do either." Coming off a 3-for-12 performance on Tuesday -

[blueberryjerry]

PITTSBURGH -- Michael Wacha heard the chants. . Then again, when 40,000 people clad in black scream your name relentlessly for the better part of three hours, its kind of hard to miss. The goal was to rattle the St. Louis rookie, remind him that 22-year-old pitchers arent built to withstand the pressure of an elimination game. One problem. Wacha doesnt really do rattled. He doesnt do pressure, either. The louder PNC Park grew, the more unhittable Wacha became. "I kind of like it," Wacha said. "It kind of gives me adrenalin. I kind of use it in my favour." And the Pittsburgh Pirates -- not to mention anyone else he might face in the post-season -- "kind of" need to get used to it. Wacha took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning and the Cardinals showed off their October poise, edging the Pirates 2-1 Monday to force a winner-take-all Game 5 in the NL division series. St. Louis is 7-1 over the last three years with its season on the line. "I think you take high talent and high character people that are motivated and support each other, and they dont give up," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "Thats a tough combination." One the Pirates are still trying to master. Pedro Alvarez hit his third home run of the series, connecting with one out in the eighth for Pittsburghs only hit in Game 4. It wasnt enough for the Pirates to advance to the NL championship series for the first time in 21 years. "I guess thats why we play five," star centre-fielder Andrew McCutchen said. "Well be ready for the fifth one." The Pirates werent quite ready for the fourth one, not with the way Wacha was dealing. He walked two and struck out nine before giving way to the bullpen in the eighth. Matt Hollidays two-run homer off Charlie Morton in the sixth was all the offence required on a day the Cardinals tossed the first one-hitter in the clubs lengthy post-season history. Trevor Rosenthal worked around a two-out walk in the ninth, retiring McCutchen on a popup to shallow centre field for his first post-season save. "It was a good pitch for him," McCutchen said. "I wish it got a little more of the barrel. It would have been a great story." Instead, a taut series will head back to Busch Stadium. Game 5 will be Wednesday, with ace Adam Wainwright starting for the NL Central champion Cardinals and rookie Gerrit Cole going for the wild-card Pirates. Both pitchers won last week in the NLDS. The Cardinals finished with only three hits, and that was enough. Holliday got two of them, including his homer in the sixth after Morton walked big-hitting Carlos Beltran to start the inning. "You could go back and look at pitches over and over again and second guess yourself," Morton said. "I dont know where that pitch was. It was outer third somewhere, thigh-down and he went out and got it, hes strong." So was the 6-foot-6 kid on the one, the one barely a year removed from a standout college career at Texas A&M. Wacha didnt permit a runner until walking Russell Martin leading off the sixth. Wacha nearly no-hit the Washington Nationals in his last start on Sept. 24, surrendering only an infield single by Ryan Zimmerman with two outs in the ninth. Working so quickly the Pirates never had time to get settled, he breezed through Pittsburghs revamped lineup like he was in extended spring training. Mixing his fastball and changeup masterfully, Wacha overwhelmed the Pirates from the moment he stepped onto the mound. Alvarez got the fans at PNC Park roaring with his homer, and Wacha followed by walking Martin on four pitches. Carlos Martinez relieved and Gold Glove catcher Yadier Molina made a key play, throwing out pinch-runner Josh Harrison after a botched hit-and-run attempt. Martinez struck out Jose Tabata to end the eighth, and Rosenthal took over to begin the ninth. Neil Walker drew a two-out walk before McCutchen made the final out. "Thats what its all about," Rosenthal said. "Thats what you dream of, you dream of two outs in the bottom of the ninth, you know ... bases loaded, the best hitter up, and getting out of that spot." One the Cardinals rarely found themselves in on a day Wacha showed hes just a big a part of his teams present as he is its megawatt future. McCutchen came into the game hitting .538 in the post-season but looked at a 97 mph fastball for strike three in the first. Marlon Byrd, Pittsburghs most consistent player since being acquired from the Mets in late August, watched a full-count heater in the second that sent him walking back to the dugout in disbelief. It was a look repeated time and again by Byrd and the rest of his baffled teammates. Wacha struck out five of the first seven batters. "He went out and hit his spots and it seemed like everything we were hitting, we were just missing, just missing," McCutchen said. Martin remained Pittsburghs lone baserunner until the eighth. Wacha fell behind 3-1 and Alvarez hit a 93 mph fastball at the knees onto the concourse in right-centre. The jolt, however, faded when Molina nailed Harrison at second minutes later to set up a 24th -- and final -- meeting between two teams that have been shadowing each other all summer and into the fall. NOTES: Wacha was the 19th overall pick in the 2012 draft. He earned his first major league win on June 11. ... A.J. Burnett pitched Game 1 for Pittsburgh, but manager Clint Hurdle picked Cole to move ahead and start Game 5. . DETROIT LIONS AT ATLANTA FALCONS, 9:30 AM (ET) Detroit - RB Reggie Bush, TE Eric Ebron, TE Joseph Fauria, WR Calvin Johnson, QB Kellen Moore, TE Brandon Pettigrew, OT LaAdrian Waddle Atlanta - CB Javier Arenas, DT Jonathan Babineaux, OT Cameron Bradfield, WR Freddie Martino, QB Sean Renfree, OT Jonathan Scott, LB Tyler Starr SEATTLE SEAHAWKS AT CAROLINA PANTHERS, 1:00 PM (ET) Seattle - DT Jordan Hill, CB Byron Maxwell, OT Andrew McDonald, TE Zach Miller, C Max Unger, LB Bobby Wagner, WR Bryan Walters Carolina - CB Bene Benwikere, LB Chase Blackburn, WR Philly Brown, G Amini Silatolu, G Trai Turner, RB Fozzy Whittaker, RB DeAngelo Williams HOUSTON TEXANS AT TENNESSEE TITANS, 1:00 PM (ET) Houston - OT Jeff Adams, DB Josh Aubrey, LB Brian Cushing, DB Darryl Morris, WR DeVier Posey, QB Tom Savage, LB Jeff Tarpinian Tennessee - RB Antonio Andrews, WR Kris Durham, TE Richard Gordon, DL DaQuan Jones, CB Coty Sensabaugh, OT Will Svitek, TE Taylor Thompson BALTIMORE RAVENS AT CINCINNATI BENGALS, 1:00 PM (ET) Baltimore - CB Chykie Brown, LB Arthur Brown, DL Chris Canty, TE Owen Daniels, G/C Gino Gradkowski, RB Bernard Pierce, OT Jah Reid Cincinnati - RB Rex Burkhead, DE Will Clarke, WR A. . Lineup news, Fantasy and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. HEROES St. Louis Blues – After rolling the San Jose Sharks for seven goals, for the second time in a week, the Blues have a bunch of players on hot streaks. . Ricciardo made it only halfway around the Jerez track before his RB10 rolled to a stop and began spouting smoke from the back. After team mechanics tended to the car, Ricciardo went back out for a mere two trips around the circuit before calling it quits.TORONTO - The Raptors nearly shocked everyone with their second-half comeback in an eventual defeat to the two-time defending champs. Everyone except the champs themselves, that is. "We get the best of each team we play," the Heats Dwyane Wade recognized shortly before his team handed the division-leading Raptors their ninth loss in 15 games to begin the season. "We dont even look at records, it doesnt matter." "Teams come out and theyre ready to play us, and rightfully so. Weve earned it." But the home team did not come out ready to play, not like their coach had hoped and expected them to following a similarly slow start in a defeat three days prior. "Our defence, pressure on the basketball, tags and our rotations were a step slow in the first half," Dwane Casey said after Torontos 90-83 loss to Miami. A well-oiled machine, Miamis offence steamrolled over the Raptors in the first half. Toronto fell behind by 14 at the break and trailed by as much as 20 midway through the third quarter before the alarm clock finally went off. Torontos defence woke up, holding the Heat to one field goal in the final five minutes of the third quarter and cutting the deficit to two late in the fourth. Still, as it was against Brooklyn on Tuesday and has been so often in the past, it wasnt enough to save the Raptors from suffering an inevitable loss to a team that feasts on those who lose their focus. "Right now were a one-half team," Casey said. "Weve got to get two solid halves put together." Easier said than done. "Whats it going to take," Tyler Hansbrough asked, rhetorically. "Thats a good question. Its a mindset. On the road weve had games where weve put it together and played pretty well, weve just got to do it at home." "I dont know the answer to be honest with you," he continued. "Were a hell of a team when we fight back but we cant let it get to that," said DeRozan, who again was exceptional in defeat; scoring 25 points on 10-of-20 shooting. "Weve got to be a team that plays a full, two halves of basketball." Even after showingg up late, the Raptors had their opportunities thanks in large part to a renewed defensive focus that stymied Miamis free-flowing offence late in the game. . Alas, Toronto turned the ball over 21 times - leading to 26 Heat points - and missed eight of ten fourth-quarter free throws. DeRozan and Gay, both 80 per cent free throw shooters on the season prior to Fridays game, connected on five of their 14 attempts from the stripe. "Thats everything," Gay said of the missed free throws. "To finish a game youve got to hit free throws and finish at the rim. It was tough for us to do either." Coming off a 3-for-12 performance on Tuesday - one that prompted a late-night shooting session - Gay was moderately better, scoring 21 points, however he needed 21 shots to do so. His inefficiency from the painted area persisted, especially late in the game, and his pair of missed free throws with a minute and a half left were crucial in defeat. The Raptors are still searching for an answer to Caseys conundrum. How do they put it all together? The Heat are and will continue to be the NBAs bench mark. Theyre more than an enormously talented team. On top of their talent they have developed an identity and chemistry as a team that is a joy to watch and almost impossible to stop. No matter how talented the team, the Heat know that what theyve been able to achieve does not come easy for anybody. "You cant cheat it," Wade preached. "I think the first year when we were together we tried to cheat it, we tried to say, lets do it right now and we got to the championship but when we got there we realized that the continuity that we really needed, when we really needed it, wasnt there." "We didnt have enough time to build it. So it takes time to build." Toronto has dropped 12 straight games to the Heat since LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined forces with Wade and 13 straight contests to Miami overall. Up next The Raptors will conclude a season-long four game homestand on Sunday afternoon playing host to the Denver Nuggets, a game you can catch on TSN 1050 Radio beginning at 1:00pm et. ' ' '

[veranix]

[veranix]

[veranix]

[veranix]

[veranix]

[veranix]

[veranix]

[veranix]

[veranix]

[veranix]

[veranix]

[veranix]

[veranix]

[veranix]

[veranix]

[veranix]

[veranix]

[veranix]

[veranix]

[veranix]

[veranix]

[veranix]

[veranix]

[veranix]