MIAMI -- Two days after Jeff Mathis was the centre of a controversial play at the plate, he came up big for the Miami Marlins. Mathis scored the winning run in the 10th inning of a 2-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday night. He doubled to left to lead off the inning against Sam LeCure (1-3), advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Reed Johnson, and scored on a base hit to centre by Christian Yelich. "Hes a huge part of our team, he cares a lot, not only about winning, but the ball club," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. "...So for him to come up there in that situation and get the big hit to start us off was huge and to score the winning run, I know that means a lot to him and I know hell sleep good tonight." Mathis, who had a call at the plate overturned in Thursdays 3-1 loss as replay officials ruled that he was blocking the plate, had another play at home in the eighth inning of Saturdays game. Billy Hamilton hit a bloop single to left field and Mathis stayed back to wait for Yelichs throw home as Ramon Santiago slid in safely to tie the game at 1-1. "Back in the day, that guys out," Redmond said. "Next year hell be out." After the inning, the typically mild-mannered Mathis was visibly frustrated in the dugout. "Any time you give up the lead after a game like that with the outing that Nathan (Eovaldi) gave us is pretty frustrating," Mathis said. The Marlins Mike Dunn (9-5) struck out two batters in the top of the 10th after Chris Heisey delivered a pinch-hit triple. "There was the option to squeeze right there and that is something we thought about, but Billy (Hamilton) has been good with runners in scoring position," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "What we needed was a base hit." Both starting pitchers, the Reds Homer Bailey and the Marlins Nathan Eovaldi, pitched seven innings and allowed one run. The Marlins snapped a three-game losing streak overall and a seven-game skid to the Reds. Yelich doubled in the third inning and Jordany Valdespin drove him home with a single to centre to give the Marlins an early 1-0 lead. TRAINERS ROOM Marlins All-Star Henderson Alvarez was placed on the disabled list on Friday, retroactive to July 30, with the hopes that he will just need the 15 days before his next appearance. "It doesnt appear to be a long-term thing, which is great news," Redmond said. "Its just a matter of him just getting himself feeling good, feeling healthy and getting back to playing catch and throwing again." Redmond added that catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia has been dealing with a sore back, giving more opportunities to Mathis. ON DECK Mike Leake (8-9, 3.53) will start for the Reds in Sundays series finale against Jacob Turner (4-6, 5.69). Leake is coming off a win against Arizona on July 29, pitching 7 2-3 scoreless innings and striking out eight. EOVALDI BOUNCES BACK Eovaldi came into the game with an 0-2 record and 9.92 ERA in his previous three starts, but was sharp throughout allowing just two hits and two walks while striking out six. "You could tell he was on a mission," Redmond said. "He carved through their lineup pretty good." Eovaldi was pulled after giving up a lead-off single Santiago in the eighth. "I wanted to stay in there really, I was really frustrated that I had to come out, but its baseball and (Bryan) Morris has been awesome for us," Eovaldi said. "We were able to come back and get the win and thats all that matters." BAILEY IN GOOD FORM Bailey didnt feel sharp early, but he was able to get positive results--something hes done a lot of lately. Over his last six starts, Bailey is 1-1 with a 1.88 ERA. Like Eovaldi, he would have liked to have gone further in the game. "I would like to have gone eight (innings) but my .110 batting average just does not play very well." 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Costa Rica followed up its surprise win over Uruguay with another World Cup stunner on Friday, beating four-time champion Italy 1-0 to secure a spot in the next round and eliminate England in the process.SAN ANTONIO -- Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, the winningest trio in NBA post-season history, shared hugs. Players wrapped themselves in flags from around world, a reminder that the San Antonio Spurs look far beyond the border to build champions, as confetti fell from above. Painfully denied 12 months ago by the Miami Heat, this victory party was worth the wait. "It makes last year OK," Duncan said. The Spurs finished off a dominant run to their fifth NBA championship Sunday night, ending the Heats two-year title reign with a 104-87 victory that wrapped up the series in five games. "We had a great first quarter, but from that point on they were the better team, and thats why theyre the champions in 2014," said LeBron James, who led the Heat with 31 points and 10 rebounds. San Antonio erased an early 16-point deficit and routed Miami for the fourth time in the series, denying the Heats quest for a third straight championship. A year after the Spurs suffered their only loss in six finals appearances -- a heartbreaking seven-game defeat -- they turned the rematch into no match at all. "We wanted to redeem ourselves. Im just glad we were able to do that," Parker said. Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs, who added this title to the ones they won in 1999, 2003, 05 and 07. They nearly had another last year, but couldnt hold off the Heat. "Ive said many times, a day didnt go by where I didnt think about Game 6," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of the turning point in last years finals. "So I think, just in general, for the group to have the fortitude that they showed to get back to this spot, I think speaks volumes about how theyre constituted and what kind of fiber they have." Not to mention tons of talent, and perhaps the best coaching in the game. "They played exquisite basketball this series and in particular these last three games and they are the better team. Theres no other way to say it," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. The Spurs won four titles in nine years, but hadnt been back on top since 2007, making Foreigners "Feels Like the First Time" an appropriate song choice after the final buzzer. Duncan and Popovich have been here for all of them, and it was the fourth for Parker and Ginobili, who with Duncan are once aagain the reigning the Big Three in the NBA.dddddddddddd Chris Bosh finished with 13 points and Dwyane Wade just 11 on 4-of-12 shooting for the Heat. The painful conclusion to last years NBA Finals served as the fuel for this one, powering the Spurs to a league-best 62-win season and a rematch with Miami -- the first in the finals since Chicago beat Utah in 1997-98. Round 2 went to the Spurs, but both teams have challenges to navigate if there is to be a rubber match. San Antonio will face questions -- as it has for years -- about the age of its core, and whether Duncan, Ginobili and Popovich want to stick around. The Heat will brace for the potential free agency of James, Wade and Bosh, and will need younger, fresher pieces around the three All-Stars if they all stay. But this moment belongs to the Spurs. Playing a methodical, albeit winning, style for many years made San Antonio respected, but never beloved. The Spurs were TV ratings killers, casual viewers finding them not much fun to watch. But Popovich opened up the offence a few years ago, making the Spurs an easy-to-like, tough-to-beat group that thrives on ball movement and 3-point shooting. "You showed the world how beautiful this game is," Commissioner Adam Silver told the Spurs during the postgame award ceremony. A decade and a half after winning their first title in 1999, when Duncan was in his second season, the Spurs remain the NBAs model organization, a small-market team that simply wins big and hardly ever does it with a high draft pick. Instead, they found players overseas or in other organizations who would fit the Spurs way of doing things and mesh with the Duncan, Parker and Ginobili, who have teamed for 117 postseason victories. That included Leonard, acquired in a draft-night trade with Indiana after playing at San Diego State, and Patty Mills, an Australian national who scored 17 points off the bench. In the end, the Spurs made winning their fifth title look stunningly easy -- much to the delight of the home crowd. After the slow start, they had their fans standing, chanting and dancing much of the second half. Notes: It was the Spurs 12th win by 15 or more points, most ever in a post-season. The Spurs outscored opponents by 214 points in the post-season. ... Miami had won 11 straight series, tied for the fifth-longest streak in NBA history. ' ' '