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CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs realize if they are going to maintain their cushion in the National League Central that winning on a consistent basis will go a long way.And as the Cubs prepare to welcome the New York Mets to Wrigley Field for a three-game series starting Monday Enos Slaughter Jersey , they may have found the kind of rhythm they have been looking for all season — and precisely at the right time.The Cubs are riding a five-game winning streak after sweeping the Cincinnati Reds with a 9-0 victory on Sunday. Daniel Murphy continues to pace the offense from the leadoff spot and David Bote added another home run to keep the Cubs rolling.Article continues below ...The Cubs finished the four-game series by scoring 29 runs. They have scored at least seven runs in four of their past five games.But if the Cubs hope to continue to keep their streak intact, Monday starter and ace Jon Lester will have to deal with a Mets team that has found its stride as well.The Mets couldn’t finish off a sweep of the Washington Nationals in a 15-0 loss on Sunday, but New York has been finding success of late just the same.The Mets will enter the series having won four of their past six games and hope to bounce back from Sunday’s lopsided loss.Lester (14-5, 3.64 ERA) takes the mound on a bit of a roll after winning his last two starts. He hit a speed bump three starts ago when he was shelled for nine runs (eight earned) in 3 2/3 innings against the Nationals on Aug. 11, but since then has given up just one earned run in 11 2/3 innings in his past two outings and has found the groove he had settled into earlier this season.Now, Lester will look to continue moving in the right direction against the Mets, against whom he is 6-1 with a 3.26 ERA in eight career starts.Lester departed his last start against the Detroit Tigers earlier than he would have liked after he was pulled by manager Joe Maddon after 5 2/3 innings.“As a competitor, I don’t have to like his decision,” Lester told reporters, according to the Cubs’ official website. “It doesn’t mean I don’t respect our manager and what he’s trying to do. He’s trying to win a baseball game and he feels if that’s the time to make the move, that’s the time to make the move.”Still, Lester likes the way he’s pitching of late.“The biggest thing is getting my fastball to the angle that it should be so you’re seeing the missed hits and foul balls and swings and misses on it,” Lester said. “I’ll keep working on that.”Lester will face Noah Syndergaard (9-3, 3.38) http://www.stlouiscardinalsteamshop.com/authentic-chris-carpenter-jersey , who has won three of his past four outings. Syndergaard surrendered two runs while scattering five hits and striking out six in six innings of his last start against the San Francisco Giants. He is 1-1 with a 2.00 ERA in three career starts against the Cubs.Syndergaard has seemingly found his rhythm after missing nearly two months with a finger injury.“Obviously, he’s had a bit of a strange year in terms of injuries and sicknesses,” Mets manager Mickey Callaway told reporters earlier this month, according to mlb.com. “He’s going to be an elite pitcher if he can get his routine underway.” BOSTON (AP) — David Price went home a winner in a postseason start for the first time in his career.That, he insisted, is all he ever cared about.“This is bigger than David Price,” he said on Sunday night. “This isn’t about me. This is about the Boston Red Sox.”Price was good enough, the Red Sox relievers were even better, and Jackie Bradley Jr. delivered a go-ahead, three-run double off the Green Monster to lead Boston to a 7-5 victory over the Houston Astros and tie the AL Championship Series at one game apiece.Price fell one out short of qualifying for the win, which would have been his first in 11 postseason starts. But it was the first time his team had won a playoff game he started, snapping a record run of October futility.“It’s baby steps,” said Price, who entered the night 0-9 in 10 career playoff starts. “I expect myself to be great in big moments Kolten Wong Jersey , and I haven’t done that thus far in my career. But I came here to win, period. I came here to win a World Series, and to do it multiple times. And that’s what I’m about.”Game 3 is Tuesday in Houston, followed by two more at Minute Maid Park and a chance for the defending World Series champions to clinch a second straight AL pennant at home. Marwin Gonzalez homered for the Astros, who had won five straight postseason games dating to Game 7 of the 2017 Series.