CHICAGO -- Jair Jurrjens needed this one, even if it wasnt pretty. cheap jerseys from china . Jurrjens pitched in and out of trouble for 6 1-3 innings, Dan Uggla and Freddie Freeman homered and the Atlanta Braves beat the Chicago Cubs 3-0 Monday night for their fifth straight win. Jurrjens (13-5) allowed eight hits and walked five. The Cubs stranded 11 runners in the first six innings and 15 overall. "My confidence was down, and going deep into the seventh inning was a mental boost for me," Jurrjens said. "Its going to keep growing from this outing." Though the righty allowed two or more baserunners in five different innings, he was able to make big pitches when he needed to. "I got out of most of my jams with my changeup," he said. "When I start getting a feel for my changeup, it makes the game a little easier for me. Its my pitch to go to." Uggla homer gave him 30 home runs for the fifth straight season. No other second baseman in major league history has reached 30 homers more than three times overall. "Whod have thought, right?" said Uggla, who had 15 at the all-star break, when he was batting just .185. "Ive been saying it all year long, thats why you play the full season, keep working, stay positive, you never know what can happen." Uggla leads the majors with 15 bombs in the second half. "Thats what he came here to do, and hes done it," Gonzalez said. "Hes held his end of the bargain." The Braves won for the seventh time in eight games. They increased their lead in the NL wild-card race to 8 1/2 games over idle San Francisco. The Cubs played without Starlin Castro, who was benched for a "mental day off" by manager Mike Quade after television cameras captured the 21-year-old shortstop not paying attention as a pitch was thrown during Sunday nights loss to St. Louis. Castro, who leads the NL with 164 hits, was the only position player not to make an appearance for the Cubs, who used four pinch-hitters. With Castro out of the lineup, Darwin Barney moved over from second base and made a couple of sparkling plays at shortstop, including a diving stop on Ugglas hard-hit ball in the third that saved a run. "Hes a good little player, isnt he?" said Cubs manager Mike Quade. "His versatility is huge. He did a real good job tonight." Jonny Venters walked the first two batters in the ninth, but got the last three outs for his fifth save. Rookie closer Craig Kimbrel was unavailable after throwing three of the last four days, including 25 pitches on Sunday. "Thats not the way you draw it up, but hes got that composure that he can get out of that jam," Gonzalez said of Venters. "It was nice to give Kimbrel a day." Ryan Dempster (10-9) of Gibsons, B.C., struck out eight over six innings but fell to 2-10 in his career against the Braves. Jurrjens made his second start since coming off the disabled list because of a strained right knee. He allowed five runs and eight hits over six innings against San Francisco his first time out. Jurrjens wasnt much more effective on Monday, but managed to escape from a couple of jams. He got Carlos Pena to hit into a double play with the bases loaded in the first and retired Alfonso Soriano on a fly with the bases loaded to end the fifth. Freeman opened the scoring with a solo homer in the second. Uggla led off the sixth by hitting a drive onto Waveland Avenue, giving the Braves an NL-best 47 home runs since the all-star break. Uggla, who recently had a 33-game hitting streak snapped, has now hit safely in 42 of his last 48 games, during which hes raised his batting average from .175 to .232. Jose Constanza singled, stole a base and scored in the third. He also singled in the sixth but had to leave the game with a slight right ankle sprain. He was replaced by Jason Heyward. Aramis Ramirez singled his first three times up for the Cubs, extending his hitting streak to 11 games. Hes hitting .512 (22 for 43) during that stretch. That wasnt enough on a night when the Cubs went 2 for 14 with runners in scoring position and left 15 runners on base. "We created plenty of opportunities, thats for sure," Quade said. "Ultimately, its a situation youve got to keep working on to try to get better." NOTES: Gonzalez considers Costanza day-to-day. "Give him a couple days and hopefully get him back in there, because he makes stuff happen," he said. ... Braves RHP