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CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs started Monday by locking up one part of their future, and then pitcher Travis Wood made his case to be the next on the list. Wood pitched seven scoreless innings and the Cubs came within two outs of their first shutout since last August in a 9-1 win over the Colorado Rockies. Wood (4-2) allowed two hits while striking out two for his major league-leading eighth quality start. Hes the first Cubs pitcher since Hippo Vaughn in 1919 to start with eight quality starts. Wood also had two hits and an RBI for Chicago, which has won three straight for the second time this season. Earlier in the day, the Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzos 7-year, $41 million contract extension. Wood, acquired in December 2011, doesnt have an extension like that, but is showing perhaps he might deserve one. "I would love to be here for a long time with the Cubs, but thats out of my hands and Im not really thinking about that right now at all," Wood said. "Weve got to go out and win tomorrow, and Ive got four more days to get ready for my next start and hopefully we can keep going on." Wood started last season in Triple-A and wasnt called up to the Cubs until May 6 and didnt stay with Chicago for good until May 22. Now hes leading baseball in quality starts and, to manager Dale Sveum, becoming a major part of the "core" of the team. He continued his run against a team that began Monday hitting .277 against left-handed pitching. "Thats as good an outing ... to throttle those guys the way they hit left-handed pitching is very, very impressive," Sveum said. The Cubs offence wasnt bad, either. With two outs in the first, Alfonso Soriano gave the Cubs a 2-0 lead with his fourth home run. It was Sorianos 376th of his career, tying him for 69th all-time with former Red Sox and White Sox catcher Carlton Fisk. Chicago added to its lead with three in the third on two-out RBI doubles from Wood and Starlin Castro. Woods RBI was his first of the season and just his third hit. The Cubs offence had 14 hits, one short of a season high. Along with Wood, Nate Schierholtz, David DeJesus, Soriano, Castro and Castillo each had two hits. Colorado starter Juan Nicasio (3-1) worked around a leadoff Soriano double in the third, but the five earned runs increased his ERA over the first three innings to 6.38. "We tried to be aggressive against him," Castillo said. "Trying to get a pitch on top of home plate and trying to hit and trying to get Wood a couple runs." Wood and the Cubs didnt need much more than that. Josh Rutledge hit a home run off Carlos Marmol with one out in the ninth, ruining the Cubs bid for their first shutout win since they beat Colorado on Aug. 26. The Cubs have gone 74 games between shutouts, their longest streak since going 75 in a row from May 15 until Aug. 6, 1999, according to STATS. The Rockies have lost five of six and have scored 12 runs over those games. They were shut out twice over the weekend by St. Louis before scoring eight runs Sunday. "We need to be more consistent. Weve struggled, theres no question, lately offensively," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "It looked like yesterday we busted out, but we need to be a little more consistent and put together some offence on a daily basis." Nicasio recovered from a shaky first two innings to last six, allowing five runs and eight hits in his first loss of the season. Nicasio, who hasnt won since beating Arizona on April 26, allowed all five runs over the first two innings but finished with four scoreless. "When you dont have the offence and they score nine runs, you dont deserve to win," Carlos Gonzalez said. "The last series, we faced some really good pitchers and the same stories." Wood just wants to continue his own story. "Tomorrows a new day. Youve got to get after it and put my work in," Wood said. "If I feel like I need to work on something, work on it and take the ball that fifth day and hopefully be able to keep it going." Notes: Cubs pitcher Matt Garza threw a bullpen session Monday. Garza, who hasnt pitched this season in the major leagues because of a strained lat suffered during spring training, is expected to make a rehab start Thursday for Triple-A Iowa. After that rehab start, his fourth, the Cubs will determine whether to activate Garza. ... Weiss said OF Dexter Fowler was getting the night off. Fowler is 2 for his last 26 and is hitting .262. ... Cubs 3B Luis Valbuena was not in the lineup for the second straight game after suffering a jammed right pinkie Saturday in Washington. ... Colorado hasnt won a three-game series at Wrigley Field since Sept. 29-Oct. 1, 2006. .... Tuesdays pitching matchup is the Rockies Jeff Francis (1-3, 6.90) against the Cubs Carlos Villanueva (1-2, 3.02). ... Rizzo went 1 for 5. Kyrie Irving Shoes From China . 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Kyrie Irving Shoes From China .J. -- New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his left knee. When it comes to megawatt star power, Saturdays UFC Fight Night in Salt Lake City is lacking -- but it might offer an early look at a future champ.Featherweight Yair Rodriguez, of northern Mexico, sure looks like a stud in the making. The 23-year-old won the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America in 2014 and is now 4-0 in the UFC.His last performance, a vicious head-kick knockout over Andre Fili in April, turned heads and likely played a part in him headlining his first event.Hell face 28-year-old Alex Caceres, a fellow TUF contestant who has held his own in the UFC but struggled with consistency. His overall UFC mark is 7-6.Lets take a closer look at Saturdays featherweight main event. Dont agree with these picks? Let me know on Twitter: @bokamotoESPN.Main eventYair Rodriguez (8-1) vs. Alex Caceres (12-8) Featherweights Odds: Rodriguez -310; Caceres +255Its no secret the UFC wouldnt mind having a young Mexican star on its roster right now. It wouldnt mind having several of them.In 2013, the UFC launched a development program that handpicked Mexican prospects to live and train in the U.S. This group eventually became the first TUF Latin America cast, and Rodriguez emerged as the cream of the crop.In some ways, hes an anomaly to mixed martial arts in Mexico. Generally speaking, Mexican fighters have a lot of ground to catch up on in the grappling realm with most coming from a single-discipline background. Rodriguez, on the other hand, rose to the level of black belt in taekwondo before the UFC laid eyes on him. He also trained in judo multiple years and had some experience in boxing, karate and Brazilian jiujitsu.These days, he trains with striking coach Mike Valle, whom he met in the development program. His wrestling coach is Mark Perry, a two-time NCAA Division I national champion out of the University of Iowa. His style is creative and nontraditional -- the phrase effectively wwild comes to mind.ddddddddddddThe best way to stifle him is probably to take him down. Hes a dangerous guy to shoot in on, but the last thing you want to do is give him freedom at a kickboxing range. He frequently switches stances, and the footwork -- and angles -- he uses to set up his offense is downright artistic. He figures to have a pretty significant power advantage over Caceres, although Caceres should be a breath faster.To be clear, getting Rodriguez to the floor isnt a sure path to victory. He has an active guard and has demonstrated an ability to throw nasty elbows off his back. That doesnt mean you cant score points (or hurt him) from top position, but its not necessarily a picnic doing so.Caceres is unpredictable in his own right, which, if nothing else, should make for an entertaining fight. Caceres isnt the type to take a physical, clinch/takedown-heavy approach. Hes relatively small for the division and he tends to fight as such. He relies on speed and timing on the feet and scrambling ability when bigger opponents look to take him down. Hes a talented featherweight, but stylistically, hell have to beat Rodriguez in elements of his own game.The fact this is a five-round main event might favor Caceres. As flashy as he can be, hes also pretty calm. Rodriguez is aggressive, and the risks he takes in the Octagon have big potential payouts. They also require energy. Im not sure I expect this to make it to the fourth and fifth rounds, but if it does, it would be interesting to see if Caceres has an advantage in the gas tank and how hes able to use it.Prediction: People tend to underrate Caceres, and theyre doing it again ahead of this one. That said, its tough to outright pick him against an opponent with such prolific offense. Rodriguez via second-round TKO. ' ' '