PITTSBURGH -- Pinch-runner Josh Harrison stood on second base in the bottom of the eighth inning and pointed to Pittsburgh Pirates third base coach Nick Leyva. Mariners Robinson Cano Jersey . "I told him to get that arm ready, because Im coming," Harrison said. Moments later, Harrison was streaking across home plate to give the Pirates the lead. Minutes after that, the Jolly Roger thats been a fixture on the Pittsburgh skyline all summer climbed up the flagpole again. Harrison scored on Pedro Alvarezs tiebreaking single Sunday, sending the Pirates to a 5-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals that staked Pittsburgh to a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five NL division series. Russell Martin followed with a sharp RBI single against reliever Kevin Siegrist, who took over after Carlos Martinez (0-1) faltered. The go-ahead single was the latest big hit by Alvarez. He homered in the first two games against St. Louis and is 4 for 10 with four RBIs in the series. Alvarez also kept the Pirates famous flag flying high in October. "Raise the Jolly Roger!" is the rallying cry for this wild-card team, now one victory from its first post-season series win since Willie Stargell, Dave Parker and the "We Are Family" gang won it all in 1979. "Were continuing to surprise a lot of people, I believe. Were continuing to show people that were not done, that were not just happy to be in the post-season," star centre fielder Andrew McCutchen said. "Were fighting to win a World Series." Heady territory for a franchise that had endured a record 20 consecutive years of losing coming into this season. Six months later, the Pirates are on the cusp of knocking out baseball royalty. Mark Melancon (1-0) picked up the win despite allowing Carlos Beltrans tying home run in the top of the eighth. Jason Grilli worked the ninth for a save. Charlie Morton is set to start for Pittsburgh in Game 4 on Monday against rookie Michael Wacha. Beltran finished 2 for 3 with three RBIs. His 16th playoff home run moved him past Babe Ruth for eighth place in post-season history. "Its a must-win tomorrow for us," Beltran said. "Hopefully we can come here tomorrow, take care of business, win and go play the last game at home." Beltrans shot temporarily silenced a rocking crowd at PNC Park. It also set the stage for another dramatic win by the Pirates. McCutchen led off the eighth with his second hit, a double to left. But the NL MVP candidate unwisely tried to advance on Justin Morneaus grounder to shortstop and was an easy out at third. Harrison ran for Morneau and moved up when Marlon Byrd walked. St. Louis manager Mike Matheny turned to a lefty in Siegrist to face the left-handed Alvarez. The Pittsburgh slugger tied for the NL lead with 36 homers during the regular season, but hit just .180 against lefties. "I just knew it was going to be a tough matchup," Alvarez said. "Ive seen him a couple of times before. I havent had much success. Hes a pitcher with good stuff -- great stuff. He threw me a couple of fastballs out over the plate." One too many, as it turned out, and Alvarez singled between first and second. Martin then fouled off a squeeze bunt before lining a hit to left that gave Grilli more than enough cushion. The game was a rare nail-biter between two clubs that spent the summer shadowing each other in the race for the NL Central title. Coming into Sunday, only five of the previous 21 matchups between the two were decided by two runs or less. After blowouts by each club in St. Louis, there wasnt much room to breathe in front of a frenzied, black-clad crowd looking for a repeat of Pittsburghs giddy 6-2 romp over Cincinnati in the wild-card game last Tuesday. Martins sacrifice fly off reliever Seth Maness in the sixth gave the Pirates a 3-2 lead and turned the game over to Pittsburghs "Shark Tank" bullpen, one of the keys to the franchises first winning season and playoff berth in a generation. Tony Watson worked around a one-out single in the seventh before giving way to Melancon. The Cardinals must win two straight to advance to the NL championship series for the third straight year. "Weve been in this situation," Beltran said. "Last year, I think we were in this situation a lot. So I think were fine, man. We want to come here tomorrow, we want to win and hopefully take this series home." Pirates starter Francisco Liriano dominated the Cardinals during the regular season, going 3-0 with an 0.75 ERA in three starts against the NLs highest-scoring team. He was electric against the Reds last Tuesday, shaking off a sinus infection and baffling them with a series of changeups and sliders that ended Cincinnatis season and manager Dusty Bakers tenure. Liriano narrowly escaped damage in the third Sunday when Matt Holliday lined to right with the bases loaded. The left-hander wasnt quite as fortunate in the fifth. Jon Jay led off with a single and Pete Kozma followed with a walk. After pitcher Joe Kelly struck out trying to bunt, a double steal set up Beltrans two-run single. At 2-all, the Cardinals had matched their entire output against Liriano in their previous 28 innings. Liriano was matched nearly pitch for pitch by the unflappable Kelly. The 25-year-old right-hander has been rock-steady all season, even as he moved from middle reliever to starter in July. Kelly welcomed the hostile environment, calling the sea of black-clad fans that awaited him one of the things a kid dreams about. The reality proved a little more unnerving, at least when Byrd hit a two-run single in the first. The well-travelled outfielder -- who played in 1,250 regular-season games before reaching the playoffs for the first time -- has been a welcome jolt both in the lineup and in the clubhouse for the Pirates. "Just having a heck of a time," Byrd said. NOTES: Grilli worked around a leadoff single in the ninth. ... McCutchen is batting .538 (7 for 13) and has an on-base percentage of .684 in the playoffs. His five walks rank first in the league this post-season. ... Beltrans home run was the first by the Cardinals in 10 games at PNC Park this year. Mariners David Phelps Jersey .Y. - The Buffalo Sabres reassigned forward Sam Reinhart to the WHLs Kootenay Ice on Friday. Cheap Mariners Jerseys Gear . Last year, Islanders forward Colin Mcdonald released a "Do It For Colin" campaign to promote his teammate and friend John Tavares for the EA sports honour:The most popular sports voting video ever has to go to Chris Bosh who showcased his comedic abilities in his effort to get fans to vote him into the 2008 All Star Game:You can vote for TJ and other star players for the NHL 15 cover vote here. http://www.cheapmarinersjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=mariners-dee-gordon-jersey . At least 90 players who had college eligibility remaining are expected to enter the draft, shattering last years record number of 73. "Its a humongous number, so the first reaction is it makes you step back a little bit," said NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah, a former scout with the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles.OAKLAND, Calif. -- Kurt Suzuki couldnt have scripted his return to the Oakland Coliseum any better. A longtime fan favourite for the Athletics, he greeted his old supporters with a three-run homer in his first home game back with the club since being traded away last August, and Jed Lowrie hit a go-ahead double in the eighth inning of a 4-3 win against the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night. "It was pretty special," Suzuki said. "Its awesome. Just being around the guys, Ive played with the majority of the guys in this locker room last year or years before. It just seems like I never left." Lowrie extended his hitting streak to 12 games with his Oakland-record 13th double in August, off Joel Peralta. James Loney had tied it with a double in the top half for Tampa Bay. Jarrod Parker dueled with David Price to run his unbeaten streak to 17 straight starts, matching Catfish Hunters Oakland record set from June 2-Sept. 3, 1973. The As pulled within two games of the first-place Texas Rangers in the AL West, and moved ahead of Tampa Bay in the wild-card race. Price (8-6) had his five-game winning streak snapped, losing for the first time in nine starts since July 12 against Houston. Parker came out for the eighth at 100 pitches, but gave way to winner Ryan Cook (6-3) after allowing the first two hitters to reach. Grant Balfour pitched the ninth for his 34th save in 36 chances, leaving the tying run aboard a day after blowing a save at Detroit by allowing four runs. "Ill take that," Balfour said. Parker received a couple of early pep talks from Suzuki, who later delivered with the timely home run, which he said "for it to be off a pitcher like Price, whos arguably one of the best pitchers in the game right now, was pretty neat." Suzuki is living in a hotel, stilly carrying a Nationals bag, and eagerly awaiting his familys arrival to the Bay Area on Monday. He had more than 15,000 people to help lift his spirits Friday. "You couldnt write that, you couldnt make that stuff up," Parker said. "Hes huge to us." Oakland beat the Rays for the first time after being swept in Florida from April 19-21. Tampa Bay outscored the reigning AL West champions 17-4 in that series. With the Bay Bridge closed all weekend, the Rays team bus left San Francisco at 2 p.m. Friday and didnt arrive to the Coliseum until 3:45. Price opted to take a cab before his start Friday, and iit cost him a whopping $202, then tweeted he would take a helicopter Saturday. Mariners Nick Vincent Jersey. Manager Joe Maddon plans to take the BART train Saturday. Friday got stranger for the Rays when reliever Fernando Rodney briefly got stuck in the dugout bathroom during the game. "It was a kind of a fun moment," Maddon said. "We kind of rallied then -- we should have kept him in there. A lot of the commotion in the dugout in the eighth inning and part of the rally was someone beating on the door. Finally someone broke the door knob with a bat to get him out. I dont even know who the hero was getting him out. I say he was in there a solid 15 minutes." For Suzuki, rejoining the As for a pennant race has worked out well so far. He was cheered at every chance despite his light pregame remarks that he expected "a bunch of boos." Yunel Escobar hit an RBI single and Matt Joyce a sacrifice fly as the Rays kicked off a stretch with 13 of 16 games on the road. Second baseman Ben Zobrist had his Rays record 81-game errorless streak end on a wild throw in the fifth. His previous error came May 11 against San Diego. The Rays ended a 14-inning stretch without a run when they scored in the second, but they are 0-for California in four tries this year after dropping three at Dodger Stadium. NOTES: The Rays recalled RHP Brandon Gomes from Triple-A Durham and optioned RHP Jake Odorizzi to Double-A Montgomery. ... As C Derek Norris, on the disabled list since Aug. 21 with a fractured left big toe, is set to join Triple-A Sacramento at Tacoma on Saturday for a three-game rehab assignment. He is eligible to come off the DL on Sept. 5. ... Oakland RF Josh Reddick received an injection in his sprained right wrist Wednesday and is now using a splint. "We hope that does the trick," manager Bob Melvin said. ... Rays LHP Matt Moore (left elbow soreness) allowed eight hits and four earned runs in four innings of his first rehab outing Thursday night for Triple-A Durham at Gwinnett (Ga.) He is set to start in Anaheim either Tuesday or Wednesday and expects to have a pitch count of 90-100. "Im happy how my arm felt," Moore said. "Im warming up a little slower with my changeup. It really felt good to get back out there."... Maddon is yet to announce his Sunday starter, but did say likely Sunday additions that day will be: OF Delmon Young, DH Luke Scott, and C Chris Gimenez. 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