2-3 innings, striking out

CHICAGO -- In a lost season for Randy Wells, he may finally be starting to find himself. Chandler Jones Womens Jersey . Wells pitched effectively into the seventh, Alfonso Soriano homered and the Chicago Cubs beat the Atlanta Braves 3-2 on Wednesday night. Wells (5-4) held the Braves to one run and two hits over 6 2-3 innings, striking out six and improving to 4-1 in his career against Atlanta. "Randy was good, obviously," Cubs manager Mike Quade said. "Just a real good performance on the back of a game he threw pretty well." The Cubs snapped the Braves six-game winning streak and Atlanta remained 6 1/2 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East. Sorianos two-run shot fuelled Chicagos three-run rally in the second. He also walked and was hit by a pitch. Aramis Ramirez added a single and two walks, extending his hitting streak to 13 games. "It felt good," Soriano said about his long home run. "Thats all we needed runs because (Wells) threw a very good game tonight." Carlos Marmol got the last three outs and joined Lee Smith as the only Cubs relievers to post consecutive 30-save seasons. Wells has struggled this season, going 3-4 with a 6.16 ERA since coming off a seven-week stay on the disabled list on May 28. On Wednesday, he flashed the form that gave him the NLs 10th-best ERA as a rookie in 2009. "Im starting to feel a lot better," Wells said. "Im starting to command the fastball a lot better. Tonight, I had a pretty good changeup." He got off to a fast start, setting down the first 10 Braves and striking out four. The only hit he allowed through the first six innings was Martin Prados infield single in the fourth. "Not only (was it big) to come out and shut them down early, but do it pretty economically pitch count-wise," Quade said. "Those early innings got him to the seventh." Wells appeared to tire in the seventh, giving up Freddie Freemans flyout to the wall and Chipper Jones home run into the batters eye in centre field. Wells threw 109 pitches and departed after Jones blast. Wells hasnt used his early-season forearm strain as an excuse for his struggles, but admitted it didnt help his cause. "I still dont make an excuse about it, but it was definitely a hard thing to come back from," Wells said. "The biggest thing is the physical health, but besides that its having the confidence to cut a ball loose." Jones and Alex Gonzalez hit a solo homers for Atlanta, which managed just three hits in the game. Jones moved into a tie with Jeff Bagwell for 34th on the career list with 449. "All the credit goes to Wells," Jones said. "He had an outstanding changeup tonight. He made one mistake with it." Derek Lowe (8-12) took the loss, allowing four hits and two earned runs over seven innings, matching his longest outing of the season. Lowe threw a season-high 119 pitches. "I thought the whole game was Derek Lowe," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "He was outstanding. ... For him to go seven innings and keep us in the ballgame, that was big. That was really, really big." Soriano gave the Cubs their first lead of the series in the second with his 22nd homer, a mammoth two-run shot to centre field well over the 400-foot sign. The Cubs added a run later in the inning thanks to the speed of Tony Campana, who reached on an error when Dan Uggla tried to hurry on a slow roller to second. Campana stole second, went to third on a balk and scored on Wells swinging bunt. Ramirez didnt figure in the scoring, but remained hot. He walked twice and reached on an infield single, extending his streak of reaching base to a career-high nine plate appearances before grounding out in the seventh. Ramirez is hitting .560 (28 for 50) during his 13-game hitting streak and has reached base in 30 of his last 45 plate appearances. Gonzalez homered off reliever Kerry Wood in the eighth. In the ninth, Marmol hit Uggla with a pitch to start the inning but recovered to earn the save and snap Atlantas winning streak. NOTES: Braves OF Jose Constanza was out of the lineup for the second straight day because of a mild sprain of his right ankle, though manager Fredi Gonzalez said Constanza was available to pinch-hit. He expect his to return to the lineup on Thursday. ... Cubs manager Mike Quade was encouraged by news from RHP Andrew Cashners brief rehab start for double-A Tennessee on Tuesday. Cashner allowed two runs and three hits in 2-3 of an inning, but Quade said his velocity topped out in the high 90s and he reported no problems with the strained right rotator cuff thats had him out since April 5. Cashner is scheduled to make two more appearances for Tennessee before moving up to triple-A Iowa ahead of a September return with the Cubs. ... The Braves will send rookie Brandon Beachy (6-2) to the mound for Thursday afternoons series finale against Chicagos Matt Garza (6-9), who has posted a 1.47 ERA over his last nine home starts. Jamie Collins Youth Jersey . "First, I would like to offer my deepest and sincerest apologies for any harm I have inflicted on University of Missouri defensive lineman, Michael Sam," the statement read. Jamie Collins Red Jersey . A stick in the gut prevented him from getting off