on Thursday.WILD FINISHStith nearly found a way to top his OT-forcing shot. He stole the ensuing inbounds pass and launched a hurried 3-pointer from the corner that missed. Louisville got the ball ba

PITTSBURGH -- Manager Mike Matheny admitted the St. Louis Cardinals losing streak was starting to get to him. "Its something you go to sleep thinking about and you wake up thinking about it and wonder what that sick feeling in your stomach is when you get up," Matheny said. "You realize its because we havent been doing what were supposed to do, what were paid to do, and thats win ballgames." The Cardinals ended their season-worst seven-game skid Thursday night and did so in emphatic fashion, averting a five-game sweep by routing the Pirates 13-0 in a matchup between the NLs top two teams. St. Louis began the series with a 2 1/2-game lead in the NL Central, but left with the Pirates ahead by 1 1/2 games. The Cardinals avoided their first sweep in a set of at least five games since 1916, when the New York Giants took all six games. Pittsburgh had won the previous four games at PNC Park by a combined score of 36-10. "We had kept the cat in the bag for four games," Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. "Tonight, we let it out." Joe Kelly (2-3) pitched six scoreless innings and had two hits. Tony Cruz added three hits, including a two-run double during an eight-run seventh inning. Kelly allowed three hits while walking four and striking out four. Seth Maness, Michael Blazek and Edward Mujica pitched one inning each to complete the five-hitter. "It felt good," Kelly said. "The whole time going out there I was just trying to pitch as best as I could. I just wanted to compete my butt off and try as hard as I could to help us get that win." After the Cardinals failed to acquire a replacement for injured All-Star catcher Yadier Molina prior to Wednesdays non-waiver trading deadline, Cruz figures to get the majority of starts behind the plate. He had started just 11 games this season until Molina went on the disabled list Wednesday with a sprained right knee. Carlos Beltran, Allen Craig, Matt Holliday and David Freese also had two of St. Louis 17 hits. Craig came into the game in a 1-for-27 slump, and he had a two-run double in the seventh. Charlie Morton (3-3) struggled against the Cardinals again, giving up five runs and 10 hits in six innings. He is 2-8 in his career against St. Louis. "I made some bad pitches, some pitches that I could executed better and other that I wasnt smart about," Morton said. "Im not saying they wouldnt have scored any runs, but I could gone about it better." Morton threw a wild pitch that made it 1-0 in the second. St. Louis scored three times in the fourth as Jon Jay was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, Cruz grounded into a double play and Pete Kozma had an RBI single. Beltran doubled in a run in the sixth before the Cardinals broke the game open an inning later. "Today was a good sign for our team," Craig said. "There was no panic. We brought a lot of energy. You hate to go into lulls like we did because weve played so well all season long but I think this game should get us going again." NOTES: CF Starling Marte had two of Pittsburghs five hits. He has a hit in all 12 career games against the Cardinals. ... Pittsburgh C Russell Martin sat out the game with a sore left knee. ... St. Louis opens a three-game series Friday night at Cincinnati with RHP Shelby Miller (10-7, 2.79) facing RHP Bronson Arroyo (9-8, 3.26). ... RHP Gerrit Cole (5-4, 3.56) will pitch for Pittsburgh on Friday night in the first game of a three-game series against Colorados Jhoulys Chacin (9-5, 3.54).Nike Air Max 2020 Canada . In the lead up - which seemed to begin the moment Mike Geiger blew the whistle in Houston last Thursday night - the Impact rumour mill went into overdrive. The speculation went into meltdown mode, of the golden nugget variety. Air Max 90 Canada . Varlamov made 33 saves and Ryan OReilly had a goal and scored in the shootout as the Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Thursday night. http://www.clearanceairmaxcanada.com/air-max-fury-canada-sale.html . As he recorded his 23rd and 24th points of the evening, a segment of the sellout Air Canada Centre crowd expressed their appreciation for the Raptors point guard with a smattering of MVP chants. Air Max Thea Canada . Schenn scored the game-winning goal and added two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday. Air Max 200 Canada . 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.PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas -- Louisville coach Rick Pitino wasnt happy with all the bad shots his 10th-ranked Cardinals hoisted up early against Old Dominion -- especially with ones by sophomore Donovan Mitchell.In the first half he was trying to win a game of H-O-R-S-E, see the most difficult shot he could take so he could win the game, Pitino quipped.Mitchell went on to score all 15 of his points after halftime to help the Cardinals hold off Old Dominion 68-62 in overtime in the final game of the first day at the Battle 4 Atlantis.Mitchell went 0 for 3 from the field in that scoreless first half, but went on to hit three 3-pointers -- including the long straightaway shot on Louisvilles first possession in overtime that put the Cardinals (4-0) ahead for good.Kind of like what Coach said: just kind of forced the issue, Mitchell said of the first half. Thats not really what you want to do, especially coming out here and playing in your first real tournament like this. You just have to settle down and let the game come to you.Mitchell also hit some key free throws and came up with a couple of key plays, one being a steal in the paint with his team protecting a 59-58 lead with 1:22 left in OT.Quentin Snider scored 18 points to lead the Cardinals on a night when they struggled to knock down much of anything, while Mangok Mathiang nearly won it in regulation for Louisville with an inside basket with 14.4 seconds left.Louisville shot 24 percent in the first half and 30 percent for the game.Brandan Stith scored 22 points, including a putback with 6.3 seconds left to answer Mathiang and force overtime for the Monarchs (2-1). Old Dominion shot just 38 percent, but hurt its chances most by missing 17 of 32 free throws.We left a lot of points out there, ODU coach Jeff Jones said. And free throw shooting was certainly a big part of it. But I think offensively, I dont think Im going to be sleeping very well. There were a bunch of times where we had opportunities and we just kind of shot ourselves in the foot.BIG PICTURELouisviille: Pitino pointed to his teams first-half shot selection as a factor in the bad shooting percentage, but said he was happy with his team showing enough toughness to overcome it and play better as the game wore on.ddddddddddddThats the storyline of the game, not that we shot bad, Pitino said. Its the fact we overcame it and won the game.ODU: The Monarchs have won 52 games the past two seasons and have four returning starters, so this was a winnable game against a power conference team that simply got away. The free throw shooting, in particular, stood out along with 22 turnovers -- the kind of mistakes that proved too costly against a Top 10 opponent.You look out there and see as hard-fought as that game was, Jones said. I wish we had back some of those offensive possessions.POLL IMPLICATIONSThe Cardinals have climbed from No. 13 in the preseason AP Top 25 , but theyll get a tough test to stay in their current perch when they play a high-scoring Wichita State team on Thursday.WILD FINISHStith nearly found a way to top his OT-forcing shot. He stole the ensuing inbounds pass and launched a hurried 3-pointer from the corner that missed. Louisville got the ball back with 1.4 seconds left after a review for an inbounds play, but Deng Adels final heave from beyond halfcourt wasnt close.UP NEXTLouisville: The Cardinals wont have much time to prepare for Wichita State in a game scheduled to tip off roughly 14 hours after this one wrapped up. The Shockers played the days first of four games.We wont make any excuses, Pitino said. Well just have to adjust on the fly and see what happens. But we have no prep time.ODU: The Monarchs will face LSU on Thursday in the losers bracket on Day 2 of the three-games-in-three-days event.---Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap---More AP college basketball at http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-Top25 ' ' '