ST. LOUIS -- Billy Hamilton had three hits and his first two steals, and scored easily after tagging up on a shallow outfield pop fly to support a strong outing from Mike Leake in the Cincinnati Reds 4-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday. Leake (1-1) allowed four hits and a walk in eight scoreless innings and Devin Mesoraco hit a two-run home run for the Reds, who avoided a three-game sweep after dropping their ninth series in their last 10 in St. Louis. Theyre 2-4 against the Cardinals, their NL Central rival, and wrapped up a 2-4 trip. Shelby Miller (0-2) allowed his fourth homer in two starts and faced trouble most of his six innings, but held the Reds hitless in nine at-bats with runners in scoring position. Mesoraco hit his first homer in the fourth after doubling twice Tuesday in his first start after coming off the 15-day disabled list. Hamilton entered batting .091 with two hits and seven strikeouts in 22 at-bats and left town batting .192. He reached safely his first three trips beginning with a triple to open the game when left fielder Matt Holliday missed on a diving catch in the gap. After singling to start the fifth he put on a show with his legs, stealing second without a throw, going to third on a flyout to shallow right and scoring easily to beat Jon Jays relay on Bruces pop fly to even shallower right and put the Reds up 3-0. Hamilton bunted for a hit in the ninth against Pat Neshek and stole second, then scored without a throw on Brandon Phillips one-out single to make it 4-0. Leake retired nine of the first 10 hitters and benefited from three double-play balls, two of them in a run of five straight three-up, three-down innings from the second through sixth. Leake was 0-2 in three starts last year against St. Louis while allowing 15 earned runs in 16 1-3 innings and beat them for the first time since Aug. 25, 2012. Millers best work came in the first when he struck out Brandon Phillips and Joey Votto and got Bruce on a groundout to strand Hamilton at third. He gave up three runs on seven hits. Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter made an outstanding diving stop on Leakes grounder down the line in the third. Notes: Slumping cleanup man Allen Craig (.097) was not in the lineup for the Cardinals and the Reds gave Zack Cozart (.038) a day off. Together, those two are 4 for 57. ... Both teams have a day off Thursday. The Reds open a six-game homestand Friday with Johnny Cueto (0-1, 1.93) opposing the Rays and David Price (1-0, 4.05) and the Cardinals and Joe Kelly (1-0, 1.69) begin a three-game series with the Cubs and Jeff Samardzija (0-1, 1.29). ... Miller was a 15-game winner last year as a rookie, going 10-3 with a 1.75 ERA at home. New Balance Outlet Store . His brother — Red Lake chiropractor Richard Radford — is en route to Sochi to cheer on his younger brother. "Ive been getting texts from Eric and he just says the atmosphere is amazing, its special,” he said. Cheap New Balance Shoes Online . TSN2 December 18 Knicks at Bulls 8pm et/5pm pt TSN2 December 18 Thunder at Warriors 10:30pm et/7:30pt TSN2 December 21 Pacers at Timberwolves 7pm et/4pm pt. TSN2 December 23 Timberwolves at Cavaliers 7pm et/4pm pt TSN2 December 25 Wizards at Knicks 12pm et/9am pt TSN December 25 Thunder at Spurs 2:30pm et/11:30pt TSN December 25 Cavaliers at Heat 5pm et/2pm pt TSN December 25 Lakers at Bulls 8pm et/5pm pt TSN December 25 Warriors at Clippers 10:30pm et/7:30pt TSN NBA on TSN - January Date Game Time Network January 1 Kings at Timberwolves 8pm et/5pm pt TSN2 January 3 Jazz at Timberwolves 8pm et/5pm pt TSN2 January 5 Nuggets at Timberwolves 8pm et/5pm pt TSN2 January 7 Rockets at Cavaliers 7pm et/4pm pt TSN January 7 Suns at Timberwolves 9:30pm et/6:30 pt. TSN January 9 Bulls at Wizards 8pm et/5pm pt TSN2 January 9 Cavaliers at Warriors 10:30pm et/7:30pt TSN2 January 13 Timberwolves at Pacers 7pm et/4pm pt TSN2 January 15 Thunder at Rockets 8pm et/5pm pt TSN2 January 15 Cavaliers at Lakers 10:30pm et/7:30pt TSN2 January 16 Cavaliers at Clippers 10:30pm et/7:30pt TSN2 January 22 NBA All-Star Selection Show 7pm et/4pm pt TSN2 January 22 Spurs at Bulls 8pm et/5pm pt TSN2 January 22 Nets at Clippers 10:30pm et/7:30pt TSN2 January 25 Heat at Bulls 1pm et/10am pt TSN January 25 Thunder at Cavaliers 3:30pm et/12:30pm pt TSN January 26 Timberwolves at Thunder 8pm et/5pm pt TSN2 January 29 Nuggets at Grizzlies 8pm et/5pm pt TSN2 January 29 Bulls at Lakers 10:30pm et/7:30pt TSN2 NBA on TSN - February Date Game Time Network February 5 Clippers vs. http://www.cheapnewbalance.net/. An unconventional night for Texas-El Paso nearly led to the Miners getting a huge upset. Down by 14 with 2:21 left, the Miners went on a frantic closing spurt that fell just short, and UTEP was beaten by No. New Balance Shoes Clearance . Rinne had surgery on his left hip May 9 and recovered in time to start the season. He then had arthroscopic surgery on Oct. 24 because of a bacterial infection in his hip. New Balance Clearance Sale . Each day, TSN.ca provides the latest rumours, reports and speculation from around the NHL beat. Defensive Depth TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun is reporting the Toronto Maple Leafs have considerable interest in unrestricted free-agent defenceman Dan Boyle.ORDIZIA, Spain -- Alberto Contador continued to show his strong form this year by unleashing a late attack to win the opening stage of the Tour of Basque Country on Monday. Contador, who won the six-day race in 2008 and 2009, was riding alone against fellow favourite Alejandro Valverde with under eight kilometres to go before the five-time Grand Tour winner surged away, parting the spectators lining thee course as he went.dddddddddddd The Tinkoff-Saxo cyclist thumped his chest as he finished the 153-kilometre (95-mile) stage starting and ending in Ordizia in just over four hours. Valverde came across over 10 seconds later, with no other rider finishing within 30 seconds of Contador. Contador won the Tirreno-Adriatico last month and finished the Volta a Catalunya runner-up last week. ' ' '