MILWAUKEE — Even in a season where he has argued with umpires to continue playing during a rainstorm, and blamed an eight-run loss on a lost fly in the sun, Mike Quade’s sanity seldom has been challenged.

But after contending Tuesday the Cubs still can be contenders in the National League Central, it may be time to get out the straitjacket.

“I’m not a lunatic,” Quade insisted. “I understand there’s a lot of work to do ahead of us. But we’re playing the right clubs and let’s see if we can’t put something together.”

After the vote of confidence from Quade, the Cubs went lost 3-2 to the Brewers at Miller Park, ending their season-high three-game winning streak.

Ryan Dempster’s six-game winning streak against the Brewers was snapped after he gave up three first-inning runs following Aramis Ramirez’s two-run homer. The Cubs failed to score on a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the sixth and the Brewers bullpen limited them to two hits over four innings.

“You really have to give credit to them, and the moves (manager Ron Roenicke) made,” Marlon Byrd said.

Dempster (7-8) said he was “outpitched,” though he threw shutout ball from the second through the sixth.

But the exuberance of Quade beforehand, maintaining the Cubs were a hot streak away from contending, may have been the head-scratcher of the year.

“If we stay in games, and keep ourselves in games with a good start, then I think we have an excellent chance,” he said. “Just look around. The game is about pitching.”

Yet the Cubs were second-to-last in National League pitching on Tuesday with a 4.61 ERA, and their starters ranked dead last in the majors.

“It’s a funny game,” Quade said. “We might come out of this road trip in real good shape as far as how we play here. And if we do (well), there’s still a lot of baseball left. I take nothing for granted and put nothing past these guys. We won three in a row against Houston, so let’s see if we can’t win tonight and go from there.”

The Cubs are 42-61 record, 13 games out of first-place.

Asked if he really was suggesting the Cubs could get back into the race, Quade replied: “Why not? What are we — 11 back? What if you win 10 out of 12? Who the hell knows?”

It was pointed out that even if the Cubs won 10 of their next 12, they still would be 10 games below .500. But Quade pointed out the division leaders weren’t far above .500.

“It’s an interesting division to be in that situation,” he said. “What is there, 60 games left? Let’s play them and see. I concede nothing. We’re going to play, and we’ll see what happens. Daunting task. Four teams in front of you. We haven’t played well. But why not?”

So the Cubs actually might add on at the trade deadline?

“Oh, that’s not my business,” Quade said.

Rest assured the Cubs are highly unlikely to be buyers on Sunday’s trade deadline. A respectable finish in August and September is all that anyone in the front office is hoping for.

psullivan@tribune.com

Twitter @PWSullivan

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MILWAUKEE — Even in a season where he has argued with umpires to continue playing during a rainstorm, and blamed an eight-run loss on a lost fly in the sun, Mike Quade’s sanity seldom has been challenged.

But after contending Tuesday the Cubs still can be contenders in the National League Central, it may be time to get out the straitjacket.

“I’m not a lunatic,” Quade insisted. “I understand there’s a lot of work to do ahead of us. But we’re playing the right clubs and let’s see if we can’t put something together.”

After the vote of confidence from Quade, the Cubs went lost 3-2 to the Brewers at Miller Park, ending their season-high three-game winning streak.

Ryan Dempster’s six-game winning streak against the Brewers was snapped after he gave up three first-inning runs following Aramis Ramirez’s two-run homer. The Cubs failed to score on a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the sixth and the Brewers bullpen limited them to two hits over four innings.

“You really have to give credit to them, and the moves (manager Ron Roenicke) made,” Marlon Byrd said.

Dempster (7-8) said he was “outpitched,” though he threw shutout ball from the second through the sixth.

But the exuberance of Quade beforehand, maintaining the Cubs were a hot streak away from contending, may have been the head-scratcher of the year.

“If we stay in games, and keep ourselves in games with a good start, then I think we have an excellent chance,” he said. “Just look around. The game is about pitching.”

Yet the Cubs were second-to-last in National League pitching on Tuesday with a 4.61 ERA, and their starters ranked dead last in the majors.

“It’s a funny game,” Quade said. “We might come out of this road trip in real good shape as far as how we play here. And if we do (well), there’s still a lot of baseball left. I take nothing for granted and put nothing past these guys. We won three in a row against Houston, so let’s see if we can’t win tonight and go from there.”

The Cubs are 42-61 record, 13 games out of first-place.

Asked if he really was suggesting the Cubs could get back into the race, Quade replied: “Why not? What are we — 11 back? What if you win 10 out of 12? Who the hell knows?”

It was pointed out that even if the Cubs won 10 of their next 12, they still would be 10 games below .500. But Quade pointed out the division leaders weren’t far above .500.

“It’s an interesting division to be in that situation,” he said. “What is there, 60 games left? Let’s play them and see. I concede nothing. We’re going to play, and we’ll see what happens. Daunting task. Four teams in front of you. We haven’t played well. But why not?”

So the Cubs actually might add on at the trade deadline?

“Oh, that’s not my business,” Quade said.

Rest assured the Cubs are highly unlikely to be buyers on Sunday’s trade deadline. A respectable finish in August and September is all that anyone in the front office is hoping for.

psullivan@tribune.com

Twitter @PWSullivan

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The Chicago Bears landed one of the prizes of the undrafted free agent class Tuesday morning when Ohio State receiver Dane Sanzenbacher agreed to terms with the team.

Sanzenbacher was one of the most pursued undrafted free agents.  His agent Joe Flanagan said Sanzenbacher had been sought by 25 of the 32 NFL teams, and he received phone calls from team owners and quarterbacks offering sales pitches to his client.

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Flanagan said Sanzenbacher turned down a $20,000 signing bonus from one team and accepted much less from the Bears because he thought they offered a good opportunity to make the team and he considered himself a good fit for Mike Martz’ offense.

“He envisioned himself a Bear,” Flanagan said.

Sanzenbacher’s stock may have been helped by Jon Gruden, who mentioned Sanzenbacher repeatedly while watching tape with Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor in the ESPN special QB Camp with Terrelle Pryor.

Gruden called Sanzenbacher “reliable,” “tough,” and “a football player.”  He also wondered how Sanzenbacher did not get drafted.

At 5-11, 182, Sanzenbacher is not exceptionally big, and he ran a 4.56 40 yard dash, so he’s not exceptionally fast. But he was voted a team captain and team MVP and was first team all Big Ten.

He started 27 games at Ohio State.

General manager Ken Williams senses that several competitors have a rooting interest in the Chicago White Sox’s series against American League Central leader Detroit.

“General managers out there are like sharks in the water,” said Williams, referring to the shopping before Sunday’s 3 p.m. trading deadline. “There are a lot of them that are pulling for Detroit this week, I know that for a fact. They won’t say it to my face, but they’re saying it behind my back.”

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In order to keep the Sox’s core intact, they’ll need at least a strong performance Monday night from left-handed ace Mark Buehrle, who is 6-2 with a 2.62 ERA in his past 13 starts. Buehrle is 6-1 with a 3.21 ERA in his past 10 starts against the Tigers.

Since allowing a home run to Kansas City’s Eric Hosmer on July 4, Buehrle hasn’t allowed a hit to a left-handed batter in 24 at-bats.

Buehrle will oppose rookie rookie left-hander Duane Below.

“I don’t know,” Guillen replied when asked what he knew about Below. “They (the Sox’s hitters) should know. I’m not the type of manager that goes to the scouting report and reads who it is. When I was playing, yes I knew who he was. I’m not playing, they should know who they going to face.”

The Sox overcame a 2-0 deficit to pull away to a 6-3 win and cut their deficit to 3 1/2 games behind the Tigers in the AL Central. Carlos Quentin hit a two-run double in the fifth off Chance Ruffin, who was facing Quentin in his major league debut in relief of Below. Alexei Ramirez tied the game earlier in the inning on a single.

A.J. Pierzysnki hit a solo home run in the sixth to expand the Sox’s lead to 5-2. It was the first home run hit by a Sox player other than Quentin in 356 at-bats. After the Tigers scored a run in the top of the seventh, Paul Konerko ripped a home run down the left field line in the bottom of the inning for his first home run since July 5.

Konerko’s sacrifice fly in the third cut the Sox deficit to 2-1.

The biggest obstacle early in the game was the Sox’s defense. Second baseman Gordon Beckham dropped a two-out pop in shallow center field that led to two Detroit runs in third inning. Detroit took a 1-0 lead on Victor Martinez’s single.

Jhonny Peralta hit a pop to shallow left center. Ramirez backpeddled from shortstop but twice looked at center fielder Alex Rios, whose sprint was too late to catch the ball and resulted in another run.
Mark Buehrle (8-5) survived the shoddy defense to hurl six innings and earn the win. Buehrle, who wasn’t charged with an earned run, has made 15 consecutive starts allowing three earned runs or fewer.

“Why not four?” seems to be the Cubs’ slogan as they take their season’s first three-game winning streak to Milwaukee for the start of a trip through the top of the NL Central standings.

But four, or then five, will not be an easy chore, considering the Brewers have a winning percentage of .702 at Miller Park. In fact, the Brewers have lost back-to-back home games only once all season.

And the Cubs? They have won only 17 of 46 road games, fourth fewest in baseball.

After sweeping the Astros at Wrigley Field, the Cubs go to Milwaukee, St. Louis and Pittsburgh, who are in a musical-chairs race for first in the NL Central.

“We’re not where we want to be, but we’re going to make it difficult on (other teams) all year long,” center fielder Marlon Byrd said. “Playing tough teams in the division, we owe it to the rest of the division to battle.”

Manager Mike Quade said “not right now” when asked if he views his team as a spoiler.

“The whole road trip is a challenge and an emotional lift,” he said. “I love this. I can’t wait to get to Milwaukee and St. Louis and Pittsburgh. I enjoy the challenge of playing those guys.”

The Cubs are 4-3 against the Brewers, 1-5 against the Cardinals and 3-6 against the Pirates this season.

He’s hot: Byrd has been among the hottest Cubs since coming off the disabled list July 2, able to overcome the beaning incident that cost him six weeks.

“Getting better,” he said of his hitting. “I’ve been working hard all year long. You’re always working to get better.”

Byrd has hit safely in 13 of 17 games since July 4, batting .359 with 10 runs, four doubles and four RBIs.

Extra innings: The Cubs have 35 road games and 25 home games left. … During the 10-game homestand, Cubs starters recorded a 1.37 ERA in their seven quality starts. … Rookie Darwin Barney is hitting .318 in July with eight runs and eight RBIs while batting eighth.

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After a sloppy 2 1/2 innings Monday night that made the White Sox look like sellers before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, they provided hope that they can maintain their contender status in the American League Central.

Hours after general manager Ken Williams expressed scenarios that included “maybe turning over the entire roster,” the Sox overcame a 2-0 deficit to beat the first-place Tigers 6-3 and cut their deficit to 3 1/2 games.

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Carlos Quentin snapped a 2-2 tie with a two-run double in the fifth inning, and A.J. Pierzynski hit a home run — the first by a Sox player other than Quentin in 356 at-bats — in the sixth. Paul Konerko added insurance with a homer in the seventh, his first since July 5.

The Sox (50-51), who haven’t been in a selling mode before the July deadline since 2007, must show improvement against division leaders Detroit and Boston.

“We’re going to try and win with what we got,” Mark Buehrle (8-5) said after pitching six innings without allowing an earned run. “As far as pieces out there that we might need to make us better, I think we’re comfortable with the guys we have in this clubhouse.”

Williams recognized the Sox’s improvement since their 11-22 start but has been baffled by their struggles against teams with losing records and other lapses.

Examples of the latter occurred in the third when second baseman Gordon Beckham dropped a pop-up in shallow center that led to a two-run rally, punctuated by Jhonny Peralta’s RBI single that fell between shortstop Alexei Ramirez and center fielder Alex Rios — who later exchanged words with a fan near the Sox dugout.

“At the end of the day, I’m the one that puts everyone in uniform, and I will fall on the sword,” Williams said.

Turning over the entire roster would be a stretch, since Buehrle, Konerko, Pierzynski, Jake Peavy and Adam Dunn have full no-trade rights, and Rios has no-trade rights limited to six West Coast teams.

That leaves soon-to-be free agent Edwin Jackson, Quentin, Matt Thornton and John Danks as attractive trade candidates.

“There are some very interesting deals,” Williams said. “We have some very popular players.”

Williams went as far to say, “General managers out there are like sharks in the water. There are a lot of them that are pulling for Detroit this week. I know that for a fact.”

Williams added that a St. Louis Post-Dispatch report stating the Sox were interested in outfielder Colby Rasmus in exchange for Jackson or Thornton and a minor league player “is incorrect.”

A major league source said the Cardinals remain interested in Jackson, and Rasmus is receiving interest from two American League East teams.

mgonzales@tribune.com

Twitter @MDGonzales

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The Bears finally began to reconstruct their roster in preparation for the 2011 season, and let go a well-respected veteran in the process.

Monday, hours after a new collective bargaining agreement was reached to end the lockout, Bears coach Lovie Smith told punter Brad Maynard he was no longer in the team’s plans. Special teams coordinator Dave Toub also called and left a message thanking Maynard.

“He didn’t have to do that, so that means a lot to me,” Maynard said of Smith’s call. “But I guess I wanted him to say something different.”

Maynard, 37, spent 10 seasons with the Bears and is regarded as one of the finest directional punters around. He stands second all time with 407 punts inside the 20 in 14 seasons, behind the retired Jeff Feagles.

“People asked this offseason if they were going to bring me in for a workout,” Maynard said. “And I said, ‘Really? Is that what it comes to that I have to work out for a team I’ve been with for 10 years? If what I did in the last 10 years isn’t enough for you to want me anymore, then do I really want to be here? Probably not.’ “

Maynard was not pleased with his performance last season as he finished 35th in the league in punt average (40.1 yards) and 30th in net average (35.2). His recovery from right hip surgery affected his punting, plus weather and field conditions, along with some pooch punts, didn’t help his cause.

The Bears went younger by signing 28-year-old Richmond McGee to a two-year contract before the lockout. But Maynard’s replacement might end up being veteran and former Illinois punter Steve Weatherford, 28, who last played with the Jets.

Target area: It remains unclear which free agents the Bears plan to pursue, but wide receiver could be a targeted position. Free-agent receiver Mike Sims-Walker from the Jaguars encouraged the Bears to give him a serious look.

“Chicago would be one of the ideal spots for me,” Sims-Walker told the Tribune on Monday. “With the offensive coordinator (Mike Martz) and Jay Cutler, the speedy receivers, the monster defense and Matt Forte in the backfield, I think I can be the missing piece.”

Shift for Harris: In a move that signals the Bears are not likely to pursue Danieal Manning in free agency, expect veteran Chris Harris to be moved to strong safety, his natural position.

That will clear an opening for Major Wright, the club’s third-round pick a year ago, to slide into the starting lineup at free safety.

The Bears have been high on Wright, who excelled in training camp last summer before injuries derailed him until the second half of the season.

Extra points: The Bears probably won’t have to pursue a quarterback on the free-agent market. Caleb Hanie is expected to sign his restricted free-agent tender because the interest in restricted free-agent quarterbacks at this late stage is expected to be low, a league source said.

Tribune reporter Brad Biggs contributed.

vxmcclure@tribune.com

Twitter @ @vxmcclure23

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The NFL lockout is almost over … and so too, apparently, is Jay Cutler’s engagement.

People.com reported that Cutler and Kristin Cavallari have called off their engagement after just 10 months together.

“She got dumped,” said another source to people.com. “She’s absolutely devastated. She can’t believe this is happening.”

A source told E! News: “Jay got cold feet. Kristin is stunned.” The source added the couple had been disagreeing over how Cavallari would balance her career while living in Chicago with Cutler during the football season.

Entertainment reporter Billy Bush sent out a tweet late Saturday night stating: “Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler engagement is off. Source super tight.”

Seeming to confirm the reports, Cavallari tweeted on Sunday night: “Thanks for the support. Love u guys”

NBCChicago.com first reported Monday that a Facebook page purportedly belonging to Cutler appeared to confirm the breakup, but the website later reported that the page was a fake.

The Bears QB and the reality TV star started dating last August and were engaged by April, planning a wedding for July 7, 2012. Last week, the duo’s wedding registry was revealed.

They were recently spotted at Wrigley Field for the Cubs-White Sox game on July 2.

With the Chicago White Sox 4 1/2 games out of first place in the American League Central, general manager Ken Williams expressed the need to win the three-game series against Detroit to avoid what could be a sell-off before Sunday’s 3 p.m. trading deadline.

“Certainly we need to wait and get on the other side of this Detroit series,” Williams told reporters Monday.

This marks the first time since 2007 that the Sox at least faced the possibility of trading experienced players at the deadline. Asked about a St. Louis Post-Dispatch report stating that the Sox were interested in acquring outfielder Colby Rasmus in a deal involving Edwin Jackson or Matt Thornton and a minor league player, Williams said the story, “as reported, is incorrect.”

Nevertheless, “there are some very interesting deals,” Williams said. “We have some very popular players.’’ Williams said the players, not the front office, ultimately will dictate the direction the Sox turn before Sunday’s deadline.

Williams said this Sox team has been the most difficult to read because of their unfulfilled potential, yet the Sox are 38-30 since May 5.

“I’m not going to try and pretend with you guys that I have any answers,” Williams said. “You guys have been watching this team all year. Anybody got any answers? If you do, speak up.’’

Williams added that he has no answers, just: 

“A lot of questions. A lot of questions for me, a lot of questions for them. It is what it is. At the end of the day, I’m the one that puts everyone in uniform, and I will fall on the sword.

“Again, at least we’re sitting here in this position and saying if we play near our capabilities we can win this thing because we have that kind of talent. That’s better than sitting here four out and saying, ‘We just don’t have the horses.”

Williams said that he and manager Ozzie Guillen held one of their most unique meetings because on the various directions the Sox could take in the next six days with AL East leader Boston visiting the Sox this weekend.

“I don’t want anyone to feel as though anything imminent is coming because I’d like the focus to be on these next number of games here, so we can put ourselves in a position to maybe add rather than subtract,” Williams said.

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“I would much rather continue to fight the fight, but we need to see a little bit more consistency out of these guys. And this would be a good week to start showing it.”

Williams wouldn’t have much difficulty parting with some of his core players if he elected to deal them.

“It’s been 11 years and I’ve had to say goodbye to a lot of guys that I have an affinity for,” Williams said. “That’s the worst part of the job. But we’ve got a bunch of professionals, they know the deal and they know what’s at stake. Let’s hope we don’t have to do that.”

General manager Ken Williams senses that several competitors have a rooting interest in the Chicago White Sox’s series against American League Central leader Detroit.

“General managers out there are like sharks in the water,” said Williams, referring to the shopping before Sunday’s 3 p.m. trading deadline. “There are a lot of them that are pulling for Detroit this week, I know that for a fact. They won’t say it to my face, but they’re saying it behind my back.”

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In order to keep the Sox’s core intact, they’ll need at least a strong performance Monday night from left-handed ace Mark Buehrle, who is 6-2 with a 2.62 ERA in his past 13 starts. Buehrle is 6-1 with a 3.21 ERA in his past 10 starts against the Tigers.

Since allowing a home run to Kansas City’s Eric Hosmer on July 4, Buehrle hasn’t allowed a hit to a left-handed batter in 24 at-bats.

Buehrle will oppose rookie rookie left-hander Duane Below.

“I don’t know,” Guillen replied when asked what he knew about Below. “They (the Sox’s hitters) should know. I’m not the type of manager that goes to the scouting report and reads who it is. When I was playing, yes I knew who he was. I’m not playing, they should know who they going to face.”

The biggest obstacle, however, was the Sox’s defense. Second baseman Gordon Beckham dropped a two-out pop in shallow center field that led to two Detroit runs in third inning. Detroit took a 1-0 lead on Victor Martinez’s single.

Jhonny Peralta hit a pop to shallow left center. Shortstop Alexei Ramirez retreated but twice looked at center fielder Alex Rios, whose sprint was too late to catch the ball and resulted in another run.

WASHINGTON — Now it can be said with certainty: Get ready for some football!

NFL players voted to OK a final deal Monday, days after the owners approved a tentative agreement, and the sides finally managed to put an end to the 4 1/2-month lockout, the longest work stoppage in league history.

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“This is a long time coming, and football’s back,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said, “and that’s the great news for everybody.”

The labor dispute comes to a close after claiming one exhibition: the Hall of Fame game between the Bears and Rams, scheduled for Aug. 7 in Canton, Ohio. Otherwise, the entire preseason and regular-season schedules remain intact. Club facilities will open to players Tuesday, when 2011 draft picks and rookie free agents can be signed.

At a joint appearance outside the NFL Players Association headquarters, Goodell and NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith shook hands, surrounded by some of the owners and players who were involved in the talks. They spoke shortly after the NFLPA executive board and 32 team reps voted unanimously to approve the terms of a 10-year deal.

“We didn’t get everything that either side wanted … but we did arrive at a deal that we think is fair and balanced,” Smith said.

Owners can point to victories, such as gaining a higher percentage of the more than $9 billion in annual league revenues, one of the key issues throughout. Players persuaded teams to commit to spending nearly all of their salary cap space in cash and won changes to offseason and in-season practice rules that should make the game safer.

If there was one unexpected moment during the press conference it was certainly Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday’s eloquent tribute to New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft, who was lauded as instrumental in helping forge the deal. Kraft’s wife, Myra, died Wednesday after a battle with cancer.

“A special thanks to Myra Kraft, who even in her weakest moment allowed Mr. Kraft to come and fight this out,” Saturday said. “Without him, this deal does not get done. … He’s a man who helped us save football.”

With that, Saturday wrapped Kraft in a hug — a gesture that symbolized how the lockout ended more than anyone’s words.

Owners overwhelmingly approved a proposal to end the dispute on Thursday, but some unresolved issues needed to be reviewed to satisfy players. The sides worked through the weekend and wrapped up nearly every detail by about 3 a.m. Monday on a final pact that runs through the 2020 season and can’t be terminated before then.

That’s significant because the old collective bargaining agreement contained an opt-out clause, and owners exercised it in 2008. That led to the contract expiring when talks broke down March 11; hours later, owners locked out the players, creating the NFL’s first work stoppage since 1987.

“I know it has been a very long process since the day we stood here that night in March,” Smith said in a brief appearance about 20 minutes before being joined by Goodell and the owners. “But our guys stood together when nobody thought we would. And football is back because of it.”

As he spoke, Smith was flanked by NFLPA president Kevin Mawae and other key members of the players’ negotiating team, including Saturday, Saints quarterback Drew Brees and Ravens defensive back Domonique Foxworth.

Brees was one of 10 plaintiffs in the antitrust lawsuit that players filed against the league March 11. They approved the settlement deal Monday, after two unanimous NFLPA leadership votes: to recommend to the plaintiffs that they accept the settlement, then to recommend to all 1,900 players that they re-establish the union.

All players now will take a vote to re-certify the union — it was dissolved March 11, turning the NFLPA into a trade association — and then one more vote to approve the final CBA. That all needs to be wrapped up by Aug. 4 to make everything official, something everyone involved believes will happen without a hitch.

Only once it is back to being a union can the NFLPA finish the contract, covering remaining items such as player discipline, drug testing, disability programs and pensions.

“I believe it’s important that we talk about the future of football as a partnership,” Smith said.

Later, standing shoulder to shoulder with Goodell, Smith said: “If we don’t have a good relationship, it hurts the game and the business of football. I’m not sure any two people have ever come together in a more compressed, public, interesting time than Roger and I. I’m proud to say our relationship has grown.”

In addition to Kraft, John Mara of the Giants and Jerry Richardson of the Panthers — all members of the owners’ labor committee — were present, too.

“I’d like, on behalf of both sides, to apologize to the fans: For the last five, six months we’ve been talking about the business of football and not what goes on on the field and building the teams in each market,” Kraft said. “But the end result is we’ve been able to have an agreement that I think is going to allow this sport to flourish over the next decade.”

Then, taking a verbal jab at the nearby White House and Congress, Kraft added: “I hope we gave a little lesson to the people in Washington, because the debt crisis is a lot easier to fix than this deal was.”

Now comes frenzied football activity, starting immediately.

On Tuesday, clubs can begin talking to veteran free agents, who can sign as soon as Friday. On Wednesday, training camps will start to open.

Both sides set up informational conference calls for Monday afternoon to go over the details of the agreement. The NFLPA told player agents they would be coached in particular on the guidelines and schedule for signing free agents and rookies; the NFL alerted general managers and coaches they would be briefed in separate calls.

The major economic framework for the deal was worked out more than a week ago.

That included dividing revenue (about 53 percent to owners and 47 percent to players over the next decade; the old CBA resulted in nearly a 50-50 split); a per-club cap of about $120 million for salary and bonuses in 2011 — and at least that in 2012 and 2013 — plus about $22 million for benefits; a salary system to rein in spending on first-round draft picks; and unrestricted free agency for most players after four seasons.

“We know what we did to frustrate our fans over the last several months,” Goodell said. “They want football, and our job is to give them football.”

The Chicago Bears have informed veteran punter Brad Maynard that they intend to move on without him rather than signing the free agent to a new deal, according to a source close to the player.

Maynard, 37, spent 10 seasons with the Bears after starting his career with the New York Giants. He received the call from the team late Monday afternoon.

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Apparently, the Bears are prepared for a youth movement at the position after signing 28-year-old Richmond McGee to a two-year contract this offseason. The Bears apparently are also eyeing veteran Steve Weatherford, 28, as Maynard’s replacement.

Maynard wasn’t satisfied with his performance last season — his 10th with the Bears — as he finished 32nd in the league in punt average (40.1 yards) and 29th in net average (35.2). His recovery from right hip surgery affected his punting, and weather and field conditions late in the season, along with some pooch punts at the start, didn’t help his statistics.

But Maynard still is regarded as one of the finest directional punters around, and he stands second-best all time with 407 punts inside the 20 in 14 seasons, behind the retired Jeff Feagles (554).
 
vxmcclure@tribune.com

twitter@vxmcclure23

Get ready for the Super Bowl shuffle.

With the start of NFL training camps probably days away, and every team angling for the ultimate prize, a major player reshuffling is in the works. Two years worth of unrestricted free agents are expected to hit the open market this week, and clubs are bracing for an unprecedented flurry of signings.

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If things follow the anticipated course and players approve the collective bargaining agreement team owners have offered, free agency will begin Wednesday with franchises getting a chance to retain their own unsigned players, and continue Saturday — the same day camps are expected to start — when teams are eligible to sign the remaining free agents.

There are more than 400 unrestricted free agents this year, roughly double a typical year, because in last year’s uncapped season the requirement for free agency was increased from four seasons of service to six. Under the proposed CBA, that number drops back to four seasons.

And it won’t be just free agents who are switching teams. There are likely to be some high-profile trades too.

A look at some of the better-known players who could find themselves with new teams this season — or who could at least strike lucrative deals with their current teams:

Quarterbacks

Kevin Kolb, Philadelphia: With the resurfacing of Michael Vick, Kolb didn’t get much of a chance with the Eagles to prove what he could do as the starter. He could wind up finding his opportunity out West, as Kolb would be a good fit in Arizona or Seattle, among other places. There are rumblings that the Cardinals might strike a deal involving cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie for Kolb.

Donovan McNabb, Washington: As much as Mike Shanahan says he loves McNabb, the coach’s actions say otherwise. The Redskins could wind up trading him — perhaps to Minnesota? — but they would have to rework his contract first. McNabb is due a $10-million bonus if he’s still on the roster after Week 1.

Matt Hasselbeck, Seattle: When he’s healthy, which isn’t often, Hasselbeck is a crafty player who can move the offense. The Seahawks seem unwilling to give him anything longer than a one-year deal. Maybe he’ll wind up finishing his career in Tennessee, helping bring along his Northwest neighbor, Jake Locker.

Carson Palmer, Cincinnati: Palmer says he isn’t going back to the Bengals and will retire if they don’t relinquish his rights. From the look of things, Bengals owner Mike Brown plans to call his bluff. Palmer’s old coach, Pete Carroll, would love to have him in Seattle.

Running backs

DeAngelo Williams, Carolina: In 2008, the last time he played a full season, Williams ran for 1,515 yards and scored 18 rushing touchdowns. A popular projection has him heading to Denver for a reunion with Coach John Fox, who is looking to help Knowshon Moreno.

Cedric Benson, Cincinnati: The Bengals gave Benson a second chance and he made the most of it . . . until his recent arrest on a charge of assault causing bodily injury to a family member, that is. Now, he’ll be able to test the free-agent market, although Cincinnati has identified re-signing him as a priority.

Ahmad Bradshaw, New York Giants: Bradshaw was very productive for the Giants last season and has said he’d like to stay. But the Giants have a lot of decisions to make on their high-profile free agents; are they willing to commit the cash to keep both Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs?

Receivers

Sidney Rice, Minnesota: The Vikings would love to keep the 6-foot-4 Rice, who’s coming off an injury-shortened season, but he’ll have his share of suitors. New England is rumored to be interested.

Santonio Holmes and Braylon Edwards, New York Jets: The Jets can probably keep either Holmes or Edwards but will be hard-pressed to hang on to both free agents.

Malcom Floyd, San Diego: Floyd has not been consistent, but the Chargers could be left short-handed if they let the free agent go and Vincent Jackson also finds his way out of town. Jackson’s agent is claiming the receiver’s rights have been violated because he has been prevented two years in a row from testing the free-agent market because San Diego put the franchise tag on him (under the old labor agreement). That argument is still pending.

It took extra innings with baseball’s worst team and an assist from the sun, but the Cubs finally won a third straight game Sunday.

“We were joking around, trying to loosen guys up, saying there’s no way we win three. Just go out and have fun,” Jeff Baker said.

And, thanks to Baker, they did have fun, because it was his bases-loaded single in the 10th inning that produced the elusive third straight win on the 10th try, 5-4 over the hapless Astros.

“It’s big,” Baker said. “It’s frustrating, obviously, the year hasn’t gone the way we wanted. To finally get three together and it’s in our division, hopefully we can get rolling, and why not four?”

Sunday’s victory was one that almost wasn’t. The Cubs squandered a superb seven innings from Matt Garza, then started their winning rally when Marlon Byrd’s fly ball to right was lost in the sun by Hunter Pence.

Byrd wound up on third base as he never quit running once he knew the ball was in the air and deep.

“Later in the evening … any ball that goes out there goes right in the sun,” Byrd said.

The Astros then walked Tony Campana and Darwin Barney intentionally to load the bases. Baker pinch hit for eventual winner John Grabow (2-0) and ran the count to 3-2 against David Carpenter before lining a single over third base.

“I was just looking for something up (in the strike zone),” Baker said. “Not trying to do too much. I just wanted to put the ball in play.”

Garza, again, deserved a better fate after leaving with a 3-2 lead. It was the sixth time this season and third start in a row that Garza has left with a lead but wound up without the victory.

“He’s got plenty to show for it,” manager Mike Quade said. “We won the ballgame because he gave us seven good innings.”

“Every time you contribute it’s a plus,” Garza said. “It’s fun, it always is.”

It wasn’t fun in the eighth inning when reliever Jeff Samardzija gave up two go-ahead runs on Carlos Lee’s 21st home run at Wrigley Field. But the Cubs came back with a run in the eighth inning on a bloop single by Alfonso Soriano, and reliever Carlos Marmol left the bases loaded in the ninth inning to set up the heroics.

Three in a row finally happened in the 102nd game of the season.

“What a way to do it,” Quade said. “You knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”

dvandyck@tribune.com

Twitter @davandyck

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CLEVELAND — After helping the White Sox complete a 5-3 trip Sunday, Edwin Jackson wasn’t surprised when he was informed the Cardinals were interested in acquiring him before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.

“My name is in trade rumors every year,” Jackson said after pitching six innings of five-hit ball to lead the Sox to a 4-2 victory at Cleveland. “It’s been like this for the last five years. It’s definitely nothing I worry about. I can’t control it. I just want to play wherever I’m wanted to play at.”

Jackson (7-7) proved he might be as valuable to the Sox as he would be to any playoff contender. He is 3-1 with a 2.57 ERA in his last five starts.

Nevertheless, he’s a free agent after this season, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the Cardinals and Sox were engaged in talks, with the Sox interested in center fielder Colby Rasmus and the Cardinals seeking Jackson or left-handed reliever Matt Thornton and a minor-leaguer.

St. Louis scout Bruce Benedict watched Jackson throw a shutout at Detroit on July 15. The Sox have been interested in Rasmus, 24, since 2008 when he excelled at Triple-A Memphis, and he won’t become arbitration-eligible until next year.

In addition to Jackson’s pitching, the Sox were the beneficiaries of three errors. A dropped fly by center fielder Ezequiel Carrera with two out in the sixth scored two runs and snapped a 1-1 tie.

In the seventh, a fielding error by Asdrubal Cabrera and a throwing miscue by catcher Carlos Santana enabled Alex Rios to reach third, and Rios scored on Mark Teahen’s single.

“I think that happened to us in the past,” manager Ozzie Guillen said. “The ball is bouncing our way, and hopefully every time somebody makes a mistake we take advantage of that.”

The Sox (49-51) trail the Indians by 2 1/2 games as they head home to open a challenging 10-game homestand against the American League Central-leading Tigers.

“I know with all the stuff swirling around, I know people are iffy if we’re going to go one way or the other (with trade talks),” Juan Pierre said. “But as players, we just try to win one game at a time and not look too far ahead.”

After the Tigers, the Sox will play host to the Red Sox and Yankees, with the trade deadline arriving during the final game with Boston.

“If we’re still in it at the end of this, it will be pretty telling,” Gordon Beckham said. “We’ve still got some good teams coming in, and we have to play well. If we don’t, we’ll be hurting in a hurry.”

mgonzales@tribune.com

Twitter @MDGonzales

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WASHINGTON — With two people familiar with the negotiations confirming to The Associated Press that the NFL and players have reached a deal to end the lockout, ESPN.com reports that teams could begin signing their own free agents as early as today.

The NFL Players Association’s executive committee is meeting Monday and is expected to begin the voting process. Owners overwhelmingly approved a proposal last week, but some unresolved issues still needed to be figured out to satisfy players. The sides worked through the weekend, finally finishing the deal Monday morning, one of the people told the AP.

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According to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter, a projected timeline would have the new league year beginning on Aug. 2. But teams could start signing their own free agents and talking with unrestricted free agents today, and begin signing unrestricted free agents Tuesday. Those signings wouldn’t become official unitl Aug. 2. Trade talks also could begin today.

“We have every reason to believe it’s going to be a good day,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello wrote in an email to the AP.

According to an AP report, if players sign off on the agreement Monday, clubs would be able to start signing 2011 draft picks and rookie free agents on Tuesday. Conversations with veteran free agents also could start Tuesday, and signings could begin Friday.

Under that tentative schedule, training camps would open for 10 of the 32 teams on Wednesday, 10 teams on Thursday, another 10 teams on Friday, and the last two teams on Sunday. It was unclear when the Bears, who open the preseason Aug. 13 vs. the Bills, would report.

The major economic framework for the deal was worked out more than a week ago.

That included how the more than $9 billion in annual league revenues will be divided (about 53 percent to owners and 47 percent to players over the next decade; the old CBA resulted in nearly a 50-50 split); a per-club cap of about $120 million for salary and bonuses in 2011 — and at least that in 2012 and 2013 — plus about $22 million for benefits; a salary system to rein in spending on first-round draft picks; and unrestricted free agency for most players after four seasons.

Should the players’ executive committee vote to accept the deal, it then would go to the 32 team representatives to approve, perhaps later Monday. After that, the total membership would need to vote, with a simple majority required for passage.

The 10 named plaintiffs in the players’ lawsuit against the league — including Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees — must officially inform the court in Minneapolis of their approval of the pact, too.

Even after that, while training camps would be opened, a true CBA can’t be agreed upon until the NFLPA re-establishes itself as a union. Players will need to vote to do so even as the sides put the finishing touches on a deal; only after the NFLPA is again a union can it negotiate such items as the league’s personal conduct policy and drug testing.

— With Puerto Rican flags waving in the breeze and many of his countrymen cheering in appreciation, Roberto Alomar was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday.

Speaking first in his native Spanish, the third Puerto Rican player to be enshrined, along with Orlando Cepeda and Roberto Clemente, said he felt proud to be a Puerto Rican.

“I always played for my island,” he said at Sunday’s ceremony in Cooperstown, N.Y., before adding, “It is a true blessing to be able to share this moment with all of you. I have you in my heart.”

The governor of Puerto Rico, Luis Fortuno, took a moment to congratulate Alomar, saying that his induction “is an honor for all Puerto Ricans.” He thanked Alomar for representing his Caribbean homeland well in the big leagues.

Alomar, a member of the Toronto Blue Jays’ World Series championship teams in 1992 and 1993, is the first player to enter the Hall of Fame wearing a Blue Jays cap and only the 20th second baseman to be inducted.

“I did not know how nervous I would be,” said Alomar, who was bypassed in his first year of eligibility and on his second try was named on 90% of ballots cast, becoming the 26th player to garner at least 90% in any election. “Suddenly, I feel speechless.”

The switch-hitting Alomar won a record 10 Gold Gloves at second base, was a 12-time All-Star and a career .300 hitter. Full of baseball smarts and grace, he’s also linked with one of the game’s most tawdry moments — he spit on umpire John Hirschbeck during an argument in 1996. The two have long since moved past that, and Hirschbeck was invited to come Sunday. He had to decline because he was working a game in Pittsburgh.

Also inducted Sunday was right-hander Bert Blyleven, the first Dutch-born player to be enshrined. He thanked his late father and 85-year-old mother for the drive and determination he needed to succeed.

Blyleven, whose amazing curveball frustrated batters, finished with 287 wins, 3,701 strikeouts, 60 shutouts and two World Series rings — in 1979 with the Pittsburgh Pirates and 1987 with the Minnesota Twins.

Blyleven’s path toward the Hall was slow and steep — he drew the backing of only 14.1% one year — but on his 14th try became the first pure starting pitcher to be selected by the Baseball Writers Assn. of America since Nolan Ryan in 1999.

Blyleven’s father, who died of Parkinson’s in 2004, fell in love with baseball and the Dodgers after the family moved to Southern California in the late 1950s.

“I wish he was here,” Blyleven said. “But you know, Mom, I know he’s up there looking down right now.”

Front-office guru Pat Gillick was the other inductee. His teams posted winning records in 20 of his 27 seasons as a general manager and advanced to the postseason 11 times. He was general manager when the Blue Jays won the World Series in 1992 and 1993 and when the Phillies won in 2008.

Reporting from Baltimore —

While rookies Tyler Chatwood and Mike Trout were teaming up to beat the Orioles on Sunday, aging sluggers Bobby Abreu, Torii Hunter and Vernon Wells remained on pace for career-worst seasons in more than one major offensive category this year.

But Angels Manager Mike Scioscia isn’t ready to blame the decline on age.

“These guys are going through rough stretches now, but they’re athletic, they’re still in great shape. Their bat speed’s there,” Scioscia said. “At times in a hitters’ career you have to come to a point where you have to make some adjustments.”

That time has definitely come for the 37-year-old Abreu, a .295 lifetime hitter who is on pace to hit .265 with career lows for homers (five) and runs batted in (62). Abreu has never hit fewer than 15 homers or driven in less than 74 runs in a full season.

“It’s not the same. It’s not me,” Abreu said.

Abreu, hitting .159 in July, has been working with hitting coach Mickey Hatcher on moving closer to the plate to improve his coverage. That appeared to work Sunday when he walked, drove in the Angels’ first run by squirting a ground ball through the infield, then lined out to third on an outside pitch.

“When you’re not swinging well and you’re not comfortable in the box, everything from your slugging percentage to your batting average, everything’s going to start to wither,” Scioscia said.

Hunter, who turned 36 last week, is hitting a career-low .236 and is on pace to strike out a career-high 130 times. He too showed signs of breaking out Sunday, drilling a ball off the top of the center-field wall for a double in the third, then driving a ball over the wall for his 13th home run of the season in the eighth, giving him a team-high 49 RBIs.

Wells, 32, who homered twice in the series, is batting .246 in July and .219 for the season — 61 points below his career average. His on-base percentage of .250 is more than 50 points lower than his previous worst.

“There’s different reasons for everybody,” Scioscia said. “I don’t think we view the decline in Torii and Bobby as much age as it is just really getting into some bad mechanics at times.

“These guys both have a lot of baseball left. We need that production now.”

Quiet time

The Angels gave Trout the silent treatment in the dugout after his first big-league homer Sunday.

“I was figuring on something,” said Trout, who showered and dressed quickly after the game so he could visit with his parents.

But with so many young players on the Angels roster, the prank proved difficult to pull off. Peter Bourjos, who has less than a year of major league experience, was among the first to crack.

“It lasted longer than I thought it would,” he said of the cold shoulder Trout got in the dugout. “I was just so happy for him I had to go over.”

kevin.baxter@latimes.com

PARIS — After two runner-up finishes, Cadel Evans finally stood at the top of the podium on the Champs-Elysees as champion of cycling’s great race.

Wrapped in his country’s flag and with tears in his eyes, Evans listened as Australia’s national anthem played Sunday after he became the first Australian — and the oldest rider since World War II — to win the Tour de France.

“I couldn’t be any happier. A few people always believed in me. I always believed in me. And we did it,” Evans, 34, said.

He celebrated after crossing the finish line in the pack on the Champs-Elysees, embracing riders from different teams as the massive crowd on France’s most famous thoroughfare cheered wildly.

Evans bounded up the steps onto the podium, taking deep breaths, then appeared at the top looking calm.

“Thank you to everyone. It’s really incredible,” he told the crowd.

Evans was joined on the podium by the Schleck brothers of Luxembourg — Andy, who finished second overall for the third consecutive year, and Frank. Andy finished 1 minute 34 seconds behind Evans in the final standings.

Australian singer Tina Arena sang the national anthem. Evans’ Italian wife, Chiara, stood beside him after the presentation ceremony.

“I think he’s worked very hard,” she said.

Evans is only the third non-European to win the Tour since the first edition of the race in 1903. Greg LeMond broke the European dominance in 1986 with the first of his three wins, and fellow American Lance Armstrong won seven titles in a row beginning in 1999.

It has been a long wait for Evans, who first showed himself as a challenger for major races in 2002 and twice finished second in the Tour, in 2007 and 2008.

Evans is the oldest Tour winner since World War II, narrowly eclipsing Gino Bartali of Italy, who also was 34 but slightly younger when he won in 1948. The race’s oldest winner was 36-year-old Firmin Lambot of Belgium in 1922.

“Cadel was the best of the Tour and he deserved to win,” Andy Schleck said. “Second isn’t bad, and my brother was on the podium too. I’ll be back to win this Tour. We have a date for next year.”

Sunday’s 21st and final stage — the most prestigious for the race’s sprinters — was won by Britain’s Mark Cavendish for the third year in a row even though he had to change bikes on the Champs-Elysees. He also took the green jersey, awarded to the overall best sprinter.

Cavendish crossed the line holding out the green jersey he was wearing, then he kissed it. Despite his 20 Tour stage victories, the jersey had eluded him until now.

“Finally!” he said.

Second place in the stage went to Edvald Boasson Hagen of Norway, and third to Andre Greipel of Germany.

This year was a far cry from the Tours of many recent years that were dominated almost from the start by Armstrong or, later, Alberto Contador. This was a race that defied predictions and was hanging in the balance on the final weekend.

Evans rarely made his presence known, but he was always there. Up every mountain he was never more than one bicycle length behind his rivals. With a small lead that he picked up in the early stages of the race and a lot of strength in time trials, he knew he did not need to attack to win.

Still, when Andy Schleck broke away from the field on the climb of the Galibier pass Thursday, observers thought Evans’ BMC team had made a crucial mistake. But Evans remained calm.

He went into the time trial Saturday needing to make up almost a minute on Schleck; he made up more than 21/2.

“The real highlight was the last three to four kilometers of the time trial yesterday, because I knew we were on the right track,” Evans said.

The polka-dot jersey, awarded to the best climber, went to Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez of Spain, who brought his two children onto the podium. The best young rider was Pierre Rolland of France, who won the classic climb up the Alpe d’Huez on Friday.

Before setting off Sunday, riders removed their helmets and observed a minute of silence in tribute to the victims of the attacks in Norway on Friday.

“When this kind of thing happens, everybody forgets about the sport,” Norwegian rider Thor Hushovd said. “It’s not even important in comparison.

“It’s quite nice that everybody thinks of us. We’re a small country … unfortunately, this can happen anywhere.”

Hushovd and countryman Boasson Hagen won two stages each in this year’s race.

BUENOS AIRES — Diego Forlan scored two goals and Luis Suarez had one as Uruguay won the Copa America for a record 15th time, beating Paraguay, 3-0, on Sunday.

Suarez scored in the 11th minute, and Forlan’s goals came in the 41st minute and the 89th.

“We played as a group,” said Suarez, who was selected the tournament’s best player. “I think when groups are united like this, everyone together and going for the same thing, you can get things done.”

Uruguay won its first Copa America title since 1995. The team reached the World Cup semifinals a year ago, surpassing the performance of South American powers Brazil and Argentina.

Argentina and Brazil were upset in the quarterfinals of this tournament. Uruguay defeated Argentina on penalty kicks and Paraguay eliminated Brazil, also in a shootout.

Argentina has won the Copa America title 14 times, Brazil eight. Brazil had won four of the previous five titles.

Uruguay was the clear favorite going into the final, wrapping up a tournament filled with surprises.

Brazil and Argentina were eliminated early, and Venezuela reached the third-place match Saturday before losing, 4-1, to Peru. Those two teams have been the weakest in the region in recent years, but they suddenly look formidable going into regional World Cup qualifying this year.

Uruguay’s squad featured 20 of the 23 players it took to the World Cup a year ago, and it showed teamwork and unselfish play with none of the vast star power of Argentina or Brazil.

“The important thing was getting started well,” said Suarez, who had four goals in the Copa America — second most in the tournament to Peru’s Paolo Guerrero, who scored five. “With two goals in the first half, I think it was very difficult for them to come back.”

Suarez gave Uruguay the lead in a match it dominated in the opening minutes. Receiving a pass in the area, the Liverpool forward beat defender Dario Veron and scored on a left-footed shot that was deflected and went in off the far post behind goalkeeper Justo Villar.

Forlan made it 2-0 by lashing a left-footed shot from 13 yards that left Villar flat-footed. The Atletico Madrid striker had not scored in his 12 previous matches for the national team.

Forlan scored the game’s final goal in the 89th minute, taking a pass from Suarez and scoring into the far corner.

“This has been a lot of work, going back many years,” Forlan said. “It’s been a job of doing things well and it’s yielded results.”

Paraguay, which seldom threatened, played without injured forward Roque Santa Cruz and winger Aureliano Torres. Paraguay Coach Gerardo Martino and top assistant Jorge Pautasso were suspended for the match after they were sent off for repeatedly arguing with the referee in the team’s semifinal victory against Venezuela on Wednesday.

Martino, an Argentine, is seen as a leading contender to take over Argentina’s national team. The Argentine federation was to meet Monday and decide on the future of Coach Sergio Batista.

With a dive to his right and a kick to his left, Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart provided the difference in Sunday’s exhibition match against the Galaxy. Hart blocked A.J. DeLaGarza’s attempt and then made his own to win the shootout, 7-6, after nine rounds.

“I couldn’t wait,” Hart said of his rare chance to view the goal from the outside. “I was trying to take it earlier.”

After 90 minutes the match stood knotted up at 1-1, thanks to a 53rd-minute goal from Galaxy forward Mike Magee that equaled Manchester City forward Mario Balotelli’s penalty-kick goal in the first half.

On their way to the goal before the shootout began, Hart and Galaxy goalkeeper Brian Perk could be seen talking and laughing. Galaxy midfielder Juninho provided the first miss in the shootout, hitting the left post, but Perk evened the festivities by blocking forward John Guidetti’s attempt in the fifth round.

“It was a lot of fun,” Perk said. “There is no pressure at that point, it’s just a friendly, and the kickers are expected to make them, so we’re just out there having a blast.

“I can’t tell you guys [what was said before the shootout]. It’s between me and him in the heat of the moment, so I’ll have to take that to my grave.”

Magee managed to get past Hart with a 25-yard shot into the upper corner of the goal, but aside from that score Hart made four saves.

“There were a lot of quality saves that he made in the game,” Perk said. “It was pretty much me watching him … trying to take a little bit away from his game and put it into my game.”

Galaxy midfielder Dan Keat opened the goal-scoring sequence by crossing the ball over to midfielder Chris Birchall. Birchall headed the ball directly to an open Magee.

“When I saw that ball bounce the way it did and he was able to volley it, I had a feeling he was going to get it on goal,” Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena said. “It was a fabulous goal against a fabulous goalkeeper.”

Balotelli’s afternoon ended shortly after his 20th-minute penalty kick slipped by Galaxy goalkeeper Josh Saunders, who played the first half. Less than 10 minutes later, Balotelli had a breakaway for what should have been an easy goal, but instead he stopped, spun and kicked the ball with his right heel. The ill-advised trickery sent the ball wide right, and Manchester City Coach Roberto Mancini sent Balotelli straight to the bench following the showboating in front of 24,897 fans at the Home Depot Center.

“In football you should be serious always,” Mancini said. “If you have a chance to score, you should score … For him, I hope it’s an important lesson.”

douglas.farmer@latimes.com

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Rocky Bridges never took himself too seriously.

A major league journeyman, minor league manager and major league coach, he joked that he didn’t like the national anthem because every time he heard it, he had a bad day.

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In truth, every day in baseball was a great day for Everett Lamar Bridges, whose infectious enthusiasm and proclivity for making people laugh superseded his playing ability.

“I had fun playing baseball,” he says. “Many of the players now, I’m not sure they have fun playing the game.”

Even bouncing among seven teams in 11 seasons did little to temper his zeal for the game, Bridges once noting, “I’ve had more numbers on my back than a bingo board.”

Bridges, who played for the Angels in their debut season of 1961, also said he wouldn’t eat snails because “I prefer fast food.” He described one club executive as so skinny he could tread water in a test tube. And he said of a diet drink he’d supposedly concocted, “You mix two jiggers of Scotch to one jigger of Metrecal. So far I’ve lost five pounds and my driver’s license.”

In a lengthy Sports Illustrated profile from 1964 — how many other power-deficient .247 career hitters are afforded such treatment by Sports Illustrated? — Bridges was described as “one of the best stand-up comics in the history of baseball.”

Vin Scully, whose second season with the Brooklyn Dodgers was Bridges’ rookie season with the club in 1951, recalls the former utility infielder as a “beautiful guy,” beloved by all.

And former major league pitcher Jim Bouton, author of “Ball Four,” called Bridges “my all-time favorite manager” even though Bouton never played for him.

“In fact, I’ve never even met him,” Bouton wrote in his 1973 collection of short stories, “I Managed Good, But Boy Did They Play Bad,” which took its title from a Bridges quote. “However, I’ve spent a good piece of my life sitting in bullpens around the country listening to different ballplayers talk about how much fun it was when they played for Rocky Bridges. …

“The reason Bridges was a great manager was that he understood that baseball is supposed to be mainly fun.”

Bridges, born in Texas but reared in Long Beach, signed with the Dodgers after graduating from Long Beach Poly High.

“It got me off riding my bicycle delivering The Times,” Bridges, 83, says from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where he moved from Long Beach 40 years ago. “I was the best peddler The Times ever had. I worked five years there and never missed a morning.”

As a ballplayer, Bridges had a front-row seat to history, including the famous National League pennant race of 1951, the 1952 World Series, the 1958 All-Star game and, in his swan song, the Angels’ inaugural season.

“I watched Bobby Thomson’s home run — from the bench, naturally,” he says. “I didn’t play much.”

Bridges’ longest stint with one team was four years with the Reds in Cincinnati, which he says was fortunate because “it took me that long to learn how to spell it.”

When he was selected for the All-Star game with the Washington Senators in 1958, Bridges notes, “That surprised everybody. They were close to launching an investigation.”

Bridges didn’t get into the game, nor did he play in the ’52 World Series, won by the New York Yankees over the Dodgers.

He hit only 16 home runs, noting after ending a two-year drought in 1961, “I’m still behind Babe Ruth’s record, but I’ve been sick. It really wasn’t very dramatic. No little boy in the hospital asked me to hit one. I didn’t promise it to my kid for his birthday, and my wife will be too shocked to appreciate it. I hit it for me.”

Is labor peace just around the corner for the NFL?

According to an ESPN report, the NFL Players Assn. and league have reached an agreement on the remaining points in a proposed 10-year collective bargaining agreement.

The report, citing unnamed sources from both sides, said the NFLPA is planning a major news conference Monday and that player representatives’ executive committee is flying to Washington for a Monday vote.

If the executive committee votes to approve the CBA, which was ratified Thursday by NFL owners, the agreement will then be put to a vote of player reps from the 32 teams.

Assuming the new agreement clears those hurdles, players will vote on it Wednesday at their various team headquarters. It requires a majority vote to pass. At that point, if the CBA is approved, teams can begin contract talks with their own players, among them draft picks and free agents.

That would set the stage for free agency and training camps to start Saturday.

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– Sam Farmer

Photo: DeMaurice Smith, head of the decertified players’ union, on July 15. Louis Lanzano / Associated Press

Oddest great game ever pitched by Chad Billingsley. Talking Bizarro great, Alice in Wonderland great.

Billingsley started Sunday as if he was going to work on the shortest outing of his career. He could do nothing right. He walked his first batter, hit his second and then gave up two singles.

That left the Dodgers down, 1-0, with the bases loaded and still no outs. The only question seemed to be how many body parts Billingsley would leave behind before he was dragged off the mound.

Only then, the strangest thing happened. Clark Kent jumped into the phone booth. Suddenly, bullets bounced off his chest.

Billingsley struck out the side, did not give up another hit and retired 21 of the last 22 batters he faced.

And the Dodgers eked out a 3-1 victory against the Nationals before an announced crowd of 36,458 at Dodger Stadium.

Billingsley (9-8) ended up pitching seven innings. After throwing a staggering 38 pitches in the first, he threw 77 pitches over the next six innings.

He struck out 10, walked two and lowered his earned-run average to 3.92.

After Billingsley gave up that early run, the Dodgers rallied with two runs in the bottom of the first against Jason Marquis (8-5) after Rafael Furcal singled with one out.

Furcal was erased when Andre Ethier bounced into a fielder’s choice, but Matt Kemp then singled. Aaron Miles, batting fifth, then laced a hit to center fielder. Ethier scored easily and third-base coach Tim Wallach waved Kemp home.

Kemp would have been out by several feet, but catcher Jesus Flores couldn’t hold on to the throw and the Dodgers were up, 2-1.

They added another run in the third after Furcal walked and stole second. He took third on an infield single by Kemp and, after Miles walked to load the bases, scored when the Nationals couldn’t turn a double play on a bouncer by James Loney.

The rest was left to the suddenly unhittable Billingsley.

Kenley Jansen shut out the Nationals in the eighth, extending his scoreless streak to 14 innings, and rookie Javy Guerra pitched a scoreless ninth for his seventh save, after earning the victory on Saturday.

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– Steve Dilbeck

Photo: Chad Billingsley delivers a pitch against the Washington Nationals at Dodger Stadium. Credit: Kirby Lee / Image of Sport / US Presswire

The Angels are a long way from giving up on the present. But Sunday they took a good, long look at what could be their future just the same.

And that future looks awfully bright.

Just ask the Baltimore Orioles, who were kept on the ropes for seven innings by right-hander Tyler Chatwood before center fielder Mike Trout delivered the knockout blow with a three-run, eighth-inning home run in a 9-3 Angels win at Camden Yards.

For Chatwood, who only recently turned old enough to drink, it was arguably the most complete outing of his rookie season. For Trout, the youngest player in the majors, the homer was the first by a teenager in the big leagues since 2007.

It was enough to make 52-year-old Manager Mike Scioscia, who played his last game before Trout had mastered walking, feel young again.

Neither player figured in the Angels plans this season.

But Chatwood, called up in early April for what was expected to be a cameo appearance, seized a spot in the rotation. Sunday he went seven innings for the third time in his last six starts, dropping his earned-run average over that span to 2.48.

Among Angels starters, only Jered Weaver has a better ERA in his last six starts.

“I don’t think we’ve seen him as crisp. He had great stuff,” Scioscia said of Chatwood (6-6), who didn’t walk a batter for the first time this season. He made only one mistake, giving up a two-run home run to Adam Jones in the sixth.

Now Trout, promoted from double A 21/2 weeks ago when Peter Bourjos was sidelined by hamstring tightness, is trying to make a case that he should stay too. Friday, he had his first two-hit game in the majors and also stole his first base. Then Sunday, with the Angels clinging to a one-run lead, he lined a shot deep into the left-center-field bleachers.

“Mike’s been doing something every game,” Scioscia said. “You have to keep pinching yourself and telling yourself this kid’s 19.”

Trout had a little bit of a home-field advantage since he grew up only two hours from Baltimore. As a result, he said, a couple hundred friends and family members attended the three-game series here, with his parents and girlfriend in attendance Sunday.

“My parents, I think that’s [my] first home run they’ve seen in pro ball,” said Trout, adding it was a feeling that “can’t be described in words.”

The Angels said the ball was caught by Zack Hample, a 33-year-old New York collector who claims to have snagged more than 5,000 baseballs at various ballparks, experiences he shares in three books.

Hample asked for a picture and an autograph in exchange for this baseball, which Trout quickly handed over to his parents.

Whether he’ll get a chance to collect any more mementos this season is up to Scioscia, who originally thought Trout’s visit would be a short one.

Now he’s not so sure.

“If there’s an appreciable role for anybody that’s going to help us to be a better team, a more complete team, they’ll be on our team,” he said. “This guy’s advanced physically and mentally, but he still hasn’t played a long season.

“He needs to play every day.”

kevin.baxter@latimes.com

For the NFL labor fight, the end is near.

The NFL and its players have bridged their differences on a 10-year labor agreement, and the wheels are in motion to begin free agency and training camps by this weekend, according to an individual involved in the negotiations.

