W.O.T » Thatll do nicely as an early return on that off-season

PITTSBURGH -- For his first start with the Pirates, Edinson Volquez beat Adam Wainwright. Thatll do nicely as an early return on that off-season contract he signed with the Pirates. Tony Sanchez hit a tiebreaking RBI double in the seventh inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 on Sunday. Singed to a one-year, $5 million contract as a free agent in December, Volquez was sharp in his first start for the Pirates as he gave up one run and three hits in 5 2-3 innings with one walk and four strikeouts. That came after Volquez pitched two scoreless innings of relief Thursday against the Chicago Cubs. "What you saw was fastball command with downhill angle, big-time spin and tilt on the breaking ball, a good changeup and getting ahead with good pitches," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "He pitched a gem." Volquez got a standing ovation when he walked off the mound. "I think I did a great job and the fans appreciated what I did," Volquez said. "I just wanted to keep making another good pitch, keep the ball down and get them to hit the ball on the ground. All my pitches were there." Sanchezs double to deep centre field with two outs came off Wainwright (1-1) and snapped a 1-1 tie. "Im still nervous playing up here," Sanchez said. "My heart is racing. My head is spinning. It feels like the game is going 1,000 mph. So, its nice to be able to get some big hits." The hit by the rookie reserve catcher scored Pedro Alvarez, who led off the inning with a walk, and was Sanchezs second winning hit of the week as he singled home the winning run in the 16th inning of Wednesday nights victory over the Chicago Cubs. "I cant let what happen in the seventh inning happen, especially in a close game, a rivalry game like this," Wainwright said. "I walked the leadoff man then left a ball out over the plate with two outs and Sanchez took a good swing at it. You cant do that." Tony Watson (1-0) retired all four batters he faced, striking out three, and ran his string of consecutive scoreless innings to 24, dating to last season. Jason Grilli pitched a scoreless ninth to convert his first save. St. Louis managed just three hits. Singed to a one-year, $5 million contract as a free agent in December, Volquez was sharp in his first start for the Pirates as he gave up one run and three hits in 5 2-3 innings with one walk and four strikeouts. That came after Volquez pitched two scoreless innings of relief Thursday against the Chicago Cubs. Volquezs 5.71 ERA last season with the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers was the highest among the 81 pitchers who qualified for the ERA title. He also allowed 15 runs in 13 innings in exhibition games this spring. Wainwright went seven innings and allowed two runs and five hits after pitching seven scoreless innings in his first start of the season at Cincinnati in Mondays opener. He struck out seven and walked two. The Pirates opened the scoring in the fourth inning when Andrew McCutchen doubled with one out and scored on Neil Walkers two-out double. An RBI triple by the Cardinals Jon Jay in the sixth tied the score at 1-1 and chased Volquez. NOTES: St. Louis CF Peter Bourjos, who is off to a 0-for-13 start with his new team, got the day off. Jay started in his place. The Cardinals acquired Bourjos from the Los Angeles Angels in an off-season trade. ... RHP Jameson Taillon, Pittsburghs top pitching prospect, will undergo Tommy John surgery by David Altcheck in New York and hell miss 12 to 18 months. ... The Cardinals play their home opener Monday against the Cincinnati Reds with RHP Michael Wacha (0-0, 0.00) facing LHP Tony Cingrani (0-0, 0.00). ... The Pirates are off Monday then open a three-game series Tuesday night at Chicago with RHP Charlie Morton (0-0, 0.00) pitching against Cubs RHP Edwin Jackson (0-0, 1.29). 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The deal will pay Hainsey $3 million for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons and $2.5 million in 2016-17.DETROIT -- To no ones surprise, Patrice Bergeron, Jonathan Toews and Anze Kopitar are the finalists for the Selke Trophy, given to the NHLs best defensive forward. Bergeron of the Boston Bruins and Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks have each finished in the top three in voting for the past three seasons, and Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings was fourth last season. For Bergeron its an honour that underscores how much hes respected around the game for his two-way play. "I think youre always trying to work on things and I feel like the complete game is something that I take a lot of pride in and Im trying to work on," the Quebec City native said Thursday. "I think that this year I mean obviously I got the bounces offensively, but that being said it doesnt mean that I let the defensive part of the game out." Bergeron, who narrowly lost the 2013 Selke to Toews after winning it in 2012, has to be considered the favourite. His 1,015 faceoff victories were thee most by any NHL player in the past seven seasons.dddddddddddd "It makes you proud because you know hes well deserving of that, he has been for years now," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "Always up there in plus-minus, always plays against top players, and hes got 30 goals this year playing against top lines. I cant find a better candidate than him. Certainly deserves the nomination. Well see how it goes, but in our regards hes been the best." Toews, who thrived in a shutdown role as perhaps Team Canadas best forward at the Sochi Olympics, led the Blackhawks in ice time and won 57.2 per cent of his faceoffs. Kopitar played the most short-handed minutes of the leagues top 30 scorers and keyed the Kings top-rated defensive effort. Hes the first player in Los Angeles franchise history to be a Selke finalist. Detroits Pavel Datsyuk, a finalist last year and the winner in 2008, 2009 and 2010, missed a big chunk of this season with a knee injury. ' ' '