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CHICAGO -- There it was, another big at-bat staring at Addison Russell. And once again, the young star delivered.Russell hit a two-run single with the bases loaded in the seventh inning, and three relievers combined for five perfect innings to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 5-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday night.Hes growing up, manager Joe Maddon said. As a major league baseball player, his confidence could not be higher.The Cubs spoiled a shaky Jeff Samardzijas return to Wrigley Field and started September on a winning note after going 22-6 to match the 1932 team for the best August in franchise history.The major league leaders also moved a season-high 39 games over .500 and a jaw-dropping 15 1/2 games ahead of St. Louis in the NL Central -- their largest lead in the standings since the 1907 team finished 17 games ahead of Pittsburgh, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.Russells bloop single off Cory Gearrin gave the Cubs a 5-4 lead. Dexter Fowler had two singles and scored two runs.Kris Bryant added an RBI single to extend his hitting streak to 14 games, matching a career high. And the Cubs rallied behind a dominant bullpen and another big hit by Russell.I kind of embrace those situations, he said. In that situation, I didnt try to do too much. I just wanted to see a pitch, really, and just try to go about my approach the same way.The 22-year-old Russells 88 RBI are tops among National League shortstops. He is 8 for 18 and has driven in 23 runs with the bases loaded. On top of that, he is playing a Gold Glove-level defense.His go-ahead hit wiped out a 4-3 deficit and capped a rally that began when Hunter Strickland (3-2) gave up a leadoff single to Fowler and walked Bryant after two close pitches were called balls.Will Smith walked Ben Zobrist with one out to load the bases before retiring Jason Heyward on a pop fly. But Russell then drove in Fowler and Bryant with a bloop single to left.It obviously felt like I had a good game plan, Gearrin said. Made two good pitches and broke his bat and he just found a hole. Its just frustrating because you want to get the result no matter what. At the same time as a pitcher, you can only do so much.That made a winner of Joe Smith (2-4), who worked two innings after returning from a strained left hamstring.Carl Edwards Jr. worked the ninth for his first career save with Aroldis Chapman getting the night off after pitching in the previous three games. And the Cubs came away with the win on a cool and windy night in which both starting pitchers lasted just four innings.SHAKY STARTSSamardzija gave up three runs and five hits, walked three and threw 87 pitches in his second start against Chicago and first as a visitor at Wrigley Field. The right-hander played for the Cubs from 2008 until he was traded to Oakland during the 2014 season in the deal for Russell.Chicagos Mike Montgomery gave up four runs -- three earned -- and three hits, including a long two-run homer to Hunter Pence in the first.TRANSACTIONSThe Giants reinstated LHP Josh Osich and OF Mac Williamson from the DL and recalled LHP Ty Blach, LHP Matt Reynolds, LHP Steven Okert and INF Kelby Tomlinson from Triple-A.TRAINERS ROOMGiants: RHP Matt Cain (lower back strain) is expected to come off the DL and head to the bullpen rather than the rotation. Manager Bruce Bochy said the three-time All-Star, who has struggled with injuries in recent seasons, was all for the assignment. RHP Albert Suarez will start Friday.Cubs: RHP John Lackey (strained right shoulder) will likely return to the rotation this weekend. Thursdays throwing session went well, and assuming no setbacks, the veteran will start Sunday. ... RHP Hector Rondon (strained right triceps) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa on Saturday and likely make another appearance for the minor league club before returning. ... Pedro Strop (torn meniscus in left knee) tweaked his right groin in a workout on Wednesday. The Cubs expect him to miss about six weeks after initially projecting him to be out four to six following his injury on Aug. 10.UP NEXTThe Cubs send LHP Jon Lester (14-4, 2.70 ERA), unbeaten in his past six starts, to the mound while Suarez (3-2, 4.35) makes his eighth start for San Francisco. Youth Tom Brady Jersey . -- For the first time in two months, an opponent was standing up to Alabama. Wholesale Sports Jerseys .C. Lions has come to an end. Banks told TSN on Jan 2 that he had no interest in playing out the option year of his contract with the Lions in 2014, and he again made that clear in a conversation with Lions GM Wally Buono last week. https://www.sportsstarsjerseys.com/michael-jordan-jersey/ . During the athletes parade, the 23-strong Ukrainian team was represented by a lone flagbearer in an apparent protest at the presence of Russian troops in Ukraines Crimean peninsula. College Michael Jordan Jersey . 24 Baylor in a Big 12 clash between teams trending in opposite directions. Andrew Wiggins made 10-of-12 from the foul line and scored 17 for Kansas (14-4, 5-0 Big 12), which capped a stretch of four straight games against ranked opponents unscathed. Michael Jordan Jersey 45 . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. STOCKTON, Calif. -- If there is a way to summarize the lasting effect Nate Diazs hometown has had on him, its that it taught him this: Always be all the way in when it comes to a fight.That might sound like an obvious lesson, one that doesnt necessarily require growing up in Stockton to figure out. But at this point in his life, Diaz is fairly convinced few truly live with this mentality.His older brother, UFC welterweight Nick Diaz, calls it a curse. Nate refers to it as a kill or be killed state of mind. The Diaz brothers are fighting. Add bells and whistles around it for financial gain, thats great. But this is still a fight.Ive been a lot more real than other fighters, Nate Diaz said. Im putting my middle finger up, saying, F--- you, and theyre sitting there like were not even fighting. No, we are fighting. And this will remind you of that real quick. These other guys are trying to make this a sport, but Im just keeping it real with what the hell is going on.I dont ask my mom to watch fights -- or my girlfriend, my friends, nobody. If anybody wants to watch, they can watch, but dont get offended when I get ugly. This is not an attractive sport. Its not like, Oh, my grandson does MMA. Dont tell people that. You might disappoint a lot of people youre trying to impress.Im all the way in this fight game. Im not one foot in, one foot out. Im not here to impress people. Im here to get mine, get ahead and do what Ive got to do.On Saturday, Diaz (19-10) will fight Conor McGregor at UFC 202 inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Its a rematch of a last-minute welterweight bout at UFC 196 in March. McGregor (19-3), the sports biggest star, lost his original opponent, Rafael dos Anjos, to injury weeks before the pay-per-view event. Diaz stepped in on 11 days notice and submitted McGregor in the second round.If you want to make Diaz quiet, ask him about fighting McGregor for a second time. Over the course of a three-hour conversation, Diaz essentially said the same thing every time about his upcoming opponent.Conor is a guy who is training to take me out, Diaz said.?Drop the McGregor topic, however, and Diaz will talk. Hell get so lost in telling stories hell ask more than once if hes rambling. Even if he is, you tell him to keep going. The stories are fascinating.Because no matter what happens at UFC 202, Diaz is worth listening to at the moment. He conquered the fight game in 2016. Anyone can argue that he couldnt have done so without McGregor, but thats missing the point.In a span of eight months, Diaz went from foot soldier to paid mercenary, and in the fight game, thats a win. Getting paid is the win.Diaz didnt always know that, but he certainly does now. And he was able to do something about it.If anybody sees what Ive done and doesnt think its brilliant ... then they just dont like the way I look or the way I fight or talk, Diaz said. But thats what f---ing sells.Every fighter has a hometown. Not many of them represent theirs as much as the Diaz brothers have pushed Stockton.When Nate Diaz whacked McGregor with an open palm during their first fight, the internet knew to refer to it as the infamous Stockton Slap. Stocktons 209 area code is as well-known as the Diaz name. UFC commentator Jon Anik has the numbers tattooed on his arm,?the result of an ill-advised bet against Diaz in his last fight.Historically, the city of Stockton has dealt with a relatively high violent crime rate. It is one of the largest U.S. cities to ever declare bankruptcy.Diaz grew up in a small, one-story house in Lodi, just north of Stockton. He lived with his mother, older brother and sister. His father was not around much during his childhood.He hesitates making any references to a rough neighborhood, because he feels like its very cliché -- a cage fighter, coming from a rough area. But he cant deny the indirect effect that Stocktons violence had on his life.Its not necessarily we were sitting in the middle of [violence], we were just very aware of everything, Diaz said. If someone was getting into it, there was a fight. You would see fights all the time. Ill go other places, and nobody fights.When Nick was first fighting in the UFC and going, What, m-----f-----?! and people were like, Wow, this guy is crazy, that was just a natural thing to us. All that was normal. You say that in places outside of Stockton, and guys are like, Woah, whats the problem here? Were like, Arent we fighting right now?When Nate was about 13, Nick began training how to fight. He started lifting weights at Animal House Gym and met Steve Heath, a professional fighter who fought?Chuck Liddell in 2000. While Nick trained at Animal House, Nate worked as a cook at a restaurant next door. Eventually, he joined his brother in training.Nate was naturally good at boxing, but he really fell in love with jiu-jitsu. After he stopped going to high school, Diaz says he was a little anti-social. He was selling marijuana, and his social circle was basically reduced to his smoking buddies.But at jiu-jitsu, Diaz would tap some chiropractor, and suddenly the two had something in common. A successful businessman wanted to know how Diaz choked him out. It built confidence.When I found jiu-jitsu, I knew at that time that a blue belt could take out anybody in the world, Diaz said. I was saying, Dude, Ill choke out anybody.Nick had mats, a weight bench and a TV he would watch old fights on in his bedroom. People would come over to challenge Nick to a fight, and he would say, If you tap out my brother, Ill roll with you. Nick would come in my room and wake me up. Im this skinny 15-year-old kid, and hed say, Roll with this guy, quick.I would go in his room and choke these guys out. And if anybody could choke me out, the first thing Id say was, All right, now lets box.Diaz started a professional fight career without even really noticing. Jiu-jitsu tournaments and triathlons transitioned into cage fights. His former coach, Cesar Gracie, told him what to do and when to do it. Whatever money Diaz got as a result was what it was. He simply accepted it and didnt ask questions.During one contract negotiation, Diaz remembers sitting in the lobby, sipping water while something as significant as a multiyear deall was being discussed.ddddddddddddIt took me a second to come out of soldier mode, Diaz said. Whats smart, whats better for me, whats really going on here? I kind of woke up and was like, Hold up. What have I been doing? It just continued