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The executive committee of the NFL Players Association is expected to vote no later than Monday to recommend the deal. Player representatives from all 32 teams then will vote. Assuming those groups vote to approve — and indications are that they will — the rest of the players will get their chance. Beginning Wednesday, those players will vote at their team headquarters, both on whether to reconstitute their union and approve the collective bargaining agreement.

Assuming those hurdles are cleared, free agency and the start of training camps would begin Saturday, less than two weeks before the first round of exhibition games.

Guard Steve Hutchinson, player rep for the Vikings, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune on Sunday that he’s encouraged resolution is around the corner.

“I think there will be some good news coming out tomorrow,” he said.

Thursday, by a 31-0 vote (with the Raiders abstaining), owners voted to approve a new CBA that gives them an average of 53 percent of total revenues and the players 47 percent.

The NFL lockout almost over … and so too is Jay Cutler’s engagement?

People.com reports Cutler and Kristin Cavallari have called off their engagement after just 10 months together.

“She got dumped,” says another source to people.com. “She’s absolutely devastated. She can’t believe this is happening.”

A source told E! News: “Jay got cold feet. Kristin is stunned.”

Entertainment reporter Billy Bush sent out a tweet late Saturday night stating: “Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler engagement is off. Source super tight.”

Seeming to confirm the reports, Cavallari tweeted on Sunday night: “Thanks for the support. Love u guys”

The Bears QB and the reality TV star started dating last August and were engaged by April, planning a wedding for July 7, 2012. Last week, the duo’s wedding registry was revealed.

They were recently spotted at Wrigley Field for the Cubs-White Sox game on July 2.

CLEVELAND — After helping the White Sox complete a 5-3 trip Sunday, Edwin Jackson wasn’t surprised when he was informed the Cardinals were interested in acquiring him before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.

“My name is in trade rumors every year,” Jackson said after pitching six innings of five-hit ball to lead the Sox to a 4-2 victory at Cleveland. “It’s been like this for the last five years. It’s definitely nothing I worry about. I can’t control it. I just want to play wherever I’m wanted to play at.”

Jackson (7-7) proved he might be as valuable to the Sox as he would be to any playoff contender. He is 3-1 with a 2.57 ERA in his last five starts.

Nevertheless, he’s a free agent after this season, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the Cardinals and Sox were engaged in talks, with the Sox interested in center fielder Colby Rasmus and the Cardinals seeking Jackson or left-handed reliever Matt Thornton and a minor-leaguer.

St. Louis scout Bruce Benedict watched Jackson throw a shutout at Detroit on July 15. The Sox have been interested in Rasmus, 24, since 2008 when he excelled at Triple-A Memphis, and he won’t become arbitration-eligible until next year.

In addition to Jackson’s pitching, the Sox were the beneficiaries of three errors. A dropped fly by center fielder Ezequiel Carrera with two out in the sixth scored two runs and snapped a 1-1 tie.

In the seventh, a fielding error by Asdrubal Cabrera and a throwing miscue by catcher Carlos Santana enabled Alex Rios to reach third, and Rios scored on Mark Teahen’s single.

“I think that happened to us in the past,” manager Ozzie Guillen said. “The ball is bouncing our way, and hopefully every time somebody makes a mistake we take advantage of that.”

The Sox (49-51) trail the Indians by 2 1/2 games as they head home to open a challenging 10-game homestand against the American League Central-leading Tigers.

“I know with all the stuff swirling around, I know people are iffy if we’re going to go one way or the other (with trade talks),” Juan Pierre said. “But as players, we just try to win one game at a time and not look too far ahead.”

After the Tigers, the Sox will play host to the Red Sox and Yankees, with the trade deadline arriving during the final game with Boston.

“If we’re still in it at the end of this, it will be pretty telling,” Gordon Beckham said. “We’ve still got some good teams coming in, and we have to play well. If we don’t, we’ll be hurting in a hurry.”

mgonzales@tribune.com

Twitter @MDGonzales

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It took extra innings with baseball’s worst team and an assist from the sun, but the Cubs finally won a third straight game Sunday.

“We were joking around, trying to loosen guys up, saying there’s no way we win three. Just go out and have fun,” Jeff Baker said.

And, thanks to Baker, they did have fun, because it was his bases-loaded single in the 10th inning that produced the elusive third straight win on the 10th try, 5-4 over the hapless Astros.

“It’s big,” Baker said. “It’s frustrating, obviously, the year hasn’t gone the way we wanted. To finally get three together and it’s in our division, hopefully we can get rolling, and why not four?”

Sunday’s victory was one that almost wasn’t. The Cubs squandered a superb seven innings from Matt Garza, then started their winning rally when Marlon Byrd’s fly ball to right was lost in the sun by Hunter Pence.

Byrd wound up on third base as he never quit running once he knew the ball was in the air and deep.

“Later in the evening … any ball that goes out there goes right in the sun,” Byrd said.

The Astros then walked Tony Campana and Darwin Barney intentionally to load the bases. Baker pinch hit for eventual winner John Grabow (2-0) and ran the count to 3-2 against David Carpenter before lining a single over third base.

“I was just looking for something up (in the strike zone),” Baker said. “Not trying to do too much. I just wanted to put the ball in play.”

Garza, again, deserved a better fate after leaving with a 3-2 lead. It was the sixth time this season and third start in a row that Garza has left with a lead but wound up without the victory.

“He’s got plenty to show for it,” manager Mike Quade said. “We won the ballgame because he gave us seven good innings.”

“Every time you contribute it’s a plus,” Garza said. “It’s fun, it always is.”

It wasn’t fun in the eighth inning when reliever Jeff Samardzija gave up two go-ahead runs on Carlos Lee’s 21st home run at Wrigley Field. But the Cubs came back with a run in the eighth inning on a bloop single by Alfonso Soriano, and reliever Carlos Marmol left the bases loaded in the ninth inning to set up the heroics.

Three in a row finally happened in the 102nd game of the season.

“What a way to do it,” Quade said. “You knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”

dvandyck@tribune.com

Twitter @davandyck

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After Manchester United’s 7-0 rout of the Seattle Sounders in an exhibition game Wednesday night in Seattle, perhaps expectations should be lowered for the Galaxy’s match against Manchester City on Sunday. Then again, perhaps they should have been lowered before the European clubs came stateside.

“Teams come over here and look for fitness and they want to win these games,” Galaxy midfielder David Beckham said. “And that’s what they do. That’s what their managers expect of them.”

Going into Saturday, the two Manchesters, along with Real Madrid, had trounced MLS squads four times in the past few weeks by a combined score of 17-3, including Real Madrid’s 4-1 win over the Galaxy on July 16. The exhibitions include a few variations from usual match rules — most notably the use of 22 players instead of the usual 14.

“It’s worse when an elite club can play more players,” Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena said upon learning of the Sounders’ score Wednesday. “If you tell those guys they only have to play 45 minutes, it’s 45 minutes of hell. The advantage is to these clubs when they get to play more players, because they obviously have better players, deeper players, more quality.”

To be clear, Arena does not think his squad, nor any of the MLS teams, would do remarkably better against the European powers under normal conditions.

“The results haven’t been good, no question about that,” he said Thursday. “It’s a difficult competition to gauge some of the results. I do believe if we played Real Madrid 10 times, they’d probably beat us 11.

“We’ve brought some of the great club teams in the world to the United States to play MLS club teams and others. It’s to show these great teams and players.”

Manchester City will not be pulling any punches at the Home Depot Center. After heavy rains created a less-than-ideal playing surface for its 2-1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Monday in Canada, Roberto Mancini’s squad is looking to close its trip to North America with a strong performance.

“The last game is what we’ve been looking forward to against the Galaxy,” Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry said. “They’re a big team out here with some big players. A perfect send-off for us before we start our season.

Mancini said his starters will “probably” play 90 minutes, while Arena expects to cap his starters’ time at 45 minutes.

douglas.farmer@latimes.com

twitter.com/d_farmer

Scanning the long-range forecast for Spartanburg, S.C., Ryan Kalil sits in the comfort of Manhattan Beach and can’t help but cringe — the wilting heat, the steam-room humidity, the relentless thunderstorms.

Carolina Panthers training camp is the last place he wants to be this summer.

And the only place.

Kalil isn’t just the team’s starting center, but he’s also the anchor of its offensive line, the club’s franchise player coming off his second consecutive Pro Bowl appearance.

He’s in limbo now — just like every NFL player — unsure of when the bitter labor fight will actually end, allowing him to un-click the pause button on his career.

“Cooler heads will prevail,” said Kalil, a former USC standout. “There’s a sense of urgency for us to get back to the game of football. We don’t want to miss any games. I don’t want to miss any games.”

But he’s quick to add that players aren’t going to rush to approve a deal that they’re still wrapping their heads around. If they’re going to ink their names to a collective bargaining agreement that runs through the 2020 season, they sure as Spartanburg better have 20/20 vision heading into it.

“Look, these NFL owners are unbelievable businessmen,” he said. “It’s not that we think they’re shysty or are trying to pull a fast one on us; it’s that we have to go through the process to protect us. Because these guys are phenomenal businessmen. And we’re not. And we know that.”

Three full days of digesting the agreement that owners approved Thursday might just be enough for the players. An ESPN report Saturday, citing an unidentified source, said the league and players have tentatively agreed that the 11-member executive board of the NFL Players Assn. will vote Monday on the proposal. That would allow players to begin arriving at training camps Wednesday to vote on whether to re-form as a union, a necessary step to forging a final accord.

Passions have been inflamed over the past several days, especially among the players, who have been largely mistrustful of league owners and executives, certainly during the past year and in some cases dating to when the owners opted out of the last CBA in 2008.

After several quiet weeks of mostly calm negotiations, tempers flared Thursday night after owners approved the latest deal, putting the players on the clock to accept that offer as soon as possible but no later than Tuesday.

The players resisted, of course, branding it an obvious power play to force their hand and ratchet up the public pressure on them to do the deal. Most hadn’t even seen the terms of the agreement — although NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith spent weeks working on it together — and they weren’t about to trust that it had their best interests at heart.

One reason the league didn’t present the deal to the players before voting on it was the concern that there was no way to keep the terms out of the media if 1,900 players got an advance look at them. Then the sides would again be negotiating in the media, something that could have sidetracked the process.

Regardless, for the players, many of whom are deeply concerned about the owners affording them respect through these negotiations, seeing the basic deal terms for the first time on NFL Network felt like a slap in the face.

A few days later, it seems the sting has gone out of that slap, and from the perspective of Kalil and others, the players will soon be ready to make a clear-headed choice.

“I think we’re still close, and I definitely believe 100% that the people we elected to represent us are working as hard and as quickly as they can to get a deal done so that we can get back to football,” Kalil said. “We don’t want to miss games either.

“I think we’re playing football this year. I can’t see us missing games. The thing I don’t know is the time frame or whether we’ll miss some preseason games. But I’ve got to believe we get to the regular season, and I’ve got to believe we’ll play all 16 games.”

For now, Spartanburg awaits.

sam.farmer@latimes.com

twitter.com/latimesfarmer

The annual rites of summer are in full swing in the U.S., with Europe’s big and not-so-big clubs over here for a few weeks to play Major League Soccer’s not-so-big and some-quite-small clubs, as well as a couple of Mexico’s alleged giants.

So far, so bad.

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Real Madrid thrashed the Galaxy, 4-1, and the most meaningful comment to come out of it was Jose Mourinho’s remark that it is pretty to cool to come to America and be able to train in obscurity — or something like that.

“The training conditions are good,” Mourinho said. “The freedom that we have is also good, because in Europe our lives are difficult. Socially, it is difficult. Here, players feel some freedom. They can walk in the street. They can be together. They can share some time together.”

Want a translation? It means that very few of the people who might have run into Real Madrid’s millionaires on the boulevards of Westwood or Marina del Rey could tell the difference between their Pepe and their Kaka.

The players were not bothered because they were not recognized.

Perhaps if Real had been training in or wandering around East L.A. instead of UCLA it might have been otherwise. Perhaps even Cristiano Ronaldo might have been spotted and hounded by fans and media.

Switch north, now, to Seattle, where Manchester United demolished the Seattle Sounders, 7-0, and the debacle — witnessed by a crowd of 67,052 — brought the admission from Seattle Coach Sigi Schmid that perhaps he should not have “rewarded” his bench by giving everyone a chance to say that they once played against Wayne Rooney.

Better from Schmid was his pregame observation that “every player hopes in the back of their minds, whether they say it or not, that this is their breakthrough game; this is their game in front of Cecil B. DeMille and they get discovered.”

Well, Cecil B. is long, long gone and the Sounders were not discovered, they were exposed.

Of course, so was Chivas de Guadalajara, which was made to look downright ordinary by Marcelo and Co. in Real Madrid’s 3-0 whitewash of Mexico’s supposed powerhouse down San Diego way.

What applies to MLS apparently also applies to the Mexican league, except that the Mexican league occasionally produces a player such as Javier Hernandez, and MLS is light years away from achieving that. Landon who?

On Saturday, large throngs were expected in Chicago to watch Manchester United, and in Philadelphia to watch Real Madrid and in Toronto to watch Juventus and Sporting Lisbon.

On Sunday, Manchester City is in Carson to give the Galaxy a second lesson in humility, assuming, of course, that City takes the game seriously and that Mario Balotelli and friends are not in L.A. simply for some beach time before their real work begins.

Later still, Barcelona and Mexico’s Club America will be making their annual pilgrimage to U.S. shores, the difference being that it is they who will be bowed down to rather than them doing the bowing. Soccer idols and all.

It is difficult to tell whether this annual incursion of European and Mexican teams is a good thing or not.

On the plus side, it does give U.S. soccer fans the chance to see in person some of the players they normally can only read about or watch on television. It also feathers the financial nest of MLS and its clubs, large crowds and fat television contracts translating into welcome revenue.

On the other hand it does expose the gulf that still exists between the best of MLS and the best of Europe, which in turn keeps fans from going to MLS stadiums and has them tuning in, instead, to the Premier League or Serie A or La Liga.

Don Garber, the MLS commissioner, argues that the rising tide lifts all ships, which is meant to indicate that if big crowds come out to see the world’s top clubs, some of those same fans might be moved to sample an MLS game or two.

As trickle-down theories go, it doesn’t hold a tremendous amount of water. Not enough to float a ship.

Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena has another theory, one he expressed in a midweek news conference.

“It’s a lot more difficult in these games — the way they’re set up in this format — for the MLS clubs than it is for the visiting teams,” Arena said, “because the whole tournament is set up to accommodate them. Our needs are not addressed at all.”

Sandwiching high-profile friendly games, whose results mean nothing but require effort and commitment if only to save face, between league matches that count in the standings, is not an ideal scenario.

Unlimited substitutions is what the European clubs want, but their roster depth (in numbers and talent) makes that an unfair fight when MLS teams go to their bench.

But that’s the situation MLS has gotten itself into each summer. It wants the prestige of playing against top clubs. It wants the revenue from those games. It wants to foster relationships with Europe’s and Mexico’s powers.

But it’s the league’s players and coaches who pay the price.

grahame.jones@latimes.com

Chivas USA forward Justin Braun made it look so easy Saturday night.

With a touch here, a tap there, and a slide to finish it all off, the striker snapped his team’s five-game losing streak to the Houston Dynamo with casual grace and a grin.

Behind his three goals, Chivas picked up three critical points with a 3-0 victory over the Dynamo to send the team confidently into a five-game road trip after the All-Star break.

“We’re excited about not only the result, but the way we were able to play tonight,” Coach Robin Fraser said. “At the end of the day, some of the goals were really, really good.”

Outstanding service found Braun in all the right places Saturday, and he converted on almost every quality chance for his second hat trick of the season.

The first goal came in the 31st minute, when Chivas midfielder Jorge Flores dropped a pass back to defender Ante Jazic, who sent a perfect cross to Braun, who struck the ball in the air with his left foot from 10 yards out. Then, just nine minutes later, Blair Gavin’s chip dropped at Braun’s feet as he made a run alone in the middle of the box. Braun calmly tapped the ball over goalkeeper Tally Hall’s head to put Chivas up 2-0 before halftime. The game was long decided by the time Braun notched his third and final goal, sliding into a ball sent into the right side of box in the 86th minute.

The goals gave Braun seven on the season, moving him ahead of Nick LaBrocca for the team lead.

“It’s cool to get another hat trick,” Braun said. “I had hit a little dry spell, but this helped take that weight off my shoulders.”

Before Saturday night, Chivas (6-7-8) had only one win in 15 tries against Houston (5-7-9), and the team entered the game shorthanded in the attacking third with striker Ben Zemanski sidelined by an injured ankle.

Even so, Chivas played with a sense of offensive urgency largely absent this season. By the 12th minute, Gavin had already shimmied past a defender and sent a strike just high. After that, Chivas kept the pressure on, peppering Hall with quality chances to the end.

“Coming off this win, going into that long stretch of road games certainly gives your confidence a little bit of a boost,” Fraser said. “For us, to be in striking distance [of the playoffs] is important.”

matthew.stevens@latimes.com

twitter.com/mattstevenslat

Zab Judah might have disputed the ending, but there was no decrying the harsh lessons that the younger champion Amir Khan delivered his older Brooklyn opponent Saturday.

Khan picked apart Judah in the fifth round, and landed another stiff right to the face that caused the 33-year-old Judah to bend downward. Seeing another hole, Khan threw a hard right uppercut that struck Judah on the top half of the belt.

Judah sank to the canvas, referee Vic Drakulich told him to get up and began counting toward a knockout — six, seven, eight, nine, 10.

At the 2:47 mark of the fifth, Khan had won.

Judah was able to spring up then, only in argument mode.

“It was a low blow,” Judah said afterward. “I was trying to get myself together and that was self-defense. [The punch] lifted my belt.”

The complaint was in vain. It was a legal blow.

The 24-year-old British Khan improved to 26-1 with his 18th knockout, and the 33-year-old Judah (41-7) handed over his International Boxing Federation junior-welterweight belt to Khan’s collection, which includes a World Boxing Assn. belt.

Khan outpunched Judah 284-115 and landed more than triple the punches (61-20). He bloodied Judah’s lip in the second round, continued landing blows to the face in the third and expertly followed several jabs with a hard right to Judah’s mug in the fourth.

“I knew he was getting hurt,” Khan said afterward. “He kept moving away and ducking. I kept hitting him right in the face, and the shot that knocked him out was right on the belt. … It was only a matter of time.”

Perhaps in early 2012, Khan will be able to fight Coachella Valley’s Timothy Bradley for all four major titles.

“If Bradley didn’t want to fight him before, he doesn’t want to fight him now,” Khan promoter Richard Schaefer said after the bout, listing the Aug. 27 Robert Guerrero-Marcos Maidana winner or Erik Morales as other possible December foes for Khan.

The unbeaten Bradley, nicknamed “Desert Storm,” declined the match earlier this year as he negotiates a split with his promoters and he told The Times in a Saturday night telephone interview that he anticipates a 2012 Khan bout after a tuneup fight in the fall.

“He’s not ready for ‘The Storm,’ I’m not impressed,” Bradley said. “I know all the comments that are coming about this Khan performance, but I’m not stressing. … No way possible he can be No. 1 [at 140 pounds]. When we do get in the ring, everyone will see who the best in the world is.”

What Khan showed Saturday before the ending was another advanced level under the guidance of Hollywood’s famed trainer Freddie Roach, who also counts Manny Pacquiao in his stable.

Khan’s precision against Judah showed the Roach effect, and what the Brit ensured Saturday is that the payday with Bradley will be richer than the $1 million-plus he collected in the softer touch versus Judah.

lance.pugmire@latimes.com

twitter.com/latimespugmire

Reporting from Baltimore — Bobby Abreu slumped into a chair in the corner of the Angels’ clubhouse and reached into his locker for a sock.

What he was really looking for, however, were answers.

Answers to why he’s hitting .153 this month. Or why the Angels are averaging 3.2 runs a game and rank last in the American League in hitting since the All-Star break.

And answers, like an approaching baseball when Abreu is at the plate, are proving elusive.

“I don’t know,” he muttered. “I don’t know what’s going on.”

Well, here’s a guess: The Angels just may be hitting themselves out of a pennant race.

As evidence, look no further than Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.

The Angels took a quick first-inning lead on Vernon Wells’ two-run home run. Then they didn’t get a man to third base the rest of the game.

They had runners on base in seven innings and got a man to second base three times. But they also hit into two double plays and were 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position.

And, fittingly, the game ended with Howie Kendrick, the Angels’ leading hitter, striking out with the tying run on second base.

“You’re going through a little cycle now where a lot of your guys are trying to find their game,” Manager Mike Scioscia said.

Which is to say Abreu isn’t the only one struggling, a bad sign when you’re 100 games into the season and in the middle of a pennant race.

Maicer Izturis is hitting .120 in July. Torii Hunter, after going 0 for 3 on Saturday, is hitting .207 this month and Jeff Mathis is hitting .179. Add in Abreu, who has struck out in nearly a third of his at-bats this month, and the Angels have four regulars hitting below .210 this month.

And after going three for 18 with runners in scoring position in their two games in Baltimore, they rank 25th in the majors in that category.

“We need to get better. We’ve talked about that all along,” Scioscia said. “As you get more guys in your lineup swinging the bat well — seeing that good at-bat, moving runners — that’s kind of the lifeblood of an offense when you’re struggling in the batter’s box.”

That didn’t happen Saturday, just as it hasn’t for most of the month. And with Joel Pineiro struggling on the mound, matching a season high by giving up 11 hits, the Angels had little room for error.

For Pineiro, who lasted only 51/3 innings, it was his second poor outing in a row, after a disastrous performance in Oakland in which he gave up eight runs and recorded only one out.

“It’s just a matter of getting that arm slot back and getting the ball down, really,” said Pineiro, who is 3-5 since early May.

Now the Angels find themselves under .500 since the All-Star break, just as their race with the streaking Texas Rangers, who won again Saturday, is beginning to heat up.

“A couple of opportunities missed,” said Wells, who admitted he has his eye on Texas.

But then Wells sighed and added: “If we don’t take care of our own business there’s nothing for us to look at.”

kevin.baxter@latimes.com

The malaise that is this Dodgers season reached its 100th game Saturday night and appeared set to take further hold after only a half inning.

Dodgers starter Ted Lilly had given up two singles, two doubles and three runs to the Washington Nationals before many fans had found their seats at Dodger Stadium.

But on this night, the Dodgers and Lilly — who slugged a two-run double and had three runs batted in overall to help his cause — declined to go quietly and made a game of it.

Shortstop Rafael Furcal, who has struggled at the plate since returning from the disabled list July 3, hit a walk-off double against Washington reliever Ryan Mattheus to score Trent Oeltjen in the bottom of the ninth inning and give the Dodgers a 7-6 win.

That was “was a huge hit for him,” Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said. “He’s been down” about his slump “so it’s good to see that.”

Mattingly also praised his bullpen for keeping the Dodgers (44-56) in the game in the final four innings, adding that “It was a nice win from the standpoint that the guys came back.”

Dodgers closer Javy Guerra (2-0), who pitched a scoreless ninth inning, earned the victory.

The Dodgers’ seven runs and 14 hits were their most since they exploded for 15 runs and 25 hits against the Twins in Minnesota on June 27.

