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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. Stitched Football Jerseys Throwback . In question is whether 26-year-old Matt Frattin will be on it. A a€?mediocrea€? training camp, as Carlyle put it earlier this week, has Frattin lingering nervously on the bubble at the end of the exhibition season, pushed out of a likely job by Brandon Kozun, the small, but feisty winger determined to make the NHL for the first time. Clearance Football Jerseys Throwback . Durant had 33 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, hit the tying 3-pointer late in regulation and made the go-ahead foul shots in overtime to lift the Thunder past the Wizards 106-105. John Wall missed a driving layup attempt at the buzzer for Washington, which was seeking its third straight win. http://www.cheapfootballthrowback.com/ . Maximilian Arnold put Wolfsburg ahead in the eighth minute, when the stationary Fallou Diagne allowed him to guide Patrick Ochs cross beyond the helpless Freiburg goalkeeper, and Ivica Olic doubled the lead three minutes later after Luiz Gustavo did well to set him up. Cheap Football Jerseys Throwback China . "Rob brings a wealth of coaching experience, having worked both in Canada and overseas in player development," Canada Soccer technical director Tony Fonseca said in a release. Football Jerseys Throwback Outlet . Bell Medias 12-year partnership with the Ottawa Senators includes five major components: - English-language regional television broadcast rights for TSN – a minimum of 52 regular season and pre-season games - French-language regional television broadcast rights for RDS – a minimum of 40 regular season and pre-season games - English-language broadcast rights for TSN Radio 1200 – all games - French-language radio broadcast rights – all games - Telecommunications and retail sponsorship and activation rights "We recognized early on that our regional broadcast rights coming up for renewal was a very important asset," said Senators owner Eugene Melnyk.SAN DIEGO - The "Bryan Bump" returned to the Davis Cup on Saturday. As soon as Bob Bryans overhand smash on match point zipped past Britains Dominic Inglot and Colin Fleming, the celebration was on. Bob and identical twin Mike leaped into the air to do the famed chest bump they use to celebrate their victories. The Bryans 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 victory Saturday pulled the United States to 2-1 against Britain in the first round of the Davis Cup and ended the brothers Davis Cup losing streak at two. "Weve been waiting a long time to get another opportunity to get that bad taste out of our mouth," Bob Bryan said. "It always feels bad to let the team down. We were kind of coming out of our shoes, really itching to get on the court." The twins had a mini-chest bump after breaking Inglots serve to take a 2-0 lead in the fourth set. The match will be decided Sunday in reverse singles, when Wimbledon winner Andy Murray of Britain faces Sam Querrey. If Querrey can somehow pull an upset, it will then come down to James Ward of Britain against Donald Young. Murray won the opening singles match in straight sets against Young on Friday while Ward rallied to beat Querrey in five sets. "We brought some good energy. Now its our job to get behind Sam and fire up for tomorrow," Bob Bryan said. "Sam has a win over Andy. What do you tell him?" U.S. coach Jim Courier said. "He has to play better than he did yesterday to stand a chance. Andy is a great player who plays well under pressure and tomorrow is going to be one of those matches, where Andy knows if he loses then everything is on the table in that fifth match. "For Sam its a free swinging match," Courier added. "So hopefully hell go out there and let it fly." With Britain leading 2-0 entering Saturday, captain Leon Smith replacced Murray with Inglot for doubles.dddddddddddd Courier said the Americans werent surprised by the switch by the British. "We had every game plan on the table and we prepared in the warmup for Inglot," he said. The Bryans broke Inglots serve in the second game of the first set and then broke Flemings serve to win the set. The Bryans didnt face a break point until they trailed 30-40 in the sixth game of the third set. Fleming hit a backhander down the line to win the game for a 4-2 lead for the British. The teams held serve and the British won the set when Inglot had two straight aces in the ninth game. Fleming said the British were hoping to pull off an upset to make Sundays matches moot. "There is no doubt that yesterday sets us up in a position where we could go out there and have a really good go at the match," he said. "We spoke before the match. Obviously they were big favourites, but we felt like if we could go out there and just focus on the tennis match, we would have a chance of causing an upset and winning the tie today. "Thats why were disappointed because we didnt play as well as we were hoping for. You know, credit to the Bryans." The Bryans "take it to you every single time," Inglot said. "Theyre never going to give you any free points. Theyre always going to put it in the court on the big points and always going to make you play." The match is being played on a red clay court in a temporary stadium built against the left-field bleachers at Petco Park, the downtown home of baseballs San Diego Padres. Three World Group matches have been clinched with 3-0 scores: Switzerland over Serbia, Germany against Spain and France against Australia. In other matches, the Czech Republic leads Netherlands 2-1, Japan leads Canada 2-1 and Italy leads Argentina 2-1. ' ' '