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PITTSBURGH -- Forget about the best record in baseball, the lead in the NL Central and the buzz of a city giddily envisioning the end of two decades of despair. After a euphoric doubleheader sweep of reeling St. Louis on Tuesday that propelled them to the top of the division, the Pittsburgh Pirates -- yes, the Pirates -- are ready to get greedy. "We want more," manager Clint Hurdle said. Keep pitching like this, and that shouldnt be a problem. Three hours after Alex Presleys grounder caromed off the glove of St. Louis reliever Kevin Siegrist and rolled into shallow left field to give the Pirates a taut 2-1, 11-inning victory in the opener, the Pirates breezed to a 6-0 victory in the second game behind rookie starter Brandon Cumpton. Working with usual Triple-A battery mate Tony Sanchez -- making his major league debut -- Cumpton (1-1) scattered three hits over seven innings to extend the Cardinals losing streak to a season-high six straight games. "Pitching inside has been my thing all year," Cumpton said. "I didnt want to get away from it. I wanted to force the issue." All it did was compound the issues for St. Louis, which has scored all of five runs in the last 56 innings. Even worse, catcher Yadier Molina is likely headed to the disabled list after leaving in the top of the fourth inning of the second game with a sprained right knee. The knee has been bothering the All-Star for weeks. An MRI earlier this month revealed inflammation. After trying to play through it, Molina believes the better course of action is some rest so he can be ready for the stretch drive. "Im a guy who wants to be on the field playing," Molina said. "But right now I need time." The injury is the latest setback for a team that appeared the class of the majors at the All-Star break but now finds itself 1 1/2 games behind the resilient Pirates. The sweep pushed Pittsburgh to a season-high 22 games over .500 (64-42). The last time their record was this gaudy was 1992, which also happens to be the last time the beleaguered franchise reached the post-season. Its a destination that appears well within the Pirates reach, even if they opt to keep their wallets closed at Wednesdays trading deadline. A pitching staff that keeps topping itself has allowed the Pirates to overcome a series of injuries. Cumpton didnt even spend any time with the big league club during spring training. On Tuesday he found himself polishing off arguably the biggest day at PNC Park since it opened in 2001. "Coming out of spring, (Cumpton) was 13th on our starting pitching depth chart," Hurdle said. "You trust the people that are working with the players and theyve been confident about Brandons improvement." Its a rise that took a little while longer than St. Louis rookie Tyler Lyons (2-4), though the right-hander has cooled off since winning his first two starts in spectacular fashion earlier this year. Lyons gave up four runs, three earned, in six innings. He struck out five and walked one but received no help from a reeling offence and some sloppy play in the field. A couple hours after Presleys slapper off Siegrist (0-1) won the opener, the fortuitous bounces kept on coming. The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the second when a rare passed ball by Molina let Jose Tabata sprint across the plate. Molina was done for the night in the top of the fourth when the right knee pain hes been battling for the better part of a month flared up again. He was replaced by Rob Johnson. The absence of their leader further weakened the Cardinals, and things quickly fell apart. While Cumpton kept the NLs top offence in check, Pittsburgh poured it on with a little help from St. Louis left fielder Matt Holliday. The Pirates took a 2-0 lead on Jordy Mercers RBI single before McCutchen stepped in. He drilled Lyons pitch deep to left but Holliday appeared ready to track it down at the wall. Instead, the ball popped off the heel of Hollidays glove and into the stands. Lyons placed both hands on his head in shock while the packed bleachers let Holliday have it. Hollidays night didnt get any better an inning later when he overran Josh Harrisons flyball to the wall, allowing Harrison to make it all the way to third. "Its a hard game," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. "Our guys have been making a lot of good plays. Every once in a while theres tough ones you dont make." Harrison never made it home, but by then Cumpton had all the backing he would require. Cumpton needed just 87 pitches to get 21 outs. He received a loud ovation as he headed to the dugout, the latest in a series of unheralded Pirates pitchers to rise from obscurity