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SAN FRANCISCO -- Bruce Bochy gave his guys an afternoon off from batting practice and a late report time to the ballpark. His players got a chance to rest up a bit and refresh themselves with a mental break from the September grind.It went so well, the Giants manager is going with the same plan Friday.I think it was a really good call by Boch, outfielder Hunter Pence said. He had a big impact on refueling us.And then, Johnny Cueto went out and inspired his teammates with a timely gem.The fist-pumping pitcher tossed a five-hitter and retired his final 17 batters, and San Francisco gained ground in the playoff race with a 6-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night.Every game that I pitch or will pitch from now on, Im going to treat it like a playoff game, Cueto said.The Cardinals loss clinched the NL Central title for the Chicago Cubs.Pence hit a two-run homer, Cueto (16-5) had a go-ahead sacrifice fly and Angel Pagan followed with an RBI single.Denard Span added a two-run single in the seventh for San Francisco, and Buster Posey had four hits.The Giants gained a game on the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers, who are ahead by four after losing at Arizona.San Francisco also moved a game in front of the idle New York Mets and two up on the Cardinals in the chase for the two NL wild cards. St. Louis opened a 10-game road trip, its last of 2016.This is an important time for us. Im not trying to downplay the game, but we do have time left, Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright said. We have plenty of time left to make this thing happen.Cueto struck out seven and walked one in his fifth complete game, tying Chris Sale of the White Sox for most in the majors. Cueto threw 105 pitches in a game that was done in 2 hours, 33 minutes.He outdueled Wainwright (11-9), and the San Francisco lineup delivered a day after the Giants were swept by the San Diego Padres in a lackluster three-game series.Cueto allowed Randal Grichuks RBI single in the fourth. But with the Giants closer-by-committee struggles, he gave the bullpen a much-needed break.When the pitcher showed up at 5:10 p.m. -- on time with the late report -- he felt as though he was late.You take a step back really and just reframe, refresh, regroup. It really felt good, Pence said. I think a lot of people had some good time away from the field and come in, get back together, feeling good.This marked the fourth regular-season matchup between Cueto and Wainwright dating to the San Francisco right-handers time in the NL Central with Cincinnati. Cueto beat Wainwright for the second time this season after a June 3 win.Span was dropped to eighth in the order in an effort to get his bat going.Wainwright intentionally walked Span in the fourth with runners on second and third to bring up Cueto, who hit sacrifice fly for the go-ahead run.PLAYOFF VIBEFormer Giants catcher and current Cardinals manager Mike Matheny recognized the crisp air and was reminded of all the playoff series St. Louis has played in recent years at AT&T Park. The Giants beat the Cardinals in the NL Championship Series in 2012 and `14, going on to win the World Series each time.It hasnt worked out real well a lot of times for us here, so wed like to change that part of it, Matheny said. It just seems like that postseason feel because of the excitement.BOCHYS HEART WALKBochy will help kick off the American Heart Associations Heart Walk on Friday afternoon, with his portion being a short jaunt from near the iconic Ferry Building to the ballpark.Giants executive and ticket chief Russ Stanley, who had quintuple bypass surgery in April, will walk with Bochy in honor of another colleague -- Raul Rodriguez -- who died this year of heart disease.TRAINERS ROOMCardinals: SS Aledmys Diaz was out of the lineup. He came off the disabled list Sunday after he had been out since July 31 with a broken right thumb. We had to watch how he responded the first two games and you could tell his hand was fine, its just the rest of his body was not quite in that consistent game-playing shape yet, Matheny said, saying Diaz will be re-evaluated before Fridays game. ... RHP Trevor Rosenthal was activated from the 15-day disabled list. He had been sidelined since July 26 with inflammation in his pitching shoulder, that after losing his job as closer in late June. ... RHP Alex Reyes is set to start Sunday, replacing Jaime Garcia as he moves to the bullpen.Giants: 3B Eduardo Nunez returned to the lineup after missing three games with tightness in his back.UP NEXTCardinals: RHP Luke Weaver (1-2, 3.48 ERA) looks for his first win in four starts since beating Oakland on Aug. 26.Giants: LHP Matt Moore (3-4, 4.05) will face the Cardinals for the first time in his career. He is looking to win for the fourth time in five starts as he makes his ninth start since joining San Francisco in a trade with Tampa Bay. Cheap Soccer Jerseys . Both players have lower body injuries that will keep them out of the lineup until at least January 31, which is the first game they can be activated from IR. Stitched Soccer Jerseys . Tests earlier this week revealed a Grade 2 left hamstring strain for Sabathia, who was hurt in last Fridays start against San Francisco. Its an injury that will require about eight weeks to heal. He finished a disappointing campaign just 14-13 with a career-worst 4. http://www.cheapsoccerjerseyswholesale.com/ . Kuznetsov, who was selected by the Capitals in the first round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, has been playing for his hometown team Chelyabinsk Traktor of the KHL. Cheap Nike Soccer Jerseys . Robinson finished with 17 points, all but two in the second half, and Lawson had 14 after halftime and finished with a game-high 11 assists as the Nuggets handed Dallas its first home loss in eight games this season. J.J. Hickson led Denver with 22, and Kenneth Faried added 10 points and 10 rebounds. Adidas Soccer Jerseys From China . Aaron Harrison scored a 22 points for Kentucky (6-1), which has won four in a row following a Nov. 12 loss to current No. 1 Michigan State. Julius Randle overcame a scoreless first half and added his sixth double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds. MILWAUKEE -- After building a big third-quarter lead against the defending NBA champions, the Milwaukee Bucks poured it on in the fourth.And when the Cleveland Cavaliers pulled their starters, including LeBron James, midway through the final period, the young Bucks still didnt let up.We didnt let them off the hook. We were attacking, said Giannis Antetokounmpo, who tied a career high with 34 points while the Bucks stunned the Cavaliers 118-101 on Tuesday night.They are the champs, but this is a great win.Bucks coach Jason Kidd had high praise for Antetokounmpo, who was often matched up against James.Hes getting better with hard work, Kidd said. He was going against the best player in the world.Antetokounmpo added 12 rebounds and five assists while Milwaukee ended Clevelands four-game winning streak. Jabari Parker had 18 points and Michael Beasley had 17 off the bench for the Bucks.It was a matter of us trusting each other, Kidd said. For a young team, sometimes it takes time. You want to put it in the microwave and instantly get it right away, but if youre patient enough for the process and the journey, it will come.James had 22 points for the Cavaliers, who fell to 13-3. Kyrie Irving added 20 points.You cant simulate how long they are in the passing lanes, James said. But four of my seven (turnovers) were unforced and thats careless.The Bucks scored a season-high 68 points in the paint.They played harder than we did, Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue said.The Bucks outscored Cleveland by 14 points in the third quarter and led by 22 in the fourth.Cleveland rode hot early shooting to a 14-point first quarter lead, but Milwaukee closed on a 10-0 run and trailed by only two at the end of the period.Antetokounmpo and Beasley sparked Milwaukee in the second quarter as the Bucks built an advantage of eight points before leading 58-54 at the half.FRIENDLY TO A FAULTThe Bucks exploited J.R. Smiths affable nature for an easy dunk in the second quarter.Right before an inbound play, Milwaukees Jason Terry stood up off the bench to say hello to Smith, sharing a handshake and hug along the baseline. Smith was supposed to be covering Tony Snell, but with Smith mingling, Snell cut to the basket, received the inbound pass and dunked with nobody around.ddddddddddddTerry said it wasnt planned and he didnt realize play had restarted, and Smith at first said he just wasnt paying attention. When asked again, he said, I didnt even know I was in the game. My bad.FAMILIAR FACESMatthew Dellavedova played against his former team for the first time since signing with Milwaukee as a free agent in the offseason.He was with those guys in a lot of battles, Kidd said.Lue said he misses having Dellavedova run his teams second unit.Hes going to compete and play hard. Hes going to scrap. His teammates loved him, Lue said.LOOKING FOR ANSWERSSmith entered the game just 1 for 22 in his last two contests, including going 0 for 11 against the 76ers on Sunday. He hit his first two shots, both 3-pointers, but missed his next five shots, all 3-pointers.IN THE HOUSEMichael Redd, the fourth all-time leading scorer in Bucks history, attended the game. Redd played 11 seasons for the Bucks.IN REMEMBRANCEA moment of silence was observed for the victims of a plane crash in Columbia on Monday. A chartered airliner slammed into the Andes mountains while transporting a Brazilian soccer team traveling to the finals of one of South Americas most prestigious club tournaments. More than 70 passengers were killed.TIP-INSCavaliers: Channing Frye missed his second straight game following the death of his father on Nov. 24. He is expected to rejoin the team by Thursday. ... Iman Shumpert (left hamstring strain) returned to the lineup after a one-game absence. ... Clevelands bench totaled just five first-half points.Bucks: Beasley, who entered averaging just more than eight points per game, scored 11 first-half points, connecting on 5 of 6 shots. ... Milwaukee shot 57 percent in the first half.UP NEXTCavaliers: Host Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night. Lue was an assistant under Clippers coach Doc Rivers in Boston and Los Angeles.Bucks: At Brooklyn on Thursday night. Milwaukee has won 12 of its last 16 meetings with the Nets, dating to Jan. 9, 2009, including a 110-108 win in Milwaukee on Oct. 29. ' ' '