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PITTSBURGH -- A single strike from falling two games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates in the race for the top spot in the National League wild-card race, the Cincinnati Reds needed a break. Maurice Alexander Jersey . Jordy Mercer provided one. The surging Reds took care of the rest. A wild throw by the Pittsburgh shortstop with two outs in the ninth inning opened the door for a three-run rally off Pirates closer Mark Melancon that tied the game. Joey Vottos home run off Kyle Farnsworth an inning later won it as the Reds pulled off an improbable 6-5 victory to move into a tie with the Pirates. Both teams are two games behind St. Louis for the lead in the NL Central. "Thats really uncommon, really rare, and for us to have done that in a game like this, against this squad, against that pitcher, that makes it even more rare and pretty impressive," Votto said. "Guys just strung together a bunch of tough at-bats." Ones that came after Mercer couldnt quite handle a slow grounder by Todd Frazier with one on and two outs in the ninth. Mercer charged the ball but couldnt get a grip on it and it ended up in the stands behind first base. "If I make a good throw right there, the game is over and all the stuff that happened never happens," Mercer said. "It was tough. We played a great game, everybody played a great game and to have it happen like that, its just a bad throw." And the Pirates quickly unraveled. Zach Cozart singled after Mercers error to put runners on the corners. Cincinnati rookie base-stealing specialist Billy Hamilton pinch ran for Cozart and promptly swiped second then raced home when Devin Mesoraco ended a nine-pitch duel with Melancon by sending a sharp grounder that bounced off third baseman Pedro Alvarez and rolled onto the grass in shallow left field. "I really just went up there and just thought about battling ..." Mesoraco said. "That was it. That was my only goal, just go up there, battle, battle, and hopefully leave one out over the plate that I could put a half-decent swing on and hopefully find a hole." Melancon has been dominant since taking over the closers role from Jason Grilli in July, but blew his second save in three days. San Diego rallied for a 3-2 win on Wednesday. This one, however, will almost certainly be more difficult to overcome. "Thats a game we should have won and I think the Reds know that too," Melancon said. JJ Hoover (5-5) earned the win for the Reds, who have won four straight. Aroldis Chapman worked the 10th for his 38th save. Farnsworth (1-1) retired Brandon Phillips to start the 10th but left fielder Starling Marte couldnt quite grab Vottos shot down the line. "We hadnt come back in a long time, and we hadnt come back for a long time on the road," Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker said. Pittsburgh began the week 74-2 when leading after eight innings, but has now squandered ninth-inning leads twice in three nights. "Who said it was going to be easy?" manager Clint Hurdle said. "Who said it was going to be easy? Weve been very good winning as a team, losing as a team ... weve got to find a way to finish things off." The Pirates appeared firmly in control through eight innings. Francisco Liriano overwhelmed the Reds, allowing two runs on three hits, walking three and striking out seven. The left-hander needed only 94 pitches to record 24 outs, but told Hurdle he was done when he entered the dugout after striking out Brandon Phillips to end the eighth. "He was fantastic," Hurdle said. "He said when he came off he laid it all out there." Ryan Ludwick finished 3 for 5 for the Reds, while Frazier hit his 17th home run. Jose Tabata and Neil Walker hit consecutive homers off Cincinnati starter Mat Latos in the first and Pittsburgh appeared en route to giving itself some breathing room as the franchise pursues its first playoff spot since 1992. PNC Park, typically a ghost town this time of year as the Pirates play out the string, was electric when Pittsburgh took the field. The 21st sellout of the season included Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett and Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Bylsma. NOTES: Hurdle was ejected in the eighth for arguing after star Andrew McCutchen was hit by reliever Sam LeCure, who was given a warning by home plate umpire Mark Carlson ... The series continues on Saturday when Pittsburghs A.J. Burnett (8-11, 3.43 ERA) faces Home Bailey (11-10, 3.40). Bailey tossed his first career no-hitter in his previous start at PNC Park last September. Gerald Everett Jersey .Steamboat Ski Resort contends Steamboat Springs, Colorado has long been known as Ski Town, U.S.A., and claims in a new lawsuit that Salt Lake tourism officials violated their trademark when they rolled out the Ski City marketing campaign last month. Deacon Jones Jersey . Yup, he definitely needed this one. Craig homered twice and had three RBIs Wednesday night to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 7-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Craig went 4 for 5 and Yadier Molina added three hits for the Cardinals, who salvaged the final game of a three-game set in hopes of staying within shouting distance of front-running Milwaukee in the NL Central. http://www.authenticramsfansclub.com/Black-Friday-...er-Jers ey/ . The Missouri Tigers Defensive End and SEC Defensive player of the year is eligible for the upcoming NFL draft in May.PITTSBURGH -- The best line on hockeys busiest team hardly looked gassed. The way Derick Brassard and Benoit Pouliot were furiously pouring in overtime goals, the New York Rangers didnt exactly look like a group in need of a day off. Brassard beat Marc-Andre Fleury 3:06 into overtime -- with Pouliot bizarrely doing the same seven seconds later -- and the Rangers stunned the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference secound round Friday night. The winner officially went to Brassard, whose wrist shot from in front beat Fleury cleanly but caromed back onto the ice. Referee Steve Kozari waved it off, however, and play continued before Pouliot slammed the puck into a wide open net moments later for good measure. "I found out way later (Brassard) got the goal," Pouliot said. "Good for him. Weve been playing well against Philly and now tonight. We deserved that." Pouliot and Brad Richards gave the Rangers an early 2-0 lead. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 34 shots and stuffed a late Pittsburgh breakaway in the final seconds of regulation. The line of Pouliot, Brassard and Mats Zuccarello combined for 14 points in New Yorks four regular-season meetings with the Penguins. They were the best trio on the ice on a team barely 48 hours removed from a wearying seven-game victory over Philadelphia in the opening round. "Since Christmas theyve probably been our most consistent line," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "Theyve got real good chemistry. They read off one another and support one another well and ... they scored two in overtime." Lee Stempniak and James Neal scored for the Penguins. Fleury made 24 saves but was helpless on the winner. "It was just a big pile of guys and I was trying to find the puck out of it," Fleury said. Pittsburgh star Sidney Crosby was held without a goal for the 12th straight playoff game as the Rangers took away much of the open ice where Crosby likes to operate. "It couldve went either way," Crosby said. "I dont think we played a full 60 (minutes)." Not exactly. The Rangers were supposed to be exhausted after outlasting the Flyers in the opening round, not advancing until a 2-1 victory in Game 7 on Wednesday night. Instead, it was the well-rested Penguins who apppeared to need a nap. Nickell Robey-Coleman Jersey . Pouliot gave New York the lead 5:04 into first period, capitalizing on a Pittsburgh turnover then splitting Penguins defenceman Olli Maatta and Matt Niskanen before firing a wrist shot that caromed off Fleurys right arm and into the net. Richards doubled the lead late in the period with his third and easiest goal of the post-season. Carl Hagelin beat Maatta to a puck in the corner and fed it to Richards, who had enough time in front to go from his backhand to his forehand and flip the puck by an overmatched Fleury. Whatever sluggishness the Penguins felt after a three-day layoff vanished in the second. Stempniak cut the lead in half by taking a nice drop pass from Beau Bennett then streaking down the middle and beating Lundqvist with a backhand 7:15 into the period. Neal tied it just over 6 minutes later thanks to a rare mistake by Lundqvist, who deflected Neals into the air then had it glance off his back and into the net. Lundqvist pleaded with officials that Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin had interfered with him while trying to make the save, but replays showed Malkins high-stick swat didnt come close to touching the puck. New York gathered itself before the third and the teams traded chances over the final 20 minutes of regulation with Lundqvist stopping a slap shot from Stempniak in the final 15 seconds to send it to overtime. Whatever adrenaline the Rangers had left fueled them during the brief extra period. New York dominated play before the madcap finish to beat the Penguins in Game 1 of a post-season series for the first time. The Penguins came in 4-0 in the playoff series against New York. Now the Rangers find themselves in control with a welcome day off before Sundays rematch. "Yeah we played seven games and the seventh one was a grueling match but I think most of us have been through it," Pouliot said. "Its the NHL and you have to find a way and we did." NOTES: New York went 0 for 4 on the power play and is 0 for its last 25 with the man advantage. ... The Rangers held out F Chris Kreider once again. Kreider wore a non-contact jersey during Friday mornings skate and his return from a hand injury remains uncertain. ... Penguins D Brooks Orpik missed his third straight game with an undisclosed injury. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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