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CHICAGO -- Devin Mesoraco was hit by a pitch twice, in addition to the usual nicks that go along with being a catcher. He had a bag of ice on his right wrist and another on his left knee when he sat down for a well-deserved postgame meal. One sweet swing and another big win, and it was easy to forget about one painful night. Mesoraco homered for the fourth straight game, connecting for a two-out grand slam in Cincinnatis five-run ninth, and the Reds beat the Chicago Cubs 6-1 on Monday for their third straight win. "Youre going to get beat up back there," said Mesoraco, shrugging off all the bumps and bruises. "Thats why I get more days off than everybody else." Mesoraco drove a 1-0 pitch from Hector Rondon (1-2) into the basket in left-centre for his 13th homer. It was his second grand slam of the season and No. 3 of his career. Billy Hamilton had a tiebreaking RBI single earlier in the inning as Cincinnati won for the sixth time in seven games to move above .500 for the first time this season at 38-37. The winning sequence started when Chris Heisey reached on a pinch-hit single with two outs and no one on base, snapping an 0-for-16 rut. "It was all set up by Chris Heisey fighting his way into that soft single and stealing second base," Reds manager Bryan Price said. It was the first homer allowed by Rondon since Aug. 1. "Not the way you kind of draw it out. We tried to let him work his way through it," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said. "Obviously it didnt work out." Jonathan Broxton (3-0) pitched a perfect eighth and Logan Ondrusek got three outs, helping the Reds improve to 30-11 against the Cubs over the last three seasons. Anthony Rizzo hit his 16th homer for the Cubs, who have lost three in a row. Jeff Samardzija struck out seven while pitching six innings of one-run ball. "All in all, I felt good, just needed a little improvement there early," Samardzija said. The Reds got off to a fast start behind Hamilton, who led off the game with a grounder just past second baseman Darwin Barney. The bouncer died in the grass in short right field and the speedy rookie hustled into second with a double, extending his hitting streak to 11 games. Todd Frazier followed with a drive into the gap in right-centre for an RBI triple. But Samardzija buckled down and kept Frazier at third, retiring Jay Bruce and Ryan Ludwick after he hit Mesoraco for the first time with one down. Chicago wasted a prime scoring chance in the fourth. Rizzo reached on a leadoff single before Starlin Castro doubled into the left field corner, putting runners on second and third. Alfredo Simon then retired three straight to preserve Cincinnatis 1-0 lead. Luis Valbuena flied out to medium right field, Welington Castillo hit a comebacker to the mound and Ryan Sweeney lined out to left. "I just tried to make my pitches the best I can, and everything was good," Simon said. The Cubs also wasted a leadoff double by Barney in the third. Samardzija broke his bat over his left knee after he popped up a sacrifice attempt. Simon allowed one run and five hits in seven innings. He struck out five and walked one. Frazier finished with three hits and Mesoraco reached five times. He also walked twice before he connected in the ninth. "I felt good the first time that I was here. I felt good coming into this series," Mesoraco said. "You just try to ride them out as long as you can." NOTES: Reds 2B Brandon Phillips (bruised right heel) got the night off. Price said Phillips is day to day. ... Renteria said they are working on finalizing the starting pitchers for Saturdays doubleheader against Washington. ... Cubs RHP Jake Arrieta (3-1, 1.98 ERA) will face RHP Homer Bailey (7-3, 4.68 ERA) in the second game of the three-game series Tuesday night. Arrieta is 2-0 with a sparkling 0.73 ERA in four starts this month. ... Sting led the crowd in the singing of "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" during the seventh-inning stretch. Carl Jenkinson Arsenal Jersey .com) - Theres nothing better for a team than to send out the staff ace in the most important game of the season. Stephan Lichtsteiner Arsenal Jersey . You can listen to the game live on TSN Radio 690 in Montreal or on TSN.ca/Montreal. Also, TSN.ca features live streaming of the post-game news conferences from the Bell Centre. The Rangers grabbed a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference Final after Sundays 3-2 overtime victory against the visiting Habs. http://www.footballarsenalstore.com/Women-Petr-Cech-Arsenal-Fc-Jersey/ . Kerber will next play Estonias Kaia Kanepi, who beat American qualifier Victoria Duval 6-1, 6-3. In other first-round matches, Lucie Safarova beat 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-4 and American Bethanie Mattek-Sands had a 6-4, 6-3 win over Canadas Eugenie Bouchard. Mesut Ozil Arsenal Jersey . PAUL, Minn. Konstantinos Mavropanos Jersey . Cincinnati has lost back-to-back games in overtime, wasting a chance to take a commanding lead in their division.San Antonio, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Russell Westbrook turned in another dominant performance and the Oklahoma City Thunder, minus Kevin Durant, beat the San Antonio Spurs 114-106 on Christmas Day. Westbrook totaled 35 points, 11 assists, five rebounds and five steals for the Thunder, who were without the reigning MVP Durant for a fifth straight game. Durant sprained his right ankle late in the first half of a loss to Golden State on Dec. 18. Westbrook scored 20 in the second half, helping Oklahoma City hold off a pair of Spurs rallies. Serge Ibaka added 21 points and Steven Adams donated 16 points and a career-high 15 boards. The Thunder were plus-27 with Westbrook and Adams on the floor. Tony Parkers drive and dish to Tim Duncan for a dunk at 6:48 of the fourth gave the Spurs a 93-89 lead. The rest of the game belonged to Westbrook. His layup less than a minute after Duncans slam tied the game, and his feed to Adams for a thunderous dunk gave Oklahoma City the lead. Westbrook then took it from Cory Joseph and went coast-to-coast for a layup. Out of a Spurs timeout, Westbrook hit a pull-up jumper and assisted on Anthony Morrows 3-ball that made it 102-93. After the Spurs scored the next five points, Westbrook attracted enough attention on a drive that Morrow, one of the leagues top snipers, was left wide open for another 3-pointer. Reggie Jackson hit a long two while Adams and Morrow both made two free throws in the final minute to seal the game. Seven Spurs reached double figures, with Matt Bonners 17 points leading the balanced attack.dddddddddddd Duncan scored 15, Joseph and Splitter had 14 apiece and Manu Ginobili tallied 11 with a game-high 13 assists. The Thunder made their first six shots from the floor and led 17-8 before Duncans three-point play woke up San Antonios offense. Bonner came off the bench and hit a pair of 3s, Ginobili had seven assists in seven minutes and the Spurs went up by two before four straight at the end of the quarter gave the Thunder a 29-27 edge. OKC led 50-47 at halftime. The Spurs were within one three times early in the third before a pair of Adams free throws sparked a 9-0 run. Westbrooks three-point play ended the flurry and made it 63-53. The lead reached 11 before San Antonio mounted a comeback. Tiago Splitter bookended a 13-2 run with layups, including a reverse on a feed from Ginobili with a second to play in the quarter. Joseph scored five points on the run, which gave the Spurs a 77-76 lead heading into the fourth. Game Notes The Spurs beat the Thunder 4-2 in the Western Conference finals last season ... This was Oklahoma Citys first win over a team with a record better than .500 this season (1-5) ... San Antonio was without Kawhi Leonard (hand) for the fifth straight game ... The Spurs have lost five of six ... The Spurs fell to 4-6 all-time on Christmas. They havent won at home in two tries ... Morrow scored 15 points and Perry Jones had 14 on seven shots for OKC. ' ' '