NEWS » n said. Hes just a good baseball player.WO

Pro Picks has been keeping company with the dregs of the NFL, and its time that stopped.Coming off the best weekend of football this season, we need to ramp up our game. Well start with what shapes up as a shootout in Charlotte, the Panthers (3-6) hosting the Saints (4-5).Both teams figure they should have won on Sunday, but they fell painfully. Carolina blew a big lead against Kansas City, turned over the ball in the dying moments and was beaten by a Chiefs field goal.Even worse, in what might be the play of the year so far, New Orleans had a late extra point kick blocked and run back by Denver for a defensive 2-point conversion. All those points did was win the game.As fast as we can get on the field, the better, as far as you want another crack at it, says the Saints Drew Brees, who is having another spectacular season. We let that one go. Usually its a 24-hour rule. That one would have to be let go after you woke up Monday morning because the preparation began on Carolina.At least the Panthers didnt also have to deal with traveling for the Thursday nighter.No. 20 New Orleans is a 4+-point underdog at No. 25 Carolina. Thats too many points in what should be a nail-biter.PANTHERS, 31-30KNOCKOUT LEAGUEArizona had to go down to the wire last week. Seems to happen all the time. Maybe GIANTS can provide a breather.No. 3 New England (minus 14) at No. 31 San FranciscoJust what the 49ers need, a bunch of ticked-off Patriots coming to town.BEST BET: PATRIOTS 37-20No. 16 Tennessee (plus 3 1-2) at No. 24 IndianapolisTime for a statement win on the road for Titans.UPSET SPECIAL: TITANS, 33-31No. 29 Chicago (plus 5 1-2) at No. 7 New York GiantsThought about this for Best Bet.GIANTS, 27-13No. 11 Houston (plus 3) vs. No. 5 Oakland at Mexico City, Monday nightConsidered this one for Best Bet, too.RAIDERS, 30-20No. 14 Miami (pick-em) at No. 27 Los AngelesTop overall pick Jared Goff gets his first shot at QB. And first loss.DOLPHINS, 20-13No. 10 Philadelphia (plus 6) at No. 2 SeattleSeahawks hitting their stride, but Eagles will test them.SEAHAWKS, 20-17No. 13 Baltimore (plus 5 1-2) at No. 1 DallasCowboys wins seem inevitable these days.COWBOYS, 28-13No. 18 Pittsburgh (minus 7 1-2) at No. 32 ClevelandBrowns losses are inevitable these days, even though Steelers are struggling.STEELERS, 33-23No. 23 Buffalo (plus 4) at No. 21 (tie) CincinnatiBengals season is at stake; they remain alive in weak AFC North with win.BENGALS, 21-20No. 30 Jacksonville (plus 6) at No. 12 DetroitLions in good shape in another bad North division, the NFC version.LIONS, 34-19No. 17 Arizona (minus 1) at No. 15 MinnesotaCant say same for slumping Vikings, but Cardinals are vulnerable.VIKINGS, 16-14No. 19 Green Bay (plus 2 1-2) at No. 9 WashingtonJust cant pick the Packers right now.REDSKINS, 26-23No. 26 Tampa Bay (plus 7 1-2) at No. 4 Kansas CityChiefs quietly stating case for top AFC spot.CHIEFS, 23-21---Last Week: Against spread (3-10). Straight up: (6-8)Season Totals: Against spread (63-75-6). Straight up: (81-63-2)Best Bet: 5-5 against spread, 6-4 straight up.Upset special: 5-4-1 against spread, 5-5 straight up---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFLCowboys Jerseys China .Y. - Detroit goaltender Jonas Gustavsson has earned NHL first star of the week honours after winning in his first three appearances of the season. Cowboys Jerseys 2020 . White came in fourth place in the event. He was the two-time defending gold medallist. The gold medal went to Swiss snowboarder Iouri Podladtchikov. https://www.cowboysjerseysale.com/ . Luis Suarezs double powered Liverpool to a 4-0 victory over Fulham, and Southampton easily overcame Hull 4-1 to continue the south coast clubs impressive start to the season. Liverpool and Southampton sent Chelsea down to fourth place as the west London club was held to 2-2 at home. Dallas Cowboys Shirts . They hope to persuade the other team owners and commissioner Roger Goodell to put pressure on Redskins owner Daniel Snyder to drop the nickname they find offensive. "Given the way the meeting transpired," Ray Halbritter, an Oneida representative and leader of the "Change the Mascot Campaign," said Wednesday, "it became somewhat evident they were defending the continued use of the name. Dallas Cowboys Gear . 24 Baylor in a Big 12 clash between teams trending in opposite directions. Andrew Wiggins made 10-of-12 from the foul line and scored 17 for Kansas (14-4, 5-0 Big 12), which capped a stretch of four straight games against ranked opponents unscathed.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 Chicaago this year.dddddddddddd 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 ' ' '