en out of proceedings.I came to fight Conor McGregor and I dont

PITTSBURGH -- Down to his final strike and his team trailing by a run with two outs in the ninth, St. Louis pinch-hitter Matt Carpenter told himself to just find a pitch he could handle.When the fastball from closer Tony Watson ended up right down the middle and not up and away as Watson hoped, Carpenter pounced. His solo homer -- a major league record 15th by a St. Louis pinch-hitter this season -- tied it and sent a jolt through the Cardinals. A home run each from Randal Grichuk and Jhonny Peralta followed, and St. Louis rallied for a stunning 9-7 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.Weve got a team that I think the best way to describe it is a dangerous team, Carpenter said. Weve got a team that I dont think anybody wants to match up with, especially in a postseason scenario. Its a fun team to play on. We never quit, and tonight was a good example of it.St. Louis blew an early five-run lead and the Pirates were a pitch away from ending a seven-game losing streak when Watsons 0-2 fastball turned into Carpenters 18th home run. An All-Star two years ago as a setup man who moved into the closer role when Mark Melancon was traded to Washington at the deadline, Watson gave up as many homers in the ninth as he did during the entire 2015 season.Were not playing good ball and to go out there and (have) guys fight back and be a strike away and serve up four more runs, its tough to swallow, Watson (2-4) said after his third blown save since replacing Melancon.Yadier Molina went 4 for 5, including a first-inning grand slam for St. Louis. Mike Mayers (1-1) tossed a scoreless eighth for the win, and Seung-Hwan Oh worked around a solo homer to Jung Ho Kang in the ninth for his 16th save.The Cardinals finished with five home runs in all, including Matt Adams 436-foot drive over the seats in right field that plopped into the Allegheny River on the bounce. The comeback allowed St. Louis to remain a game in front of the New York Mets for the second wild card in the National League.Im speechless, St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. Just, I love how this team competes, right down to the last out. Having a guy like (Carpenter), who hadnt felt quite right, to be able to come into that situation, and then right after that ... Im at a loss.Jung Ho Kang had two homers for Pittsburgh and Jordy Mercer hit a two-run double in the fifth as the Pirates took advantage of some sloppy defense by the Cardinals to overcome an early five-run deficit. Watsons implosion, however, sent Pittsburgh to its eighth straight defeat.The Pirates came in reeling during their longest skid in two years, one that dropped them to the fringe of playoff contention. Opponents have outscored them 47-22 during the slide, including a 12-6 setback on Monday night in which the Cardinals simply overpowered Pittsburghs struggling pitching staff.It looked like more of the same early on Tuesday. The Cardinals loaded the bases against Ryan Vogelsong and Molina cleared them with his first grand slam since 2012, the 25th straight game the Cardinals have homered, a club record.MARTINEZ FINALLY ARRIVESSt. Louis rookie outfielder Jose Martinez made his long-awaited major league debut when he entered as a pinch-hitter in the seventh. The 28-year-old son of former major leaguer Carlos Cafe Martinez grounded out to third in his first plate appearance after more than a decade in the minors.It was good to see him get that chance, Matheny said. This is a good day for him. Long time coming.TRAINING ROOMCardinals: RF Stephen Piscotty was initially held out of the lineup to give his aching left wrist a breather. Piscotty took a pitch off the wrist on Monday. Postgame X-rays were negative and Piscotty doubled as a pinch-hitter in the eighth.Pirates: Pittsburgh held C Francisco Cervelli out of the lineup a day after he experienced discomfort in his left hand trying to block a pitch.UP NEXTCardinals: Mike Leake returns to the rotation after a stay on the disabled list while battling a case of the shingles. Leake is 9-5 with a 3.28 ERA in his career against Pittsburgh but is 1-2 with a 5.71 ERA this season.Pirates: Rookie Jameson Taillon will face the Cardinals for the first time in the series finale. The 24-year-old has a 2.80 ERA over his last 10 starts and pitched six innings of one-run ball last week against Milwaukee.Evan Longoria Rays Jersey . But Bourque, who has missed three games with a lower-body injury, wont be in the lineup when the Habs travel to Buffalo to take on the Sabres on Wednesday. Michael Perez Jersey . Thousands of Southern California fans enveloped the Trojans to celebrate an improbable win secured by an interim coach, an inconsistent kicker and a thin defence that wouldnt break. https://www.cheapraysonline.com/646i-don-zimmer-jersey-rays.html . Philadelphia is 2-0 against the Senators this season and scored five goals in each victory. The Flyers recorded a 5-0 win in Ottawa on Nov. 12 and then earned a 5-2 home decision on Nov. 19. The Flyers have claimed three straight and four of the last five encounters with the Sens overall and Philly has won two in a row and three of its past four tests in Canadas capital city. Nick Anderson Jersey . MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez also will attend the session, which was announced Monday. The league has discussed placing its next two expansion teams in Miami and Atlanta. Diego Castillo Rays Jersey .J. Jefferson has been charged with assaulting his girlfriend.UFC president Dana White has told Conor McGregor to forget about fighting at UFC 200 in July.McGregor had been due to fight Nate Diaz in a rematch in Las Vegas this summer, the man he lost his unbeaten UFC record to, but briefly announced his retirement from the octagon earlier this week.He retracted his retirement on Thursday, saying his earlier announcement had been provoked by the amount of promotional work he had been forced to do for previous fights. But White said that was part and parcel of UFC and ruled out the chance of Diaz taking on McGregor for a second time at a press conference in Las Vegas, one the Irishman failed to show for.Anybody who has fought for the UFC over the last 16 years knows that we try to give as much leeway as we can on things, White said. McGregor (left) lost for the first time in his UFC career when Diaz defeated him in March But you have to show up to promote the fight. You have to show up to press conferences and shoot the commercials. Its part of the job. Its what we do here.We gave Conor every opportunity in the world to get here. We get crriticised a lot for bending too much to Conor - and we do.dddddddddddd Conor is a guy that has stepped up and fought in big fights on short notice. I respect Conor very much as a fighter and I like him, but you have to show up and do this stuff. Diaz applies a choke hold to win by submission against McGregor during UFC 196 in Las Vegas Diaz was in attendance at the press conference, along with a number of other fighters, and dropped a large hint that he would not fight at UFC 200 if his Irish rival was frozen out of proceedings.I came to fight Conor McGregor and I dont really have too much interest in anyone else, Diaz said. I dont have any interest in fighting at all. If thats what we were going to do, I thought we were going to do it.I didnt ask for that fight, he asked for that fight. If we dont do that fight, Im going on vacation.Also See:Do you like McGregor?McGregor: I am not retiredMcGregor pulled from UFC 200Who is UFCs real No 1? ' ' '