from wherever it had first started: me being down to fight anybody, being told to fight whoever, no questions asked.I had never asked a question before. It was, Fight that guy? OK. That guy? OK. It was a psycho-militant lifestyle.It eventually led to an ugly realization for Diaz. In 2014, just one year after signing a long-term deal with the UFC, Diaz asked for a complete release from the promotion. UFC president Dana White responded by telling him to get back to work. The UFC even dropped Diaz from its official fighter rankings, citing a refusal to accept bouts.Diaz eventually did accept a bout against Rafael dos Anjos in December of that year. In an uninspired performance, Diaz missed weight and then lost badly to dos Anjos in a three-round fight. The UFC does not disclose information on fighter pay -- so, the exact earning for athletes are largely unknown -- but Diazs reported fight purse to the athletic commission for that fight was $16,000.At the post-fight press conference, White said Diaz needed to get his head together or retire.It would be one full year until Diaz fought again.At first I just flipped out, Diaz said. I started looking at numbers and I was like, Woah, you guys are making this much? That guys making this money? The company is bringing in this much? Its time to get paid! I spoke right up.Over time, I realized, Wow, I need to get some leverage.On Dec. 19, 2015, Nate Diaz stood in the Octagon next to commentator Joe Rogan with network television cameras rolling live. Diaz had just defeated Michael Johnson in a highly entertaining lightweight fight.Rogan asked Diaz a question, something about how the fight went. Whatever, the question didnt matter. Diaz wasnt even listening. He looked up at his own image playing on the arena monitors, scowled and unleashed an expletive-laced speech that Rogan would eventually be forced to cut off.Conor McGregor, youre taking everything I worked for, m-----f-----, Diaz said. Im gonna fight your f---ing ass. You know whats the real fight. Whats the real money fight? Its me.McGregor initially opted for a fight against dos Anjos instead, but fate intervened, and McGregor and Diaz were paired up 11 days before UFC 196. Diaz was happy to accept the fight and the biggest payday of his career.Fast forward to March 5. Diaz and Rogan stood side-by-side in the Octagon again, moments after Diaz submitted McGregor via rear-naked choke in the second round. Again, it felt like Rogans question to him could have been anything. It didnt matter. Diaz was going to say what he had to say.Im not surprised, m-----f-----s, Diaz said.The words Im not surprised, accompanying a towering depiction of Diaz flexing, now live in the form of a mural on the side of a building in downtown Stockton. He doesnt really say it, but its a spot he clearly takes pride in.In May, White and former UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta flew to Stockton to negotiate terms for a massive rematch against McGregor. The meeting did not go particularly well.The UFC felt a deal should have already been in place, because the sides had previously agreed to have the rematch headline UFC 200 in July. But after the UFC pulled the fight in the midst of a public spat with McGregor, Diaz circled back to the negotiating table with a higher number in mind.An agreement wasnt reached during that Stockton meeting, but they all still drove to Diazs mural for a photo-op before parting ways. So, you had Fertitta and White standing there, smiling, directly under an image of a moment that gave Diaz an enormous amount of leverage in his contract negotiations with them. For the record, it was Diazs idea to visit the mural.Two weeks later, Diaz signed a new contract for the rematch. Terms were not disclosed, however its safe to assume the deal is worth seven figures.This is long overdue, you know what Im saying? said Diaz, referring to his improved financial situation. And it goes by the moment. Who knows whats going to happen after this fight? What happens if I get murked? What happens if I lose this fight? They better give me a m-----f---ing rematch like they gave him. But I doubt if they will.This is the blueprint. Fighters need to start imagining themselves as the product, because were the product of this business. I aint free. I dont know why everybody is acting like they are.A less publicized aspect of this weekends rematch is that Diaz and McGregor share a healthy respect for one another. Mutual respect headlines dont really sell a fight, but it does exist between these two.As much as Diaz is known for talking trash, he claims he does very little of it. Its just that as a fight gets closer, part of his mental preparation is to see it for what it is.These other guys say, I love to fight. Im excited to fight, Diaz said. Thats some bulls---. No one is excited or loves to fight.Of course, the feeling of winning a fight, succeeding at your objective and your goals, its exciting when its done and over with. But who the hell wants to jump up, hop inside a cage in front of the whole world and maybe get knocked out? Thats not exciting. Thats not fun, and I dont love that s---.Diaz enjoys training in martial arts. Hell do it his entire life -- in Stockton. He says hell never move away from his roots. The Diaz brothers front doors are within running distance (for them at least) of each other. Mother, father and sister also share a home close by.In a way, Diaz has all but left the fight part of Stockton. He doesnt enjoy being in a fight anymore. Hes drawn to the alpha male part of it and it has provided him a better life. Training for it motivates him, gives him something to pursue on a daily basis.At the same time, it genuinely seems like another part of him would be quite comfortable if he never got into a fight again. Until then, if Diaz is going to be in a fight, hes going to be all the way in. ' ' '