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PITTSBURGH -- A.J. Burnett walked into the Pittsburgh Pirates dugout after falling two runs down to the Cincinnati Reds in the second inning Saturday night when his catcher decided it was time for a little pep talk. "I told him Thats all were giving up today and he said Yes sir," Russell Martin said. "Thats his attitude. If you give up a couple, its not the end of the world. If you give up a couple, youve got to keep going out there, keep grinding." Something the veteran ace and his resilient club do better than just about anyone else in baseball. A night after a stunning ninth-inning collapse, Pittsburgh responded behind Burnett, who scattered four hits in seven strong innings to lift the Pirates to a 4-2 win and a one-game lead over the Reds for the top spot in the NL wild-card race. "Go out, its a big game, its a big series, you want to attack," Burnett said. "We were able to do that and get through seven somehow. I felt like I got stronger as it went on." Burnett struck out a season-high 12 against three walks and became the first right-hander in the 126-year history of the franchise to top 200 strikeouts in a season when he fanned Joey Votto in the sixth. "I was just focused, I was locked in," Burnett said. "It was probably the best command of that hook Ive had in a long time. I had a put-away pitch tonight, and its lot different when you have those." Jason Grilli worked the ninth for his 31st save, his first since going to the disabled list with a strained right forearm in July. Martin slugged a two-run homer, and Jose Tabata added two hits for the Pirates. Zack Cozart hit his 12th home run of the season for Cincinnati, and Ryan Ludwick added an RBI but Homer Bailey (11-11) lost his first decision since July 26. "The story of the game is we didnt score enough runs," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "We just couldnt get much going against (Burnett). We got some runs early, then he settled down." The Reds rallied for a 6-5 win in 10 innings on Friday, turning three unearned runs in the ninth and Vottos solo homer in the 10th into a tie with the Pirates in the race for home field in the wild card round. It was the second gut-punch loss by the Pirates in three days. In danger of falling behind the Reds in the standings for the first time in since June 20, Pittsburgh reduced its magic number to three behind Burnett and a bullpen that regained its composure after a pair of potentially confidence-shaking meltdowns. Reliever Justin Wilson induced a double play to get out of the eighth, and Grilli -- an All-Star this summer after racking up 29 saves in the seasons first half -- looked like his old self while working around Ludwicks leadoff single in the ninth. "Im just a competitor," Grilli said. "I want the ball. I want to participate. Watching these guys do it for so long made me want to come back and do it with him. It was a big win, obviously, and a lot of fun to be out there." Bailey wasnt quite as sharp. Making his first start at PNC Park since throwing a no-hitter at the Pirates last September, Bailey was solid but not spectacular. An off night by Cincinnatis typically reliable defence didnt help. Alvarez reached with two outs in the third when Votto mishandled a slow chopper to first. Martin followed by taking a fastball from Bailey and sending it into the bleachers in left field to tie it at 2. Pittsburgh broke the tie in the sixth. Andrew McCutchen walked with one out and sprinted to third when Baileys attempted pickoff throw slipped past Votto and rolled to the wall. Justin Morneau walked to put runners on the corners, and Marlon Byrd hit a sacrifice to deep centre field to give the Pirates the lead. Bailey gave up four runs, two earned, and three hits with four walks and three strikeouts. "The loss is on me," Bailey said. "I had the throwing error at first base, I didnt execute very well, I made a couple of bad pitches. (The offence) gave me a couple of runs to work with early and I didnt take advantage of it. I gave them all back and then some." Reliever Zach Duke -- who spent six years in Pittsburgh during the clubs two-decade losing streak -- came on after Byrds sacrifice fly and immediately surrendered an RBI single to Alvarez that gave the Pirates a two-run cushion. NOTES: Cincinnati CF Shin-Soo Choo sat out after injuring his right hand while sliding into first base on Friday. Baker said he wasnt sure when Choo will return. ... Cincinnati rookie OF Billy Hamilton will make his second start of the season on Sunday. The base stealing specialist went 3 for 4 with four stolen bases in his previous start against Houston on Wednesday. ... The series concludes on Sunday when Pittsburghs Jeff Locke (10-6, 3.27 ERA) faces Cincinnatis Bronson Arroyo (13-11, 3.56). http://www.metsbaseballshop.com/lenny-dykstra-mets-jersey/ . Anthony Davis had 31 points and 17 rebounds in his seventh straight game with more than 20 points, but that was only enough to keep the Pelicans competitive into the final minutes. Andrew Bogut had 10 points and 15 rebounds for Golden State, which rebounded from a loss a night earlier in Oklahoma City and snapped a two-game skid. Asdrubal Cabrera Mets Jersey . 