and I definitely wouldnt be able to drive a race car this weekend.Maki

CHICAGO -- Confidence has returned to the Chicago Cubs in the form of what manager Joe Maddon describes as a couple of slices of Meat Loaf.Anthony Rizzo homered twice off Bartolo Colon, Kyle Hendricks pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings and the Cubs beat the New York Mets 6-2 Wednesday to take two of three in the rematch of last years NL Championship Series.After entering the All-Star break on a 6-15 skid, the Cubs have taken four of six from AL West-leading Texas and the Mets, who swept them in last years NL Championship Series.A nice homestand. Four out of six aint bad, Maddon said. Eating Meat Loaf twice, Ill take it.The offbeat Maddon calls winning series eating Meat Loaf, a reference to the singers 1977 hit, Two Out of Three Aint Bad.Weve played six really good games since the break, and thats the part that has really stood out to me, Maddon said.A night after the first four-strikeout game of his big league career, Rizzo pulled a slider to right for a solo homer in the third, a drive that would have traveled 451 feet had it landed at ground level unimpeded, according to MLBs Statcast program.Two innings later with a runner on, he sent a fastball into the right-field bleachers -- estimated at 436 feet by Statcast -- for the 11th multihomer game of his career.If they go out just over the yellow line, its just as good, Rizzo said. But those definitely feel good. I just put good swings on the ball.Rizzo also hit a two-run homer in Mondays victory as the Cubs rebounded from a four-game sweep in New York this month. Chicago has won five of its last seven overall.Its really nice, Rizzo said. Its just what we want to do, keep winning series.Hendricks (9-6) gave up seven hits and hasnt allowed an earned run in his last three appearances. He lowered his ERA to 2.27, third best in the majors behind Clayton Kershaw and Madison Bumgarner.It seems to go that way when things are kind of going in your favor, you get away with some bad pitches, Hendricks said. That was really the case today.With the Mets wearing 1986 replica road uniforms, Colon (8-5) allowed allowed six runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings while laboring on the warm, humid day Maddon described as Instructional League hot.I think mentally I wasnt all there and I paid the consequences, Colon said through a translator.Manager Terry Collins knew it wasnt Colons day when he walked two in the first inning. That led to Addison Russells two-run double, one of his three hits.There are days I havent seen Bartolo throw 15 balls in five innings, let alone in one inning, Collins said. Certainly uncharacteristic, but but youre going to have blips like that once and awhile.Javier Baez added an RBI single off Antonio Bastardo in a three-run fifth for Chicago.New Yorks Wilmer Flores hit his fifth home run in eight games, a two-run drive off Travis Wood in the eighth.The Mets, resting several starters ahead of a series in Miami, wasted chances.Juan Lagares hit into an inning-ending double play with runners at first and third base in the second. James Loney was thrown out at the plate by Jason Heyward to end the fourth when the center fielder charged Kelly Johnsons single and made a perfect one-hop throw to catcher Miguel Montero, who barely had to move his mitt.The last five or six games Ive pitched, Ive had unbelievable defense and theyre scoring runs, Hendricks said. Thats a good recipe for success and wins.AGE OF BARTOLOThe 43-year-old Colon is 219 days older than Cubs president Theo Epstein.TRAINERS ROOMMets: OF Yoenis Cespedes, who returned Monday from a strained right quadriceps, sat out. Collins said Cespedes is not close to being 100 percent. ... 2B Neil Walker and SS Asdrubal Cabrera also rested.Cubs: CF Dexter Fowler (hamstring) was to begin a minor league injury rehabilitation assignment Wednesday night at Triple-A Iowa.UP NEXTMets: RHP Logan Verrett (3-6) faces Marlins LHP Adam Conley (6-5) on Friday night.Cubs: RHP Jason Hammel (8-5) starts Friday night at Milwaukee and RHP Jimmy Nelson (6-7). Cheap Jordan 13 Retro Australia . LOUIS -- The New Orleans Saints looked like a team playing out the string. Cheap Air Jordan 13 Australia .C. -- Al Jefferson joked that he feels he can score from anywhere on the court. http://www.cheapairjordan13australia.com/ . -- Matt Kuchar and Harris English ran away with the Franklin Templeton Shootout, shooting a 14-under 58 on Sunday in the final-round scramble to break the tournament course record. Jordan 13 Cheap For Sale . By having more great seasons. Manning was the only unanimous choice for the 2013 Associated Press NFL All-Pro team Friday. Air Jordan 13 Retro Australia . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is suffering from balance issues and nausea, but a test that measures his cognitive function showed optimistic results, the Hendrick Motorsports driver said Sunday night.Earnhardt, speaking on his weekly race recap podcast The Dale Jr. Download released Monday, described what kept him out of the race car this past weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He did not give a timetable for his return from concussion-like symptoms, possibly caused by wrecks June 12 at Michigan and July 2 at Daytona.Earnhardt said the results of his ImPACT test, a 20-minute test that measures memory, reaction time, attention span and other cognitive skills, have matched his baseline, so that is encouraging.My results matched my baseline, which made me feel confident that my brain is pretty sharp; it feels good, Earnhardt said. The symptoms I have are balance and nausea. I struggled with my balance over the last four, five days and I definitely wouldnt be able to drive a race car this weekend.Making the right decision really was out of the question. I made the decision that I had to make.Jeff GGordon would come out of retirement to replace Earnhardt if Earnhardt cant race this weekend at Indianapolis.dddddddddddd. Earnhardt didnt sound optimistic he would race at Indy as he continues to work with doctors.They can give me a lot of exercises that retrain my brain to handle what I need to handle -- its just going to take a lot of patience, Earnhardt said. I take my health and quality of life as a top priority. ... I am going to take this slow and strictly take the advice of my doctors.Alex Bowman replaced Earnhardt at New Hampshire and finished 26th. Earnhardt said he was proud of Bowman.He did a great job, Earnhardt said, as I knew he would. ... I couldnt have asked for a better substitute there. Alex was digging.Earnhardt, who missed two races in 2012 because of concussions, thanked his fans for their support and messages.To hear everybody wishing me well really does my heart good, Earnhardt said. This kind of thing can beat you down and make you sad. ' ' '