PITTSBURGH (AP) — Michael Wacha heard the chants. Then again, when 40,000 people clad in black scream your name relentlessly for the better part of three hours, it’s kind of hard to miss.

The goal was to rattle the St. Louis rookie, remind him that 22-year-old pitchers aren’t built to withstand the pressure of an elimination game.

One problem. Wacha doesn’t really do rattled. He doesn’t do pressure, either. The louder PNC Park grew, the more unhittable Wacha became.

”I kind of like it,” Wacha said. ”It kind of gives me adrenaline. I kind of use it in my favor.”

And the Pittsburgh Pirates – not to mention anyone else he might face in the postseason – ”kind of” need to get used to it.

Wacha took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning and the Cardinals showed off their October poise, edging the Pirates 2-1 Monday to force a winner-take-all Game 5 in the NL division series. St. Louis is 7-1 over the last three years with its season on the line.

”I think you take high talent and high character people that are motivated and support each other, and they don’t give up,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. ”That’s a tough combination.”

One the Pirates are still trying to master. Pedro Alvarez hit his third home run of the series, connecting with one out in the eighth for Pittsburgh’s only hit in Game 4. It wasn’t enough for the Pirates to advance to the NL championship series for the first time in 21 years.

”I guess that’s why we play five,” star center fielder Andrew McCutchen said. ”We’ll be ready for the fifth one.”

The Pirates weren’t quite ready for the fourth one, not with the way Wacha was dealing. He walked two and struck out nine before giving way to the bullpen in the eighth.

Matt Holliday’s two-run homer off Charlie Morton in the sixth was all the offense required on a day the Cardinals tossed the first one-hitter in the club’s lengthy postseason history.

Trevor Rosenthal worked around a two-out walk in the ninth, retiring McCutchen on a popup to shallow center field for his first postseason save.

”It was a good pitch for him,” McCutchen said. ”I wish it got a little more of the barrel. It would have been a great story.”

Instead, a taut series will head back to Busch Stadium.

Game 5 will be Wednesday, with ace Adam Wainwright starting for the NL Central champion Cardinals and rookie Gerrit Cole going for the wild-card Pirates. Both pitchers won last week in the NLDS.

The Cardinals finished with only three hits, and that was enough. Holliday got two of them, including his homer in the sixth after Morton walked big-hitting Carlos Beltran to start the inning.

”You could go back and look at pitches over and over again and second guess yourself,” Morton said. ”I don’t know where that pitch was. It was outer third somewhere, thigh-down and he went out and got it, he’s strong.”

So was the 6-foot-6 kid on the one, the one barely a year removed from a standout college career at Texas A&M. Wacha didn’t permit a runner until walking Russell Martin leading off the sixth.

Wacha nearly no-hit the Washington Nationals in his last start on Sept. 24, surrendering only an infield single by Ryan Zimmerman with two outs in the ninth.

Working so quickly the Pirates never had time to get settled, he breezed through Pittsburgh’s revamped lineup like he was in extended spring training. Mixing his fastball and changeup masterfully, Wacha overwhelmed the Pirates from the moment he stepped onto the mound.

Alvarez got the fans at PNC Park roaring with his homer, and Wacha followed by walking Martin on four pitches. Carlos Martinez relieved and Gold Glove catcher Yadier Molina made a key play, throwing out pinch-runner Josh Harrison after a botched hit-and-run attempt.

Martinez struck out Jose Tabata to end the eighth, and Rosenthal took over to begin the ninth. Neil Walker drew a two-out walk before McCutchen made the final out.

”That’s what it’s all about,” Rosenthal said. ”That’s what you dream of, you dream of two outs in the bottom of the ninth, you know … bases loaded, the best hitter up, and getting out of that spot.”

One the Cardinals rarely found themselves in on a day Wacha showed he’s just a big a part of his team’s present as he is its megawatt future.

McCutchen came into the game hitting .538 in the postseason but looked at a 97 mph fastball for strike three in the first. Marlon Byrd, Pittsburgh’s most consistent player since being acquired from the Mets in late August, watched a full-count heater in the second that sent him walking back to the dugout in disbelief.

It was a look repeated time and again by Byrd and the rest of his baffled teammates. Wacha struck out five of the first seven batters.

”He went out and hit his spots and it seemed like everything we were hitting, we were just missing, just missing,” McCutchen said.

Martin remained Pittsburgh’s lone baserunner until the eighth. Wacha fell behind 3-1 and Alvarez hit a 93 mph fastball at the knees onto the concourse in right-center.

The jolt, however, faded when Molina nailed Harrison at second minutes later to set up a 24th – and final – meeting between two teams that have been shadowing each other all summer and into the fall.

