For the Chicago Cubs Youth Uchenna Nwosu Jersey , the last few days have felt like Christmas in July.

The team has won five games in a row and will try to stretch it to six on Wednesday afternoon in a Fourth of July matinee.

“Everything is believable,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon told reporters when asked about his team’s recent hot streak. “We believe in everything right now. Santa Claus is absolutely true.

“When you get to that point and you get that kind of confidence, you don’t want to do anything to nick it.”

Chicago (48-35) has climbed 13 games above .500 to match its high-water mark. The Cubs have a chance to set a new high when they host the Detroit Tigers (38-49) in the finale of a two-game series at Wrigley Field.

All of the Cubs’ five wins during the streak have been in come-from-behind fashion.

“One of our concepts is to score first,” Maddon said. “One of our concepts is to win the inning. But I think this is maybe the residue of our starting pitching not being what it probably is. We’ve given up more runs early from our starters that we didn’t anticipate happening.

“But it’s a tightly knit group. They’re there to pick everybody else up. So, OK, they’ve scored a couple runs. There’s no quit. The chatter in the dugout is great, all that stuff is outstanding. I just think that the come-from-behind component right now is based on our starters not pitching to their capabilities yet.”

That said, the Cubs will look for a solid start from left-hander Jose Quintana (6-6 Carlton Davis Buccaneers Jersey , 4.31 ERA) in his 17th start of the season. The 29-year-old has allowed three earned runs or fewer in nine of his past 12 starts.

In 18 career starts against the Tigers, Quintana is 5-5 with a 4.37 ERA. The Colombia native has walked 26 and struck out 82 in 111 1/3 innings.

The Tigers will counter with veteran left-hander Francisco Liriano (3-4, 3.99 ERA), who is scheduled to make his 13th start of the season. The burly southpaw carries a career record of 105-103 with a 4.14 ERA in 335 career games.

More than a few teams could be scouting the 34-year-old Liriano as the trade deadline approaches. He is coming off a quality start against the Toronto Blue Jays but has not logged a victory since April 17 against the Baltimore Orioles.

In 14 career starts against the Cubs, Liriano is 5-4 with a 3.27 ERA. He most recently faced the club in 2016, when he posted an 0-2 record with a 7.63 ERA in three starts with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Toronto Blue Jays.

The Tigers could turn to a six-man rotation in the next couple weeks, which is fine with Liriano.

“I think that would work,” Liriano said recently to mlive.com. “It wouldn’t bother me at all. I don’t know about any other guys. (Blaine) Hardy has been doing a great job Authentic Will Dissly Jersey , so it’s hard to put him in the bullpen with the way he’s throwing the ball right now. I think that’s a great idea.”

Injured Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant (shoulder) is not expected to play Wednesday. He is hitting .280 with nine home runs and 36 RBIs in 66 games this season.

Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski has died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The 21-year-old Hilinski was discovered in his apartment after he didn’t show up for practice. A rifle ”was recovered next to Hilinski and a suicide note was found,” according to the Pullman Police Department.

Hilinski was the presumptive starting quarterback going into next season. He started Washington State’s Holiday Bowl loss to Michigan State after Luke Falk was unable to play due to a wrist injury.

Hilinski appeared in eight games during his sophomore season, throwing for 1,176 yards and seven touchdowns. His most memorable outing came in the second week of the season when he led Washington State from a 21-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Boise State 47-44 in triple overtime. Hilinski threw for 240 yards and three touchdowns coming off the bench, and was carried off the field after the victory.

His only start came in the bowl game against Michigan State, although he played extensively in a loss to Arizona.

OLYMPICS

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korea plans to send a 230-member cheering squad to South Korea as part of its delegation to next month’s Winter Olympics, Seoul officials said Josh Allen Jersey , the latest in a series of conciliatory gestures the North has abruptly taken recently following a year of heightened nuclear tension.

North Korea informed South Korea of the size of its Olympic cheering squad when officials from the rivals met at the border for the third time in less than 10 days to discuss how to cooperate in the Olympics.

A flurry of Olympics-related meetings has provided a tentative thaw in long-strained ties between the Koreas. But the North’s reluctance to discuss its nuclear weapons program is raising skepticism over how long this mood of reconciliation will last.

During Wednesday’s talks, the North also told South Korea that it has a plan to send a delegation to the Pyeongchang Paralympics set for March 9-18, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said in a statement.

The Koreas also discussed fielding a joint women’s hockey team and having their athletes march under a ”unification flag” depicting the Korean Peninsula, instead of their respective national flags, during the opening ceremony for the Feb. 9-25 Games in Pyeongchang, the ministry statement said.

PRO BASKETBALL

LOS ANGELES (AP) – The NBA has spoken to Clippers star Blake Griffin as well as other players from the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles as part of its investigation into late-game and postgame incidents involving the teams.

Griffin confirmed that he had been contacted by league officials.

”I’ve spoken to them,” he said after attending a L.A. Clippers Foundation event at an elementary school. ”I’m sure they’ve talked to everybody by now. We’ll see what they come up with.”

Tempers boiled over Monday night late in the Clippers’ 113-102 victory , to the point where several security guards were needed outside the Houston locker room afterward.

Citing anonymous NBA sources http://www.billsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-harrison-phillips-jersey , ESPN reported several Rockets players headed toward the Clippers’ locker room afterward, seeking a confrontation, but were escorted away by security before anything got physical.

PRO FOOTBALL

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) – Jacksonville Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette escaped injury after he was involved in what authorities say was a minor three-car crash.

The team says the rookie’s car was rear-ended about 11:30 a.m., and that he was not hurt. He was able to drive home after the crash.

The Jaguars also say Fournette signed the rear bumper of his 2017 Mercedes-Benz Maybach – it was knocked off in the wreck – and gave it to one of the first responders on the scene.

The Florida Highway Patrol says Fournette was not at fault in the crash.

Fournette and the Jaguars play at New England on Sunday in the AFC championship game.

Fournette ran for 109 yards and three touchdowns in Jacksonville’s 45-42 victory at Pittsburgh last Sunday.

PITTSBURGH (AP) – Todd Haley’s contract as the offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers is up.

And coach Mike Tomlin doesn’t sound as if he’s in a rush to decide whether Haley will be back next season.

Tomlin sidestepped several attempts to endorse Haley’s return on Tuesday as the AFC North champions continued to dissect what went wrong in an upset home playoff loss to Jacksonville . Asked if he anticipated any changes to his staff, Tomlin demurred.

”I don’t know where these roads are going to lead,” Tomlin said. ”Some contracts are up. Some aren’t. I’m not ready to discuss that.”

Haley just finished his sixth season with the Steelers and has helped design one of the NFL’s most dynamic offenses.

.