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NEW YORK -- Brandon McCarthys wife had more trouble slogging through Yankee Stadium traffic than he did against the Cincinnati Reds. McCarthy earned his first win for New York with an impressive debut in pinstripes, and Brett Gardner drove in three runs from the leadoff spot to send the Yankees past the Reds 7-1 on Saturday. Told his wife, Amanda, tweeted several wisecracks about all the highway congestion that delayed her arrival at the ballpark, McCarthy could only smile. "If everybody isnt apprised of what shes doing every few minutes, God knows what would happen," he said. Carlos Beltran homered, Kelly Johnson hit a two-run single and the Yankees ended Alfredo Simons six-game winning streak in the right-handers first outing since the All-Star game. Derek Jeter had an RBI single, and New York won the first two in a three-game interleague series, leaving Cincinnati with five straight road losses. "I think this is kind of a blip in the radar, but we certainly need to turn things around if we want to get that game tomorrow," Reds manager Bryan Price said. Acquired from Arizona in a July 6 trade, McCarthy (1-0) struck out nine and walked none over six innings in his second start for New York and first at home. He said the Yankees have encouraged him to throw his cutter, a pitch he was instructed to scrap with the Diamondbacks. "Hes got top-of-the-rotation stuff, and were really glad to have him," catcher Brian McCann said. "He was doing whatever he wanted to on the mound today." McCarthy threw 71 of 99 pitches for strikes, improving to 3-0 with a 1.78 ERA in his last four outings after winning only once in his initial 16 starts this season. "Actually, that was the frustrating part about the beginning part of the season is, I felt sharp," McCarthy said. "I felt like everything was where I wanted it to be, I just wasnt doing everything I needed to to get the best out of it. So I felt like Ive thrown better this year than any year in the past, its just the results havent followed." The right-hander was 3-10 with a 4.80 ERA for Arizona before New York obtained him to upgrade a rotation depleted by injuries to four starters. His first outing for the Yankees was a no-decision July 9 at Cleveland. "You realize that youre putting the pinstripes on for the first time, but I try and wash all that away as much as I can and just focus on execution, focus on my routine, what Im doing. All that stuff I can think about later," McCarthy said. "I mean, youre pitching for the Yankees, and thats an opportunity no matter what the circumstances are. For me, its at a point in my career where I want to be challenged. I really want to be in a pennant race. I wanted to be closer to the playoffs. I wanted to be in a market that is difficult. I wanted that kind of stuff to see if I could push myself to the next level, so its a great opportunity in that sense." A converted reliever, the surprising Simon (12-4) is tied for the big league lead in wins -- but he was betrayed Saturday by a Reds defence that entered with the highest fielding percentage and fewest errors in the majors. The right-hander allowed four runs -- two earned -- and five hits in five innings, the first time he failed to finish six innings since going 3 2-3 in a 6-3 loss at Dodger Stadium on May 27. He went 6-0 with a 2.47 ERA in his next eight starts. Chris Heisey homered for the Reds, struggling to mount much offence this weekend without injured boppers Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips. Adam Warren, Shawn Kelley and Matt Thornton finished for the Yankees, who struck out 13. It was the first time they whiffed that many without issuing a walk since July 7, 2006, at Tampa Bay. Cincinnati has struck out 23 times and walked once in the first two games of the series. "Weve got to pick it up a little bit," Todd Frazier said. "Thats not where we want to be." NOTES: Simon fell to 0-3 in seven games, including four starts, against the Yankees. ... McCarthy entered 0-2 with a 14.73 ERA in two starts and one relief appearance against Cincinnati. He had a 6.89 ERA in three previous starts at Yankee Stadium. ... Before the game, Frazier and Reds President of Baseball Operations Walt Jocketty gave Jeter framed jerseys autographed by the clubs two captains, Dave Concepcion and Barry Larkin. Jeter also was presented with three photos taken June 3, 2003, the day he was named the 11th Yankees captain while the team was in Cincinnati. ... Looking to avoid a three-game sweep, Cincinnati sends another All-Star to the mound Sunday when RHP Johnny Cueto (10-6, 2.13 ERA) faces RHP Hiroki Kuroda (6-6, 4.10). Discount Air Max 97 Shoes . Nainggolan scored his first Italian league goal at Bologna, in October 2010, and he also opened his Roma account there following his January move from Cagliari. The Belgium midfielder volleyed home Miralem Pjanics cross from close range eight minutes from time. Clearance Air Max 97 Online . After a 10-game skid, winning sure feels good. Atlantas third error in the last two innings allowed Jackie Bradley Jr. http://www.airmax97discount.com/.com) - Charlie Davies netted a pair of goals, including the series-winner on Saturday, as the New England Revolution battled the New York Red Bulls to a 2-2 draw in the second leg of the Eastern Conference Championship at Gillette Stadium and advanced to MLS Cup final via a thrilling 4-3 aggregate victory. Wholesale Air Max 97 Outlet . They are back to a game above .500 on the year and back to .500 on the road. It was their 10th extra time game of the year, and only the second one that did not got to a shootout. Air Max 97 Cheap . It was a move of some time in the