MILWAUKEE -- Brewers manager Ron Roenicke is a much bigger fan of video replay than his San Francisco counterpart Bruce Bochy - at least for one night.
Martinas Rankin Jersey . Gerardo Parra snapped a tie with a home run in the seventh -- his first hit since been acquired by the Brewers -- and Milwaukee recorded the final out of its 4-3 victory Tuesday night against the San Francisco Giants when a replay review overturned a safe call at first base. With two outs in the ninth, Brewers closer Frankie Rodriguez walked Hunter Pence. Joe Panik then bounced to second baseman Rickie Weeks, who was shielded on the play by Pence before making the throw to first. Brewers Roenicke challenged the safe call by first base umpire Hal Gibson, which was overturned after a review of about 3 minutes, 17 seconds. "I thought he was definitely out but with replay, you cant see everything clearly, you dont make the call," Roenicke said. "They got the call right; he was out." Bochy saw the same play, but obviously had a different opinion of the overturned call. "I didnt think they were going to overturn it," Bochy said. "I just dont see how it got overturned. It was so close. You always hear the word conclusive. But they did, and that is the game." The victory preserved the Brewers one-game lead in the NL Central Division over St. Louis, which rallied past Boston 3-2. Pittsburgh fell 2 1-2 games back after losing to Miami, 6-3. Parra, acquired at the trade deadline from Arizona, homered with two outs off reliever Jean Machi (6-1). He also made a sensational sliding catch in the eighth inning in foul territory on Brandon Crawfords opposite-field slicing fly ball with runners on first and second for the second out. "It was certainly important on both ends," Roenicke said. "The defence, we know, hes a gold-glover, what kind of arm he has. We know he has range out there. Hes shown he has a good feel for where he is in the field." Rookie Jimmy Nelson (2-2) allowed three runs on six hits in seven innings for Milwaukee. Rodriguez pitched the ninth for his 33rd save. The Giants erased a 3-0 deficit on Pablo Sandovals three-run homer off Nelson in the sixth. "Pablo really delivered for us," Bochy said. "Youd like to win a game when you make a nice comeback like that. We are in August, they are not do-or-die games but they are really, really important." Carlos Gomez staked the Brewers to a 2-0 lead in the third with his 16th home run off Tim Lincecum. Gomez also drove in the Brewers third run in the fifth on a perfect squeeze bunt after Weeks advanced to third on a two-out wild pitch. "Thats an outstanding play," Roenicke said. "Thats a guy looking at the game, at what needs to be done and knew that one run was more important than him maybe driving a ball into the gap. "It was great timing and great execution." DOUBLE DUTY Milwaukees Jonathan Lucroy doubled twice to give him 37 on the season, second in the NL to Arizonas Paul Goldschmidt, who has 39, but is out for the remainder of the season with a broken left hand. SCORED UPON (FINALLY) Parras home run off Machi snapped a streak of 23 1-3 consecutive scoreless innings by the Giants bullpen. HOT-HITTING NELSON Nelsons third-inning single was his second hit in his last three at-bats, which followed 66 hitless at-bats as a professional, 59 in the minors and his first seven with the Brewers. UPON FURTHER REVIEW Brewers shortstop Jean Segura made a sensational play behind second, spinning to throw out Pence at first to apparently end the third inning. But, Giants manager Bruce Bochy challenged the call and it was overturned. TRAINERS ROOM Giants: Outfielder Angel Pagan, who was scheduled to play his second rehab game Tuesday night with Triple-A Fresno, could rejoin the Giants on Wednesday in Milwaukee. He has been on the DL with back issues. Brewers: Manager Ron Roenicke has yet to decide who will start in place of injured right-hander Matt Garza, on the 15-day DL with a strained oblique. Marco Estrada, moved to the bullpen after 18 starts, is a likely candidate. ON DECK Ryan Vogelsong (6-8, 3.74 ERA), who allowed just one run on two hits in nine innings in his last start after going 0-4 with a 4.55 ERA in July, faces Yovani Gallardo (6-5, 3.38 ERA). The Brewers; right-hander has a string of 16 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings.
