NEWS » at Manchester City finally has their European

CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Mike Leake still thinks of himself as a hitter. Jerseys For Sale Outlet . Hes even holding a bat on one of his 2014 baseball cards. So far, hes playing like his picture. Leake doubled and hit a two-run homer Tuesday night, ending Gerrit Coles winning streak and leading the Cincinnati Reds to a 7-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates that completed two days full of homers and delays. First, the NL Central rivals completed a game that was suspended in the sixth inning because of rain the previous night. Andrew McCutchen doubled and came around on Russell Martins single in the seventh inning, giving the Pirates an 8-7 win. Leake (2-1) gave up three runs and five hits in 6 2-3 innings for a split. The right-hander has won his last four starts against the Pirates. Jonathan Broxton pitched out of a two-on threat in the ninth, converting his first save chance. Leake, who has the most hits by a major league pitcher since 2010, doubled and scored in the third. He hit his third career homer in the sixth off Cole (2-1), who had won his last six starts. His first homer since 2012 showed why the card company decided on a photo of him holding a bat. "And that comes after my worst year hitting," Leake said. "It was bad timing on their part." Reds manager Bryan Price is impressed by how Leake approaches batting practice. Hes not just another pitcher trying to get in a few swings. "He loves the challenge," Price said. "Even when you come out early, hes not just hitting. Hes running the bases and working on little things. "When we give him the green light early in the at-bat, he works on getting a good pitch to hit." Leake got a good one from Cole, who left it up and over the plate. It wasnt the first time that Cole had seen him latch onto a mistake. Cole went to UCLA and faced Leake when he played for Arizona State. "That guys a good hitter as a pitcher," Cole said. "I saw that at Arizona State. He wore us out at the plate. Thats not the first time hes done stuff like that." Todd Frazier hit his second homer in two games, Joey Votto had four hits and Devin Mesoraco had three hits, including a bases-loaded single. Neil Walker hit three of Pittsburghs seven homers in the two games. The teams wore their customary uniforms for the completion of the suspended game, then switched to commemorative No. 42 Jackie Robinson jerseys for the later game, which started 5 minutes later than originally scheduled. Its been a wild series full of downpours, lead changes and home runs. The teams put on a record-setting show Monday night before the game was suspended after six innings tied 7-all. They combined for 10 homers in those six innings, the most for a game in Great American Ball Parks 12 seasons. When play resumed, McCutchen doubled off Sam LeCure (0-1) and came around on a wild pitch and Martins single up the middle, only the second run of the game that didnt come by way of a homer. Bryan Morris (2-0) gave up Mesoracos tying solo homer in the sixth inning Monday night, but was still the pitcher of record. Jason Grilli pitched the ninth for his fourth save in five chances. Pittsburgh had three sets of back-to-back homers before the game was suspended, only the third time thats happened in major league history, according to STATS. The other two times: Cincinnati against the Braves in 1956, and Boston against the Yankees in 1977. Walker and Gaby Sanchez went back-to-back twice, only the second time thats happened in Pirates history. Toby Atwell and Jerry Lynch also went back-to-back twice against the Reds on April 27, 1954, according to STATS. Pittsburgh hit six homers -- all solo shots -- and the Reds had four, all with two outs. NOTES: It was 66 degrees for the first pitch on Monday, 39 degrees when the game resumed. ... Leake has 59 career hits and 12 multihit games. ... Mesoraco is 11 for 22 with three homers and nine RBIs in six games since returning from the DL. ... Pittsburghs six homers in the suspended game were one shy of the club record. The six solo homers were one shy of the major league record. ... The Pirates have 15 homers in their last four games at Great American. They also hit six during an 8-3 win on Sept. 28 that clinched home-field advantage for the NL wild-card playoff, a 6-2 win over Cincinnati at PNC Park. Stitched Jerseys For Sale . Darren Collison and Blake Griffin scored 23 points apiece and the Clippers beat the Suns 112-108 Wednesday night, their fourth win in a row and 17th in the last 19 games. Cheap Jerseys For Sale .com) - Stanley Johnson had 18 points and No. https://www.jerseysforsalechina.com/ . The 29-year-old German, the 2011 overall World Cup champion, says she has decided "to end my career now.The new Barclays Premier