ot the Red Wings 14-4 in a scoreless first period. Mrazek made two

MILWAUKEE -- Entering his first big league game in 16 months, Joe Nathan felt his heart racing while doing a full sprint to the mound.Nathan has 377 career saves, and yet Sunday still felt like Opening Day all over again for the 41-year-old reliever.Anthony Rizzos three-run double in the seventh inning helped the Chicago Cubs overcome a four-run deficit and made a winner of Nathan in a 6-5 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.It was Opening Day for me today, and the adrenaline was ... through the roof. It was almost too much, Nathan said. I almost needed a defibrillator for the run into the mound.The six-time All-Star joined a club with World Series aspirations hoping to shore up its bullpen. The heart of the order finally came up with hits after the Cubs struggled with runners in scoring position against Brewers starter Junior Guerra.That changed after Will Smith took over for Guerra with one out in the seventh.Tommy La Stella, who went 3 for 3, had an RBI double before Smith (1-3) walked Kris Bryant to load the bases for third-place hitter Rizzo. He hit a 2-2 slider down in the zone into right-center to clear the bases and give Chicago a 5-4 lead.Ben Zobrists RBI single scored Rizzo in the seventh and gave the Cubs a needed insurance run after closer Hector Rondon gave up a homer to Kirk Nieuwenhuis with two outs in the ninth to draw Milwaukee within a run.Rondon struck out Jake Elmore looking for his 18th save.It was a complete victory. Rizzo had a couple tough at-bats but got a really big hit, manager Joe Maddon said.It completed a successful comeback from Tommy John surgery for Nathan, pitching in his first game in the majors since April 2015. He was activated off the 60-day disabled list earlier Sunday.Cubs pitchers labored for much of the afternoon, with starter Jon Lester struggling through four innings, allowing four hits and walking five.Nathan gave up a leadoff triple to Jonathan Villar in the sixth and a walk before striking out 3-4-5 hitters Ryan Braun, Jonathan Lucroy and Chris Carter.Certainly a lot of moments in the game. We had some opportunities to add on runs in general, just to score runs and we didnt capture those opportunities, Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said.BRINGING THE HEATThe Brewers left the retractable roof at Miller Park open on a sticky afternoon, with the game-time temperature at 90 degrees. The contest lasted more than four hours.It was without a doubt the hottest game of the year, and it was one of the longer games, so guys were tired, for sure, Counsell said.ON THE MOUNDSmiths struggles overshadowed another solid start by 31-year-old rookie Guerra, who allowed five hits and one unearned run over 6 1/3 innings.But the lead evaporated against Smith, normally one of the leagues toughest left-handed relievers. Left-handed hitter La Stella and Rizzo both got to Smith for clutch hits.Smiths ERA ballooned from 1.93 to 3.86 after failing to record an out while giving up five runs on three hits, a walk and an error.SWIPE CITYThe Brewers built their 4-0 lead, stealing six bases in a game for the first time since May 13, 2013. Braun and Villar each had two steals off Lester by the bottom of the second.TRAINERS ROOMCubs: Nathan signed with the Cubs as a free agent in May and was on the DL until this weekend. Right-hander Adam Warren was optioned to Triple-A Iowa in a corresponding move. ... SS Addison Russell left the game before the bottom of the fourth with a left heel contusion.Brewers: Will Middlebrooks left the game before the top of the fourth with a lower right leg strain. The third baseman popped out in the bottom of the third.UP NEXT:Cubs: Jake Arrieta (12-4) takes the mound when Chicago travels to the South Side for an interleague series against the crosstown-rival White Sox. The right-hander is 3-1 with a 3.82 ERA in six starts against the White Sox.Brewers: Chase Anderson (4-10) opens a four-game series against his former club, the Arizona Diamondbacks. The righty has struggled over his past six outings, going 0-4 with a 9.13 ERA. George Springer Jersey . Halladay signed a one-day contract with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday that allowed the veteran right-hander to retire as a member of team with which he broke into the majors and spent the bulk of his distinguished 16-year career. Kyle Tucker Astros Jersey . They were putting most of their energy into a record-setting