ST. LOUIS -- Adam Wainwright relished the chance to stop a skid.The Cardinals ace worked seven effective innings to help St. Louis beat Pittsburgh 5-1 on Thursday to avoid a four-game sweep and end the Pirates season-best seven-game winning streak.Today, I really wanted to push it as long as I possibly could, Wainwright said. I was having fun mixing and matching and mixing my delivery speed. I was pitching out there, thats how I did it in 2014.Wainwright (8-5) was a 20-game winner two years ago, but missed most of last season with a torn left Achilles. He is rediscovering his form now, lowering his ERA to 4.49.Hes been a master craftsman for years, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. He was on top of his game.Stephen Piscotty hit a three-run home run and Randal Grichuk also went deep for St. Louis, which reclaimed second place in the NL Central by a half-game over Pittsburgh to end a rough 4-5 homestand. All-Star Matt Carpenter (oblique) joined Brandon Moss (ankle) and Brayan Pena (knee) on the 15-day disabled list earlier in the day.We heard the news, then we went about our business, Piscotty said. We have to stay the course. I dont think anyones going to give up by any means.Piscottys 11th homer off Arquimedes Caminero was initially ruled off the top of the center-field wall but the call was overturned after review. Piscotty had three homers during the home stand but didnt think this one was out.Tyler Glasnow (0-1) was charged with four runs in 5 1/3 innings in his debut. The 22-year-old right-hander was the 11th starter used by the Pirates and, like Steven Brault earlier in the series, got his first career hit.It was kind of crazy waking up and coming to the ballpark and I really think I took it all in, the 6-foot-8 Glasnow said. It was a fun experience.Hurdle was impressed.He commanded the zone, he made his pitches, the manager said. He didnt let things get out of hand at any point in time.Jordy Mercer doubled and had an RBI for the Pirates, who had come from behind to win the previous six games. They havent swept a four-game series in St. Louis since 1997 and the Cardinals havent been swept in four games at home by anyone since Colorado in 2009.Aledmys Diaz, named an All-Star earlier in the day to replace Carpenter, tripled off the top of the left-field fence and scored on a wild pitch to tie it in the fourth. Grichuks first homer since June 12 gave the Cardinals the lead for good in the fifth.Wainwright matched his season best with nine strikeouts and got his 129th career win, passing Harry Brecheen for seventh on the franchise list. Hes permitted one run over 14 innings his last two outings.The way the first month and a half went for me was a real grind but I knew I was going to turn it around, Wainwright said. And Im on my way, I wanted that eighth win.The first pitch was delayed 31 minutes by rain. During the homestand there were 5 hours and 44 minutes of delays.TRAINERS ROOMPirates: RHP Gerrit Cole (triceps) is expected to make a second rehab start on Sunday.Cardinals: 3B Jhonny Peralta (left thumb) missed his second straight start.NICE GLOVECardinals 3B Greg Garcia made two nice grabs on liners, robbing Jung Ho Kang in the first and pinch-hitter Sean Rodriguez in the eighth. Garcia led off in place of Carpenter and had a double, walk and scored a run.UP NEXTPirates: Francisco Liriano (5-8, 5.34) snapped a five-game losing streak his last time out, but is 0-2 against the Cubs this year.Cardinals: Michael Wacha (5-7, 4.38) has won three straight starts and faces the Brewers for the second straight time. Discount Adidas NHL Jerseys . -- Ohio States Urban Meyer has never had any issue acclimating to the biggest stages in college football. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys China . PAUL, Minn. http://www.nhljerseys.us/ . Defencemen Drew Doughty, Shea Weber and forward Ryan Getzlaf also scored for the Canadians, who started their gold-medal defence 2-0. Goalie Roberto Luongo, getting the call in place of Game 1 starter Carey Price, was solid when needed in making 23 saves for the shutout. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys Authentic . Clarke was injured while practicing on the Doha Golf Club range after the pro-am on Tuesday. The Northern Irishman arrived at the course on Wednesday hoping to start, but after hitting a few balls on the practice putting green Clarke advised officials he was not fit to play. Adidas NHL Jerseys From China .com) - The Montreal Canadiens will try to halt their longest losing streak of the season when they host the struggling New York Islanders in tonights clash at the Bell Centre. METAIRIE, La. -- The Saints were kicking themselves on Friday, a day after several special teams mistakes, including a blocked field goal, proved costly in New Orleans second loss in a five-day span.Were just killing ourselves on special teams, said veteran punter and field goal holder Thomas Morstead, who has been a special teams mainstay since New Orleans 2009 Super Bowl season. And look, thats on me. Ive been here. Im a leader. And weve got to get everyone making plays that are expected to be made.The Saints have had kicks blocked in each of their last two losses, which have dropped them to 4-6 -- perilously close to sliding out of playoff contention. Each block resulted in points for their opponents.Last Sunday, Denver returned a blocked point-after kick for a defensive 2-point conversion to cap the scoring in a 25-23 victory. On Thursday night, a blocked field goal at the end of the second quarter was returned into Saints territory -- it would have been a touchdown if not for a penalty during the return for a block in the back behind the play -- setting up Cam Newtons scoring pass to Ted Ginn Jr. The mistake proved pivotal in a 23-20 loss.It was also the third time this season a blocked Saints kick had directly or indirectly resulted in opponent points in a loss by three points or less. The first, returned for a touchdown by the New York Giants in Week 2, came in a 16-13 loss.When youve had as many tips, blocks, as we have, the focus is trajectory. Its not a secret. Its something Ive got to work on, said rookie kicker Wil Lutz, who also has had two made field goals tipped. Im confident in my ability. Obviously consistency is an issue that I need to fix.Im sure there are a lot of doubts in a lot of peoples minds about my job security, Lutz added. Well see what happens and Ill wake up tomorrow and keep working.Saints coach Sean Payton didnt sound ready to make a change at kicker yet.The kick is a little lower than youd like, Payton began, but quickly added, Clearly, we have the right kicker. I dont see it being as low on film today. It still needs to get up a little quicker,, but that unit has got to do all their things right.ddddddddddddPayton also declined to discuss the extent to which he holds special teams coordinator Greg McMahon accountable for the errors, saying only that responsibility for recent errors starts with the head coach.The Saints were also plagued by mistakes on punt a kick returns which hurt field position. There were penalties on punt returns. Marcus Murphy inexplicably tried to field a kickoff as he was stepping out of bounds at the 2-yard line, costing the Saints 38 yards because they would have started that series on the 40-yard line had the ball gone out of bounds untouched.We dont need to score a touchdown on every kickoff return. We need to field the ball and execute the play, Morstead said. We dont need to get a 50-yard punt return. We need to catch the ball. We dont need to net 60 yards on every punt. I need to put the ball in a corner and let guys do their job. Were not going to be perfect on every field goal. We need to make a 30-yard kick, 40-yard kick.Everybodys got to look at themselves and be honest with themselves: Are they helping us win? Morstead continued. And look, its doom and gloom today, and it should be a little bit because we blew it.Game notes Payton declined to say whether Mark Ingram was diagnosed with a concussion after he appeared to briefly lose consciousness while taking a hit to the back of the head as he went down at the end of his final run Thursday night. Ingram was taken off the field to be evaluated and did not return. I dont want to comment on it. But I think hes going to be OK. Hes going to be fine. ... CB Delvin Breaux, who returned on Nov. 6 from a fractured fibula, said he was inactive Thursday night because the team did not want to over work him early on in his recovery by having him play three games in 12 days, but that he expected to play in New Orleans next game Nov. 27.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Jerseys NFL China Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys From China Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale China Jerseys NFL Jerseys China Discount Soccer Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys China China NCAA Jerseys Cheap Cheap Nike Dolphins Jerseys Cheap Nike Patriots Jerseys Cheap Nike Jets Jerseys Cheap Nike Bengals Jerseys Cheap Nike Browns Jerseys Cheap Nike Steelers Jerseys Cheap Nike Texans Jerseys Cheap Nike Colts Jerseys Cheap Nike Jaguars Jerseys Cheap Nike Titans Jerseys Cheap Nike Broncos Jerseys ' ' '