CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Lyle Overbay walked into the clubhouse and pointed toward pitcher Wily Peraltas locker. "Hes over there," the first baseman said. "You dont need to talk to anybody else." Indeed, Peralta did it all as the majors top team won again. Peralta doubled home two runs -- the first RBIs of his career -- and repeatedly escaped trouble during his eight innings on Friday night, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to a 2-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. "When youre able to pitch like that and youre able to swing the bat, sometimes thats what you need," Peralta said. The NL Central leaders improved the best record in the majors to 21-9 and opened a 7 1/2-game lead over Cincinnati. The Brewers are 12-3 on the road. Peralta (4-1) made his fifth quality start of the season, holding the Reds to three hits and a pair of walks while throwing 110 pitches. Francisco Rodriguez retired the three batters he faced for his 14th save in as many chances. Peralta doubled with two outs in the fifth off Mike Leake (2-3), who left his first pitch over the plate. Leake gave up seven hits and fanned five as he went eight innings for the second time this season. "Today, he was their hero," Reds catcher Brayan Pena said. "He pitched good and got the double." Right fielder Ryan Braun missed his sixth game with a sore muscle on his right side. The Brewers will decide this weekend whether hes close to returning or needs time on the disabled list. Peralta put the Brewers ahead with his 10th career hit. Overbay opened the fifth with a single and Caleb Gindl walked with one out. Jean Segura forced Gindl at second, bringing up Peralta, who had struck out in his first at-bat. He doubled to right field on the first pitch. Peralta is 10 for 72 in his career with 30 strikeouts. "He was throwing the ball well," Peralta said. "I just went up there and guessed hed throw me a fastball right down the middle, and I put a pretty good swing on it." Peralta made it stand up by escaping scoring threats in the first, fourth, fifth and sixth innings. He fanned Jay Bruce three times with runners in scoring position. Bruce also struck out in the ninth. "He had a great fastball," manager Ron Roenicke said. "His slider was outstanding. He threw a couple of changeups, not many. And his swing ... he had a great swing and we certainly needed it." Reds leadoff hitter Billy Hamilton was out of the lineup with a sore left hand, which he sprained while making a diving catch during Cincinnatis 8-3 win in the series opener Thursday night. He was available to pinch-run. Joey Votto, robbed at the top of the wall by centre fielder Carlos Gomez on Thursday night, hit a flyball that deflected off the top of the wall in left field and bounced back into play in the fourth inning. Votto wound up with a double, and the call was upheld upon review. Votto was stranded at second. "I thought it was gone," Peralta said. "Its hard for me to tell from the mound, but I thought it was a home run." The Reds put runners on second and third with two outs in the fifth when Ramon Santiago drew a walk and Segura threw wildly to first on Leakes grounder to shortstop. Peralta retired Chris Heisey on a grounder to end the inning. NOTES: Yovani Gallardo (2-0) faces Johnny Cueto (2-2) in the third game of the series. Cueto has allowed only one run in his last 30 innings. ... The Reds made it a "Star Wars" theme night. ... It was Milwaukees third shutout. The Reds were blanked for the fourth time. ... Brewers 3B Aramis Ramirez extended his slump to 0 for 29. ... The Brewers put reliever Jim Henderson on the 15-day DL with a sore shoulder. Gindl was called up from Triple-A Nashville. ... Reds closer Aroldis Chapman will pitch another inning for Class-A Dayton at Lake County on Saturday, then join Triple-A Louisville to continue his rehab assignment. Hes recovering from a line drive off his forehead on March 19 and could be activated next week. Tim Frazier Pistons Jersey . 1 Caroline Wozniacki and three-time champion Serena Williams cruised into the semifinals, while last years runner-up Vera Zvonareva succumbed to Aussie Samantha Stosur in Thursdays womens quarterfinal action at the U. Jerry Stackhouse Jersey . Amare Stoudemire had 22 points and 10 rebounds, Carmelo Anthony scored 21 and the New York Knicks won their eighth straight game, 93-92 over Philadelphia on Friday night, sending the Sixers to their 23rd straight loss. https://www.pistonsrookiesshop.com/Sviat...Edition-Jersey/. George Hill had 13 points and seven rebounds for the Pacers, who stayed atop the overall NBA standings despite losing twice on their West Coast trip. Los Angeles kept it close into the second half before the Pacers finished an easy win over the injury-riddled Lakers, who have lost five straight. Markieff Morris Jersey . A last-minute leveler ensured the two-time defending champion remained nine points ahead of Roma, which drew 0-0 at bitter rival Lazio in the capital derby. Joe Dumars Pistons Jersey . Jackson Houck added a goal and two assists for the Giants (28-23-10), who halted a five-game slide, while Tyler Morrison, Mason Geertsen and Dominik Volek each scored once. Matt Bellerive scored both goals for the Blazers (12-43-5), who are 1-9-0 in their last 10 outings. ARLINGTON, Texas -- Prince Fielder ended his Texas home run drought, and Robbie Ross finally got some help from the offence as a starter. Fielder and Kevin Kouzmanoff hit back-to-back homers, Ross limited Seattle to five singles in seven-plus innings and the Texas Rangers beat the Mariners 5-0 Tuesday night. Fielder ended a 13-game homerless streak to start the season with a line drive to right-centre field off former Texas first-round pick Blake Beavan (0-1) to lead off the second inning. Two pitches later, Kouzmanoff went deep to left. Told before the game that he was a game away from tying the longest drought to start a season in his career, Fielder casually figured it was about time for a long ball. "I was just messing around," said Fielder, in his first season with the Rangers after a trade that sent fan favourite Ian Kinsler to Detroit. "But I guess it worked." The Mariners didnt get a runner past second base in their third shutout loss in a week. "Probably the first night where I was probably a little disappointed in our approach a little bit," Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said. "I thought we should have done better." Kouzmanoff also had two doubles, the second one driving in two runs to put the Rangers up 4-0 in the eighth inning. Fielder scored from first base after he was intentionally walked following a pair of strikeouts. Ross (1-0), a former reliever, got his first win as a starter in his third try as the Rangers recorded their third straight win by shutout and fourth in seven victories overall. Fielders homer was the first run the Rangers scored with Ross on the mound. He had gone 12 1-3 innings without Texas scoring, tops in the majors. "Its funny because Im just trying to go out there and do the best I can to keep it close because I know were going to start scoring," said Ross, who has allowed two earned runs in 18 innings as a starter. Ross struck out Abraham Almontte and Brad Miller to start the game, but didnt have another strikeout.ddddddddddddAfter Robinson Cano and Corey Hart followed with singles, Ross ended the first inning on Stefen Romeros groundout to short -- the first of seven straight outs on grounders and 16 overall. The left-hander didnt walk anybody in 7 2-3 innings, but hit Miller with a pitch twice. The second one made Cano the potential tying run in the eighth, but Ross got him on a flyout to centre before Alexi Ogando replaced him. "I think he was able to get in on us and I guess kind of mix it up," Miller said. "We really just didnt string together our good at-bats often, but credit to him." Beavan was called up from Triple-A Tacoma to fill in for rookie left-hander James Paxton, who is out with a strained muscle in his back. He gave up six hits -- the other four besides the homers were singles -- in four innings with one strikeout. He came out for Dominic Leone because of shoulder soreness. The right-hander who grew up in nearby Irving spent most of last season with Tacoma after losing his spot in the rotation after two starts. It was his first start since April 10, 2013, and first appearance since a relief outing last July 9. NOTES: It will be a battle of aces Wednesday night when Seattles Felix Hernandez facing Texas Yu Darvish. The Japanese right-hander is the first AL starter since Hernandez in 2007 to begin the season with two starts of at least seven shutout innings in April. Darvish lost to Hernandez twice during his rookie season in 2012. They didnt face each other last year. ... The Rangers had multiple homers in a game for the first time this season. They went deep just twice in their first seven home games. ... The Mariners had a double play that went down as a routine 6-4-3, but was far from it. The ball caromed off shortstop Millers glove straight to Cano just as he was getting to second base, and Cano made the easy throw to first. ' ' '