as far as my struggles against the Braves, its

BOSTON -- Chicago Cubs third baseman Mike Olt spent some of his childhood days in Fenway Park thinking about what it would be like to hit a homer over the Green Monster. He made that dream a reality Wednesday night. Olt, who grew up in Branford, Connecticut, attended UConn and made a nearly 2 1-2 hour trek to Boston a handful of times to watch the Red Sox, belted a two-run homer, one of four hit by Cubs in a 16-9 rout that completed a three-game interleague series sweep. "Id be lying if I said I didnt," Olt said when asked if he ever dreamed about hitting one over Fenways fabled wall. "We used to go to games up here and Yankee Stadium. Its big for me and nice to have the family here to see it." Justin Ruggiano and Welington Castillo also hit two-run homers for the Cubs, who won for the sixth time in seven games away from Wrigley Field and posted their first interleague sweep of three or more games since taking three from Cleveland in 2009. Ruggiano drove in five runs, Darwin Barney had four hits and Nate Schierholtz added a solo homer for Chicago. It was the Cubs first interleague sweep on the road since winning three against the crosstown rival White Sox in 2007. "Today they came in with the idea of hopefully having a good day, playing good baseball," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said. "Theyre happy about it and well go into the off day feeling good." Mookie Betts hit his first major league homer for the Red Sox, who lost for the ninth time in 13 games. Red Sox DH David Ortiz became the 36th player in major league history to collect 1,000 extra-base hits with a ground-rule double. Boston had its streak of holding an opponent to three or fewer runs in 14 straight home games snapped, the longest single-season stretch since the 1917 White Sox did it in 20. Unlike the first two games of the series when the teams combined for five runs and Boston was held hitless for 7 2-3 innings in the opener, there was plenty of offence to force both starting pitchers out early. "Its fun to take this series the way we did," Barney said. "Obviously our pitching has been good, if we give them a little more run support theyll be a lot better." The teams combined for nine runs in the ninth inning -- Chicago scored six -- in a game that took 4 hours, 19 minutes. Carlos Villanueva (4-5) allowed two runs in two innings of relief for the win. Red Sox starter Brandon Workman (1-2) allowed six runs and five hits in four innings. Travis Wood lasted just 3 2-3, giving up three runs and seven hits. "It was a rough night from the mound," Boston manager John Farrell said. "Starting off, Brandon had a difficult time getting the ball down in the strike zone and the conditions where its hot, the wind is carrying the ball. We made a number of pitches up in the strike zone that they were able to take advantage of." The Cubs jumped ahead 3-0 before making an out in the first. Ruggiano homered off a billboard above the Green Monster seats after Chris Coghlan drew a leadoff walk. Anthony Rizzo walked, stole second and scored on Starlin Castros single. Workman then struck out Luis Valbuena, bringing a loud mock cheer from the sweltering crowd. "I didnt really set a good tone. Three runs in the first kind of gets them in a swinging mindset, they start feeling good about themselves," Workman said. "I kind of got their bats warmed up for the bullpen and kind of put some guys in some bad spots in the game." Bostons Jonny Gomes had a sacrifice fly before Chicago built its lead to 6-1 in the fourth. Olt hit his two-run homer into Monster seats and Barney tripled and scored on Coghlans sacrifice fly. Ortiz had a sacrifice fly and Gomes an RBI single, slicing it to 6-3, but Castillo homered into the centre-field bleachers off reliever Felix Doubront in the fifth. Betts homered into the Monster seats. Schierholtz homered in the eighth when many of the sellout crowd had already left. NOTES: Ortiz is the only active left-handed hitter with 1,000 extra-base hits. ... Farrell said OF Shane Victorino, on the 15-day DL since late May with a strained right hamstring, may take BP soon. He shagged fly balls in the outfield during BP, teaching rookie Betts how to handle the sun in right. ... Both teams are off Thursday. ... The Cubs are scheduled to open a three-game series at Washington on Friday at 11 a.m. when, in a statistical rarity at this point in the season, RHP Jason Hammel (7-5, 2.98 ERA) faces RHP Tanner Roark (7-5, 2.98). ... LHP Jon Lester (9-7, 2.92) is slated to go for the Red Sox against RHP Miguel Gonzalez (4-5, 4.56) when they open a three-game set against Baltimore. Seattle Mariners Shirts . -- Fresh off their surprising run in the playoffs, the Portland Trail