— Associated Press —

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pinch-runner Josh Harrison stood on second base in the bottom of the eighth inning and pointed to Pittsburgh Pirates third base coach Nick Leyva.

”I told him to get that arm ready, because I’m coming,” Harrison said.

Moments later, Harrison was streaking across home plate to give the Pirates the lead. Minutes after that, the Jolly Roger that’s been a fixture on the Pittsburgh skyline all summer climbed up the flagpole again.

Harrison scored on Pedro Alvarez’s tiebreaking single Sunday, sending the Pirates to a 5-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals that staked Pittsburgh to a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five NL division series.

Russell Martin followed with a sharp RBI single against reliever Kevin Siegrist, who took over after Carlos Martinez (0-1) faltered.

The go-ahead single was the latest big hit by Alvarez. He homered in the first two games against St. Louis and is 4 for 10 with four RBIs in the series.

Alvarez also kept the Pirates’ famous flag flying high in October. ”Raise the Jolly Roger!” is the rallying cry for this wild-card team, now one victory from its first postseason series win since Willie Stargell, Dave Parker and the ”We Are Family” gang won it all in 1979.

”We’re continuing to surprise a lot of people, I believe. We’re continuing to show people that we’re not done, that we’re not just happy to be in the postseason,” star center fielder Andrew McCutchen said. ”We’re fighting to win a World Series.”

Heady territory for a franchise that had endured a record 20 consecutive years of losing coming into this season. Six months later, the Pirates are on the cusp of knocking out baseball royalty.

Mark Melancon (1-0) picked up the win despite allowing Carlos Beltran’s tying home run in the top of the eighth. Jason Grilli worked the ninth for a save.

Charlie Morton is set to start for Pittsburgh in Game 4 on Monday against rookie Michael Wacha.

Beltran finished 2 for 3 with three RBIs. His 16th playoff home run moved him past Babe Ruth for eighth place in postseason history.

”It’s a must-win tomorrow for us,” Beltran said. ”Hopefully we can come here tomorrow, take care of business, win and go play the last game at home.”

Beltran’s shot temporarily silenced a rocking crowd at PNC Park. It also set the stage for another dramatic win by the Pirates.

McCutchen led off the eighth with his second hit, a double to left. But the NL MVP candidate unwisely tried to advance on Justin Morneau’s grounder to shortstop and was an easy out at third.

Harrison ran for Morneau and moved up when Marlon Byrd walked. St. Louis manager Mike Matheny turned to a lefty in Siegrist to face the left-handed Alvarez. The Pittsburgh slugger tied for the NL lead with 36 homers during the regular season, but hit just .180 against lefties.

”I just knew it was going to be a tough matchup,” Alvarez said. ”I’ve seen him a couple of times before. I haven’t had much success. He’s a pitcher with good stuff – great stuff. He threw me a couple of fastballs out over the plate.”

One too many, as it turned out, and Alvarez singled between first and second. Martin then fouled off a squeeze bunt before lining a hit to left that gave Grilli more than enough cushion.

The game was a rare nail-biter between two clubs that spent the summer shadowing each other in the race for the NL Central title. Coming into Sunday, only five of the previous 21 matchups between the two were decided by two runs or less.

After blowouts by each club in St. Louis, there wasn’t much room to breathe in front of a frenzied, black-clad crowd looking for a repeat of Pittsburgh’s giddy 6-2 romp over Cincinnati in the wild-card game last Tuesday.

Martin’s sacrifice fly off reliever Seth Maness in the sixth gave the Pirates a 3-2 lead and turned the game over to Pittsburgh’s ”Shark Tank” bullpen, one of the keys to the franchise’s first winning season and playoff berth in a generation.

Tony Watson worked around a one-out single in the seventh before giving way to Melancon.

The Cardinals must win two straight to advance to the NL championship series for the third straight year.

”We’ve been in this situation,” Beltran said. ”Last year, I think we were in this situation a lot. So I think we’re fine, man. We want to come here tomorrow, we want to win and hopefully take this series home.”

Pirates starter Francisco Liriano dominated the Cardinals during the regular season, going 3-0 with an 0.75 ERA in three starts against the NL’s highest-scoring team. He was electric against the Reds last Tuesday, shaking off a sinus infection and baffling them with a series of changeups and sliders that ended Cincinnati’s season and manager Dusty Baker’s tenure.

Liriano narrowly escaped damage in the third Sunday when Matt Holliday lined to right with the bases loaded.

The left-hander wasn’t quite as fortunate in the fifth. Jon Jay led off with a single and Pete Kozma followed with a walk. After pitcher Joe Kelly struck out trying to bunt, a double steal set up Beltran’s two-run single.