making. “He hasnt thrown well, clearly some guys are being used more than him right now and the only way to get out of this funk is to pitch,” said general manager Alex Anthopoulos.TORONTO -- In the immediate moments after the Raptors 101-87 victory over Detroit on Wednesday, Toronto coach Dwane Casey sat down to watch the dying minutes of the Miami-Brooklyn game. Amir Johnson checked the result on his phone. With 20 games left on a thrilling season that sees Toronto poised for a playoff position for the first time in six years, the Raptors are excited, and thinking about little else. "Hell, yeah. Without a doubt, man," DeMar DeRozan said. "Thats why I work so hard, and it always bugged me going home early, and just sitting there doing nothing. It used to make me so hungry just watching." DeRozan poured in 25 points, while Johnson scored 20 and grabbed nine rebounds in a game that was no thriller but served its purpose -- one step closer to the teams second Atlantic Division title and its first playoff berth since 2008. The Nets, who edged Miami 96-95 on Wednesday, are three games behind Toronto for the division title. "Ive got a lot of friends that play in the playoffs and I had to hear all summer them talking about their experience in the playoffs. It always pushed me even further," DeRozan said. "You just want to get there. Not even for myself, just for this organization as well. It definitely feels good that were moving in the right direction now." Kyle Lowry had 19 points and six assists, while Jonas Valanciunas had 13 rebounds to go with eight points for the Raptors (36-27), whove won 10 of their last 13 games. The affair wasnt pretty. The Raptors coughed up double-digit leads a couple of times -- including an 18-point third-quarter advantage that the Pistons whittled down to just five -- in a game they could have put out of reach far earlier. The Raptors went into the fourth quarter with a narrow 74-69 lead in front of the 18,247 fans at the Air Canada Centre that braved the rare March snowstorm. They scored the first nine points of the fourth to go up by 14. A wide-open three by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with 8:23 to go cut the Raptors lead to nine points, but that was as close as the struggling Pistons would come. Brandon Jennings topped Detroit (25-40) with 24 points, while Andre Drummond had 16 points and nine rebounds and Greg Monroe had 13 points to go with 10 boards. Ugly or not, the Raptors were happy to tick off another win. "Absolutely. Im ready," Johnson said, when asked if hes thinking post-season. "Were going to win as many games as we possibly can going down the home stretch, collect these wins." Casey said hes happy his players are enjoying their success, but warns that theyve got to focus on themselves down the stretch. "It is fun. But weve got to take care of our business. We can watch (what other teams are doing), but if we dont take care of our business, its not worth crap," the coach said.dddddddddddd "Im more concerned with what we do, and how were playing, . . .and losing leads, moreso than anything else. "I hope (the Raptors) are enjoying it but still understand how hard it is, getting there first, and then after you get there, its even harder." DeRozan, whos in his fifth season in Toronto thus has never stepped on the court for a playoff game, said he has always forced himself to watch the post-season, regardless of how frustrating it was. "I had to, just to understand and see how it was," he said. "Youre playing the same team possibly seven times in a row. Seeing the different schemes. Just trying to get a knowledge of how its played every single day." He said hes particularly thrilled to be sharing this seasons success with Johnson, who last made the playoffs with Detroit in 2009. "Thats my dog, man. Its definitely cool," DeRozan said. "I knew Amir, and Amir knew me when I was running around with the same pair of dirty shoes on, playing basketball. Amir is a helluva dude, how hard he works, and how good of a person he is." Johnson was key Wednesday night in containing Detroits frontcourt -- what Casey had predicted would be a "huge test" for Toronto. The Pistons lead the league in points in the paint and offensive rebounds, thanks largely to Drummond. The Raptors were effective inside, outrebounding Detroit 54-39 and outscoring their visitors in the paint 44-38. Casey wasnt thrilled with the second unit, saying it was "playing in mud a little bit." "We needed to keep the pace going, I thought the pace slowed down," he said. "For whatever reason we got stagnant and lost a couple of leads and thats something we have to work on." The Raptors raced out to a nine-point lead four minutes into the game, stretching it to 14 on a pullup jumper by John Salmons before ending the first quarter up 29-21. The Raptors went almost five minutes without a point to open the second, and Bynum drained a three with 8:37 left in the half to tie the game 29-29. The Raptors managed to cobble together another 10-point lead and took a 52-45 advantage into the dressing room at halftime. A three-pointer by Lowry stretched Torontos lead to 18 points just four-and-a-half minutes into the third but the Raptors couldnt maintain it. The Pistons ended the quarter on a 14-2 run to send the game into the fourth with Toronto leading 74-69. NOTES: Patrick Patterson missed his third straight game with an elbow injury. . . The game was the first of three straight at home. The Raptors host the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday and the Phoenix Suns on Sunday before playing a pair on the road at Atlanta and New Orleans. . . The Raptors have won four of their last five against the Pistons. ' ' '