Tommy Hanson threw nine pitches during a short bullpen session on Monday and is slated to throw again on Tuesday as the latest step in his recovery from right rotator cuff tendinitis. Atlanta is hoping Hanson can make a rehab start on Saturday for triple-A Gwinnett. ... Braves RHP Peter Moylan pitched a scoreless inning for Gwinnett on Monday. Hes on the 60-day DL after having back surgery. Monday marked the first anniversary of Quades ascension as Cubs manager. On Aug. 22, 2010, former skipper Lou Piniella announced his retirement and Quade was given the job on an interim basis. He had the interim tag removed after leading the Cubs to a 24-13 finish. ... Atlanta will send LHP Mike Minor to the mound on Tuesday to face Chicagos Casey Coleman, who is 0-3 with a 12.27 ERA in five appearances this season at Wrigley Field. cheap jerseys . Though commissioner David Stern and deputy commissioner Adam Silver have insisted throughout the lockout they needed the potential for both in a new collective bargaining agreement, there was often a belief -- even from players -- that money mattered most. cheap nfl jerseys . The team didnt project how long Ludwick will be out. Ludwick dislocated his right shoulder on a headfirst slide in the third inning of Cincinnatis 3-1, 13-inning loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Monday. He said the shoulder popped out when his hand caught on the dirt. An MRI on Tuesday -- the teams day off -- found the torn cartilage. wholesale nfl jerseys . -- A dominating two-week road trip for the Chicago Blackhawks gave warning to the rest of the NHL: Its going to be difficult to dethrone the defending Stanley Cup champions. jerseys from china . Sipple was signed as a free agent by the Los Angeles Angels last season, following his senior year at Florida Southern College.SUN CITY, South Africa -- Luke Donalds fast start in the Nedbank Golf Challenge was halted by lightning Thursday, leaving the former top-ranked Englishman ahead by two shots at 5 under through 11 holes. No one was able to play more than 12 holes because of lightning and a thunderstorm. Donald began the 30-man invitational with a birdie and an eagle and was 5 under when the days second interruption for lightning forced players off for good. He was two ahead of Jamie Donaldson and Thomas Bjorn. "I feel good over the ball right now and I am playing with confidence," Donald said, coming off a win in Japan two weeks ago. Wales Donaldson played 12 holes, while Denmarks Bjorn was 3 under with three birdies in his six holes. Brendon de Jonge was due to join those two on 3 under and two off the lead after spinning a wedge back into the hole from 110 yards for an eagle three on No. 9 right as the weather hooter sounded. His score wasnt yet officially registered as his playing partners hadnt completed the hole. Playing for the first time since ending last season with the FedEx Cup and European money list title, Henrik Stenson was 1 under after seven and tied for fifth, with six straight pars after a birdie on No 1. Boosted by his victory at the Dunlop Phoenix, Donalds quick start at Sun City came off sweetly struck iron shots into the greens at his opening two holes. jerseys nfl cheap china. He also picked up back-to-back birdies at the end of his opening nine. "Lovely start," he said. "It doesnt get much better than three-three around here. Birdie, eagle and all of a sudden you are three under par through two holes. I played solid for those first 11 holes and hit a couple of very nice shots in that time that I was able to take advantage of." Defending champion Martin Kaymer is in the mix at 2 under, while Charl Schwartzel led the South African challenge as one of seven players tied at 1 under par. Sergio Garica is also part of that group, as is Peter Uihlein of the United States. Ernie Els was 3 over after seven in search of his fourth title at Sun City and U.S. Open champion Justin Rose was 4 over after eight. Only Australias Peter Senior, with three double bogeys in his first six holes to crash to 8 over through 10, was worse than Rose. Having initially been kept off the course for nearly three hours through an earlier thunderstorm, the players came off for the second time in late afternoon and will all have to come back at 7:30 Friday morning to complete their opening rounds. ' ' '