Freischaltung » within two games of the sagging Pirates, who

ST. LOUIS -- Just a few days ago, the St. Louis Cardinals had no wins when trailing after eight innings and just one extra-inning victory. They certainly showed the Pittsburgh Pirates they can go the extra mile. "We did a good job of bouncing back," said Matt Holliday, who hit a game-ending RBI single in the 12th inning of St. Louis 6-5 victory over Pittsburgh on Thursday. "Winning this game could be very important for us." Matt Carpenter had four hits and scored the winning run in the Cardinals second extra-inning triumph over the NL Central leaders in three days. "Anytime having a walk-off win, its a big deal," manager Mike Matheny said. "Jumping on it again it today is just the resiliency of this club. "You could sense it on the bench. The guys werent going to give in, werent going to stop pushing." The Cardinals took two of three in the series to pull within two games of the sagging Pirates, who have dropped five of six. St. Louis won 4-3 in 14 innings in the opener on Tuesday night. "We had a number of guys that had opportunities," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "The great thing about what were going through is the challenge and opportunities were all getting. "Its playoff atmosphere baseball." The Cardinals lost the division lead when they dropped four of five in Pittsburgh from July 29-Aug. 1. Rookie Kevin Siegrist (1-1), St. Louis seventh pitcher, struck out two in a perfect 12th against the heart of the order. Russell Martin and Clint Barmes homered for Pittsburgh, which blew a 4-0 lead in one inning. Jose Tabata had three straight hits after entering as a pinch hitter. Carpenter sparked the winning rally with a one-out walk. He went to third on Jon Jays single before Holliday grounded a single up the middle off Bryan Morris (5-6). Carpenter, the Cardinals leadoff man, leads the National League with 48 multihit games and 40 doubles. He entered with league-leading averages of .366 at home and .367 in day games. Holliday also had an RBI double and is batting .452 during a 12-game hitting streak. Martin hit a tying leadoff drive off Trevor Rosenthal in the eighth, handing the setup man his second blown save of St. Louis 4-6 homestand. The Pirates hit for the cycle against Lance Lynn in a four-run fifth that featured rookie Andrew Lambos first hit and RBI on a double and Barmes two-run homer. The Cardinals responded by knocking out A.J. Burnett with five runs in the bottom half on a two-run single by Daniel Descalso and RBIs in consecutive at-bats from Carpenter, Jon Jay and Holliday. "As good as it looked early, its never easy against this group," Burnett said. "They figured me out early." Both managers put a heavy stamp on the game. Hurdle hit for two regulars in the sixth and emptied his bench, and Matheny used three relievers in the sixth and seventh. St. Louis activated All-Star catcher Yadier Molina from the 15-day disabled list, and he announced his presence almost immediately. He threw out Starling Marte trying to steal third to end the first. NOTES: The Pirates begin a three-game homestand Friday against the Diamondbacks. Pittsburgh rookie Gerrit Cole (5-5, 3.95 ERA), who opposes Brandon McCarthy (2-6, 4.73 ERA) in the opener, has lost five of his last six decisions. ... The Cardinals open a three-game series at Chicago, with St. Louis Jake Westbrook (7-7, 4.11 ERA) opposing minor league callup Jake Arrieta. It will be Westbrooks first appearance since giving up nine runs in 4 2-3 innings of relief on three days rest after Shelby Miller was knocked out by a liner off his elbow on his second pitch of the game. ... Cardinals reliever Seth Maness, who grounded into a double play and struck out to strand five runners Tuesday night, got his first career hit in the sixth. ... Pirates reliever Tony Watson worked three scoreless innings and retired the heart of the order in the 10th. Wholesale Lebron Shoes Canada Fast Shipping . That gave fans outside Joe Louis Arena another chance to ask for autographs from the 19-year-old whose stardom in the NHL has arrived earlier than most expected. Lebron Shoes Canada Online . -- Sergey Tolchinksy scored his second goal of the game 3:56 into overtime as the Sault Ste. http://www.wholesalelebronshoescanada.com/ .Y. - New Orleans forward Anthony Davis was chosen Friday to replace the injured Kobe Bryant in the NBA All-Star game that will be played in his home city. Wholesale Shoes Canada . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over . Cheap Nike Basketball Shoes Canada .S. hockey team after paying his dues as an NHL general manager for more than three decades and giving up a lot of his free time to help USA Hockey. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- When Ohio States passing game was sputtering last month, J.T. Barrett kept saying everything was OK. Even after the loss to unranked Penn State, the quarterback insisted no big changes were necessary and the offense was on track.The quiet Texans confidence and patience paid dividends.The Buckeyes went out and routed then-No. 10 Nebraska 62-3 to open November and swamped Maryland by the same score a week later, with Barrett throwing for 680 yards and six touchdowns in the two games.The wind blew down Ohio States passing attack last week against Michigan State, but the Buckeyes escaped with a 17-16 win. Mike Weber rushed for 111 yards and a touchdown, and Barrett ran for 105 yards and threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Curtis Samuel.No. 2 Ohio State is preparing to face the best defense its seen all season in No. 3 Michigan on Saturday, with terrific linebacker/defensive back Jabrill Peppers, a game-changer who has to be accounted for on every play, and perhaps the nations best secondary. Michigan leads the nation in limiting opponents to 245.6 yards per game.We have a respect for them, wide receiver Terry McLaurin said. Just watching a couple of clips within the last couple of days, the press man, theyre going to load a lot of the box and as a group we have to beat man coverage. Thats why you come to Ohio State. Thats why they recruit you, to come beat man coverage.While Barrett spread the ball around earlier in the season, Ohio States offensive resurgence has been built around the dual-threat quarterback; Weber, who is the third Ohio State freshman ever to run for over 1,000 yards; and Samuel, a hybrid back who runs the ball and catches passes with equal skill. Wide receivers have become mostly supporting players.Weve got a lot of different things in our offense that allow us to utilize all three of those playmakers, and theres other guys, too, center Pat Elflein said. Our receivvers are playing well, theyre blocking well, which allows for the whole offense to open up.dddddddddddd As long as we keep doing that, well hit our shots and well keep playing Buckeye ball like we have been.Barrett said it begins and ends with the play of the offensive line. During the October swoon, the line struggled in pass protection and Barrett was constantly on the run. Adjustments were made.I think our O-line is doing what they need to do, and if our O-line plays well then we have a good day on offense, Barrett said. The main thing is that the offense has really opened things up for the guys running and also for me running the ball.Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said Barrett is hard to predict because hes able to do so many things well. The junior is responsible for 99 touchdowns in his Ohio State career, seven shy of Drew Brees Big Ten record.Slippery, Harbaugh said. Tough runner, like a running back, but hes got the vision of a quarterback, hes got the throwing ability of a quarterback. Theres times where he can put the ball into the tightest of windows. He plays with a lot of confidence. Hes an outstanding player. Its a unique combination for a quarterback to have all those things.Samuel has emerged as the go-to guy for Barrett. He leads the team in receiving with 790 yards and seven touchdowns, and has rushed for another 650 yards and seven scores. In what promises to be one of the more intriguing matchups of the day, Samuel could line up in the slot and be staring across at Peppers.Thats a matchup that makes the game even more intriguing, if thats possible. The winner stays in the mix for the College Football Playoff.---More AP college football at www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25.---Follow Mitch Stacy at http://twitter.com/mitchstacy ' ' '