Gästeboard » saints entered the game looking as com

PITTSBURGH -- Ike Davis didnt complain when the Pittsburgh Pirates told him they were going to eat into his playing time by experimenting with Pedro Alvarez at first base. Call it the byproduct of spending four-plus seasons with the New York Mets. "You kind of get immune to stuff after a while," Davis said. "Kind of my career has been starting, not starting, so Im used to it." Davis is simply happy to be in a pennant race at the moment. He provided a needed jolt in a pinch-hit appearance Tuesday night, connecting for a tiebreaking three-run homer off St. Louis reliever Seth Maness in the eighth inning of a potentially costly 5-2 victory. Pirates star Andrew McCutchen left in the fifth inning because of discomfort in his left ribs. Recently on the disabled list because of a rib problem, the centre fielder ran into the wall earlier in the game. "Today caught up to him in a couple of different ways," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said of the reigning NL MVP. "Tonight got to be a point where we didnt think we needed to push any farther than he did." Its uncertain if McCutchen will be available on Wednesday, but Pittsburgh survived for a few innings without the four-time All-Star thanks in large part to Davis. The Pirates squandered six brilliant innings by Gerrit Cole when Tony Watson (9-1) couldnt get out of a two-on, no-out jam in the seventh that allowed the Cardinals to tie the game. No matter. Watson recovered to get out of the jam and retired the side in the eighth, and the Pirates wasted little time getting to Maness in the bottom of the inning. Gaby Sanchez singled with one out and Starling Marte followed with his second hit of the night. The Cardinals decided to stick with Maness (5-3) after a brief conference. It didnt work. Davis shook off a called strike that appeared to be below his knees and delivered a towering shot to right-centre that landed in the last row of seats. "We got into a good count, had a couple real nice pitches and left one up in the middle," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. "Thats not going to turn out well." Josh Harrison also homered for the Pirates, and Mark Melancon worked the ninth for his 23rd save. Jon Jay and Randal Grichuk each drove in a run for the Cardinals. Lance Lynn gave up two runs over six innings in a bid for his fourth consecutive win. Pittsburgh, trying desperately to stay in the hunt for a wild-card slot, appeared in danger of a second straight disheartening defeat after a brilliant effort by Cole vanished. The 23-year-old overwhelmed the Cardinals for long stretches in his second start since returning from the disabled list after being sidelined by right lat soreness. St. Louis didnt get a hit until a two-out double just inside the first base bag by Kolten Wong in the sixth. Cole responded by fanning Matt Holliday for his ninth strikeout of the game. Hurdle decided to send Cole back out for the seventh with a 2-0 lead even though he had thrown 102 pitches. Trouble soon followed. Matt Adams led off with a double and Jhonny Peralta followed with a single. Watson, who has slipped a bit over the last month following a dazzling first half, came on but couldnt quell the rally. Adams scored on a sacrifice fly by Jay, and Grichuk -- called up earlier in the day after outfielder Shane Robinson was placed on the disabled list with a shoulder injury -- slapped a single up the middle to tie the game. TRAINERS ROOM Cardinals: St. Louis put Robinson on the 15-day disabled list with a partially dislocated left shoulder. He hurt himself while trying to steal second late in a 3-2 win over the Pirates on Monday. He went back to St. Louis for an MRI on Tuesday. Matheny said there is no timetable for Robinsons return. Pirates: Alvarez exited in the seventh inning with left foot discomfort. Making his sixth start at first base following serious throwing issues while playing at third base, Alvarez went 0 for 3 and handled every defensive chance cleanly before giving way to Gaby Sanchez. Alvarez will be re-evalulated on Wednesday. UP NEXT Cardinals: Adam Wainwright (15-8, 2.52 ERA) goes for his major league-leading 16th win on Wednesday. Wainwrights nine road victories are tied for second in the majors and his 1.74 road ERA is tops among all starters. Pirates: Jeff Locke (5-3, 3.69 ERA) is 3-1 with a 3.78 ERA in eight starts at PNC Park this season. The left-hander allowed two runs in six innings in an 8-3 victory over Milwaukee last Friday. Gerardo Parra Jersey . The Kelowna, B.C. rink made the announcement on their facebook page on Thursday night. Trevor Story Jersey . The Raptors have been outscored 88-66 in the opening quarter over a three-game span to begin the month of February. Their most recent loss, 109-101 in Sacramento on Wednesday, was eerily similar to Saturdays defeat at the hands of the Trail Blazers. http://www.cheaprockiesjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-pat-valaika-jersey . Huntington doesnt want to help run the club unless Hurdle is in the dugout. The combination thats returned the franchise to respectability will remain intact for years to come. Carlos Gonzalez Jersey . Already owning gold from competition in Vancouver in 2010, Loch posted a combined four-run time of 3:27.526. That included a track-record third run of 51. Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic . Green-Ellis was Cincinnatis leading rusher each of the last two seasons. His role was reduced last year when Giovani Bernard was added to the backfield. Green-Ellis ran for 756 yards and a career-low 3.NEW ORLEANS - Drew Brees pushed himself up vigorously after being slammed to the Superdome turf, angrily shoving the first player he saw in a purple jersey. Brees soon realized hed shoved the wrong guy, but still thought his intensity sent the right message. "You need to create some fire. You need to create momentum, stuff that guys can feed off of," Brees said. "Obviously I wasnt too happy about getting suplexed, so I showed a little emotion. "After that, it was: All right fellas, weve got to stick it to em." The Saints capitalized on Captian Munnerlyns personal foul for the overzealous sack, driving for a touchdown that gave New Orleans breathing room en route to a 20-9 victory over the seemingly star-crossed Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. Brees passed for 293 yards and two touchdowns to help New Orleans (1-2) celebrate its home opener with its first victory this season. The Vikings (1-2), meanwhile, were left still searching for a running game in the absence of Adrian Peterson — and with a rookie at quarterback for the foreseeable future. Minnesotas loss capped a week of distractions as the club first announced that Peterson would play, then later changed course and said the star running back would leave the team indefinitely to deal with child abuse allegations. The Vikings then lost starting quarterback Matt Cassel with a broken foot early in the second quarter. He was replaced by rookie Teddy Bridgewater, who completed 12 of 20 for 150 yards while leading two scoring drives that both ended with field goals. Brees scoring passes went for 34 yards to tight end Josh Hill and 18 yards to receiver Marques Colston. The Vikings were as close as 13-9 on Blair Walshs 40-yard field goal early in the second half, but Munnerlyns penalty squandered what would have been a drive-stalling, third-down sack late in the third quarter. "I pride myself on not making crazy plays, and I felt like that cost us the game," Munnerlyn said. "I wasnt thinking about a flag at all. I never heard a whistle, so I was just finishing the play." Safety Robert Blanton piled on at the end of the sack, then was slow getting off Brees, inducing the shove. But no flag was thrown on Brees, and the Saints wound up with a first down at their 47. Brees thought Munnerlyn committed an obvious penalty with a move reminiscent of professional wrestlingg.dddddddddddd "That was straight Hulk Hogan, 1985, WrestleMania suplex," Brees said. "Hey, it got us 15 yards, got us another set of downs and obviously ended up helping us go on a 90-yard drive to make it a two-possession game and chew up a lot of clock and got the momentum swinging back in our favour." Soon after, Brees found rookie Brandin Cooks on a screen for a 19-yard gain to the Minnesota 18, then hit Colston, who surged through Blantons tackle attempt and stretch across the goal line. Colston had two catches for 25 yards, one week after he was held without a catch for the first time in 87 games. Cooks had eight catches for 74 yards while tight end Jimmy Graham added five catches for 54 yards. Greg Jennings led Vikings receivers with five catches for 70 yards, while Cordarrelle Patterson added four catches for 61 yards. But without Peterson, Minnesota finished with 59 yards rushing as a team and was outgained by New Orleans in total yards, 396-247. Still, Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer focused on the improvement he saw in his teams effort and perseverance since a 30-7 loss to New England a week earlier. "The guys hung in there," Zimmer said. "Our whole thing was that if we get punched, we will punch back. I think we did that." The Saints entered the game looking as competitive as a winless team could be, having held leads in the final 10 seconds of regulation in each of their first two games — on the road — before losing by a field goal or less. The Saints have won their past 18 home games in which coach Sean Payton was on the sideline. They were 9-0 in 2011, including a playoff win, before Payton was suspended in 2012 in connection with the NFLs bounty probe, then went 8-0 in 2013. Brees looked comfortable early, completing his first nine passes for 108 yards while engineering touchdown drives on the Saints first two possessions, and New Orleans never lost the lead. Notes: Colstons touchdown marked the 64th time he and Brees connected for a score. Only six other quarterback-receiver tandems have combined for more in NFL history. The score moved Brees and Colston ahead of the Hall of Fame pair of quarterback Johnny Unitas and receiver Raymond Berry. ... Saints veteran C Jonathan Goodwin left the game in the third quarter with a left leg injury. He was replaced by second-year pro Tim Lelito. ' ' '