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who passed away Tuesday, was honoured with a moment

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CINCINNATI, Ohio -- The Pirates MVP saved them. Daniel Sprong Penguins Jersey . Twice. Andrew McCutchen tied the game with a solo homer in the ninth inning Saturday night, then connected again in the 11th inning, rallying the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates to a 6-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. "Strange game," manager Clint Hurdle said. "Its summertime. Strange things are happening." And some spectacular things from Pittsburghs best player. The Pirates blew a four-run lead for the second straight night, but managed to come back behind McCutchen, who has more homers against Cincinnati than anyone else since 2009. With two swings, he saved them from another discouraging meltdown. "Huge swings of the bat for us," Hurdle said. "Hes a special player." The National Leagues 2013 MVP tied it in the ninth off Jonathan Broxton, filling in the closers role because Aroldis Chapman had pitched four days in a row. He hit his 17th homer with two outs in the 11th off J.J. Hoover (1-7) for his ninth career multihomer game. "He does a lot of unreal stuff," said left-hander Justin Wilson (3-1), who escaped a threat in the 10th. "Hes an unbelievable player. Im glad Im on his team and I dont have to pitch against him." Wilson got out of a threat in the 10th with the help of right fielder Gregory Polanco, who threw Ramon Santiago out at the plate as he tried to score from second base on Jay Bruces single. "I cant take all the credit," McCutchen said. "Youve got to think of the throw from Polanco. That was a huge throw, a game-changer for us." McCutchen put the Pirates back ahead with a first-pitch homer off Hoover. "I was just ready to hit," he said. "It was a slider right down the middle, and I was ready to hit it." Jeanmar Gomez pitched the 11th for his first career save. "We know what they have over there," Bruce said. "A guy hits the tying and winning home runs -- you dont see that too often. Im perfectly happy with what we did tonight, except for losing." The Reds won the series opener 6-5 by rallying in the eighth inning against All-Star reliever Tony Watson, overcoming a four-run deficit. They pulled out of a four-run deficit again on Saturday but couldnt finish it off. McCutchen has 20 career homers against Cincinnati, the most by any player in the majors since 2009. Hes hit six of them this season, including three during the first two games of the series. The Reds slipped to 7-3 on their 11-game homestand, remaining 1 1/2 games behind NL Central co-leaders Milwaukee and St. Louis. Cincinnati is 8-4 against the Pirates this season. Pittsburgh is 2-4 on a trip to St. Louis and Cincinnati. The Pirates gave up two game-ending homers in St. Louis and blew a four-run lead in the series opener, a 6-5 Reds win. The Reds got in position to win it with a pair of homers. Chris Heisey batted for Mike Leake in the sixth and hit a two-run shot off Charlie Morton. Todd Frazier -- who will participate in the All-Star home run derby next week -- completed the comeback with a three-run shot off Morton, who had given up a total of six homers coming into the game. NOTES: All-Star Johnny Cueto (9-6) starts the final game of the series for Cincinnati. The Pirates plan to activate left-hander Francisco Liriano (1-6) off the disabled list. He has recovered from a strained oblique. ... McCutchen has hit safely in 11 of the 12 games against Cincinnati this season, going 20-for-47 with four doubles, six homers and eight RBIs. ... The Reds optioned reliever Curtis Partch, who got the win on Friday night, to Triple-A Louisville and brought up INF Neftali Soto, giving them four position players available on the bench. ... It was Heiseys eighth career pinch-hit homer, his second this season. Jaromir Jagr Penguins Jersey . - Canadian tennis star Eugenie Bouchard has signed with WME-IMG, saying the sports management powerhouse will help maximize the value of my brand. Brian Dumoulin Jersey . Portuguese sides Benfica and Porto also advanced to the last eight while Basel overcame an early red card to win 2-1 at Salzburg and progress from a last-16 second leg that was briefly suspended because of crowd trouble. Lyon, Valencia and AZ Alkmaar will also be in Fridays draw in Nyon, Switzerland, where the team to avoid will be Juventus -- even though the Italian champions made heavy work of their all-Italian last-16 match against Fiorentina.CHICAGO - The Chicago Blackhawks are trying get into a groove so they can head into the playoffs firing on all cylinders. Even without