They had total control of that period.

CINCINNATI, Ohio -- A medium-deep fly ball by Joey Votto wouldve done the trick. He did better than that. Votto hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the eighth inning, lifting the Cincinnati Reds over the Cleveland Indians 4-2 Monday in the opener of their intrastate matchup. "I just wanted to put the barrel on the ball and at least get a sacrifice fly," said Votto, who began the day leading the NL in hitting at .353. "It was important to not strike out there or roll over and put the ball on the ground." Votto won this interleague game with his ninth homer, tagging left-hander Nick Hagadone (0-1). The reliever was called up from Triple-A earlier in the day when closer Chris Perez was put on the disabled list with a sore right shoulder. Shin-Soo Choo led off the Reds eighth with a single and moved around on a passed ball and Zack Cozarts sacrifice bunt. With the Indians infield drawn in, Votto followed with an opposite-field shot into the seats in left, lifting the Reds to their sixth win in their last seven games. Vottos homer came with NL RBIs leader Brandon Phillips on deck, followed a conference on the mound. Reds manager Dusty Baker was asked if he was surprised first-year Cleveland manager Terry Francona pitched to Votto instead of perhaps walking him to face Phillips, whod already hit into one double play in the game. "I never second-guess the other teams manager," Baker said. "Youve got to take your shot at some point in the game. Votto won that time." The conversation dealt with how to approach Votto, Francona said. "Hagadone has great stuff," he said. "We wanted to pound Votto inside and not let him get his arms extended. Its part of the learning experience, but a pitcher also has to pitch to a comfort zone. If wed have walked him, it wouldnt have been the end of the world." Hagadone refused to blame his inexperience. "It was supposed to be a fastball away," he said. "Even if Id been up here all year, Id have been upset." Choo, traded from the Indians to the Reds in the off-season, also hit a leadoff homer in the first. Jason Giambi tied it in the Indians eighth with a long pinch-hit homer. The solo shot was estimated at 467 feet and caromed off the batters background in centre field. His ninth career pinch-hit homer ended his 0-for-24 slump and was third homer of the season and first since April 20. Jonathan Broxton (2-1) got two outs in the eighth. Aroldis Chapman pitched the ninth for his 13th save, clinching the Indians fourth consecutive loss and sixth in their last seven games. Reds starter Mike Leake allowed one earned run and five hits in 7 1-3 innings, striking out seven to match his season high. He left with a no-decision after giving up Giambis homer. "Even that pitch wasnt a bad pitch," Leake said. "He did a very good job with it. I thought I did a pretty good job today, as a whole. Thats a very good lineup. I was going after them, trying to make them hit my pitch." Leake had complete-game stuff, Votto said. "Its a shame Jason hit that ball," Votto said. "If it doesnt, maybe (Leake) finishes the game, but Jasons been around." Ubaldo Jimenez, 3-0 in five previous career starts against Cincinnati, gave up four hits and two runs in seven innings. Choo, sent to the Reds with infielder Jason Donald and cash for outfielder Drew Stubbs and infielder Didi Gregorius in December, led with his 10th homer of the season. The Indians took advantage of an error by Phillips, another former Indians player, to tie it in the fourth. Jason Kipnis singled and took third when Phillips mishandled Nick Swishers grounder. Carlos Santanas sacrifice fly made it 1-all. Cozart led off the sixth with a double that just nicked the outside of the left-field line, advanced on Vottos groundout to second and scored on Phillips sacrifice fly. NOTES: The Reds improved to 40-42 in their inter-league series with the Indians. ... The sellout crowd was the fourth straight for the Reds, the second time theyd had four consecutive sellout crowds since moving from Crosley Field in 1970 and the first time since 2004. ... Reds RHP Mat Latos (4-0) will try to stay undefeated in the second game of the brief two-game series on Tuesday. Hell be opposed by Cleveland RHP Zach McAllister (4-3). Max Fried Jersey . It was Kerbers third final of the year after losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in Monterrey in April and to Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in Tokyo two weeks ago. The 10th-ranked German improved her record in finals to 3-5. Tyler Flowers Jersey . "Theyve both been real good," said Babcock. "Havent changed our minds." A decision has seemingly been made - Sundays Group B-deciding tilt against Finland ahead - but it could