Die Traits » leading Houston to its fourth straight win.

PITTSBURGH -- For the second straight game, the Pittsburgh Pirates made the most of one productive inning. Neil Walker hit a three-run homer in the first and Pittsburgh made it hold up behind starter Vance Worley, beating the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 on Saturday for its fourth straight victory. Walkers 18th home run put the Pirates ahead 3-0 against Alfredo Simon four batters into the game. Pittsburghs winning streak matches its longest of the season. In the thick of the NL playoff race, the Pirates have won the first two games of the three-game series despite scoring in only two innings. They had a two-run rally in the eighth Friday for a 2-1 victory. "Its a testament to our pitching," Walker said. "We only scored three runs today and Vance and the bullpen made it stand up. Thats what won it for us." Worley (6-4) allowed two runs -- one earned -- and three hits in 6 1-3 innings to snap a career-worst, three-start skid. Mark Melancon pitched a perfect ninth for his 26th save after Justin Wilson and Tony Watson combined for 1 2-3 scoreless innings. "Its just a lot of fun to be pitching in this situation," Worley said. "Every game is important. You have to be excited about that." Despite retiring 12 batters in a row between the third and sixth, Simon (13-9) fell to 1-6 since pitching in his first All-Star game last month. Todd Frazier homered for the Reds, who lost their seventh road game in a row. Simon allowed four hits and three walks in seven innings while striking out seven. "This was pretty much the story of his second half," Cincinnati manager Bryan Price said. "He has some trouble getting out of the gate and then hes fine. The bottom line, though, is we have to score more than two runs. Its tough to win when you dont score runs consistently, and its been a problem all season." The game featured only seven hits, four by Pittsburgh. The Pirates are a major league-best 24-9 at home since June 19. Cincinnati cut it to 3-2 in the seventh, scoring a run when first baseman Ike Davis dropped Zack Cozarts two-out popup for an error. TRAINERS ROOM Reds: No injury updates. Pirates: 3B Pedro Alvarez (sprained left foot) missed his third straight game, and RF Travis Snider (strained right hamstring) sat out for the second day in a row. ... RHP Charlie Morton (right hip inflammation/sports hernia) wont be able to get stretched out enough to rejoin the starting rotation by the time he is eligible to be activated from the disabled next Friday, but said he would be willing to pitch in relief. UP NEXT Reds: RHP Johnny Cueto (15-8, 2.26 ERA) will look to snap his two-start losing streak in which he has allowed six runs over 11 1-3 innings for a 4.76 ERA. He faces LHP Francisco Liriano in a rematch of last years NL wild-card game. Cueto is 16-4 with a 2.26 ERA in 25 career starts against Pittsburgh. Pirates: Liriano (3-10, 3.98) is 0-3 with a 4.03 ERA in his last five starts, but he pitched six scoreless innings Monday against St. Louis. Though he won the wild-card game last season, Liriano is 0-5 with a 4.25 ERA against the Reds in seven regular-season starts. MORE BENCH HELP The Pirates recalled a player from Triple-A Indianapolis for the second straight day, bringing up INF Brent Morel to help off the bench with Alvarez and Snider unavailable. 1B-OF John Lambo was recalled on Friday night. LHP Jeff Locke was optioned to Indianapolis in a procedural move. He will remain with the Pirates and be recalled Monday when major league rosters expand. Locke is scheduled to start Tuesday night at St. Louis. BAD YEAR FOR BRUCE Reds RF Jay Bruce called this season "the most embarrassing year of my life." He went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts, dropping his batting average to .217. Bruce is 4 for 32 with 15 strikeouts in his last nine games. He is 2 for 12 in his career against Worley. Spencer Long Jets Jersey . Giants manager Bruce Bochy told The Associated Press of the decision before NL West-leading San Francisco opened a 10-game homestand Monday night with the first of three games against second-place Arizona. Sam Darnold Jersey .C. -- Marcus Paige and his North Carolina teammates have endured so many wild swings -- big wins, surprising losses, NCAA drama -- that no one can blame their Hall of Fame coach for wondering whats next. http://www.authenticjetsfootballonline.com/authentic-trumaine-johnson-jets-jersey/ . There are some early surprises in the race for the Hart Trophy, but two of the contenders are the leagues biggest stars over the past decade. There are many more players in contention for the awards than just the three that Ive named, and a good or bad week can easily alter the landscape, but through the first 20 or so games of the NHL season, this is how the awards races look to me. Terrelle Pryor Sr. Jets Jersey . Messis 75th-minute goal answered some of the criticism the clubs all-time leading scorer had received for his lacklustre performances in the teams recent losses in the league, Champions League and Copa del Rey final. Isaiah Crowell Jets Jersey . Alen, 28, hit .315 with five home runs, 59 RBI and a career-high nine stolen bases for the Goldeyes last season. He is the longest serving catcher in Goldeyes history, having already spent five seasons with the organization.ATLANTA - The Atlanta Hawks overcame 37 points by Portlands LaMarcus Aldridge to extend their franchise-record winning streak to 18 games with a 105-99 victory over the Trail Blazers on Friday night.The balanced Hawks had six players score in double figures. Paul Millsap had 21 points, Al Horford finished with 17 and Kyle Korver scored 16. Mike Scott went 3 for 3 from 3-point range and finished with 11 points in 14 minutes.Portland led after each of the first three quarters but couldnt stretch the advantage to more than six points. The Blazers have lost four of five.Aldridge also had 11 rebounds. Wesley Matthews scored 16 points, and Damian Lillard added 13 points and 11 assists.Atlanta outscored Portland 36-25 in the final period.CAVALIERS 101, KINGS 90CLEVELAND (AP) — Kevin Love had 23 points in Clevelands ninth consecutive victory, and LeBron James scored 19 in his return from a one-game absence.Kyrie Irving finished with 21 points for the Cavaliers in his first game since he scored 55 against Portland on Wednesday.James returned after the win against the Blazers with a sprained right wrist. He was 7 for 16 from the field in 33 minutes, but made five straight shots as Cleveland put the game away early in the fourth quarter.A team trainer placed a brace on James wrist in the third, which he wore the remainder of the game.DeMarcus Cousins, who was added to the Western Conference All-Star team Friday, had 21 points and 13 rebounds in Sacramentos eight consecutive loss.PELICANS 108, CLIPPERS 103NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Eric Gordon scored a season-high 28 points, and the Pelicans snapped the Clippers six-game winning streak.With power forward Anthony Davis sitting out because of his sore left groin, the Pelicans benefited from exceptional shooting from behind the 3-point line, hitting 13 of 25, and at the foul line, where they made 23 of 26 free throws, including their last 17.Ryan Anderson, starting for Davis, scored 24 as New Orleans won for the fifth time in six games.Chris Paul had 24 points for Los Angeles, while Blake Griffin added 19 and DeAndre Jordan had 12 points and 15 rebounds.JAZZ 110, WARRIORS 100SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Gordon Hayward had 26 points, 15 rebounds and six assists, helping the Jazz beat the Warriors for the first time this season.Hayward was 9 for 20 from the field and 7 for 8 at the line, showing no lingering effects from sinus congestion that held him out of practice Thursday. Trevor Booker had 17 points, and fellow reserve Trey Burke finished with 15.Utah dropped its first two games against Golden State, losing 101-88 on Nov. 21 and 116-105 on Jan. 13.Stephen Curry scored 32 points for the Western Conference-leading Warriors, who were coming off a 113-111 overtime loss to Chicago on Tuesday. Klay Thompson had 12 points on 5-for-10 shooting after averaging 31.6 points over his previous seven games.MAVERICKS 93, HEAT 72MIAMI (AP) — Charlie Villanueva scored 20 points, and the Mavericks went on an incredible 37-2 run in the second half.The win was the 600th for Dallas coach Rick CCarlisle, and snapped a four-game losing streak.dddddddddddd Dallas was down by 16 in the third quarter, down nine with about 3 minutes to go in the third and then turned the game completely around.Dirk Nowitzki and Monta Ellis each scored 12 points for the Mavericks, and Tyson Chandler had 11 points and 13 rebounds.Hassan Whiteside had 16 points and 24 rebounds for Miami. James Ennis scored 15, Chris Bosh had 12 and Mario Chalmers scored 10 for the Heat.RAPTORS 127, NETS 122, OTNEW YORK (AP) — DeMar DeRozan scored 26 points for Toronto, and Amir Johnson made the tiebreaking basket with 41 seconds left in overtime.Lou Williams finished with 25 points and Johnson had 24 for the Raptors, who led by 17 in the second half before their fifth consecutive victory turned into a difficult one. Johnson made the tying dunk with 12 seconds left in regulation, and scored inside after DeRozans shot was blocked to make it 124-122, making him 10 for 11 from the field.Jarrett Jack scored a career-high 35 points for the Nets, and had 13 assists and eight rebounds. Brook Lopez came off the bench for 35 points and 12 boards.Brooklyn lost its fourth straight and finished a miserable 3-12 January with its seventh straight home loss.SUNS 99, BULLS 93PHOENIX (AP) — Eric Bledsoe scored 23 points and Goran Dragic had 21, leading Phoenix to the win.Bledsoes six-footer high off the glass put the Suns up 97-93. It came after a 7-0 Chicago run that cut the lead to 95-93 on Aaron Brooks layup with 31.9 seconds to go.Markieff Morris had 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Suns. His twin brother, Marcus, also scored 12.Derrick Rose scored 23 for the Bulls, who were coming off a double-overtime loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles on Thursday night and didnt arrive in Phoenix until 3:30 a.m. on Friday.The Suns finished 6-2 in a franchise-record eight-game homestand.ROCKETS 93, CELTICS 87BOSTON (AP) — Donatas Motiejunas scored 10 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, leading Houston to its fourth straight win.Motiejunas also had 12 rebounds as the Rockets improved to 17-7 on the road. Houston led by 18 at halftime.Rockets star James Harden, the NBAs leading scorer, had 14 points on 4-for-21 shooting. Terrance Smith had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Houston, and Corey Brewer scored 10.Marcus Thornton and Brandon Bass each scored 17 for the Celtics. Tayshaun Prince had 13 points.76ERS 103, TIMBERWOLVES 94PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Michael Carter-Williams had a triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, and Philadelphia got the win in a matchup of two of the leagues worst teams.Luc Mbah a Moute had a team-high 18 points, and Nerlens Noel and Robert Covington chipped in 14 apiece for the 76ers, who won consecutive games for the third time this season while snapping a streak of 23 straight games without reaching 100 points.Minnesotas Kevin Martin had 19 points in his second game back after missing 34 due to a fractured right wrist. The Timberwolves were trying to win consecutive games for the first time this season. ' ' '