CHICAGO -- Carlos Beltran had a forgettable 2,000th game in the majors on Thursday. His 2,001st might stay with him for a while. After going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts one day earlier at Wrigley Field, Beltran bounced back Friday with three hits -- falling a home run short of the cycle -- and an RBI to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 3-2 win over the Chicago Cubs. "Yesterday wasnt a good one and today was better, for sure," said Beltran, who had a run-scoring triple, double and single. "Thats baseball. Some days you feel like you come to the ballpark and you try and nothing works out your way, and today it seems like everything worked out my way." Beltrans offence bolstered a second straight spot start for reliever-turned-starter Joe Kelly (1-3), who won his first game of the season. "I just attacked with everything -- slider, curve ball, change-up, four-seam, two-seam (fastball)," Kelly said. "When you throw a couple of those for strikes, you make it easier on yourself. If youre throwing some off-speed and command both sides of the plate with the heater, it makes for a little better time out there." It was the second straight start for Kelly, who had a no-decision against Miami last Saturday. Hes unsure if hell get another start soon or will head back to the bullpen. "I dont look too far ahead about anything," said Kelly, who allowed three hits and a run in 5 1-3 innings, struck out four and walked two. "I go out there and when they tell me to pitch, I pitch. Thats whats good about being versatile, and Im just still happy to be here." Edward Mujica pitched the ninth for his 26th save in 27 opportunities. Thursdays 3-0 loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Cardinals. An added bonus was a seventh inning pinch-hit triple by Rob Johnson, whose contract was purchased Tuesday from Triple-A Memphis. Johnson then scored on Matt Carpenters go-ahead double. "We needed it," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Johnsons clutch hit. "Its a feel-good for a guy whos been doing a lot of things right for us in our system. In a situation, he helped us produce and we wound up getting a run out of it." St. Louis jumped on Cubs starter Carlos Villanueva (2-5) for two runs in the top of the first inning. Carpenter singled and scored on Beltrans triple, followed by Allen Craigs RBI single. The Cubs cut St. Louis lead to 2-1 in the third. Luis Valbuena walked, went to second when Starlin Castro was hit by a pitch, Anthony Rizzo hit into a fielders choice that pushed Valbuena to third and then Alfonso Sorianos single scored Valbuena. After Carpenters double scored Johnson in the seventh to make it 3-1, Castro closed the score to 3-2 with a leadoff homer in the eighth -- but the Cubs would get no closer, stranding seven runners in the game. Even with Villanuevas shaky first inning, Cubs manager Dale Sveum still liked what he saw from his starter. "Six innings, 90 pitches, obviously settled down after the first inning," Sveum said. "Everything got much sharper and he did a great job." The Cubs are 12-8 in their last 20 games, and are 3-5 against St. Louis this season. They faced the best team in baseball for the second straight week. Last weekend, they took two of three from Pittsburgh, which had the best record in the majors at the time. NOTES: Cardinals LF Matt Holliday was held out Friday with right hamstring tightness and is day-to-day. ... In addition to signing first round draft pick Kris Bryant, the Cubs also inked 12th round RHP Trevor Clifton and 19th round C Will Remillard. ... Saturdays pitchers will be the Cardinals Lance Lynn (11-3, 3.67 ERA) and Matt Garza (5-1, 3.22). Garza has been the subject of trade rumours in recent days. "Hes obviously throwing extremely well and hes very healthy and there are teams out there looking for pitching who are going to call and try to acquire him," Cubs president Theo Epstein said before Fridays game. "Hes helping us win games right now, theres a chance to possibly retain him beyond this year, so well just balance all that out and do whats best for the organization." ... The Cubs have used 42 players this season, a pre-All-Star break team record. ... The Cubs came into Fridays game leading the National League with 293 extra-base hits.Darren Woodson Youth Jersey .C. at the helm of the top team in the Eastern Conference. His tenure as the GM in Vancouver was all too brief. Though he led the Canucks to what was then a franchise record-shattering