star forward Patrick Kane, the defending Stanley Cup champions showed signs of moving in the right direction Tuesday night. Andrew Shaw and Duncan Keith each had a goal and an assist, and Chicago held on for a 4-2 win over the Dallas Stars. "We did some good things throughout the game," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "All four lines were contributing and our special teams were good as well. Good win." Kris Versteeg and Marian Hossa also scored for Chicago, which needs just one more point to clinch a playoff berth for the sixth straight season. Patrick Sharp added two assists to help Chicago finish 4-1 against Dallas in the Central Division rivals regular-season series. "It was a big win tonight," said Keith, second in scoring among defencemen with 57 points. "Theyre a hungry team, fighting for their playoff lives." Ryan Garbutt scored twice for the Stars, who fell three points behind Phoenix for the final Western Conference playoff berth. Dallas matched Chicagos speed and effort early, but eventually the Blackhawks took over and built a 3-1 lead. Garbutts second goal cut it to 3-2 late in the third, but Hossa empty-netter sealed the Blackhawks solid effort. Chicagos Corey Crawford made 25 saves, while Dallas Kari Lehtonen blocked 38 shots. "Theyre a fast team, can really skate," Crawford said. "They got the jump early and then our D were able to shut them down really good. "They really shut down everything in the third period." Dallas Tyler Seguin set up Garbutts goal in the second period to extend his point streak to 10 games. He has seven goals and 10 assists during the run. Blackhawks top prospect Teuvo Teravainen didnt record a point in his NHL debut, but logged 11 minutes and 39 seconds of ice time. The 19-year-old forward was Chicagos first-round draft pick in 2012 and led his team in Finland, Jokerit, in scoring this season. Chicago played its third game without Kane, who is on long-term injured reserve and may miss the rest of the regular season. Dallas had several good chances early, including Garbutts breakaway just over 2 minutes in. Crawford stopped his close-in rising shot with a glove save. "We hung around the first 10 minutes and Garbutt had the breakaway,"t; Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. Matt Cullen Jersey. "But I thought they slowly started taking it away from us. "We slowed the game down and they sped it up all the time." Chicago took charge as the period progressed, then Shaws power-play goal with 18 seconds left in the first opened the scoring. Shaw swept in a rebound of Sharps shot from the blue line with a highlight-reel effort. Shaw was knocked to the ice by Dallas defenceman Trevor Daley in the crease, but backhanded in the loose puck as he fell to his knees and while facing away from the net. Versteeg was credited with a goal at 4:12 of the second that made it 2-0. After Dallas Antoine Roussel failed to clear the puck, Versteeg slid a pass toward Hossa who was cruising in down the slot. Rousell reached with his stick to break up the pass, but deflected the pucks past Lehtonen. Garbutt didnt miss on his second breakaway of the game, and cut it to 2-1 midway through the second. He skated in behind the Blackhawks defence after Seguin banked a pass off the left boards from the Stars zone. Garbutt cut across the crease and slipped a backhander between Crawfords pads. Keith restored Chicagos two-goal lead at 3-1 with 5:45 left in the period on a fluttering screened shot from the left point. Garbutts second goal cut it to 3-2 with 5:40 left in the third. Following Nick Leddys turnover in the right corner of the Chicago zone, Garbutt carried the puck to the net. Crawford stopped his first shot, but Garbutt stuffed in the rebound from right side of the goal. "Its too bad we couldnt get the third (goal) there," Garbutt said. "Its doesnt matter if its pretty or not this time of year. "Well just take what we can get and need to start scoring more as a team." Hossa fired into an empty net with 33.3 seconds left to complete the scoring. Notes: Keith has six goals and 51 assists for his 57 points. ... The Blackhawks won 49 of 71 faceoffs on Tuesday. Captain Jonathan Toews was 23-for-28 and Teravainen was 7-for-7. Blackhawks F Bryan Bickell (upper-body) and D Michal Rozsival (lower-body) each missed their third games with injuries. ... Dallas F Erik Cole sat out his third game with an upper-body injury. ... Long-time Blackhawks beat writer Tim Sassone, who passed away Tuesday, was honoured with a moment of silence before the game. He covered the team for the Arlington Heights, Ill. Daily Herald for the past 26 years. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '