BOSTON -- Will Middlebrooks reaction running down the first-base line might have summed up how his teammates were feeling when the Boston Red Sox finally got back to .500. The slumping Middlebrooks pumped his fist a few times after hitting an RBI single with the bases loaded, capping a two-run rally in the eighth inning that sent the Red Sox over the Cincinnati Reds 4-3 Wednesday night for a sweep of the two-game interleague series. "I just wanted to help the team win and to contribute," Middlebrooks said. Mired in a 2-for-19 stretch and coming off an 0-for-5 night with a pair of strikeouts, Middlebrooks sent a hard grounder up the middle for the go-ahead run. "Ive been frustrated, but regardless if youre 10-for-10 or 0-for-10 or whatever, youre happy to contribute to a win in any way possible," he said. David Ortiz and Mike Napoli also drove in runs for the World Series champions, who reached .500 for the first time since the fourth game of the season. They failed in eight previous chances. "I dont think it was a mental hurdle," Boston manager John Farrell said. "I never heard too many of us mention that were bumping up against .500 and taking a step back. It was just more of a situation inside games where we had opportunities that we havent cashed in on, finally we do tonight." Skip Schumaker hit a two-run homer for Cincinnati, who lost the opener to Boston 4-3 in 12 innings. It was the Reds 11th one-run loss, most in the majors. "We play a lot of low scoring, one-run games," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "Were battling and well be whole soon, but until then weve got to find a way to create some distance between ourselves and our opponent. Itll come down to making every single play over the course of those last three innings to win the game, and it cant be like that every single day of a baseball season." Trailing 3-2 in the eighth, the Red Sox scored against two relievers. "Its tough," Reds left fielder Chris Heisey said. "We felt like we had the game and let it slip away." Napoli drew a one-out walk from Manny Parra, J.J. Hoover (1-4) walked pinch-hitter Jonny Gomes and A.J. Pierzynskis ground-rule double tied it at 3. Jackie Bradley Jr. was intentionally walked before Middlebrooks had his tiebreaking hit. Craig Breslow (2-0), who also got the win in Tuesdays game, pitched one hitless inning. Koji Uehara struck out the final three batters for his eighth save. Cincinnati starter Mike Leake pitched seven strong innings and was in line for the win before Boston rallied. He gave up two runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out four. Bostons Jake Peavy allowed three or fewer runs for the sixth time in seven starts, giving up three runs on four hits with four walks and five strikeouts. The Reds took a 3-2 lead in the seventh when Roger Bernadina bounced a slow groundout to second against reliever Chris Capuano with the bases loaded. In the bottom half, Heisey made a nice inning-ending running catch on Shane Victorinos liner into the gap with the tying run on second. Boston tied it with a pair of runs in the sixth on a run-scoring single by Ortiz and RBI double by Napoli. It could have been worse for Leake, but Grady Sizemore bounced to second with runners on second and third and, after an intentional walk, Bradley Jr. hit an inning-ending grounder. Schumaker, who came off the 15-day disabled list on Saturday after being sidelined since spring training with a dislocated left shoulder, homered in the third after Heisey had a leadoff double. The teams bounced into a combined five double plays, with the Red Sox turning three. NOTES: Farrell didnt start SS Xander Bogaerts to "get another left-handed bat in the lineup." Switch-hitter Jonathan Herrera took his spot and batted ninth. Bogaerts came in as a defensive replacement in the ninth. ... Leake had given up eight hits and four runs over seven innings in each of his last two starts. ... Reds RHP Alfredo Simon turned 33 Wednesday. ... The Reds are off until Friday, when they open a six-game homestand against Colorado with RHP Johnny Cueto (3-2, 1.31 ERA) going against RHP Jhoulys Chacin (0-1, 7.20). After Peavy, Chacin is the second of four straight starting pitchers the Reds are scheduled to face with the first letter of their first name starting with the letter "J." The Rockies will are also slated pitch RHP Jordan Lyles and Juan Nicasio. ... Boston is also off Thursday before opening a six-game road trip in Texas when RHP Clay Buchholz (2-2, 5.63) faces Yu Darvish (2-1, 2.87). Andrea Barzagli Jersey . Finlands Kari Lehtonen made 26 saves to lead Dallas over the Phoenix Coyotes 2-1 Saturday night. He received plenty of help from the Stars defence and got goals from Ray Whitney and Russias Valeri Nichushkin. Alex Sandro Juventus Jersey . Bjoergen pulled away from Swedens Charlotte Kalla on the final straight to win in 38 minutes, 33.6 seconds and defend her title from the 2010 Vancouver Games. Kalla was 1.8 seconds back. Heidi Weng of Norway took bronze. http://www.juventusfcpro.com/Kids-Mattia-Perin-Jersey/ . First reported by FOX Sports Ken Rosenthal, its unknown if the impetus for the deferral proposal came from players or management, but it never left the preliminary stages. Cristiano Ronaldo Juventus Jersey .Y. -- Kristen Gillman rallied to win the U. Joao Cancelo Jersey . Spains victory rendered Frances 3-0 win against Finland meaningless as Spain needed just one point to secure passage to Brazil. Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema scored either side of Joona Toivios own-goal as France advanced to the playoff among the eight best second-place finishers.TORONTO -- The Toronto Blue Jays came close but in the end they could not overcome the four home runs allowed by R.A. Dickey. Their ninth-inning rally netted only two runs and the American League East leaders lost 5-4 to the Chicago White Sox on Friday. Dickey (6-7) allowed only one other hit besides the home runs and also struck out a season-best nine. "Its a terrible letdown," Dickey said. "One less home run we win that game. Its just a really bizarre outing to be able to strike out nine guys, get all those swings and misses on what I felt like was a really, really good knuckleball tonight." Rookie first baseman Jose Abreu hit two solo homers against Dickey and Dayan Viciedo added a solo shot with Alexei Ramirez hitting a two-run blast that proved to be the difference. The Blue Jays had three home runs. Edwin Encarnacion and Dioner Navarro hit back-to-back solos in the sixth as the Blue Jays 45-37) tied the game 2-2, and Colby Rasmus, leading off the ninth as a pinch hitter, hit his 11th of the season. Left-hander John Danks (7-6) allowed five hits, including two home runs, and two runs over six innings, to earn the victory. The White Sox (37-44) regained the lead in the seventh as Abreu led off with his 25th homer of the season. Ramirez followed with his eighth, a two-run drive after a walk to designated hitter Adam Dunn. "Its a baffling pitch," Dickey said of his knuckleball. "The pitch that Abreu hit out, I threw it the same way that I threw the one that they swung and missed at. Its just part of what you have to accept with the pitch. And then hopefully you look back at the end of the year and youve kept us in games. But tonight was a tough one because we should have won that game." White Sox manager Robin Ventura said Dickeys knuckleball looked good all night. "Guys were coming back saying he was throwing a good one," Ventura said. "Guys like that, you never know. Sometimes you go up there and you might not have a chance and you hope he throws a flat one. Thats why you never know. You go up there and you could get the good one or you could get the flat one." The four homers allowed by Dickey were his most in a game since 2006 when he allowed six. But the Blue Jays still had a chance. White Sox right-hander Ronald Belisario, who was trying for his ninth save, got only one out in the ninth. After the leadoff homer to Rasmus, he gave up one-out singles to Munenori Kawasaki and Anthony Gose. Left-hander Eric Surkamp came in to face pinch-hitter Adam Lind, whose grounder resulted in an error by third baseman Conor Gillaspie. Right-hander Jake Petricka came in and Jose Reyes forcced pinch runner Drew Hutchison out with a grounder to short as another run scored.dddddddddddd Melky Cabrera ended the game with a grounder to second and Petricka picked up his second save of the season. "Hey, we had a shot," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "It would have been a nice little win, it was right there. It was one of those kinds of nights. I thought Dickey was great early on. He gave up two homers, we came back and tied it, they went back out and scored three. "We made a run late, thats all you ask for." Prior to the fifth inning, Dickey had allowed only one base runner, on a second-inning error by Reyes. But Abreu led off the fifth with his 24th homer of the season and Viciedo hit his seventh two outs later. "Its not a surprise," Ventura said. "(Abreu) is a good hitter, but I think you also see the power thats there. When he gets it on the barrel, it just seems to continue to go. Its like helium balls, they just continue to float." The Blue Jays tied the game by hitting back-to-back homers for the sixth time this season with two out in the sixth when Encarnacion hit his 25th and Navarro his fifth. There was a four-minute delay during the top of the second while Ventura talked to the umpires about some blinking lights on the facade just below the centre-field scoreboard that started flashing after fire alarm bells were heard. The game continued and the lights stopped blinking three batters into the bottom of the second. "It was more of an annoyance," Ventura said. "You first sit there and notice it and then youre hitting. I didnt know if they could actually just turn it off but I guess it took a while because its the hotel and theres protocol with the fire department that Im not in control of, so I couldnt get it turned off." With the lights still blinking in the bottom of the second, Torontos Steve Tolleson snapped a career-high 0-for-16 drought with a one-out double to left. A possible rally was thwarted after Kawasaki singled to right but made a big turn around first base. Kawasaki was caught in a rundown between first and second, while Tolleson, who inched too far down the third-base line, was thrown out by Ramirez. NOTES: Attendance at Rogers Centre was 24,173. a Rasmus did not start the game. Gibbons said he had planned a day off for Rasmus, who missed 33 game with a hamstring injury and returned on June 18. a Brad Glenn, who was called up to the Blue Jays from triple-A Buffalo on Wednesday, made his major-league debut in right field on Friday. aLeft-hander Chris Sale (6-1, 2.27 earned-run average) will start Saturday for the White Sox against Toronto rookie right-hander Marcus Stroman (4-2, 4.25). ' ' '