League season gets underway on Saturday and prior to the first kick, TSN.ca presents a week long look at some of the teams and stories that will shape the up coming campaign. Today we look at the defending champs and what is on tap for the team that can once again call itself the best team in Manchester. Manchester City Manager: Manuel Pellegrini Last Season: 27-5-6 (Premier League Champions) Notable Additions: Fernando (Porto), Willy Caballero (Malaga), Bacary Sagna (Arsenal), Frank Lampard (New York City FC on loan), Eliaquim Mangala (Porto). Notable Subtractions: Jack Rodwell (Sunderland), Gareth Barry (Everton), Javi Garcia (Zenit St. Petersburg), Costel Pantilimon (Sunderland), Joleon Lescott (West Bromwich Albion) That was Then: On the final day of the 2013-14 season, in much less dramatic fashion than the title they captured two years ago, Manchester City secured the Premier League title with a 2-0 victory over West Ham United. While the final day of the season lacked the same drama, the campaign that built to the ending had nothing but twists and turns right up to the end. In the first half of the season, Manchester City suffered incredibly poor road form dropping games at Cardiff City and Aston Villa as well as points at Stoke City before finally earning their first away win at West Ham. At Etihad Stadium they were telling a completely different story, earning emphatic victories over Manchester United (4-1), Norwich City (7-0) and Tottenham (6-0), all before the calendar had reached December. City defeated title contenders Liverpool and Arsenal at home and headed into the new year locked in a tight battle at the top of the table. The fight seemed lost after a late season, emotional 3-2 defeat at Anfield, which handed the title initiative to Liverpool as the run in kicked into high gear. However the Reds would suffer a defeat to Chelsea and surrender a three goal lead to settle for a 3-3 draw to Crystal Palace. Those results would open the door for Manchester City to celebrate their franchises fourth top flight English Football title and second in the Premier League era. The BPL title was actually Citys second trophy of the season as they were also successful in the League Cup, thanks to a 3-1, come-from-behind victory over Sunderland. They fell behind after 10 minutes in the Wembley final, before midfielders Yaya Toure and Samir Nasri scored within 60 seeconds of each other to turn the game and bring the hardware back to Manchester. Discount Jerseys For Sale. While they advanced as far as they ever have in their third tour of the Champions League, playing beyond the group stage for the first time in franchise history, it would still have to be considered a disappointment that City were eliminated in the first knockout stage round against Barcelona. This is Now: Before things really got rolling for Manchester City in the off-season, UEFA slapped them with a fine and roster restrictions for violating the Financial Fair Play rules, putting a cap on the amount of money they could spend in the transfer window as well as they amount of players they are able to field in the next Champions League competition. Even with the sanctions and in opposition of what they did after their last title, City still managed to strength their squad while unloading a few players that have become superfluous along the way. First choice and England number one keeper Joe Hart struggled at times last season even briefly losing his place in the net, in response, Willy Caballero has been brought in to either battle for that position or provide a strong backup keeper incase needed. Fernando and veteran Frank Lampard (for half the season) will provide depth at the central midfield position which while being a position of strength for the team is probably the most important place on the park not to falter. Bacary Sagna made the move from Arsenal and will make the team even stronger at the back, fighting for starting time with one of last seasons standout players Pablo Zabaleta. The team also scrounged up 32 million pounds for French defender Eliaquim Mangala from Porto. While not being able to spend money to bring in players, City has used this offseason to lock up the core of the team to long term extensions. David Silva, Vincent Kompany and Sergio Aguero all inked long term deals to stay with the English champions and form the core of what they hope will be a strong contender in Europe for many years to come. While they will hope to once again find success in the league, FA Cup and League Cup, it will be the Champions League that will determine if this team has made major strides toward the goal of being a globally powerful franchise. Burning Question: This is the year that Manchester City finally has their European breakthrough and finds success in the Champions League? ' ' '