11-14-2019, 06:11 AM
SAN FRANCISCO - Homer Bailey heard frequent reminders that he had a no-hit bid in progress. Adam Eaton Nationals Jersey . Not anyone on the Cincinnati bench mentioned it, however. "I wasnt really thinking about it, other than the fan just above our dugout who kept yelling at me about it," Bailey said. "That was nice of him." Bailey made a strong bid for yet another no-hitter, shutting down San Francisco until Buster Poseys two-out single in the seventh inning and pitching the Reds past the Giants 4-0 Sunday. Bailey has thrown no-hitters in each of the last two seasons, and did it against the Giants at home last July 2. He came close to pitching the latest gem at AT&T Park — the ballpark was the scene of Tim Lincecums no-hitter Wednesday against San Diego. "I had pretty good stuff, got a lot of early outs and we scored enough runs," Bailey said. "It was our lucky day, I guess." Bailey (8-4) finished with a three-hitter as the Reds completed their first four-game sweep in San Francisco since 1972 at Candlestick Park. Billy Hamilton, Brandon Phillips, Brayan Pena and Skip Schumaker drove in runs as the Reds won their season-best fifth straight and eighth in nine overall. The Giants were swept in a four-game series for the first time in their ballpark that opened in 2000. San Francisco has lost 15 of 19 while watching its lead dwindle in the NL West. "We got them at the right time," Schumaker said. "Its still a playoff team, in my opinion. They are too good of a team. Im just happy to get out of here while they were struggling a little bit." Bailey walked one and struck out seven in his fourth career shutout and sixth complete game. Bailey walked Gregor Blanco leading off the fourth, but later caught him taking off early for third base and threw him out. That was all the Giants got into Posey singled cleanly to right-centre field. Pablo Sandovals bloop single moved Posey to third, but Bailey struck out Michael Morse looking to end the inning. "We ran into four starters as dominant as four starters Ive ever seen before," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "They caught everything we hit. They are as hot as any team, and as cold as we are, its what we have to deal with." Bailey was trying to become just the sixth pitcher with at least three career no-hitters. Nolan Ryan leads that list with seven. "He pitched efficiently and we played great defence," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "When the outs are coming so early in the count, he has a chance." Tim Hudson (7-5) allowed two runs on five hits. He did not walk a batter and struck out six. Hes lost his last two starts at home after opening the season with seven straight wins. "My delivery felt a lot better and my timing was good," Hudson said. "They had one or two opportunities to score and they took advantage. I felt like I made a pretty good pitch on Hamilton. Every little run counts in a game like this." Hamiltons two-out double in the third drove in the Reds first run, and with the way Hudson was pitching — he retired 12 of 13 following the double — Bailey needed to be nearly perfect. The Reds tacked on three runs in the ninth against Jeremy Affledt, who took over for Hudson after Todd Frazier started the frame with a single. Affledt balked, hit a batter, threw a wild pitch, allowed three hits and an inherited runner to score and got his only out on Phillips sacrifice fly. NOTES: Bochy announced before the game he would be going with a closer-by-committee for the time being, with RHP Sergio Romo in the mix. "I think its time to tweak it a little bit, get guys on track," Bochy said. ... Giants 1B Brandon Belt (thumb) could rejoin the team Friday in San Diego, but not likely before then. ... Lincecum (6-5, 4.42) makes his first start since throwing his second career no-hitter. Hell face the Cardinals and Marco Gonzales (0-0, 9.00) on Tuesday night. ... Mat Latos (1-0, 2.89) will start Monday nights game in San Diego for the Reds. ... The Reds have won their last five series and are 6-0-1 in their past seven. ... Hamiltons 16th double gives him the lead among NL rookies, breaking a tie with Arizonas Chris Owings, who is on the DL. ... The other pitchers with three or more no-hitters: Sandy Koufax with four and Cy Young, Bob Feller and 1880s pitcher Larry Corcoran with three. Hunter Strickland Nationals Jersey . And theyre pointing to the NHLs biggest market: Toronto. With Gretzky paid out for what is believed to be $7 to 8 million, Gretzky may be eager to get back into the NHL and TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reports that the Maple Leafs are very much interested in The Great Ones services. Juan Soto Nationals Jersey . -- Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh says he isnt going to change what he does on the field. https://www.cheapnationals.com/207r-patr...onals.html . A steady downpour and low temperatures were predicted for much of the night. No makeup date was immediately announced, although it was determined that the game will not be part of a doubleheader on Wednesday. MIAMI -- LeBron James is dealing with a few aches and pains, which obviously is not the best news for the Miami Heat with two weeks left in the regular season. Come game time, though, nothing seems to be ailing him. Bringing the crowd out of its seats with a pair of highlight-reel dunks in the first half, then drilling a deep 3-pointer to end the third quarter, James was his typical effective self on Wednesday night. He led Miami with 17 points, and the Heat stayed atop the Eastern Conference with a wire-to-wire 96-77 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. "If I feel like I can give something, Ive got to be out there for my teammates," James said. "Its my obligation to be out there for them. Im dealing with a few things, but for me to sit out, I have to be dealing with a lot more." Chris Bosh scored 15 and Mario Chalmers scored 14 for the Heat. "I like our effort," Bosh said. "We just have to take care of business and do what were supposed to do." Ramon Sessions scored 19 points for Milwaukee, which got 14 from Jeff Adrien, 11 from Brandon Knight and 10 from John Henson. Zaza Pachulia grabbed 16 rebounds in 26 minutes for the NBA-worst Bucks, who have now had 11 games this season in which they never led. "Getting down against a team like that is definitely tough because they continue to play hard," Knight said. "They dont let up and they dont make many mistakes. ... Credit to them but we didnt execute defensively and we didnt play hard enough." The Bucks fell to 14-61 with seven games remaining and are now only one loss away from tying the franchise record for most defeats in a season. "As we wind this thing down with seven games to go, the thing I want is see them compete," Bucks coach Larry Drew said. "Were dealing with adverse times. This is really a good time to see what guys are truly made of." James said he doesnt currently plan on sitting out any of Miamis final eight games, and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said he probably wouldnt even think about any strategy to get him some rest for at least anotherr week -- a stance that cant come as a surprise, considering the East No. Yan Gomes Jersey. . 1 seed is hardly secure. With the win, Miami (52-22, .703) remained percentage points ahead of Indiana (53-23, .697) in the East race. The Pacers beat Detroit 101-94 earlier Wednesday. "Its tempting to start to look ahead. Were only two weeks away," Spoelstra said. "But theres so much basketball left in these two weeks. And it is very compelling at this time of year, and we are trying to accomplish some things. So as guys start to get back into the lineup we want to take a step forward as a group. And theres a process to that." At some point, that process will presumably include getting Dwyane Wade, Ray Allen and Greg Oden back into the lineup. Wade missed his 23rd game of the season, his fourth straight with a hamstring problem. The Heat are 11-1 in the last 12 games that Wade has missed. Allen has been sidelined by a flu bug that struck his entire family, though hes nearing a return. Oden has been sidelined by back spasms, with Spoelstra saying hes also close to getting back. "Were sharpening our swords," Spoelstra said. Milwaukee opened the fourth quarter with six straight points, cutting Miamis lead to 14 and getting the Heat to call time-out. Whatever doubt existed at that point, if any, didnt last long. Norris Cole snapped Miamis scoreless drought with a beat-the-shot-clock 3-pointer as he was leaning to his right with 8:35 left, Rashard Lewis swished another 3 on the next Heat possession to restore the 20-point cushion, and that basically ensured James would remain in his warmups for the rest of the evening. NOTES: The Bucks led the Heat for a total of 2 minutes, 21 seconds this season -- in three games. ... Miamis Udonis Haslem earned a technical late in the half after a bit too much physicality with Adrien under the basket. Haslem also got his 1,500th career offensive rebound. ... The Heat moved to 30-6 at home, the seventh time in franchise history theyve won that many in Miami. ... Milwaukees O.J. Mayo missed the game with an ankle injury. ' ' '