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SAN FRANCISCO -- Mike Leake has gotten stronger every year, and his fastball velocity has increased as a result. Even so, he still doesnt know where all those strikeouts came from. Leake allowed four hits in eight innings and had a career-high 12 strikeouts in the Cincinnati Reds 3-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday night. "It didnt feel like that many," said Leake, who allowed one run and walked one, which was intentional. "But I guess its a big accomplishment. Im not high on strikeouts." Cincinnati manager Bryan Price thinks Leake (6-6) could be a strikeout pitcher if that was his goal. "Hes pretty consistent hitting 93, 94 mph with his fastball," said the former pitching coach. "Thats not a fastball you have to apologize for. He could throw more pitches and be less effective but strike out more guys." Brandon Phillips had three hits, including a home run and double, and scored twice in his return to the lineup for the Reds, who won their fifth in six games. Leake, still looking for his first major league shutout, didnt try to talk his way onto the mound for the ninth. He hasnt pitched a complete game in nearly two years. Aroldis Chapman worked the ninth for his 15th save in 16 chances. "We have a good closer, why not use him?" Leake said. Jay Bruce and Todd Frazier each added two hits for the Reds. Bruce doubled in the seventh and has an extra-base hit in each of his last seven games, the longest streak by a Reds player since Dave Parker did it in eight straight in 1986. "We seem to play well here," Bruce said. "With this pitching staff, if you put runs on the board, you have a chance." Adam Duvall, making his major league debut, hit a home run for the Giants, who lost for the 12th time in 16 games. Ryan Vogelsong (5-4) allowed a run on five hits over six innings one day after Tim Lincecum threw a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres. He struck out seven and walked one. "I rubbed up against him before the game, but it didnt work," Vogelsong said. "I just wasnt good enough." Jean Machi, who allowed Phillips home run leading off the seventh, had his scoreless streak end at 25 1-3 innings. Zack Cozart and Ryan Ludwick also drove in runs for the Reds, who have won eight of their last 10 games, including playoffs, in San Francisco. The Reds ended a scoreless duel with a run in the fifth. Phillips, who missed the last three games with a bruised heel, led off with a single. Two outs later, Cozart doubled him home. Bruce followed Phillips homer with a double and scored on Ludwicks single. Duvall hit a 0-2 pitch from Leake into the left field bleachers to put the Giants on the scoreboard. "Thats a feeling Ill never forget running the bases," Duvall said. "I tried to tell myself it was the same game, just a bigger crowd." Leake allowed a two-out double to Buster Posey in the first and then retired 15 of the next 16 hitters before Hunter Pences triple in the sixth. Leake improved to 4-0 with a 0.87 ERA in four starts at AT&T Park. The Giants also threw out two runners at home. Billy Hamilton tried to score on Devin Mesoracos shallow fly to second baseman Joe Panik in the sixth, and Brandon Crawford nailed Mesoracso trying to score on Phillips double to centre field in the eighth. NOTES: Frazier has a 13-game hitting streak against the Giants. ... Chapman has at least one strikeout in each of his last 33 appearances, the longest active streak by a reliever and the fourth longest since 1900. . Reds LHP Tony Cingrani, optioned to Triple A Louisville on Friday, was placed on the minor league disabled list with a strained shoulder. That came as a surprise to the Reds, who sent him down to work. ... RHP Johnny Cueto (7-5, 1.86), the major league leader in ERA, pitches for the Reds on Friday night. Hes won his last two decisions. . LHP Madison Bumgarner (9-4, 2.63) goes for the Giants. Hes 2-2 in five starts against the Reds. ... Giants 1B Michael Morse was scratched because of illness. . Duvall became the 11th Giant since 1958 to homer in his first game. ... The Junior Giants Stretch Drive Fund, created in honour of Hall of Famer Willie McCovey, began Thursday to help provide baseball programs in 90 underserved communities. Information can be obtained at the website jrgiant.org. Cheap Phillies Replica Jerseys . Matt Carkner got back into the Ottawa lineup, and made his presence felt right away by settling his clubs score in a one-sided fight with Rangers forward Brian Boyle. Phillies Cesar Hernandez Jersey . -- The Jacksonville Jaguars are bringing back quarterback Chad Henne -- and making him the starter. http://www.cheapphilliesjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=phillies-aaron-altherr-jersey . - Josh Sterk scored twice to lead the Oshawa Generals to a 7-1 rout of the Ottawa 67s in Mondays Ontario Hockey League action. Phillies Tug McGraw Jersey . Thats when the eight-time champion revealed that a painful back is slowing his serves -- and, all in all, giving him more trouble than his opponents so far. Phillies Vince Velasquez Jersey . "Im proud of him," Jones said in an interview from Sacramento, site of the UFCs weekend televised card. "I think hes listening to his body and hes doing what makes him happy and thats what life is about ultimately.Way back at the start of the season, amid all the whistles and fouls, the defensive-minded teams appeared to be in trouble, a