Musterung » here we could face them either earlier than we want in

ST. LOUIS -- To earn his 16th win, Adam Wainwright really needed his bat. Wainwright matched his career best with three RBIs, an unexpected boost that helped carry the St. Louis Cardinals to a 6-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night. "Theres usually two or three games a year that you swing the outcome if you can provide something offensively," Wainwright said. "I just made a couple of good swings." The bottom of the order was the difference in the fourth win in a row for the NL Central leaders. Eighth-place hitter Peter Bourjos singled twice with an RBI, and seventh-place hitter Daniel Descalso walked twice and scored twice. Randal Grichuk added three hits and made a nice diving catch in right field to rob Starling Marte of a go-ahead extra-base hit. "I feel like were really ready to take off," Bourjos said. "Were getting contributions from everybody." Wainwright (16-9) prevailed despite allowing three home runs to match his career worst. He left after Starling Martes two-run shot shaved the lead to 5-4 with none out in the seventh. It was the first time he had allowed more than one homer all season. He has been getting by with less than his best stuff for a while, and like most of his recent starts, he believes he is close. "You can look at the three balls in the middle of the plate that got hit out, but I think most of the time I was much better than I have been," Wainwright said. "Thats what we see too," manager Mike Matheny said. "I think hes off just a hair sometimes." Russell Martin and Jordy Mercer homered with the bases empty for the Pirates, who have lost three in a row and were frustrated to get beaten by Wainwrights bat. He doubled his season RBI total and is batting .203 overall. "We treat him like a hitter," Martin said. "He gave some up but he took some back and thats just the type of competitor he is. "He was one of the toughest outs." Despite the damage, Wainwright didnt face any batters with runners in scoring position. He lost his previous two outings, the last at Pittsburgh when he allowed three runs in six innings. Wainwright had thrown 28 1-3 consecutive scoreless innings at home against Pittsburgh before Martin homered in the second. The first four Cardinals reached base in a three-run fourth that snapped a 2-all tie. Wainwrights two-run single chased Jeff Locke (6-4), who walked five and was charged with five runs -- four earned. Wainwright also had a run-scoring groundout in the second and matched a three-RBI game he had against the Brewers on July 4, 2010, in which he also threw a complete game in a 7-1 win. Locke allowed a run in 7 1-3 innings with two walks against the Cardinals his last time out. He worked around a season-worst six walks to win at Milwaukee on Aug. 22 and was 4-0 with a 2.90 ERA in five August starts. "I just didnt have any command, fell behind everybody," Locke said. "They were really in the drivers seat the whole time." Jhonny Peralta doubled to start the seventh and scored on a wild pitch by John Axford that put St. Louis up 6-4. Trevor Rosenthal got a day off, and Pat Neshek finished for his fifth save in eight chances. TRAINERS ROOM Pirates: Pedro Alvarez missed his sixth straight game with left foot discomfort. Charlie Morton (hip) threw 76 pitches in a four-inning simulated game earlier Tuesday and could join the bullpen soon. Cardinals: Kolten Wong didnt start for the second straight game after banging his head making a catch. He pinch-hit in both games, and his homer tied it on Monday. UP NEXT Pirates: Edinson Volquez (11-7, 3.45) has won seven of his last eight decisions. He is 4-6 with a 5.06 ERA in 14 career starts against the Cardinals. Cardinals: St. Louis seeks a sweep behind Shelby Miller (8-9, 4.19). The right-hander is 2-6 with a 4.98 ERA against Pittsburgh, including 2-2 this year. TEMPER, TEMPER Cardinals 3B coach Jose Oquendo was ejected at the end of the third inning, apparently for arguing balls and strikes with home plate umpire James Hoye. Clearance NBA Jerseys . Dallas (2-0-1) sits atop the Western Conference with an MLS-best seven points. Castillo opened the scoring in the 71st minute off a Mauro Diaz set piece, and Watson outran defender Tony Lochhead on a long ball and then juked goalkeeper Ian Kennedy for the eventual game-winner in the 78th minute. Nike NBA Jerseys China . The deals were announced on Friday. Beckham will receive $4.175 million in base salary, while De Aza will receive $4.25 million. Beckham hit .267 with five home runs and 24 RBIs over 103 games last season, his fifth with the White Sox. https://www.nbachinajerseys.us/ . Bach, a 59-year-old German lawyer, was elected Tuesday as president of the International Olympic Committee. He succeeds Jacques Rogge, who stepped down after 12 years. Bach, the longtime favourite, defeated five candidates in a secret ballot for the most influential job in international sports, keeping the presidency in European hands. Wholesale NBA Jerseys . PAUL, Minn. Discount NBA Jerseys . Her return engagement begins tonight as TSN presents Day 1 coverage of the 2015 event from Melbourne. Watch Eugenie Bouchards opening round match at the Australian Open live tonight on TSN5 at 3am et/Midnight pt.SOCHI - What she remembers most is what it felt like to stand on the blue-line, proudly watch the Canadian flag rise for the first time and hear OCanada belted out passionately amongst a sea of Americans. "Just that feeling of complete satisfaction," said Jayna Hefford. "Feeling like everything we went through paid off." It was 2002 in Salt Lake City and the first of three consecutive Olympic gold medals for the national womens hockey program with Hefford, a native of Kingston, Ontario, scoring the game-winning goal in triumph over Team USA. The bid for a fourth straight gold begins Saturday at Shayba Arena with a preliminary round matchup against Switzerland. "Its a memory and a feeling Ill never forget," said Hefford of winning gold for the first time, one of three on the roster to do so in 2002, 2006, and 2010. "It was a special time so Im hoping we can recreate it here [in Sochi]." Getting to that point is certain to include yet another round of hostilities with an American team bent on ending Canadas run of dominance at this event. Though theyve captured four of the past five World Championships, beating the Canadians each time, the US squad has fallen in two of the past three gold medal games, yet to triumph at the Olympics since 1998. "Obviously we haave a great rivalry with them," said Hefford, "but theres a lot of games before then and if we dont take care of ourselves here we could face them either earlier than we want in a medal round or not get to a medal round so its really day-by-day and I think thats the best way to look at it.dddddddddddd" These will be the fifth Olympics for Hefford, but she says the experience remains as fresh and exciting as it was 16 years ago when womens hockey was first introduced to the Olympic stage in Nagano - she and the Canadians were edged by the Americans in the gold medal game. "You still have that youthful energy and that excitement," she said. "Its so exciting to be here. You try to take lessons that you learned along the way and bring them into this one, but it still feels like the first one." And thats just one of the lessons shell try to impart on a group of teammates itching for their first taste of gold - enjoy the moment. "It goes by so quickly and you wait so long to get here so really just take in every day and enjoy that," said Hefford, also advising patience with the teams plan of attack. "Theres tough days and theres going to be challenges in these next two weeks, but believe that in the end we can be where we want to be." ' ' '