Gästebuch » over the Gunners on Sunday afternoon

CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Brandon Phillips had to move into the cleanup spot because of an injury on opening day. Hes swinging like he belongs there. The All-Star second baseman drove in three runs with a bases-loaded double on Friday night, and Mike Leake got the better of left-hander Francisco Liriano for the third time this season, leading the Cincinnati Reds to a 5-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates that tightened the NL Central. The third-place Reds moved to within three games of second-place Pittsburgh. The Pirates lead their season series 6-5. The Reds sent nine batters to the plate for four runs in the fifth off Liriano (9-4), who had his shortest outing of the season. Chris Heiseys infield single drove in the first run, and Phillips double off Justin Wilson made it 5-0. It also gave Phillips 77 RBIs this season, among the best in baseball. "Wow," Phillips said. "My teammates put me in a great situation, and I was able to come through. Its my job to try to drive men in. Ive been doing it all year. Thats what its all about." Phillips excellence with runners on base has helped the Reds get through the loss of cleanup hitter Ryan Ludwick, who tore cartilage in his right shoulder while sliding into base on opening day. "Hes been our RBI clutch man all season," manager Dusty Baker said. "You certainly need a guy like that in the middle of your lineup, because hes going to come up with men on base." Heisey also had a solo homer off Liriano, who is 0-3 in three starts against Leake and the Reds this season. Liriano didnt have much control during his first start in nine days. "One of those days I didnt get any rhythm," Liriano said. "I tried to make good pitches and it didnt work out. Everything was up." Leake (9-4) gave up solo homers to Starling Marte, Andrew McCutchen and Russell Martin in the sixth inning. Manny Parra fanned Pedro Alvarez with runners on second and third to end the seventh. Aroldis Chapman struck out two in the ninth while getting his 22nd save in 25 chances. The Ohio River rivals have produced the majors most painful pairings this season. Nineteen batters have been hit by pitches -- the Reds 10 times, the Pirates nine times -- in their 11 games. Nobody was hit on Friday, a rare game that didnt leave a mark. The Pirates emerged from the All-Star break with their best record in 37 years. Their 56 wins were their most at the break since the World Series champion Pirates of 1971 had 57 wins. Pittsburghs overriding question: Can it avoid another second-half meltdown and break a two-decade streak of losing? The Reds are trying to duplicate what they did last season, when they went on a surge after the break and ran away to the NL Central title. First, they need to get healthy. Top starter Johnny Cueto, set-up men Sean Marshall and Jonathan Broxton, and Ludwick are still on the disabled list. "Thats a great win to start the second half of the season," Phillips said. "Were playing a great team. Its time to have some fun and wipe out the mistakes of the first half." Heisey took over in left field when Ludwick got hurt, then pulled his right hamstring and missed nearly two months. His solo shot on Friday gave him three homers since his return. Shin-Soo Choo singled during Cincinnatis four-run fifth, extending his hitting streak to 13 games, matching his career high. Phillips decisive double came a few hours after a magazine released an interview with the All-Star second baseman in which he said hes still "scarred" by the Reds decision to give Joey Votto a 10-year, $225 million extension in 2012 while he was in tough negotiations for an extension of his own. Votto said he understood Phillips opinion and appreciated his honesty. NOTES: Pirates 2B Neil Walker started a rehab assignment with Triple-A Indianapolis on Friday. Hell play three games and get evaluated. Hes been on the 15-day DL since June 7 with soreness in his right side. ... 1B Garrett Jones error ended Pittsburgh streak of 41 innings without one, matching their season high. ... The Reds called up INF Neftali Soto from Triple-A Louisville, filling the spot opened when LH Tony Cingrani was sent down on Wednesday. ... Baker said LH reliever Sean Marshall suffered a "minor setback" in his throwing program. Marshall has been on the DL since April 10 with a sore pitching shoulder. Fake Avalanche Jerseys . Still, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke thought taking him out before the fifth inning was an unusual move. "Im looking up at the board and hes got two hits given up and one run, and Im taking him out after the fourth inning," Roenicke said. Colorado Avalanche Gear . The nimble-footed quarterback got his wish, dashing through the snow and a weary defence all the way into the NCAA record book. https://www.cheapavalanche.com/ . -- Tony Stewart is 20 pounds lighter and has a titanium rod in his surgically repaired right leg. Colorado Avalanche Store . Burris threw two TD passes, including a key 15-yard fourth-quarter strike to Bakari Grant that effectively countered a Toronto comeback bid and led Hamilton to a 33-19 victory. Colorado Avalanche Pro Shop . -- Aaron Murray threw for 408 yards and three touchdowns, ran for another score, and led No. Goals from Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling were enough for Manchester City to leapfrog Arsenal into second place with a comfortable 2-1 win over the Gunners on Sunday afternoon.Theo Walcott had initially given the visitors the lead but Arsenal threw away a lead to lose for the second time in as many games. After the collapse at Everton in midweek, Arsene Wenger wanted a response and wanted to make a real statement of intent with regards to their title push. It looked like they might do just that as they got off to a dream start. They took the lead with five minutes on the clock when Alexis Sanchezs neat reverse pass was finished off well by Walcott for his eighth league goal of the season.City nearly leveeled almost immediately but Sterlings header from a Kevin de Bruyne cross was fractionally wide.dddddddddddd City did eventually get back on terms just two minutes after the restart when a lovely first-time pass from David Silva caught out the Arsenal defence and Sane ran onto the bouncing ball before calmly knocking it beyond Petr Cech.The turnaround was complete with 18 minutes to go when Sterling smashed a shot past Cech at his near post. De Bruyne almost got the points in the bag when he flicked a cross from Jesus Navas onto the post but they held on for the three points. ' ' '