Umzug » for his 19th homer of the season in the second off a 1-2 pitch

CHICAGO -- A couple of weeks ago, Jeff Samardzija was a symbol of the Chicago Cubs struggles when he was winless despite leading the major leagues in ERA. Now Samardzija has his second win in three starts for a team trying to turn around its season. Samardzija tossed seven solid innings, Junior Lake hit two home runs and Emilio Bonifacio added a two-run shot as the Cubs extended their winning streak to five with a 5-2 victory over the Miami Marlins on Saturday. "The best thing as a starting pitcher you can have is consistency -- that every time you go out there your coach and your teammates know what youre going to give them," Samardzija said. "Thats what I want to do." Saturday certainly was a start. Samardzija (2-5) allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings, striking out eight. Pedro Strop got his second save. Except for his last outing -- eight runs in three innings at Milwaukee last Sunday -- Samardzija has put up similar numbers all season. The Cubs, though, would always come up short in one phase of the game during his outings, whether it was offence or defence. During the winning streak, consistent all-around production has been the norm. "I think everybodys contributing in some shape or form," Chicago manager Rick Renteria said. "Junior adding two solo homers there, those are big runs, obviously. There are a lot of different things, a lot of little things. Theyre just playing the game." Christian Yelich went 2 for 4 with a homer for the Marlins and opened the scoring in the third inning with a solo shot to make it 1-0. "It was a good swing," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. "He keeps battling. He gives you good at-bats. Hes got power. You see it in there. Its just really just a matter of consistency for him. He keeps having good at-bats. Even though his average is probably not where he would want it, or everyone else would want it, I know hes going to give me a good at-bat." The Cubs went in front in the bottom half of the inning when Samardzija singled and Bonifacio hammered a 3-2 pitch from Miami starter Randy Wolf (1-2) into the left-field bleachers for a 2-1 lead. It was Bonifacios first homer since July 30 last season. "That was great," Samardzija said. "I got to jog around the bases instead of having to score from first." The Cubs stretched the lead to 3-1 in the fifth when Lake hit a long homer into the shrubbery in centre field, connecting with a 79 mph changeup on a 2-1 count. Miami got to 3-2 in the sixth inning when Giancarlo Stanton doubled with one out, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Casey McGehees groundout to first base. The Cubs got a run back in the bottom half when Starlin Castro led off with a double, advanced to third on a fly out and scored when Wolf threw a wild pitch with Mike Olt at the plate. Lake bumped the lead to 5-2 an inning later when he went deep for the second time in the game -- the second multihomer game of his career -- on a line drive to left against reliever Chris Hatcher. "I really love how were playing right now as a team in all phases," Samardzija said. "To win big league ballgames you have to have all three or four phases of the game. "I love the way were swinging it right now, and, as a pitcher, it gives you a lot of confidence to go out and pound the zone." NOTES: Cubs LHP Zac Rosscup (left shoulder soreness) began his rehab assignment with Class AAA Iowa Saturday. He has been on the disabled list since May 10. ... Redmond said C Jarrod Saltalamacchia (concussion) has not participated in baseball activities since being hit on his catching mask by a foul tip on May 31 and that it was likely he would be sent to the 15-day disabled list. ... 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"First, I would like to offer my deepest and sincerest apologies for any harm I have inflicted on University of Missouri defensive lineman, Michael Sam," the statement read. Jonas Jerebko Jersey . All of 46 seconds into the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 victory over Alex Ovechkins struggling Washington Capitals, Crosby assisted on Chris Kunitzs goal.MILWAUKEE -- Mike Fiers finished eight brilliant innings with a strikeout, pumping his arms as he walked off the mound to a standing ovation. The right-handers first major league start in more than a year for the Milwaukee Brewers couldnt have gone any better than the gem he threw in a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night. Fiers (1-1) struck out five, while filling in for injured Matt Garza, and Khris Davis and Carlos Gomez homered to give Milwaukee a second straight win in the three-game series between NL divisional leaders. This outing might mean even more to Fiers, whose 2013 season ended in June in the minors when a line drive broke his right forearm. "Its unbelievable," Fiers said about coming off the mound in the eighth to rousing applause. "Its what you dream of as a kid, especially those situations -- close game, eighth inning trying to get to the best closer in the league." Francisco Rodriguez provided some ninth-inning drama after allowing the tying run to come to the plate with two outs, but he got Matt Kemp to ground out for his 35th save. The Dodgers mustered only a solo homer by Adrian Gonzalez, his 17th of the season, into the second deck in right field. "He had a rough year last year," manager Ron Roeneicke said about Fiers. "Its always nice when a guy goes through quite a bit of adversity but bounces back, gets up here and has a game like that." Fiers outdueled former Brewers pitcher Zack Greinke (12-8), who gave up Gomezs homer off the left-field foul pole that made it 3-1 leading off the sixth. The right-handed Fiers caught the Dodgers chasing 90-mph fastballs high and away early in the game for strikeouts. Besides Gonzalezs homer in the fourth, the only other hits allowed by Fiers were singles by Dee Gordon and Kemp. In his previous start for Milwaukee, Fiers gave up seven runs in 1 2/3 innings on June 2, 2013, against the Phillies. He broke his arm nearly two weeks later in Triple-A. Fiers made 22 starts in the maajors in 2012, including a victory over the Dodgers in Los Angeles in winning his first big league start.dddddddddddd After a tough 2013, Fiers was 8-5 with a 2.55 ERA in 17 starts in Nashville, and made four relief appearances this June with the Brewers. "It wasnt like hes a total mystery," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "He didnt seem too afraid of us." Fiers induced 12 groundball outs Saturday and had the Dodgers walking back to the dugout in frustration. Los Angeles shortstop Miguel Rojas slammed his bat into the ground after a called third strike in the third. GETTING TO GREINKE The right-handed Greinke pitched for the Brewers in 2011 and part of 2012 before going to the Angels in a deal that sent shortstop Jean Segura to Milwaukee. Now with the Dodgers, Greinke took his second straight loss at Miller Park after winning his first 15 decisions there. Davis hit a two-run shot for his 19th homer of the season in the second off a 1-2 pitch that Greinke liked when it left his hand. "He just set a surprise on me" and catcher A.J. Ellis, Greinke said "There were plenty of mistakes throughout the game besides that one. That was upsetting because it was exactly what I wanted to do." TRAINERS ROOM DODGERS: Shortstop Hanley Ramirez had an MRI Saturday after leaving Friday nights game with soreness in his right rib cage muscle, though Mattingly didnt have the results before the game. Mattingly said he thought Ramirez might have an "oblique-type" injury. BREWERS: Garza, who went on the disabled list Tuesday with a strained left rib cage muscle, hasnt started throwing yet but is doing exercises. Roenicke said he thought Garza might need more than the minimum 15 days to recover. UP NEXT DODGERS: Ace Clayton Kershaw (13-2) will try to help the Dodgers avoid a three-game sweep. The left-hander hasnt lost since May 28, going 10-0 in his last 12 starts. BREWERS: Right-hander Jimmy Nelson (2-2) will try to extend his streak of three straight quality starts. ' ' '