PITTSBURGH -- Clint Hurdle grabbed the brim of his cap and ducked his head. When pressed about what pleased him the most about Pittsburghs 9-2 win over St. Louis on Monday, a romp that propelled the resilient Pirates within a half-game of the NL Central lead, the manager thought for a moment and sighed. "Getting a little picky arent we?" he asked with a smile. Hurdle isnt. Neither is his team as it tries to shrug off two decades of misery and mediocrity. Francisco Liriano allowed one run over seven dominant innings, Pedro Alvarez hit his NL-leading 27th home run and the Pirates kicked off a pivotal series by sending the Cardinals to their season-high fourth straight loss. Liriano (11-4) continued his midcareer renaissance by striking out eight and walking just two to win his fifth consecutive start. "Its been a good run for him being able to watch, and thats pretty much what Ive been doing," Pittsburgh centre fielder Andrew McCutchen said. "I dont get a lot of action when hes on the mound. It makes it a lot easier for the defence." Having some help from an underachieving offence helps. The Pirates came in hitting just .221 with runners in scoring position, the worst mark in baseball. Clint Barmes smacked two doubles and drove in two runs and McCutchen added two hits as Pittsburgh went 5 for 13 with runners on second or third to continue its mastery over St. Louis starter Jake Westbrook. The veteran right-hander fell to 1-8 against Pittsburgh in his otherwise solid resume. The Pirates touched Westbrook (7-5) for four runs in the first inning, capped by Alvarezs three-run homer into the first row of seats in right field. "It was a battle from pitch 1 -- and it showed early on," Westbrook said. "Its not really how you draw it up with a walk and a hit batsmen and a single and a homer. Put us in a bad spot against a good team and against a guy whos throwing the ball really well." Hurdle stressed the need to not place too much focus on a late-July series, pointing out two more months remain after the five-game set wraps up on Thursday. Maybe, but with the Pirates chasing their first playoff berth in 21 years and a chance to make inroads on the team with the best record in baseball, the game had an electricity typically reserved for early fall in cities far away from the one that hasnt fielded a winner since 1992. Lower-lever tickets were fetching $100 or more hours before the first pitch, and Liriano did not disappoint the largest Monday-night crowd (32,084) since the park opened. The left-hander, whose path to stardom veered off track after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2007, had little trouble with the most explosive offence in the majors. He retired the first 10 batters he faced and kept the best-hitting team in the National League on its heels while dropping his ERA to 2.16. "Frankie can answer," Hurdle said. "Hes been in big matchups before." So has Westbrook, who still hasnt figured out a way to handle the Pirates. He was touched for four runs in the first inning of his previous start at PNC Park in April. The game was eventually washed out. The weather couldnt save him this time. Neither could Westbrooks usually solid control. He issued three walks and hit three batters and never appeared comfortable. "Hes going to go out there and give us whatever hes got every time and for whatever reason this teams just given him a tough time and hes had a hard time in this stadium," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. Westbrook survived a bases-loaded jam in the second to stay close, but by then Liriano had all the support he would need. His only real mistake came in the sixth, when pinch-hitter Tony Cruz led off with a triple and scored on Carpenters single up the middle. A strikeout and a double play followed, and the Pirates broke it open in the seventh against relievers Marc Rzepczynski and Fernando Salas. Garrett Jones started it with Pittsburghs first sacrifice fly to the outfield since May 27 and Barmes clubbed a two-run double as the Pirates batted around. Even with its best offensive showing since the All-Star break, Hurdle isnt so sure the Pirates made a statement. "Were a confident team," he said. "I think were a team whose confidence isnt built on its last game. Its not shattered by a losing streak. You continue to push through and thats what weve done from Opening Day until now." NOTES: Pirates LF Starling Marte did not start after getting a planned day off in favour of Alex Presley, recalled from Triple-A on Monday after C Mike McKenry went onto the disabled list with a sprained knee. Marte entered in the seventh as a pinch hitter and singled. He is hitting just .131 (5 for 38) since July 20 ... The series continues with a doubleheader Tuesday. A.J. Burnett (4-7, 2.96 ERA) faces Lance Lynn (12-5, 3.98 ERA) in the opener