CINCINNATI -- The Pittsburgh Pirates did the little things to come up with a big win.Jordy Mercer had an RBI single with the bases loaded in the 10th inning, David Freese added a two-run single, and the Pirates overcame some shaky defense to preserve their chances in the NL wild-card race with a 9-7 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night.The Pirates loaded the bases against Tony Cingrani (2-5) with a walk and two infield hits, including catcher Francisco Cervelli beating out a bunt to load the bases before Mercer snapped a 6-6 tie with a single to left. Freese singled to center two batters later.With (Cingrani), you have to be patient, Cervelli said. He throws the ball down and wants you to hit ground balls. We tried to do the little things. In that situation, you trust the guy behind you. The way Ive been swinging, I had to do it perfectly.You cant walk the leadoff man, Reds manager Bryan Price. Its basically a nothing-nothing game. You have to come in throwing strikes. Tony has had a terrific year, but thats been his nemesis lately.The Pirates have scored a combined 11 runs in their last at bats over their last two games. They scored eight in the ninth inning on Thursday against Philadelphia.They continue to play, manager Clint Hurdle said. Thats it. Theyre looking to continue games and finish games. That game was fun. Different things happened. Different opportunities presented themselves to different people.Gregory Polanco and Jung Ho Kang homered to help the Pirates to their third win in four games after a four-game losing streak. Pittsburgh remained 5 1/2 games behind the New York Mets for the NLs second wild card.Antonio Bastardo (3-0) pitched a perfect ninth and Tony Watson allowed Steve Selskys first career home run before finishing up for his 13th save.The teams combined to use 15 pitchers.Polanco followed Andrew McCutchens RBI double with a two-run homer to right in the first, his first since Aug. 29.After Brandon Phillips RBI single in the first, Ramon Cabrera tied the game 3-3 with a two-run homer in the second. Robert Stephenson hit Kang with a pitch with the bases loaded to give the Pirates a 4-3 lead in the fifth.Scott Schebler cashed in on two Pittsburgh fielding gaffes with a tie-breaking triple to give the Reds a 6-4 lead in the fifth.Joey Votto singled with one out in the sixth for a 4-4 tie. One out later, Brandon Phillips reached when pitcher Ryan Vogelsong dropped first baseman John Jasos throw for an error. Schebler followed with a line drive to center field that McCutchen uncharacteristically misplayed, allowing it to sail past him and roll to the wall for a two-run triple.Kang tied the game with a two-run homer in the seventh off Blake Wood.RECORD(S) SWATKangs seventh-inning home run was the 236th allowed by Reds pitchers this season, tying the franchise record set in 2004. It also was the 93rd allowed by the Reds bullpen, breaking the major league record of 92 set in 1964 by the Kansas City Athletics.WET BLANKETThe start of the game was delayed 31 minutes by rain, one day before the teams play a day-night doubleheader created by a postponement from May 10.MANDATORY HBPStephenson grazed Kang with a pitch in the first inning and plunked him solidly with the bases loaded in the fifth, pushing to 20 the number of Pirates batters hit by Reds pitchers this season and to 53 the number over the last four seasons, the most by any major league staff against any opponent.FRIENDLY SKIESA drone was spotted flying around outside the ballpark before and during the game. A Reds spokesman said the Federal Aviation Administration had given the City of Cincinnati permission to let the drone record events on Friday and Sunday along the Ohio River.TRAINERS ROOMPirates: Continuing low back problems kept LF Starling Marte out of Fridays starting lineup. Marte hasnt played since Sept. 5.Reds: A day off on Thursday wasnt enough for SS Zack Cozarts right knee to improve enough to play. Cozart hasnt played because of soreness in the surgically repaired knee since being scratched from Sundays starting lineup.UP NEXTPirates: RHP Trevor Williams (1-1) is scheduled to make his first major league start in the second game of Saturdays day-night doubleheader. RHP James Taillon (3-4) is the first-game starter.Reds: RHP Anthony DeSclafani (8-3) can match the career high for wins he set last season in doubleheaders first game. LHP Robert Finnegan (9-10) is scheduled to start the second game. Under Armour Clearance Sale . -- Arizona raced out to a big lead and did not back off, hitting the accelerator instead. Cheap Under Armour Shoes . Cote was eligible to become a free agent Feb. 15. Cote helped running back Jon Cornish run for a league-high 1,813 rushing yards en route to being named the leagues most outstanding player. http://www.cheapuashoes.com/ . There was no hesitation from the 40th-ranked Pospisil, from Vernon, B.C., who admitted that he cut back on his training sessions over the last few days to conserve energy as the long ATP season finishes next week at the Paris Masters. Cheap Under Armour Shoes China . Meanwhile, there were huge victories for Sunderland and West Ham over fellow relegation rivals, leaving the battle to avoid the drop up for grabs with the bottom 11 teams separated by just six points. Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres scored second-half goals to seal a fourth straight victory for Chelsea, which climbed above Arsenal and Manchester City in the standings ahead of their games on Monday and Sunday respectively. Under Armour Outlet Store . Team physician Dr. Steve Traina performed the surgery Friday. Robinson was injured in a spill underneath the Nuggets basket during the first quarter of Wednesday nights loss to the Charlotte Bobcats. PHOENIX -- Double-digit strikeouts in a game is nothing new for Max Scherzer. Hitting a two-run single is much more rare.Scherzer was strong on the mound with 11 strikeouts in eight innings, but his sixth-inning base hit with two outs and the bases loaded helped lead the Washington Nationals to a 8-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday.Scherzer (12-6) and his manager, Dusty Baker, said the Nationals work on their hitting almost daily.I really take pride in being able to move runners and help the team, Scherzer said. Any time you can do something at the plate to help your team, it really puts a smile on everybodys face.Washington earned its fourth road series sweep of the season and first since May 30-June 1 at Philadelphia. Arizona lost its fourth straight and sixth in seven games, and fell to 0-9 in Wednesday games at home this season.Scherzer allowed three runs on four hits, giving up two homers, and walked one. He is 3-0 in four starts against his former team, which drafted the four-time All-Star and former Cy Young Award winner No. 11 overall in 2006.He gave us quality. He only made two mistakes, Baker said.Daniel Murphys sixth-inning solo home run broke a 1-1 tie before Scherzer bounced a single up the middle with the bases loaded and two outs, driving in Anthony Rendon and Danny Espinosa. Scherzer battled back from an 0-2 count.I didnt make a pitch. I threw a cutter that just ran in like a fastball and he put a good swing on it and got it back up the middle and got a hit, Diamondbacks starter Zack Godley said of Scherzers single. Tip your hat to him. He put a good at-bat together, I just didnt make my pitch.Murphy, the NLs leading hitter with a .358 average, has hit safely in 17 of 19 games and has seven home runs in that span, 20 on the season.Fortunately we were able to get some good pitches to hit that third time through the lineup and put some good swings on him (Godley), Murphy said.Scherzer heldd the Diamondbacks hitless for four innings, but David Peralta led off the bottom of the fifth with a double to left field.dddddddddddd. Peralta advanced to third on a wild pitch, and with one out, scored when Bryce Harper dropped a sliding catch of Brandon Drurys shallow fly ball to right.That tied the game at 1, after Trea Turners second career home run and first of 2016 came with one out in the top of the third.The Nationals went ahead 4-1 in the sixth before Jake Lambs solo shot in the bottom of the inning. It was Lambs second homer in as many days.Yasmany Tomas cut the Nationals lead to one with a home run in the seventh, the first time in his career hes gone deep in back-to-back games.The Nationals scored four runs in the ninth off Arizonas troubled bullpen, on Espinosas RBI ground-rule double, a walk and Clint Robinsons two-run pinch-hit single.Godley (3-2) allowed four runs and eight hits with seven strikeouts and a walk in six innings.I was happy with our offensive performance against him (Scherzer), Arizona manager Chip Hale said. Hes one of the better guys in the league and one of the best competitors. The game was very well played for the eight innings, and then we just couldnt hold them in the top of the ninth.TRAINERS ROOMNationals: Harper returned to the lineup after missing Tuesdays game because of illness. ... INF Ryan Zimmerman remained out with a wrist injury; he hasnt played since July 31 at San Francisco.UP NEXTNationals: The club had yet to name a starting pitcher for Friday at home against San Francisco after Thursdays day off.Diamondbacks: RHP Braden Shipley (1-1) is set for his third major league start Friday against Milwaukee, after making his major league debut July 25 against the Brewers on the road. Hes coming off six scoreless innings at Los Angeles on July 30. ' ' '