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HOUSTON -- Kris Bryant gave the Houston Astros an up-close look at what could have been.Bryant hit a two-run homer, Jon Lester threw seven scoreless innings and Hector Rondon and Aroldis Chapman completed the shutout to give the Chicago Cubs a 2-0 win over the Astros on Friday night.It was Bryants first career game against the team that passed on him with the first pick in the 2013 draft to take starter Mark Appel, who was traded to Philadelphia this offseason before ever playing in the majors. Before the game Chicago manager Joe Maddon had a simple answer when he was asked about Houstons decision not to draft Bryant.Thank you, Maddon said with a smile.Bryant seemed to have grown weary of all the rehashing of that draft in the last few days, but seemed amused when he was asked if he likes hitting in Houston.Yeah, (batting practice) was fun for sure, he said. Just dont hit it to center.Bryant, taken second in that draft, avoided Houstons deep center field and smacked his 37th homer off Joe Musgrove (2-4) to the short porch in left field to put the Cubs up 2-0 in the fifth inning.Lester (16-4) allowed seven hits and struck out seven for his seventh straight win. He hasnt lost since July 3, hasnt allowed a run in three of those starts and gave up just one run in four others in that span.Rondon took over for the eighth and struck out two before Aroldis Chapman struck out one in a perfect ninth for his 13th save.The victory improved the Cubs to an MLB-best 90-50 a year after they won 97 games to give them consecutive 90-win seasons for the first time since doing it in three straight years from 1928-1930.The Astros had trouble stringing hits together against Lester, and didnt have more than one in an inning until the seventh when Yulieski Gurriel singled with one out and Marwin Gonzalez got another single with two outs. But Lester struck out Colby Rasmus looking to end the threat.Felt like that was the real big turning point in the game, Lester said. I felt like if we give up a hit there the momentum goes back on their side and it seems like theyre kind of built on that.Musgrove allowed three hits and two runs with five strikeouts in six innings for his fourth loss in five starts.Manager A.J. Hinch was disappointed that Musgrove walked Dexter Fowler with two outs to set up Bryants homer.Im happy with his effort, and obviously, hell go home thinking about the walk to Fowler before Bryants big home run because that really was the only thing they got off of him, Hinch said.Fowler snapped an 0-for-19 skid with a leadoff triple. But Musgrove didnt allow another hit until Bryants homer with two outs in the fifth.Alex Bregman singled for Houston with no outs in the fourth inning and stole second base. But he was thrown out trying to swipe third, too, and the Astros lost a scoring opportunity.THAT HAD TO HURTPlay was stopped for a couple of minutes in the bottom of the sixth inning when home plate umpire C.B. Bucknor got hit on hit on his right shoulder with a foul ball from Teoscar Hernandez. Bucknor was shaken up after taking the hit and was checked on by a member of Houstons training staff. But the trainer soon left and he rubbed on his shoulder a couple of times before remaining in the game.TRAINERS ROOMAstros: SS Carlos Correa missed his third straight game on Friday with inflammation in his left shoulder. Correa said that he was feeling better on Friday and manager Hinch said they hoped to get him back sometime this weekend. ... Ace Dallas Keuchel, who is also out with inflammation in his left shoulder, wont throw until after Sunday. Keuchel was shut down on Monday because of the problem and said on Friday that he is feeling better, but is still struggling with the injury. Theres really no timetable set for return, he said. But I firmly believe were still going to be in the playoff hunt so hopefully I can help the guys out here in the next week or so.UP NEXTCubs: John Lackey (9-7, 3.36) is scheduled to make his second start since coming off the disabled list. He is 2-0 with a 1.65 ERA in his last five starts.Astros: Collin McHugh (9-10, 4.96) has won two straight decisions and the Astros have won the last four games that he started. Cheap Ultra Boost NZ Free Shipping . The 26-year-old Ireland striker, who has four goals this season, has signed a three-and-a-half year contract with his new club. Discount Ultra Boost NZ .Y. - New Orleans forward Anthony Davis was chosen Friday to replace the injured Kobe Bryant in the NBA All-Star game that will be played in his home city. http://www.wholesaleultraboostnz.com/ .5 million, one-year contract on Friday. Hawkins, who turns 41 in December, will compete with Rex Brothers for the closers role at spring training. Cheap Ultra Boost NZ . P.A. Parenteau scored early in the third period to help the Avs edge Toronto 2-1 on Tuesday night. Cory Sarich also scored for Colorado (3-0-0), which is off to its best ever start. Clearance Ultra Boost NZ China . The International Olympic Committee released the official list of bid cities on Friday after the deadline for applications had passed. The candidates -- all previously announced in their own countries -- are: Almaty, Kazakhstan; Beijing; Krakow, Poland; Lviv, Ukraine; Oslo, Norway; and Stockholm. West Indies batting coach Toby Radford rued another poor batting display from his side in their 16-run loss to Pakistan in the second T20I in Dubai. Having lost the series, Radford said that West Indies couldnt counter Pakistans game plan of spin on a ground with a slow track and big boundaries. Poor starts in the Powerplay didnt help their cause, he added.In the first T20I, West Indies were struggling at 25 for 5 after the first six overs and were eventually bowled out for a paltry 115. In the second, chasing 161, they lost three wickets in the Powerplay putting only 20 runs on the board. Radford pointed out that West Indies were unable to switch to a mode that focused on accumulating runs through singles and twos, like Pakistan have done in the matches so far.The first Powerplay yesterday and today were every similar. Yesterday we were five down, three down in the first six today, Radford said after the game. And I think the big difference when you looked at Pakistan in the first six was they were 38 for 1 and 39 for 1 on both days.Clearly the game plan from Pakistan has been to have slow wickets to bowl a lot of spin and have very big boundaries. West Indies are known to be a big, six-hitting and boundary-hitting side, normally play on quicker pitches and slightly smaller grounds. But its up to us to find a way around that.Pakistan have bowled well, they have actually fielded well. When they batted, they showed on a slow wicket and a big outfield that its actually all about knocking the ball into gaps and doing a lot of running. They ran a lot of twos tonight which I think really stretched us, and I dont think it was ever going to be a game for lots of boundaries because I dont think its that type of surface annd that type of outfield.ddddddddddddWhile Radford praised seamer Sohail Tanvir, who picked up 3 for 13 in his four overs, Pakistans T20 captain Sarfraz Ahmed also credited the innings played by Shoaib Malik at No. 4. Malik, who became only the third Pakistan player to score more than 1500 T20I runs, chipped in with a useful 28-ball 37, and added 69 with Sarfraz for the fourth wicket before falling in the last over. That partnership helped Pakistan garner 60 runs off the last six overs. Sarfraz finished unbeaten on 46 off 32 balls.Sarfraz also stated that the team management had decided to send in Umar Akmal at No. 6 to bolster the lower order, which had been missing a finisher.It was our strategy to play Umar Akmal at No. 6, since we needed a finisher in the lower order. We scored about 50 runs in the last five overs and we felt that was enough as we had set a target of a 150+ score, Sarfraz said. A lot of credit goes to Shoaib Malik too, the way he played with me at the end. We needed a senior player to stay at the wicket and he did that for us.Pakistan went in with an unchanged side for the second match, leaving out fast bowler Mohammad Amir. Sarfraz stressed that the management wanted to give players confidence through a longer stint in the side and Amir was a part of the sides plans for the future.We have tried to keep a winning combination so we didnt try to change too much, Sarfraz said. That is also our target - to give players a longer run in the side to build their confidence. Mohammad Amir is our main bowler and he will definitely play an important role for us in the future. ' ' '