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Russell hit his second career grand slam, Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist each had two-run homers and the Cubs rallied to beat the Minnesota Twins 10-6 on Friday.

Kyle Schwarber added his 16th home run, a solo shot in the seventh, in a late afternoon contest that started with a temperature of 96 degrees and a 12-mph breeze blowing out. Anthony Rizzo completed Chicago’s scoring with an RBI single in the eighth as the Cubs pulled away to win their third game in four following a five-game slide.

Russell’s second homer – and four-RBI game – in two days chased Twins starter Jose Berrios (8-6) with one out the fifth and put Chicago ahead for the first time, 6-5. The shortstop’s deep fly to left was pushed by a steady southwest wind as it narrowly reached the Wrigley Field bleachers.

”I figured I got it pretty good, but I thought I hit it a little too high,” Russell said. ”I’m happy that it’s summertime in Chicago and now those balls are flying.”

Russell, who got off to a slow start this season, has seven hits in 17 at-bats over his last four games to raise his average to .282.

”I’ve just been really trying to work on my approach with (hitting coach Chili Davis) and myself, as well as my discipline at the plate,” Russell said. ”It looks like it’s getting better.”

Joe Mauer homered among three hits and finished with a season-high five RBIs for the Twins. Mauer hit a three-run shot in the second and lined a two-run double off Cubs starter Mike Montgomery in the fourth.

”Today, probably high-end extreme of favorable to the offensive side Cole Beasley Jersey Elite ,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said of the weather. ”It played a little bit of a role in the game.

”I got a little bit of a boost I think on Joe’s ball and on (Russell’s) grand slam.”

Montgomery (3-2) lasted five innings and earned the win despite giving up five runs (three earned) and seven hits with three walks. Three Cubs relievers followed with a scoreless inning each before Justin Wilson allowed the Twins’ final run in the ninth.

Brandon Morrow came in to get the final out for his 17th save.

Berrios lacked his usual velocity as he yielded a season-high six runs and four walks. The right-hander was 3-0 with a 2.10 ERA over his previous five starts.

”I thought I lost a little bit of stamina out there,” Berrios said. ”Scorching hot.”

Mauer’s homer was just his second this season, following a solo shot on May 1, and he hit the opposite-field drive despite being ill. The 35-year-old first baseman last drove in five runs in a game last Sept. 17 against Toronto.

Mauer’s drive with two outs in the second made it 3-0. The wind helped his fly carry into the left-field basket.

Heyward lined Berrios’ first pitch to him in the third into the right-center bleachers to cut it to 3-2.

Mauer’s double to center field in the fourth and plated two runs to extend the Twins’ lead to 5-2.

After the Cubs loaded the bases in the fifth, Russell’s homer put them ahead. Zobrist added his two-run shot to right in the sixth off Matt Magill to make it 8-5.

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INF Javier Baez wasn’t in the lineup following the birth of his son Friday morning. Baez, tied with Schwarber for the team lead with 16 homers, pinch hit in the seventh and struck out.

TRAINERS ROOM

Twins: INF/OF Taylor Motter was placed on the disabled list with concussion like symptoms after hitting his chest hard against right field wall at Guaranteed Rate Field on Thursday while trying to make a catch. … Minnesota recalled C/INF Willians Astudillo from Triple-A Rochester to take Motter’s roster spot. … The Twins designated RHP Felix Jorge for release or assignment.

Cubs: RHP Yu Darvish travelled to Texas to see orthopedic surgeon Keith Meister for a fresh opinion on his sore right triceps and got a new diagnosis: Right elbow impingement and inflammation. Darvish also got a cortisone shot that will take three-to-five days to settle in. The injury flared up in a bullpen session on Thursday in Los Angeles and forced the Cubs to scrub Darvish’s return to the rotation this weekend. . INF/OF Kris Bryant (left shoulder inflammation) hit off a tee and took infield practice on Friday. He could return on Tuesday when he’s eligible to come off the disabled list. … RHP Carl Edwards Jr. (right shoulder inflammation) was scheduled to make a rehab outing at Triple-A Iowa on Friday and is nearing a return from the DL.

UP NEXT

Twins LHP Adalberto Mejia makes his first major league appearance of the season and faces Cubs RHP Tyler Chatwood (3-5, 3.95), who comes off the paternity list. Mejia is 4-2 with 2.74 ERA in 11 games (nine starts) for Triple-A Rochester, and was 4-7 with 4.50 ERA in 21 starts for the Twins in 2017. The Twins sent RHP Alan Busenitz down to make room for him.

