CHICAGO — With the Chicago Cubs just starting a busy stretch during which they will play 23 games in 23 days http://www.nationalsfanproshop.com/authentic-gio-gonzalez-jersey , finding a way to remain fresh may seem tougher than normal.How well Chicago’s starting pitching holds up over the remainder of the regular season may play a major role in determining whether the Cubs can capture their third straight National League Central Division title.With Yu Darvish out for the season and Mike Montgomery sidelined with a shoulder injury, the last thing the Cubs needed was for their starting rotation to take another hit. But the injury bug continued to bite the Cubs on Thursday when Tyler Chatwood, who had been relegated to the bullpen after spending most of the season as a starter, was placed on the disabled list with hip tightness. The Cubs recalled right-hander Dillon Maples from Triple-A Iowa.Article continues below ...The starter shortfall also forced the Cubs to call up Alec Mills, who will make his first major league start on Friday at Wrigley Field against the Cincinnati Reds. Mills (0-0, 0.00 ERA) is 5-12 with a 4.84 ERA in 23 starts this season at Triple-A Iowa.Mills made an appearance for the Cubs earlier this season when he pitched two scoreless innings of relief and struck out two July 27 against the St. Louis Cardinals.While the Cubs’ pitching has stood up well during Chicago’s recent offensive struggles, manager Joe Maddon continued to keep newly acquired Daniel Murphy at the top of his lineup. First baseman Anthony Rizzo, who had thrived in the lead-off spot, has settled back into his normal No. 3 spot and homered for a third straight game and drove in three runs as the Cubs knocked off the Reds 7-1 in Thursday night’s series opener behind a complete-game effort from Cole Hamels.The addition of Murphy Anthony Rendon Jersey , who went 2-for-5 and scored a run in Thursday’s win, could be big for the Cubs down the stretch. Murphy is a career .413 hitter in 109 at-bats at Wrigley Field, where he played his first game as a member of the Cubs on Wednesday. With shortstop Addison Russell sidelined with an injury, Murphy’s addition bolsters a lineup that general manager Jed Hoyer believes is built to win.“We’ve tried to augment that group as much as we can during the course of the season,” Hoyer told reporters, according to the Chicago Tribune. “But this group is very capable of winning. We need to start playing better, more consistent baseball.”The Reds will head into Friday’s game expecting to send Matt Harvey to the mound despite reports that the veteran right-hander had been claimed off waivers by an unknown team Wednesday. A team has 48 hours to either trade him or pull him off of waivers from the time he is chosen. The Reds’ official website said that would force team officials to decide what to do with Harvey before Friday’s matinee.Harvey is 6-5 with a 4.28 ERA in 17 starts with the Reds this season after he was acquired from the New York Mets. Harvey is 2-1 with a 4.05 ERA in six career starts against the Cubs, and is 1-0 with a 3.09 ERA in two starts against Chicago this season. Whether he makes another start against Chicago — at least as a member of the Reds — remains up in the air.“Obviously, if a trade is worked out http://www.nationalsfanproshop.com/authentic-daniel-murphy-jersey , he won’t (pitch),” Reds interim manager Jim Riggleman told reporters Thursday. “But we’re planning on having him start.” HOUSTON — Houston Astros left-hander Dallas Keuchel will open a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins on Monday at Minute Maid Park.Keuchel (10-10, 3.58 ERA) is 2-3 with a 4.50 ERA in five career appearances (four starts) against the Twins and took the loss on April 10 at Target Field after allowing three runs, six hits and four walks with six strikeouts in four innings of a 4-1 defeat. His four innings pitched represented a season low.Right-hander Kyle Gibson (7-11, 3.79 ERA) gets the start for the Twins (63-73). He has surrendered at least three earned runs in five of his last six starts, going 2-4 with a 5.14 ERA and an .863 OPS allowed during that stretch. Article continues below ...Gibson is 3-1 with a 3.74 ERA in six career starts against the Astros. He allowed five runs, seven hits and four walks with four strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings in a 9-8 home victory over Houston on April 11. He did not factor into the decision.The Twins have dropped 7 of 9 games. They employed the “opener” strategy for the first time this season on Sunday in an 18-4 loss to the Texas Rangers in Arlington. Despite the unfavorable results, Twins manager Paul Molitor did not rule out executing the game plan a second time.“It’s one game,” Molitor said to MLB.com. “You’re hoping to get a chance to get through the first inning unscathed and we didn’t. As far as moving forward Adam Eaton Jersey , there are going to be more people to get opportunities in those situations. We just have to keep trying to find the right guy to get the game started and on a good note.”While right-hander Roberto Osuna represented the more high-profile addition to the Houston bullpen on Sunday at the non-waiver trade deadline, both in on-field reputation and off-field notoriety, fellow right-handed reliever Ryan Pressly continues to serve the Astros well.Pressly produced his 10th consecutive scoreless appearance, getting two strikeouts while working around a one-out single in the seventh inning of a 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels that enabled the Astros (84-53) to split a four-game series.Pressly has allowed just four baserunners during his scoreless stretch, posting 13 strikeouts against no walks in 9 1/3 innings. He has settled into the seventh-inning role for the Astros in high-leverage situations, pitching just ahead of right-hander Hector Rondon, who in turn has been supplanted by Osuna as the closer.Opposing batters have hit .125 against Pressly in his last 10 appearances, validating the effort made in acquiring him from the Minnesota Twins.“Pressly’s been incredible,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “He’s up almost every day http://www.nationalsfanproshop.com/authentic-max-scherzer-jersey , he’s thrown a lot of innings in a lot of close games with very little margin for error.“The swing and miss — he’s got two power breaking balls (a slider plus a curveball). And he was an under-the-radar addition for us that our front office targeted, went out, and traded for him. And he finds himself in really important innings, seventh, eighth, and ninth innings.“To get those kinds of swings and misses consistently is not easy at this level. We largely overlook it sometimes when he just comes in and does his job efficiently and gets to the next day. He’s been a tremendous help for us.”