Hallensaison 2011/12 » Yu Darvish will remain

PHILADELPHIA -- Starling Marte had turned toward a crowd of media at his locker when a passing teammate cracked a one-liner about the soft-spoken outfielder. "What do they think theyll get out of Marte," he asked. In words, maybe not much. At the plate, enough to keep Pittsburgh in the hunt for a second straight playoff spot. Marte hit a two-run homer and fell a triple short of the cycle to help the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-4 on Monday night. Jeff Locke (7-4) struck out nine over seven strong innings to help the Pirates go up 1 1-2 games on Milwaukee and Atlanta for the second wild card. "The second wild card has opened up so many opportunities for so many teams, so many cities," manager Clint Hurdle said. "Its been so exciting for fans. For more teams to try and pay attention to it would be chaotic." Locke and Kyle Kendrick (8-12) were in pitchers duel until Pittsburgh bust open a one-run lead with four runs in the eighth. The Pirates won their fourth straight and are 65-50 since May 2. Marte has been a big reason for the hot streak. He singled, doubled and homered in his first three plate appearances and extended his hitting streak to eight games. Hes batting .358 (38 for 106) with six homers and a 1.018 OPS over his last 28 games. "Ive been more comfortable," he said. "We are in a very good spot right now." Mark Melancon tossed a scoreless ninth for his 27th save. Locke, who improved to 4-0 lifetime against the Phillies, retired the first 10 batters until Jimmy Rollins hit a one-out triple in the fourth. He scored on Ryan Howards single and 92nd RBI of the season. Locke, though, fanned Howard twice and struck out at least one batter in every inning. His nine Ks were a season high and three more than he had combined in his last three starts (6). Locke rebounded nicely after lasting only 3-plus innings in a loss to St. Louis in his last start. He gave up just one run and kept the Pirates in contention for another playoff berth. "He had his best performance of the season," Hurdle said. "Locke pitched as good a game as we could have ever hoped for him to pitch tonight." The Pirates gave reason for their fans to cheer -- and plenty did, with "Lets Go Pirates!" echoing through a mostly barren Citizens Bank Park with every rally. Martes 11th homer gave the Pirates a 2-1 lead in the fifth. The Pirates chased Kendrick in the eighth, with Neil Walker, Jordy Mercer and Brent Morel all producing run-scoring hits and Gabby Sanchez chipped in with a sacrifice fly. The Pirates are 4-0 against the Phillies this season, beating up on the bad teams a necessity in any playoff push. "If we play our best ball in the 19 remaining games, well get in," Hurdle said. TRAINERS ROOM Pirates: INF Josh Harrison was out of the lineup for a third straight game after aggravating a left ankle injury in the completion of a suspended game on Saturday. Harrison was available to pinch hit. ... INF Pedro Alvarezs left foot injury is not improving as much they would have hoped and he also sat out. He did travel with the team to Philadelphia. Phillies: Rollins was replaced by Freddy Galvis for the top of the fifth. Rollins strained his left hamstring after legging out a one-out triple in the fourth. Rollins has played in 138 of 143 games this season. Rollins said he expected to miss at least 10 games. "Just one of those things reaching out for the bag," Rollins said. "It isnt that severe." UP NEXT Pirates: Edinson Volquez (11-7, 3.31 ERA) has won seven of his last eight decisions and his 10-4 overall in his last 21 starts. He is 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA in five career starts against the Phillies. Phillies: David Buchanan (6-7, 3.95 ERA) has three straight no-decisions and hasnt won a game since Aug. 6. He took the loss after allowing three runs against the Pirates on July 5. BATTING CROWN: Phillies OF Ben Revere went 0 for 4 and saw his average dip to .313 as he chases the NL batting crown. Colorados Justin Morneau was batting .316. Harrison was hitting .315. Rick Fox Jersey . Lupul injured the hand in a fall at practice on Thursday. He will wear a cast for a minimum of 10 days before he can put a glove back on it and get some mobility back, said Carlyle, who added the winger wont go on the teams upcoming road trip. Custom Boston Celtics Jerseys .J. -- Travis Zajac of the New Jersey Devils took a lot of grief considering his scored the first of his career-best three goals just 12 seconds into a crucial game against the Florida Panthers. https://www.cheapceltics.com/552n-k-c-jo...ey-celtics.html. -- Detroit Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera has a broken bone below his right eye after being struck by a bad-hop grounder, sidelining the star slugger for at least a week with opening day on deck. Stitched Celtics Jerseys . The Hockey Canada Foundation is donating $50,000, with Hockey Quebec contributing $15,000. Hockey Canada also announced it will hold a skills camp for all levels of minor hockey in Lac-Mégantic during the 2013-14 season. Representatives from Hockey Canada, the Hockey Canada Foundation and Hockey Quebec were on hand Tuesday night at a meeting of the AHM de Lac-Mégantic to make the announcement and presentation. Bailey Howell Jersey . Cincinnati has lost back-to-back games in overtime, wasting a chance to take a commanding lead in their division. NEW YORK -- Brandon McCarthy and Chase Headley are quickly putting their stamp on a playoff surge for the New York Yankees. Acquired earlier this month from NL West also-rans, they teamed up Thursday to help the Yankees beat the Texas Rangers 4-2. McCarthy threw six more solid innings, Headley delivered another timely hit and New York won for the sixth time in seven games. "From the beginning of spring training, its about giving yourself a chance in the post-season," said Headley, obtained this week in a trade with San Diego. "What an opportunity for me," he said. "I take it as an honour and privilege to be here." McCarthy improved to 2-0 with a 1.45 ERA in three starts since the Yankees got him from Arizona. He was 3-10 with a 5.01 ERA at the time of the trade. "I really felt I wanted more pressure," he said. "Its ramped up all the way. I feel like Ive responded." "Its the opposite of how I felt earlier in this year. I was a burden on the team and holding things up," he said. With the Yankees, the newcomers are now in the thick of the race for the AL East crown and the wild-card spots. "When you go out and get players that produce, its a lift for your team," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. Texas fell to 3-17 in July and dropped 22 games under .500 for the first time since the final week of the 1988 season. "Right now, were just not getting it done," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. McCarthy limited Texas to one run and four hits in six innings. He struck out five, and fanned Alex Rios to finish off an 11-pitch at-bat that ended the first inning. Rios almost got even in the eighth with Texas trailing 3-2, hitting a drive off All-Star reliever Dellin Betances that was caught on the warning track in right field. David Robertson pitched the ninth for his 25th save in 27 chances. Colby Lewis (6-8) gave up three runs and four hits in 6 1-3 innings. He took the loss, but kept his composure -- in his previous start, he got rankleed when Torontos Colby Rasmus bunted for a two-out single midway through the game.dddddddddddd There were no problems with the field at Yankee Stadium, either. New York won 2-1 Wednesday night when a sudden, heavy storm prevented the grounds crew from quickly putting the tarp down in the fifth inning. The rain stopped soon enough, but the field was too wet to continue. Texas took a 1-0 lead in the third on an RBI single by Elvis Andrus. Brett Gardner doubled in the fourth and scored on Headleys two-out single off the right-field wall. Headley was acquired from the Padres on Tuesday and beat Texas that night with a single in the 14th inning. Francisco Cervelli hit a go-ahead double in the fifth and later scored when left fielder Shin-Soo Choo made a fine running catch on Gardners sacrifice fly for a 3-1 lead. Earlier, Rangers centre fielder Leonys Martin ran way back to grab Ichiro Suzukis drive. J.P. Arencibia homered in the Texas seventh. Brian McCann had an RBI double in the New York eighth. "Im not frustrated, I think its going to happen, I think were going to turn the hitting around," Arencibia said. NOTES: The Yankees evened their home record at 24-24. They have 33 home games left, most in the AL. ... A day after Texas traded closer Joakim Soria to Detroit, RHP Neftali Feliz will inherit the role for the time being, Washington said. ... Yankees SS Derek Jeter got a day off for rest. ... Toronto LHP Mark Buehrle (10-6, 2.86) starts Friday night at Yankee Stadium against RHP Hiroki Kuroda (6-6, 3.88). Buehrle is 1-11 lifetime vs. the Yankees. ... Texas RHP Yu Darvish will remain on regular rest after pitching 4 1-3 innings in the rain-shortened loss, Washington said. ... Texas pitching coach Mike Maddux will miss the weekend series vs. Oakland to see brother Greg inducted into the Hall of Fame. Bullpen coach Andy Hawkins will fill in for Maddux, and Triple-A pitching coach Brad Holman will be the bullpen coach for the three games against the As. ' ' '