and help propel the franchise into the midst of a pennant race. The staff takes its cue from ace A.J. Burnett, who worked seven emotional innings in the opener. Burnett struck out nine and walked three while allowing one run on three hits. He was long gone, however, by the time Presley stepped in with Martin on in the 11th. "Its a battle, its fun," Burnett said. "Lets roll from here. Lets keep going." NOTES: The series continues on Thursday. Adam Wainright (13-6, 2.51 ERA) starts for the Cardinals against Jeff Locke (9-3, 2.15) ... St. Louis sent struggling reliever Marc Rzepczynski to Cleveland on Tuesday in exchange for minor league infielder Juan Herrera. Rzepczynski had a 7.84 ERA in 10 1-3 innings this season with the Cardinals ... Pirates 2009 first-round pick Tony Sanchez went 0 for 3 with an RBI in his first major league start at catcher. Nike Vapormax Plus China . -- Nate Robinson has played for seven teams, so beating one of them is no longer a rare occurrence. Nike Air Max Plus Wholesale . Despite dominating possession, Schalke needed an own goal from Nicolas Hoefler for the breakthrough a minute before the interval. The Freiburg midfielder misjudged Jefferson Farfans corner and bundled the ball into his own net. http://www.wholesalenikeshoesclearance.com/cheap-max-270-shoes/fake-air-max-270-black.html . A knee to the thigh might have stung him the most, but his sixth straight double-double made up for the brief burst of pain. Cheap Air Max 1 . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. Wholesale Nike Shoes China . -- Jacksonville wide receiver Cecil Shorts will likely be a game-time decision whether hell play Sunday in the Jaguars home game against the San Diego Chargers. CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Malcolm Hill made sure Illinois didnt step off the gas pedal Friday night so that the Illini could took care of business against Detroit Mercy, 89-69.The senior, who scored 25 points, led his team to a quick start after the intermission, when his team was up 39-30 and it seemed like the Titans would close the gap even more.Im always in an aggressive attack more, but this was one of those games where I needed to start strong in the second half, Hill said.Illinois (4-0) continued its strong start to the season in the opening game of the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament.The Illini had little trouble scoring, shooting 27of 52 from the field and 8 of 19 from 3-point range. Friday marked the second straight game the Illini had difficulty shooting from the free throw line however, finishing 27of 38.Tracy Abrams continued to have a strong return to basketball, scoring 15 points and finishing with four rebounds, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range.Groce knows the importance a balanced offense can have on his team.If you can have a balance of paint touches with that outside shooting, it puts opponents in dilemmas, Groce said.Detroit Mercy (1-2) had trouble keeping up with Illinois fast offensive pace from the start of the game. The Titans never led.Josh McFolley and Jaleel Hogan both led the way with 16 points for a team that finished shooting 43 percent from the field and 24 percent from beyond the arc.The Titans fell behind in most categories against the Illini, butt Detroit Mercy head coach Bacari Alexander felt Illinois won the game down in the post, where the Illini won the rebound battle 39-29.ddddddddddddThey took advantage of those opportunities (in the post), Alexander said. (But) I like the direction this team is going in.BIG PICTUREIllinois: The Illini have played as they should against the type of opponents theyve faced so far this year. The team has one game left against relatively easy competition before facing No. 19 West Virginia at the Barclays Center in New York.Detroit Mercy: Although the game was never really close after the first few minutes, the Titans found some scoring opportunities and will need to continue to do that in the rest of the tournament.ROLE PLAYERGroce thought bench player D.J. Williams had his best overall performance of the year. The sophomore wing scored six points.LETDOWNAfter a strong start to the season, center Maverick Morgan had his worst night of the season, finishing with six points and zero rebounds and fouling out with more than five minutes left in the game.UP NEXTIllinois will continue play in the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament when it hosts Winthrop in Champaign on Monday.Detroit Mercy will try to bounce back Monday when it travels to Florida State to play its second game in the NIT Season Tip-Off.---More AP college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org ' ' '