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NEW YORK -- When the New York Mets stumbled home Wednesday after losing three straight games to the Washington Nationals, there seemed to be a better chance the Mets would be worried about falling below .500 by the end of a four-game series against the Chicago Cubs than talking about a potential sweep of the presumptive World Series favorites.Yet the Mets have a chance to break out the brooms Sunday afternoon in the finale of a National League Championship Series rematch at Citi Field. New York posted its third straight win with a 4-3 victory over the Cubs on Saturday night.The Mets have outscored the Cubs, who have the lowest ERA in the majors at 2.97, by a margin of 18-8. Not bad for a team that scored 17 runs in the six games preceding the Cubs arrival.Youve got to believe you can compete, Mets manager Terry Collins said Saturday night. But then when you go out and do it, it means a lot. The confidence that it sends throughout the clubhouse -- theres no other way to do it except to go out there and beat one of the real, real good teams three times.The three straight losses to the Mets (43-37) have continued a monthlong skid of sorts for the Cubs (51-29), who have gone 12-14 since June 5. Chicago is 2-11 against teams with a winning record -- the Mets, Washington Nationals, Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals -- during that stretch.Every team were playing is gunning for us, Cubs utilityman Ben Zobrist told reporters Saturday afternoon. They know weve got the best record in the league. And theyre showing up to play against us. Theyre not showing up like this to play against other teams.The Cubs will try to avoid the sweep behind left-hander Jon Lester, who will oppose Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard in a matchup of aces and potential All-Star Game starters.Lester was named the National Leagues Pitcher of the Month for June on Saturday after a stretch in which he went 4-0 with a 1.41 ERA. Overall this season, Lester has a 2.03 ERA, second best in the NL behind injured Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw.We want to finish it off (Sunday), Collins said. Lesters pitching great, but we certainly are right now playing pretty good. So we need to hopefully go out and get some pitches to hit and do some damage with them.Syndergaard absorbed his most damage of the season in his most recent start last Tuesday, when he gave up five runs in three innings and took the loss as the Mets fell 11-4 to the Washington Nationals. The next day, multiple media outlets reported Syndergaard is pitching with a bone spur in his right elbow, accounts corroborated by Syndergaard on Thursday.Lester is 2-0 with a 2.50 ERA in three career regular-season starts against the Mets. He took the loss in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series last Oct. 17, when he gave up four runs in 6 2/3 innings in the Cubs 4-2 loss at Citi Field.Syndergaard lost his lone regular-season start against the Cubs in his major league debut on May 12, 2015, when he gave up three runs in 5 1/3 innings as the Mets fell 6-1. He picked up the win in Game 2 of the NLCS last Oct. 18, when he allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings in the Mets 4-1 victory.Custom Boston Bruins Jerseys . The Vancouver coach and an announced sellout crowd of 18,910 watched in dismay as the Canucks lost 7-4 to the New York Islanders on Monday night by squandering a 3-0 lead in the third period. Fake Bruins Jerseys . -- Whether Jeremy Hill deserves a prominent role in LSUs offence this early in the season is a matter for debate. https://www.cheapbruins.com/ . "Jeff is a hard worker who was an important special-teams contributor for us last season," said Stamps GM John Hufnagel. Bruins Jerseys 2019 . The giant slalom world champion slipped during her first run in the morning, landing on her back and then twisting forward before getting her leg caught in the protective material on the side of the slope. Boston Bruins Shirts . But by the time the game started, the Toronto Raptors forward felt even worse. And, for three quarters, it showed as Gay shot a woeful three-for-13 from the field.SOELDEN, Austria -- Lara Gut got the defense of her overall World Cup title off to a shining start on Saturday.The first womens champion from Switzerland in more than two decades, Gut dominated the season-opening giant slalom on a sun-soaked Rettenbach glacier.On an icy slope under crisp blue skies, Gut held on to her first-run lead to clinch a comfortable win, leading Mikaela Shiffrin by 1.44 seconds for her 19th career victory. The American also finished second here last year after winning the race in 2014.Its a good start, Gut said. Soelden is always a special race. Its very steep, its very difficult. You have to charge and not think too much. I had to fight against my head as I had been thinking too much in the past 24 hours. I dont know why. Usually I just ski and enjoy what I am doing. I am the one who laughs.Gut said she thanked the mens overall champion, Austrias Marcel Hirscher, for giving her some useful advice.Marcel told me yesterday, `You just have to ski. I knew I could be fast but you still have to deliver, she said. Today wasnt my easiest day. It was a fight against myself. What I am going to take with me from today is that I was stronger than my head, I was stronger than that what I was thinking.Gut held a 1.42 lead over Shiffrin after the first leg, and was put under pressure by the Americans near-flawless second run. The Swiss champion lost two-tenths early in her run but her victory never came under threat.The second run was a battle, Gut said.Shiffrin said she could live with coming runner-up for a second straight year after being beaten by Italys Federica Brignone last season.Its a big relief. I can be happy with it but I also know I can be better, Shiffrin said. I really wanted to start off the season strong. Its always better to win but Lara was very strong, just like Federica lasst year.dddddddddddd Today she raised the level. I am not super far off but I am still looking for that second GS win.Shiffrin praised her Swiss rival for holding herself together.She is like the queen of hammering the course and risking and really, really racing. I am getting close to it but I have a lot of respect for her to be able to come through the first race of the season.Marta Bassino of Italy was the only other skier to finish within two seconds of Gut to earn her maiden top-three result. It was the 100th podium in GS by an Italian woman. Only Austria, Switzerland and France have more top-three results.I just tried to ski like in training, Bassino said through an interpreter. This is an amazing result, it means a lot to me.Former world champion Tessa Worley of France placed sixth, 2.88 off the lead, while Eva-Maria Brem of Austria, who took the GS title last season, came 5.14 seconds behind in 26th after two disappointing runs.Petra Vlhova of Slovakia started 55th but posted the fastest second-run time to finish eighth.Several top contenders were sitting out the race. American standout Lindsey Vonn said she will focus more on the speed events downhill and super-G this season, while two-time former overall champion Anna Veith of Austria and 2010 Olympic GS champion Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany were recovering from injuries.Organizers said the race was attended by 14,000 spectators, including the 77-year-old Heinrich Messner. The Austrian won the first ever World Cup race in 1967 -- a slalom in Berchtesgaden, Germany. He was invited to Soelden as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the World Cup.A mens giant slalom on the same course is scheduled for Sunday. ' ' '