CHICAGO -- If this was Mike Leakes final start of the year, hell have plenty of motivation when he reports to camp in February. Pa... Stastny Avalanche Jersey Canada . Toronto native Joey Votto hit a tiebreaking RBI double in the 13th inning and the Cincinnati Reds rebounded for a 4-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs after blowing a two-run lead in the ninth Tuesday night. Leake was closing in on his first career shutout when Starlin Castro reached on a two-out single and pinch-hitter Bryan LaHair drove a 2-0 pitch over the wall in right for Chicagos third hit of the game and his first homer since Sept. 20, 2008, for the Seattle Mariners. Leake bent over on the front of the mound as LaHair rounded the bases with the tying shot, but the Reds eventually recovered for their third win in nine games. "We all had visions of his first complete-game shutout, and he was one out away from that. Thats why its such a deflator." Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "It was a great performance. You hate to see him lose it like that. His pitch count was so low, he had plenty left in the tank." Leake, the eighth overall pick in the 2009 draft, retired 14 consecutive batters before Darwin Barney reached on catchers interference in the seventh. The 23-year-old right-hander then got Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Pena to fly out to end the inning. Leake struck out six and walked none in a career-high nine innings. He needed only 65 pitches to get through seven innings and finished with 91 overall. "Its the best Ive thrown since college, really," he said. "We just went after guys and its nice to go out there and only throw 91 pitches over nine innings. You cant really do much better than that." Leake has thrown 159 2-3 innings this season after 138 1-3 last year as a rookie. Prior to Tuesdays outing, Baker said he wasnt sure if Leake would make another start this season and he was "getting close" to being shut down. Leake said he obviously still wants to pitch but understands the circumstances. "It will give me a little something to remember come spring training next year if I am done," he said. "Little bad taste in the mouth." Dave Sappelt hit a leadoff double against John Grabow (3-1) in the 13th inning and Votto followed with his second run-scoring double of the game. Miguel Cairo added a two-out RBI single to make it 4-2. Aroldis Chapman (4-1) pitched 1 1-3 innings for the victory and Francisco Cordero got three outs for his 321st career save, tying Jose Mesa for the most by pitcher from the Dominican Republic. It was his 31st save on the season. "I have not had the chance to talk to (Mesa). Im sure Ill see him when I go down there," Cordero said. "Im sure were going to talk about it and I can tell you hes pretty happy with what I accomplished tonight. Another save to become the all-time saves leader in the Dominican Republic. Im sure when I see him in the Dominican, hell say something to me." The Reds caught a break in the 12th when leadoff hitter Tony Campana hit a grounder to first and was called out on a close play. Replays indicated Campana beat Votto to the bag. Campana argued with umpire Tim Welke at first before Cubs manager Mike Quade came out and had an animated argument, then headed back to the dugout. "It was a big part of the game. I got a little riled up," Campana said. "Going down I think I have the best view at it. So I knew I beat it." Cubs starter Rodrigo Lopez allowed two runs and eight hits in 5 2-3 innings. The Reds finally got to Lopez in the sixth inning. Sappelt led off with a single and scored from first on Vottos double to right, ending a season-high 0-for-14 slide for the reigning NL MVP Votto scored on Devin Mesoracos double play ball to give the Reds a 2-0 lead. LaHair was one of the Cubs September callups after a successful season in triple-A Iowa. He was leading the minors with 38 home runs and was batting .331 with 109 RBIs when he was promoted Friday. It was his fourth career homer in the majors. NOTES: The Cubs recalled LHP John Gaub, INF DJ LeMahieu and OF Lou Montanez from triple-A Iowa. ... Cubs Canadian RHP Ryan Dempster will try to avoid losing his fourth straight start on Wednesday. ... Reds RHP Johnny Cueto is Wednesdays scheduled starter for the Reds. He leads the majors with a 2.29 ERA. ... Reds OF Drew Stubbs came in the game as a pinch runner in the ninth. cheap jerseys from china . Cook (2-5) scattered six hits, struck out two and walked two in his longest outing of an injury-delayed season. The 32-year-old right-hander, who missed the first three months with a broken finger on his pitching hand, has won consecutive starts after going 0-5 with a 5. cheap jerseys . Louis Cardinals will leave the friendly confines of Busch Stadium for a bit as they begin a three-city, nine-game road trip tonight with the first of three straight games against the NL Central-rival Houston Astros from Minute Maid Park. http://www.oriolesteamshop.com/ . The leagues latest move was to counter Vilmas attempt to initiate discovery in his defamation lawsuit against Roger Goodell, which alleges the commissioner lacked sufficient evidence when he publicly prejudged the Saints linebacker as the ring-leader of New Orleans pay-for-injury bounty system. Dion Waiters . -- The Denver Broncos have placed the franchise tag on Matt Prater, giving them the right to match any offer other teams might present to the kicker with one of the most powerful legs in NFL history. Scoo... Gennett . LOUIS -- Adam Wainwright refused to relax against a makeshift San