a clean drive, but it earned him the first penalty shot of his career. He converted, and Patrice Bergeron also scored a short-handed goal on Thursday night as the Bruins opened the defence of their Eastern Conference championship with a 3-1 victory over the Lightning. CALGARY -- With friends and family in the stands, Brayden Schenn had a night to remember. Schenn scored the game-winning goal and added two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday. "Its obviously a good building to play in," said Schenn, who hails from nearby Saskatoon. "I had friends and family here. Its obviously nice to have a big night here." Among his cheering section at the Saddledome were his parents Rita and Jeff and sisters Madison and Macy. "My immediate family drove down," explained Schenn, whose older brother Luke also had an assist during the win for the Flyers. "Its nice to have a good game in front of them." The 22-year-old forward also scored one night earlier during Philadelphias 4-3 shootout win in Vancouver over the Canucks to snap a 16-game goalless drought. "I guess that happens to most guys," said Schenn, who played in the Western Hockey League for both the Brandon Wheat Kings and Saskatoon Blades. "They go through slumps and they get a little shot of confidence. Tonight, as a line, as a team, as a whole we worked hard. At times there we were obviously playing in our own end a bit, but thats two games in two nights. It was good to come out on top." Philadelphia coach Craig Berube was definitely pleased to see Schenn contribute with goals in back-to-back games. "It helps," Berube said. "Guys that score goals, they lose their confidence when they dont score. You get a goal, it gets you going a little bit. He looked really good tonight." Mark Streit, Scott Hartnell and Braydon Coburn also scored for the Flyers (20-16-4), who have won four straight games and six of their past seven. Wayne Simmonds chipped in with two assists, while goalie Ray Emery made 23 saves to improve his record to 4-7. Rookie Sean Monahan scored the lone goal of the game for the Flames (14-20-6), who have now lost three straight after dropping a pair of 2-0 decisions at home to the Edmonton Oilers on Friday and the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday. "Putting the puck in the net gives you confidence and its big for me to put the puck in the net, and that helps the team, but at the end of the day I want to win games," Monahan said. Calgary forward Lee Stempniak, who hasnt recorded a point in 11 straight games, said the Flames have to start believing in themselves again in order to snap their losing streak. "You certainlyy feel a little bit better if youve been scoring, but, to me, thats a little bit of a cop-out," he said. Stephen Gostkowski Elite Jersey. "Youve got to take ownership of it and be ready for the next opportunity that comes." Starting his fourth straight game for the Flames, Reto Berra made 17 saves in a losing cause. The game marked the debut of forward Kevin Westgarth, who was acquired by the Flames from the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday in exchange for centre Greg Nemisz. Westgarth played on a line with Joe Colborne and Brian McGratton. "Ive been a healthy scratch for a little bit here and coming and jumping in the game right away is awesome," Westgarth said. "What I want to do is play hockey." Streit put the Flyers up 1-0 at 3:15 of the opening frame when his let go a wrist shot from the point that found its way into the top corner over the outstretched glove of Berra, who was screened by Simmonds and Hartnell on the play. The Flyers continued to pour on the pressure as Streit rang a shot off the post before Brayden Schenn appeared to score to put Philadelphia up 2-0, but the goal was waved off because Hartnell made contact with Berra after taking the initial shot on goal. Monahan tied the game at 1-1 with his first goal in seven games at 14:30 of the second. Monahan skated down the left wing into the Philadelphia zone on a two-on-one with Stempniak. Instead of passing, Monahan fired a shot to the far side into the net over Emerys left pad to end Calgarys goalless drought at 159 minutes 35 seconds. Jakub Voracek then had a chance to regain the lead for the Flyers, but he fell down in the slot and Berra poke checked the puck out of harms way. With 1:29 left in the second, Schenn put Philadelphia back up by one when he spun and fired a shot from the slot past Berra. Hartnell added an insurance marker for the Flyers at 10:14 of the third when he tipped Luke Schenns point shot past Berra. Coburn rounded out the scoring with a late empty-net goal while the Flyers were killing a penalty. Notes: Calgary now has an all-time record of 12-8-3 on games played on New Years Eve. a Heading into Tuesdays game, the Flames had won the last six times they have played on New Years Eve, including a 3-2 win at home over the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 31, 2010. a After playing 6:24 in the first period, Philadelphia forward Matt Read left the game with upper-body injury and didnt return. a The Flyers have now won five straight games at the Saddledome against the Flames. Wholesale Jerseys ' ' '