MIAMI -- One pitch from being pulled, and one strike from victory, Homer Bailey unleashed a 97 mph fastball to finish off the Marlins. With his 125th pitch -- a career high -- Bailey completed a six-hitter and helped the Cincinnati Reds extend their winning streak to four games by beating Miami 6-2 Tuesday night. Bailey went to a full count on the final batter, Greg Dobbs, and wouldnt have faced another, manager Dusty Baker said. "We were counting pitches in the ninth inning," Baker said. "We were like, Come on, Homer. Quit fouling them off, Dobbs." Dobbs finally lined out weakly, and Bailey earned his first victory since April 5. The Reds climbed a season-best seven games above .500 as they began a nine-game trip. The Marlins, who have the NLs worst record, lost their third game in a row and fell to 5-12 at home. Bailey (2-3) tied a career high with 10 strikeouts and walked none in his fourth complete game. He was glad to give the Reds relievers a break. "Theyve been griping at me," he said. "The last couple of games I only went five or six. Its about time I gave them a day off." The right-hander has endured spotty run support this season, but the Reds scored five times in the second inning to go ahead 6-1. "With that kind of lead I was just trying to be really aggressive," Bailey said. He retired his final eight batters and allowed only four hits over the final 8 2-3 innings. "He worked with tremendous control," Miamis Adeiny Hechavarria said. "He located the pitches where he wanted and fooled us several times." A brief, uncharacteristic bout of wildness proved costly for Ricky Nolasco (2-5), who gave up six runs in five innings. He hit a batter with a pitch and walked two -- both with the bases loaded. Xavier Paul hit a three-run double for the Reds. Brandon Phillips, who began the night tied for the NL lead in RBIs, drove in two runs. Joey Votto drove in a run and had three hits to hike his average to .322. Ryan Hanigan added two hits to raise his average to .149. Miami batted rookies Derek Dietrich and Marcell Ozuna third and fourth, but the strategy failed to jump-start an offence ranked last in the majors in runs, batting average and homers. The Marlins have totalled three runs in Nolascos past three starts. Manager Mike Redmond blamed the feeble attack for Nolascos costly bases on balls. "It kind of stems from our offence, with him going out there he knows he cant give up much," Redmond said. "Hes trying to be perfect; he ends up walking a couple of guys." Cincinnati broke the game open in the second inning, when they scored five times with two outs. Nolasco hit Shin-Soo Choo with a pitch and, after the Reds loaded the bases, walked Votto and Phillips to force in runs. Nolasco then grooved a 3-1 pitch to Paul, who hit a three-run double. "One out away -- frustrating," Nolasco said. "Ive been doing a good job of staying away from that big crooked inning all year but it got me today." A five-run lead was plenty for Bailey. "Homer to me has turned into one of those guys where you could maybe consider him the ace of your staff," Votto said. "He has consistently gotten better over his career, and its really impressive to see him improve and grow." NOTES: With a temperature of 77 degrees at game time, the retractable roof was open for the ninth time this season. It was open only eight times last year. ... Reds OF Chris Heisey, who is on the disabled list, aggravated a strained right hamstring Monday playing for Double-A Pensacola. His projected date to rejoin the team was pushed back to next week. ... Cincinnati LHP Manny Parra, on the DL with a strained left pectoral muscle, began a rehab assignment Monday with Pensacola and threw one scoreless inning. ... The Reds flipped RHP Mat Latos and LHP Tony Cingrani in the rotation to give the latter extra rest as he deals with shoulder soreness. Latos will now start the series finale Thursday, and Cingrani will pitch Friday in Philadelphia. ... Reds RF Jay Bruce, who had played in every game, was given the night off. ... The Marlins began the homestand averaging 18,865 fans per game, which ranked ahead of three other teams: Oakland, Tampa Bay and Cleveland. Air Jordan 3 Wholesale . At a Manhattan federal court hearing, attorney Jordan Siev said his law office has gotten more evidence nearly every day to support its lawsuit accusing MLB and Selig of going on a "witch hunt" to ruin Rodriguezs reputation and career. He said the defendants went "way over the line. Air Jordan 3 Retro For Sale . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. http://www.cheapairjordan3.net/ .Y. -- Paul Byron and Matt Stajan scored as the Calgary Flames started a five-game road trip with a 2-1 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon. Air Jordan 3 Outlet . -- An ugly goal by Nick Bonino helped the Anaheim Ducks overcome the defensive-minded Phoenix Coyotes on a night when their ragged power play continued to struggle. Cheap Air Jordan 3 For Sale . Third-seeded Murray had the easiest path to victory on New Years Eve, barely breaking a sweat during his 6-0, 6-0 win over 2,129th-ranked Qatari wildcard recipient Mousa Shanan Zayed. Zenyatta was born on April 1 -- no kidding -- and she made her racing debut on Thanksgiving. Youre welcome.After such delightful coincidences of the calendar, anything was possible. So, why not 19 straight wins and nearly a 20th, three championship seasons and Horse of the Year, international fame and adoration, and a place on the Hall of Fame wall in Saratoga Springs in her first year of eligibility?Those of us lucky enough to witness the emergence of Zenyatta as a filly of consequence attach our memories to special moments. For this reporter, Zenyatta was always a necessary stop, if only to stand at her stall and wonder aloud how it was possible for anything so big to be so fast and so sweet.Though counterintuitive in Americas culture of speed, Zenyatta was a racehorse who led from behind. She turned races upside down, requiring race-callers to account for her every stride at the back of the pack as if that is where the action was truly unfolding, because it was.Her athleticism in full flight was a sight to behold. Here is Zenyatta skipping lightly over the heels of stablemate Life Is Sweet when Garrett Gomez tried to sucker Mike Smith to the rail on the backstretch of the 2009 Milady Handicap. Here is Zenyatta looking right and then diving left to hit a narrow hole in the 2010 Santa Margarita Handicap. Here is Zenyatta knifing between horses on the turn of the 2009 Breeders Cup Classic before picking her seam and running down Gio Ponti.It was inside the sixteenth pole, said Ramon Dominguez, who rode Gio Ponti that day and will be inducted on Friday as well. Thats when I heard the commotion from the public. I looked over and saw her and thought, Okay. There was nothing I could do.Zenyatta was 5 for 5 when she had her first tough day in the 2008 Vanity Handicap, her first race at nine furlongs. She washed out, fussed going to the post, and pulled herself up once she hit the lead to beat Tough Tizs Sis by only half a length.You want them to be challenged, said her trainer, John Shirreffs, in the wake of that race. You dont want them to have it easy all the time, especially not when theyll be facing much tougher opposition as you go along.Zenyattas opposition often was maligned as moderate, a function, no doubt, of the ease with which she devoured most of her fields in hand. Let the record show, however, that her beaten opponents included champion Gio Ponti, champion Summer Bird, champion Ginger Punch, Breeders Cup winner Life Is Sweet, Santa Anita Handicap winner Einstein, and the major stakes winners Switch, Hystericalady, Music Note, Cocoa Beach, St Trinians, and stablemate Zardana, who upset Rachel Alexandra in New Orleans, the same Rachel Alexandra being inducted alongside Zenyatta.The Hall of Fame spotlight will be on Zenyattas owners, Ann and Jerry Moss, as well as Shirreffs and his wife, Dottie. And, of course, Mike Smith, who rode Zenyattta with the confidence of a man running for a train he knew hed always catch.ddddddddddddShes the best thing that ever happened to me, thats for sure, Smith said.The sentiment is echoed, especially by Jerry Moss, who bought the daughter of Street Cry as a yearling for $60,000.She was big and beautiful, Moss said. She just had this skin rash. We were prepared to go much higher for her, and when the hammer stopped, I just wanted to make sure it was us. Kiss a frog, see what happens.Call it kismet. Call it a fairy tale. Give it whatever name you like.I take no credit other than to admit I am a very lucky man, Moss said. If some of my luck seems to have gotten into the equine part of my life, so be it. Ill accept the credit for being lucky.Moss would be the first to spread the credit around. The list of people who deserve praise for Zenyattas care and well-being also includes Mario Espinoza, Frank Leal, Felipe Rivera, Michelle Jensen, Freddy Miller, and Steve Willard. If their names are not on her Hall of Fame plaque, they should be.I also have to attribute a lot of her success to David Flores, Shirreffs once said, referring to Zenyattas jockey through her first three starts, before Smith took over. He was so patient with her in those earlier races. She would break slow, and he did nothing to rush her or ask her to do anything she wasnt ready to do. She won anyway, but the experiences were positive and helped her a lot.Zenyattas narrow loss in her final start to Blame in the 2010 Breeders Cup Classic proved that she was, at last, human after all. The race still stings, perfection being so very close, but nothing is held against her.To have a horse of this nature, this stature, is a dream come true, Moss said upon her retirement. I just love her. I just hope shes happy and healthy and goes on to be all shes suppose to be.As her plaque is presented on Friday and the crowd at Saratoga stands in ovation, Zenyatta will be lolling about in her 15-acre pasture at Lanes End Farm in Kentucky, probably finding some shade. She is in foal to Medaglia dOro, a Travers and Whitney winner, after having lost her fourth and most recent foal last April to postpartum complications.They certainly mourn the loss of a foal, said Todd Claunch, Lanes End assistant manager. But you could tell, when we brought her back and put her in her paddock, she put her head up, looked around, and said, Im home now. You could see the release in her eye.When she was a maiden mare, Id never seen such a muscular horse, Claunch added. She was like a gladiator. She doesnt exercise herself as much now, but shes still in great shape.Its really nice having her here at the farm. But watching her train and race, that must have been really spectacular.Yes, it really was. ' ' '
