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  • January 14, 2020 3:47 AM EST

    PITTSBURGH -- Trevor Rosenthal didnt panic and neither did his manager, Mike Matheny. Chimezie Metu Jersey . Rosenthal, the St. Louis Cardinals closer, got into a major ninth-inning jam, allowed the Pittsburgh Pirates to draw within a run and then load the bases with none out. It seemed the Pirates, who lead the major leagues with five walkoff victories, were on the verge of doing it again. However, Rosenthal escaped the jam for his 10th save and Shelby Miller won his fourth straight start as the Cardinals held on for a 6-5 win Sunday night. "That felt like a walk-off win right there," Matheny said with a relieved smile. "That was beyond impressive what Trevor was able to do there at the end to get it back together. Thats why he is pitching at the end of games." Rosenthal survived an RBI single by Andrew McCutchen to notch his 10th save as the Cardinals avoided their first three-game losing streak of the season. He got Ike Davis to foul out for the first out then induced Jordy Mercer to hit into a 1-2-3 double play to end it. "I just wanted to throw a fastball low in the zone and either get him to hit it on the ground or strike out," Rosenthal said. "It couldnt have worked out any better, though Im sure the rest of the guys in this clubhouse wish I could have got the job done sooner." Allen Craig and Yadier Molina had two hits each, including RBI singles in a four-run first inning. Craig went 5-for-11 in the three-game series after entering with a .202 batting average. Molina was 0-for-12 in his previous four games. "Hopefully, this is a spark," Matheny said. "Weve been looking for that thing that can get us clicking." Miller (5-2) walked four and allowed four hits in 5 1-3 innings, but held the Pirates to just two runs -- which came on Mercers first home run of the season in the fourth inning. "I didnt have much but I gave it what I got and fortunately it was enough to help us get a win," Miller said. Charlie Morton (0-5) was charged with only one earned run of the four he allowed over six innings but remained winless since Sept. 2, a span of 14 starts. He also fell to 2-10 in his career against the Cardinals. "I just tried to get back out there and put up zeroes after that first inning," Morton said. "We kept chipping away and we almost pulled it out but I cant give up four runs there, especially in the first inning. It put us in a bad spot from the start." Pittsburghs Pedro Alvarez had three hits. Jon Jay also has two hits for St. Louis as did Tony Sanchez for the Pirates, whose season-best four-game winning streak ended. Mark Ellis also had an RBI single in the first inning for St. Louis and Craig added a sacrifice fly. NOTES: McCutchen returned to the lineup after missing Saturdays game with soreness in his left ankle. ... Pittsburgh LF Starling Marte was not in the lineup because of lower back tightness, which caused him to leave Saturday nights game in the fourth inning. ... Pirates RF Travis Snider batted leadoff after missing the previous two games while serving a suspension from Major League Baseball for his actions April 20 in a benches-clearing brawl with the Milwaukee Brewers. ... Bourjos, who started the previous four games, did not start because of a cut on his right wrist that came as a result of getting spiked Saturday night while attempting to break up a double play. However, he entered the game in the game in the seventh inning as a defensive replacement. ... The Cardinals host the Chicago Cubs on Monday night in the opener of a four-game series with LHP Tyler Lyons (0-2, 3.45) facing LHP Travis Wood (2-4, 4.75). ... The Pirates are off Monday then begin a three-game series Tuesday night at Milwaukee. David Robinson Jersey .com) - Charlie Davies netted a pair of goals, including the series-winner on Saturday, as the New England Revolution battled the New York Red Bulls to a 2-2 draw in the second leg of the Eastern Conference Championship at Gillette Stadium and advanced to MLS Cup final via a thrilling 4-3 aggregate victory. Dennis Rodman Jersey .Fucale will not only be one of the local boys, he is also a Montreal Canadiens draft pick and will have a huge cheering section when Canada opens the tournament Dec.The most challenging days in the world of sports are those where cold, hard reality intrudes on the fantasy world of games and play. And so it was last Apr. 15 when, while preparing to host the Monday edition of TSN Drive, the mood of that day suddenly turned dark. The Boston Marathon had been bombed. A great number of people had been injured and some had been killed. No one knew whod done it, what their motive was or what else they might have in mind. North Americans arent blind to the possibilities of terrorism, certainly not since Sept. 11, 2001. But the notion of a being maimed or killed by attending a sporting event is about as remote to our sense vulnerability as can be. That sense may in fact be the very reason the perpetrators chose the marathon, an iconic event, a symbol of spring, and something attended by people from various walks of life which attracts an international field and audience. Bomb the Boston Marathon and the message is that anything can be a target, or so those behind it surely hoped. My co-host that day one year ago was Bruce Arthur, with whom I met 30 minutes before air time to discuss that days show. We instantly agreed it felt wrong to open the program talking sports. Instead wed talk about what was unfolding in Boston for the first 30 minutes, follow the breaking news and then reassess. When we got to the bottom of the clock in that first hour, neither of us had the stomach to talk sports. It just felt wrong. And so we stuck to the matters at hand in Boston, believing our listeners understood that sports could wait for at least a day. Everyone knows what happened next. Boston became city in lock-down, sports events were cancelled, a security guard was killed, and eventually two suspects were captured, one of them dead and the other severely wounded. And in the days that followed, the question of societal response began to emerge: How would North Americans react, understanding that this type of thing wasnt restricted to marathons and could happen at any sort of large public gathering?  And since the world of sports has more large public gatherings than any other business, how would it affect ballparks, arenas and stadiums? How would this change the experience of attending a sporting event? There was the predictable response from leagues, with enhanced security measures at most venues which, depending on your point of view, is either a good thing or the further erosion of the carefree lives we used to enjoy. Jakob Poeltl Jersey. But any sense that the Boston bombing had somehow altered the experience of attending a sporting event in North America, that people would reconsider gathering in public to cheer on their favourite teams? That proved to be a complete myth. No, the sports world is pretty much exactly as it was before the Boston bombing. And thats significant because the most meaningful thing about sports isnt who wins or who loses or who gets paid the most money. Its the manner in which spectator sports are about sharing common experiences with others, producing a sense of oneness that few other things can deliver. Sport in a vacuum is just an empty spectacle of athletic achievement. But surround it with people who have a common perspective and it takes on its own energy and meaning, becoming as much an expression of community and culture as anything else. Thats what we saw in Boston during the weeks and months that followed the bombing, with the Bruins and then the Red Sox as symbols of the citys communal spirit. Lets be clear: a professional sports team winning in the aftermath of a tragedy doesnt make anything better, doesnt heal the wounded or bring back the dead. What it does, however, is give people a way to express their resolve and creates a sense of normalcy in what can be very troubling times. The two men who bombed the marathon sought not just to cause death and destruction but also to affect way people live their lives. In less than a week, the 2014 Boston Marathon will take place with people from Massachusetts and around the world gathering to participate. Some will be running but many, many more will be lining the streets just to be present. Not because theyve forgotten what occurred one year ago, but because they remember it. ' ' '