campaign in just his second season, Nonis was gone and replaced one year later. Connor McGovern Womens Jersey . JOHNS, N. http://www.cowboysrookieproshop.com/Cowboys-Bob-Lilly-Jersey/ . The Olympic champion curler and TSN curling analyst immediately went online to look at the Halls long list of honoured members. Thats when the enormity of the honour sunk in. Tony Dorsett Youth Jersey .J. -- Josh Cribbs was in the Pro Bowl in February and out of a job six months later. Emmitt Smith Jersey . -- Ty Montgomery had 290 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, and fifth-ranked Stanford held on to beat No.LANDOVER, Md. -- The Washington Redskins are heavy favorites to beat the winless Cleveland Browns on Sunday at FedEx Field. But do not tell that to them.The Redskins earned a big victory over the New York Giants on Sunday, but remain in an early hole in the NFC East at 1-2. A loss to the Browns (0-3) would be a massive setback, especially with a difficult schedule looming late in the season.I just dont see it as a trap game, Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins said. I dont see any game in the NFL as a trap game. I mean, were 1-2.What are we feeling comfortable about, I mean we have to win in the sense that we want to get to 2-2, and we got a lot to play for. Were at home. So, I think those words just dont even enter my, or our, vocabulary.Thats because the Browns, despite a rebuilding movement under first-year head coach Hue Jackson, are just a few plays away from being 2-1. That wasnt expected.Cleveland was ahead 20-0 at home against Baltimore before losing two weeks ago. The Browns lost to Miami in overtime on the road last Sunday after missing three field goals.Cleveland even was competitive for a time on the road against Philadelphia in the opener.You have to close out when you have to close out, Browns wide receiver Terelle Pryor said. You cant make excuses when you lose. Its a good sign and a good feel for the team to keep on continuing and move forward because were right there in each game.I feel like we can battle with anybody in the league. This is going to be a test also, going against the Redskins, and we look forward to it.Pryor played quarterback and receiver against the Dolphins and finished with 204 yards of offense -- 144 receiving, 35 passing and 25 rushing. That gives Washington something to think about on defense.Cleveland has used four quarterbacks this season, if you include Pryors limited attempts. But with former Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III (shoulder) and Josh McCown (shoulder) both out, they will have to start rookie Cody Kesssler again.ddddddddddddessler made his NFL debut in the Miami game and struggled some. But he finished 21 for 33 for 244 yards and -- most important -- no bad fumbles or interceptions. It was a decent start.Washington started the year 0-2 with losses to Pittsburgh and Dallas, and was facing a disastrous start attempting to defend its NFC East title.But the Redskins held on late against the Giants with timely interceptions from rookie linebacker Sua Cravens and second-year cornerback Quinton Dunbar.But there were plenty of opportunities for them to lose that game, too.The defense still struggled in coverage as Odell Beckham Jr. gashed them for 121 yards receiving. And the run defense has been a little better in recent weeks, but was exposed in the blowout loss to the Steelers, 38-16.I dont think were in a position to overlook any team, wide receiver DeSean Jackson said.Jackson has been a difficult matchup for all three of Washingtons opponents, with five receptions for more than 25 yards.But look out for second-year receiver Jamison Crowder, too, who is tied for the team lead with 16 receptions. He had a brilliant 55-yard touchdown on a tunnel screen against the Giants and caught another scoring pass against Dallas.Crowder even set a career-high with a 50-yard punt return in the Giants game. Hes become a dangerous playmaker.It would be selling him short to say hes a better player now than he was last year, Cousins said. He was really good last year. I mean, hes just, hes a rookie, hes a fourth-round pick. Were trying to find out how he fits.Were thinking that Pierre (Garcon) and DeSean (Jackson) and Jordan (Reed) are going to be the guys that we get the ball to, and then suddenly he just starts showing up time and again in training camp last year and early in the season, and we started saying, Wow, weve got to get him more involved. ' ' '
