Though this season’s first half did not evolve as well as the Cubs had hoped, their perfect start to the second half has provided indication they could once again have some fun in October. The defending World Series champs matched a season-best five-game winning streak with Tuesday night’s 5-1 win over the Braves at SunTrust Park.

After rain delayed the start of the game for 2 1/2 hours, Javier Baez recorded three hits and teamed with Willson Contreras to homer off Sean Newcomb during a four-run third inning that proved decisive for the Cubs, who now sit just 2 1/2 games behind the first-place Brewers in the National League Central race.
The Braves entered this series just a half-game behind Chicago in the Wild Card race, but with consecutive losses they have fallen into fifth place, eight games behind the second-place Rockies.
“We have guys that have done it before and take pride in what they do,” Cubs starter John Lackey said. “We want to do better than what we did in the first half for sure.”
Nick Markakis’ second-inning leadoff home run accounted for the only damage incurred over five innings by Lackey, who was activated off the disabled list earlier Tuesday and entered having surrendered an NL-high 24 homers. He allowed five hits with one strikeout and two walks, earning his first win since June 18.
The Braves were not able to overcome the fourth-inning struggles endured by Newcomb, who allowed five earned runs over 5 1/3 innings. The rookie southpaw produced a 1.48 ERA as he completed the first four starts of his career in June. But he has been charged with at least four earned runs in each of his first three July starts.
Both starting pitchers had completed their pregame preparations as the tarp was pulled on and off the field twice with the expectation the game was about to begin.
“Waiting around is not the best,” Newcomb said. “I was on the [bullpen] mound for about 10 pitches when they pulled the tarp. I think there were two other times I started playing catch and they pulled the tarp again. So, it’s hard to get in a groove there, but that’s stuff you have to deal with.”
Inconsistent command has plagued Newcomb throughout his professional career and did so again in the third inning, when he issued consecutive one-out walks to Ben Zobrist and Kris Bryant. He did not hit the strike zone with any of the 13 pitches thrown within this sequence of consecutive plate appearances. But he did find too much of the plate with the 1-0 fastball Contreras drilled over the center-field wall for a two-out, three-run homer that gave the Cubs the lead.
“[Contreras] is really turning into a leader,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “He was very upset with himself when he hit into that double play his first time up. But he comes back and hits a three-run homer after that. He is definitely turning into a force.”
The Braves made things interesting when they came within one swing of erasing a three-run, ninth-inning deficit against Wade Davis in Monday’s series opener. But their bid to spend a second straight night creating late-inning intrigue faded after putting two on with one out in the eighth. Carl Edwards Jr. sandwiched a Freddie Freeman strikeout between Brandon Phillips’ leadoff single and a Matt Kemp walk. The right-handed reliever ended the frame with consecutive strikeouts of Matt Adams and Markakis.
“We just couldn’t bunch anything together tonight,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “We had some guys on and couldn’t get the big hit.”
Braves center fielder Ender Inciarte has gone hitless during this series. This marks just the third time this season he has been held hitless in consecutive games and first time since April 22-23.
R.A. Dickey will take the mound when for Wednesday’s 11:10 p.m. CT series finale. Dickey has produced a 1.09 ERA over his past five starts, and he has allowed just three earned runs over his past 27 innings at SunTrust Park.

The Iowa Cubs used three huge innings and 23 hits to dispatch the Nashville Sounds, 16-7, Tuesday night at Principal Park.

Iowa used a five-run first, four-run third, and four-run seventh to kept the Sounds chasing all night. The 23 hits allowed by Nashville pitchers was one shy of tying the franchise record of 24 in a single-game.

Ben Bracewell started for the Sounds and deserved better than the eight earned runs charged to his final line. The right-hander yielded five infield singles and dealt with two errors in the first inning that put Nashville in a 5-0 hole after the one.

A run in the second, and two in the third trimmed Nashville’s deficit to 6-3 heading into the last of the third, but every time the Sounds made it interesting, Iowa responded with more runs.

The Cubs plated four runs on five more hits in the bottom of the third to build their lead to 10-3. Again, the Sounds responded with three in the fifth to make it a 10-6 game.

Center fielder Yairo Munoz launched a solo homer in the top of the seventh to draw the Sounds within three runs at 10-7.

Nashville reliever Kyle Finnegan kept the Sounds in the game in the middle innings. The right-hander tossed 3 1/3 scoreless innings and racked up four strikeouts in the process.

Iowa responded to Nashville’s flurry of runs with another explosion of their own. The Cubs used five doubles off Tucker Healy to score another four runs in the bottom of the seventh.

It forced Sounds Manager Ryan Christenson to turn to a position player to pitch in the eighth. Ryan Lavarnway’s one inning of relief marked the eighth time a position player has pitched for Nashville in 2017.

Iowa’s fireworks on offense overshadowed a big offensive night for Nashville. Four different Sounds had multi-hit games, including three-hit games from Renato Nunez and Munoz.

Game three of the four-game series is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in Des Moines. Right-hander Kendall Graveman makes a rehab start for the Sounds against right-hander Seth Frankoff (1-5, 4.15) for the Cubs. First pitch is set for 12:08 p.m.

Marley Perry of CCMS soccer[File photo]

Coach Travis O’Kelley has begun preseason workouts with a large and inexperienced squad heading into the season.  Coming off another conference finals appearance, the Lady Raiders will need to replace the majority of their offensive production from last year.  Thus far, O’Kelley has been pleased with the early results of their preseason practices from returning keeper Lucy Riddle.  “Lucy is stopping everything” said O’Kelley speaking of his 8^th grade netminder.  In front of Riddle, 8^th graders Jayda Wright and Alexis Rayman will form the nucleus of the Lady Raider defense.  On the offensive end, returning players Marley Perry, Arianna Hansen and Katie Cotten will be the odds on favorites to carry the offensive workload for Coffee County.

Coach O’Kelley has been pleased with his team’s athleticism and effort in practice.  With so many inexperienced players fighting for positions, the Lady Raiders are looking to improve their communication and spacing in the coming workouts.  O’Kelley wants to see his team continue their hard work in learning the game, especially in moving and spacing without the ball.

Coffee County will close their preseason workouts with a scrimmage at home on August 8^th against Siegel.  That match will get underway at 4:30 PM at CCMS.  They will follow that up with their annual Kicking Cancer Play day on August 12^th.  The Lady Raider varsity and JV teams will take part in the all day scrimmage event with a portion of the proceeds given to a cancer charity.

The Lady Raiders will begin the regular season on August 17^th when they host travel to McMinnville to take on conference rival Warren County.  Thunder Radio will feature Coffee County as part of the First National Bank Hometown Sports Series on September 18^th in their home match with White County.