CINCINNATI - Travis Snider felt for Jay Bruce. He also was happy to see the ball go to the wall.Sniders scorching liner got past Bruce for a tiebreaking double in the eighth inning, and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-1 on Friday night to keep the pressure on NL Central-leading St. Louis.Every once in a while, you hit one on the screws, and it has that knuckleball effect, said Snider, who started in right for the Pirates. Its a tough play for an outfielder. As an outfielder, youre going to see balls like that. Ive hit a few.The Pirates have won five of six and 17 of 21 overall. They have already clinched a wild card and remained one game back of the Cardinals, who won 7-6 at Arizona in 10 innings.Josh Harrison was aboard after a two-out single against Pedro Villareal (0-2) when Snider followed with a drive to right that Bruce overran, giving the Pirates a 2-1 lead. Andrew McCutchen then doubled into the gap in left-centre.Like a lot of times this year, I just whiffed, Bruce said. He hit it hard, and its not the first ball that knuckled, but as I planted to redirect, I slipped.Jared Hughes (7-5) got the final two outs of the seventh for the win. Tony Watson pitched the eighth, and Mark Melancon finished for his 33rd save.Mike Leake struck out eight in seven solid innings in his last start of the season for Cincinnati. The right-hander allowed one run a€” Gaby Sanchezs homer on the first pitch of the fifth a€” and three hits with two walks.Leake also helped himself in the fifth. He doubled with two out and then ran through third base coach Steve Smiths stop sign on Kristopher Negrons single to centre, beating McCutchens throw with a slide that made it 1-1.Leake is not sneaking up on anybody in the league, Reds manager Bryan Price said. Hes always ready to compete.Sanchezs drive to left-centre field was his seventh homer of the season and first since August 14.Pirates starter Vance Worley surrendered nine hits in 6 1-3 innings. He struck out four and walked none while throwing 74 pitches.HOT HARRISONHarrison extended his hitting streak to a career-high 14 games. The Cincinnati native set his previous career high of 13 earlier this season.ON A ROLLThe Pirates are a season-high 16 games over .500 at 88-72.DOUBLE DOWNMcCutchens double was his 38th, tying the career high he set last season, and the 200th of his career.STREAKING LEAKELeakes double was his career-high fifth of the season and his run was his career-high ninth.TRAINERS ROOMPirates: Manager Clint Hurdles lineup was delayed while he awaited an update on the condition of first baseman Ike Davis. He has flu-like symptoms that are more than flu-like, Hurdle said. Davis did not play.Reds: LHP Aroldis Chapman was day to day after he had trouble getting loose while logging his 35th save on Thursday, Price said.ON DECKPirates: LHP Francisco Liriano tries Saturday for his first career win in nine regular-season starts against Cincinnati. He is 0-5.Reds: RHP Alfredo Simon tries to improve to 3-1 in four starts against Pittsburgh this season. Stitched USA Soccer Jerseys . Reyes, 26, was traded from Atlanta to Toronto in July 2010 and spent the remainder of the season in the minors. He began 2011 in the majors and made 20 starts with the Blue Jays, going 5-8 with a 5.40 earned run average before he was waived on Aug. USA Soccer Pro Shop .K. Subban has picked the right time of the year to go on an offensive tear. https://www.cheapusasoccer.com/.com) - Whew! North Dakota States reign as the three-time FCS national champion was pushed to the limit by South Dakota State on Saturday, but freshman R. USA Soccer Gear . -- Among the 31 players at the Montreal Canadiens rookie camp, none feels closer to cracking the NHL roster than right winger Aaron Palushaj. USA Soccer Jerseys China . This week they discuss Russias mens hockey team, the ineptitude of the IOC handling the Nicklas Backstrom situation, John Tortorellas many apologies, and Canadas strong showing in curling. PHILADELPHIA -- Al Jefferson tried to explain how hitting his jumper forces defences to change their approach. "It keeps them on their toes, in my opinion," Jefferson said before being cut off. "It dont change nothing," reserve Jannero Pargo chimed in from two lockers down, "he aint going to pass the ball." Much like his first-half shooting, Jeffersons retort was nearly flawless. "Well if I pass it to you, Ill get a turnover, because youll be on the bench," he said. With a one-liner about as sharp as his stat line, Jefferson had his Bobcats teammates howling. Jefferson had every reason to feel loose, with 25 points and 10 rebounds in Charlottes 123-93 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night. "This is all the time," a smiling Jefferson said of the locker room banter. So are the big wins lately for Charlotte. Perhaps Charlotte is getting hot at the right time, winning by 30-plus points for the second time in six games. "Lets hope theres a couple more," coach Steve Clifford said. Gary Neal scored 15 points to help the Bobcats inch closer to a playoff berth. The Bobcats (37-38) have the seventh-best record in the Eastern Conference. They are 4 1/2 games ahead of the eighth-place New York Knicks and need three wins in the final seven games to clinch their first playoff berth since 2010. The Bobcats are counting on Jefferson to carry them deep into April -- and possibly beyond. "It falls a lot on me," Jefferson said. "Ive only been twice (to the playoffs), but twice is more than a lot of the other guys have been." The Bobcats raced to a 13-point lead in the first quarter, stretched it to 35 and never once let the Sixers threaten. Michael Carter-Williams scored 22 points on 10-of-18 shooting for the Sixers, who have lost two straight since snapping an NBA-record tying 26-game losing streak on Saturday. The Bobcats set the tone in the first quarter en route to putting away the lowly Sixers. Led by Jefferson, the Bobcats made 11 of their first 15 shots and ffinished with nine assists on 12 baskets.dddddddddddd Jefferson picked up where he left off in March, when he was named Eastern Conference player of the month. He averaged 24.7 points on 56 per cent shooting (178-321), 10.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists. He was the first Bobcat to ever win the award. He kept his sharp shooting rolling in the first game of April with a 13-point first quarter. "Its important to set a tone that youre going to play through him early in the game," Clifford said. Jefferson finished 9 of 17 from the floor and made 7 of 10 free throws. He has 20-plus points and 10-plus boards in the same game 23 times this season. Even in a season that has them with the second-worst record in the NBA, this was as bad as the Sixers have played in weeks. Trailing by 13, the Sixers had five turnovers and only four baskets. They missed all seven 3-point attempts in the first half and finished 4 of 18 overall. The Sixers had two starters go scoreless in the half. "They beat us up pretty bad," Carter-Williams said. Charlotte, one of the few teams to lose to the Sixers this season, broke the game open with a 22-8 run in the second. Anthony Tolliver, who scored 16 points, hit a pair of 3s during the spurt and the Bobcats cruised from there. "Thats a team getting ready for the playoffs," Sixers guard Tony Wroten said. "You can tell a big difference." The Bobcats continued doing the big things that have them within striking distance of Washington for sixth place. They had only nine turnovers (average a league-low 12.3), outrebounded the Sixers 47-32 and had three bench players score double digits. NOTES: Charlotte F Josh McRoberts (left ankle) sat out. Cody Zeller scored nine points in his first career start. ... 76ers coach Brett Brown again said that injured rookie F Nerlens Noel likely will not play at all this season. "Theres so much to weigh out if were smart with this, and we will be," he said. ... The Bobcats finished one-point shy of matching their season-high point total. ' ' '