Blazers have signed head coach Terry Stotts to a multi-year contract extension. Mariners Jerseys 2020 . The light-heavyweight champion and number one ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the world is on an 11-fight UFC winning streak, the longest in the history of the weight class. https://www.cheapmariners.com/ . That little deal worked out in a big way for the Mavericks. Nowitzki had 21 points Tuesday night to pass Oscar Robertson for 10th on the NBAs career scoring list, leading the Mavs to a 95-83 victory over the Utah Jazz. Cheap Mariners Jerseys . According to TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie, the deal will pay Schenn $2.25 million in the first year and $2.75 million in the second year. In 82 games with the Flyers in 2013-14, Schenn scored 20 goals and added 21 assists. Stitched Mariners Jerseys . But history aside, theyre still happy to participate in the Par 3 contest, traditionally held on the day prior to the first round of the Masters.ATLANTA -- Jarrod Saltalamacchia knows most teams dont get many chances to beat Atlanta Braves closer Craig Kimbrel. Saltalamacchia drove in the go-ahead run in the ninth inning, Henderson Alvarez won for the first time in three starts and the Miami Marlins beat the Braves 3-2 on Thursday night. "He threw me a lot of sliders tonight, which is not what hes done in the past, but Id swung over a slider two nights ago and struck out," Saltalamacchia said. "I dont blame him. He made a mistake and I was able to do something with it." In taking three of four games, the Marlins won just their second series in the last 10 against the Braves at Turner Field. Alvarez (7-5) gave up six hits, two runs and one walk with four strikeouts in eight innings. The Marlins are 13-3 in his last 16 starts. Kimbrel (0-2), pitching in a non-save situation with the score tied 2-all to begin the ninth, struck out Garrett Jones and had Marcell Ozuna struck out, too, but the ball a wild pitch rolled a few feet from the plate after bouncing off catcher Evan Gattis shin guards and Ozuna reached safely. With Saltalamacchia batting, Ozuna advanced to second on another wild pitch and scored on the RBI single to centre, easily beating B.J. Uptons throw to the plate. Saltalamacchia went 3 for 4 with two doubles. "I think its my third time facing him," Saltalamacchia said. "Hes an All-Star closer. Hes got great stuff and really has a great idea of what hes doing out there. In that situation, Im just trying to not get too big, put a ball in play." Kimbrel, a four-time NL All-Star, allowed one hit and one run and struck out two. He blamed himself for the wild pitches. "Thats part of baseball," Kimbrel said. "Not everything goes perfect every time you go out there. Youve just got to find a way to get through it and unfortunately we didnt do it tonight." Atlanta dropped 1 1/2 games bbehind first-place Washington in the NL East.dddddddddddd. Miami, which is eight games out, moved into a tie with the New York Mets for third. Marlins closer Steve Cishek earned his 24th save in 27 chances, retiring Freddie Freeman, Justin Upton and Jason Heyward on fly balls in the ninth. Alvarez had struggled against the Braves, going 0-2 with a 6.86 ERA in four career starts, and he was coming off an outing that ended after 2 2-3 innings when San Franciscos Joe Panik hit a liner off his left shin. Chris Johnson hit his eighth homer, a two-run shot in the second that gave the Braves a 2-0 lead. "As far as today, that one fastball I just left out over the plate," Alvarez said through an interpreter. "He handled it, but as far as my struggles against the Braves, its just been coincidence." The Marlins tied it 2-all in the fifth on Adeiny Hechavarrias RBI single and Christian Yelichs forceout. Aaron Harang, who was attempting to win his fifth straight decision, gave up seven hits, two runs and two walks and struck out five in seven innings. Marlins manager Mike Redmond successfully challenged that Justin Upton was out to end the sixth. Upton, diving back to first base after Heyward lined out to shortstop, was originally called safe by first base umpire Rob Drake, but the call was overturned. Redmond has successfully challenged 15 of 19 calls this year. NOTES: Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez gave SS Andrelton Simmons the night off and started Ramiro Pena, who went 1 for 3, in his place. ... With a throwing miscue in Miamis 6-1 loss Wednesday to Atlanta, Saltalamacchia has 12 errors and is tied for most by a Marlins catcher in a season (Miguel Olivo 2007). ... When Freeman homered Wednesday, he snapped a stretch of 83 straight at-bats without a homer, the longest stint of his three-year career. .... Ozuna struck out eight times in the series. ' ' '