urces say the current eight-game maximum of exhibition game

CHICAGO -- Joe Maddon was driving his RV through Virginia two years ago when he got the news. Andrew Friedman was leaving Tampa Bay to take over the Los Angeles Dodgers.One pivotal moment on the road to this years NL Championship Series.A month after Friedmans departure, Maddon was introduced as the 54th manager of the lowly Chicago Cubs. Friedman hired general manager Farhan Zaidi in his first big move in Los Angeles, and the Dodgers continued their winning ways.Now Maddon and Friedman are together again, with a spot in the World Series on the line. The Cubs and Dodgers play Game 1 of the NLCS on Saturday night at Wrigley Field.We stay in touch all the time, Maddon said before his team worked out on Friday. I know his family really well. His moms a trip. I really enjoy the whole group. So Andrew and I are very close.Friedmans move to sunny LA triggered an opt-out clause in Maddons contract, and Chicago jumped on the opportunity to put the Pennsylvania native in its dugout. The decision has worked out quite well so far, with the Cubs returning to the NLCS for the second straight year for the first time.It turns out there are lots of friends on each side of this years series.Dodgers manager Dave Roberts contributed a famous steal to Bostons run to the World Series title in 2004, stopping an 86-year drought. Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer worked for the Red Sox at the time, and they acquired Roberts in a trade with Los Angeles on July 31 that year.I kind of put Theo and Jed together and theyre good friends of mine, Roberts said, and theres a lot of, a little bit of banter, but obviously Ive got the ultimate respect for those guys and they really helped me get a ring.Roberts and the Dodgers arrived in Chicago on Friday, fresh off a dramatic 4-3 victory at Washington in Game 5 of their NL Division Series. The NL West champions used six pitchers in the series-clinching win, including closer Kenley Jansen for a career-high 51 pitches and ace Clayton Kershaw for the final two outs.The taxing finale in Washington left Roberts few options for Game 1 of the NLCS, and he said Kenta Maeda will get the ball for the opener against the Cubs. Roberts wasnt ready to announce his rotation for the rest of the series, but hinted Kershaw likely would go in Game 2 on Sunday night.Physically, he feels great, Roberts said before the Dodgers workout. Hes going to go out there and get a lift in and throw and run and do what he does. So, obviously, were not prepared to make that decision yet, but hes tracking to start when we all think.Jansen thinks he will be ready for the NLCS opener, and Kershaw said he felt fine. The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner also said he isnt sure when he will make his next start.I havent heard a thing, he said.The 28-year-old Maeda went 16-11 with a 3.48 ERA in his first season in the majors. But the Japanese right-hander has lost three straight starts, lasting just three innings in his first career playoff appearance Monday against Washington.Weve been relying a lot on our relief pitchers to take the load, so I want to be able to -- Im really just focused on throwing quality innings as long as I can, Maeda said through a translator. And as long as I keep throwing quality innings, then I would be able to throw longer and deeper into the game.The Cubs have been resting since they used a four-run ninth to finish off San Francisco with a 6-5 victory in Game 4 on Tuesday night. Jon Lester is lined up to start Game 1, followed by Kyle Hendricks, Jake Arrieta and John Lackey in a repeat of the Division Series.Lester pitched 15 innings of one-run ball in two starts against Los Angeles this year, and the Dodgers hit .213 against lefty pitching overall.Hes good. And right now hes at the top of his game, Maddon said. I mean, from what Ive seen, hes had a couple hiccups, which everybody does. But, man, hes been pretty much right on the last couple months, including the first game of the playoffs for him.There was some question about Hendricks health after he had a comebacker go off his right forearm in Game 2 against the Giants. But the right-hander, who had a major league-best 2.13 ERA this year, felt fine after a bullpen session on Thursday, allowing the Cubs to finalize their rotation.Our staff has been really, really good this year, and I think that, really, if you put all of our names in a hat and pulled one out, I dont think you could go wrong, Lester said. 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Charlie Adam scored both of Stokes goals at Britannia Stadium either side of Robin van Persies equalizer, with a miserable day for seventh-place United capped by first-half injuries to centre halves Jonny Evans and Phil Jones that forced them off. http://www.steelersrookiestore.com/Steelers-James-Conner-Jersey/ . Toronto has dropped games to Indiana and Miami since a five-game winning streak and closed out a three-game road trip at 1-2. Greg Lloyd Womens Jersey . There was no hesitation from the 40th-ranked Pospisil, from Vernon, B.C., who admitted that he cut back on his training sessions over the last few days to conserve energy as the long ATP season finishes next week at the Paris Masters. Joe Greene Womens Jersey . -- Five former Kansas City Chiefs players who were on the team between 1987 and 1993 filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming the team hid and even lied about the risks of head injuries during that time period when there was no collective bargaining agreement in place in the NFL. The NBA regular season is poised to start a week to 10 days earlier beginning next season as part of scheduling changes planned in the leagues forthcoming new labor agreement with the National Basketball Players Association, according to league sources.Sources told ESPN that the 2017-18 campaign is earmarked to start in the Oct. 15 to Oct. 20 range -- up from Oct. 25 this season -- to create additional wiggle room that allows the leagues schedule makers to further reduce the number of back-to-backs and four-games-in-five-nights sets on the current schedule.To achieve this change will require a reduction in the preseason? schedule. Sources say the current eight-game maximum of exhibition games per team will be reduced to five or six preseason games per team in the new collective bargaining agreement.?Officials on both sides of the negotiating table have been optimistic for weeks that a new deal will be agreed to in advance of the DDec.dddddddddddd 15 deadline for either the league or the union to opt out of its current 10-year labor pact.A new deal to avert a lockout in July 2017 and ensure several more years of labor peace has been expected since the summer, but NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a recent SiriusXM NBA Radio appearance that he has always regarded ?Dec. 15 as the real deadline for a new deal because of the opt-out provision.NBA teams are scheduled to play an average of 16.3 back-to-backs this season, down from 17.8 in 2015-16. That figure, along with the number of four-games-in-five-nights scenarios, should drop again noticeably thanks to the proposed schedule changes, as part of the leagues continuing efforts to prioritize player safety and lessen the physical strain of the regular season as much as possible. ' ' '