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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. Cheap Atlanta Hawks Jerseys . JOHNS, N. Cheap New Orleans Pelicans Jerseys . The 28-year-old from Calgary matched his career best after missing just one shot in his two rounds of shooting in the mens 10-kilometre sprint competition. Smith finished in 23 minutes 15. http://www.cheapnbaoutletjerseys.com/?t ... ds-jerseys . "Theyve both been real good," said Babcock. "Havent changed our minds." 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SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Virginia Tech proved it can overcome a slow start and turnovers.The Hokies fell behind by 17 points early and trailed by 10 to start the fourth quarter, but Jerod Evans guided them to a touchdown and a pair of field goals by Joey Slye in the quarter to beat Notre Dame 34-31 Saturday.Evans threw for 267 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another in intermittent snow and 20 mph winds. The Hokies (8-3) had been 0-3 when trailing at halftime this season and minus-9 in turnovers in its three losses. Evans threw an interception on a pass that bounced off the hands of Cam Phillips and fumbled when he was sacked, leading to 10 points by the Irish on the two turnovers.Evans said the Hokies knew the game wasnt over after falling behind 17-0.We know were more than capable of doing of what we do with the high-powered offense, so you dont lose confidence easily when youve got that type of talent, he said.The Virginia Tech defense shut down the Irish offense in the second half. After giving up 299 yards in total offense, the Hokies held the Irish to 150 yards in the second half -- with 67 yards of that came on a touchdown run by Josh Adams that extended Notre Dames lead to 31-21 and 57 coming on the final drive of the game.They hit us on a couple of plays early that they had not shown, but our kids hung in there, Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster said. It was a tale of two halves. They did some unique things and we adjusted.DeShone Kizer, who was 13-of-18 passing for 199 yards with two touchdowns in the first half, was just 3 of 15 for 36 yards in the second half.We had some balls that were catchable that we didnt catch. I just dont think we executed quite as well offensively, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said.Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente said the Hokies simply pllayed better after halftime.ddddddddddddI dont think there was any great revelation at halftime. Its just, weve got to play better, he said. We were out there dropping the ball on the ground, giving up big plays. Just not playing Virginia Tech football. I think guys kind of settled down and got their feet underneath them and felt like if theyd just execute theyd have a chance to have success. Thats what they did.THE TAKEAWAYVirginia Tech: A solid performance after a slow start should give the Hokies confidence as they try to clinch the ACC Coastal Division.Notre Dame: It was the same old story for the Irish, who squandered a double-digit lead in a loss for the third time this season. The loss clinched a losing season for the Irish, just the 14th time in 128 seasons of playing football and the first since going 3-9 in 2007.POLL IMPLICATIONS: The win against the Irish could get the Hokies back in the poll.UNWANTED RECORDThe loss drops Kellys record to 59-30 in seven seasons at Notre Dame, tying him with Lou Holtz for most losses at the school. Holtz was 100-30-2 in 11 seasons. Kelly will finish with only his second losing season in 26 seasons as coach. Central Michigan finished 4-7 in his first year as head coach there in 2004.UP NEXTVirginia Tech: The Hokies finish the regular season with their annual game against rival Virginia. The Hokies have beaten the Cavaliers 12 straight times.Notre Dame: The Irish finish the season against rival USC. In their last trip to face the Trojans in 2014, the Irish were blown out 49-14. The Irish have won three of the last four in the series.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25. cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '