Kanya-Living Jewels » vement. A year ago, he was anything but consis

CHICAGO -- Devin Mesoraco was hit by a pitch twice, in addition to the usual nicks that go along with being a catcher. He had a bag of ice on his right wrist and another on his left knee when he sat down for a well-deserved postgame meal. One sweet swing and another big win, and it was easy to forget about one painful night. Mesoraco homered for the fourth straight game, connecting for a two-out grand slam in Cincinnatis five-run ninth, and the Reds beat the Chicago Cubs 6-1 on Monday for their third straight win. "Youre going to get beat up back there," said Mesoraco, shrugging off all the bumps and bruises. "Thats why I get more days off than everybody else." Mesoraco drove a 1-0 pitch from Hector Rondon (1-2) into the basket in left-centre for his 13th homer. It was his second grand slam of the season and No. 3 of his career. Billy Hamilton had a tiebreaking RBI single earlier in the inning as Cincinnati won for the sixth time in seven games to move above .500 for the first time this season at 38-37. The winning sequence started when Chris Heisey reached on a pinch-hit single with two outs and no one on base, snapping an 0-for-16 rut. "It was all set up by Chris Heisey fighting his way into that soft single and stealing second base," Reds manager Bryan Price said. It was the first homer allowed by Rondon since Aug. 1. "Not the way you kind of draw it out. We tried to let him work his way through it," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said. "Obviously it didnt work out." Jonathan Broxton (3-0) pitched a perfect eighth and Logan Ondrusek got three outs, helping the Reds improve to 30-11 against the Cubs over the last three seasons. Anthony Rizzo hit his 16th homer for the Cubs, who have lost three in a row. Jeff Samardzija struck out seven while pitching six innings of one-run ball. "All in all, I felt good, just needed a little improvement there early," Samardzija said. The Reds got off to a fast start behind Hamilton, who led off the game with a grounder just past second baseman Darwin Barney. The bouncer died in the grass in short right field and the speedy rookie hustled into second with a double, extending his hitting streak to 11 games. Todd Frazier followed with a drive into the gap in right-centre for an RBI triple. But Samardzija buckled down and kept Frazier at third, retiring Jay Bruce and Ryan Ludwick after he hit Mesoraco for the first time with one down. Chicago wasted a prime scoring chance in the fourth. Rizzo reached on a leadoff single before Starlin Castro doubled into the left field corner, putting runners on second and third. Alfredo Simon then retired three straight to preserve Cincinnatis 1-0 lead. Luis Valbuena flied out to medium right field, Welington Castillo hit a comebacker to the mound and Ryan Sweeney lined out to left. "I just tried to make my pitches the best I can, and everything was good," Simon said. The Cubs also wasted a leadoff double by Barney in the third. Samardzija broke his bat over his left knee after he popped up a sacrifice attempt. Simon allowed one run and five hits in seven innings. He struck out five and walked one. Frazier finished with three hits and Mesoraco reached five times. He also walked twice before he connected in the ninth. "I felt good the first time that I was here. I felt good coming into this series," Mesoraco said. "You just try to ride them out as long as you can." NOTES: Reds 2B Brandon Phillips (bruised right heel) got the night off. Price said Phillips is day to day. ... Renteria said they are working on finalizing the starting pitchers for Saturdays doubleheader against Washington. ... Cubs RHP Jake Arrieta (3-1, 1.98 ERA) will face RHP Homer Bailey (7-3, 4.68 ERA) in the second game of the three-game series Tuesday night. Arrieta is 2-0 with a sparkling 0.73 ERA in four starts this month. ... Sting led the crowd in the singing of "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" during the seventh-inning stretch. Alex Bregman Jersey . Following the Ford Womens World Curling Championship gold medal match that attracted record-breaking audiences to TSN, the networks exclusive live coverage of the tournament begins Saturday at 7am et/4am pt with Canadas opening draw against Denmark. Carlos Correa Jersey . MLB.com reported that the Dodgers locked the left-hander in for one year at $10 million with up to $4 million in incentives. http://www.baseballastrosproshop.com/nol...-astros-jersey/. Kerber will next play Estonias Kaia Kanepi, who beat American qualifier Victoria Duval 6-1, 6-3. In other first-round matches, Lucie Safarova beat 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-4 and American Bethanie Mattek-Sands had a 6-4, 6-3 win over Canadas Eugenie Bouchard. Craig Biggio Jersey . - PGA Tour rookie Tony Finau shot a 9-under 63 at Del Monte and had a two-stroke lead over Billy Andrade and Lee Janzen of the Champions Tour after Thursdays opening round of the Callaway Pebble Beach Invitational. Roy Oswalt Jersey .com) - Sixth-seeded Feliciano Lopez was a first-round winner on Monday at the Delray Beach Open tennis event.WINDSOR JUNCTION, N.S. - In many ways, the Nova Scotia Open is just another Web.Com Tour event, another chance to move up the money list and get closer to a PGA Tour card for next year. But for the 20 Canadians in the field, it is a rare home game with some tangible benefits. "Its great," said Roger Sloan, who plays out of the Tobiano Golf Club in Kamloops, B.C. "I stopped at Tim Hortons before my round." Perhaps it was the power of that morning double-double that pushed Sloan to a score of four-under 67, the lowest among the Canadians who teed off in the morning wave. "I got off to a really good start," said Sloan. "Birdied my first hole and had a couple of really good birdie opportunities in my first few holes. It was just a solid ball-striking day." Sloan had it to four under through his first nine with birdies on the third, fifth and ninth holes. He pushed that to five under with another one at the 12th before giving that back at the 17th. The New Course at Ashburn isnt long by Web.Com Tour standards but the greens here are providing a suitable defence. The putting surfaces have strong (a polite word) slopes that make getting the ball close on approaches tough and the putting even more difficult. "The greens are tricky," Sloan stated, "so you really have to be in control of the ball to get it close." By the time 36 holes are in the bag, "tricky" might be a nice description for how the players view these greens. They will most certainly be the deciding factor in who wins. Sloan, of course, is hoping that will be him. Hes in his second season on the Triple-A circuit and has been playing some more consistent golf this season, making the cut in seven of 12 starts. However, hes only missed once in his last seven events, showing steady improvement. A year ago, he was anything but consistent, making just five cuts in 19 starts. However there was a slight off-course distraction as he got married. This year, however, his goal was to avoid the highs and lows, and even out his play. "Ive been playing solid all year,&quoot; he stated, "putting together some solid rounds of golf.dddddddddddd Thats what I really wanted to do this year. You never know when those really good rounds are going to come. You just have to keep plugging away and stay focused on one shot at a time." Talking to Sloan its easy to see hes mature and keeps a good perspective on life, something that isnt always found in younger players. He sees the world beyond golf and is obviously well-grounded. He is in the middle of a seven-week run of tournaments but doesnt seem frustrated or burned out or home-sick, despite the fact his wife rarely is able to join him on Tour. He understands his job and the career hes chosen. He prepared himself for this lengthy road trip and is focused on his game. "Theres no job security out here as you might have on the PGA Tour where I can take next week off," Sloan stated. "You have a lot of guys playing really well, lot of great players, too. Theres pressure to play well but at the same time, if youre out here, you have the ability so trust yourself." Unlike a number of the other Canadians such as Adam Hadwin or MacKenzie Hughes, Sloan is playing without much in the way of outside financial backing. He has no major sponsors and wasnt a beneficiary of Golf Canadas Young Pro program when it was announced earlier this year. In fact, hes never really been on the Golf Canada radar, when he was an amateur or now. Its somewhat hard to believe -- actually its shocking -- that with his talent and personality, a company wouldnt embrace him and get behind him. Still, the ever-optimistic Sloan doesnt see that as a problem, but rather a fact that will change only by his doing. "Ive been blessed to play this game professionally on my own accord," he stated. "Its taught me a lot of good values. Its been tough, Ive had to make a lot of sacrifices, my wife and I, in order to make that work. Its tough but at the same time I have to keep focused on playing well and ultimately achieving my goal of winning on the PGA Tour and the money kind of takes care of itself." 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