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CINCINNATI, Ohio -- A three-game sweep left the Pirates with 94 wins and home-field advantage for the wild-card playoff. Now, its back home to PNC Park to get the post-season started. Quite a weekend, no? "The big thing about that is: It means absolutely nothing," outfielder Marlon Byrd said. "Everything youve done for 162 games now means absolutely nothing." Tell that to the revved-up Pirates fans ready to pack PNC Park on Tuesday night for their first playoff game in 21 years. The Pirates headed into the playoffs with a lot of momentum on Sunday, beating the Cincinnati Reds 4-2 in a game that was mostly an afterthought for teams looking ahead to their rematch in two days. "Im happy with where were at," said Pedro Alvarez, who had a chance to share the NLs home run title. "Obviously we have a lot to accomplish and get done, but weve gone out there and played some pretty good baseball. Weve just got to keep going." The Pirates and Reds have met five times in the playoffs: 1970, 1972, 1975, 1979 and 1990, when the Reds won their last World Series title. The wild-card matchup features right-hander Johnny Cueto (5-2), who is 8-2 career at PNC Park, against left-hander Francisco Liriano (16-8), who is 0-3 in four starts against Cincinnati this season. First, there was one game to finish the schedule, and it meant little to either team. Pittsburgh played mostly backups. Alvarez was in the lineup, giving him a chance to try to win the NL home run crown outright. He walked, was hit by a pitch and popped out, finishing the season tied with Arizonas Paul Goldschmidt at 36 homers. The last Pirate to lead the league in homers was Willie Stargell in 1973 with 44. "This is something extra," Alvarez said. "Im not worried about that at all." Reds manager Dusty Baker started his regulars but began substituting after the third inning. Corky Miller had a two-run double. The Reds dropped their last five games, matching their season high. "I dont think were worried about the way we finished the season," catcher Ryan Hanigan said. "I think everybodys excited about the opportunity. All of that is in the past. Everything is ahead of us." Jordy Mercer got the Pirates second inside-the-park homer of the season when right fielder Jay Bruce dived and missed his sinking liner in the second inning. Mercer also had a triple off Greg Reynolds (1-3) and scored twice. Garrett Jones homered for the Pirates, who hit nine in all during the series. Brandon Cumpton (2-1) gave up a pair of hits in five shutout innings. Kyle Farnsworth got his second save. On Tuesday, the Ohio River cities will add to a rivalry that has long been second-best for both cities. Cincinnati has its in-state grudge match with Cleveland. Pittsburgh also has a long-standing rivalry with Cleveland, a pair of steel cities that share a love for polkas and pierogies. Lately, the river rivalry has moved to the forefront. The Bengals beat the Steelers at Heinz Field last December to clinch the AFC North title and knock the Steelers out of the post-season. They signed one of Pittsburghs best players -- linebacker James Harrison -- as a free agent and beat the Steelers again in a Monday night game at Paul Brown Stadium this month. And now, its spilling over to baseball with an edgy series that got both cities attention during the summer -- 28 batters plunked overall, the most in the majors. All those hit batters have left a mark. It feels like a rivalry again. "I think weve gotten each others attention since Ive been here," said Clint Hurdle, in his third season as the Pirates manager. "I think theres a professional respect and theres a desire to go out and win. "I think the content of the games and the quality of the games over the past three years have probably led to that a little bit. Its kind of refreshing. Thats the way it was back when I was a kid watching these two teams play." The Reds are trying to get past the disappointment of their closing week. They clinched a playoff spot on Monday night, but went in to a batting slump that allowed the Pirates to get home-field advantage for the wild card. "As bad as things have been this weekend, we should be very happy and thankful that were going to Pittsburgh to play instead of being down and sad about whats transpired," Baker said. "Our goal is to go to Atlanta or St. Louis (in the division series) and then give our people some more games." NOTES: Alvarez also led the NL with 186 strikeouts. Bruce was second with 185. ... Reds 2B Brandon Phillips was out of the lineup with a bruised left shin, hit by a foul ball on Saturday. Hes expected to play on Tuesday. ... Joey Votto and Shin-Soo Choo finished first and second in the NL in on-base percentage. Votto led the NL in walks for the third straight season with a club-record 135. ... The Reds drew 2,492,059 fans for 80 home dates, a season record at Great American Ball Park. China Jerseys .35 million, one-year contract that avoided salary