ST. LOUIS - The slumping Cincinnati Reds have activated Brandon Phillips from the 15-day disabled list and inserted the second baseman into their starting lineup at St. Louis. Phillips was placed on the DL on July 11 after he had surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb. He was batting sixth for Monday nights opener of a three-game set against the Cardinals. Phillips is wearing a brace to prevent the thumb from bending backward but had two hits his last rehab game. "I would not say hes 100 per cent like brand new and that may not be until spring training of next year," manager Bryan Price said. "But hes definitely good to play." Phillips return comes at a crucial time for Cincinnati, which was swept in a doubleheader at Colorado on Sunday and is barely hanging on in the playoff race. The Reds also got third baseman Todd Frazier back after missing three games with lower back stiffness. "Todd is probably not 100 per cent either, but good enough to play," Price said. "These guys want to play, it says a lot about the character of our team." The Reds activated reliever Logan Ondrusek from the DL and optioned right-hander Dylan Axelrod and catcher Tucker Barnhart to Triple-A Louisville. Right-hander Curtis Partch, who served as the 26th player for Sundays doubleheader, was returned to Louisville. The team has not determined a starter for Thursday night. Nuggets Jerseys 2020 .com) - Even-money favorite Liams Map proved a little too tough down the stretch and won Saturdays $100,000 Harlans Holiday Stakes at Gulfstream Park. Denver Nuggets Pro Shop . The Jets have now won three straight at home and four of the last five at the MTS Centre. After a scoreless first period, Brad Marchand scored his first goal in eight games eight seconds into the second. https://www.cheapnuggets.com/ .Y. - Geno Smith shouted a couple of mighty expensive expletives. Nuggets Jerseys China . They started shooting the puck. Joe Pavelski had a hat trick to move into a tie for second in the NHL in goals and the Sharks beat Philadelphia 7-3 Thursday night in the first game for both teams following the Olympic break. Denver Nuggets Store . -- Steven Stamkos scored his first goal since returning from a major injury, Ryan Callahan had his first goal with Tampa Bay, and the Lightning beat the Florida Panthers 5-4 on Thursday night.MANCHESTER, England -- Manchester United slumped to a 2-1 loss at relegation-threatened Stoke in the Premier League on Saturday to puncture the optimism generated by Juan Matas arrival and leave the reigning champions with a huge task to finish in the Champions League positions. Uniteds eighth defeat of a wretched campaign means Liverpool, which currently occupies the fourth and final Champions League place, could go nine points clear of its fierce rival by beating West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. Charlie Adam scored both of Stokes goals at Britannia Stadium either side of Robin van Persies equalizer, with a miserable day for seventh-place United capped by first-half injuries to centre halves Jonny Evans and Phil Jones that forced them off. It was Stokes maiden win over United in the Premier League, and first since 1984. "I dont know what we have to do to win," said United manager David Moyes. Everton bounced back from its derby thrashing by Liverpool in midweek by coming from behind to beat Aston Villa 2-1 and climb to fifth above Tottenham, which drew 1-1 at Hull. Cardiff climbed off the bottom by scoring two goals in 73 seconds at the start of the second half to defeat Norwich 2-1. That left Fulham, which was overwhelmed 3-0 at home to Southampton, two points adrift in last place. West Ham completes the bottom three even though it beat Swansea 2-0 thanks to a brace by Kevin Nolan. That win was marred by a red card to striker Andy Carroll for elbowing an opponent. The other match saw Sunderland earn a second straight 3-0 win at Newcastle in the northeast derby, sparking anger and frustration by home fans disillusioned by the sale of star player Yohan Cabaye to Pariss Saint-Germain this week.dddddddddddd Such is the tightness of the bottom half of the table, Sunderland -- like Stoke -- is now nearer mid-table than the relegation zone. With Mata joining from Chelsea for a club-record fee last week and both Wayne Rooney and Van Persie back fit, things looked like turning around for United and its under-pressure manager David Moyes. Most thought the comfortable 2-0 win over Cardiff on Tuesday would be the first in a run of victories to lift the champions up to the top four, but they came unstuck at the hands of a gutsy Stoke side managed by a former United favourite, Mark Hughes. "I thought we were, to a man, fantastic," said Hughes, who played 467 games for United. "We got a great reward for a huge amount of effort." Stoke enjoyed some fortune with the first goal, with Adams long-range free kick in the 38th taking a wicked deflection off Michael Carrick and flying into the far corner past stranded goalkeeper David de Gea. Mata set up Van Persie to make it 1-1 in the 47th but Adam grabbed what proved to be the winner from 25 yards five minutes later. "It is a massive result against a great team," Adam said. Belgium forward Kevin Mirallas popped up with Evertons winning goal from a free kick in the 85th minute, after Steven Naismith had cancelled out Leandro Bacunas opener for Villa. Everton is provisionally a point behind neighbour Liverpool, which beat its Merseyside rival 4-0 on Tuesday. Tottenham moved four points clear of United after Paulinhos 61st-minute goal earned a draw against Hull, which took the lead through Shane Longs first goal for the club since his recent move from West Brom. ' ' '