his 67s counterpart, Philippe Trudeau, made 32 sav

PITTSBURGH -- A.J. Burnett walked into the Pittsburgh Pirates dugout after falling two runs down to the Cincinnati Reds in the second inning Saturday night when his catcher decided it was time for a little pep talk. "I told him Thats all were giving up today and he said Yes sir," Russell Martin said. "Thats his attitude. If you give up a couple, its not the end of the world. If you give up a couple, youve got to keep going out there, keep grinding." Something the veteran ace and his resilient club do better than just about anyone else in baseball. A night after a stunning ninth-inning collapse, Pittsburgh responded behind Burnett, who scattered four hits in seven strong innings to lift the Pirates to a 4-2 win and a one-game lead over the Reds for the top spot in the NL wild-card race. "Go out, its a big game, its a big series, you want to attack," Burnett said. "We were able to do that and get through seven somehow. I felt like I got stronger as it went on." Burnett struck out a season-high 12 against three walks and became the first right-hander in the 126-year history of the franchise to top 200 strikeouts in a season when he fanned Joey Votto in the sixth. "I was just focused, I was locked in," Burnett said. "It was probably the best command of that hook Ive had in a long time. I had a put-away pitch tonight, and its lot different when you have those." Jason Grilli worked the ninth for his 31st save, his first since going to the disabled list with a strained right forearm in July. Martin slugged a two-run homer, and Jose Tabata added two hits for the Pirates. Zack Cozart hit his 12th home run of the season for Cincinnati, and Ryan Ludwick added an RBI but Homer Bailey (11-11) lost his first decision since July 26. "The story of the game is we didnt score enough runs," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "We just couldnt get much going against (Burnett). We got some runs early, then he settled down." The Reds rallied for a 6-5 win in 10 innings on Friday, turning three unearned runs in the ninth and Vottos solo homer in the 10th into a tie with the Pirates in the race for home field in the wild card round. It was the second gut-punch loss by the Pirates in three days. In danger of falling behind the Reds in the standings for the first time in since June 20, Pittsburgh reduced its magic number to three behind Burnett and a bullpen that regained its composure after a pair of potentially confidence-shaking meltdowns. Reliever Justin Wilson induced a double play to get out of the eighth, and Grilli -- an All-Star this summer after racking up 29 saves in the seasons first half -- looked like his old self while working around Ludwicks leadoff single in the ninth. "Im just a competitor," Grilli said. "I want the ball. I want to participate. Watching these guys do it for so long made me want to come back and do it with him. It was a big win, obviously, and a lot of fun to be out there." Bailey wasnt quite as sharp. Making his first start at PNC Park since throwing a no-hitter at the Pirates last September, Bailey was solid but not spectacular. An off night by Cincinnatis typically reliable defence didnt help. Alvarez reached with two outs in the third when Votto mishandled a slow chopper to first. Martin followed by taking a fastball from Bailey and sending it into the bleachers in left field to tie it at 2. Pittsburgh broke the tie in the sixth. Andrew McCutchen walked with one out and sprinted to third when Baileys attempted pickoff throw slipped past Votto and rolled to the wall. Justin Morneau walked to put runners on the corners, and Marlon Byrd hit a sacrifice to deep centre field to give the Pirates the lead. Bailey gave up four runs, two earned, and three hits with four walks and three strikeouts. "The loss is on me," Bailey said. "I had the throwing error at first base, I didnt execute very well, I made a couple of bad pitches. (The offence) gave me a couple of runs to work with early and I didnt take advantage of it. I gave them all back and then some." Reliever Zach Duke -- who spent six years in Pittsburgh during the clubs two-decade losing streak -- came on after Byrds sacrifice fly and immediately surrendered an RBI single to Alvarez that gave the Pirates a two-run cushion. NOTES: Cincinnati CF Shin-Soo Choo sat out after injuring his right hand while sliding into first base on Friday. Baker said he wasnt sure when Choo will return. ... Cincinnati rookie OF Billy Hamilton will make his second start of the season on Sunday. The base stealing specialist went 3 for 4 with four stolen bases in his previous start against Houston on Wednesday. ... The series concludes on Sunday when Pittsburghs Jeff Locke (10-6, 3.27 ERA) faces Cincinnatis Bronson Arroyo (13-11, 3.56). Wholesale Air Jordan 1 . He left in the 4th inning of Saturdays game against the Tigers after experiencing tightness. Reyes