Liebe, Lust und Leben » , airing live this weekend on TSN from The Fenla

CHICAGO -- Jon Lester gave the Chicago Cubs a chance, Javier Baez supplied the power and Aroldis Chapman finished the job.A positive playoff opener for a city draped in W flags and hoping for a historic championship.Lester outpitched Johnny Cueto with eight sparkling innings, Baez homered in the eighth and Chicago beat the San Francisco Giants 1-0 in a tense Game 1 of their National League Division Series on Friday night.Lester retired his last 13 batters in a dominant performance, but the game was scoreless when Baez sent a towering drive into a stiff wind. With a raucous crowd of 42,148 and every player anxiously tracking the flight of the ball, left fielder Angel Pagan ran out of room as it landed in the basket that tops the ivy-covered walls at Wrigley Field.Baez thought it was surely gone as soon as the ball left the bat.I forgot about the wind, he said. The winds blowing straight in, and I hit it really good. Good thing it just barely went.Chicagos relievers in the bullpen in foul territory down the left-field line broke into cheers as Baez rounded the bases with the delirious crowd in a frenzy. Baez then came out of the dugout for a curtain call.Just waiting for him to make a mistake, and he finally did, Baez said.Chapman allowed Buster Poseys two-out double off the ivy in the ninth before Hunter Pence bounced to second for the final out, wrapping a bow on Chicagos first meaningful game in weeks.Lesters $155 million, six-year deal in December 2014 was a key moment in the Cubs turnaround from also-ran to contender. They clinched the NL Central title Sept. 15 and led the majors with 103 wins this year but have their sights set on the franchises first World Series crown since 1908.I kind of figured as we got going it would come down to one mistake, and luckily we didnt make one and they did, Lester said. And I think thats just kind of the beginning of the series.Game 2 is Saturday night.Cueto was outstanding, following up Madison Bumgarners four-hitter in San Franciscos wild-card win at New York with his own gem. The right-hander, deftly varying his delivery to keep the Cubs off balance, struck out 10 and allowed three hits in his second straight complete game in the postseason.We both were pitching a great ballgame and obviously we knew -- we were aware that one run was going to decide the game, Cueto said through a translator.Baezs homer stopped San Franciscos postseason scoreless streak at 23 innings dating to the World Series in 2014. The Giants also won it all in 2010 and 2012, leading to talk of even-year magic for manager Bruce Bochys club, but it was the Cubs with the good fortune in the series opener, a strange turn of events for the usually snake-bitten franchise.The Giants had at least one hit in each of the first four innings, including leadoff singles in the first three, but Lester held them off each time. The left-hander got some help from his usual catcher, with David Ross throwing out Gorkys Hernandez trying to steal second in the first and picking off wild-card hero Conor Gillaspie at first in the third.San Francisco had runners on second and third after left fielder Ben Zobrist misplayed Pagans sinking liner into a fourth-inning double, but Brandon Crawford bounced out to end the inning.We had a couple chances there. We just couldnt get the key hit, Bochy said.Cueto retired his first 10 batters and had the Cubs shaking their heads all night long. He also got some timely help from his defense.Hernandez got revenge on Ross with an outstanding, sliding catch on the warning track in left-center in the third. Kelby Tomlinson, starting at second in place of Joe Panik with the lefty Lester on the mound, robbed Zobrist of a two-out RBI single in the fourth, then took a hit away from Anthony Rizzo with another diving stop in the seventh.SEENActor and comedian Bill Murray was in the crowd cheering on his beloved Cubs. He did his best to bust the teams infamous curse, wearing a shirt that read: I Aint Afraid of No Goat.Rocker Eddie Vedder,?Chicago Bulls stars Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler,?and?Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook?each got a loud cheer when they were shown on the video board in left field. Wearing a white Kris Bryant jersey, former?Chicago Bears?coach Mike Ditka fired up the crowd before the first pitch.Its time to play ball, he said while standing in front of the home dugout. Go Cubs go!UP NEXTGiants: Jeff Samardzija gets the ball in Game 2 for his first postseason start in the same place he began his major league career. The right-hander was drafted by the Cubs in 2006 and spent his first 6 1/2 seasons with the team before he was traded to Oakland in the 2014 deal that brought shortstop Addison Russell to the Cubs.Cubs: Coming off a breakout season, Kyle Hendricks makes his third career playoff start. The right-hander went 16-8 with a major league-best 2.13 ERA this year. He was nearly unhittable at home, going 9-2 with a 1.32 ERA in 15 games. Wholesale Giants Jerseys . Wall made the comment in a speech to a Regina business crowd that included Lesnar. The U.S. wrestler and retired mixed martial artist says he was visiting his brothers farm in Saskatchewan and decided he wanted to hear what the premier had to say. Fake Giants Jerseys . Now that hes hitting streaking teammates with pin-point passes for easy layups, Love is asserting himself as one of the true superstars in the league. https://www.cheapjerseysgiants.us/ . Clarke was injured while practicing on the Doha Golf Club range after the pro-am on Tuesday. The Northern Irishman arrived at the course on Wednesday hoping to start, but after hitting a few balls on the practice putting green Clarke advised officials he was not fit to play. Giants Jerseys China . Shot outdoors against the stunning backdrop of Banff, Alta., the networks 30-minute original production airs tonight at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2. The four All-Star teams will play for $100,000 in prize money during TSNs annual skins game, airing live this weekend on TSN from The Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre. San Francisco Giants Store . -- Matt Ryan needed one of the best games of his career to lead the Falcons and their depleted offence out of their three-game losing streak last week. ARLINGTON, Texas -- Proponents of Arlington taxpayer funding for a $1 billion retractable-roof Texas Rangers stadium have won approval.With 98 percent of the vote counted, voters approved by a 60-to-40-percent margin Tuesday the extension of a half-cent sales tax, 2 percent hotel-occupancy tax and 5 percent car-rental tax for a new home for the Major League Baseball team. That revenue now goes to defraying Arlingtons $155 million debt on its share of the cost of the NFL Dallas Cowboys AT&T Stadium, which opened in 2009.ddddddddddddThe vote also allows a 10 percent admission tax and a $3 parking tax for the Rangers use, the same deal reached for the Cowboys.Although the Rangers hadnt publicly threatened to leave, a team representative held preliminary talks with Dallas officials about a covered stadium there. ' ' '