Gruppen » fare well in their matchup against Pittsburghs

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates had better sleep quick before they start their four-game series Monday in Busch Stadium.While St. Louis (43-38) survived a 3-hour, 48-minute ordeal, plus 2 hours and 15 minutes of rain delays Sunday to earn a 9-8 win over Milwaukee, Pittsburgh (41-41) polished off a sweep at Oakland with a 6-3 decision.The Pirates then got into town late Sunday night, losing two hours to the clock on their flight from the Bay Area. But after extending their winning streak to four games, theyre feeling pretty good about making the trip.Its huge, especially to come from behind three games in a row on the road, rookie left fielder Adam Frazier said. Its pretty big. Its huge momentum heading east to St. Louis.Frazier was a big part of Sundays win, going 2-for-4. His triple in the sixth inning tied the game at 3 and he later scored the go-ahead run as Pittsburgh swept the Athletics for the first time.The Pirates will try to gain revenge for the sweep they suffered at the Cardinals hands last month in PNC Park. St. Louis, which lost five of its first six meetings to Pittsburgh, outscored it by a combined 22-7 in winning all three games of that series.That included a 5-1 verdict on June 11 that saw Carlos Martinez come within two outs of his first big league complete game. Martinez (7-5, 2.83), whos pitched to an earned run average of 1.06 over his last six starts, takes the ball Monday.Hell be opposed by left-hander Jonathon Niese (6-6, 5.07), whos 0-1 in two starts against the Cardinals this year. Niese was tagged for all eight runs on June 12 in an 8-3 loss, giving up homers to Matt Holliday and Randal Grichuk.While both teams are still looking up at the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central, St. Louis made up three games in as many days over the weekend, thanks to the Cubs being swept at the New York Mets. The Cardinals start Monday eight games back, the closest theyve been since May 25.Its good, but were taking it day-by-day, St. Louis right fielder Stephen Piscotty said. Theres still plenty of time.Piscotty was the star of Sundays win, belting his second grand slam of the year in the sixth inning to highlight a 3-for-4 day. Piscotty has been deadly with the bases loaded during his first season in the big leagues. Dating back to July 22, 2015, hes 8-for-15 with 18 RBI in that spot.The Pirates are hopeful of getting center fielder Andrew McCutchen back Monday. He sat out Sunday with a heel injury and manager Clint Hurdle said the team wanted to rest McCutchen ahead of this series and a weekend visit from the Cubs.On Tuesday night, the Cardinals send Mike Leake (5-6, 4.13) to the mound against rookie Jameson Taillon (2-1, 3.86). Lefties Jaime Garcia (6-6, 3.84) and Pittsburghs Jeff Locke (8-5, 5.13) match up Wednesday night, while St. Louis Adam Wainwright (7-5, 4.70) meets rookie Chad Kuhl (1-0, 4.09) in Thursdays series finale. Miami Marlins Pro Shop . John Lucas, signed as a mentor for rookie Trey Burke, showed he can score if required, scoring 12 points of his 16 points in the second quarter as Utah built an 18-point lead. Miami Marlins Shirts . Burke is expected to miss two to three months after breaking a finger in the teams third preseason game. Tinsley, a 10-year veteran, spent the last two seasons in Utah, where the point guard averaged 3. https://www.cheapmarlinsjerseys.us/ . The nimble-footed quarterback got his wish, dashing through the snow and a weary defence all the way into the NCAA record book. Stitched Marlins Jerseys . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday. Marlins Jerseys China . Supported by three-run homers from Jayson Werth and Wilson Ramos, the young right-hander went seven strong innings in the Washington Nationals 8-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.In Game Three of the Eastern Conference Final, the Pittsburgh Penguins found out the perils of falling into a 2-0 hole to the Boston Bruins, losing 2-1 in double overtime to Boston Wednesday and trailing the series by a nearly insurmountable three games to none. In a tremendous game, one of the best of the postseason, the Penguins outplayed the Bruins, outshooting them 54-40, but LW Chris Kunitz was the only Penguin that managed to get a puck past Bruins G Tuukka Rask, who has now allowed one goal or fewer in five of his last six starts. Rask now has a .940 save percentage this postseason, leaving him behind only the Kings Jonathan Quick (.941). While there were some questions raised about which goaltender would start Game Three for Pittsburgh, there was no doubt that Tomas Vokoun was the right decision. He stopped 38 of 40 shots in the game and has a .931 save percentage in the playoffs. Just as he was in Game Seven of the first round against Toronto, C Patrice Bergeron played the hero for the Bruins with the double overtime goal, redirecting a pass from LW Brad Marchand on a two-on-two counter-attack. Bostons first goal was tallied by C David Krejci, the playoff leader with nine goals and 21 points. Bergeron and Krejci had to handle a heavy workload as Bostons fourth-line C Gregory Campbell, suffered a broken leg and ended up playing only 6:51. With Campbell out, and the game going to double overtime, Krejci played 35:46 and Bergeron logged 31:59 to lead Bruins forwards. D Zdeno Chara led all skaters with 42:05 of ice time. Enforcer Shawn Thornton skated just 3:56 for Boston, unable to find the right fit with his centre, Campbell, injured. Among the faceoff leaders, Bergeron had a tough night on the draws, winning 13 of 35 (37.1%). Sidney Crosby (21 of 36, 55.3%) and Brandon Sutter (15 of 25, 60.0%) were best on the dot for Pittsburgh. Marchand was dangerous for the Bruins, tying D Johnny Boychuk with a team-high six shots on goal, while LW Miilan Lucic registered a game-high eight hits.dddddddddddd Even though he was stripped of the puck by Bruins RW Jaromir Jagr before the winning goal, and finished the game minus-2, Penguins C Evgeni Malkin was the most dangerous player on the ice, registering a game-high 10 shots on goal. D Kris Letang played more than 40 minutes and had eight shots on goal, while Penguins RW James Neal had seven shots on goal. Neal and Letang had the best puck possession numbers of the game for Pittsburgh, while D Torey Krug was tops for Boston. As great as Malkin was, he didnt manage a point and has been held off the scoresheet in five of the last six games. Sidney Crosby was also held scoreless and has been held without a points in four of the last six games. Coming into the series, Boston needed their one-two punch at centre -- Bergeron and Krejci -- to fare well in their matchup against Pittsburghs elite tandem and, so far, its no contest. If the Penguins are going to come back, theyll need their power play, which had scored 13 goals in 11 games through the first two series, to get on track. Through the first three games there has not been a power play goal scored in the series, with Pittsburgh 0-for-12 and Boston 0-for-10 with the man advantage. Down three games to none, the Penguins have to see the writing on the wall. Boston was the last team to relinquish a 3-0 series lead, in 2010 against Philadelphia, but its asking a lot for a team to win four straight against a Bruins team that is, right off the top, winning the matchup of goaltenders and centres. This is the fate that befalls a Penguins team that didnt play well in their first two games at home. Even though they played very welll in Game Three, certainly well enough to win, they didnt and theyre left in a virtually impossible position. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '