LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- The Chicago Bears agreed to a three-year contract with defensive end Willie Young and a one-year deal with receiver Domenik Hixon on Thursday. Young joins a defence that is getting a makeover after struggling in a big way last season. The Bears released eight-time Pro Bowl defensive end Julius Peppers this week and brought in defensive end Lamarr Houston from Oakland, linebacker Jordan Senn from Carolina and safeties Ryan Mundy (New York Giants) and M.D. Jennings (Green Bay). Now, they have two new starting ends in Young and Houston. "This is important for us to get a second defensive lineman, a quality starter, an opportunity for Willie to grow and for us to grow with him," general manager Phil Emery said on a conference call. "When we went into free agency we felt that if we could find a way to get two starting defensive linemen, we would have made forward progress. Weve been able to accomplish that." The 28-year old Young spent four years with Detroit and can play on the left or right side. He had 47 tackles, three sacks, five pass breakups and two fumble recoveries last season. He had discussions with Jacksonsville but wound up in Chicago, instead. "Having (linebacker Lance) Briggs here anchoring the middle, it goes a long ways, having that solid leadership starting from the middle and working our way out," Young said. "Im excited to be here. And Im looking forward to a very aggressive defence here in the making. And right now theres nothing to stop us other than ourselves." Hixon had seven catches for 55 yards with Carolina in 2013. He has experience returning kickoffs and punts but did neither for the Panthers. Emery said he will get an opportunity to do that with Devin Hester gone. He previously played for Denver (2006-07) and the New York Giants (2007-12). In Chicago, hell be reuniting with quarterback Jay Cutler and receiver Brandon Marshall, his teammates with the Broncos. Meanwhile, Emery said cornerback Charles Tillmans return remains "an ongoing process" and had no update on the free agent. He also said time is running short on defensive tackle Henry Melton to re-sign. Meltons been visiting other teams. The Bears are open to bringing him back, but their available cap space is shrinking. "The clocks ticking," Emery said. Melton was arrested and charged with assault and public intoxication following an altercation at a Dallas-area bar in December. His agent has said Melton did not start the incident. "I think thats been an ongoing issue in terms of that issue coming to conclusion," Emery said. "In terms of evaluating Henry the player, thats separate from that." Jace Sternberger Packers Jersey . According to a report from ESPN, Lynch wants a new contract from the Seahawks, and will likely skip all off-season workouts until he can renegotiate his deal with the Seahawks. Dave Robinson Youth Jersey . A quick first step to get to the hoop for a layup. A rousing dunk on the break off a high outlet pass saved by teammate Ramon Sessions. http://www.packersrookiestore.com/Packers-Mike-Daniels-Jersey/ . The Blue Jays lost to the New York Yankees 3-1 Tuesday night, their seventh defeat in 10 games. Rasmus was put on the 15-day DL on May 15 because of a sore right hamstring. Hes hitting .222 with nine home runs and 19 RBIs. Elgton Jenkins Jersey . Louis Cardinals are one of Major League Baseballs model franchises. Ray Nitschke Jersey . However, Therrien added that Galchenyuks status for next Wednesdays game against the Detroit Red Wings is questionable. Galchenyuk has been out since Jan. 6 with a broken right hand.HOUSTON -- The Seattle Mariners couldnt do anything against Houstons Collin McHugh in his first start against them this season. Sundays game was a lot different. Robinson Cano and Willie Bloomquist each drove in two runs, and the Mariners pulled away in a four-run third inning to beat the Astros 8-7. Bloomquist broke a 1-all tie with a two-run double against McHugh (2-1) and Cano followed with his first triple since June 3, 2012. McHugh, who entered with a 0.59 ERA and 19 strikeouts in two starts, gave up six runs -- five earned -- and eight hits in four innings. He allowed three hits and struck out 12 in 6 2-3 scoreless innings against Seattle on April 22. "We had no knowledge of him the first time, and the young man threw the ball pretty good," Seattle manager Lloyd McClendon said. "This time I thought we had better at-bats, gave him stressful at-bats. His pitch count was up, and we were able to take advantage of it." Houston manager Bo Porter said McHugh struggled with his offspeed pitches Sunday. "What you saw today was a Seattle Mariners team making an adjustment from the last time they faced him," Porter said. "He didnt have the sharpness to his breaking stuff like he did that day in Seattle." Brandon Maurer (1-0) allowed four runs and six hits in five innings for his first win since Sept. 28 against Oakland. McClendon was proud of how Maurer got out of the fifth. "It was a big inning in a lot of ways for him from a mental standpoint," McClendon said. "I think he learned a lot. And I think maybe he grew up a little bit." Danny Farquhar allowed one run in two innings for his first save since that Sept. 28 game. Farquhar allowed a two-out single to Jason Castro that pulled Houston within one run in the ninth, then struck out Matt Dominguez to end the game. Alex Presley and Jonathan Villar homered, and Chris Carter and Marc Krauss had two RBIs apiece for the Astros, who lost for the seventh time in 10 gamees and dropped to a big league-worst 10-21.dddddddddddd It was the second straight game with a homer for Villar, who leads the team with five and his 14 extra-base hits are most among American League shortstops. Cano hit an RBI groundout in the first after Michael Saunders singled leading off and took third on McHughs errant pickoff throw, which went for an error. Saunders is hitting .444 with four RBIs in four games in the leadoff spot. Presleys leadoff homer tied the score in the second. After Canos triple, Corey Hart singled for a 5-1 lead in the third. "Just not executing pitches very well is what it comes down to," McHugh said. "I just missed with a couple of pitches here and there. They put some good swings on it, and that really took the wind out of the sails in that third inning." John Buck, who had three hits, doubled and scored on Saunders single in the fourth. Buck had two doubles for his 10th career game with more than one double and first since July 20, 2010. Carter, who entered with a .169 average, hit a two-run double in the fourth -- three of his four homers and seven of his 12 RBIs have come off Mariners pitching. Seattle boosted its lead to 7-3 in the fifth when Jerome Williams walked Dustin Ackley with the bases loaded. Villar homered in the bottom half. NOTES: The Mariners optioned OF Abraham Almonte to Triple-A Tacoma after the game. A corresponding roster move is expected on Monday. ... Houston designated LHP Raul Valdes for assignment and recalled LHP Darin Downs from Triple-A Oklahoma City. ... Astros starter Scott Feldman, who has been on the DL since mid-April with right biceps tendinitis, felt good after throwing 60 pitches in a simulated game on Sunday. ... McClendon said there wont be any pitch limitations on RHP Hisashi Iwakuma in his next start after he threw 81 pitches Saturday in his first outing after coming off the DL. "Theres no reason why he cant go 100 or 105 pitches next time out," McClendon said. ' ' '