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CHICAGO - Jason Motte is moving to the other side of one of baseballs best rivalries.The veteran reliever is leaving St. Louis for a $4.5 million, one-year contract with the Chicago Cubs, according to a person with direct knowledge of the deal. Motte made his major league debut with the Cardinals in 2008 and had spent his entire career with the team that selected him in the 19th round of the 2003 draft.The person spoke to The Associated Press on Monday night on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the agreement. The contract is pending a physical and includes bonuses that could increase the value to $7 million.WSCR-AM 670 was the first to report the agreement.Motte was one of baseballs top closers in 2012, when he had 42 saves in 49 chances and helped St. Louis reach the NL championship series. But the right-hander had elbow-ligament replacement surgery in May 2013 and missed that whole season. He returned this year and went 1-0 with a 4.68 ERA in 29 games.The deal with Motte gives Chicago another big arm for its bullpen and continues an impressive off-season for the Cubs.They jumped on Joe Maddon when the respected manager opted out of his contract with Tampa Bay, and bolstered their rotation with free-agent deals for Jon Lester and Jason Hammel. All-Star catcher Miguel Montero came over in a trade with Arizona.The Cubs went 73-89 last season and finished last in the NL Central after they lost 96 games in 2013. But the productive off-season and a handful of highly regarded prospects have produced a wave of optimism for fans of one of baseballs most forlorn franchises.Chicagos bullpen had a respectable 3.61 ERA last season, good for 15th in the majors. Hector Rondon emerged as the closer with 29 saves and a 2.42 ERA, but it was his first year in the role and Motte gives Maddon another option should the righty falter.___AP Sports Writer Ronald Blum in New York contributed to this report. Brent Burns Jersey . With the Canadiens leading by one to start the third period, Price turned away 16 shots by the Panthers in the final frame to give Montreal a 2-1 victory over Florida on Monday night. The Panthers (16-21-6) outshot Montreal 16-10 in the final frame, but were repeatedly frustrated by Price, who made 26 saves on the night. Joe Thornton Jersey . 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Evander Kane Jersey .com) - The Boston Bruins announced Monday that the team has signed goaltender Niklas Svedberg to a one-year contract.SAN DIEGO -- Padres manager Bud Black had talked to Tyson Ross once or twice that it was getting to be time that the lanky right-hander threw his first career shutout. In his 55th career start, Ross got it, in dominating fashion. Ross threw a three-hitter for his first career shutout, struck out nine and walked none to help San Diego beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-0 Wednesday for its first series sweep since September. Ross got all the support he needed when Rene Rivera hit a three-run single off big league ERA leader Johnny Cueto in the first inning. "Its special," said the 27-year-old Ross, whos in his second season with San Diego. "Its the first time Ive been able to finish. A couple of games Ive gone eight innings and kind of ran out of gas but tonight I had enough in the tank and was able to finish." Ross (7-8) was dominating. He retired the first 11 batters before Todd Frazier singled to left. Frazier had two of the Reds three hits. Only Reds batter reached second, when Brayan Pena doubled with one out in the eighth. Ross then retired the side. "I think that he really smelled the finish line, which was good," Black said. "Hes been close a couple of times. He was there today. We talked just briefly after the eighth inning. There was no doubt in my mind he was going to go back out there and put up a zero. "Its a tremendous feather in his cap," said Black, a lefty who had 12 shutouts in 296 career big league starts. "You do it once, you can do it many more times. Good for him." Ross said getting the complete game was due to "being efficient early. I had a lot of ground balls, a lot of outs in the first three pitches to hitters. I kept the pitch count low early and that allowed me to finish it off later." Frazier said Ross "had a pretty good slider. I think thats his best pitch. He kept most of us off-balance. We hit the ball hard sometimes. A couple of guys squared some up. To me, he just made a couple of mistakes. A good pitcher, when he makes mistakes, you have to take care of the business." The Reds lost the last three games on 10-game trip after winning six of seven, including a four-game sweep of the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants before coming to San Diego. &"A frustrating team in general in that we came in playing really well and come out of it losing three straight," manager Bryan Price said.dddddddddddd. "We had a chance to make up some ground on Milwaukee and St. Louis and we werent able to take advantage of it." The Padres beat the Reds 1-0 Monday despite getting one hit, and then had a season-high 16 hits in an 8-2 victory Tuesday night. The Padres, who tied their season high with their fourth straight win, hadnt swept a series since Sept. 6-8 against Colorado. With the bases loaded and two outs in the first, Rivera hit a blooper to the gap that hit off the heel of the glove of diving centre fielder Billy Hamilton and rolled away to give San Diego a 3-0 lead. San Diego appeared to take a 4-0 lead on Seth Smiths two-out double in the fourth, but the Reds appealed that Irving Falu missed third base. The umpires agreed, calling Falu out to end the inning. San Diego manager Bud Black argued, but the call was upheld on appeal. Ross had received only one run of support in his previous five starts, and he knocked in that run in his last start, a 2-1 loss to Arizona. Ross was 0-4 in his last five starts. Cueto (8-6) came in with the best ERA in the majors, 1.88. It rose to 1.99. He allowed three runs and seven hits in seven innings, struck out eight and walked three. NOTES: The Reds were swept for the first time since April 25-27. ... The Padres placed SS Everth Cabrera on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring, retroactive to Tuesday, and selected INF Brooks Conrad from Triple-A El Paso. Conrad is from San Diego. ... To make room on the 40-man roster, LHP Troy Patton was transferred from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL. ... Padres OF Seth Smith signed a $13 million, two-year contract extension that runs through 2016, with a team option for 2017. ... The Padres are off Thursday before opening a three-game series against San Francisco on Friday, when LHP Eric Stults (2-11, 5.36) is scheduled to oppose RHP Matt Cain (1-6, 4.38). ... The Reds are off Thursday before opening a three-game home series against Milwaukee on Friday, when RHP Alfredo Simon (10-3, 2.81) is scheduled to start against RHP Kyle Lohse (9-2, 3.08). ' ' '