the opener of a four-game set on Thursday night. RHP Jeff Samardzija (11-9, 4.50 ERA), who played for the Cubs for seven years, pitches for the Giants.---Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap Javier Mascherano Jersey . Uniteds eighth defeat of a wretched campaign means Liverpool, which currently occupies the fourth and final Champions League place, could go nine points clear of its fierce rival by beating West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. Charlie Adam scored both of Stokes goals at Britannia Stadium either side of Robin van Persies equalizer, with a miserable day for seventh-place United capped by first-half injuries to centre halves Jonny Evans and Phil Jones that forced them off. Gonzalo Higuain Argentina Jersey . Argentina winger Ezequiel Lavezzi and France midfielder Blaise Matuidi scored, with star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic setting up both despite having a poor game by his high standards. Forward Eduardo gave Ajaccio the lead in the sixth minute after being set up by right winger Benjamin Andre, and the Corsican side looked comfortable in the first half, with the lively Johan Cavalli causing problems with his probing runs from midfield. http://www.argentinasoccerauthentic.com/Marcos-Rojo-Copa-America-Jersey/ . Canada is now down to its 22-player limit, although but players wont be registered until Christmas Day. Changes could still be made as a result of a suspension or injury. Javier Pastore Argentina Jersey . Barcelona also left injured defenders Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba out of its squad for the trip to Glasgow. That means that Marc Bartra will probably start again in the centre of the defence alongside Gerard Pique. Diego Maradona Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. Andrew Bogut?exceeded all expectations - including his own - with a powerhouse performance as Australia trounced France 87-66 to open an Olympic mens basketball tournament with a win for the first time in 20 years.Bogut was initially considered unlikely to even make it to Rio after damaging his knee in game five of the NBA finals in June.But the newly-minted Dallas Maverick underwent a gruelling rehab program and recovered in the nick of time, showing on Saturday why he was so crucial to the Boomers chances of Olympic success in Rio.He had 18 points on nine-of-10 shooting, five assists and four rebounds and was also an imposing figure on the defensive end.I didnt know how I was going to pull up, said Bogut, whose first points came courtesy of an alley-oop pass from Matthew Dellavedova.But when you make your first basket in an Olympic Games it helps get your confidence rolling and I felt good after that.Tonight everyone will be talking about offence, about dunks, about me scoring and Patty (Mills) scoring, but it was won defensively.We knuckled down defensively. Before the tournament we said that we need to be pricks defensively.We need to be physical because thats the only chance we have to beat a lot of these teams who are a little more talented than us.Mills had a game-high 21 points, outscoring his San Antonio teammate Tony Parker by three.The superstar French guard threatened to take the game away from the Boomers with an astonishing 14-point second quarter, but he was only used sparingly by his coach Vincent Collet in the second halff.ddddddddddddI thought we did a pretty good job of throwing bodies at Parker, said Australian coach Andrej Lemanis.Between Delly (Dellavedova), Patty, Kevin Lisch even through Damian Martin, just making it tough for him, to wear him out over the course of 40 minutes.The San Antonio playmaker drained 14 second-quarter points, including a buzzer beater which slashed Australias lead to 36-33 at halftime.Parker and his former Spurs teammate Boris Diaw - who was traded to the Utah Jazz last month - scored 25 of Frances 33 first-half points between them.Bogut continued to be an offensive threat in the third term, both as a scorer and with two superb assists for Ryan Broekhoff and Mills.Lemanis ended up giving Bogut 22 minutes and 35 seconds of game-time, with the centre playing with heavy strapping and padding on his knee.He did an unbelievable job of looking after himself during the rehab period and doing what he had to do to get here, said Lemanis.Its a great testament to him, how much he wanted to be in the Olympics playing alongside his mates and playing for his country.Fellow big Aron Baynes also had a considerable impact on the match, finishing with 14 points and eight rebounds.Having won their opening match at an Olympics for the first time since the 1996 Atlanta Games, the Boomers will now turn their attention to key games against Serbia on Monday (early Tuesday AM AEST) and the United States two days later. 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