ng changeup to Villar, that was the pitch that hurt us. But good curveball, good changeup, good fastball.Montgomery, acquired from Seattle in a

MANCHESTER, England -- With a third straight win in qualifying, defending champion Germany is enjoying a comfortable ride on the road to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.Things just got a bit tougher for England, though.While Englands winning start to Group F ended with a poor display in a 0-0 draw at Slovenia on Tuesday, Germany maintained its 100 percent record after three rounds by beating Northern Ireland 2-0. Only three other teams -- Belgium, Greece and Switzerland -- have opened European qualifying with three successive victories.Goals in the first 17 minutes from Julian Draxler and Sami Khedira gave Germany a commanding lead that was never really threatened in Hannover. Joachim Loew tied Sepp Herbergers record of 94 wins as Germany coach and it couldnt be going much better for the world champions settled team: Three wins from three games, eight goals scored and none conceded.England also leads its group but the displays are hardly encouraging for its fans. Three days after a tedious 2-0 win over Malta, England required a brilliant performance from goalkeeper Joe Hart to earn a point in Ljubljana.One of Harts saves was sensational, when he tipped Jasmin Kurtics header onto the bar off a corner and then clawed the loose ball away from the line in his next movement. Hart also denied Slovenia in two one-on-one chances, gifted by slack England back-passes.Englands national team is in a state of flux, just a few months after an embarrassing last-16 loss to Iceland in the European Championship. Gareth Southgate is in interim charge after Sam Allardyce left as coach last month -- after just 67 days in the job -- following a newspaper sting, and captain Wayne Rooney was dropped against Slovenia because of poor form.Englands young team is still the favorite to qualify from Group F and has a two-point lead after three games.Heres a look at the rest of the action on the final night of qualifiers in this latest period of internationals:---GROUP CThe only team close to Germany is Azerbaijan, which settled for a 0-0 draw against the Czech Republic in Ostrava after opening with two wins.In the other match, Norway defeated San Marino 4-1 in Oslo for its first points in qualifying. There was still time for celebrations for the 201st-ranked visitors, who scored their first away goal in World Cup qualifying since 2001 when Mattia Stefanelli equalized nine minutes into the second half.Norway scored three goals in the final 13 minutes, through Adama Diomande, Martin Samuelsen and Joshua King.---GROUP ERobert Lewandowski struck five minutes into stoppage time to earn Poland a 2-1 victory over 10-man Armenia and keep the team on pace with Montenegro at the top of the group.It was the eighth consecutive qualifier that Lewandowski has scored in, with his latest goal coming three days after a hat trick in a 3-2 win over Denmark.Armenia lost Gael Andonian in the 30th minute after two yellow cards in two minutes. Hrayr Mkoyan netted an own goal to put Poland 1-0 up in the 48th minute before Marcos Pinheiro equalized in the 50th.Montenegro beat Denmark 1-0 away thanks to Fatos Becirajs 32nd-minute goal and is well-placed to challenge Poland and qualify for the World Cup for the first time. Both Poland and Montenegro have seven points from three games.Romania was held 0-0 by Kazakhstan in the other game.---GROUP FSlovenia stayed two points behind England after three games and was joined on five points by Lithuania, which beat Malta 2-0 for its first win in the group.Fiodor Cernych and Arvydas Novikovas, from the penalty spot, scored in the final 14 minutes to leave Malta without a point so far.In the other game, Robert Mak scored two goals and set up the third for Adam Nemec as Slovakia beat Scotland 3-0 to earn its first points in qualifying. It was Scotlands first loss, coming three days after a disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Lithuania.Only two nations, Portugal in 1985 and England in 2001, have recorded wins over the Germans in their 86 World Cup qualifiers. Marvin Webster Jersey . The Americans, skipped by John Shuster, seized the advantage in the eighth end by scoring five points for a 7-3 lead. The Czechs pulled two back in the ninth, but Shusters team of third Jeff Isaacson, second Jared Zezel and lead John Landsteiner ended with another point to secure the last Olympic berth on offer. Darrell Walker Jersey . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity football teams. https://www.cheapknicks.com/751x-langston-galloway-jersey-knicks.html . -- Mike Smith never saw his first NHL goal go in. Art Heyman Jersey . The 18-year-old American had five birdies in her bogey-free round for a 17-under total of 196. Lee held the overnight lead but mixed three birdies with two bogeys for a 70. Damyean Dotson Jersey . Barcelonas entertaining victory ensured the defending Spanish champions retained their share of the league lead with Atletico Madrid two rounds ahead of their meeting in the capital. Real Madrid needed a late goal by substitute Jese Rodriguez to earn a 3-2 victory at Valencia to stay in third place and three points behind its title rivals. MILWAUKEE -- The Chicago Cubs acquired Mike Montgomery in July with the intention of bolstering their bullpen.An injury prompted him moving into the rotation and in his fourth start with the Cubs on Wednesday night, Montgomery turned in five strong innings, allowing one run and two hits.He didnt factor into the decision as the Cubs lost to the Brewers 2-1, sparked by Jonathan Villars two home runs and a game-saving catch by Keon Broxton in the ninth.(Montgomery) was really good, Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. The hanging changeup to Villar, that was the pitch that hurt us. But good curveball, good changeup, good fastball.Montgomery, acquired from Seattle in a four-player trade, gained a spot in the starting rotation when John Lackey went on the disabled list with a shoulder problem. He remained in the rotation after Lackeys return on Sunday as the Cubs have temporarily opted to go with a six-man rotation.Montgomery faced the minimum number of batters through three innings.I felt a little better than the last couple outings, Montgomery said. I just wanted to go out and attack guys a little better, and get ahead. I made a mistake to Villar, but I felt good about (the outing).Milwaukee, which took two of three in the series, got its first hit when Villar homered leading off the fourth. Villar homered again off Joe Smith (1-1), the sixth Chicago pitcher, leading off the eighth.Corey Knebel (1-2) pitched a scoreless inning in relief to get the win. Tyler Thornburg notched his ninth save in 13 chances.With one out in the ninth, Rizzo hit a drive to deep center. Broxton drifted back and jumped above the wall to make the catch.I knew I hit it well, it just wasnt carrying as much as it was yesterday, Rizzo said. (Broxton) made a nice play.Maddon said he knew that ball would carry to the fence as soon as it was hit.That kid, Broxton, hes so athletic thhat he was able to go over it, he said.ddddddddddddThe Cubs loaded the bases with one out in the first against Milwaukee starter Matt Garza, but failed to score.Garza, facing his former team for the second time this season, retired 14 of 15 batters at one point before giving up the solo home run to Rizzo with two outs in the sixth.He made that one mistake to me on the slider but other than that, he really pitched us well, Rizzo said.Garza gave up one run and three hits in six innings.Milwaukee won for just the sixth time in the last 28 games against the Cubs.SLIDING BYRyan Braun tried to stretch a single into a double in the fourth but slid past second base and was called out when Cubs second baseman Ben Zobrist applied the tag.TRAINERS ROOMCubs: Reliever Justin Grimm left the game with an undisclosed illness after facing one batter in the sixth. ... Maddon thought about resting Rizzo but reconsidered. Watching him yesterday, he didnt look tired so I put him back in. I thought the day before (Monday) his bat looked a little bit off, Maddon said. But with the night game after the day game he got some good rest. We have a day off (Thursday) so I chose to play him today.UP NEXTCubs: Jon Lester (15-4, 2.61 ERA) gets the start as Chicago opens a three-game series at Houston on Friday. Lester took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in his last start on Friday against San Francisco and finished with a complete game three-hitter. He will make his second career start against Houston and first since June 2008.Brewers: Junior Guerra (7-3, 2.85 ERA) will take the mound as Milwaukee opens a four-game series at St. Louis on Thursday. Guerra is 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA in two career starts against St. Louis, both coming this season. ' ' '