Dein erstes Forum » world,” Zimmer said. ”That made me feel good, th

Another day Dexter Williams Jersey , another Cincinnati grand slam.

Jose Peraza kept up the parade of slams, sending Matt Harvey and the Reds over the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers 8-2 Sunday.

Peraza connected in the sixth inning for the Reds’ major league-leading ninth slam this year, tying the single-season franchise record set in 2002. It was Cincinnati’s second in two games and third in the last eight – pitcher Mike Lorenzen had a pinch-hit slam Saturday, and pitcher Anthony DeSclafani went deep with the bases loaded on June 24 against the Cubs.

”I just tried to hit the ball,” the shortstop said. ”When I hit the ball in the sky, I say, `Wow, it’s a home run.’ Everybody is happy.”

Peraza hit his first career slam, tagging reliever Aaron Wilkerson.

Eight different Reds have hit grand slams. Adam Duvall is the only player with two.

The last-place Reds have won 11 of 14, and the last eight of 11 against teams that were in first place when their series started.

”We know we can play with these guys (division leaders),” manager Jim Riggleman said. ”We’ve got to go through those guys and win our share.”

Harvey (4-5) allowed two hits in 5 2/3 innings and won his third straight start as the Reds salvaged a split of the four-game series. Ryan Braun’s two-run homer in the ninth allowed the Brewers to avoid their 11th shutout loss of the season.

Joey Votto, National League RBI leader Eugenio Suarez and Scott Schebler had consecutive run-scoring singles in the first inning against previously unbeaten rookie Freddy Peralta (3-1).

Harvey, acquired in May from the Mets Nick Bosa Jersey , struck out six and walked none. The right-hander didn’t return after a 54-minute rain delay.

”It was one of those when you come in and try to do as much as you can,” Harvey said. ”You come in and put a heat pack on, but once it creeps up to an hour … That’s the best I’ve felt in a long time. I could smell the CG (complete game) coming or at least getting deep in the game. I was pretty much in control the whole time, but I’m happy about the outing and another Reds win.”

Pitching in a gametime temperature of 93 humid degrees, Harvey retired the first 12 batters before Travis Shaw outflanked a defensive shift with an opposite-field single to left leading off the fifth.

Cincinnati’s first six batters reached base against Peralta, who’d allowed just a .093 opponents’ batting average (7 for 75) in his first four starts, all Milwaukee wins. He recovered from throwing 43 pitches in the first inning to retire the last 10 and 15 of the last 16 batters he faced.

”It started out rough,” Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said. ”He righted it. It was cool to see him right it. That’s a lesson that you’ve got to get it going right away or a big league team will take advantage of it. I thought he handled it very well.”

CHANGE OF SCENERY

The Brewers optioned .197-hitting SS Orlando Arcia to Triple-A Colorado Springs before the game. ”He’s been a good major league hitter,” Counsell said. ”He’s been a dominant minor league hitter. We’re confident he will get things going again.”

MOVING UP

Votto’s two hits pushed him past Hall of Famer Frank Robinson into ninth place on the Reds’ career hits list with 1,674. Brandon Phillips is eighth with 1,774 hits.

LAST MINUTE

Braun’s ninth-inning homer gave the Brewers at least one in each of their last 19 games at Great American Ball Park, the longest streak by any team, including the Reds.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Brewers: OF Christian Yelich took some swings before Sunday’s game L.J. Collier Jersey , the third he’d missed since leaving Thursday’s game with a tight lower back.

UP NEXT

Brewers: LHP Brent Suter (8-5) is 6-2 with a 3.50 ERA over his last eight starts.

Reds: RHP Luis Castillo (5-8) didn’t allow a home run in his last start, but he still leads NL pitchers in homers allowed with 18.

After winning 14 games, including his first postseason victory with Minnesota and a second NFC North title in four years on the job, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer has a team set up to sustain such success.

The items on his to-do list are major issues, though.

Finding an offensive coordinator has become the top priority, following the departure of Pat Shurmur to become the head coach of the New York Giants. Then there’s the matter of working with general manager Rick Spielman to identify a starting quarterback for 2018, with contracts scheduled to expire for Case Keenum, Sam Bradford and Teddy Bridgewater.

The offensive coordinator will be determined first and likely have some input into the quarterback quandary, too, but sorting out the age, ability, cost, durability and unrealized potential of Keenum http://www.seahawkscheapshops.com/cheap-authentic-marquise-blair-jersey , Bradford and Bridgewater will be the more complicated and critical task.

Having been awake with angst until 3 a.m. following Minnesota’s 38-7 loss at Philadelphia in the NFC championship game on Sunday, Zimmer said at his season-ending news conference Tuesday that he hasn’t pointed his mind down that path yet.

”My whole focus was on the now and not so much the future,” Zimmer said. ”Rick and I talked about that earlier. We said, `Let’s just go through the season. Let’s figure it out after the season.’ We’ll go through that process and go from there and see how that goes. We’re just going to work through it.”

Though Zimmer was staying true to the status report, he also didn’t exactly offer a ringing endorsement of Keenum.

”I’m going to work through the process, just like I always do,” Zimmer said, when asked for a specific evaluation of the year Keenum had after going from unheralded backup to season-saver. ”We’re going to evaluate all the players. We’re going to evaluate everybody and go about our business like we always do.”

As for Bradford, whose knee injury yielded the position to Keenum, Zimmer said Bradford told him on Monday that he feels like he is past the trouble that limited him to two starts in 2017.

As for Bridgewater, who took Bradford’s spot on the active roster for the second half of the schedule only to be bumped back to third string and did-not-suit-up status for the playoffs, Zimmer said the Vikings naturally would have preferred to see a fuller picture of on-field action following his recovery from a major knee injury. Keenum’s success made that impossible for Bridgewater, who hasn’t appeared in a high-stakes situation in more than two years.

”For him to even get to that point to where he was and be able to come out and practice and compete D.K. Metcalf Jersey , get in a game, was a true credit to him,” Zimmer said, adding: ”He’s at the point where he can play. You just have to figure out where’s he at, because obviously we didn’t get to see him through games.”

Not many teams in NFL history will have such a strong season to come within one win of the Super Bowl, only to have the sport’s most important position in such an uncertain state, but that’s where the Vikings find themselves.

”I guess it’s unique, but it’s part of the process in the NFL,” Zimmer said. ”You work through it, and you go about your business.”

As for the offensive coordinator vacancy, Zimmer said he’ll take his time to try to get the right hire. He didn’t rule out internal candidates such as quarterbacks coach Kevin Stefanski, but he also acknowledged the benefit of new ideas from the outside.

The defense could not have been better in the regular season, ranking first in both fewest yards and points allowed http://www.seahawkscheapshops.com/cheap-authentic-cody-barton-jersey , but it faltered over the final five quarters of the playoffs. Nick Foles and the Eagles torched this proud group for 456 total yards.

”I have to do a better job in some areas as far as maybe sticking to some things too much because we’re successful,” Zimmer said.

As for the Super Bowl that will be painfully played on the team’s home turf at U.S. Bank Stadium, Zimmer will not be in attendance, in case there was any question. He’ll be at his vacation ranch in northern Kentucky, inevitably cringing from time to time about coming so close to the franchise’s first championship.

”Our fans were unbelievable the way they helped this football team out. They talked about bringing the whole state together, the state of Minnesota and Vikings fans throughout the world,” Zimmer said. ”That made me feel good, that we were able to bring a bunch of people and try to work for something for a common goal. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to finish it for them, so that is one of the disappointments.”

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