CINCINNATI, Ohio -- No denying the importance of this one. The Cardinals knew they needed it. Needed it to start a defining road trip with a step forward. Needed it to close the gap and slow down those Reds in the NL Central. Needed it to keep their own surge going. With one big inning and a fabulous job by the bullpen, they got it. Allen Craig and Yadier Molina homered during a six-run sixth inning on Friday night, and the defending World Series champions opened an important trip by beating the Cincinnati Reds 8-5 and moving six games back of the NL Central leaders. "A really big game for us to start the road trip against our top competitor and get a victory," Craig said. The Cardinals big comeback off Mat Latos (10-4) started a 10-day trip against the Reds, Pirates and Nationals. Craig and Molina had three hits apiece as St. Louis piled up 14 in all, pulling away against a starter who has been tough to hit in August and a bullpen that is the NLs best. "Without question, one of those character wins," manager Mike Matheny said. "It says a lot about this team. Well have to be that kind of team the rest of the way." Cincinnati got the better of it early, knocking starter Lance Lynn out of the game in the third inning. Joe Kelly (4-5) fanned six in three innings of relief. Jason Motte pitched the ninth for his 30th save in 35 chances, giving up a pair of singles before fanning Scott Rolen to end it. St. Louis bullpen allowed only six hits and fanned 13 over the last seven innings "Weve got a great offence and a great bullpen, and they bailed us out tonight," Lynn said. "Thats the fun part of this team." Its an important weekend for the Reds as well. Theyre honouring former shortstop and team captain Barry Larkin, who was inducted into baseballs Hall of Fame this summer. His No. 11 will be retired by the team before Saturdays game and was stamped in chalk behind second base for the start of the series. The opener came down to one big inning. Latos tried to extend his August dominance -- only three earned runs allowed in his four previous starts. He suffered a meltdown in the sixth inning, when he gave up four runs without retiring a batter. "I went from having good command of my fastball to not," Latos said. The inning started poorly for Latos, who was slow to cover first base on Carlos Beltrans grounder, letting him reach on an infield single. Matt Holliday singled, and Craig followed with his 19th homer, trying it 5-all. Three pitches later, Molina hit an opposite-field homer -- his fourth off the Reds this season. Latos left after facing five batters in the inning without getting an out. St. Louis completed its six-run rally off Alfredo Simon, matching the biggest inning against the Reds this season. The Cardinals are in a familiar spot when it comes to making up ground. Last year, they trailed Atlanta for the NL wild card by 10 1/2 games on Aug. 24, but caught the Braves to make the playoffs and went on to win their 11th World Series title. Theyve started another late push, winning four in a row and 13 of their past 20 to move a season-high 13 games over .500. The Reds are holding on while waiting for their best hitter to get back. First baseman Joey Votto did a full workout before the game and said hes "not too far off" from returning. Votto, the leagues MVP in 2010, was batting .342 when he had surgery for torn knee cartilage on July 17. The rest of the lineup has done an impeccable job without him, going 26-13. Rookie shortstop Zack Cozart led off the Reds first with a double, extending his hitting streak to a career-best 12 games. Rookie infielder Todd Fraziers RBI single extended his streak to a career-high nine games, helping the Reds get the early advantage. Craig had a couple of streaks in play. He led off the second inning with a single that extended his run to 13 games, the longest active one in the majors. The hit also snapped his 0-for-15 career mark at Great American Ball Park. Notes: The teams have split their 10 games this season. ... In his past two starts combined, Lynn has lasted 6 1-3 innings and given up 10 hits and seven earned runs. ... Latos hadnt allowed more than one homer in any of his past six starts. ... Molina is batting .382 against the Reds this season. ... Motte became the 18th Cardinal to reach 30 saves. Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping . Instead of riding the hot hand of Ed Davis, who had a season-high 15 points and 14 rebounds off the bench, Casey stuck with Andrea Bargnani through two overtimes Sunday, even as the Italian finished 2-for-19 in Torontos 111-106 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Wholesale Jerseys Paypal . Evans finished the 2012 Tour de France despite being ill through much of the race. He was unsure if he would recover in time to contest the Olympic road race and time trial. http://herownblog.com/wholesal... . Hernandez drilled the ball into the corner of the net in the 88th minute at Liberty Stadium, ending Chelseas stay on top of the standings since Aug. 22. Manchester United is two points above Chelsea, which could drop to third if Man City wins later at West Ham. [url=http://herownblog.com/wholesale-jerseys-usa/]Wholesale Jerseys Supply . From the NHLs standpoint, being in a position to deprive players of income represents pretty meaningful leverage during CBA negotiations. Wholesale NFL Jerseys . -- The Texas Rangers figure theyll be just fine if they keep focusing on themselves.We know that NHL players dont get paid their salaries during a lockout. From the NHLs standpoint, being in a position to deprive players of income represents pretty meaningful leverage during CBA negotiations. What represents even more leverage? Players never getting that money back - or that year. If a full season is lost to a lockout, a player loses that entire year on his contract even though no hockey is ever played. That means that a lost year does not somehow carry over to the following year. The year is gone; the money is gone. The reason goes back to how a player contract is structured (or as its called, a Standard Players Contract or its short form, SPC). When a player signs a contract, he agrees that each contract year is counted as a "League Year". Under the CBA, a "League Year" is defined as July 1 of one year to June 30 of the next year. So NHL players dont sign for a defined number of NHL seasons; they sign for a defined number of years that may or may not include NHL hockey. Put another way, a player is employed for a year and not a season. Like the CBA that expired in September, expect the new CBA to even include a release agreed to by the NHLPA and its players barring a claim against NHL teams for "back pay" (see Section 27 of the CBA). Of course, it is possible that the sides could negotiate a deal whereby players get some compensation for a lost season. However, dont bet on it. This has an impact on a lot of teams, players and fans. When the league resumed play in 2005 after losing all of the previous season, the NHL never saw some of its more notable players again, including the likes of Ron Franciss, Al MacInnis, Scott Stevens, Mark Messier, Vincent Damphousse and Adam Oates.dddddddddddd This time around may be no different. There are a number of players in their late thirties that will be free agents in 2013-2014. Some of these players may decide to retire or may not find a place to play. Heres a partial list of players that could be free agents in their late thirties next season: Kimmo Timonen, Patrik Elias, Sergei Gonchar, Tim Thomas, Daniel Alfredsson, Jaromir Jagr, Teemu Selanne, Saku Koivu, Nikolai Khabibulin, Roman Hamrlik, Evgeni Nabokov, Vinny Prospal, Adrian Aucoin, Milan Hejduk, Jose Theodore and Jamie Langenbrunner. Remember if the salary cap comes down significantly, which is expected, teams may want to sign some of these players but may not have the cap space to do so, and instead may opt for cheaper talent. Apart from retirement, there is also the issue of turnover. With over 200 unrestricted free agents set to hit the market in 2013 if this season is lost, fans will likely see old faces on their teams replaced with new ones. As well, some fans may never even get a chance to see new players their teams have signed. Case in point: Carolina signed Alexander Semin to a one year deal, which means its possible Hurricane fans may never see him play for the team. So for players, there is a lot to lose by missing a season. And for some of these players, we may never see them again play NHL hockey. Eric Macramalla is TSNs Legal Analyst and can be heard each week on TSN Radio 1050. You can follow him on Twitter @EricOnSportslaw. ' ' '