offensive display. https://www.cheapastros.com/2213o-zack-greinke-jersey-astros.html . William Carrier opened the scoring for Cape Breton (6-4-2), but Andrew Ryan tied the game and Brent Andrews put the Mooseheads (8-6-0) in front for good with a short-handed goal at 13:49 of the second period. Roberto Osuna Jersey . "Trying to breathe," he said with a grin. Bernier stopped 42 of 43 shots on Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the Christmas break. J. R. Richard Astros Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. ST. LOUIS -- Detroits Frans Nielsen had no doubt who was the difference for the Red Wings on Thursday night: goalie Petr Mrazek.Henrik Zetterberg scored in the eighth round of a shootout to give Detroit a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues. Zetterbergs goal gave the Red Wings a six-game winning streak.I think the goalie stole the game for us, said Nielsen, who scored the only goal in regulation for Detroit. I dont think weve been perfect but we found a way to win.That is what Mrazek found important.This was a huge win on the road for us, Mrazek said. St. Louis is a very good team. You know in the first period we didnt play how we wanted to play but from that second half of the game, we were better.In the shootout, St. Louis first shooter, Alexander Steen, scored but then Vladimir Tarasenko, Kevin Shattenkirk, David Perron, Nail Yakupoc, Robby Fabbri, Patrick Burgland and Dmitrjij Jaskin all came up short.I still think we could have pulled off some more moves, some better moves to give us better scoring chances, Shattenkirk said. We need to bury our chances.Gustav Nyquist scored on Detroits second attempt but Nielsen, Dylan Larkin, Andreas Athanasiou, Tomas Tatar, Riley Sheehan and Darren Helm all missed.St. Louis had the better chances in overtime. Center Jaden Schwartz missed a wide-open net early in the extra session. Jori Lehtera was stopped on a breakaway midway through the period by Mrazek.We played really well and had a lot of good stuff but we dont finish, St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said. Weve got to look at whats working and whats not working. Youve got to finish at the end of the day.Were scoring one goal and getting points. Thats a hell of a feather in these guys caps but youre going to have score goals in this league.Fabbri was called for hooking with 19 seconds left but Detroit could not cash in. The Red Wings outshot the Blues 3-2 in the overtime.We found a way to grind it out, Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. We had a big short-handed goal and it was big foor us to get the two points.ddddddddddddThe Blues and Red Wings have played to overtime in four of their last five meetings. The teams split their games last season with the road team winning each time.The Blues scored first at 2:31 of the second period on a goal by Shattenkirk. The puck came to Shattenkirk after Berglund won a faceoff. Shattenkirk sent in a wrist shot and the puck deflected in off the skate of Nielsen.Nielsen got it back for Detroit on a short-handed goal, tying the game 1-1 at 13:54. Helm got a loose puck at the top of the slot. He dropped the puck to the trailing Nielsen, who got around Shattenkirk and beat goalie Jake Allen with a backhand shot.St. Louis outshot the Red Wings 14-4 in a scoreless first period. Mrazek made two standout saves in the period, thwarting the Blues, who had a 23-15 shot advantage after two periods.Weve got to find a way to get wins, Allen said. Youre not going to win every single game in a shootout but that was a tough one tonight.Game notes Detroit LW Thomas Vanek sat out the game with a lower-body injury. The Red Wings listed him as day to day. ... LW Justin Abdelkader was back for the Red Wings after missing the last two games with a lower-body injury. ... Lehtera was back in the lineup after missing four games with an upper-body injury sustained in a 3-2 win against the New York Rangers on Oct. 15. To make a roster spot for Lehtra, the Blues put Magnus Paajarvi on waivers. ... Former Blues D Barret Jackman dropped the ceremonial first puck. Jackman spent 14 years in the NHL, 13 with the Blues. He signed a one-day contract to retire a Blue on Oct. 4 at Scottrade Center. Jackmans first game as a Blue was in a Stanley Cup playoff game against the Detroit Red Wings on April 14, 2002.UP NEXT:Red Wings: Will play visiting Boston Bruins on Saturday.Blues: Will play visiting Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. ' ' '