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CINCINNATI, Ohio -- The Reds lost a game to the weather -- a recurring problem this season -- and took a couple more steps toward getting some injured players back on the roster. The opening game of a series with the Chicago Cubs was postponed on Monday following a 57-minute delay to the first pitch. It was the eighth postponement in 12 years at Great American Ball Park. The game wasnt immediately rescheduled. Manager Bryan Price said the game wont be made up during this series. The Cubs visit for a four-game series from July 7-10. "Theres no way well make it up in this series," Price said. "The way it works out, well probably be able to make it up during that series in July before the All-Star break." Rain has been a problem in Cincinnati this season. The Reds have had one game postponed and another suspended overnight because of rain. Theyve had rain delays for four of the 10 games totalling 8 hours, 57 minutes. The teams will stay on schedule with their starters. Chicagos Jeff Samardzija will face the Reds Alfredo Simon on Tuesday night. It will be Simons first scheduled start since an unidentified woman filed a civil lawsuit against him in a Washington, D.C. court last Thursday, claiming he sexually assaulted her in a hotel one year ago. "I take him at his word that nothing happened and hes assured me that hes ready to pitch and his focus is on pitching," Price said. Simon has been one of Cincinnatis best starters while filling in for the injured Mat Latos, who had surgery to repair torn cartilage in his right knee on Feb. 14. Simon is 3-1 with a 1.30 earned run average in four starts. Latos had a setback in his recovery from the knee problem when he developed soreness in his pitching forearm near the elbow. He has resumed playing catch and could get back to throwing off the bullpen mound later this week. "Once we get him on the mound a couple of times, then we go out there and do a simulated game and then get him into rehab games," Price said. "Hes not like starting from square one, even though hes just playing catch now. "If we dont have any setbacks, we should be able to progress pretty quickly through this rehab." Closer Aroldis Chapman is scheduled to throw to Reds batters again on Tuesday before the game. If that goes well, he could start a rehab stint in the minors. Chapman was hit on the forehead by a line drive on March 19 and had a metal plate inserted in his forehead to help fractures heal. "If everything goes well with that (on Tuesday), then we anticipate getting him out on a short rehab and then having him back with us pretty quickly," Price said. Samardzija is trying to break a streak of 11 straight starts without a win since last Aug. 30. Samardzija has pitched well -- quality starts his last eight games -- but the Cubs have scored only 21 runs while he was on the mound in the last 10 games. Last Wednesday, Samardzija left with a 5-2 lead before Arizona rallied for a 7-5 win. The Cubs havent fared well against the Reds overall. They dropped two of three at Wrigley Field this month and havent won the season series against Cincinnati since 2009. Theyre 6-16 against Cincinnati over the last two seasons and 10-28 over the last three. NOTES: Cubs RH Jake Arrieta will be activated off the DL and could start later this week. Hes been sidelined since March 21 with tightness in his pitching shoulder. RH Carlos Villanueva will move into the bullpen. ... RF Nate Schierholtz was going to get a day off. ... The Reds Skip Schumaker started a rehab assignment at Triple-A Louisville on Monday. Hes recovering from a separated left shoulder sustained during spring training. Chris Owings Jersey . 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Wholesale Diamondbacks Jerseys .C. - The Panthers will be without starting defensive tackle Star Lotulelei for Saturday nights NFC divisional playoff game against Seattle after undergoing surgery Wednesday to repair a broken bone in his foot.MINNEAPOLIS -- Kevin Love worked all summer long to put an injury plagued season behind him and reclaim his spot as the best power forward in the league. LaMarcus Aldridge of the Portland Trail Blazers is one of the players standing in his way. In their first head-to-head matchup of the season, Love pounced on a road-weary Aldridge and grabbed Round 1. Love had 29 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists to outshine Aldridge in the Minnesota Timberwolves 120-109 victory over Portland on Wednesday night. "Awesome," Wolves point guard Ricky Rubio said. "Theres no words to describe. Hes doing a great job leading this team in scoring, rebounding, even assisting. Hes taking my job." Nikola Pekovic had 30 points and nine rebounds and Kevin Martin scored 22 for the Timberwolves, who led by 32 in the second quarter and held off a charge in the second half from the Blazers. Damian Lillard had 36 points, six assists and six rebounds and Aldridge had 15 points and 14 boards for the weary Trail Blazers, who lost for the first time in six games. It was just their fifth loss of the season in 27 games and came at the end of a four-game road trip. The Timberwolves outscored Portland 72-34 in the paint and shot 49.5 per cent from the field. Aldridge, one of the early leaders in the MVP race thanks to Portlands remarkable start, made just 7 of 22 shots. "Just one of those nights," Aldridge said. "I couldnt throw a rock in a lake if I tried to, even if I was standing in the water." The Blazers have been the most surprising team of this young season, and they stormed into Target Center fresh off two straight heart-pounding victories on last-second shots by Lillard that gave them the best record in the NBA. But playing their fourth road game in five nights, their legs were heavy, their shots where shaky and the Wolves pounced. Love owned the first 24 minutes. He had a double-double before the game was 13 minutes old and went into halftime with 17 points, 11 boards and eight assists. The Wolves rode a staggering 42-12 run through the second quarter to take a 62-30 lead five miinutes before the break.dddddddddddd He started fast breaks, he hit deep 3s and he went to the floor for loose balls, setting the tone and building a cushion that they sorely needed as the game wore on. But he still ended up one assist shy of his first career triple-double. "I did think I was looking at it right in the face tonight, but it didnt happen for me," Love said. "Guys kept saying just get one more. I just said lets get a ... win. How about that? Im way more happy with that more than anything." Portland coach Terry Stotts said he considered pulling the plug after the third and resting his starters. But these are the Blazers, who shoot 3s without conscience and play with a swagger generated by their cold-blooded point guard. And theyre never out of a game. Lillard scored 17 points in the third, and his step-back 3 brought Portland to 86-75 with 2:04 to play in the quarter. "Two things, one is you dont know when to pull a plug on a game like this, and two with our team, with our ability to shoot, you just dont know," Stotts said. Martin, who missed Monday nights game in Boston with a sore left knee, responded with a 3 and J.J. Barea hit two big 3s in the closing seconds of the quarter to push the lead back to 22. Lillard hit two 3s and Nicolas Batum, who scored 20 points, scored on a putback and a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to five with 46 seconds to play, but the Wolves closed it out at the free-throw line. "You know last year, that probably wouldve been a game where we just said all right were going to give it a shot in the third quarter and in the fourth quarter we probably wouldve ended up laying down," Lillard said. "But we fought back, and I think with a minute and a half it was a game." NOTES: The Wolves announced that F Chase Budinger has been cleared for full-contact practice. Budinger has yet to play this year after having surgery to remove part of the meniscus in his left knee. ... It was the third career 30-point game for Pekovic. ... Lillard went 7 for 14 from 3, while the rest of the team went 7 for 26. ' ' '