biggest nemesis ever since he came to New Orleans from San Diego back in 20

ST. LOUIS -- Rookie Kolten Wong gave the St. Louis Cardinals their second straight game-winning ninth-inning home run, connecting off Ernesto Frieri with two outs for a 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night. Frieri (1-1) got two routine outs before Wong, batting eighth, hit his third homer on a full count. The drive over the right-field wall, which was estimated at 420 feet, was the first game-winning homer of Wongs career and it came a night after Matt Adams hit his first winner off Justin Wilson in a 2-0 victory. The Cardinals last had consecutive game-winning homers when Albert Pujols twice beat the Cubs on June 4 and 5, 2011. Wong also gave the Cardinals the early lead with a two-run double in the second. Trevor Rosenthal (1-4) struck out Starling Marte on three pitches with two on to end the ninth. Pedro Alvarez and Andrew McCutchen hit two-run homers off Carlos Martinez, in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively, and McCutchens 14th of the season put them up 4-2. Alvarez has 100 career homers with 14 homers and 47 RBIs against St. Louis, most of any opponent. Matt Holliday had been 2 for 14 on the homestand before tying it with a two-run double off Vance Worley in the fifth. He batted second the previous 14 games while battling a slump and returned to his usual third slot Wednesday, taking a called third strike and bouncing out before the double. Martinez allowed four runs in six innings, the longest of his five starts this season. Worley lasted five innings, the shortest of his five starts this season with Pittsburgh. NOTES: Rookie Gregory Polanco singled his first three trips for Pittsburgh. ... The Pirates are expected to recall Brandon Cumpton (3-0, 4.61) from Triple-A Indianapolis Wednesday to start in place of Gerrit Cole against the Cardinals Lance Lynn (9-6, 3.17). Cole will be placed on the 15-day disabled list with a tight lat muscle. Cumpton beat the Cardinals in his major league debut last season, throwing seven scoreless innings. The Pirates consider Coles injury minor and he was due to play catch Tuesday. ... Pirates manager Clint Hurdle unsuccessfully challenged after Neil Walker tripled in the fifth, but was then picked off by catcher Yadier Molina in the fifth. Cheap Orlando Cepeda Jersey . UCI President Brian Cookson said Wednesday the commission will investigate allegations "that the UCI has been involved in wrongdoing in the past -- allegations which have done so much to hurt the credibility of the UCI and our sport. Cheap Braves Jerseys China . The Cavs announced the move Saturday, one day after LeBron James said hes returning to Cleveland. A 12-year veteran, Haywood has played in 794 NBA games, averaging 6. http://www.cheapbravesjerseys.com/ . The club announced on Wednesday that Malhotra signed a 25-game professional tryout contract. The 33-year-old suffered a serious eye injury when struck by a puck during a game versus Colorado in March of 2011. Cheap Babe Ruth Jersey .5 million. The 25-year-old Varlamov is thriving under first-year coach and Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy, posting a 26-9-5 record with a 2. Cheap Greg Maddux Jersey . The 41-year-old Northern Irishman has proved a perfect fit at Liverpool since taking over from Kenny Dalglish in the summer of 2012 and steered the team to an unexpected title challenge in the Premier League last season.(SportsNetwork.com) - The playoffs start early in The Big Easy on Sunday when the New Orleans Saints play host to the Atlanta Falcons in a game that will go a long way in determining who represents the downtrodden NFC South in the postseason. The Saints lead the NFLs worst division at 6-8 with two games to play but both Carolina (5-8-1) and Atlanta (5-9) remain in the mix with NOLA and the Falcons controlling their own destinies. If either the Saints or the Falcons can win out, they will win the division and host a first-round playoff game. After this contest New Orleans will close the regular season at Tampa Bay in Week 17, while Atlanta will host the Panthers. Carolina, meanwhile, entertains Johnny Manziel and Cleveland this week and needs to win their final two games and have the Saints lose once to repeat as division champions. New Orleans can clinch the South for the first time since 2011 with a victory over the Falcons and a Carolina loss to the Browns. It sets us up for no bigger game than whats coming up against Atlanta, Saints quarterback Drew Brees said. We all understand where were at, Atlanta coach Mike Smith countered. We know we control our own destiny. It doesnt matter what anyone else does. The first thing we have to do is go