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HOUSTON -- Mike Fiers did not have his best stuff Sunday night, and the Chicago Cubs jumped on him quickly.Jorge Soler and Addison Russell homered to lead Chicago to a 9-5 win over the Houston Astros, moving the Cubs closer to clinching the NL Central.Soler hit a solo home run as part of Chicagos four-run third, and Russell hit a two-run shot -- his 20th of the season -- in the fourth as the Cubs built a 9-0 lead.I thought we played pretty well, I just didnt hold up my end of the bargain and end up losing because of it, Fiers said. Big games like this youve got to lock it in and play a lot better than I did. Put us in a hole pretty quick and it was tough to get out of.Fiers (10-7) was tagged for seven runs on seven hits in 2 1/3 innings as Houston fell 9 1/2 games behind Texas in the AL West and 3 1/2 back of Toronto and Baltimore in the wild-card race.Honestly I dont know what it was, Fiers said. Made some good pitches, made some bad pitches. They hit both and ended up getting ahead pretty early.The right-hander had won two straight and allowed three runs or fewer in each of his previous four starts.His command wasnt really there, Houston manager A.J. Hinch said. It seemed like he was losing a lot of breaking balls up into the arm side, which is a little bit of a delivery issue. So there was a lot of different things that just werent going his way. Just wasnt his night. I thought he did the best he could but it was an off night for him.Chicago extended its lead in the NL Central to 16 games over St. Louis.Jake Arrieta (17-6) allowed three runs on four hits with three strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. His 17 wins lead the NL, and his 11 road wins leads the majors.Arrieta cruised through the first five innings, allowing a solo home run to Jose Altuve in the fourth to go with a walk and single but ran into trouble in the sixth.Alex Bregman hit an RBI double and came around to score on Arrietas wild pitch to cut the lead to 9-3 in the sixth. The Astros then loaded the bases with one out, but Justin Grimm induced pop-ups by Evan Gattis and Colby Rasmus to end the threat.Disappointing obviously to fall that far behind, Hinch said. We had a chance in the sixth, got a couple runs, could have had a bigger inning.Kris Bryant had an RBI double in the first, and David Ross had a sacrifice fly before Javier Baez scored on a wild pitch by Mike Fiers in the second.Baez added an RBI single, and Albert Almora hit a two-run single as part of the third.We came out ready to play, Chicago manager Joe Maddon said. We always do, but there was a little bit of juice about the whole game. Everybody was really raring to go and I thought we did a wonderful job of getting on top like we did.Yulieski Gurriel and Gattis hit back-to-back solo home runs in the ninth as the Astros lost for the fourth time in five games.TRAINERS ROOMAstros: SS Carlos Correa was back in the lineup after missing four games with inflammation in his left shoulder. Correa singled in the second and was replaced by pinch hitter A.J. Reed in the fourth. Hinch said Correa was fine. I wasnt going to let him reaggravate it with the score 9-0 going into that inning, Hinch said.WEB GEMSAlmora ended the fifth with a diving catch coming in on Marwin Gonzalezs falling pop fly. Jake Marisnick then robbed Almora of a hit in the eighth, coming in and making a diving grab on Almoras pop fly.UP NEXTCubs: RHP Kyle Hendricks (14-7) starts the first game of a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday. Hendricks leads the majors with a 2.07 ERA. He has allowed three runs or fewer in 19 straight starts.Astros: RHP Doug Fister (12-11) starts the first of a three-game series against Texas on Monday. Fister will look to bounce back after allowing six runs in 4 1/3 innings in his last start at Cleveland on Wednesday. Delino DeShields Jr. Jersey .4 million title. Ryan Riess emerged with the title after a session in which he started behind, but used expert skill to gather the chips to his side amid the unpredictability of no-limit Texas Hold em. Riess put his final opponent Jay Farber all-in with an Ace-King. Nomar Mazara Jersey . The mixed zone is not a place to make friends. http://www.texasrangersshop.com/rangers-lance-lynn-jersey/ . Houston won 3-0 to advance to face New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Last in the game, Di Vaio and Romero got into a shoving match with several Houston players. Romero appeared to elbow and kick Houston defender Kofi Sarkodie. Adrian Beltre Jersey . 