Francisco Giants squad.TORONTO -- In the span of a minute Friday, Terrence Ross scored on an alley-oop, a three-pointer and a massive running dunk, taking off from near the top of the key. The 22-year-old started his second game in place of the departed Rudy Gay, and made the most of it, scoring 24 points -- including a key three in the dying minutes -- to lift the revamped Toronto Raptors to a 108-100 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday. "The main thing is staying focused so I can play at this level, Im really trying to just know my job, know my role and just make sure we have the chemistry going and keep winning," Ross said afterward. DeMar DeRozan poured in a game-high 27 points for Toronto (8-13) on what was a good night to be a Raptors swingman. "Talk about bouncy athletes," said Sixers coach Brett Brown. "You go with Ross and DeRozan, you take the athleticism plus they can come off screens and shoot like they do. Theyre hard guards, theyre really difficult people to defend. Those two guys had fantastic games throughout." Amir Johnson had 17 points and 10 rebounds, Jonas Valanciunas finished with 12 points to go with 13 boards, and Kyle Lowry doled out a season-high 11 assists and added six points. Tony Wroten topped the Sixers (7-17) with 23 points. Evan Turner had 21 points, while Thaddeus Young finished with 18. The game marked the first action for Raptors newcomers Greivis Vasquez, Patrick Patterson and John Salmons since they were acquired in Mondays trade that sent Gay, plus Aaron Gray and Quincy Acy to Sacramento. Vasquez scored 12 points, while Patterson had five points and five boards and showed flashes of nice interior defence. "Theyre learning the system, learning to play with each other," said Raptors coach Dwane Casey. "Learning where guys want the ball is huge. I thought they were a little tight playing tonight for the first time which is understandable, but I like what I saw. I think theyre going to mix in quite well." The Raptors almost coughed up an early 15-point lead several times during the game against their Atlantic Division rivals, but took an 83-76 lead into the fourth quarter in front of a crowd of 17,133 at Air Canada Centre. Johnson and Vasquez drained consecutive three-pointers to put Toronto up by 14 with just over seven minutes to go and the Raptors looked poised for an easy victory. But the Sixers battled back and a three by Turner with 2:10 to go pulled them within 100-96. A couple of nice passes on the Raptors next possession found Ross open in the corner, and he drained a three to give Toronto some breathing room, the basket pulling him to within two points of his career high. "That stopped the flow a little bit," Casey said. "His big three in the corner was huge.&quoot; Casey said the challenge for Ross is to maintain a high level of play -- easier said than done for a young player. Norichi... Aoki Royals Jersey. . "Hes got to stay hungry, stay driven, stay consistent," the coach said. "Hes a talented young man but hes fighting consistency." DeRozan is doing his part to help Ross. "Youve seen it, Terrence definitely works hard," DeRozan said. "Every time we practise against each other in practice, I always go at him just to try to give him a lesson, give him the extra confidence when hes out there on the court." Lowry, meanwhile, played amid rumours he wasnt long for Toronto, with the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets believed to be the frontrunners to acquire the Raptors starting point guard. Lowry spoke candidly about the rumours after Friday mornings shootaround. "You see it every day, you see it whenever they update it and everyone talks about it," Lowry told reporters. "We joke about it a little bit, we make it more of a lighter type thing, dont make it a heavy hearted thing, make it a joke. "Hey, man, you still here? Make it a little bit lighter on the players in that situation." Lowry, whos in the final year of a contract that will pay him about US$6.2 million this year, admitted the speculation weighed on him. "Nobody can say it doesnt but at the same time, you have to know that this is a business, you have to know the situation that youre in, the situation that youre going to be in," he said. "You cant let it affect you too much because you still have to go out there and do a job and try to win for the team that youre playing for." Starting in place of the departed Gay, Ross scored 12 first-quarter points including a three that put the Raptors up by 11 less than three minutes into the game. Toronto closed out the quarter up 36-21. The three new Raptors started the second and the chemistry clearly wasnt there, as the Sixers opened the quarter with a 10-0 run. A pair of Wroten free throws pulled the visitors even with three-and-a-half minutes left in the half. The Raptors made just six field goals in the quarter, but held on to lead 56-48 at halftime. The Sixers chipped away at Torontos lead and pulled to within 76-74 with 1:35 to go. But Lowry grabbed a rebound and found a sprinting DeRozan with a court-long pass for a layup. The play seemed to inject some life into a sagging home team. On the Raptors final possession, Lowry grabbed his own rebound for a nice tip shot at the buzzer that gave Toronto an 83-76 lead heading into the fourth. NOTES: Chuck Hayes, also acquired from Sacramento in the trade, didnt dress as he was required to undergo baseline cardiac testing. . .The Raptors are in Chicago to face the Bulls on Saturday, then return home to host the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday. ' ' '