not have been an easy one. Price opened the tournament with a sturdy 19-save performance against the Norwegians, yielding just one goal. https://www.cheapbraves.com/263o-bryse-wilson-jersey-braves.html . Bjorn, who had a 36-hole total of 8-under 134, made a testing six-foot putt to save par on the 16th and a birdie on the 17th before bogeying the final hole after a misjudged approach shot. American Kevin Streelman was in second place after shooting a 69. Phil Niekro Braves Jersey . -- Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Farmar will be out for roughly four weeks after tearing his left hamstring. Glenn Hubbard Jersey . "Trying to breathe," he said with a grin. Bernier stopped 42 of 43 shots on Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the Christmas break. CHICAGO -- A lesser goalie would have been flustered by the Chicago Blackhawks hot start. Not Tuukka Rask. After giving up a goal and withstanding another 18 shots in the first period Saturday night, the Boston Bruins goalie may as well have hung a "Not Open" sign on his net. While he stymied the Blackhawks, his teammates regrouped and found enough offence for a 2-1 overtime victory that sent the Stanley Cup finals to Boston tied at one game apiece. "We definitely were in survival mode there for a bit," Rask said. "It looked like they had more guys out there than we did. They were bouncing on every single puck in front of net, had a lot of chances. We definitely played pretty bad. But it was good we were only down by one, and we regrouped after that." Rask finished with 33 saves, including stopping Game 1 winner Andrew Shaw cold in OT. Game 3 is Monday night in Boston. "We had the perfect start to the game, then we stopped doing what made us successful," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. Well, Rask had a lot to do with that. "He wasnt lucky, hes a good goalie," Chicagos Patrick Sharp said. "He doesnt do anything different. He stops the puck when he sees it." Boston had the edge in goaltending coming into the series -- and not simply because Chicago is seemingly ready to replace Corey Crawford at the drop of a puck. Rask was impressive enough last season that he made Stanley Cup winner Tim Thomas expendable, and the 26-year-old from Finland has taken his game to another level this post-season. He came into the series with the highest save percentage (.943) of the playoffs, and limited the high-octane Pittsburgh Penguins to a measly two goals in a four-game sweep by the Bruins in the Eastern Conference finals. The Blackhawks made Rask look mortal in Game 1, tagging him for four goals -- more than hed given up in Bostons previous five post-season games combined. It wouldnt happen a second time. Chicago came out flying Saturday night, peppering Rask with rapid-fire shots,, trying to sneak up on him from behind and playing hot potato with the puck in front of the net in hopes of catching him off-guard and slipping one past.dddddddddddd Boston coach Claude Julien called the effort "totally lopsided." "The first period, we just werent there. We were on our heels," Julien said. "They had total control of that period. Tuukka kept us in there." Rask needed his head on a swivel to keep track of the traffic, and even that wasnt always enough. At about 11 minutes into the first period, the Blackhawks blitzed Rask with a series of shots, two from Patrick Kane and one from Michal Handzus. Rask handled all of them, but the puck squirted out to the right side where Sharp was waiting. With Rask still preoccupied with the scrum on the opposite side of the net, Sharp poked a goal past him, putting Chicago up 1-0. "Every goal you let in you have a chance to save. Im not going to blame myself for that," Rask said. "I think there were three or four saves before that goal. I couldnt find that puck until the last second. But you know, they had 19 shots and one goes by you. It happens sometimes." It happened again shortly after when Marian Hossa appeared to score. But officials waved off the goal, saying play had been stopped. When the first period finally ended, the Blackhawks had a 19-4 shot advantage. "Not much needed to be said after that first period," Chris Kelly said. "I think Tuukka pointed out that was a pretty terrible period by our team. If it wasnt for Tuukka, it would have been a lot worse. To a guy in there, I think we all knew we had to go out and play better." Bostons defence tightened up, and Rask easily handled the few remaining chances the Blackhawks had. Chicago had only 15 shots in the last two periods and overtime. "That first period was extremely hard for (Rask)," Julien said. "But, thankfully, our guys rewarded him with that effort by being a lot better in front of him for the rest of the game." ' ' '