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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 NL 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 on 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 videoboard 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.---Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenapNMD XR1 NZ . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. Originals Stan Smith NZ . "Thank you for the warm welcome," Beckham said on an 80-degree February morning. In this case, it was soccer weather. The sport moved a step closer to returning to South Florida on Wednesday, when Beckham confirmed he has exercised his option to purchase a Major League Soccer expansion franchise in Miami. http://www.nmdshoesnz.com/adidas-nmd-r1-cheap-nz.html . Irving scored 23 points, Tristan Thompson had 20 points and 10 rebounds and the Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 117-109 on Friday night. Adidas NMD R1 New Zealand . -- The goal posts lying flat on the field, Arizonas fans lingered on the field, congregating around the locker room entrance nearly 30 minutes after rushing out of the stands. Superstar NZ Cheap .ca! Kerry, Two nights after the Scott-Eriksson incident in Buffalo, the Bruins returned home to play San Jose. In that game, Zdeno Chara put a check on Tommy Wingels that clearly targeted his head.Paul Gustard believes George Ford and Owen Farrell can build the attacking menace to steer England to World Cup glory in 2019.England equalled the record 14 consecutive wins achieved by Sir Clive Woodwards class of 2003 with Saturdays 37-21 victory over Australia at Twickenham. Eddie Jones side have pulled off a perfect calendar year of 13 wins in 13 matches - but assistant coach Gustard insists England still have plenty of room for improvement.Defence coach Gustard expects free-flowing attack to dominate Test rugbys coming years - and insisted England can be at the vanguard of an exciting evolution thanks to twin playmakers Ford and Farrell.Theres two sides to the ball always arent there? The defensive side and the attacking element, said Gustard.You can pick a team thats going to be defensively very solid, or you can pick a team thats going to attack, and then work on them defensively. We have identified that to win the World Cup, you need to score a lot of points. You need to score tries.Thats the way the games going, the games favouring attack. And if youve got two playmakers on the field at the same time, in George Ford and Owen Farrell, then youre going to strengthen your case and be able to do that.Weve got a litany of talent in the Premiership, English-qualified players that can do some magical things. We need to harness that, give them a framework to attack and a framework to play. And Owen and George have obviously been at the forefront of all those. Former Australia coach Jones claimed the last laugh over his compatriots and also old Randwick team-mate Michael Cheika as England secured a fourth win in 2016 over the Wallabies on Saturday.Englands first perfect calendar year since 1992 has compprised an RBS 6 Nations Grand Slam and a Test series whitewash of the Wallabies in Australia.dddddddddddd. But despite all the progress and tumbling records Englands coaching staff are seeking yet more improvement.Gustard remains adamant England can still scale new heights in 2017, admitting all the players speak about is being number one in the world.Taskmaster boss Jones maintains that England can only be considered the best team on the planet by claiming World Cup glory in Japan in 2019. By laying down that gauntlet, Jones and his coaching staff are battling hard to ensure their side does not peak too soon.It will be hard to top 2016 but not impossible, said Gustard. Weve got the players and the talent, and if youve got the players and the talent youve got a good chance.We believe in the group that weve got and we think were improving as a team. But we actually think theres still plenty of room for improvement. We think were better than we were, and we think weve got a great chance next year to continue our growth and development towards trying to become the number one team in the world.We can perpetuate the message that to be the worlds best we have to win the World Cup, but its up to the players what they believe and what they want to achieve. And the players, all the players speak about is being number one in the world now.They recognise that weve started the process now, but thats all it is. Were at year one of a three-year plan effectively. There will be some ups and downs along the way, but were really pleased with the progress and we know theres a lot more to give. ' ' '