MILWAUKEE -- One of the National Leagues top left-handed relievers, Will Smith rarely lets down the Milwaukee Brewers. Gianluca Lapadula Jersey .It made Smiths meltdown on the mound against the Chicago Cubs so surprising on Sunday.Anthony Rizzo hit a three-run double off Smith in a five-run seventh, and the Brewers squandered a four-run lead in a 6-5 loss to Chicago.The Cubs broke through against the Brewers bullpen after struggling with runners in scoring position against starter Junior Guerra. That changed after Smith took over for Guerra with one out in the seventh.Tommy La Stella, who went 3 for 3, had an RBI double before Smith (1-3) walked Kris Bryant to load the bases for Rizzo. He hit a 2-2 slider down in the zone into right-center to clear the bases and give Chicago a 5-4 lead.Rizzo had some hits against Smith in the past, and hes also struck him out him out a bunch. Its a big spot in the game, for sure, manager Craig Counsell said. But Im not taking Will out. Thats his hitter.A key member of the Brewers bullpen for three seasons, Smith had a 1.93 ERA going into Sunday. The ERA ballooned to 3.86 after Smith failed to record an out while giving up five runs on three hits, a walk and an error.The blown lead overshadowed another solid start by 31-year-old rookie Guerra, who allowed five hits, four walks and one unearned run over 6 1/3 innings.Maybe his stuff wasnt quite as crisp as its been in the past, and still, he did everything he possibly needed to do to have a good game, Counsell said.BRINGING THE HEATThe Brewers left the retractable roof at Miller Park open on a sticky afternoon, with the game-time temperature at 90 degrees. The contest lasted more than 4 hours.It was very hot, kind of reminded me of playing in Venezuela, Guerra said through an interpreter. But youve just got to find a way to make an adjustment and throw strikes.SWIPE CITYThe Brewers built a 4-0 lead, stealing six bases in a game for the first time since May 13, 2013. Ryan Braun and Jonathan Villar each had two steals off Lester by the bottom of the second.COMEBACKThe rally made a winner of reliever Joe Nathan in his first game in the majors since April 2015. He was activated off the 60-day disabled list earlier Sunday, completing his comeback from Tommy John surgery.Nathan gave up a leadoff triple to Villar in the sixth and a walk before striking out 3-4-5 hitters Braun, Jonathan Lucroy and Chris Carter.It was opening day for me today, and the adrenaline was ... through the roof. It was almost too much, Nathan said.Ben Zobrists RBI single scored Rizzo in the seventh and gave the Cubs a needed insurance run after closer Hector Rondon gave up a homer to Kirk Nieuwenhuis with two outs in the ninth to draw Milwaukee within a run.Rondon struck out Jake Elmore looking for his 18th save.TRAINERS ROOMBrewers: Will Middlebrooks left the game before the top of the fourth a lower right leg strain. The third baseman popped out in the bottom of the third.UP NEXT:Brewers: Chase Anderson (4-10) opens a four-game series against his former club, the Arizona Diamondbacks. The righty has struggled over his past six outings, going 0-4 with a 9.13 ERA. Davide Calabria Jersey . Siddikur, whose previous win on the circuit came in Brunei three years ago, finished his bogey-free round with a birdie on the 18th for a total of 17-under 199. Indias Shiv Chowrasia, who has finished runner-up in this tournament twice, was in second place after a 66. Alessio Romagnoli Jersey . In the lead up - which seemed to begin the moment Mike Geiger blew the whistle in Houston last Thursday night - the Impact rumour mill went into overdrive. The speculation went into meltdown mode, of the golden nugget variety.http:///...milan-fc-jersey.aspx . -- The St. Johns IceCaps weathered a wild first period with the help of goaltender Jussi Olkinuora, before finding offensive inroads in the second. CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- His Illinois team is a double-digit underdog, but Saturday will bring the kind of game Hardy Nickerson has been waiting for since he decided to transfer from Cal.Michigan. The Big House and 100,000-plus fans. A Wolverines fullback lined up across from him.This is the football that I always thought the Big Ten was about, the Illini linebacker said as his team prepared to face the No. 3 Wolverines (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten). Pro-style offenses for a linebacker are the most fun games. Youre getting downhill, youre making plays and it really comes down to how the linebackers are playing in those games if the defense does well.A lot is riding on Nickerson this week and every week at Illinois (2-4, 1-2).He made the move from Cal as a graduate student, following his dad, former NFL linebacker Hardy Nickerson, when the older Nickerson took the job as Lovie Smiths defensive coordinator at Illinois.At Cal, Nickerson led an eight-win Bears team with 112 tackles, 8.6 a game. That defense, though, gave up just over 30 points a game, living in the shadow of a Cal offense that scored close almost 38.Smith, on the other hand, is a defense-first coach. He needed a player like Nickerson, a linebacker to plug into a slot that had no ready-made starter.Nickerson has done what Illinois has asked and then some. He is leading the Big Ten in tackles with 58, good for 9.7 per game. That puts him at 21st in the country.Nickerson and his father bear a strong resemblance on and off the field.At Cal, the younger Nickerson wore his fathers old number, 47. Both flash easy smiles and both say that, after the past two years of the son playing football on the West Coast while the father coached in Florida as part of Smiths Tampa Bay Buccaneers staff, they are happy they met in the middle.As a dad to just have him around, thats been just an unbelievable experience, the older Nickerson said.As good as it has been to be close, theres a difference now: Coach Nickerson was used to watching linebacker Niickerson in the way a dad does when they were a country apart. Mattia De Sciglio Jersey. For those two years, we talked every night, especially after games, the older Nickerson said.Now, much like when he coached his son at Bishop ODowd High School in Oakland, California, the coach says now hes just too busy thinking about the next play call and analyzing whats happening to his defense as the game progresses.That is one place, the younger Nickerson says, that the two are close in a different way.On the field were able to diagnose things fast, and Im able to tell him if I have a problem with something or if he has a coaching point, Nickerson said.The linebacker is accustomed to that role of on-field analyst, as well as catalyst.Stanford, he says, was the one downhill, Michigan-type team the Bears faced every season, but the other teams they saw tended to be more up-tempo, like Oregon.Highlights from last seasons Oregon game include Nickerson making big plays, but with each play the scoreboard in the corner of the screen showed the Ducks pulling further away. No matter, after each hit Nickerson popped up, clapping hands hard at teammates, trying to keep them in a game they would eventually lose, 44-38.After the game, Nickerson uncharacteristically let just a bit of an edge come through as he talked to reporters : I think guys are pissed off right now. It hurt.This week, Nickerson laughed when asked if he knew where he ranked in the Big Ten in tackles, saying hed just seen the stat on Twitter. He said he would give up that top spot if it meant something better in the one area that hasnt worked as well as he would like Illinois -- wins and losses.If that means me making 19 tackles or that means me making three tackles, Ill take it.---Follow David Mercer on twitter: (at)davidmercerAP---Online: Associated Press college football coverage: http://collegefootball.ap.org/ Cheap NFL JerseysCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaCheap Jerseys From ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys AuthenticWholesale Jerseys ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaNFL Cheap JerseysCheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '
