July 30 (Reuters) - The San Francisco Giants made a deal for
one of the
hottest pitchers in baseball on Thursday by acquiring
right-handed starter Mike Leake in a trade with the Cincinnati
Reds.
The Giants sent minor league players Keury Mella and Adam
Duvall to the Reds in exchange for the red-hot Leake.
The 27-year-old has surrendered just two runs in his last
four starts, two of them shutouts. He is 9-5 with a 3.56 ERA
this season and should bolster the rotation of the defending
World Series champions.
San Francisco (56-45) trail the National League West-leading
Los Angeles Dodgers by a half-game.
Cincinnati (46-54) are 18 games behind NL Central leaders St
Louis and the deal comes about a week after they traded away ace
pitcher Johnny Cueto to Kansas City.
(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter
Rutherford)