10 Texas A&Ms offence dominated as usual against SMU. http://www.metsbaseballshop.com/david-wright-mets-jersey/ . The 25-year-old Japanese star has officially been posted by his club team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles. Curtis Granderson Mets Jersey . Scott won the Australian PGA last week in his first event in Australia since winning the U.S. Masters in April. American Matt Kuchar, ahead by two strokes with four to play and even with Scott with one to go, double-bogeyed the 18th after taking two shots to get out of a bunker. Stolmy Pimentel Mets Jersey . Clarke was injured while practicing on the Doha Golf Club range after the pro-am on Tuesday. The Northern Irishman arrived at the course on Wednesday hoping to start, but after hitting a few balls on the practice putting green Clarke advised officials he was not fit to play.TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- It was a sputtering, inconsistent, and rather mundane performance for No. 1 Alabama. Or at least, thats how it seemed a week after a big-game roller coaster ride. AJ McCarron passed for 258 yards and threw a 30-yard touchdown to DeAndrew White in the fourth quarter to lift Alabama to a 31-6 victory over Colorado State on Saturday night. Two fourth-quarter touchdowns, one on special teams and another on fourth down, helped keep the final score from being close for the Tide (3-0). "I felt like as a whole, we didnt really execute to our full abilities," Alabama linebacker C.J. Mosley said. "Thats not an SEC opponent that we just played and the win really wasnt what it should have been. So I felt like we kind of got away with a win. We didnt dominate that win." Offensive lineman Kellen Williams described the postgame mood as "pretty sombre," even after the 25-point win. Kenyan Drake set up one touchdown with a blocked punt returned 15 yards by Dillon Lee and scored on a 3-yard touchdown run for the Tide, which led just 17-6 heading to the fourth. Alabama managed only one offensive touchdown and no third-down conversions in the first three quarters a week after winning a 49-42 shootout over Texas A&M. Coached by former Tide offensive co-ordinator Jim McElwain, the Rams (1-3) nursed hopes for a monumental upset into the fourth quarter before allowing two touchdowns. Trey DePriest stripped the ball from quarterback Garrett Grayson and recovered the fumble early in the quarter. "We challenged our guys to come in here and go toe-to-toe," said McElwain, who was part of two Tide national championship teams from 2008-11. "I think the guys on the other sideline have earned some respect for Colorado State Rams and how hard we played the game." The next play after the fumble, McCarron laced a perfect strike to White in the end zone and restless Alabama fans had something to cheer about. The Tide was without several key players, including receivers Amari Cooper (toe) and Kevin Norwood, guard Anthony Steen (headache), cornerback Deion Belue (turf toe) and safety Jarrick Williams (eye). This was a sandwich game between Southeastern Conference showdowns, and the nearly 40-point favourites played like it offensively.dddddddddddd No. 21 Mississippi visits Bryant-Denny Stadium next week. McCarron completed 20 of 26 passes but also was intercepted on an ill-advised throw. T.J. Yeldon ran seven times for 49 yards while Christion Jones caught nine passes for 90 yards. Yeldon was held out of the first quarter after getting flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct against Texas A&M. He apologized in a statement Monday for making the "money" and double throat slash gestures after a touchdown. He had a 38-yard run on his first carry midway through the second quarter but the running game produced only 66 yards on 21 carries. That was the fewest rushing yards by the Tide since South Carolina held them to 36 yards on Oct. 9, 2010. "Offensively, we couldnt run the ball with any consistency or effectiveness," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "Even though we did a pretty good job passing, it had to be four or five times that we moved the ball down the field and got just outside the red zone, and we had something happen like throw an interception, miss a field goal, make a field goal, get sacked. Just too many negative plays." Greyson completed 24 of 38 passes for 228 yards for the Rams, who managed just 51 yards on the ground. Rashard Higgins had seven catches for 71 yards and Joe Hansley gained 82 on six receptions. Alabama failed on all six third-down attempts through three quarters and finished 2 of 10. The Tide outgained Colorado State 338-279 in total yards after running up 568 yards a week ago. Alabama continued to find other ways to score. Lees return early in the second quarter was the Tides fifth non-offensive touchdown. Alabama backup quarterback Blake Sims hit Chris Black for a 14-yard touchdown pass to add to the lead with 1:13 left. It was Blacks first career catch. McCarron was in for most of the series against a team led by his former position coach and Saban assistant. McElwains Rams didnt reach Alabama territory until midway through the third quarter and then did it two straight drives. The Tide defence did come up with stops both times. Jared Roberts kicked field goals of 45 and 31 yards to cut the Tides lead to 17-6. Landon Collins pulled Grayson down on a keeper on third down to force the second kick. 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