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Cole Beasley doesn’t need a lot of prodding to bring up how much he thinks outsiders will overlook Dallas receivers now that the Cowboys have moved on from Dez Bryant.

The new dean of the group sees opportunity rather than uncertainty at a position that lacks a big name, and the history of big production that usually goes with it.

Dallas isn’t necessarily looking for a new No. 1 receiver while also trying to replace 15-year tight end Jason Witten, who retired as the franchise leader in catches and yards. Headlined by holdovers Beasley and Terrance Williams and newcomers Allen Hurns and Tavon Austin Cheap Jimmy Garoppolo Jersey , the Cowboys think their strength could be in numbers – and matchups.

”They’re giving everybody an opportunity to do everything,” said Beasley, who is going into his seventh season. ”This is the most open it’s ever been since I’ve been here as far as who’s where. That makes it a lot of fun. And it’s exciting to see what everybody can do.”

The Cowboys cut Bryant , the club’s career leader with 73 touchdowns receiving, in a cost-cutting move after three subpar years under the big contract he signed after his only All-Pro season in 2014.

The thing is, Bryant’s replacements are coming off subpar years as well.

Beasley’s catches and yards fell by more than half from career highs in 2016. Williams didn’t have a touchdown for the first time in his five seasons, and became an off-field concern with an arrest in a public intoxication case.

Hurns, a free agent addition going into his fifth season, didn’t reach 500 yards in either of his two years in Jacksonville since the only 1,000-yard season among the 12 receivers that Dallas currently plans to take to training camp late next month.

Austin, a bust as the eighth overall pick in 2013 by the Rams when they were still in St. Louis, was mostly a spectator for the most dramatic turnaround in the NFL last year. The Los Angeles Rams took the NFC West at 11-5 with the franchise’s first winning season since 2003. The Cowboys traded for him during the draft.

”We’re all coming off years that we’re not so proud of Braden Smith Youth Jersey ,” said Hurns, who also has the only double-digit touchdown season in the group with 10 in 2015, when he had 1,031 yards. ”We’ve all got that motivation to come in and do well. What people talk about, it just adds fuel to the fire. But that’s not our pure motivation.”

Hurns didn’t want to overlook the rookies in a group with something to prove, and there are two to watch. Michael Gallup was the first receiver the Cowboys have drafted post-Bryant – a third-rounder out of Colorado State. Dallas took Cedrick Wilson from Boise State in the sixth round.

It’s likely to be a while before practice is any indication of how the receivers might line up for the opener Sept. 9 at Carolina. For one thing, Williams wasn’t on the field during offseason practices because he broke his right foot in January and had surgery.

Nearly everyone has had first-team work with quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott, the only sure things at the skill positions on offense right now for the Cowboys.

”There’s a big hole,” Gallup said. ”There’s a lot of open space in there. It just opens your eyes if you’re a rookie, honestly. You can come in here and potentially start Day 1. That role is something that everybody wants to go get. That’s what we’re trying to do.”

There’s a new coach to go with all those new receivers as well. Sanjay Lal replaced Derek Dooley as part of an overhaul of coach Jason Garrett’s staff.

”I’m excited to see how it shakes out,” Lal said. ”I couldn’t tell you who the six or five or however many we keep are going to be, and that’s exciting to me. And for them it should be exciting. Gives you all the motivation you need.”

Prescott planned to get together with the receivers during the break between minicamp and training camp. The third-year QB envisioned a gathering away from Dallas Donte Jackson Jersey , working out in the morning and hanging out in the afternoon.

Looking for a bounce-back himself after the Cowboys missed the playoffs a year after he was the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year for the NFC East champs, Prescott won’t be trying to force the ball to a No. 1 receiver. That happened at times with Bryant.

”I think when you come out of minicamp, you kind of see that, when you see all the different guys we’re throwing to, the different guys that are running with the ones, different guys that are running with the twos,” Prescott said. ”It’s about spreading the ball around, just going to the right place with the ball.”

Prescott will have plenty of motivated targets.

”I think last season was a good thing for all of us,” Beasley said. ”It added like a hunger to our group. A lot of people pushed us to the side this offseason and they’re sleeping on us, but that gives us a chance to prove a lot of people wrong.”

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