Funkerstation » d in the NFL, he said

CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Heading into the second game of their series against the St. Louis Cardinals, manager Dusty Baker knew his struggling Reds couldnt wait much longer to break out of their week-long funk. "We need to beat these Cardinals," Baker said. "We cant have them thinking they can just throw their gloves out there and beat us." This time, the Reds applied the beating. Devin Mesoraco drove in three runs with a pair of homers, and the Reds finally broke out against a St. Louis team that has held them down all season, beating the Cardinals 8-3 on Saturday night to even their series. The Reds won for only the fourth time in 11 games between the NL Central rivals. Cincinnati had scored fewer than four runs in each of their last nine games head-to-head. "Its pretty big," left-hander Tony Cingrani said. "Weve been on a pretty rough stretch." And not just against St. Louis. The defending NL Central champions are mired in third place because their offence has gone missing, scoring four or fewer runs in each of the last seven games. Jack Hannahan singled home a pair of runs in the first inning, and the Reds were back in the swing. "That calms everybody down," Mesoraco said. "Now youre coming back, you feel good and confident." Cingrani (5-1) and four relievers contained an offence that had scored 26 runs in the last two games, allowing four hits. Jake Westbrook (7-6) gave up five runs -- all with two outs -- in five innings. Hannahan singled with the bases loaded in the first inning. Mesoracos homer in the fourth made it 4-1. The catcher hit a solo shot in the eighth off Michael Blazek for the first multihomer game of his career. Shin-Soo Choo followed with a two-run homer off Blazek. The Cardinals ended a seven-game losing streak by beating the Pirates 13-0 on Thursday, then came to Cincinnati and drubbed the Reds 13-3 on Friday night. It was the first time since 2003 that they scored 13 runs in back-to-back games. They got off to a fast start against Cingrani, making his first career appearance against the Cardinals. Jon Jay opened the game with a walk and came around on Carlos Beltrans double. Cingrani bounced his next pitch, letting Beltran move to third, but thats all the Cardinals would manage as the left-hander escaped the 30-pitch inning down only 1-0. Cingrani left after the Cardinals loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth. Grounders by Rob Johnson and pinch-hitter Matt Carpenter drove in runs that cut it to 5-3. Westbrook threw a five-hitter for a 10-0 win over Cincinnati on April 10. He lost his shutout right away this time. Westbrook gave up a hit and a pair of walks in the first, including an intentional walk to Jay Bruce that brought up Hannahan with the bases loaded and two outs. Hannahan, who was 0 for 4 career against Westbrook, lined a 2-2 pitch to centre for a 2-1 lead. "The hit of the game was the two-out hit by Jack Hannahan," Baker said. "It was nice to see some of the guys swinging that way tonight. It looked pretty good tonight." It was the second game in a row that Westbrook had trouble in the opening inning. He gave up four runs in the first inning of a 9-2 loss in Pittsburgh on Monday. "I couldnt finish off innings," Westbrook said. "Id get a couple of quick outs and I couldnt put them away. That was a subpar performance for me. I felt like I pitched better today than in my last start. I was making decent pitches." Mesoracos homer was only the fifth that Westbrook has allowed in his 16 starts this season. Westbrook walked five batters in five innings, and three of them scored. Joey Votto got the second of his three walks with two outs in the fifth and came around on Brandon Phillips double. Notes: Carpenter (0 for 20) and Reds 3B Todd Frazier (0 for 25) were out of the starting lineups. Carpenter got into the game as a pinch hitter. Frazier got in as part of a double switch. Neither got a hit. ... The Reds optioned RH reliever Curtis Partch to Triple-A Louisville a day after he struggled in the series opener. RH Pedro Villarreal was called up for the third time. ... RH Jonathan Broxton (elbow) threw 14 pitches in the bullpen without problem. Hell throw again on Sunday and could be activated off the DL next week. ... Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick threw a ceremonial pitch. Cheap Jerseys From China . That left plenty of energy for pitching books and swatting away free agency questions. Anthony had 24 points and nine rebounds, and the Knicks avenged an embarrassing home loss with a rout of their own, beating the Boston Celtics 114-88 on Wednesday night for their third straight victory. Jerseys NFL Wholesale . Louis. To which I would say two things: 1. Where there is smoke, there is or perhaps has been a little fire. Or, in other words, the two teams would appear to have at least spoken. And spoken is defined as one calling the other to inquire, no more, no less. http://www.cheapwholesalejerseyschina.com/ .Y. - Free agent outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, fresh off winning the World Series with Boston, reached agreement with the rival New York Yankees on a seven-year contract worth about $153 million, a person familiar with the negotiations said Tuesday night. NFL Jerseys Discount . -- Canadian Andrew Wiggins got the ball on the wing, made a nifty spin move and then let go with a soft floater from about 10 feet that swished through the net in Allen Fieldhouse. Cheap Stitched NFL Jerseys . Hazard cut in from the left and scored with a swerving right-footed shot for ninth goal of the season, which proved to be enough for the victory despite Chelseas forwards again lacking a cutting edge up front. HOUSTON -- When the Houston Texans drafted Will Fuller in the first round this year the goal was to take some pressure off Pro Bowl receiver DeAndre Hopkins.So far their plan is working perfectly.Fuller finished with four receptions for 104 yards in Houstons 19-12 win over Kansas City (1-1) on Sunday to become the first rookie in franchise history with consecutive 100-yard receiving games to start his career. The 21st overall pick in this years draft had 107 yards receiving in his NFL debut last week and is the first player selected in the first round of a draft to achieve the feat.Fullers presence hasnt yet eliminated the double teams that Hopkins faced constantly last season, but it has certainly made teams think twice about keying on him alone.Its been good, Hopkins said. Defenses cant just focus on me (but) its only been two games ... he still has a lot to prove.Hopkins led the team with 113 yards receiving and a touchdown on Sunday to give Houston (2-0) two players with at least 100 yards receiving for the eighth time in franchise history and the first time since 2013.Fuller, who ran a 4.32 40-yard-dash at the combine, has already shown a knack for taking short passes and turning them into big gains. While coach Bill OBrien has raved about Fuller, he wasnt in much of a mood to compliment the offense on Sunday after Houston failed to cash in on multiple opportunities in the red zone.We take a lot of pride in our offense and I thought we did some good things, OBrien said. Im not saying we didnt, Im just saying that theres a whole lot of improvement we need to make.Some things we learned in Houstons win over the Chiefs.STILL LEARNINGSecond-year cornerback Marcus Peters led Kansas Citys defense on Sunday with two interceptions. But he drew the ire of coach Andy Reid for a taunting penalty he received for wagging his finger in the face of an opponent like NBA Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo did after blocking a shot.He had some good plays. There are some things hell continue to work on, Reid said. Hes a competitive kid, and that happens there. Hell get better at that.WATT FEELING BETTERHouston star J.J. Watt was feeling better in his second game back after missing training camp and all four preseason games after surgery to repair a herniated disk in his back in July.dddddddddddd. He had 1 1/2 sacks, two quarterback hits and recovered a fumble on Sunday after failing to get a sack in Week 1.Despite his performance, the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year still feels like hes got a way to go before hes back to 100 percent.I dont think Im all the way there yet, he said. But I definitely felt a little better today than I did last week and I think its going to continue that way.WARE NOT USED TO FUMBLESSpencer Ware had the first fumble of his three-year NFL career on Sunday when Houston punched out the ball and Kevin Johnson scooped it up and returned it 52 yards. Not only had Ware not fumbled in the NFL, he said that he only fumbled twice in college and that he didnt lose either of those balls.I never lost a fumble, he said. That is something that we dont condone and its not acceptable.Ware has started both games for Kansas City this season with Jamaal Charles still recovering from last years knee surgery.MISTAKES HARD TO OVERCOMEReid was disappointed that his team lost three fumbles and had nine penalties for 77 yards on Sunday.The margin between winning and losing is so small in this league (that if) you do stupid things, its going to be tough to come out on the right side of the score, he said.CLOWNEY COMING ALONGJadeveon Clowney, the top overall pick in 2014, continued to be disruptive and had three tackles, including one for a loss, two quarterback hits and batted down one of Alex Smiths passes. The Texans have been impressed with Clowney this season after he failed to make an impact in his first two injury-plagued seasons.Hes happy with his improvement, but disappointed that he was unable to take down Smith.Ive got to get them sacks, man, he said. Pressures (are) good but you want sacks at the end of the day. So Ive got to get there a step faster. But being disruptive is good, get them all messed up in the backfield and the guys come and make plays.---Follow AP at: www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '