Andrew McCutchen clubbed his 15th homer of the season and the Pittsburgh Pirates completed a doubleheader sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals with 6-0 victory on Tuesday night.

Brandon Cumpton (1-1) allowed three hits over seven innings to pick up his first major league win. The sweep propelled the Pirates into first place in the NL Central. Pittsburgh is a season-high 22 games over .500 (64-42).

Tyler Lyons (2-4) gave up four runs, three earned, in six innings. The rookie struck out five and walked one but received no help from a reeling offense. The Cardinals have dropped six straight and have scored five runs in their last 56 innings.

St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina left in the fourth inning with a right knee strain.

The Pirates took the opener 2-1 in 11 innings when Alex Presley’s sharp grounder deflected off the glove of pitcher Kevin Siegrist and rolled into shallow left field, allowing Pittsburgh’s Russell Martin to score from second.

The fortuitous bounces kept coming a couple hours later. 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 he’s 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 NL’s top offense 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 Mercer’s 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 caromed into the stands.

Lyons placed both hands on his head in shock while the packed bleachers let Holliday have it. Holliday’s night didn’t get any better an inning later when he overran Josh Harrison’s flyball to the wall, allowing Harrison to make it all the way to third.

Harrison never made it home, but by then Cumpton had all the backing he would require.

The rookie, who made a couple of spot starts earlier this season, 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.

”It’s a battle, it’s fun,” Burnett said. ”Let’s roll from here. Let’s keep going.”

— Associated Press —

Clint Hurdle grabbed the brim of his cap and ducked his head. When pressed about what pleased him the most about Pittsburgh’s 9-2 win over St. Louis on Monday, a romp that propelled the resilient Pirates within a half-game of the NL Central lead, the manager thought for a moment and sighed.

”Getting a little picky aren’t we?” he asked with a smile.

Hurdle isn’t. Neither is his team as it tries to shrug off two decades of misery and mediocrity.

Francisco Liriano allowed one run over seven dominant innings, Pedro Alvarez hit his NL-leading 27th home run and the Pirates kicked off a pivotal series by sending the Cardinals to their season-high fourth straight loss.

Liriano (11-4) continued his midcareer renaissance by striking out eight and walking just two to win his fifth consecutive start.

”It’s been a good run for him being able to watch, and that’s pretty much what I’ve been doing,” Pittsburgh center fielder Andrew McCutchen said. ”I don’t get a lot of action when he’s on the mound. It makes it a lot easier for the defense.”

Having some help from an underachieving offense helps. The Pirates came in hitting just .221 with runners in scoring position, the worst mark in baseball. Clint Barmes smacked two doubles and drove in two runs and McCutchen added two hits as Pittsburgh went 5 for 13 with runners on second or third to continue its mastery over St. Louis starter Jake Westbrook.

The veteran right-hander fell to 1-8 against Pittsburgh in his otherwise solid resume. The Pirates touched Westbrook (7-5) for four runs in the first inning, capped by Alvarez’s three-run homer into the first row of seats in right field.

”It was a battle from pitch 1 — and it showed early on,” Westbrook said. ”It’s not really how you draw it up with a walk and a hit batsmen and a single and a homer. Put us in a bad spot against a good team and against a guy who’s throwing the ball really well.”

Hurdle stressed the need to not place too much focus on a late-July series, pointing out two more months remain after the five-game set wraps up on Thursday.

Maybe, but with the Pirates chasing their first playoff berth in 21 years and a chance to make inroads on the team with the best record in baseball, the game had an electricity typically reserved for early fall in cities far away from the one that hasn’t fielded a winner since 1992.

Lower-lever tickets were fetching $100 or more hours before the first pitch, and Liriano did not disappoint the largest Monday-night crowd (32,084) since the park opened.

The left-hander, whose path to stardom veered off track after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2007, had little trouble with the most explosive offense in the majors. He retired the first 10 batters he faced and kept the best-hitting team in the National League on its heels while dropping his ERA to 2.16.

”Frankie can answer,” Hurdle said. ”He’s been in big matchups before.”

So has Westbrook, who still hasn’t figured out a way to handle the Pirates. He was touched for four runs in the first inning of his previous start at PNC Park in April. The game was eventually washed out.

The weather couldn’t save him this time. Neither could Westbrook’s usually solid control. He issued three walks and hit three batters and never appeared comfortable.

”He’s going to go out there and give us whatever he’s got every time and for whatever reason this team’s just given him a tough time and he’s had a hard time in this stadium,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said.

Westbrook survived a bases-loaded jam in the second to stay close, but by then Liriano had all the support he would need. His only real mistake came in the sixth, when pinch-hitter Tony Cruz led off with a triple and scored on Carpenter’s single up the middle. A strikeout and a double play followed, and the Pirates broke it open in the seventh against relievers Marc Rzepczynski and Fernando Salas.

Garrett Jones started it with Pittsburgh’s first sacrifice fly to the outfield since May 27 and Barmes clubbed a two-run double as the Pirates batted around.

Even with its best offensive showing since the All-Star break, Hurdle isn’t so sure the Pirates made a statement.

”We’re a confident team,” he said. ”I think we’re a team whose confidence isn’t built on its last game. It’s not shattered by a losing streak. You continue to push through and that’s what we’ve done from Opening Day until now.”

— Associated Press —

Jason Heyward homered and drove in two runs to help the Atlanta Braves beat St. Louis 5-2 on Sunday night, capping their first three-game sweep of the Cardinals at home in 10 years.

The Braves broke a 2-all tie with two runs in the sixth inning off rookie Shelby Miller (10-7) and two relievers. Pinch-hitter Joey Terdoslavich drove in Chris Johnson with the go-ahead run. Heyward added another run-scoring single.

Heyward has nine homers this season, including two in the series between NL division leaders.

Kris Medlen (7-10) allowed two runs on eight hits and a walk in six innings to snap his three-game losing streak.

— Associated Press —

Andrelton Simmons and the Braves haven’t said much about last year’s NL wild-card loss to the Cardinals.

Beating the Cardinals in July won’t make up for that playoff defeat. But Simmons said it’s a start.

Simmons hit a two-run double in the eighth inning and the Braves, boosted by Julio Teheran’s sharp outing, beat the Cardinals 2-0 Saturday in a matchup of NL division leaders.

The Braves have won the first two games of the first series between the teams this season. The Cardinals beat the Braves 6-3 at Turner Field in last season’s wild-card game.

”They’re a great team,” said Simmons of the Cardinals. ”They got us last year in a pretty big game. We owe them some. It’s good to see this team beating them.”

Teheran allowed two hits in seven innings, striking out six and walking one.

Simmons’ bases-loaded, two-out double came on a 99 mph fastball from Trevor Rosenthal. With the count at 2-1, Simmons was looking for a fastball.

”I know he was behind in the count and I know he’s comfortable with his fastball,” Simmons said. ”He throws pretty hard. I was ready for it. … I was just looking for something over the plate and he threw it somewhere I could reach it.”

Randy Choate (1-1) walked Freddie Freeman to open the eighth. Evan Gattis struck out and Brian McCann singled. Rosenthal relieved and struck out Dan Uggla before walking Chris Johnson to load the bases.

Luis Avilan (3-0) pitched a perfect eighth and Craig Kimbrel recorded three outs to earn his 30th save.

Cardinals starter Joe Kelly pitched 6 1-3 scoreless innings, allowing seven hits and walking three in only his fourth start of the season and first appearance since July 12.

”Very, very impressive,” said Cardinals manager Mike Matheny. ”It was maybe the best I’ve ever seen him throw. Everything. His aggressiveness, his slider, breaking ball, changeup, all of them were as good as I’ve seen.

”That was exactly what we were asking for, and then some.”

Kelly may have earned himself another opportunity as the Cardinals’ No. 5 starter.

”I like pitching, period,” he said. ”To be in the rotation would be awesome but I just take the ball when they tell me and take the opportunity when I get out there.

”I’m pitching right now in the moment. I feel like my stuff is there, in the zone.”

Kelly matched Teheran through the sixth before finding trouble in the seventh.

With one out, Simmons singled and moved to third on pinch-hitter Joey Terdoslavich’s soft double to the left-center gap.

Kelly issued an intentional walk to Jason Heyward to load the bases. Right-hander Michael Maness replaced Kelly and got Justin Upton to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Teheran allowed a two-out double to Matt Holliday in the first and then walked Allen Craig. The right-hander permitted only one baserunner – Jon Jay doubled in the fifth – through the next six innings.

”I think that’s the best game I’ve ever pitched,” Teheran said. ”The command I had today, I think that’s the best I’ve had this year.”

Holliday was activated off the 15-day disabled list before the game. He had been out since July 12 with a strained right hamstring.

Simmons hit eighth as Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez juggled his lineup. Heyward hit leadoff for only the second game this season. Upton, normally the No. 3 hitter, batted second for the first time in 2013.

Simmons had two hits. He ranks second on the team with 14 go-ahead RBIs, but said he was overdue to deliver the clutch hit.

”I know I’ve been struggling with runners in scoring position this year,” Simmons said. ”I’ve been trying, but it’s nice to see results.”

— Associated Press —

Mike Minor allowed only one run to give Atlanta’s depleted rotation a lift, Jason Heyward homered, and the Braves beat Adam Wainwright and the St. Louis Cardinals 4-1 in a matchup of division leaders on Friday night.

Minor (10-5) gave up four hits with no walks in seven innings. His sharp performance came two days after Tim Hudson was lost for the season with a broken right ankle.

The Atlanta rotation also is without left-hander Paul Maholm, who isn’t on the disabled list but is expected to miss at least one start because of a bruised left wrist.

Wainwright (13-6), the NL leader in wins, took his first loss since a 2-1 decision to Texas on June 23.

Yadier Molina gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead with his eighth homer in the second inning. The Braves answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning.

Wainwright allowed four runs, three earned, on seven hits and one walk in seven innings.

Minor, who became the first Braves pitcher to reach 10 wins, lowered his ERA to 2.89. His strong start was especially important after Hudson’s season ended when he was injured on Wednesday night against the Mets.

The Braves took a 2-1 lead with four hits off Wainwright in the second. Brian McCann doubled, moved to third on Dan Uggla’s single and scored on Chris Johnson’s single to left field. Minor added a single with two outs to drive in Uggla.

Heyward pushed the lead to 3-1 with his eighth homer, a one-out shot to left field, in the fifth.

With one out in the seventh and Johnson on first base following his second hit, Joey Terdoslavich pinch-hit for Minor and hit a grounder to shortstop Pete Kozma, who threw wild toward second base. Johnson scored on the error.

Jordan Walden pitched a perfect eighth inning before Craig Kimbrel recorded the final three outs for his 29th save.

Heyward, sprinting toward the infield from right field, made a diving catch to take a hit away from David Freese in the fifth inning. Heyward rolled and came up holding the ball as Minor slapped his glove in approval on the mound.

— Associated Press —

Lance Lynn knew from the first pitch on Thursday that his recent struggles were over for at least one game.

The St. Louis right-hander bounced back from a frustrating stretch to allow one run over seven innings and the Cardinals scored three times in the third inning of a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Matt Carpenter, Jon Jay and Matt Adams drove in runs for the Cardinals, who have won seven of nine.

Philadelphia has lost five in a row, tying a season high. The Phillies also dropped five straight from June 7-12.

St. Louis, which swept the three-game set, has the most wins in the majors at 62 and is a season-high 25 games over .500.

Lynn (12-5) had dropped four of his previous five decisions and was 3-4 with a 6.32 ERA in his past eight starts.

”I knew I had to be a lot better than I had been,” Lynn said. ”It was bad.”

Lynn came out against the Phillies with an aggressive mindset, which paid immediate dividends. He realized quickly that he had rediscovered his early season groove.

