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PITTSBURGH -- For his first start with the Pirates, Edinson Volquez beat Adam Wainwright. Tim Masthay Packers Jersey . Thatll do nicely as an early return on that off-season contract he signed with the Pirates. Tony Sanchez hit a tiebreaking RBI double in the seventh inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 on Sunday. Singed to a one-year, $5 million contract as a free agent in December, Volquez was sharp in his first start for the Pirates as he gave up one run and three hits in 5 2-3 innings with one walk and four strikeouts. That came after Volquez pitched two scoreless innings of relief Thursday against the Chicago Cubs. "What you saw was fastball command with downhill angle, big-time spin and tilt on the breaking ball, a good changeup and getting ahead with good pitches," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "He pitched a gem." Volquez got a standing ovation when he walked off the mound. "I think I did a great job and the fans appreciated what I did," Volquez said. "I just wanted to keep making another good pitch, keep the ball down and get them to hit the ball on the ground. All my pitches were there." Sanchezs double to deep centre field with two outs came off Wainwright (1-1) and snapped a 1-1 tie. "Im still nervous playing up here," Sanchez said. "My heart is racing. My head is spinning. It feels like the game is going 1,000 mph. So, its nice to be able to get some big hits." The hit by the rookie reserve catcher scored Pedro Alvarez, who led off the inning with a walk, and was Sanchezs second winning hit of the week as he singled home the winning run in the 16th inning of Wednesday nights victory over the Chicago Cubs. "I cant let what happen in the seventh inning happen, especially in a close game, a rivalry game like this," Wainwright said. "I walked the leadoff man then left a ball out over the plate with two outs and Sanchez took a good swing at it. You cant do that." Tony Watson (1-0) retired all four batters he faced, striking out three, and ran his string of consecutive scoreless innings to 24, dating to last season. Jason Grilli pitched a scoreless ninth to convert his first save. St. Louis managed just three hits. Singed to a one-year, $5 million contract as a free agent in December, Volquez was sharp in his first start for the Pirates as he gave up one run and three hits in 5 2-3 innings with one walk and four strikeouts. That came after Volquez pitched two scoreless innings of relief Thursday against the Chicago Cubs. Volquezs 5.71 ERA last season with the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers was the highest among the 81 pitchers who qualified for the ERA title. He also allowed 15 runs in 13 innings in exhibition games this spring. Wainwright went seven innings and allowed two runs and five hits after pitching seven scoreless innings in his first start of the season at Cincinnati in Mondays opener. He struck out seven and walked two. The Pirates opened the scoring in the fourth inning when Andrew McCutchen doubled with one out and scored on Neil Walkers two-out double. An RBI triple by the Cardinals Jon Jay in the sixth tied the score at 1-1 and chased Volquez. NOTES: St. Louis CF Peter Bourjos, who is off to a 0-for-13 start with his new team, got the day off. Jay started in his place. The Cardinals acquired Bourjos from the Los Angeles Angels in an off-season trade. ... RHP Jameson Taillon, Pittsburghs top pitching prospect, will undergo Tommy John surgery by David Altcheck in New York and hell miss 12 to 18 months. ... The Cardinals play their home opener Monday against the Cincinnati Reds with RHP Michael Wacha (0-0, 0.00) facing LHP Tony Cingrani (0-0, 0.00). ... The Pirates are off Monday then open a three-game series Tuesday night at Chicago with RHP Charlie Morton (0-0, 0.00) pitching against Cubs RHP Edwin Jackson (0-0, 1.29). Scott Tolzien Packers Jersey . -- Ricky Foley believes he made the right decision last year to leave the B. Packers #92 Jersey . Bouchard, who grabbed the tennis worlds attention at last months Grand Slam, will be joined in the best-of-five series by Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa, Sharon Fichman of Toronto and Aleksandra Wozniak, of Blainville, Que.NEW YORK -- Jamal Crawford was back in the locker room throwing up, a tough way to start a lengthy road trip. A little illness wasnt going to stop the Los Angeles Clippers. Neither is a grueling schedule nor the absence of their All-Star point guard. "For us, theres no excuses," Crawford said. "We have to go on the road and do a job." Blake Griffin scored 32 points, Crawford added 29, and the Clippers opened a seven-game road trip with their fifth straight victory, 109-95 over the New York Knicks on Friday night. DeAndre Jordan had 11 points and 16 rebounds for the Clippers, who dominated the second half to hand the Knicks their third consecutive loss. Carmelo Anthony had 26 points and 20 rebounds for the Knicks in a disappointing start to an eight-game homestand that matches the longest in franchise history. That doesnt guarantee any success this season, with the Knicks now 7-13 at Madison Square Garden. "It seems that we cant figure it out here on our home court," Anthony said. "But despite these last couple of games, I think weve got a great stretch that can work in our favour if we get some things right, adjust some things and figure it out quickly." One of those adjustments could be to the starting lineup, with coach Mike Woodson said he may have to consider it after starting guards Raymond Felton and Iman Shumpert combined for two baskets and five points -- all by Felton -- on 12 shot attempts. Anthony shot only 4 of 23 from the field, but made all 16 free throws in the first 20-20 game by a Knicks player since David Lee on April 2, 2010. J.R. Smith added 24 points off the bench. Its the second seven-game trip of the season for the Clippers, who will fly about 11,275 miles as they give up Staples Center for the Grammy awards. They went 4-3 in December on the first one, and got this one off to a winning start while improving to 10-10 on the road this season. Crawford couldnt even join them for warmups, remaining in the back with stomach sickness. But after needing a stunning rally to erase a 17-point deficit inside the final 5 minutes and beat Dallas 129-127 on Wednesday, the Clippers methodically pulled away from a 50-all halftimme tie in this one and improve to 6-1 this season without the injured Chris Paul. Packers #67 Jersey. "Something CP always says when we are on a road trip, Cant win them all without winning the first," Griffin said. "So to get the first one for us is obviously great, to get the win to start the road trip and help our mindsets for the rest of the games." The Knicks led 65-62 with 4 minutes left in the third before helping the Clippers pass them by continuously sending the visitors to the line. Ten of the Clippers final 14 points of the quarter came from the foul line -- one of them when Griffin was fouled throwing down an alley-oop pass from Crawford with 52 seconds left. Los Angeles then blew it open early in the fourth on consecutive jumpers by newly signed Hedo Turkoglu and Crawford, before Crawford nailed a 3-pointer to make it 85-70. Consecutive 3s later in the period by Griffin, Jared Dudley and Crawford, a former Knicks guard, extended it to 96-75 and brought out plenty of boos from the home fans. With the Knicks at home for the rest of the month, Woodson said he considers January the pivotal month of the season. Yet home hasnt been the place to be, with the Knicks absorbing their three worst losses here. And they could play this entire stretch without forwards Amare Stoudemire and Kenyon Martin. Both players sprained their left ankles in Thursdays 117-89 loss at Indiana and are expected to miss about two weeks. The homestand still includes visits from sub-.500 Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Charlotte, the Lakers, Boston and Cleveland, but the Knicks cant assume wins against anyone after falling to 15-25. "The thing that we have to do is just, we have to fix it," centre Tyson Chandler said. "Youve got to attack the problem head on. Theres going to be no pity parties. Just got to take care of it and fix it." The Clippers tied it at 50 going into halftime despite shooting under 33 per cent and going 3 of 18 on 3-pointers. Anthony was 2 of 10, but made all nine free throws for his 14 points. NOTES: The Knicks also had an eight-game homestand in December 1986. The Dallas Mavericks are the only other team with eight straight home games this season. ' ' ' |
