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ST. LOUIS -- Felipe Rivero thought he had strike three. Not quite.Rivero was walking toward the Pittsburgh dugout when the pitch to Jedd Gyorko was called a ball. Three pitches later, Gyorko launched a solo home run in the eighth inning that lifted the St. Louis Cardinals over the Pirates 4-3 on Saturday.I think he had strike three and sometimes they dont get called, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. I think that was the situation that happened.Rivero (1-6) said the call by plate umpire Alfonso Marquez didnt affect his composure.Thats something you cant control, Rivero said. Youve got to focus and keep throwing strikes.The Cardinals pushed the NL wild-card race to the final day of the regular season.Jung Ho Kangs three-run homer in the first off Michael Wacha was his sixth home run against the Cardinals this season. Kangs eight career homers and 21 RBI against St. Louis are his most against any team in the majors.He swung the bat very well against St. Louis. Some of the games hes hit two, Hurdle said. We could have used another one today.Pirates starter Chad Kuhl struck out five and gave up two runs in five-plus innings. The rookie right-hander was able to slow down his pace to work out of a couple of jams in the first and second inning.He went into the four corners defense just holding the ball, and then was making quality pitches, which I do think was disrupting hitters timing, Hurdle said. We havent seen that out of him and I know they havent seen that out of him.Gyorko became the first Cardinals player to hit 30 homers in a season since Carlos Beltran in 2012, with 23 of those coming after the All-Star break.Jedds been so impressive, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. I mean 30, thats without even being in there every single day.The Cardinals tied it with a three-run sixth, highlighted by Matt Hollidays RBI pinch-hit single. Holliday homered on Friday night after the Cardinals said they wouldnt pick up his $17 million option.Kevin Siegrist (6-3) pitched a scoreless eighth. Seung Hwan Oh stranded runners at second and third for his 19th save in 22 opportunities.We had to have extra ordinary effort from our bullpen today and that was just impressive from beginning to end and all the way through, Matheny said. Just overall a great effort from the entire team.JUST MAKING SURECardinals SS Aledmys Diaz hit a ball in the bottom of the first to the same part of the left field wall where Yadier Molinas game-winning double went on Thursday. Originally called a ground-rule double, umpire crew chief Larry Vanover called for a review, which confirmed the call.TRAINERS ROOMPirates: Starling Marte (back) was out of the lineup and isnt expected to play in the season finale on Sunday.UP NEXTPirates: RHP Ryan Vogelsong (3-7, 5.00 ERA) is one strikeout away from No. 900 in his career. He is 3-7 with a 6.02 ERA in 23 career appearances (12 starts) against St. Louis.Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (13-9, 4.67 ERA) has failed to make it through six innings in four of his last five starts, but he earned the win on four of them. He is 13-7 with a 4.26 ERA in 32 career appearances against Pittsburgh.Clearance NCAA Jerseys . Ryan Garbutt had a goal and two assists as Dallas snapped a six-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. Cheap NCAA Jerseys Authentic . Only three players drafted by NHL clubs were included on the Czech selection camp roster on Wednesday. Those players were Dallas Stars 2012 first-rounder Radek Faksa, Winnipeg Jets 2013 fourth-rounder Jan Kostalek and Phoenix Coyotes 2012 seventh-rounder Marek Langhamer. https://www.chinajerseysncaa.us/ .S. -- Nikolaj Ehlers registered a hat trick for the third straight game and Jonathan Drouin had a goal and five assists as the Halifax Mooseheads hammered the host Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 10-1 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Replica NCAA Jerseys . Sgt. Eric ONeal says most of the arrests at Monday nights game were for public drunkenness, though one person was taken into custody on suspicion of trying to steal a seat from the stadium. NCAA Jerseys China . -- Eastern Kentucky thrives off creating havoc for others.ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- There would be no easing into the season opener for Michigan. The Wolverines were held scoreless for over five minutes at the beginning of their game against Howard.Ive been coaching a long time, and what Howard did defensively, was something, I dont recall seeing it, actually, Michigan coach John Beilein said. Its an aggressive matchup zone, and theyre taking things away, and theyre really flying around with great quickness.The Wolverines eventually overcame that tough defense. Derrick Walton scored 14 of his 20 points in the first half, and Michigan fought through a poor shooting night to beat Howard 76-58 on Friday.The Wolverines ended up shooting just 42 percent from the field. The Bison trailed 41-36 with under 12 minutes remaining in the game before Michigan asserted itself.Mark Donnal scored 12 points for Michigan, and Zak Irvin added 11.Damon Collins scored 12 points for Howard, which was without guard James Daniel, the nations leading scorer last season. He is expected to miss about another month with a high ankle sprain.Free throws helped boost Michigans margin in a foul-filled game. The Wolverines went 23 of 26 from the line, while Howard was just 14 of 29.Were so used to Daniel making that play for us, Howard coach Kevin Nickelberry said. Hes an 80 percent free-throw shooter. He makes big 3s. ... Weve got to get used to, those moments are not just his moments anymore. For six or seven games, its their moments.Michigans scoreless stretch to open the game was finally broken when Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman made a couple 3-pointers. The Wolverines led 34-25 at halftime.It was 41-36 whenn Howards Solomon Mangham missed two free throws.ddddddddddddIrvin made a jumper at the other end, and Michigan slowly began extending the lead. It was 49-38 after a 3-pointer by Irvin.BIG PICTUREHoward: The Bison were picked to win the MEAC in a preseason poll of coaches and sports information directors, and they did a good job staying in the game against Michigan despite Daniels absence.Michigan: It wasnt the prettiest game, but perhaps thats not the worst thing for the Wolverines, who are trying to improve their defense this season and show they can grind out wins even when their offense isnt clicking.ENERGYDonnal had six rebounds to go along with his dozen points, and fellow backup D.J. Wilson had nine points and eight rebounds.Thats our job, is be energy guys off the bench, Donnal said. D.J. did a good job of getting a few offensive rebounds and keeping a lot of plays alive.NEW ADDITIONSMichigan announced the signing of guard Eli Brooks (Spring Grove, Pennsylvania), forward Isaiah Livers (Kalamazoo, Michigan) and guard Jordan Poole (Milwaukee) to letters of intent for 2017-18.UP NEXTHoward: The Bison take on Marquette on Monday night in Milwaukee. That game -- along with the Howard-Michigan game -- is part of the 2K Classic, which benefits Wounded Warrior Project.Michigan: The Wolverines host IUPUI on Sunday in another 2K Classic game.---For more college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister ' ' '