CHICAGO — If Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon had his druthers Dwayne Haskins Jersey , his team wouldn’t have played a pair of games Tuesday.

But as the Cubs head into Wednesday’s series finale against the defending National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers, Maddon certainly won’t complain about having the opportunity to claim a series victory.

How they had to do it, however, is a different story.

The Cubs earned a doubleheader split with a 2-1 nightcap victory after Albert Almora, Jr., delivered a 10th-inning single. The win came after the Cubs blew a ninth-inning lead in Tuesday’s first game, which the Dodgers rallied to win, 4-3.

Maddon expressed his displeasure with the split doubleheader format ahead of Wednesday’s matinee series finale. After Monday’s game was postponed due to the combination of inclement weather and electrical issues with Wrigley Field’s lights, Tuesday proved to be a long day for everyone involved.

“I don’t like it,” Maddon said Tuesday David Long Jersey , according to the Chicago Tribune. “I don’t think it’s a good idea. To be here for a noon game and then a 7 o’clock game, that’s wrong. I don’t think there’s one player, manager, coach who thinks it’s a good idea.”

Maddon added: “I’m not crying. It’s just true. So it works for both sides. The Dodgers have to do the same thing. I’m not just talking about us. I’d just prefer a different method over the split doubleheader to appease when the game was rained out like it was (Monday) night.”

Maddon voiced his opinion ahead of Tuesday’s rescheduled series opener in which Cubs reliever Justin Wilson surrendered a two-out, two-run single in the ninth inning. Wilson pitched in place of closer Brandon Morrow, who was unavailable for Tuesday’s doubleheader due to back spasms. The Cubs didn’t make Morrow’s condition public until after Tuesday’s first game when Maddon said he was holding out Morrow for precautionary reasons. Morrow told reporters he considered his availability to be day-to-day.

After offense came at a premium in Tuesday’s second game, Wednesday’s showdown has all the makings of a pitcher’s duel.

Jon Lester (8-2, 2.28 ERA) takes the mound for the series finale looking to extend what has been a successful first half of the season. Lester has won four straight starts and has only allowed a pair of runs in three starts in June. Lester is 2-3 in seven career starts against the Dodgers.

The Dodgers will counter with Ross Stripling, who will take the mound with eyes set on his seventh straight victory. Stripling (6-1, 1.76 ERA) hasn’t lost since April 30 and has struck out at least six in each of his last seven starts. Over his last six starts http://www.losangelesramsteamonline.com/bobby-evans-jersey , Stripling has struck out 47 and walked just two.

Stripling, who will make his first career start against the Cubs on Wednesday, has taken over the role as the Dodgers ace in the place of injured Clayton Kershaw. His strong start has made him a strong contender for a place on the National League All-Star team.

“You never know if you’ll have another chance in a six-, eight-, 10-year career to make an All-Star game,” Stripling said recently, according to the Loss Angeles Times. “I want to go out there and do my best to try and get there because it would be pretty cool.”

Stripling has the vote of teammate Matt Kemp.

“He needs to be in there,” Kemp said, according to the Times. “That boy is pitching his butt off. It’s fun to watch.”

Lane Johnson walked off the field wearing a dog mask while teammates barked after the Philadelphia Eagles squeaked out an upset to move within one victory of the Super Bowl.

Keep calling them underdogs. They embraced the role.

”It’s what makes sports fun,” said Johnson Greg Gaines Jersey , the All-Pro right tackle. ”Anything more we can use to motivate us, we’ll use.”

The Eagles (14-3) were 3-point underdogs against the sixth-seed Atlanta Falcons (11-7), the first time a No. 1 seed wasn’t favored to win its first playoff game. They needed a stop on fourth down from the 2 in the final minute to beat the Falcons 15-10 and advance to the NFC title game for the first time since the 2008 season.

After Philly’s newly formed dog pound celebrated on the field, owner Jeffrey Lurie joined the fun by dancing in the circle in the middle of the locker room.

Expectations for Philadelphia plummeted after Carson Wentz tore his ACL in Week 14. They went 2-1 with Nick Foles, losing a meaningless game in Week 17 after starters only played one quarter. Still, oddsmakers and pundits picked the defending NFC champion Falcons to win.

”Since that point Carson went down, nobody has given us a chance,” coach Doug Pederson said. ”I understand Carson is a great player, but every week our guys hear we’re not good enough.”

Foles bounced back from a pair of subpar games with a steady performance. He completed 77 percent of his passes (23 of 30) for 246 yards, no touchdowns and no turnovers.

”The biggest thing in our locker room is that we believe in one another and that showed Christian Wilkins Jersey ,” Foles said. ”We kept working, kept grinding, had faith in one another. In any sport there’s going to be criticism. You’re aware of it because you’re human but we blocked it out.”

Foles outplayed Matt Ryan, last year’s NFL MVP. He led two impressive drives, one into the wind and one with it. Foles made a big-time 15-yard throw to Alshon Jeffery with 1 second left in the first half to set up Jake Elliott’s 53-yard field goal that cut Atlanta’s lead to 10-9.

”You guys doubted him, we never doubted him,” Jeffery said. ”We believe in anybody lining up back there at quarterback. We believe we still have 21 other guys out there.”

Losing Wentz, an MVP candidate, was the biggest blow during a season in which several standout players were hurt.

Nine-time Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters, versatile back/return specialist Darren Sproles http://www.miamidolphinsteamonline.com/michael-deiter-jersey , playmaking linebacker Jordan Hicks and special teams captain Chris Maragos each suffered season-ending injuries.

”Biggest emotion is for the team, for the guys, the resiliency, backs against the wall, people discounting us,” Pederson said.

The Eagles will host the winner of the Saints-Vikings game next Sunday. They’ve haven’t reached the Super Bowl since Donovan McNabb, Terrell Owens and Co. lost to the New England Patriots 24-21 in February 2005.

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