MILWAUKEE -- John Axford recently went to Brewers manager Ron Roenicke and told him he wanted his job back as Milwaukees closer. And while neither man was willing to share the details of that conversation, the results so far speak for themselves: Axford nailed down a save for the second day in a row and the Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 3-2 on Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep. "He came in and talked to me," Roenicke said. "I dont want to say what went on. But hes in a place where he should be." Ryan Braun hit his NL-leading 34th home run of the season, Yovani Gallardo pitched seven strong innings and Axford pitched a scoreless ninth despite allowing a two-out single. Demoted after a string of poor performances earlier in the season, Axford was happy to be back where he still thinks he belongs. "I think maybe just the reaffirming conversation that Ron and I had earlier, about a week ago, maybe thats exactly what I needed -- something myself, to say, This is me and this is what I want to do and I should be there," Axford said. Gallardo (13-8) gave up two runs and four hits, with nine strikeouts and two walks. It was another impressive outing in what has been an emotional week for Gallardo, who recently returned home to deal with an illness in the family. "Even though all the things that have happened to him lately emotionally, he looked good before the game," Roenicke said. "He looked good yesterday. So we felt pretty good with him going into the game. And after the first batter, really good." Gallardo said after Wednesdays game that his mother was ill, but is back home and getting better. "Its not easy for anybody," Gallardo said. "Its obviously still in the back of your mind. But like Ive said, youve just got to be tough. Youve got to be tough and find a way to get the job done." Braun hit a solo shot deep to right-centre field in the sixth and had an RBI double in the first. With Wednesdays homer, Braun has surpassed the 33 he hit during his 2011 NL MVP season. Although the Brewers overall season has been a disappointment, theyve been hot at home, going 9-1-2 in their last 12 series at Miller Park. Roenicke isnt fixated on trying to figure out why the team is playing so much worse on the road. "I want to just worry about playing good ball, and where it ends up, it ends up," Roenicke said. David DeJesus and Bryan LaHair homered for Chicago. Cubs starter Travis Wood (4-10) took the loss but pitched fairly well, giving up three runs and six hits in seven innings with a walk and six strikeouts. Wood, in his second stint with the big-league club this year, was making his 18th start of the season. "He did a good job," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. "Like Ive said before, thats a tough middle of that lineup to get through." Brewers players began Wednesday by saying goodbye to veteran left-hander Randy Wolf, who was released by the team on his 36th birthday. Wolf was 3-10 with a 5.69 ERA, and said he didnt blame the club for making the move. "Its certainly unfortunate that this year was the way it was, and theres nobody more disappointed about that than I am," Wolf said. Both general manager Doug Melvin and Roenicke said they expected Wolf to find a job somewhere else -- perhaps even this season. DeJesus led off by pounding a 3-1 pitch from Gallardo over the wall in centre. It was his sixth home run of the season, and four of those have come in his last eight games. DeJesus then appeared to hurt his left hand in a collision with centre fielder Brett Jackson while making a sliding attempt at a catch in the bottom half of the inning, but stayed in the game. Milwaukees Norichika Aoki ended up with a double after DeJesus and Jackson couldnt make the catch. After a strikeout by Rickie Weeks, Braun doubled over the head of LaHair -- who appeared to lose track of the ball as it came off the bat -- and Aoki scored to tie the game. Braun later scored on a broken-bat bloop double by Corey Hart, giving the Brewers a 2-1 lead. After Braun homered in the sixth, LaHair hit his 15th of the season in the seventh to cut the lead to 3-2. The Brewers blew a chance to pad their lead in the seventh, when Carlos Gomez tried to score on a ball that got away from catcher Steve Clevenger but was thrown out easily. Notes: Milwaukee recalled INF Jeff Bianchi from Triple-A Nashville but he is not expected to available to play before Saturday. ... Brewers starter Shaun Marcum is expected to return from a rehabilitation stint and start Saturdays game at Pittsburgh. ... Brewers SS Jean Segura sat out with a sore foot. ... It was the 12th career leadoff home run for DeJesus. wholesale nfl jerseys china . -- Tiger Woods cruised to an easy victory at the Buick Open in 2009 -- before a scandal in his personal life stunted his career -- the last time a significant golf tournament was held in southeast Michigan. wholesale nfl jerseys cheap . Second-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov faced No. 8 Sam Querrey in the second semifinal. Haas, the German ranked 36th in the world, improved to 4-1 against Fish, and has won six of his last seven matches against top-15 players. http://www.chinawholesalenflj... . Porter and Bruce inked three-year deals while Parker signed a two-year contract. "We welcome Arland, Byron and Quinton to the Alouettes. We have added three solid professionals to our organization today," Alouettes general manager Jim Popp