CHICAGO -- The Texas Rangers started the second half of the season the way they ended the first, struggling to get back to the form that has given them the best record in the American League.The Chicago Cubs beat Texas 6-0 on Friday, handing the Rangers their eighth loss in 10 games -- and their third straight going back to before the All-Star break.Addison Russells two-run single keyed a five-run sixth inning for the Cubs, and Kyle Hendricks (8-6) combined with four relievers to hold the Rangers to five hits.While the Cubs sixth-inning outburst chased Rangers starter Martin Perez (7-6), Texas manager Jeff Banister said his clubs pitching wasnt the problem -- it was the pitching performance by the Cubs Hendricks.He was extremely stingy with the middle part of the plate today, Banister said. We couldnt get anything off the barrel.One of the Cubs runs in the sixth came on a throwing error by Prince Fielder, in a rare start at first base due to interleague play.The sixth inning got away from us, Banister said. I felt like Martin was still making good pitches, still had life on his pitches. We just didnt help him out.Perez said the Rangers werent worried by the recent slump. Despite the loss, Texas (54-37) still has the most wins in the AL.We just have to go back tomorrow and stay focused and find a way to go back to winning, Perez said.The Cubs are trying to come out of their own slump, winning for just the seventh time in 22 games. Cubs manager Joe Maddon said Hendricks emergence as a solid starter has been key as aces Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester have struggled.Kyles one of the best pitchers in the National League right now and nobody is talking about it, Maddon said.Carl Edwards Jr. struck out two in a perfect seventh and Travis Wood, Pedro Strop and Justin Grimm combined for the final six outs in Chicagos eighth shutout.The Cubs, who entered percentage points ahead of Texas for the second-best record in the majors behind San Francisco, had seven hits on an unseasonably cool, drizzly day with the wind blowing in.The breeze kept Anthony Rizzos drive to right in the park in the sixth that helped load the bases and extend his hitting streak to 10 games. Two batters later Russell came through.We played poorly the last three weeks or so and showed our vulnerability and humanity as a team, Cubs president Theo Epstein said. In the long run that might be a good thing because it means we know how hard we have to work and how well we have to play to get where we want to go.TRAINERS ROOMRangers: LHP Jake Diekman, who cut his left index finger on a beer mug earlier this month in Boston, was placed on the 15-day disabled list. Its retroactive to July 6. ... RHP Keone Kela (elbow) was activated. ... LF Shin-Soo Choo (back) was out of the lineup. Ryan Rua replaced him, while Odor led off.Cubs: OF Dexter Fowler (hamstring) isnt expected back before the end of next week. ... C David Ross was activated off the seven-day concussion list. ... RHP Trevor Cahill (right knee tendinitis) was placed on the 15-day DL. ... OF Jorge Soler (hamstring) could start a rehab assignment soon. ... RHP Adam Warren returned to the bullpen, but could make another spot start.PEREZS HITPerez recorded his first major league hit with a swinging bunt toward third base in the second. He had been 0 for 9. Im not a fast guy, I just hit the ball and I looked at third base and I just said, `Hes far from the ball, said Perez, who was charged with five runs in 5 2/3 innings.FORMER RANGERS HURT OLD CLUBFour of the Cubs pitchers were formerly in the Rangers organization. Strop made his major league debut with the team in 2010 while Edwards, Grimm and Hendricks were all drafted by Texas. Banister said he didnt think much about what might have been had the club held on to Hendricks. I dont covet other teams players, Banister said. Hes a solid player for the Chicago Cubs... I like the players we got.UP NEXTRangers RHP Yu Darvish (2-0, 2.87 ERA) returns from the disabled list and starts Saturday against Cubs RHP Jason Hammel (7-5, 3.46). Darvish is expected to throw 85-90 pitches. Air Max 97 Italia . Newcastle dominated in the early stages but City weathered the storm and then raised its game in extra time. Negredo broke the deadlock from close range after a simple move in the 99th minute before Dzeko took the ball round goalkeeper Tim Krul to seal the victory in the 105th. Air Max 97 Saldi . "Four now," Carl Gunnarsson told the Leaf Report proudly following a 5-2 victory over New York on Tuesday night, the clubs fifth straight at home. http://www.airmax97italia.it/ . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. Air Max 97 Prezzi Bassi .ca! Hi Kerry, Heres an interesting one. I know its common knowledge that all players are responsible for their sticks. We witnessed that when Zack Kassian hit Edmontons Sam Gagner in the face after a missed check. Air Max 97 Scontate Uomo . The 43-year-old closer, in his 19th and final big league season, has said hed like to play the outfield. Yankees manager Joe Girardi says hes thinking about allowing Rivera to do it this weekend, when the Yankees finish their season with a three-game series at the Houston Astros. NEW YORK -- Its a strange thing to say about a man who was playing for his third Grand Slam title of the year, but top-ranked Novak Djokovics season has gone sideways since he won his first French Open in the beginning of June. The mystery of what exactly has happened to the Serbian star just keeps getting more curious.In the space of two months, Djokovic has gone from being the surest bet to win Grand Slam tournaments the past two years to an enigma who crashed out of the third round at Wimbledon in July and bombed out of the Rio Olympics in August with an opening-round loss to Juan Martin del Potro that left the world No. 1 weeping as he walked off the court.Then he seemed oddly subdued for long stretches Sunday during his four-set loss to Stan Wawrinka in the final of the US Open. And the crowd sensed it, too. It began chanting Djokvoics name without prompting a handful of times, imploring him to rage back into this match.You know, in matches like this, if you dont use the opportunities, the other guy comes and takes it, Djokovic said.Djokovic knows thats particularly true of Wawrinka, who has won 11 straight finals he has played. The other day, Djokovic didnt dispute an Italian reporters teasing contention that You are responsible for creating the Stanimal, a reference to their fourth-round 2013 Australian Open match in which Djokovic won the deciding set 12-10. The match gave Wawrinka the belief he could actually beat the worlds best.You couldnt blame Djokovic if he had flashbacks to that day or his 2015 French Open final loss to Wawrinka every time the Swiss hit a rope down the alleys.But even if you countenance the idea Wawrinka, who has now beaten Djokovic along the way to all three of his career Slam titles since 2014, has somehow crawled a little inside Djokovics head, that still doesnt fully explain Djokovics current fugue state.For whatever reason -- be it the unspecified personal problems he alluded to at Wimbledon or the more recent wrist and shoulder injuries -- Djokovic hasnt looked himself since June.He has somehow transformed from a chest-thumping man whose reputation for fighting, scratching and clawing his way to wins no matter how long it takes to a man who endured Wawrinkas 6-7 (1), 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 march to the title Sunday rather quietly.Along the way, Djokovic controversially resorted to the ploy of calling out a trainer twice in the final set. (It wasnt the first time he has been accused of bending the rules when struggling in a big match.)Wawrinka was about to serve at 3-1,, up two sets to one, when Djokovic requested the first trainers visit not long after hed spent a changeover icing both of his thighs.dddddddddddd But when the trainer arrived, Djokovic took off both shoes and treated everyone to some adventures in podiatry by requesting treatment on -- wait -- his feet?The toenails were off and bleeding, Djokovic explained. It was quite painful to move around. The toe just happened today.Wawrinka was caught on TV microphones during the first six-minute delay complaining to the chair umpire that Djokovic was trying to buy time because he was cramping -- something that a player cannot receive treatment for during a match.And Djokovic admitted in his news conference that he does know that rule.But he denied under repeated questioning that he did anything untoward as a last-ditch ploy to win. And Wawrinka, who was only just three games from victory by then anyway, refused after the match to criticize his longtime friend and sometime practice partner for requesting the trainers visits.For me, I just asked the umpire because he asked [for] the physio when he was serving, and we played maybe seven more points, Wawrinka said. If your opponent is struggling, if he has blood coming out [of his toes], you have to stop.As it turned out, neither pause had much impact on the match. Long before his feet began to trouble him, Djokovics biggest problem Sunday -- besides the bombs Wawrinka was hitting down the lines again and again -- was he couldnt break Wawrinkas serve. And he didnt hurt Wawrinka much with his own.Djokovic is considered the best returner in tennis history. But against Wawrinka, he converted only three of the 17 opportunities.It was a terrible conversion of the break points -- just terrible, he said. I lost my nerves in very important moments today.And so Djokovic moves on down the road now lugging a personal record of 12-9 in Grand Slam finals with him. He had won four straight majors until his early-round loss at Wimbledon.A glass half-full person would rightly say its an extraordinary achievement the 29-year-old Djokovic has even made 21 major finals. But Sunday, Djokovic -- who fell to 2-for-7 in US Open title matches alone -- wasnt feeling that way just yet.Obviously, Grand Slam finals are different than any other match, [and] I have lost a few Grand Slam finals, some close matches, Djokovic said. Thats the cycle of life, I guess. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '