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CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs have featured one of the best lineups in baseball this season.Lately, however, the Cubs have sputtered at the plate. The team has lost three of its past four games against right-handed starters Zach Davies, Junior Guerra, Miguel Gonzalez and James Shields.Cubs manager Joe Maddon wants to see the slump come to a stop when his players welcome the Chicago White Sox to Wrigley Field on Wednesday night. The Cubs dropped the first two games of the annual crosstown battle Monday and Tuesday on the South Side before the series shifted north.I think theyre taking advantage of our youth, Maddon said of opposing pitchers after Tuesdays 3-0 loss to the White Sox. Primarily, we have to not expand the strike zone. Weve been expanding a little bit against these guys. Weve got to keep them in the zone, and obviously when they make a mistake, its got to be hit hard and kept fair. We have not done that. We fought back a couple games ... but overall, the starting pitching the last four games has forced us out of our game plan.Despite a recent blip, the Cubs (59-40) possess the best record in the National League. A star-studded roster became even deeper this week as the team acquired left-handed closer Aroldis Chapman from the New York Yankees. Chapman joined the Cubs on Tuesday and could make his team debut at Wrigley Field.Meanwhile, the White Sox (50-50) have climbed back to .500 thanks to a four-game winning streak that included three straight walk-off victories against the Detroit Tigers and Cubs. The White Sox won two of three games at Wrigley Field last season and are 27-25 all-time at the Friendly Confines.Cubs right-hander Jason Hammel (9-5, 3.35 ERA) will look to win his third straight outing when he takes the mound against the White Sox. The 6-foot-6, 225-pound hurler is 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA in two starts since the All-Star break. He is 4-1 with a 2.70 ERA in eight starts this season at Wrigley Field.Hammel, 33, has not faced the White Sox as a member of the Cubs. He is 1-2 with a 4.01 ERA in nine games (four starts) against the South Siders, whom he last faced in 2013 with the Baltimore Orioles.Right-hander Anthony Ranaudo (1-0, 17.18 ERA) is set to make his team debut with the White Sox. The 26-year-old opened the season with the Texas Rangers before he was traded to Chicago on May 12 for right-handed pitching prospect Matt Ball. The White Sox recalled him from Triple-A Charlotte on Sunday to fill the roster spot created by Chris Sales five-day suspension for destroying team equipment.Although Ranaudo always has tantalized scouts -- then-Boston Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein selected him in the supplemental first round (39th overall) in 2010 -- he has yet to excel in the majors. Ranaudo is 5-4 with a 6.33 ERA in 13 career games (nine starts). In two relief appearances with Texas earlier this season, he allowed seven runs in 3 2/3 innings. He walked eight and struck out two.At the plate, White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu has started to heat up after a slow start to the season. Abreu has reached base in 43 of his past 46 games. He is hitting .276 with 11 home runs and 56 RBI, but he has gone a career-high 26 consecutive games without going deep.Abreu clubbed 36 home runs in 2014 and 30 home runs last season. This season, he is on pace to hit 17.You can see that there is probably some frustration with the homers and the expectations he puts on himself, White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. Right now, I think hes a lot better off at the plate just mechanically, mentally, all that stuff that goes into it. Hes just a better hitter right now. You go through periods where you dont swing it very well, but right now hes in a pretty good spot. Nike Vapormax In Offerta . Los Angeles star goalie survived those perilous gymnastics with no problem, and he eventually backstopped the Kings to a skid-snapping win. Quick stopped 27 shots in his return from a 24-game injury absence, Jeff Carter scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:55 to play, and the Kings snapped their five-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. Vapormax Bianche In Offerta . The move comes after the Canadiens were approached by the Buffalo Sabres for permission to speak to Dudley - a former Sabres player and head coach. "The Sabres called for permission and I appreciate that, Im flattered, Dudley told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun of ESPN. http://www.vapormaxscontateoutlet.it/ . Artturi Lehkonen, Joni Nikko and Ville Leskinen had the other goals for Finland (1-0) while Juuse Saros stopped 28 shots. Tim Robin Johnsgard had the lone goal for Norway (0-2). Nike Vapormax 2020 . Fellow centre Pavel Datsyuk remains out because of a concussion. Zetterberg has 11 goals and 19 assists for a team-high 30 points, and Datsyuk has a team-high 12 goals and 11 assists. Nike Vapormax Scontate Uomo .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again. CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Mack Hollins looks back at what North Carolinas high-scoring offense did last year and thinks the Tar Heels can do even more.That would be quite a feat, too, considering the Tar Heels put up totals never seen before in the programs century-plus historyIf youre not getting better then youre getting worse, the receiver said Saturday on the teams preseason photo day. Theres no staying the same. So we all believe -- the entire offense and the entire defense believes well be better as a team as well as an offense.One thing is certain: that no-huddle offense running at go-go-go pace has become the defining characteristic of UNCs teams entering the fifth season under Larry Fedora. And with that unit posting big scoring totals, it provides quite a margin for error for the Tar Heels defense while putting a lot of pressure on opposing offenses to keep up.I believe that this offense has the potential to be better than last years offense, Fedora said. But theyve still got to do it.North Carolina averaged program records of 40.7 points and 486.9 yards last season, while the Tar Heels also set school records with 570 points, 6,817 total yards and a national-best average of 7.28 yards per play. That helped UNC match a program record with 11 wins and play for the Atlantic Coast Conference championship.That made it the fourth time in as many seasons that the Tar Heels finished in the top 10 of the program records for total offense per game.And as good as that unit was, it seemed to take a big step in November coming down the stretch to secure the programs first ACC Coastal Division title. First camme a 66-point, 704-yard outing in a rout of rival Duke.dddddddddddd A week later, the Tar Heels scored the first 45 points and finished with 487 yards in a 59-21 win against Miami.They closed the regular season by scoring 35 points in the opening quarter to beat rival North Carolina State on the road, then lost shootouts with then-No. 1 Clemson in the ACC championship game and against Baylor in the Russell Athletic Bowl to end the year.Hollins called that stretch the first time the offense has been run the way it was supposed to be.There were a few games here and there throughout Coach Fedoras tenure, but its never clicked for a consistent time like that before, Hollins said. When you win 11 games, you see its because its been clicking for so long. Thats a result we expect every year if were doing what were supposed to be doing.That unit returns an elite runner in junior tailback Elijah Hood and an experienced backup in speedy senior T.J. Logan. There are big-play receivers in Hollins, Ryan Switzer and Bug Howard. Theres a veteran offensive line.And while junior Mitch Trubisky is entering his first year as the full-time starting quarterback, hes played well in spot duty.Just because the pieces are there doesnt mean it happens, Fedora said. So theyve got a lot of hard work to do to make that happen. And theyve got to want it more than I do.---Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap and the APs college football site at http://collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '