PITTSBURGH -- The St. Louis Cardinals were done in by a nemesis.Jung Ho Kang led off the eighth inning with a home run, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 4-3 win over the Cardinals on Wednesday night to snap an eight-game losing streak and cost St. Louis a chance to sweep the three-game series.Kang hit a drive deep into the bullpens in left-center off rookie Alex Reyes (1-1) for his 17th homer and third in two games. It helped snap the Pirates longest skid since dropping 10 straight in 2011.The Cardinals are percentage points ahead of the New York Mets for the second NL wild card, and the Pirates drew within 4 1/2 games of St. Louis.Kang has hit eight of his 33 career home runs against the Cardinals, his most against any opponent, since coming to the major leagues prior to the 2015 season after starring in South Korea.Hes a tough out against everybody, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. The guys got some juice. He can put the ball in the seats. Some guys are dangerous and hes one of them.The third baseman returned from the disabled list Monday after missing 15 days with a sore left shoulder.I really, really reflected on myself and how much I really want to win and how much I really want to play baseball, Kang said of his time on the DL. I really spent good time thinking about that.Trevor Williams (1-0) allowed one unearned run in three innings for the win in his major league debut.Reyes gave up one run in 3 2/3 innings and also singled off Williams in the seventh for his first major league hit.Tony Watson worked a perfect ninth inning for his 11th save after blowing his previous two opportunities, including Tuesday night when he allowed three home runs in the ninth inning of a 9-7 loss.The Cardinals ended a streak of 25 consecutive games with a home run, a club record.Mike Leake went 4 1/3 innings in his first start for the Cardinals since Aug. 21 after being sidelined by the shingles virus. He gave up three runs, nine hits and a walk while striking out three.I wasnt locating as well as I know as I can, Leake said. Im sure being off a couple of weeks played a factor. Now Im back on track and ready for the next one.Matheny was happy with what he saw from Leake, who allowed back-to-back RBI singles to Gregory Polanco and Kang in the first inning when the Pirates sent seven men to the plate.He had a stressful first inning but then he got some momentum and pitched pretty well after that, Matheny said. Overall, I thought his stuff was good.Pirates starter Jameson Taillon pitched five innings. The rookie gave up two runs, six hits and a walk with five strikeouts.The Cardinals Yadier Molina scored in the sixth to make it 3-3. Molina reached second base when right fielder Adam Frazier dropped his fly ball, then scored on a single by Randal Grichuk.TRAINERS ROOMCardinals: LF Matt Holliday (broken left thumb) was cleared to resume baseball activities and is hopeful of returning before the end of the regular season. He has been on the disabled list since Aug. 12.UP NEXTCardinals: LHP Jaime Garcia (10-11, 4.41 ERA), who has lost his last three starts, faces Milwaukee RHP Junior Guerra (7-3, 2.85) on Thursday night in the opener of a four-game home series.NMD Buy Australia . -- Canadian Andrew Wiggins got the ball on the wing, made a nifty spin move and then let go with a soft floater from about 10 feet that swished through the net in Allen Fieldhouse. Adidas Superstar Gold Australia . -- Nathan Pancel scored twice as the Sudbury Wolves defeated the North Bay Battalion 4-2 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. http://www.nmdaustraliasale.com/ . Their experience showed Tuesday as the No. 10 Badgers blunted a Saint Louis surge to win 63-57 and advance to face West Virginia in Wednesdays finals of the Cancun Challenge. NMD R1 Mens Australia . -- San Francisco 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks was fined $15,570 by the NFL on Wednesday for his hit on Saints quarterback Drew Brees last Sunday. NMD_R1 Shoes Australia . The winner Saturday will remain in the elite 10-team field next year. "We talked about wanting to be disciplined and stick with our game plan and good things will come," Draisaitl said, who had two goals for the victors.WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Connor Hellebuyck and the Winnipeg Jets rebounded in a big way against the Nashville Predators.The Jets goaltender made a season-high 42 saves and Winnipeg ended a five-game losing streak with a 3-0 victory over the Predators on Sunday.Hellebuycks second shutout of the season, and fourth of his career, came after he was in net Friday for Winnipegs 5-1 loss to the Predators in Nashville.I think its extremely important, Hellebuyck said of having a big game.It gets the morale and character back in the room and we can start building some confidence now. I dont think anybody is hitting the panic button. We just needed to get back to our game and thats what we did tonight.Drew Stafford scored his first goal of the season and Mark Scheifele and Adam Lowry added empty-net goals for the Jets. Defenseman Jacob Trouba had two assists.Sometimes to break out of the slump, you know you just kind of need to have your goalie make 40 saves and then gut it out, Jets captain Blake Wheeler said.Rookie goaltender Juuse Saros stopped 21 of 22 shots for the Predators.The loss halted Nashvilles win streak at three games and also dropped its road record to 2-7-2.Saros, a 21-year-old from Finland, was called up from Milwaukee of the American Hockey League to relieve veteran Pekka Rinne. He played his second game this season and third of his career.He was great, Predators center Ryan Johansen said of Saros. The only goal they had was they skated behind our net, bounced it off his back and (the puck) barely crossed the goal line.He also praised Hellebuyck.I thought he was fantastic, Johansen said of Hellebuyck. The way their team has been playing, at home with a lot of pressure on, especially us beating thhem in Nashville with five goals, he deserves a lot of credit tonight.dddddddddddd He played a great game.The victory was Winnipegs fourth straight at home.Nashville had scored three power-play goals against the Jets in Fridays win, but was 0 for 5 on Sunday. Winnipeg was 0 for 4.Predators coach Peter Laviolette called Saros play outstanding and said a spell of not controlling the play in the second period was costly for his team.Plenty of chances. Just couldnt seem to score, couldnt get it done, he said.Stafford, who missed 15 games with an injury this season, scored his first with a wraparound at 15:21 of the second period.The Jets are 7-0 when leading after two periods this season.Scheifele scored his 12th goal of the season, tying him with teammate Patrik Laine, with 42 seconds left. Lowry got his sixth with 10 seconds remaining.Nashville fired 11 shots during two power plays in the third period, but couldnt beat Hellebuyck.Just lately Ive been feeling in that groove, Hellebuyck said. Ive liked the way Ive been playing.Although they scored five goals last game, I still like the way I feel and Im not losing my confidence from a goal here or there. I could see everything tonight and I had a little luck, too. Sometimes the puck just hits you.Jets coach Paul Maurice said everyone contributed and Hellebuyck stood out.Real good goaltending tonight and lots and lots of effort, Maurice said. Twenty-seven blocked shots.I dont think things were smooth or easy at times with the puck, but usually a real hard effort and really good goaltending, youre going to give yourself a chance. ' ' '