The Dodgers tied Saturday’s game, 6-6, in the seventh inning when pinch-runner Eugenio Velez scored from third base on a wild pitch by Nationals reliever Henry Rodriguez.

Velez had replaced catcher Dioner Navarro, who walked, and then he stole second base and moved to third base when Jamey Carroll grounded out.

Though the Dodgers’ sparse run production has been their main concern this season, Lilly’s uneven performance over the last two months also raises questions.

In five of his last seven starts, the left-hander has allowed four or more earned runs, and his earned-run average climbed to 5.08 in Saturday’s outing.

After Lilly spotted Washington the three runs in the first inning, the Dodgers came back with a run in the first inning when Furcal scored on Matt Kemp’s sacrifice fly.

The Dodgers scored again in the second inning when Lilly bunted and a sliding James Loney scored from third base as catcher Wilson Ramos bobbled the throw at home plate.

The Nationals then scored three more times against Lilly in the third inning on a two-run double by Rick Ankiel and a run-scoring infield single by Ian Desmond.

But in the Dodgers’ half of the third inning, Kemp doubled, Juan Rivera singled and Kemp tagged and scored on Loney’s sacrifice fly.

After Juan Uribe singled, Washington intentionally walked Dioner Navarro to load the bases and get to Lilly. But the pitcher lined his double to right-center field, cutting the Nationals’ lead to 6-5. It was only his third hit of the season.

“Fortunately, I was able to help” with the bat because “I put us in a big hole,” Lilly said. “We were able to come back, in large part due to the work the bullpen did. Then obviously we got some clutch hits as the game went on.”

james.peltz@latimes.com

Matt Forte doesn’t have to sell himself. His numbers provide proof of his worth.

The Bears running back is ranked fifth in the league in yards from scrimmage (4,731) since 2008, joined Walter Payton as the only Bears to notch 1,000 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards in the same season and accumulated 1,400-plus yards from scrimmage in each of his first three seasons, the only player in franchise history to accomplish such a feat. Not to mention Forte’s 294 yards from scrimmage in last year’s playoffs.

No one should fault Forte for holding his hand out for a contract extension.

“Any time a player has been producing very well,” Forte said, “they’re going to come back and say, ‘Hey, throw me a bone here.’ “

But he isn’t paid like a top dog yet. And if he’s not during training camp, it might become an issue.

One could argue the fourth-year pro from Tulane is the most underpaid back in the league. Forte, who is due a base salary of $550,000 in the final year of his rookie contract, isn’t even the highest-paid running back on the team. Backup Chester Taylor is scheduled to make $1.25 million after pulling in $7 million last season while averaging 2.4 yards per carry. Forte finished at 4.5.

Forte had wanted to sign an extension before the start of practice in Bourbonnais, tentatively scheduled for later this week.

“I think we’re going about it the right way,” he said. “My agent, Adisa Bakari, talked to (general manager) Jerry Angelo and Cliff Stein last season, just letting them know that we’ve been producing.

“And now that it’s close to training camp, we don’t have much time to negotiate.”

Forte’s message was subtle and clear. But with 14 players set to hit the open market once the new collective bargaining agreement is approved, the Bears have a full plate of transactions on their table. They are projected to be $37 million below the newly proposed $120 million salary cap.

Forte might nudge the Bears a bit without becoming a distraction.

“It never benefits anybody — a player or organization — to hold out or miss practices,” Forte said. “That’s obviously something I wouldn’t want to do.”

Bakari imagines the Bears are on the same page.

“We hope the Bears recognize the performance Matt has given to date and that they value that performance,” the agent said.

Forte, 25, declined to talk financial terms that obviously would include substantial guaranteed money, yet he had no qualms discussing its duration.

“A long-term deal would be, I guess, five years,” he said. “That’s a long time for a running back to play. “Five years? That’s beating the odds.”

He has been doing that since Day 1.

Forte, sitting alongside wife Danielle, whom he married July 16, laughed when asked if he was surprised about his NFL success.

“Honestly, no,” he said. “I know God has blessed me with the talent to play football, so I have to use it to the best of my ability. I always expected to be the best or one of the best.

CLEVELAND — If the White Sox remain in contention for the American League Central title through August, their task will become more challenging in September.

That’s because Saturday night’s game against the Indians was postponed because of rain, and manager Ozzie Guillen indicated it will be rescheduled as part of a day-night doubleheader during the Sox’s final visit to Progressive Field on Sept. 20-22.

The makeup date needs approval from Major League Baseball, but the Sox already will have played one rescheduled game on Sept. 5 in Minnesota as part of a day-night doubleheader.

And when a reporter quipped right field slugger Dayan Viciedo would be in the Sox lineup for the makeup game in Cleveland, Guillen responded angrily.

“Well if Viciedo is going to be in the White Sox’s savior, we’re in deep (bleep). And you can call me on that,” Guillen said before repeating it.

“We can’t count on a Triple-A kid to be the savior. Can he help? Yes. Is he going to be the savior? I like the talent we have here.”

Viciedo is batting .307 with 16 home runs and 65 RBIs at Triple-A Charlotte.

Meanwhile, pitching coach Don Cooper indicated that the Sox’s rotation might be adjusted after Sunday’s series finale against the Indians, with Edwin Jackson facing sinkerball maven Justin Masterson, who was moved ahead of left-hander David Huff.

Phil Humber, who was scheduled to pitch Sunday, Mark Buehrle and Jake Peavy are scheduled to face the Tigers Monday through Wednesday at U.S. Cellular Field. As of now, John Danks is scheduled to pitch Friday against the Red Sox on eight days’ rest.

The upside for the Sox rotation is that the extra rest would come in handy in September because of the two doubleheaders and only two days off in September.

“We’ll do what we have to do,” said Cooper, who planned to assess the Sox’s options with Guillen on Sunday morning. “We haven’t skipped a beat so far. I don’t know what the record is or all the other numbers, but it has been good. We’ll just have to deal with another day. I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.”

The Sox (48-51), who are 4 1/2 games out of first place in the AL Central, have 41 of their remaining 63 games in their division.

But Guillen cited the advantage of playing those rescheduled games in September, after 25-man rosters can be expanded Sept. 1.

“That’s the reason we did it with Minnesota, too,” Guillen said. “Those games in September are a little easier for everyone, at least for the pitchers.”

mgonzales@tribune.com

Twitter @MDGonzales

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It’s a goal Cory Gibbs one day may tell his grandkids about.

The Fire defender’s memorable tally against mighty Manchester United gave his team a lead in the 13th minute Saturday and was the lone Fire score in a 3-1 exhibition loss before a sellout crowd at Soldier Field.

The 31-year-old veteran’s header came off a perfect feed from Marco Pappa right in front of the net.

“Pappa served an excellent ball,” Gibbs said. “When I made a run I took one look at the goalie and he didn’t come out. I went full charge on it and gave it everything I had.”

Gibbs’ shot past United goalie David De Gea broke a scoreless tie and gave the Fire a lead it would hold until the 66th minute.

“The goal feels great, but I’m disappointed we didn’t win,” Gibbs said. “We had a lot of chances.”

Fire goalie Sean Johnson had one official save during 45 minutes of play. It came on striker Dimitar Berbatov’s early try on a one-on-one that Johnson knocked away.

The Red Devils finally caught the hosts early in the second half on Wayne Rooney’s score — the first of three in a 16-minute span.

“We don’t like being behind,” Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said. “We don’t panic, just play our game and hope for the chance to get back in.”

Rooney, the Red Devils’ star who had a hat trick Wednesday night in Seattle, was a second half substitute.

He skipped in a shot over backup goalie Jon Conway who rushed out and tried for a block. Instead, Rooney’s high, looping effort sailed over the goalkeeper’s reach.

Defender Rafael gave the Red Devils their first lead in the 75th minute, lining a tight shot down the goal line past Conway, a second half sub for Johnson.

Six minutes later, second half substitute Nani made it 3-1 when Conway was caught off guard after the Red Devils’ midfielder picked up a loose ball for an unassisted goal.

Manchester United is now 3-0 on its five-stop summer U.S. tour, part of its preseason training for the upcoming English Premier League campaign.

There were plenty of positives for the Fire, who came into the game struggling with a 2-6 won-loss record and 12 ties in MLS play.

“We put up a very good challenge,” Fire coach Frank Klopas said. “For us, more than anything, we made the game competitive. … I was very, very happy, very pleased with the performance of all my players.”

The game drew a sellout crowd of 61,308, the largest ever witness a Fire game and the most to view international soccer since new Soldier Field opened in 2003.

Every healthy Fire player save for backup goalie Alec Dufty had minutes, including rookie Pari Pantazopoulos.

“It was awesome to be in front of 60,000 fans,” said Pantazopoulos, who won the Fire’s open tryout earlier this year and entered in the 88th minute. “Dreams really do come true. It was fun, a good experience.”

— Cadel Evans seized the Tour de France yellow jersey in the next-to-last stage Saturday, all but giving Australia its first victory in cycling’s showpiece event and capping one of the most dramatic races in years.

The two-time runner-up took the overall lead by overcoming a 57-second deficit to Andy Schleck of Luxembourg in the time trial.

A red-eyed Evans choked up on the victory podium, holding back tears before hurling the winner’s bouquet into the crowd.

“I really can’t quite believe it right now,” the 34-year-old Aussie said. “I have been concentrating on one event for so long.”

Although there is one more stage — Sunday’s ceremonial finish along the Champs-Elysees in Paris — the leader after the time trial is almost certain to be the winner. Launching a successful attack during that flat ride is virtually impossible.

This year’s edition of the 108-year-old race was tense all the way — a riveting finish and without a serious doping blight that marred past Tours.

The Schleck brothers, knowing they had lost, embraced after the finish line of the 26-mile time trial. Evans leads Andy Schleck by 1:34, and Frank Schleck by 2:30.

The 20th stage was won by Tony Martin of Germany. Evans finished second in the stage — seven seconds behind — and was 2:31 faster than Andy Schleck.

The riders set off Saturday in reverse order of the standings. Andy Schleck had the benefit of riding last, and said beforehand that he’d have the added inspiration of wearing yellow.

By the first intermediate time check at the 9.3-mile mark, Evans had already erased 36 seconds of his deficit to Andy Schleck and was 34 seconds faster than the elder Schleck.

At the second, at 17.1 miles, Andy Schleck’s lead had vanished — Evans was 1:32 faster. The Luxembourg rider wasn’t even among the 10 fastest riders who had crossed that point. Evans then kept gaining as the stage progressed to the finish.

The looming victory for Evans, the BMC team leader, culminated a stellar and methodical three weeks of riding. Unlike defending champion Alberto Contador and other main contenders, Evans was spared crashes. His only real problem was mechanical trouble Friday, but he recovered without any lost time.

Evans will have won the Tour without having won a stage. But his triumph attests to his diligent preparation as he eyed a title he has narrowly missed for years.

“Today, we went through the process, like we had the plan every day — and the plan every day was A, B, C, D,” he said.

Evans’ psychological toughness had been questioned, but he showed a veteran’s skill and savvy to take cycling’s greatest prize.

“This is the victory of a complete rider,” Tour director Christian Prudhomme said. “Is the consecration of a career.”

Evans had been regarded as a perennial underachiever until he became a world champion two years ago. And he enjoyed a solid buildup to the Tour, racing less than usual so he would peak at the right moment.

The parallels between Andy Schleck and Evans are considerable. Both are two-time runners-up, and both have been second to Contador — Evans once and Schleck twice. Both also know what it’s like to just miss out on victory. Evans was second to Contador by 23 seconds in 2007; Schleck was 39 seconds behind the Spaniard last year — two of the closest finishes in race history.

The Schlecks — whichever one — were vying to be the first from Luxembourg to capture the Tour since Charly Gaul became the country’s only winner in 1958.

As second and third overall, they will be the first brothers to share the Tour’s winners podium on the Champs-Elysees.