PITTSBURGH -- Jon Jay already had a bat in hand before St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny even called his name. A minute later the veteran outfielder was standing on second base after his pinch hit tied the game. Jay didnt stay there long, racing home with the go-ahead run on Matt Hollidays sharp single in a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night. "He just sensed," Matheny said of Jays precocious grab of the bat. "We hadnt had any interaction at that point. Hes smart, he knows the game." And the Cardinals know a thing or two about coming through late. St. Louis scored all three runs off reliever Jared Hughes (6-4) with two outs in the seventh inning to back John Lackey and send the scuffling Pirates to their seventh loss in 10 games. Lackey (2-1) worked out of trouble early to last seven innings in his second victory for the Cardinals after arriving in a trade from Boston on July 31. He was 11-7 with the Red Sox. Trevor Rosenthal gave up a leadoff home run in the ninth to Andrew McCutchen but held on to earn his 39th save. "I think guys know when we have a pitcher like Lackey on the mound, hes going to keep us in the game," Matheny said. "Weve just got to keep fighting and figure out a way to get something going." Pedro Alvarez hit his 18th homer in the second off Lackey, but the Pirates managed little after that to fall further behind St. Louis and first-place Milwaukee in the NL Central race. Pirates starter Francisco Liriano overwhelmed St. Louis for six-plus innings before leaving after Kolten Wongs infield single led off the seventh. Hughes came on and promptly picked off Wong. Things didnt work out so well for the normally dependable right-hander, however, when he went to the plate. Tony Cruz started the game-changing rally by turning an 0-2 count into a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a sharply hit single by Jay. Holliday then gave St. Louis the lead with a grounder past shortstop Jordy Mercer. St. Louis has 209 RBIs this season with two outs, tops in the National League. "It was just a night where (Hughes) couldnt get the ball where he wanted to go," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. The cushion was more than enough for Lackey, who had little trouble after navigating a choppy second inning. Alvarez hit a long home run to centre with one out, and infield hits by Starling Marte and Jordy Mercer followed. The runners moved up on a sacrifice by Liriano, but Josh Harrisons sharply hit fly to left went right to Holliday. Lackey settled down following the reprieve, not allowing a runner past first base over his final five innings. He walked one and struck out three to improve to 3-0 against National League teams this season. "I think Tony and I made some good adjustments after the first time through the lineup," Lackey said. "The last three innings were as good as I felt." OUCH Cardinals 1B Matt Adams spent the last four innings with cotton stuffed in his nose following a nasty collision with the fence down the right-field line. St. Louis backup outfielder Shane Robinson left in the top of the ninth after injuring his left arm while trying to steal second. Matheny said Robinson was "in pretty bad shape" and might have to return to St. Louis for further examination. TRAINERS ROOM Cardinals: C Yadier Molina and RHP Michael Wacha will head to Double-A Springfield this week to begin rehab assignments. Molina has been on the disabled list since tearing a ligament in his right thumb July 10 and will go through a full workout with Springfield on Tuesday. If he makes it through without a problem, Molina will likely play on Wednesday and could be back with the Cardinals before rosters expand on Sept. 1. Wacha hasnt pitched since heading to the DL in mid-June with a stress reaction in his right shoulder. He is scheduled to throw batting practice Wednesday and will make at least one minor league rehab start before being activated. "Its a great step forward," Matheny said about the progress of both players. "Obviously, well see how they both feel after they get an opportunity to get into a game. Its definitely good news." Pirates: RHP Charlie Morton, on the 15-day DL since Aug. 20 with a sports hernia in his right hip, threw a bullpen session and will start for Double-A Altoona on Thursday. Morton will work five innings or 75 pitches. UP NEXT Cardinals: RHP Lance Lynn (14-8, 2.78 ERA) will look to remain unbeaten in August. Lynn is 3-0 with a 1.75 ERA in four starts this month. Pirates: RHP Gerrit Cole (7-4, 3.69 ERA) tries for his first victory since July 4. Cole is 1-1 with a 1.93 ERA in two regular-season starts against the Cardinals. Cheap Jerseys . By then it was clear: The 76ers were going to win for the first time in two months, and they were going to do it with ease. The 76ers snapped their NBA record-tying, 26-game losing streak, routing