ing of consecutive scoreless innings to 24, dat

PITTSBURGH -- For his first start with the Pirates, Edinson Volquez beat Adam Wainwright. Thatll do nicely as an early return on that off-season contract he signed with the Pirates. Tony Sanchez hit a tiebreaking RBI double in the seventh inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 on Sunday. Singed to a one-year, $5 million contract as a free agent in December, Volquez was sharp in his first start for the Pirates as he gave up one run and three hits in 5 2-3 innings with one walk and four strikeouts. That came after Volquez pitched two scoreless innings of relief Thursday against the Chicago Cubs. "What you saw was fastball command with downhill angle, big-time spin and tilt on the breaking ball, a good changeup and getting ahead with good pitches," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "He pitched a gem." Volquez got a standing ovation when he walked off the mound. "I think I did a great job and the fans appreciated what I did," Volquez said. "I just wanted to keep making another good pitch, keep the ball down and get them to hit the ball on the ground. All my pitches were there." Sanchezs double to deep centre field with two outs came off Wainwright (1-1) and snapped a 1-1 tie. "Im still nervous playing up here," Sanchez said. "My heart is racing. My head is spinning. It feels like the game is going 1,000 mph. So, its nice to be able to get some big hits." The hit by the rookie reserve catcher scored Pedro Alvarez, who led off the inning with a walk, and was Sanchezs second winning hit of the week as he singled home the winning run in the 16th inning of Wednesday nights victory over the Chicago Cubs. "I cant let what happen in the seventh inning happen, especially in a close game, a rivalry game like this," Wainwright said. "I walked the leadoff man then left a ball out over the plate with two outs and Sanchez took a good swing at it. You cant do that." Tony Watson (1-0) retired all four batters he faced, striking out three, and ran his string of consecutive scoreless innings to 24, dating to last season. Jason Grilli pitched a scoreless ninth to convert his first save. St. Louis managed just three hits. Singed to a one-year, $5 million contract as a free agent in December, Volquez was sharp in his first start for the Pirates as he gave up one run and three hits in 5 2-3 innings with one walk and four strikeouts. That came after Volquez pitched two scoreless innings of relief Thursday against the Chicago Cubs. Volquezs 5.71 ERA last season with the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers was the highest among the 81 pitchers who qualified for the ERA title. He also allowed 15 runs in 13 innings in exhibition games this spring. Wainwright went seven innings and allowed two runs and five hits after pitching seven scoreless innings in his first start of the season at Cincinnati in Mondays opener. He struck out seven and walked two. The Pirates opened the scoring in the fourth inning when Andrew McCutchen doubled with one out and scored on Neil Walkers two-out double. An RBI triple by the Cardinals Jon Jay in the sixth tied the score at 1-1 and chased Volquez. NOTES: St. Louis CF Peter Bourjos, who is off to a 0-for-13 start with his new team, got the day off. Jay started in his place. The Cardinals acquired Bourjos from the Los Angeles Angels in an off-season trade. ... RHP Jameson Taillon, Pittsburghs top pitching prospect, will undergo Tommy John surgery by David Altcheck in New York and hell miss 12 to 18 months. ... The Cardinals play their home opener Monday against the Cincinnati Reds with RHP Michael Wacha (0-0, 0.00) facing LHP Tony Cingrani (0-0, 0.00). ... The Pirates are off Monday then open a three-game series Tuesday night at Chicago with RHP Charlie Morton (0-0, 0.00) pitching against Cubs RHP Edwin Jackson (0-0, 1.29). 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Ellis had a season-high 37 points and two key assists late, Dirk Nowitzki led a fourth-quarter rally with 14 of his 35 points, and the Mavericks spoiled Howards best offensive night in Houston with a 123-120 victory over the Rockets on Wednesday night.UNIONDALE, N.Y. - Kevan Miller helped the Boston Bruins get off to a winning start after the All-Star break.Miller scored the go-ahead goal with 3.4 seconds left in the second period, leading the Bruins to a 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday night.Tuukka Rask stopped 43 shots, and Reilly Smith, Patrice Bergeron, Torey Krug and Zdeno Chara also scored for Boston, which won for the seventh time in 10 games. Smith and Milan Lucic also had two assists each.We definitely wanted a good start after the (All-Star) break, Rask said. We had a good start and (that was) very key.We played our system (from) start to finish.John Tavares and Michael Grabner scored for New York, while Jaroslav Halak stopped 28 shots. It was the Metropolitan Division-leading Islanders fifth loss in 22 games (17-5-0) at home this season.I thought we didnt play a 60-minute game but we played well enough to win, New York coach Jack Capuano said.Miller put the Bruins ahead for good when he intercepted Halaks clearing attempt at the right wing boards just inside the blue line, and fired a quick shot that found the back of the net to give Boston a 3-2 lead.(The puck) had eyes, Capuano said of Halaks attempted clear. Its one of those things. Im not going to blame the goaltender.Krugs goal 1:45 into the third essentially decided a game that had seen wild momentum shifts. Chara added an empty-netter with 2:06 left.Smith opened the scoring with 6:01 left in the first period by driving to the net and redirecting Milan Lucics feed past Halak. Bergeron pushed the lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal 2:10 later.Rask tried to make the lead stand. His toughest stop was a diving save on Miichael Grabners goalmouth backhand attempt 5:34 into the second.dddddddddddd The Boston goalie was also the beneficiary of some good fortune as Brock Nelson had a wide open net 46 seconds later, but his shot hit the post.Our goaltender was very good, Julien said.However, a misplay by Rask allowed the Islanders back into the game.Rask couldnt control Tavares dump-in from the neutral zone, and the New York captain lifted a backhander into the net 8:25 into the second to cut the deficit to 2-1. The goal was Tavares 23rd of the season and his fourth in four games.Grabner drew the Islanders even with 4:48 left in the second with his fifth of the season, setting the stage for Millers tiebreaking score.I thought we responded well in the second, Tavares said. New York finished with a 45-33 advantage in shots on goal, and out-attempted Boston 74-60. We had some opportunities to score.Boston evened the season series against New York at 1-1. New York won the first game, 3-2 on Oct. 23 in Boston. The teams will end the season series Feb. 7 at Boston.NOTES: As part of the franchises commemoration of its final season on Long Island, the Islanders feted Hall of Famer Mike Bossy prior to the game. Bossy scored 573 goals in 752 games, and won four Stanley Cup championships in nine seasons with the Islanders. This whole season is a little surreal, Bossy said during a morning press conference at Nassau Coliseum, when asked about the Islanders 2014-15 campaign. I dont think anybody expected to be the team to be where they are. They seem to (have found) a chemistry. ... Boston scratched D Matt Bartkowski and RW Jordan Caron. New York scratched D Matt Donovan. ' ' '