seemingly dying breed hamstrung by the NCAAs new hands-free rules. As the season progressed, the top coaches and teams adjusted to the changes and found ways around the impediments. Now, after the all increases in scoring and shooting percentages and offensive flow, the season has come down to a Final Four of teams held together by one common thread: shutdown defences. "In general, its like most sports: Defence wins championships," said Bill Frieder, a longtime coach and TV/radio analyst. "You still need to score, but basically when it gets right down to it, you have to make stops. The teams that can make a stop or two back to back are the teams that advance." The Final Four teams in this wild ride of an NCAA tournament earned a trip to North Texas this weekend because they can do just that. Florida is the best defensive team in the country, allowing just 88.5 points per 100 possessions, according to the analytics of KenPom.com. The Gators can be downright dominating on the defensive end, swarming ballhandlers and luring shooters into a fall sense of security before rising up to swat shots back in their faces. Defence has been a cornerstone for Bo Ryan since he won four national championships at Division III Wisconsin-Platteville and its been the calling card -- along with that ultra-patient offence -- since he arrived at Madison. The Badgers are fundamental and fierce, allowing about 56 points per game to NCAA opponents -- nearly eight less than before the tournament. For all the flash of Kentuckys fabulous freshmen, these young Cats can get after you on D. Kentuckys latest one-and-done lineup is filled with long, athletic players who can harass on the perimeter and guard the rim -- 10th nationally with 6.1 blocked shots per game -- like few teams in college basketball. And for all the hype heaped on Connecticuts Shabazz Napier, the Huskies are pretty husky when it comes to defence. Ryan Boatright has become a point-guard stopper -- he had four steals and helped limit Michigan States Keith Appling to two points in the East Regional final -- and UConn seems to have an entire roster of rim protectors, ranking 16th nationally with 5.8 blocked shots per game. "We are predators out there," UConn coach Kevin Ollie said. In most years, the high-scoring teams often get the attention, whether it was Florida Gulf Coasts Dunk City a year ago or backk to Houstons Phi Slamma Jamma of the early 1980s.dddddddddddd What usually happens at the finish? The best defensive teams end up with the hardware. Louisville rode its swarming, chaos-inducing defence to a title last season. The year before that, Anthony Davis and Kentuckys shot-swatting young Cats set an NCAA record with 335 blocked shots on their way to the national championship. In 2011: Connecticut 53, Butler 41. Great defensive teams litter the list of national champions throughout history, too. UNLV ran its wrecking crew through the bracket in 1990. North Carolina State and Georgetown let the air out of Phi Slamma Jamma in consecutive title games. Indiana played superb team defence during the last perfect season in 1976. Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton anchored the UCLA teams that ran off 10 titles in 12 years. Go all the way back to the 1950s and the San Francisco teams that won consecutive championships had a young Bill Russell dominating the middle before he went on to do the same thing for the Boston Celtics. "In the NBA, its always seems to come down to the teams that play the best defence and its no different in college basketball," Arizona State associate head coach Eric Musselman said. "At the end of the day, no matter how well you score, youve got to be able stop people." The Final Four teams have proven they can do it so far in the tournament. Wisconsin opened the NCAA tournament by holding American to 35 points and reached the Final Four by preventing Arizona from getting off a potential game-winning shot before the buzzer sounded in overtime. Kentucky held Kansas State to 49 points in its NCAA opener and held Michigan scoreless for nearly 4 1-2 minutes of a three-point Midwest Regional final win that sent the Wildcats to the Final Four for the third time in four seasons. UConn went toe-to-toe with one of the nations best defensive teams in the East Regional final, holding Michigan State to 39 per cent shooting and two field goals -- one at the buzzer after the game was decided -- over the final 5 minutes. Florida is the third team in NCAA tournament history to win four games by double digits and hold opponents under 70 points per game en route to the Final Four, limiting teams to an average of 55 points per game. "We just take so much pride into being able to disrupt the team and being able to lock down guys," Florida forward Patric Young said. So do the other three teams, a big reason why theyre all together in North Texas. Jerseys NFL China Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys From China Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale China Jerseys NFL Jerseys China Discount Soccer Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys China China NCAA Jerseys Cheap Cheap Nike Dolphins Jerseys Cheap Nike Patriots Jerseys Cheap Nike Jets Jerseys Cheap Nike Bengals Jerseys Cheap Nike Browns Jerseys Cheap Nike Steelers Jerseys Cheap Nike Texans Jerseys Cheap Nike Colts Jerseys Cheap Nike Jaguars Jerseys Cheap Nike Titans Jerseys Cheap Nike Broncos Jerseys ' ' '