MIAMI -- One pitch from being pulled, and one strike from victory, Homer Bailey unleashed a 97 mph fastball to finish off the Marlins. With his 125th pitch -- a career high -- Bailey completed a six-hitter and helped the Cincinnati Reds extend their winning streak to four games by beating Miami 6-2 Tuesday night. Bailey went to a full count on the final batter, Greg Dobbs, and wouldnt have faced another, manager Dusty Baker said. "We were counting pitches in the ninth inning," Baker said. "We were like, Come on, Homer. Quit fouling them off, Dobbs." Dobbs finally lined out weakly, and Bailey earned his first victory since April 5. The Reds climbed a season-best seven games above .500 as they began a nine-game trip. The Marlins, who have the NLs worst record, lost their third game in a row and fell to 5-12 at home. Bailey (2-3) tied a career high with 10 strikeouts and walked none in his fourth complete game. He was glad to give the Reds relievers a break. "Theyve been griping at me," he said. "The last couple of games I only went five or six. Its about time I gave them a day off." The right-hander has endured spotty run support this season, but the Reds scored five times in the second inning to go ahead 6-1. "With that kind of lead I was just trying to be really aggressive," Bailey said. He retired his final eight batters and allowed only four hits over the final 8 2-3 innings. "He worked with tremendous control," Miamis Adeiny Hechavarria said. "He located the pitches where he wanted and fooled us several times." A brief, uncharacteristic bout of wildness proved costly for Ricky Nolasco (2-5), who gave up six runs in five innings. He hit a batter with a pitch and walked two -- both with the bases loaded. Xavier Paul hit a three-run double for the Reds. Brandon Phillips, who began the night tied for the NL lead in RBIs, drove in two runs. Joey Votto drove in a run and had three hits to hike his average to .322. Ryan Hanigan added two hits to raise his average to .149. Miami batted rookies Derek Dietrich and Marcell Ozuna third and fourth, but the strategy failed to jump-start an offence ranked last in the majors in runs, batting average and homers. The Marlins have totalled three runs in Nolascos past three starts. Manager Mike Redmond blamed the feeble attack for Nolascos costly bases on balls. "It kind of stems from our offence, with him going out there he knows he cant give up much," Redmond said. "Hes trying to be perfect; he ends up walking a couple of guys." Cincinnati broke the game open in the second inning, when they scored five times with two outs. Nolasco hit Shin-Soo Choo with a pitch and, after the Reds loaded the bases, walked Votto and Phillips to force in runs. Nolasco then grooved a 3-1 pitch to Paul, who hit a three-run double. "One out away -- frustrating," Nolasco said. "Ive been doing a good job of staying away from that big crooked inning all year but it got me today." A five-run lead was plenty for Bailey. "Homer to me has turned into one of those guys where you could maybe consider him the ace of your staff," Votto said. "He has consistently gotten better over his career, and its really impressive to see him improve and grow." NOTES: With a temperature of 77 degrees at game time, the retractable roof was open for the ninth time this season. It was open only eight times last year. ... Reds OF Chris Heisey, who is on the disabled list, aggravated a strained right hamstring Monday playing for Double-A Pensacola. His projected date to rejoin the team was pushed back to next week. ... Cincinnati LHP Manny Parra, on the DL with a strained left pectoral muscle, began a rehab assignment Monday with Pensacola and threw one scoreless inning. ... The Reds flipped RHP Mat Latos and LHP Tony Cingrani in the rotation to give the latter extra rest as he deals with shoulder soreness. Latos will now start the series finale Thursday, and Cingrani will pitch Friday in Philadelphia. ... Reds RF Jay Bruce, who had played in every game, was given the night off. ... The Marlins began the homestand averaging 18,865 fans per game, which ranked ahead of three other teams: Oakland, Tampa Bay and Cleveland. Andre Tippett Youth Jersey . Q: Team Canada announces their Olympic roster three weeks from today. Who is general manager Steve Yzerman watching? LeBrun: Over the last 48 hours, hes taken in the home-and-home between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche with Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene being the obvious targets. Drew Bledsoe Youth Jersey .Y. -- Marcell Dareus and the Buffalo Bills defence made life miserable for Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco. http://www.patriotsjerseysauthentic.com/Steve-Grogan-Super-Bowl-Jersey/ . It was Kerbers third final of the year after losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in Monterrey in April and to Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in Tokyo two weeks ago. The 10th-ranked German improved her record in finals to 3-5. Tom Brady Patriots Jersey . But now that hes in the NHL, the Calgary Flames centre showed big improvement in that department by scoring the winner in the eighth round of a 5-4 shootout victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday. Custom New England Patriots Jerseys . -- Nate Robinson has played for seven teams, so beating one of them is no longer a rare occurrence. NEW YORK -- At 4-all in the opening set of her U.S. Open quarterfinal Tuesday, Angelique Kerber noticed the loud roar of a jet flying past. She missed a shot, lost that point, glared overhead -- then followed with a trio of unforced errors to get broken.In the past, that sequence might have been her undoing. The distraction. The deficit. The opponent outplaying her. Not now, though. Kerbers game has improved, sure, and so has her attitude. On this afternoon, she wouldnt drop another game.Making a push to move up from No. 2 in the rankings, and to earn a second Grand Slam title of 2016, Kerber moved into the semifinals at Flushing Meadows by taking the last nine games in a 7-5, 6-0 victory over Roberta Vinci, last years runner-up.I know that I can beat everybody, Kerber said, and this is what gives me also a lot of confidence and motivation.She has a chance to overtake Serena Williams at No. 1 after the tournament and moved into her third major semifinal of the year, which will be played Thursday against Caroline Wozniacki, a two-time U.S. Open runner-up who advanced with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over an Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia.Sevastova twisted her right ankle on the first point of the second game and was unable to move properly the rest of the way against Wozniacki, a former No. 1 who is now ranked only 74th and hadnt won a Grand Slam match in 2016 until last week.Its the fifth trip to the semifinals at Flushing Meadows for Wozniacki, who lost the 2009 final to Kim Clijsters and the 2014 final to her good friend Williams.Kerber beat Williams in the Australian Open final this January, then lost to Williams in the Wimbledon final in July.In tough moments, Vinci said about Kerber, the mind is important.In 2015, Vinci reached her first major final by stunning Williams to end the Americans bid for the first calendar-year Grand Slam in tennis in more than a quarter-century.But after being two points from taking the first set against Kerber while serving for it at 55-4, 30-all, the No.dddddddddddd 7-seeded Vinci faltered badly. She missed a forehand long, then netted a backhand to get broken there -- and that was just the beginning of her collapse.Trailing 6-5, and serving at love-40, Vinci missed her first serve, then was called for a foot fault on a second serve. That resulted in a double-fault, ceding the set.As she walked to the sideline, Vinci looked at the line judge who made the call and smiled sarcastically, giving him a thumbs up and applauding with her racket.If they called it, Vinci said later, I must have done it.Its a rare ruling in Grand Slam tennis, especially at a critical juncture, although there was, of course, the most famous foot fault of all on the very same court.In the 2009 U.S. Open semifinals, Williams was angered by the same type of call: a foot fault that resulted in a double-fault; in that instance, it set up match point for her opponent, Kim Clijsters. Williams brandished her racket and yelled at the line judge, and the point she was docked for that ended the match.This time, the call ended the competitive portion of Vincis quarterfinal: She managed to take only 10 of 38 points the rest of the way.Vinci has been dealing with an injured left Achilles tendon -- she wore black tape in the shape of a V that framed her left calf -- and a bad back. Still, her varied game, filled with slices and drop shots and net rushes, gave Kerber fits for most of the first set.I was playing better than her, said the 33-year-old Vinci, who mentioned at her news conference that she will decide after the season whether to retire.But Kerber hung in there to reach her first U.S. Open semifinal since 2011.Im staying more positive and believing in my game, Kerber said. I think that right now, I can win matches like that.---Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich ' ' '