the Detroit Pistons 123-98 on Saturday night to avoid establishing the longest skid in U. Fake Jerseys Cheap .B. -- Canadian pairs skaters Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford went from elated to frustrated in the span of a few minutes. https://www.fakejerseysfromchina.com/. Off-season additions Jermain Defoe and Michael Bradley did not train with the club today, prompting Nelsen to declare its too early to tell if either will be ready for Saturday. Fake Jerseys China . That still leaves a big hole.You dont replace the leadership, defensive co-ordinator Billy Davis said. You just dont. Leadership is something that is earned over time. Fake Jerseys . -- Michael Phelps is 0 for 1 in his comeback to the pool.MINNEAPOLIS -- Rookie Danny Santana had another big game and Kyle Gibson pitched well at home again. On Saturday, that formula added up to an impressive win. Santana drove in five runs, Gibson pitched seven strong innings and the Twins beat the Houston Astros 8-0. Santana, who hit his first major league home run on Friday night, flied out to lead off the first inning. He then got hits in his next four at-bats, raising his batting average to .373. "Dannys a good player. Hes electric," Gibson said. "He puts a lot of pressure on the defence, and being a switch-hitter and being as versatile as he is on defence as well makes for a great player to have up here." Santana is normally an infielder, but he also has played centre field this year. The last two games, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire has written Santana into the lineup at designated hitter. It doesnt seem to matter where hes playing, however -- hes valuable wherever the Twins put him. Santana hit a two-run single in the second, helping to chase Astros starter Scott Feldman (3-4). He added a two-run double in the fourth as the Twins broke it open with four runs against reliever Paul Clemens. Santana also had a pair of singles off Jerome Williams and drove in another run in the seventh. Thats four hits off three different pitchers -- not bad for a player with 67 career at-bats in the major leagues. "Hes taking his swings," Gardenhire said. "He doesnt know these pitchers so hes making some adjustments. He sees the breaking ball the first time and then hes ready for it the next time." The Twins have played the last two days without another rookie, slugging right fielder Oswaldo Arcia, who sprained his ankle on Thursday against the Brewers. Hes been available only to pinch-hit, and his absence has been noticed by Gardenhire. "You lose a guy like Arcia out of your lineup and you think, Wheres it going to happen now?" he said. "But somebody else just has to pick up the slack." Gibson (5-5) scattered three hits and three walks while striking out five, allowing only one runner to reach second base. He pushed his home recorrd to 4-1 with a 1.dddddddddddd54 ERA this year, but he remains searching for an answer for his road numbers -- 1-4, 7.39. "I dont know what it is. Im just comfortable throwing here," Gibson said. "Im definitely comfortable on the road as well, and I dont think the numbers really get in my head -- Im still making pitches on the road. Maybe just not as many in big situations like I do at home." He was especially effective at keeping the ball on the ground -- he induced 12 ground ball outs, including the last nine batters he retired. Feldman was chased in the second inning as the Twins jumped to a 3-0 lead. After a perfect first, Feldman hit Josh Willingham leading off the second. Trevor Plouffe followed with a grounder that third baseman Matt Dominguez misplayed for an error. A walk to Kurt Suzuki loaded the bases with one out, but Feldman appeared to be on the verge of escaping when he struck out Eduardo Escobar. Shortstop Marwin Gonzalez bobbled Aaron Hicks grounder up the middle and a run scored. Santana hit a two-run single to right to put the Twins ahead 3-0, and Feldman got yanked after walking Brian Dozier to load the bases. "Brutal," Feldman said of his outing, which matched the shortest of his career. "I needed a pitch, (but it) just never happened. " "It was one of those days, back-to-back guys struggle to command the strike zone," Astros manager Bo Porter said. "Give Minnesota credit, they took pitch after pitch after pitch and put themselves into some good hitting counts. We didnt help ourselves by allowing them to extend innings." Clemens retired Joe Mauer on a fly ball to end the inning. But Clemens walked five batters in the fourth inning as the Twins scored four more runs. NOTES: The Twins promotional giveaway on Saturday was the "Gardy Gnome," a figurine depicting a gnome-like version of Gardenhire kicking a hat. "I told the promotions people, Whatever you want to do, go ahead," a slightly sheepish Gardenhire said. ... The Astros had won their previous six road games before Saturdays loss. ' ' '