gold-medallist Brad Gushue of St.s, N.L., while Frans was eliminated with the loss. ' ' '

CHICAGO -- Chris Johnson can rest easy during the All-Star break. Dallas Mavericks Store . He earned a couple days off. Johnson had three hits, including his third homer in two days, and the Atlanta Braves beat the Chicago Cubs 10-7 on Sunday to keep pace with Washington at the top of the NL East. Johnson hit a long drive to straightaway centre field for a three-run shot in a four-run third inning against Travis Wood (7-8). Johnson also went deep twice in the Braves 11-6 victory at Wrigley Field on Saturday. "The biggest thing for me is the fact Im swinging at strikes," he said. "When I swing at strikes, I can do some good things." Atlanta (52-43) has won three of four since a four-game losing streak. It heads into the break one percentage point behind the division-leading Nationals, who won 10-3 at Philadelphia. "We had a pretty good first half, better than pretty good," manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "Now weve got to enjoy this break and come out in the second half and keep firing." The Braves played without struggling second baseman Dan Uggla, who was suspended by the team for the series finale at Chicago. Atlanta announced the punishment on its Twitter feed, with no further explanation, and Gonzalez called it an "internal matter." The last-place Cubs (40-54) have lost eight of 10. Arismendy Alcantara and Chris Coghlan each hit a two-run homer off All-Star Julio Teheran (9-6). It was the first career shot for the 22-year-old Alcantara, who also had a bloop double in the first and is batting .391 (9 for 23) in his first five major league games. "With my ability, Im having fun," Alcantara said. "It can be fast. Im having fun." Chicago scored three times in the eighth, highlighted by John Bakers two-run double, but Jordan Walden got Junior Lake to fly out to centre with a runner on second for the final out of the inning. All-Star Craig Kimbrel then worked the ninth for his 29th save in 33 opportunities. "We put ourselves in a position potentially to even edge closer, and we just fell a little short," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said. Teheran pitched seven innings in his first start since a rough outing against the Mets. The right-hander lasted just 3 1-3 innings in an 8-3 loss at New York on Tuesday. Teheran retired 12 in a row after Chicago put runners on first and second with two out in the first. He allowed seven hits while improving to 2-0 in four career starts against the Cubs. "I know that my last outing I didnt have a good outing," said Teheran, who is ineligible for the All-Star game because he started on Sunday. "Just trying to come back like I did twice this year." Wood was charged with seven runs and seven hits in six innings. The left-hander is 0-3 with a 6.49 ERA in his last five starts. Wood issued leadoff walks in the second, third and fourth innings, and the first two were costly. Gerald Laird had a two-run double in Atlantas three-run second, and Jason Heyward singled home a run before Johnson connected in the third. Johnsons sixth homer was part of his 30th multihit game of the season. The third baseman was walked intentionally in the seventh to get to Tommy La Stella, who doubled home three runs to give the Braves a 10-2 lead. The 34-year-old Uggla has played sparingly since La Stella was promoted from Triple-A Gwinnett on May 28. The three-time All-Star is batting .162 with two homers and 10 RBIs in 48 games. Gonzalez said he expects Uggla to be with the team when it resumes play on Friday night against the Phillies. He also isnt worried about the effect of the suspension on his team. "I dont think so. I got a pretty good pulse of our clubhouse," he said. "If anybody wants to talk to me, my door is always open. And they know that." NOTES: Atlanta also promoted INF Phil Gosselin from Gwinnett before the game. ... Wood will start Chicagos second game after the All-Star break. RHP Edwin Jackson (5-10, 5.64 ERA) starts the series opener Friday night, and RHP Jake Arrieta (5-1, 1.95 ERA) pitches next Sunday against the Diamondbacks. ... RHP Ervin Santana (7-6, 4.01 ERA) will start Friday night against Philadelphia in Atlantas first game after the break. But Gonzalez said he wasnt sure just yet how the rest of the rotation would line up. Dwight Powell Jersey .com) - SirDominic Pointer posted career highs of 24 points and seven steals to lead No. Mark Aguirre Jersey . "Im very pleased to be able to add a quarterback with Adrians experience and skill set," Calgary head coach and general manager John Hufnagel said in a statement. https://www.cheapmavericks.com/ . But defending champion Elena Vesnina of Russia held off a strong challenge to beat Shuai Peng of China 6-3, 6-4, and there was another hard-fought victory for 2012 runner-up Angelique Kerber of Germany, who defeated Alison Riske of the United States 7-6 (6), 6-4. KITCHENER, Ont. -- Edmontons Val Sweeting is two wins away from a trip to Winnipeg to play in Canadas Road of the Rings in December. Sweeting claimed a berth in the Page playoffs on Friday, beating Tracy Horgan of Sudbury, Ont., 5-3 in one of a pair of womens C-Event finals at the Olympic curling pre-trials. "It feels great," said Sweeting, who will face Calgarys Cheryl Bernard on Saturday. "We played really well today and we want to keep it up tomorrow and put ourselves in a position today. Thats what we did today. The team played really well, so to come out on top is confidence-boosting for sure." On Friday night, Sweeting had a tight game going with Horgan, who represented Ontario at the 2012 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, through six ends. But with Horgan holding a slim 2-1 lead, Sweeting was able to make a clutch hit to score a game-changing three, and never looked back, although she needed to make a delicate tap with her final rock of the 10th end to nail down the win. Bernard, meanwhile, prevailed 10-8 in an extra end over Cathy Auld of Mississauga, Ont., in a topsy-turvy affair that saw Bernard race to a 5-2 lead through four ends, then fall behind 8-6 through nine. But Bernard made a spectacular triple takeout to score a game-tying deuce in the 10th, and then stole the winning pair in 11 when Auld was wide on her game-winning draw to bite the button. The winner of the Sweeting-Bernard game will move into Sundays qualifying game for the Roar of the Rings Canadian curling trials in Winnipeg -- the event that will decide Canadas teams for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Dorian Finney-Smith Jersey. "We were definitely here to win," said Sweeting. "Were in a position to do that, so we have definitely met our expectations." The first womens Trials qualifier will be decided Saturday night between A-Event winner Kelly Scott of Kelowna, B.C., and B-Event winner Renee Sonnenberg of Grande Prairie, Alta. The loser of that game will play the Sweeting-Bernard winner. In mens play, reigning Brier champ Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., ran his win streak to four games on Friday night with a 9-6 win over Saskatoons Steve Laycock in the B-Event final. That set up a tantalizing Page playoff A-B game Saturday against A-Event winner John Morris and his Kelowna/Vernon, B.C., team. Jacobs took control of his game Friday night by scoring three in the fifth end, and then took advantage of a Laycock miscue in the ninth to score a deuce out of thin air. "Mission accomplished," said Jacobs. "Were in that A-B game, we have two shots to go to the Trials. We really came out and played well today, and we got a few breaks honestly. But sometimes you need those breaks to get the wins, and well take it." In C-Event play, meanwhile, Jake Higgs of Glencoe, Ont., stole a big deuce in the eighth end -- the turning point in an 8-7 win over Joe Frans of Bradford, Ont. Higgs advanced to a C-Event semifinal clash with 2006 Olympic gold-medallist Brad Gushue of St. Johns, N.L., while Frans was eliminated with the loss. ' ' '