and the team still hope that he will be ready for Opening Day in Tampa Bay in one week. Air Jordan 1 For Sale . PAUL, Minn. http://www.cheapairjordan1.com/ . Peko, a fourth-round pick in 2006, started all 16 games and a playoff loss to San Diego last season. He was second on the line with 72 tackles and had a career-high three sacks. Cheap Air Jordan 1 China . -- Mike Shanahan gave Robert Griffin III a rest, and may have turned up the pressure on himself, too. Wholesale Air Jordan 1 China . Torres tells Spanish daily AS "in football you never know where you will be inside one month. Im going to work hard, thats all you can do with this last part of the season so important.PETERBOROUGH, Ont. - Matthew Santos and Ben Thomson scored two goals each as the North Bay Battalion edged the Peterborough Petes 6-4 in Ontario Hockey League action on Monday. Barclay Goodrow had a goal and an assist, and Alex Henriksson also scored for the Battalion (30-21-6). Thomson added an assist for a three-point night. Josh MacDonald scored two for the Petes (24-27-5) and Michael Clarke added another. Andrew DAgostini made 39 saves. Brendan ONeill started in goal for North Bay but was pulled after allowing three goals on nine shots. Evan Cormier stopped 15 of 16 shots in relief. --- STORM 9 WHALERS 3 GUELPH, Ont. — Robbi Fabbri scored twice and Zac Leslie and Scott Kosmachuk had a goal and an assist apiece as the Storm toppled the Whalers. Jason Dickinson and Kerby Rychel each scored one goal and helped on another, and Matt Finn, Ryan Horvat, and Chadd Bauman also scored for Guelph (44-9-3), who has won six in a row. Nick Ebert had three assists. Ryan Hartman and Yannick Rathgeb had a goal and an assist apiece for Plymouth (21-29-6), and Carter Sandlak rounded out the Whalers offence. Storm goalie Justin Nicols made 27 saves for the win while Plymouths Zack Bowman stopped 41 of 50 shots in defeat. --- FRONTENACS 6 BULLS 4 KINGSTON, Ont. — Sam Bennett scored a hat trick and Matt Mahalak made 28 saves to lead the Frontenacs over the Bulls. Spencer Watson had a goal and an assist, and Robert Polesello and Darcy Greenaway also scored for Kingston (31-20-4). Remi Elie scored twice for Belleville (17-34-5) and Aaron Berisha and Scott Simmonds contributed with a goal apiece. Cameron Brace racked up four assists. Charlie Graham started in net for the Bulls but was pulled after giving up two goals on four shots. Michael Giugovaz stopped 21 of 25 shots in relief. --- RANGERS 6 OTTERS 3 KITCHENER, Ont. — Matthew Greenfield made 31 saves and the Rangers got goals from six different skaters to double up the Erie Otters. Scott Teskey, Nick Magyar, Darby Llewellyn, Curtis Meighan, Mike Davies and Ben Fanelli all scored for Kitchener (21-32-3). Logan Schmidt had two assists. Brenan Gaunce hhad a goal and an assist for Erie (43-11-2), while Kurtis McDermid and Connor McDavid picked up the other Otters goals.dddddddddddd Oskar Dansk stopped 25 of 31 shots in defeat. --- WOLVES 4 STEELHEADS 1 MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Nicholas Baptiste scored two goals and helped on another as the Wolves downed the Steelheads. Radek Faska had a goal and two assists, and Danny Desrochers also scored for Sudbury (30-17-9). Andrew Goldberg had the lone goal for Mississauga (21-32-4), who has dropped three straight. Franky Palazzese turned aside 32 shots in the victory. Steelheads goalie Spencer Martin made 26 saves. --- ATTACK 5 67S 4 OTTAWA — Kyle Platzer had two goals and an assist, and Holden Cook scored twice as Owen Sound edged Ottawa. Santino Centorame also scored for the Attack (25-24-7), while Brayden Rose, Jeffrey Gilligan and Kurtis Gabriel each chipped in with two assists apiece. Connor Brown and Erik Bradford both scored twice for Ottawa (20-32-4). Travis Konecny had two assists. Owen Sounds Brandon Hope stopped 26 shots while his 67s counterpart, Philippe Trudeau, made 32 saves in defeat. --- KNIGHTS 6 GENERALS 3 OSHAWA, Ont. — Gemel Smith scored twice and added an assist to lift the Knights over the Generals. Brett Welychka scored one goal and assisted on two others, Michael McCarron and Nikita Zadorov had a goal and an assist apiece, and Max Domi also scored for London (39-12-5), who extended its winning streak to four games. Dylan Smoskowitz and Michael Dal Colle had a goal and an assist apiece for the East division-leading Generals (36-16-5) and Cole Cassels also scored. Jake Patterson stopped 27 shots for the Knights, while Oshawas Daniel Altshuller made 27 saves. --- SPIRIT 3 STING 1 SARNIA, Ont. — Kristoff Kontos scored a goal and helped on another as the Spirit toppled the Sting. Justin Sefton and Andrey Alexeev also scored for Saginaw (27-25-5). Hayden Hodgson scored the lone goal for Sarnia (15-36-6), who was outshot 35-22. Jake Paterson stopped 21 shots for his 20th win of the season, while Sting goalie Justin Fazio made 32 saves in the losing effort. ' ' '