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. Shelby Miller Jersey ., and Rudi Swiegers of Kipling, Sask., took sixth spot on Saturday in pairs at the NHK Trophy ISU Grand Prix figure skating competition. FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- Patrick Reed occupied the eighth and final spot in the Ryder Cup standings going into the final qualifying event, which brought him the attention no one wants. He was the guy on the bubble, and most of the chatter was negative.Even more aggravating to Reed was that it was his own fault.The American had developed the consistency he needed. Over the last 20 months, he had 22 finishes in the top 10 around the world, with five runner-ups. Missing during that stretch was winning, and thats all that matters to Reed.Because at the end of the day, a lot of top 10s ... its great, but its going to make you be on that bubble, Reed said. Ive had it feels like 100 top 10s this year. And Ive just kind of stayed there on that No. 6, 7, 8, 9 on the Ryder Cup. And it takes something like a win to be able to solidify yourself.The timing couldnt be better for Reed. The moment couldnt be better for his confidence.He didnt flinch in the final round at The Barclays until he could afford a few mistakes. Reed went from a two-shot deficit early in the round to a three-shot lead with three holes to play, and he hung in from there for a 1-under 70 and a one-shot victory over Sean OHair and Emiliano Grillo.Top 10s are great for making a living, Reed said. But at the end of the day, every time we play golf tournaments, we dont play for top 10s. Were going there to try to get a W and try to get hardware, try to get a trophy.The crystal trophy was on the table, and Reed glanced at it every now and then.It was his fifth victory on the PGA Tour, and even though he faced one of the strongest and deepest fields of the year, Reed still favors one of his early victories as the most significant. That was two years ago in a World Golf Championship, when winning was still new to him.Probably the biggest difference between this week and that week was I had another guy in black and red in the group in front of me, Reed said with a smile.That guy was Tiger Woods, whom Reed grew up idolizing to the point that he prefers to wear black trousers and a red shirt in the final group. That day at Doral, Woods played in the group ahead and Reed didnt blink. Woods was starting to cope with back issuees -- he would have the first of three back surgeries a month later -- though Reed didnt give anyone much of a chance.ddddddddddddThe victory at Bethpage required a little more work.He trailed Rickie Fowler early, and even when he caught him with a birdie on the seventh hole, Reed felt another tournament slipping away.Reed couldnt help but think about all the missed chances in the opening hour -- four putts from 10 feet or in that failed to drop, including an 8-foot eagle attempt. He wondered if this was one of those stretches that had kept him from winning since the 2015 opener at Kapalua.Thats when his caddie, brother-in-law Kessler Karain, stepped in and told him to quit worrying about it and keep hitting good shots.It was kind of creeping back in, just going through my mind on events earlier this year when I had these kind of stretches, Reed said. To get over that hump and put the pedal down ... I felt like that just set the tone for me and let me run with it.Two tough par saves gave him the lead. A birdie on No. 12 stretched it two shots, and no one got closer until Reed made bogey on the final hole.He was no longer on the bubble, moving to No. 4 in the Ryder Cup to qualify easily. He went up to No. 9 in the world, a little closer to that boast that he felt like a top 5 player when he won at Doral. And he is No. 1 in the FedEx Cup.Thats significant because Reed now is assured of being among the five players who only have to win the Tour Championship at East Lake to capture the FedEx Cup and claim the $10 million bonus, the richest payoff in golf.And hell be at Hazeltine when the Ryder Cup begins Sept. 30.It was at the Ryder Cup two years ago when Reed first showed his pugnacious side. He placed his finger over his lips for a shush sign that riled up Scottish gallery at Gleneagles and earned him a small measure of respect for his moxie. Reed was one of the bright spots for the Americans, and hes eager to play before a home crowd.What does he have planned for a Minnesota crowd?If I tell you, he said with a grin, then it wont be a surprise. ' ' '