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CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Josh Beckett has pitched his home games in Los Angeles for almost two years now, and hed almost forgotten what it was like to sit through a rain delay. He handled this one with no problem The right-hander waited more than 2 hours to make his start Tuesday night, but once he got on the mound, he was on top of his game. Beckett allowed two hits in six shutout innings, Hanley Ramirez hit a two-run single and the Dodgers defeated the Cincinnati Reds 6-1. "Sitting around today was tough," the 34-year-old Beckett said. "Im not 23 anymore. I was ready to go at 7:10. I spent a lot of time in the weight room trying to stay loose. I felt fine." Beckett (4-3), who had endured two consecutive 2-1 losses since his no-hitter May 25 in Philadelphia, finished with seven strikeouts and one walk. He also hit a batter with a pitch. "Actually, I felt like it was his cleanest game since the no-hitter," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "The ball was coming out better. He had a better changeup, and he kept the ball down." Beckett echoed Mattinglys assessment. "I felt like it was a clean outing," he said. He also enjoyed better support from his offence, which scored more runs in one inning than it had in his previous two starts combined. Yasiel Puig, Adrian Gonzalez, Andre Ethier and Justin Turner led the Los Angeles lineup with two hits apiece. Beckett got into the act with a single of his own for the Dodgers, who have won three straight and four of five. "Joshs performance today is what hes been giving us all year," Ethier said. "We havent been producing many runs for him." Mike Leake, reached for a season-high five runs in his previous start Thursday against San Francisco, allowed five more and a season-high nine hits in 5 1-3 innings. Leake (3-6), who lost seven games last season, had seven strikeouts and one walk. "It was a weird night," said Leake, bothered by a stiff neck in his previous three starts. "I missed some spots. I got some groundballs, but they found holes. I didnt do my job today." Reds first baseman Joey Votto, activated from the 15-day disabled list before the game after missing 23 games with a strained quadriceps in his left knee, went 1 for 3 with a single, two strikeouts and a walk. After the start was delayed by rain for 2 hours, 5 minutes, the Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the second on Gonzalezs leadoff double and Ethiers one-out double. Beckett helped himself in a three-run fifth after Turner led off with a single. With one out, the pitcher faked a bunt and hit a chopper over charging third baseman Todd Frazier for his third hit in 23 at-bats this season. "I saw him charging," Beckett said. "He was playing so shallow already. I took a shot." Turner scored on Dee Gordons double, and Ramirez drove in both runners with a single to right field. That pretty much gave Los Angeles control. The largest deficit overcome by the Reds to win this season is two runs. Cincinnati manager Bryan Price was impressed with the Dodgers approach. "They did a nice job of putting the ball in play," Price said. "They ran some balls through the infield. They had enough team speed to get some good reads off the bat and score off that line drive to right." Los Angeles added a run in the sixth on Matt Kemps one-out walk and back-to-back singles by Ethier and Turner, who has four consecutive multihit games. Puig singled, stole second and scored on Gonzalezs second double in the seventh. Ethier is hitting .467 (7 for 15) with six RBIs against Leake. The Reds avoided being shut out on Jay Bruces leadoff double, Devin Mesoracos infield single and Zack Cozarts one-out RBI single in the seventh. Mesoraco snapped a career-worst, 0-for-19 slump. NOTES: Cozart stayed in the game after being hit in the batting helmet by Becketts pitch in the fifth. ... Ethiers sixth-inning infield single originally was ruled an out, but Mattinglys challenge led to the call being overturned after a replay review. ... LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu is the Dodgers scheduled starter Wednesday. The last time he faced the Reds, he carried a perfect game through seven innings before settling for a 4-3 win on May 26 in Los Angeles. Robert Parish Jersey .Y. -- The Buffalo Bills have fired receivers coach Ike Hilliard. Red Auerbach Jersey .Bacca took advantage of Cristian Alvarezs hesitation to head a lobbed pass over the goalkeeper and then used his feet to roll the ball into an empty net in the eighth minute. The Colombia strikers 10th goal pulled him level with Lionel Messi as the leagues third-leading scorers, far behind Cristiano Ronaldos runaway tally of 23 goals. http://www.shopceltics.com/Cheap-Walter-...Celtics-Jersey/. Ilonen birdied five of his closing seven holes in superb scoring conditions to end the day with a two-shot lead on the Fota Island course. Ilonen had just 26 putts on the occasion of his 300th European Tour event. Bill Russell Jersey . Bale has had a successful debut season in Spain, and Ancelotti appears ready to reward him with a starting role on Saturday. Ancelotti says "Gareth had some problems at the beginning (of the season) but when he found good physical condition he scored a lot of goals, he had a good impact on the team. Reggie Lewis Jersey . -- Arkansas didnt need a spectacular dunk to beat No.NEW YORK -- With a 360-foot relay in the ninth inning, the New York Mets prevented a hard-fought victory from vanishing in the wind. Lucas Duda hit a long home run and New York threw out the potential tying run at the plate to hold off the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 Wednesday on a blustery night at Citi Field. Jonathon Niese earned his first win of the season, and shortstop Ruben Tejada cut down Matt Carpenter for the second out of the ninth on a strong relay from centre fielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis. "My hearts still racing," Mets catcher Travis dArnaud said. "A 180-spin throw like that -- a perfect throw. I still cant believe I witnessed that." St. Louis manager Mike Matheny challenged the call by plate umpire Marty Foster, which was confirmed following a replay review of 1 minute, 20 seconds that showed dArnaud nicked Carpenter with a sweep tag behind his armpit. "I didnt feel the tag and I initially thought that I was safe," Carpenter said. "But I got a chance to look at it and it was a good call." With a runner on second, Kyle Farnsworth sealed it by retiring Matt Holliday on a tricky fly to right. Cardinals right-hander Michael Wacha (2-2) set career highs with 10 strikeouts and five walks in the shortest of his 14 regular-season starts in the majors. A bizarre outing if ever there was one -- but it was that sort of night. Curtis Granderson snapped his career-worst hitless skid at 22 at-bats with a first-inning single, and the Mets got 6 2-3 effective innings from Niese (1-2) with wind gusting up to 41 mph on a 51-degree night. "Kind of throwing cue balls out there," Niese said. "It kind of felt like I was throwing with an ice pack on. Its tough to keep warm." Carlos Torres and Scott Rice escaped an eighth-inning jam before Farnsworth worked the ninth for his second save. He gave up consecutive singles and an RBI double to pinch-hitter Daniel Descalso that one-hopped the wall in left-centre, but New Yorks defence saved Farnsworth. "Two great throws," Carpenter said. "Thats a tough play thats not made a whole lot, especially with the game on the line." Carpenter had four hits and Yadier Molina added three for the Cardinals, but Jhonny Peraltas hitless streak reached 21 at-bats. Peralta popped out with runners at second and third in the eighth before pinchh-hitter Matt Adams flied out to end the inning.dddddddddddd Niese improved to 4-1 with a 1.87 ERA in six career starts against St. Louis. "I dont know what it is with Jon and cold weather, but he gets the call," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "He pitched absolutely great tonight in the conditions." The game began in a 31 mph wind at a mostly empty stadium. Workers hustled between innings to clean up all the flying napkins and hot dog wrappers that littered the outfield -- even bundled-up second base umpire Rob Drake helped out during a stoppage in play. "It was terrible. The worst. Not fun," Carpenter said. High popups and flyballs were an adventure. Tejada dropped one after retreating into the outfield, then scampering back to the infield. New York still got an easy forceout on the play. Wachas red cap blew right off his head as he was waiting for a new ball and rolled, like tumbleweed, to second baseman Mark Ellis. Duda homered against Seth Maness leading off the sixth, a laser beam of a line drive that cut under the wind and nearly reached the Shea Bridge walkway above the bullpens in right-centre. It was the first home run for the Mets in their past seven home games, ending their longest such drought since May 2012. Early on, it appeared the 22-year-old Wacha was headed to a record-setting performance. Last years NL championship series MVP overpowered the Mets with nine strikeouts in the first three innings but soon lost his control. He walked three in the fourth, including No. 8 batter Tejada and Nieuwenhuis with the bases loaded, forcing in two runs. Wacha was pulled for a pinch hitter in the fifth after throwing 93 pitches. Coming in, he had issued only three free passes in 26 innings this season. The Mets said Wacha joined Smoky Joe Wood (1909), Felix Hernandez (2013) and Danny Salazar (2014) as the only pitchers since 1900 to have at least 10 strikeouts in an outing that lasted no more than four innings, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Molina doubled home a run with two outs in the first, extending his hitting streak to 14 games, after Tejada and the Mets botched a rundown that should have resulted in an inning-ending double play. NOTES: Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright (knee) expects to make his next scheduled start Sunday against Pittsburgh, Matheny said. ... Mets leadoff hitter Eric Young Jr. was rested. ' ' '