with the Cardinals Tyler Lyons (2-3, 5.51) starting the second game. The Pirates will not name a starter for the second game until Tuesday morning. ... Lynn was originally supposed to start the second game, but Matheny moved him into the matchup against Burnett because he wanted a more experienced pitcher to take on Pittsburghs ace. DeSean Jackson Jersey . Pirlo limped out of Sundays 1-0 win over Udinese after just 13 minutes. Juventus says Pirlo underwent tests on Monday which revealed he has "a second-degree lesion to the collateral medial ligament in his right knee. Jacquizz Rodgers Jersey . But when it comes to determining if Raymond will find a place on the Leafs roster when training camp concludes in a week, well, that decision will ultimately fall to the head coach. http://www.authenticfootballshopbuccaneers.com/lavonte-david-jersey/ . -- Al Jefferson found a groove just in time for the Charlotte Bobcats. O. J. Howard Jersey .4 million title. Ryan Riess emerged with the title after a session in which he started behind, but used expert skill to gather the chips to his side amid the unpredictability of no-limit Texas Hold em. Riess put his final opponent Jay Farber all-in with an Ace-King. Robert McClain Jersey .R. Smith realized how easily basketball can be taken from him, and he wasnt going to take his place in the NBA for granted anymore. Seamer Anupam Sanklecha completed his second successive ten-wicket haul in a match - also bettering his career-best in consecutive games - to bring Maharashtra within four wickets of an innings victory against Assam in Chennai.Assam, 132 for 3 overnight in response to Maharashtras 542, lost Kunal Saikia (39) in the second over of the third day. Sanklecha claimed his wicket, before an 85-run stand between Rishav Das (86) and Arun Karthik (47) steadied Assam briefly. However, Arun Karthik fell to the part-time offspin of Chirag Khurana with the score on 219, and Sanklecha removed Rishav in the next over, to initiate a collapse of 6 for 37 that saw Assam fold for 256. Sanklecha ended with figures of 8 for 73.Assam were then asked to follow-on and were quickly reduced to 51 for 4. Left-arm medium-pacer Mohsin Sayyed was primarily responsible for the early damage, removing opener Rishav and Amit Verma off consecutive overs. Karthik was involved in another half-century stand for the fifth wicket, but the wickets of Saikia and Syed Mohammad late in the day pinned Assam down to 107 for 6. Sanklecha took 3 for 37 in the second dig.Delhi restricted Rajasthan to 221 and reached 51 for 3 in their chase of 153 at stumps in Wayanad. Rajasthan began the day on 19 for 1, and lost two more wickets before they wiped out the deficit of 69. They were soon reduced to 99 for 5, before Rajesh Bishnois half-century and his partnerships of 45 and 55 with Salman Khan and Chetan Bist took them close to 200. Bishnoi was the ninth batsman dismissed, on 89, before Rajasthans innings folded for 221 in 85.4 overs. Left-armers Manan Sharma and Pradeep Sangwan shared six wickets between them.Gautam Gambhir, Unmukt Chand, Rishabh Pant all managed only single-digit scores, but the fit-again Shikhar Dhawan, who was unbeaten on 35 off 45 balls, including six fours, kept Delhi on track for their second win of the season.Odisha openedd up the prospect of an outright win against table-toppers Karnataka, after they inflicted yet another top-order collapse on Vinay Kumars men at Palam in Delhi.ddddddddddddThe day began with Odishas last-wicket overnight pair adding 24 and bringing up their fifty partnership, before Basant Mohanty was dismissed with the score on 342, and the lead on 163.Karnataka opener Mayank Agarwal then fell for his second single-digit score of the match, before opener R Samarth and Robin Uthappa put on 58 for the second wicket in 10.4 overs. The pairs second half-century stand of the game was cut short when Uthappa was trapped lbw by Dhiraj Singh in the 17th over. The wicket triggered yet another collapse as Karnataka went from 74 for 1 to 108 for 4 and then 133 for 5.It was left to CM Gautam - who scored 54 in the first innings - to rescue Karnataka again. He joined Vinay to add 98 for the sixth wicket. Vinay fell late in the day for 41 off 108 balls, but Gautam held firm with Shreyas Gopal to remain unbeaten on 68 off 180 balls. Karnataka closed the third day at 244 for 6.Saurashtra offspinner Vandit Jivrajani took his third four-wicket haul in his third game but Vidharba took the first-innings lead at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi.Vidharba began the day on 242 for 3 and had lost just one wicket, that of Shalabh Shrivastava, when they went past Saurasthras first-innings total of 301. However, a crucial spell from Jivrajani saw them fall from 303 for 4 to 318 for 7. 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