ing.MERCURY 98, WINGS 72PHOENIX -- Penny Taylor scored 22 p

CHICAGO -- Not only did Matt Garza pitch the Chicago Cubs to a victory Friday, he might also have boosted his trade value. Garza worked into the ninth inning and Anthony Rizzo hit his first home run since May 18 to lead the Cubs over the Houston Astros 3-1 after a rain delay that lasted more than 3 hours. The subject of trade speculation, Garza (2-1) allowed four hits and struck out eight in eight-plus innings for his first win since beating Arizona on May 31. It was an outing that certainly could make Garza more attractive on the trade market. The rebuilding Cubs began the day 17 games out of first place in the NL Central, and Garza can become a free agent after the season. The right-hander, however, didnt say much about the chatter surrounding his future. "Im looking forward to the next five days," Garza said. "That day I face Milwaukee in Milwaukee and Ill be ready." Cubs manager Dale Sveum is well aware of all the speculation about Garza but doesnt want to lose a pitcher who has allowed one run over his past 15 innings, his best stretch since coming off the disabled list May 21. "You dont want to give up those guys," Sveum said, "but obviously its a business and thats not my part of my business." Darwin Barney and Scott Hairston also homered for the Cubs, who had lost four of five. Garza, who threw seven scoreless innings Sunday in a no-decision against the Mets, was three outs from his first complete game since Sept. 21, 2011, against Milwaukee when he went out to the mound in the ninth. But he walked Jose Altuve to begin the inning and was replaced by Kevin Gregg, who earned his 11th save in 11 tries. "Im a little upset I didnt finish it, but thats on me," Garza said. "I walked a leadoff guy in the ninth and theres no reason to leave me in there. Youve got a guy thats closing games really well now, so you just hand it over and watch." Rizzo, meanwhile, will be with the Cubs for a while and is a key to their rebuilding efforts. The first baseman, who entered in a 4-for-40 slump, finished with two hits after the start was delayed by rain for 3 hours, 18 minutes. Rizzo agreed to a $41 million, seven-year contract on May 13 and has struggled since the deal, hitting .200 with one home run and 11 RBIs entering Friday. Chris Carter broke up Garzas shutout bid with a leadoff homer in the seventh. Barney was a triple short of the cycle for Chicago, which had scored 11 runs in its last five games. Hairston added a solo home run off Dallas Keuchel in the sixth to make it 3-0. Barney has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games and has had at least two hits in three of those games. "Ive just been ready to hit every pitch, not assuming that the first pitch is going to be a ball or anything like that," Barney said. "Id be lying if I said I didnt learn something from watching those Cardinals hitters as well." Barney said the Cardinals, who beat the Cubs three out of four this week, "have a good approach." That helped the Cubs beat the Astros, who had won six of eight. It was the first interleague matchup between the teams after 705 meetings in the National League. Keuchel (4-4) lost for the second time in three decisions, pitching six innings and giving up three runs and nine hits while striking out a career-high nine. Keuchel hadnt allowed multiple home runs in any outing, and only eight all season before giving up three Friday. "I thought he made a couple of mistakes and they made him pay for it," Astros manager Bo Porter said. "They were all solo home runs and he did a good job of keeping us in the game. Unfortunately, offensively we couldnt muster too much off of their guy." NOTES: The Cubs traded Triple-A infielder Brent Lillibridge to the New York Yankees for a player to be named or cash. Lillibridge had one hit in 24 at-bats before being sent down to Iowa on April 18. . Carlos Pena, who led the 2011 Cubs with 28 home runs, played the 1,458th game of his career but the first against Chicago. Facing Garza, a teammate on the 2008 AL champion Tampa Bay Rays, Pena was 0 for 3 before grounding out against Gregg to end the game. ... Astros RHP Edgar Gonzalez