said in a statement. [url=http://www.chinawholesalenfljerseyscheap.com/]wholesale nfl jerseys . -- The Memphis Grizzlies had their new chairman and boss sitting at midcourt for the home opener along with a nice big crowd. cheap jerseys . Manager Bruce Bochy said Tuesday that he and general manager Brian Sabean are meeting to finalize their 25-man roster for the best-of-five division series. Cabrera would be allowed to play in the NLCS if the Giants advance that far, but -- at this stage, at least -- they have no intention of adding him to the roster at any point in the post-season.Its almost here. 24 days, 16 teams, two host countries, one trophy. UEFA Euro 2012 promises to be a stunning spectacle and TSN will have you covered every step of the way on TV, radio, online and mobile. This weeks blog highlights three key storylines heading into the tournament. Can Spain create history? Will Cristiano Ronaldo be able to reproduce his club form to help lift Portugal out of the toughest group in the tournament? Which countries have the potential to surprise people? Building A Dynasty Over the last four years, there has been little dispute that Spain has been the best team in the world, and now they have the chance to create history. No team from any continent has ever won three major tournaments back-to-back-to-back, but thats now a very real possibility for Spain, who are the reigning European and World Champions. When Spain were crowned European Champions in 2008, it ended the countrys 44-year wait for a major trophy. Until that point, they had become known as underachievers in big tournaments, but they followed their European success by winning the World Cup in South Africa two years later. Spains team has a very familiar look to it and includes many of the players that won the European Championship four years ago. They had a perfect record in qualifying, winning all eight of their matches. Theyre very well organized with a wealth of world class talent that has a strong influence from the countrys top two teams, Barcelona and Real Madrid. Spain are solid at the back with veteran goalkeeper Iker Casillas and star defenders such as Gerard Pique and Sergio Ramos, but it is in midfield where they have an embarrassment of riches with Xavi, Andres Iniesta, and Sergio Busquets amongst the options available. The one major question mark for Spain is how they will cope without the countrys all-time leading goalscorer David Villa, who is recovering from a broken leg. Should Spain manage to find success without Villa and lift the trophy in Kiev on July 1st, it would take them to a whole new level in the global game. A Football Genius When Cristiano Ronaldo is in full flow, theres little chance of stopping him. His pace, ball control and ability to use both feet is enough to give the opposition nightmares. In the global game, theres only one player who can compare – and thats Lionel Messi. Ronaldo was named World Player of the Year in 2008, but since then, Messi has won the awaard three years in a row.dddddddddddd With Messi being from Argentina, Ronaldo wont have to be in his shadow at Euro 2012. Theres no doubt Ronaldo is a man in form. At the age of 27, he had an incredible year, scoring 46 times in Spains La Liga as Real Madrid won the championship. He finished with 60 goals in all competitions. This is Ronaldos chance to take centre stage and to showcase his extraordinary ability. His country needs him. Ronaldo led Portugal in scoring in the qualifying stages, but if they are to make it out of the toughest group in the tournament which includes Holland and Germany, he will have to shine once again. Ronaldos first game of the tournament is on Saturday, when Portugal face Germany in Group B. Chance Of A Surprise? The start of any tournament brings optimism and high expectations. Every team heading into Euro 2012 will have ambitions of at least getting out of the group stage. The three usual suspects, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands are the favourites to succeed, but there are plenty of teams lurking in the shadows hoping to emerge victorious. Here are my three dark horses for the tournament. Poland failed to get past the group stage in Euro 2008, but this time around, the pressure will be on the co-host to make home advantage count, and theyve certainly got the talent to surprise a few people. Their squad includes three players from German champions Borussia Dortmund, including 23-year-old forward Robert Levandovski, who will be relied upon to score the goals. Sweden had a change of direction after failing to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and under head coach Erik Hamren, theyve assembled a squad that has a good mix of youth and experience. A lot will rest on the shoulders of their veteran core, which includes Captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He is coming into Euro 2012 after finishing last season as the leading scorer in Italys Serie A with a career-high 28 league goals for AC Milan. Sweden are in Group D, along with the third of my dark horse picks. France are two-time European Champions, most recently winning Euro 2000. That was two years after they had won the World Cup on home soil in 1998. Since then there have been a few lean years for the French, but coach Laurent Blanc seems to have them moving in the right direction once again. Luke Wileman is host of UEFA EURO 2012 on TSN. Coverage begins Friday at 11am et/8am pt. ' ' '