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. Fake NBA Jerseys Sale . "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. Fake NBA Jerseys Online . For Sweed, a second round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2008, this will be his second go around in the CFL after previously having spent time with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Wholesale Fake NBA Jerseys . Off-Season Game Plan looks at what the Blue Jackets may do to build upon last seasons success to return to the playoffs again next year. http://www.fakenbajerseys.com/ .com) - The Los Angeles Kings peppered Ryan Miller with shot after shot.ANAHEIM, Calif. -- This was one time when C.J. Wilson didnt question manager Mike Scioscias decision to remove him from a game while an inning was in progress. Despite the fact that a bout with the flu had sapped his energy, he still was able to dominate the Chicago White Sox for 7 1-3 innings. Wilson bounced back strongly from his shortest outing of the season, taking a three-hit shutout into the eighth, and Josh Hamilton drove in three runs to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 4-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday. Wilson (7-5) was charged with one run, struck out six, and was lifted after 107 pitches. Last Tuesday at Houston, the left-hander gave up five runs, six hits and five walks through 2 2-3 innings in a 7-2 loss. "I dont even remember what happened five days ago. Ive just been in a stupor," Wilson said "Ive been sick with the flu the last couple of days, so I didnt really have much in the tank. That was pretty much all I had. I wish could say that I could have gone nine today, or throw 130 pitches, but it just wasnt in the cards." Joe Smith relieved Wilson, giving up a double to pinch-hitter Alejandro De Aza, a run-scoring infield hit by pinch-hitter Conor Gillaspie and an RBI single by Adam Eaton before retiring Gordon Beckham in a double-play grounder. Ernesto Frieri got three outs for his 10th save. The White Sox concluded a nine-game stretch in Southern California in which they lost two of three to San Diego, won two of three against the Dodgers and were swept by the Angels thanks to Wilsons gem. "Wilson threw a great game. We didnt get anything going, and we were just flat," manager Robin Ventura said. "We just couldnt get anybody on base. And when we did, he got a couple of double-play balls that really just took the life out of any kind of rally." Chicago first baseman Jose Abreu started in the designated hitter role for the 10th time and was 0 for 4 with a pair of double-play grounders. A top contender for AL Rookie of the Year, he is 9 for 38 with four homers and 11 RBIs as a DH. "I think we held him in check the whole series, but I think we just sort of got him at a bad time," Wilson said. Jose Quintana (3-6) allowed four runs, seven hits and four walks through 4 1-3 innnings and struck out four. Fake Nike NBA Jerseys. It was the eighth time in the left-handers 13 starts that he left a game with fewer than three runs of support, and he is 0-6 in those outings. "It just seemed like Q was battling all the time with guys on base," Ventura said. "I mean, hell walk a few guys here and there, but today he was just falling behind and not really locating like he normally does." Quintana escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first when he retired Hamilton on a popup and struck out C.J. Cron. But Hamilton drove in the Angels first run with a two-out double in the third, then made it 3-0 in the fifth with a bases-loaded two-run single after Quintana walked cleanup hitter David Freese. Cron followed with an RBI single that chased the left-hander. "In situations with guys on base, the biggest thing is putting the ball in play," Hamilton said. "One time I didnt and two times I did. You do what you can to help the team win. Weve done a great job the last few games getting runners in scoring position with two outs." Freese, who had never drawn more than two walks in any of his 507 previous regular-season games in the major leagues, got a free pass all four times up -- all on 3-2 counts. That tied a franchise record for a nine-inning game, and was the first time it happened since May 18, 2013, when the White Sox walked Chris Iannetta four times. "We worked a lot of walks today. Freese had the force field going today," Wilson said. "Anytime you put that much pressure on the starting pitcher and knock him out before the fifth inning, thats good." NOTES: This was the Angels third series sweep this season, and Jered Weaver had recorded a victory in each of them. ... The Angels are batting .170 with the bases loaded (8 for 47). ... The last time Wilson faced the White Sox was May 17, 2013, when he lost his second 3-0 decision to Chris Sale in a span of six days. ... Wilson has pitched at least five innings in 12 of his 13 starts without allowing any fourth-inning runs. ... The White Sox, who began the day trailing AL Central-leading Detroit by four games, open a nine-game homestand Monday night with a four-game series against the Tigers. SS Alexei Ramirez leads the league with a .381 home batting average. ' ' '