News » the golf course Wednesday night, a chance to hang out away

PITTSBURGH -- Forget about the best record in baseball, the lead in the NL Central and the buzz of a city giddily envisioning the end of two decades of despair. After a euphoric doubleheader sweep of reeling St. Louis on Tuesday that propelled them to the top of the division, the Pittsburgh Pirates -- yes, the Pirates -- are ready to get greedy. "We want more," manager Clint Hurdle said. Keep pitching like this, and that shouldnt be a problem. Three hours after Alex Presleys grounder caromed off the glove of St. Louis reliever Kevin Siegrist and rolled into shallow left field to give the Pirates a taut 2-1, 11-inning victory in the opener, the Pirates breezed to a 6-0 victory in the second game behind rookie starter Brandon Cumpton. Working with usual Triple-A battery mate Tony Sanchez -- making his major league debut -- Cumpton (1-1) scattered three hits over seven innings to extend the Cardinals losing streak to a season-high six straight games. "Pitching inside has been my thing all year," Cumpton said. "I didnt want to get away from it. I wanted to force the issue." All it did was compound the issues for St. Louis, which has scored all of five runs in the last 56 innings. Even worse, catcher Yadier Molina is likely headed to the disabled list after leaving in the top of the fourth inning of the second game with a sprained right knee. The knee has been bothering the All-Star for weeks. An MRI earlier this month revealed inflammation. After trying to play through it, Molina believes the better course of action is some rest so he can be ready for the stretch drive. "Im a guy who wants to be on the field playing," Molina said. "But right now I need time." The injury is the latest setback for a team that appeared the class of the majors at the All-Star break but now finds itself 1 1/2 games behind the resilient Pirates. The sweep pushed Pittsburgh to a season-high 22 games over .500 (64-42). The last time their record was this gaudy was 1992, which also happens to be the last time the beleaguered franchise reached the post-season. Its a destination that appears well within the Pirates reach, even if they opt to keep their wallets closed at Wednesdays trading deadline. A pitching staff that keeps topping itself has allowed the Pirates to overcome a series of injuries. Cumpton didnt even spend any time with the big league club during spring training. On Tuesday he found himself polishing off arguably the biggest day at PNC Park since it opened in 2001. "Coming out of spring, (Cumpton) was 13th on our starting pitching depth chart," Hurdle said. "You trust the people that are working with the players and theyve been confident about Brandons improvement." Its a rise that took a little while longer than St. Louis rookie Tyler Lyons (2-4), though the right-hander has cooled off since winning his first two starts in spectacular fashion earlier this year. Lyons gave up four runs, three earned, in six innings. He struck out five and walked one but received no help from a reeling offence and some sloppy play in the field. A couple hours after Presleys slapper off Siegrist (0-1) won the opener, the fortuitous bounces kept on coming. The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the second when a rare passed ball by Molina let Jose Tabata sprint across the plate. Molina was done for the night in the top of the fourth when the right knee pain hes been battling for the better part of a month flared up again. He was replaced by Rob Johnson. The absence of their leader further weakened the Cardinals, and things quickly fell apart. While Cumpton kept the NLs top offence in check, Pittsburgh poured it on with a little help from St. Louis left fielder Matt Holliday. The Pirates took a 2-0 lead on Jordy Mercers RBI single before McCutchen stepped in. He drilled Lyons pitch deep to left but Holliday appeared ready to track it down at the wall. Instead, the ball popped off the heel of Hollidays glove and into the stands. Lyons placed both hands on his head in shock while the packed bleachers let Holliday have it. Hollidays night didnt get any better an inning later when he overran Josh Harrisons flyball to the wall, allowing Harrison to make it all the way to third. "Its a hard game," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. "Our guys have been making a lot of good plays. Every once in a while theres tough ones you dont make." Harrison never made it home, but by then Cumpton had all the backing he would require. Cumpton needed just 87 pitches to get 21 outs. He received a loud ovation as he headed to the dugout, the latest in a series of unheralded Pirates pitchers to rise from obscurity and help propel the franchise into the midst of a pennant race. The staff takes its cue from ace A.J. Burnett, who worked seven emotional innings in the opener. Burnett struck out nine and walked three while allowing one run on three hits. He was long gone, however, by the time Presley stepped in with Martin on in the 11th. "Its a battle, its fun," Burnett said. "Lets roll from here. Lets keep going." NOTES: The series continues on Thursday. Adam Wainright (13-6, 2.51 ERA) starts for the Cardinals against Jeff Locke (9-3, 2.15) ... St. Louis sent struggling reliever Marc Rzepczynski to Cleveland on Tuesday in exchange for minor league infielder Juan Herrera. Rzepczynski had a 7.84 ERA in 10 1-3 innings this season with the Cardinals ... Pirates 2009 first-round pick Tony Sanchez went 0 for 3 with an RBI in his first major league start at catcher. Cheap Nike Dunks China . Calgary scored on the first shift, and