Thinking About What It Would Be Like To Hit A Homer Over Optiuni

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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. 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Joe Theismann Redskins Jersey . His absence against the Celtics comes a day after he scored 43 points in the Heats 100-96 win at Cleveland.HOUSTON -- Anyone whos seen Jadeveon Clowneys monster tackle against Michigan in the Outback Bowl last year wont be surprised to learn what the No. 1 overall pick likes best about football. "Big hits," he said. "Im all about hitting. I dont care who it is." Thats what the Houston Texans are counting on from the South Carolina defensive end after skipping a chance to take a quarterback -- their top need -- with the top pick Thursday night. Clowney was introduced on Friday in Houston, joining a team that features 2012 Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt. Clowney was already known as a top player before that hit in the Outback Bowl. But when he burst through the line and crashed into Vincent Smith, knocking his helmet off and the ball out of his hands in the process, his star power reached another level. Hes hoping to pile up plenty more highlight-reel hits this season, but knows hell have to be careful about how he delivers them. "Thats what I live for is making big hits," he said. "I hope I dont get no fines this year. I might have to dial it down a little." New Houston coach Bill OBrien, who took over a team that hasnt won since Sept. 15, raved about Clowneys many attributes. But one thing stood out to OBrien as he got to know Clowney. "He really talked about how much he loved winning and how winning was important to him," OBrien said. "These are the type guys that were looking for, were looking for team guys, were looking for tough guys, were looking for guys that are going to come in here and understand that theyre part of a team and theyre coming here to work hard." Houston general manager Rick Smith obviously coveted Clowney for his pass-rushing ability, but values hhis attitude perhaps just as much.dddddddddddd "Hes driven, and in my opinion very committed to being an excellent football play, and we need that," Smith said. Clowney doesnt model his play after any player in particular, but he does study many guys to elevate his game. "I watch J.J. Watt, I watch Ray Lewis, I watch Lawrence Taylor before games," Clowney said. "I go out there on the field (and say): Im about to pull a Lawrence Taylor. Im about to pull a Ray Lewis today. I try to take over the game and try to dominate a game and thats what I do." Clowney got a good laugh during Thursdays news conference when OBrien referred to him as J.D. "I guess he has trouble pronouncing Jadeveon," Clowney said. "So I told him: Just call me J.D., man. Were going to keep it simple. And its quicker and easier." This isnt anything new to Clowney, who said people say his unique name wrong all the time. "I ask mom: Where you get that name from? I mispronounce it sometimes," he joked. "Its all right though. Ive got so many nicknames, people give me J., J.D. call me Clowney, 7. Ive got so many names. Just dont call me Clown." Everyone in his family has names that starts with the letter J, and his mother wanted to incorporate his father Davids name into her sons and came up with the hybrid name. Clowney grew up in Rock Hill, South Carolina, which has a population of less than 70,000 people. Hes excited about moving to big city, but is a bit concerned about the traffic in Houston, home to more than 2 million people. "I better get here early," Clowney said. "If I got to be here at 8, Ive got to get up at 5:30-6, get going and get here on time." ' ' '