”I had good stuff early on and I could feel it,” Lynn said. ”I knew I had it from the get-go. I was able to attack with my fastball and able to get into a rhythm.”

Lynn, who was 8-1 with a 2.76 ERA in his first 12 starts, gave up just five hits against the slumping Phillies, who have scored just nine runs during the five-game skid. He struck out six and walked four.

Lynn’s turnaround came at a perfect time. St. Louis is set to embark on an 11-game road swing beginning Friday in Atlanta.

Lynn, whose last win came on July 7, retired eight batters in a row from the fourth through seventh innings. He set the side down in order in the fifth and sixth on a combined 23 pitches.

”That’s what we’ve been hoping to see,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. ”He kept his focus and he still maintained his energy. He had impressive depth to his sinker.”

Closer Edward Mujica picked up his 30th save in 32 opportunities. He struck out two and is tied with Pittsburgh’s Jason Grilli for the most saves in the NL. Trevor Rosenthal pitched a scoreless eighth for the Cardinals.

Mujica, who converted his first 21 save opportunities this season, needed to 14 pitches to nail down the victory.

”At the beginning of the season, they gave me the ball in the seventh inning,” Mujica said. ”I never thought about being a closer. This is unbelievable for me.”

St. Louis scored three times on four hits off Philadelphia starter Kyle Kendrick (9-7) in the third.

Carpenter drove in Pete Kozma with a one-out single. Jay followed with an RBI triple and Adams added a run-scoring single.

St. Louis, which leads Pittsburgh by 2 1/2 games in the NL Central, won five of six games on its homestand.

”You show up every day wanting to play and you end up with good results,” Carpenter said. ”This was a big day for us.”

Kendrick allowed three runs and five hits over six innings. He gave up just one hit in five of the innings, but the third inning was costly.

”One bad inning can lose a game for you,” Kendrick said. ”It was a quality start, but I had to pitch than that tonight and I didn’t do it.”

Erik Kratz drove in the Phillies’ run with a single in the fourth.

Philadelphia outfielder Steve Susdorf grounded into a double play in the seventh in his major league debut. He was recalled earlier in the day to replace Domonic Brown, who was placed on the seven-day concussion disabled list.

The Phillies, who fell to 9-19 against NL Central foes, remain eight games behind Atlanta in the NL East.

”At times, we have trouble putting anything on the board,” Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel said. ”We got some hits, but we didn’t have any real good chances.”

— Associated Press —

Jake Westbrook pitched seven solid innings and contributed offensively with his second career steal, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to an 11-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night.

Matt Adams had two hits and three RBIs and Shane Robinson’s three-run triple in the fifth was his third hit of the game for the Cardinals, who are 4-1 since the All-Star break and lead the majors with a 61-37 record. They scored in four straight innings, totaling nine runs on 12 of their 16 hits from the second through fifth.

Allen Craig had two hits and a walk to give him 16 hits during a nine-game hitting streak. He’s second in the league in hitting at .337 behind teammate Yadier Molina, who had three hits and an RBI and is batting .339.

John Mayberry had two hits and an RBI for the Phillies, who were without top run producer Domonic Brown and have lost four in a row. Brown is being evaluated for concussion-like symptoms and the team expects to know Thursday whether he’ll be placed on the seven-day concussion disabled list. Right fielder Delmon Young threw out a runner at the plate in the second to thwart a sacrifice fly bid.

Westbrook (7-4) had his first career three-hit game and helped knock out John Lannan (2-4) when he drew a two-out walk in the fourth, stole second and scored on Carpenter’s single for a 4-0 lead.

Westbrook is 2 for 2 in his career on steals, getting his first last season. He has scored four runs this year, matching his total from the last two seasons combined.

After retiring the side in order in the first, Lannan surrendered eight hits and two walks the next three innings. The biggest hit was Adams’ two-run single on an 0-2 count with the bases loaded in the second.

Lannan worked eight innings and allowed a run each of his two previous starts. He was pitching on 10 days’ rest.

The Phillies were held to one hit before bunching three singles the first four at-bats of the fifth, with Carlos Ruiz getting the RBI, but pinch hitter John McDonald grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Robinson’s bases-clearing triple capped a five-run fifth against rookie J.C. Ramirez that broke the game open. Robinson’s sinking liner bounced in front of and then over diving center fielder Mayberry and the Cardinals also had three doubles in the inning with Adams and David Freese getting RBIs.

Brock Peterson got his first career hit on an RBI single in two-run eighth for St. Louis.

— Associated Press —

Shelby Miller threw six shutout innings and Allen Craig drove in a pair of runs to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night.

Miller (10-6) broke out of a three-start slump with one of his finest efforts of the season. He had given up 10 earned runs in 12 2-3 innings over his previous three starts. He was working on 12 days rest and gave up three hits while striking out six and walking one. He is the third St. Louis starter to reach double-digits in wins joining Adam Wainwright (13-5) and Lance Lynn (11-5).

The Cardinals have won four of five and 10 of 13. Philadelphia lost its third straight game.

Edward Mujica picked up his 29th save in 31 opportunities. Randy Choate, Seth Maness and Trevor Rosenthal followed Miller to mound.

Yadier Molina and David Freese also drove in runs for the Cardinals, who remain 1.5 games ahead of Pittsburgh in the NL Central.

Craig and Molina hit back-to-back doubles off Philadelphia starter Jonathan Pettibone in a three-run fourth. Freese followed with a run-scoring single to push the lead to 3-0.

Pettibone (5-4) allowed three runs on seven hits over five innings. He has given up three runs or fewer in his last six starts.

St. Louis jumped to a 1-0 lead in the first on singles by Matt Carpenter and Jon Jay and a ground out by Craig.

The Phillies only two-runner threat against Miller came in the first. Michael Young walked with one out and Chase Utley followed with a single. Miller then got Domonic Brown to ground into an inning-ending double play.

John Mayberry Jr. doubled in Darin Ruf in the seventh to trim the deficit to 3-1.

Utley had three hits. He is eight for his last 16.

— Associated Press —

Watching the top of the ninth inning from the dugout, St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright thought he’d played the role of a ”nervous dad.”

”Like when I watch my friends do something, I’m always more nervous than when I do it,” Wainwright said.

”When I watch my daughters, even at ballet or something, I’m more nervous than if I was out there doing ballet.”

Allen Craig’s game-ending leaping catch high at the left field fence preserved a 3-2 victory over the San Diego Padres on Sunday.

Wainwright became the first NL pitcher to reach 13 wins.

The Cardinals have won nine of 12. The Padres have lost 19 of 24.

Craig has 12 hits and six RBIs during a seven-game hitting streak for the Cardinals, who took two of three in both series against the Padres this season.

He’s a confident defender, too, and never thought pinch hitter Jedd Gyorko’s drive with two on and two out was going out of the park.

The glove work prevented at least an extra-base hit that would have given the Padres the lead, and preserved Edward Mujica’s 28th save in 30 chances.

”Obviously, it came off the bat good,” Craig said. ”I don’t know if he hit it good enough. Obviously, it wasn’t enough.”

Gyorko agreed with Wainwright’s assessment that he just got under the ball a little. He hadn’t viewed a replay, and didn’t want to, either.

”No. It was a good play,” Gyorko said. ”That’s how the game goes sometimes.”

The St. Louis defense turned three double plays behind Wainwright (13-5), who allowed two runs with seven strikeouts and worked around two walks. The Padres got the leadoff man on base seven times but he minimized the impact.

”He got tough with guys on base, no doubt about it,” Padres manager Bud Black said. ”He’s a veteran pitcher with a lot of know-how.

”We had good swings against an All-Star pitcher. To a man, we fought him. He knew it.”

Yonder Alonso singled three times with an RBI for the Padres. Eric Stults (8-8) allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings, stranding two runners in the second and fifth, falling short in a bid to win three straight starts for the first time in his career.

”This is a team where they get guys on base and they get in kind of a swing mode, they want to score quick,” Stults said. ”That third inning got away a little bit.”

Wainwright matched his season high for walks after entering with a NL-low 15 in 146 2-3 innings. He had only one perfect inning but got key outs with breaking balls and struck out Everth Cabrera with a man on third to end the seventh.

Wainwright is 5-2 with a 1.47 ERA against the Padres after beating them for the second time this season.

The first four Cardinals reached safely in the third capped by David Freese’s two-run double when center fielder Alexi Amarista missed a diving catch and the ball went to the wall.

Freese was thrown out at third on strong relays from right fielder Will Venable and Cabrera and the Cardinals had just one more runner in scoring position the rest of the way.

Matt Carpenter opened the third with a double off the base of the wall in right-center for his second straight hit and leads the majors with 39 multi-hit games.

Cabrera led off the game with an opposite-field double, a chopper down the third-base line that Wainwright called a ”doink fest,” and scored on Alonso’s two-out hit.

The Padres cut the deficit to a run in the sixth on a double by Carlos Quentin, another Alonso hit and a double-play ball.

— Associated Press —

After three perfect innings, Edinson Volquez barely qualified for the decision. The San Diego Padres’ bullpen picked up their starter by silencing the league’s top offense.

Nick Vincent, Dale Thayer, Luke Gregorson and Huston Street worked an inning apiece after Volquez (7-8) faded at the end of a five-inning outing in a 5-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday night.

”Tough team, no doubt about that,” manager Bud Black said. ”Look at the batting average, RBIs, what they do with runners in scoring position.

”Four no-hit innings. Outstanding.”

Street was perfect in the ninth for his 16th save in 17 chances after Carlos Quentin’s RBI double off Trevor Rosenthal in the ninth put the Padres up by two runs. The Cardinals entered the game leading the league with a .278 average but managed just a pair of walks the last four innings.

”We have a really good offense and sometimes it’s just not going to happen for you,” said St. Louis’ Allen Craig, who had a two-run single.

Lance Lynn (11-5) lost for the fourth time in five starts, allowing four runs in five innings.

Manager Mike Matheny said Lynn ”just never had a feel for his fastball,” and took note of ”body language” and ponderous pacing.

”He’s had a couple weird starts and when those start to compound you’ve got to stop and regroup, and it didn’t look like he was able to do that tonight,” Matheny said. ”It was pretty slow and it was talked about, but you also don’t rush a guy when he doesn’t have a good feel for his fastball.

”That wasn’t how we drew it up.”

The only run for the Cardinals came on 29-year-old rookie Brock Peterson’s RBI groundout in his first major league at-bat after getting called up to replace injured Matt Holliday.

Jedd Gyorko, Everth Cabrera and Nick Hundley added an RBI apiece for San Diego, which had lost 19 of 23.

A sellout crowd of 45,288 showed up in 92-degree heat, enticed by Red Schoendienst replica jersey giveaways. The 90-year-old Cardinals Hall of Famer was honored with a video tribute before the third inning as he watched the game from a private box.

The Padres had nine base runners the first three innings while taking a 4-0 lead, scoring twice in the third on a run-scoring wild pitch on a 2-2 pitch against Hundley followed by Hundley’s broken-bat infield hit.

Volquez retired the first nine batters in order, then allowed three runs on four hits, two walks and two wild pitches in the fourth and fifth. He lost his previous two starts and hasn’t lasted longer than 5 1-3 innings his last three outings.

”It was tough,” Volquez said. ”They’ve got a pretty good lineup and there were a lot of foul balls, too. My pitching count was a little bit high.”

Lynn has been an 11-game winner prior to the All-Star break both years in the St. Louis rotation, benefiting this year from an offense averaging nearly six runs per start. He’s been out of sync lately, giving up 10 runs in 9 1-3 innings his last two starts, and worked very deliberately against the Padres.

”You’re going to go through phases when you don’t go as deep as you like and I’m in one of those phases right now,” Lynn said. ”Hopefully I’ll turn it around quick. A starter going five is not going to get it done, if that’s what you’re asking.”

— Associated Press —