down and play very well and win the game in New Orleans. The Saints took over first place for now thanks to an impressive 31-15 win over the stumbling Bears in Chicago on Monday night. Brees threw three touchdown passes in what was his 200th career game, completing 29-of-36 passes for 375 yards and setting an NFL record with his ninth straight season with at least 4,000 yards passing. I think theres a sense of urgency that we need to create each week, and we need to be mindful of how important that edge is to play well, Saints coach Sean Payton said. Josh Hill caught two scores, Marques Colston finished with five catches for 65 yards and a touchdown and Mark Ingram ran for a late score. We were pretty balanced and able to make some plays in the passing game, said Brees. It was a great team effort. The Falcons, meanwhile, suffered their second straight tough loss against a prolific offense, losing to Pittsburgh 27-20 as LeVeon Bell scored twice and set the Steelers franchise record for yards from scrimmage. Bell did not find much running room against an uncharacteristically stingy Atlanta front, but he did reach the end zone twice among 20 carries for 47 yards. He also made five catches for 72 yards and broke Barry Fosters single- season Steelers record for yards from scrimmage with 2,042. Matt Ryan threw for 310 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for the Falcons, who were coming off a 43-37 shootout loss in Green Bay. Harry Douglas filled in admirably for an injured Julio Jones, making 10 catches for 131 yards. Jones, who was coming off a career-high 259 yards against the Packers, was unable to play through a hip pointer injury he suffered late in a loss to the Packers. We felt we had lots of chances to havee a different outcome, said Smith.dddddddddddd Atlanta leads the all-time series by a 47-43 margin, including a 37-34 overtime win back in September at the Georgia Dome when Ryan threw for a franchise-record 448 yards and three TDs, and Matt Bryant booted a game- winning 52-yard field goal in the extra frame. WHAT TO WATCH FOR Brees has been the Falcons biggest nemesis ever since he came to New Orleans from San Diego back in 2006. The veteran signal caller has amassed a 7-1 mark over Atlanta in the Superdome, compiling a stellar 103.8 passer rating in those contests. Of course Atlanta is hardly the only team that has had a difficult time containing Brees, who leads NFL with 43,091 passing yards and 314 TD passes since he took over the Saints. The veteran destroyed the Bears, who rank 31st in the NFL in passing defense, on Monday night and the Falcons have the only secondary giving up more yardage than Chicago, a league-worst 292.5 yards per game. I think weve shown a couple times we can handle adversity, lets make sure we can handle success, too, Brees said. The tendency after success is to relax, and its not time to relax. Brees threw for 333 yards in the loss in Atlanta earlier this season but was outdone by Ryans Herculean performance, which may have to happen again here. Ryan has been putting up big numbers recently, tossing for 1,046 yards and eight TDs over the last three weeks but has also been throwing the game- changing pick at inopportune times. We know whats in front of us, Ryan said. We know what weve got to do. Its a playoff-type mentality. Weve got to win next week. Weve got to have the best week of practice that weve had this year and prepare as best we can. Getting Jones, perhaps the best receiver in all of football, back should help. The All-Pro is second in the NFL with 1,428 receiving yards despite missing last weeks game. Its tough when (Jones is) not in, Ryan said. Hes such a special player. New Orleans defense hasnt been much better than the Falcons this season but did show a little life in Chicago, stopping a four-game string in which they had allowed at least 400 yards. The Saints stop unit limited Jay Cutler and Co. to 278 total yards while amassing seven sacks and three interceptions. OVERALL ANALYSIS Facing a Payton-coached team in the Superdome used to foreshadow certain demise but the Saints 19-game run with the veteran coach on the sideline in NOLA ended against San Francisco on Nov. 8. Since then the Saints have lost three more in what used to be their cozy confines. Conversely they have won their only two on the road over that span. Translation: you never know what to expect with this New Orleans team. If anything, though, the Falcons are even less consistent and just dont have the horses on defense to contend with Brees. You want to be playing for a lot at the end of the season and we are right now, Brees said. No bigger game than the one coming up. 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