began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City. Gonzalez went on the 15-day disabled list with a right shoulder strain May 26. ... Houston 1B-OF Marc Krauss made his major league debut in the eighth and struck out swinging. ... Bud Norris (5-7, 3.64 ERA) pitches Saturday for Houston against Travis Wood (5-6, 2.74).Cheap Custom Saints Jersey . -- Tony Stewart is 20 pounds lighter and has a titanium rod in his surgically repaired right leg. Wholesale Custom Saints Shirts . Vaives lawyer Trevor Whiffen claims the former 50-goal man wasnt provided with a copy of the claim beforehand and that he would not have agreed to the allegations made against the NHL had he been asked to review its contents. http://www.customsaintsjersey.com/custom-erik-mccoy-jersey-large-72e.html . With the first unit struggling of late and Amir Johnson - one of the teams iron men - hobbling on an injured right ankle, Patterson knew he could get the nod in a challenging matchup against one of the leagues up and coming players at his position. Custom Saints Jersey China . -- Nathan Pancel scored twice as the Sudbury Wolves defeated the North Bay Battalion 4-2 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Erik McCoy Jersey Large . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday.UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- SEATTLE -- Sue Bird hit a season-high five 3-pointers and scored 15 points to lead the Seattle Storm to a surprising 79-72 victory over the WNBA-leading Los Angeles Sparks on Friday night.Coming off her record seventh gold medal in international competition at the Olympics, Bird was 5 of 7 from behind the arc for the Storm (10-15). She also had six assists.Bird has four Olympic and three world championship gold medals.Olympic teammate Breanna Stewart made just 2 of 13 and scored five points, though she did have 11 rebounds. Crystal Langhorn had 16 points and 10 rebounds for Seattle, and Jewell Loyd added 15 points.Nneka Ogwumike had 28 points for Los Angeles (21-4), 15 in the fourth quarter.SUN 84, LYNX 80UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- Alyssa Thomas scored 15 points to lead Connecticut past Minnesota.Jasmine Thomas scored the tiebreaking basket with 15.2 seconds to play and finished with 12 points, and Alex Bentley and reserve Courtney Williams also had 12 points for the Sun (9-16) in their third straight victory. Chiney Ogwumike had 11 points and 10 rebounds.Lindsay Whalen and Syliva Fowles had 16 apiece for defending champion Minnesota (21-5), but former UConn star Maya Moore, was held to eight on 3-for-12 shooting.MERCURY 98, WINGS 72PHOENIX -- Penny Taylor scored 22 points and the Phoenix Mercury returned from the five-week Olympic break to rout the Dallas Wings 98-72 on Friday night.Taylor, who played for Australia in Rio, was 8 of 9 from thee field.dddddddddddd Candice Dupree was 8 of 10 and scored 16 points for Phoenix (11-14). Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner, U.S. gold medal winners, had 13 apiece. Griner also eight rebounds and six blocked shots. DeWanna Bonner had 14 points and 10 rebounds.Plenette Pierson had 18 of her 23 points in the first half for Dallas (9-17).LIBERTY 84, STARS 77SAN ANTONIO -- Sugar Rodgers scored eight of her 18 points in the third quarter and New York topped San Antonio.Tina Charles, a member of the champion U.S. team in the Rio Olympics, had 13 points and 10 rebounds for her league-leading 15th double-double for New York (19-8). Epiphanny Prince played her first game this season after tearing an ACL in November playing in Russia. She had five points in seven minutes.Appel-Marinelli had a career-high 17 points for San Antonio (5-19). The Stars have lost six straight.SKY 90, ATLANTA DREAM 82ROSEMONT, Ill. -- Elena Delle Donne scored 34 points in the first game after helping the United States win an Olympic gold medal, leading Chicago past Atlanta.The Sky (12-13) used a 15-0 run in two minutes in the third quarter to take the lead and then pulled away after the Dream (13-13) cut a 13-point deficit to one with four minutes to play.Cappie Pondexter had 17 points, and Cheyenne Parker 14 for Chicago.Angel McCoughtry led Atlanta with 22 points. ' ' '