arbitration. Plouffe batted .254 with 14 home runs and 52 RBIs in 477 at-bats last season, his second as a regular in the lineup. Cheap Boston Bruins Jerseys . With their top three point guards and Kobe Bryant all sidelined by injury, the Lakers signed Marshall out of the D-League on Friday before their home game against Minnesota. http://www.wholesalenflcheapjerseyschina.us.com/ . Reigning world champion Eve Muirhead of Scotland opened with a 12-2 rout of Winnipegs Jennifer Jones in a battle of teams bound for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Cheap Seattle Mariners Jerseys . Louis. To which I would say two things: 1. Where there is smoke, there is or perhaps has been a little fire. Or, in other words, the two teams would appear to have at least spoken. And spoken is defined as one calling the other to inquire, no more, no less. Cheap MLB Jerseys . Haas said he "felt a lot of pain" in his right shoulder when he slammed his racket to the ground in frustration after losing his serve at 3-3 in the first set.MELBOURNE, Australia -- On current form and on a very familiar golf course, the two top-ranked players at the World Cup -- Adam Scott and Matt Kuchar -- are heavy favourites for individual honours when play begins Thursday at Royal Melbourne. No. 2-ranked Scott has won two tournaments in a row -- the Australian PGA and the Australian Masters, which was held last week at Royal Melbourne. Seventh-ranked Kuchar led by two strokes late in the final round of the Masters before a double-bogey on 18 enabled Scott to successfully defend his title. Kuchar finished second. "He has been in such good form," Kuchar said of Scott on Wednesday. "To at least give him a run it was awfully good. I stood five back going into Sunday. Unfortunately I got a bad break on 18 and thats part of golf." The Australians, with Scotts teammate Jason Day at No. 18, are the highest-ranked team this week and will have the benefit of local crowds. "Its an interesting week," Scott said Wednesday. "Were playing together as a team but we still want to beat each other." Added Day: "I dont know whether to love him or not if he beats me." Kuchar and his teammate, Kevin Streelman, will attempt to successfully defend for the Americans the title that Kuchar and Gary Woodland won in 2011. The differences between the tournament, format-wise, that Kuchar and Woodland won in 2011 is about as far as the distance between Royal Melbourne and Haiku, China, where the Americans won. Then, it was a team event in keeping with the near 60-year history of the tournament. Two days of four-ball competition, two days of foursomes. This time, to prepare for golfs return to the Olympics and the format that will be used in Rio, its basically an individual stroke-play event. The financial emphasis is on the individual portion of the tournament -- $7 million in prize money to be divided among the 60-man field, including $1.2 to the winner. And just $1 million alllocated for the teams event, with money only going to the top three teams.dddddddddddd Kuchar said the change doesnt bother him. "I know the format is different but the golf is the same," Kuchar said. "Its much more of an individual event ... but there is a team component and I think we have got as good a shot as anybody." Earlier, U.S. PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem defended the move away from the team-only concept at a media conference Wednesday at Royal Melbourne. "I think it is way too soon to conclude that the team portion of the Cup is lost," Finchem said. "We havent played yet so lets see how that plays out and then we will see. We feel like the tournament is more marketable. We think that it has a better chance of fulfilling its mission which is to create more interest in the game in unique ways." "But we will see. If we go down this road and it doesnt work, we will adjust, but we are going to give this every chance to work." The system being used to determine the entries at the Word Cup -- rankings and number of players eligible from each country based on those rankings, will be used at Rio in 2016. The other differences are that there will be no team competition at the Olympics, and there, golfers from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland who are playing as separate countries at the World Cup, will play as Britain. Also, at the World Cup, Ireland and Northern Ireland play as one team. So this week, Northern Irelands Graeme McDowell and Irelands Shane Lowry will play together. McDowell says Scott is unquestionably the favourite this week. "From Scottys point of view, he is just one of those guys you play with and you think to yourself Why does this guy not win every week?" McDowell said Wednesday. "Hes that impressive." There are 26 teams taking part and eight individual golfers, including Fijis Vijay Singh, who finished third at the Australian Masters. Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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