Derrick Thomas Jersey . Vargas (8-3) allowed four singles and two walks while striking out five, allowing only two runners from a diluted Twins lineup to reach second base. Mike Moustakas and Jarrod Dyson hit RBI singles in the second inning against Kevin Correia (4-10), and that was all Vargas needed.
Anthony Hitchens Jersey . Harris has played in six games since joining the Argos in 2012, completing 17-of-35 passes for 256 yards and one touchdown.HOUSTON -- Dwight Howard didnt think he was aggressive enough in Houstons two losses to Sacramento this season and vowed to attack from the beginning when the Rockets faced the Kings on Wednesday night. Howards plan worked. He had 17 points and 10 rebounds by halftime on the way to a 26-point night to help the Rockets cruise to their third straight win, a 119-98 victory over the Kings. Howard also had 13 rebounds and four blocks and James Harden added 24 points and nine assists before the pair went to the bench for the fourth quarter. "The last couple of games against those guys, I didnt come out aggressive like I needed to on both ends of the floor," Howard said. "Ive been looking at some film and I wanted to get off to a better start. Its not just about scoring. Its defence and things like that." The Rockets took the lead midway through the first quarter and didnt trail again. The Kings struggled after losing top scorers Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins to injuries before halftime. Gay, who tied a career high with 41 points on Tuesday night, injured his left Achilles tendon in the first quarter and Cousins sprained his left ankle in the second. Sacramento coach Mike Malone didnt have any more information on the injuries after the game and said that theyd know more on Thursday. "It was a big loss to lose both of those guys in the first half," Malone said. "Unfortunately, those other guys that were able to play didnt respond. We got our (tails) kicked tonight and were a no-excuse team ... so the fact that we guarded no one tonight has nothing to do with them not being able to play in the second half." Derrick Williams scored 22 points with 11 rebounds and Isaiah Thomas added 20 points for the Kings. Houston led by 15 points entering the fourth quarter and padded its lead with Harden and Howard relaxing on the bench in their warm-up shirts. They used a 15-3 spurt in the first 4 1/2 minutes of the fourth to make it 103-76. Sacramento missed eight shots, including three layups in that span, and its only points came on free throws by Williams. The Rockets were up by nine points early in the third quarter before scoring 10 straight points to stretch their advantage to 65-46. Chandler Parsoons and Patrick Beverley both had 3-pointers in that stretch.
Marcus Allen Jersey. Jimmer Fredette made a 3-pointer that cut Houstons lead to 11 points with about eight minutes left in the second quarter. Cousins went down on Sacramentos next possession when he was knocked to the court on a hard foul by Beverley as he drove to the basket. Beverley stood over him for a second while he was down and Beverley received a technical. Cousins entered the game leading the team in scoring (23.1) and rebounding (11.7). He scored just two points before getting hurt, snapping a streak of 30 straight games with at least 10 points. The Rockets used a 6-2 spurt after that to extend their lead to 44-29. Sacramento got within eight two times after that in the second quarter, but Howard scored six points with two alley-oop dunks in the last 1 1/2 minutes of the first half to help the Rockets lead 55-44 at the break. The Kings were up by five points early before Houston used a 14-5 run to take a 21-17 lead with about three minutes left in the first quarter. Gay, who entered the game averaging 20.2 points, was injured at the beginning of that run, which was powered by eight points from Harden. Houston coach Kevin McHale was impressed with Hardens work on Wednesday night. "He started getting to the rim," McHale said. "I thought we were settling for a lot and playing East and West. We told them to get to the hole and put pressure on the basket and they did." Gay has started all 21 games for the Kings since being traded from Toronto on Dec. 9. Aaron Gray received a flagrant foul soon after that when he grabbed Harden as he was heading to the basket. Harden made both free throws as part of an 8-2 run that put the Rockets up 29-22 at the end of the first. Omri Casspi added 20 points and tied a career-high with 12 rebounds and Parsons added 19 points with 10 rebounds. NOTES: Houstons Terrence Jones missed his second straight game with a deep thigh bruise and Ronnie Brewer sat out with a sore calf. ... Sacramentos Quincy Acy and Harden both received technical fouls on the same play in the third quarter. ... Thomas has made at least one 3-pointer in 35 straight games, tying the fourth-longest streak in franchise history. ' ' '