Michael Cammalleri scored twice as the Flames cruised to a 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday. Nike Dunks For Sale Online . Their 38th instalment is arguably their biggest fight card to date, including three-title fights and a main event which was selected by the fans. The promotion boasts 14-straight years of business and is operated by MFC president Mark Pavelich, who is often overlooked in this country for the foundation hes established for MMA in Canada. http://www.cheapnikedunk.us/ . -- Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Alrdridge were again the go-to duo for the Trail Blazers against the Kings. Nike Dunk Wholesale China . Aduriz headed home Markel Susaetas cross in the sixth minute to open the scoring at San Mames Stadium. He bettered that with a long-range blast that went in off the goal frame in the 18th, and converted a penalty in the 72nd after Diego Mainz was sent off for fouling Aduriz with only the goalkeeper to beat. Cheap Nike Dunks Online . -- Former San Diego Chargers safety Paul Oliver was found dead at his Atlanta-area home Tuesday night, and a medical examiner said Wednesday that the ex-player committed suicide. NORTON, Mass. -- The U.S. Ryder Cup team enjoyed a little bonding session at nearby Gillette Stadium on Wednesday night. The captain, Davis Love III, was in attendance, along with three of his assistant captains and all eight players who qualified by last weekends deadline.They ate dinner behind one of the end zones, heard an inspirational speech from Mike Eruzione of the 1980 U.S. Olympic gold medal-winning hockey team, and even engaged in a bit of lighthearted rookie hazing.Well get to all of that. But first, a story.As part of this team bonding, there was a closest-to-the-pin competition on the New England Patriots playing field. A hole was set up, with a tee exactly 78 yards away. The players didnt have their own clubs, but Love did, so each guy just used the captains wedges.Which was suitable, of course, except for the fact that one prominent team member happens to play left-handed.Phil Mickelson didnt care. The natural right-hander simply turned around, hit the ball righty and won the contest, knocking one to 4 feet from the makeshift hole.Honestly, its just not that hard to play golf right-handed, Mickelson said Thursday, smile on his face and tongue firmly in cheek. I think the real challenge and enjoyment I get is from trying to play the game left-handed.This was peak Phil, a world-class needler doing some world-class needling.Hitting a wedge is not that hard, righty or lefty, he continued, still smiling. Its when I get to the longer stuff, like driver, I have a hard time righty. Of course, I have a hard time hitting driver lefty, too. But hitting wedges has always been pretty easy.Laying it on extra thick, Mickelson insisted he didnt want to rub in this victory to his teammates.I wouldnt want them to feel bad. As a guy who knows how sensitive these players can be, I didnt want to overemphasize my victory last night. It didnt go unnoticed, but I didnt need to harp on it. I didnt need to make a big deal of it. Theyre just a little touchy about that kind of stuff.As if to underscore that notion, Jordan Spieth said, [We] all feel really bad, because he sure let us know about it.Fun and games aside, the evening offered an oopportunity for camaraderie among a team that has been accused -- rightly or wrongly -- of lacking in that characteristic during each of its three straight defeats.ddddddddddddAssistant captain Tom Lehman helped plan the evening through Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who also was present at the stadium. The team toured the entire facility, tried on some Super Bowl rings and tossed a few footballs. They even hazed Brooks Koepka, the only first-timer to qualify for the team, as he had to carry the bucket of golf balls for the competition.We got together, hung out, talked, Patrick Reed?said. Didnt really talk much about Ryder Cup, just kind of chatted up, had a good time, got to know the guys a little better. And I think thats going to be key for us is getting to know our guys a little better and also taking care of us because if we take care of each other, the guys next to us are going to be more comfortable, theyre going to take care of themselves and at the end of the day, hopefully the cup stays here.It was just a good time to get everybody together and have some fun, assistant captain Steve Stricker?said. It was a good time to get everyone together.If there was a serious twist to the proceedings, it came when Eruzione, who scored the game-winning goal in the famous Miracle on Ice game, gave a speech about embracing the team concept.He was saying they had probably the seventh- to 10th-best players in 1980, Mickelson said. But they played as a team better than everybody. Thats a huge element to golf when youre dealing with 12 strong egos in an individual sport.Those egos got a chance to unwind and relax away from the golf course Wednesday night, a chance to hang out away from the confines of a tournament.These are the types of things that can help a team that might never hear the end of it if they dont win at Hazeltine next month.For now, seven of the teams players only wont hear the end of it from the lefty who beat em righty, all part of the latest bonding session for this years U.S. Ryder Cup team. China NFL Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Online Stitched Hockey Jerseys Wholesale Baseball Jerseys Football Jerseys Outlet College Jerseys For Sale Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys For Sale Wholesale NFL Jerseys ' ' '