“We came here and won a game, and they played well tonight,” Houston third baseman Alex Bregman said. “It’s going to be a fun series, so we’re looking forward to going back home.”Price was spotted a two-run lead in the first inning and then fell behind 4-2 before Bradley clanged one off the left-field wall that Gonzalez chased helplessly as it bounced back toward the infield.Price left leading 5-4 with two on with two out in the fifth before Matt Barnes struck out Gonzalez to end the inning and then pitched a perfect sixth to earn the victory. Ryan Brasier pitched a scoreless inning and erstwhile starter Rick Porcello set the Astros down 1-2-3 in the eighth.Closer Craig Kimbrel gave up Jose Altuve’s RBI single with two outs in the ninth before Bregman launched a high fly to left that Andrew Benintendi caught a step in front of the Monster.“I knew I missed it,” Bregman said. “If I got it, it would have been on the street behind Fenway Park.”Gerrit Cole, who was so dominant in his Division Series start against Cleveland, gave up a double to Mookie Betts — the first batter of the game — as Boston sent eight batters to the plate in the first and scored twice.The AL West champs tied it in the second on George Springer’s two-run double down the right-field line. And when Gonzalez cleared the Monster — and the seats above them — with a two-run homer in the third, it looked like Price was headed for another loss (he has won two postseason games in relief.)But Boston, which won the AL East and a franchise-record 108 games Trevor Rosenthal Jersey , came back in the bottom half, starting with Xander Bogaerts‘ one-out single and then a double by Steve Pearce that sent Gonzalez crashing back-first into the metal scoreboard on the left-field wall. He fell to the warning track, but after the training staff and manger AJ Hinch went out to check on him he stayed in the game.“The ball, the wall, he’s back-pedaling. He’s got to make a decision on whether or not to concede the wall and try to play it off the wall or try to make a catch,” Hinch said. “It’s a well-placed hit.”Cole walked Devers on four pitches to load the bases and struck out Ian Kinsler on three before Bradley lofted one down the left-field line and off the Monster. As the ball bounced back toward the infield, it hopped on the padding along the side wall, just out of Gonzalez’s reach.“Not really catching a break with it rolling on this awkward piece of padding all the way down was unfortunate,” Cole said. “But you put yourself in that position.”Betts scored an insurance run in the seventh, walking to lead off the inning and coming around to make it 6-4 on a wild pitch and a pair of passed balls. He gave Boston a 7-4 lead with an RBI double in the eighth.PRICE IS RIGHTIn all, Price was charged with four runs on five hits and four walks, striking out four in 4 2/3 inningsPrice’s teams had lost all 10 of his previous postseason starts, the longest such losing streak in baseball history. He allowed three runs and got just five outs in Game 2 against the Yankees, the only Red Sox loss in the series.As Price left the field on this night http://www.stlouiscardinalsteamshop.com/authentic-jedd-gyorko-jersey , the crowd rose to applaud the pitcher they booed off the mound in the Division Series, and he tapped the brim of his cap.“It’s definitely appreciated,” Price said. “It wasn’t the line I dreamed up to have tonight. But our offense, our defense, everybody rallied together.”SALE OUTThe Red Sox said Game 1 starter Chris Sale was hospitalized with a stomach illness but Cora said he was still hoping the he would join the team in Houston.“He was feeling bad and he’s at the hospital,” Cora said. “From what I know, it’s nothing serious. But obviously whenever you have to go to the hospital you’ve got to be ‘worried.'”Cora said it did not affect his performance in the series opener, which Houston won 7-2 .HOMER HAPPYIt was Houston’s 14th straight postseason game with a homer, breaking the major league record that had been held by the Astros from 2001-04.UP NEXTDallas Keuchel, who was 12-11 with a 3.74 ERA in the regular season, will start Game 3 for Houston. He allowed two runs in five innings in the Game 3 clincher against Cleveland.With Porcello pitching in relief on Sunday, the Red Sox are expected to start Nathan Eovaldi on Tuesday. He was 6-7 with a 3.81 ERA in the regular season and allowed one run in five innings for the win against the Yankees in Game 3 of the ALDS — his first career postseason appearance.