At 2-all, the Cardinals had matched their entire output against Liriano in their previous 28 innings.

Liriano was matched nearly pitch for pitch by the unflappable Kelly. The 25-year-old right-hander has been rock-steady all season, even as he moved from middle reliever to starter in July.

Kelly welcomed the hostile environment, calling the sea of black-clad fans that awaited him one of the things a kid dreams about.

The reality proved a little more unnerving, at least when Byrd hit a two-run single in the first.

The well-traveled outfielder – who played in 1,250 regular-season games before reaching the playoffs for the first time – has been a welcome jolt both in the lineup and in the clubhouse for the Pirates.

”Just having a heck of a time,” Byrd said.

— Associated Press —

Gerrit Cole and the Pittsburgh Pirates played a game of role reversal, and pulled even with the St. Louis Cardinals.

The hard-throwing rookie gave up two hits in six dominant innings and also had an RBI in his postseason debut, Pedro Alvarez homered for the second straight day and the Pirates beat the Cardinals 7-1 Friday to even their NL division series at one game apiece.

“Just what we’ve been seeing all year,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “You saw a focused man that was ready to go.”

A day after St. Louis got a strong effort from its starter and took advantage of mistakes to romp 9-1 in the opener, the Pirates showed poise for their first playoff win since 1992 while the Cardinals looked tentative in the field.

The Pirates now head home for Game 3 on Sunday in the best-of-five series. Wild-card game winner Francisco Liriano faces Cardinals right-hander Joe Kelly.

Cole faced the Cardinals for the first time and left most of them shaking their heads, striking out five and walking one. After allowing Carlos Beltran’s double with one out in the first, the 22-year-old retired 11 straight before Yadier Molina led off the fifth with his third career postseason homer.

Relying on a fastball that peaked at 99 mph on the stadium radar gun and one that TBS had at 100, Cole had hitters helpless at times even without shadows that benefited pitchers early in Game 1.

“I just trusted myself and tried to keep it as simple as I could,” Cole said. “You just try and clear you mind after every pitch and just look forward.”

When he got in the least bit of trouble, Cole ignored chants from a second straight sellout crowd at Busch Stadium.

Gerrit Cole was dominant in his first time facing the Cardinals, allowing two hits in six innings.

“You just have to take a deep breath,” Cole said. “Rip off the rear-view mirror on the car.”

Cardinals starter Lance Lynn needed some help. He hasn’t lasted long enough to qualify for the victory in any of his three career postseason starts and yielded five runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings.

“It was a bad game,” Lynn said. “I made four bad pitches for four extra-base hits. When I made a mistake with the fastball, they were ready for it.”

Lynn was manager Matheny’s choice for Game 2 ahead of rookies Shelby Miller and Michael Wacha, the decision based on the right-hander’s strong September and 9-3 record at home.

Wacha (4-1, 2.78) will oppose Charlie Morton (7-4, 3.26) in Game 4 on Monday.

Alvarez doubled and scored on Cole’s single in the second to put the Pirates ahead — eighth-place hitter Jordy Mercer was walked intentionally ahead of Cole.

Center fielder Jon Jay said he should have tracked down the double by Alvarez.

“That’s a play I’ve got to make and I didn’t,” Jay said. “That’s on me.”

Alvarez then hit a 418-foot, two-run homer in the third.

Pirates pitchers totaled 10 RBIs during the season and Cole had five of them, including two in his final start.

Third baseman David Freese dropped Marlon Byrd’s pop fly for an error in gusting wind in the seventh inning, leading to a run.

Lynn made it to the fifth for the first time, but just barely. Miller warmed up in the third and Lynn was yanked with one out after back-to-back doubles by Justin Morneau and Byrd that put the Pirates up 5-0, followed by a four-pitch walk to Alvarez that gave reliever Seth Maness a little more time to warm up.

Miller worked the eighth and gave up a homer to Starling Marte.

Liriano is 4-0 with a 1.16 career ERA in four starts against the Cardinals. He dominated in three starts this year, including a complete game in St. Louis, and allowed 10 hits in 22 innings with 20 strikeouts. He was the winner Tuesday night against Cincinnati in front of a raucous crowd in Pittsburgh that was celebrating the Pirates’ return to the postseason.

Kelly (10-5, 2.69) thrived as a fill-in starter for the second straight season and won eight straight decisions.

— Associated Press —

Carlos Beltran, Adam Wainwright and the St. Louis Cardinals gave Pittsburgh a quick reality jolt.

Beltran’s three-run homer sparked a seven-run third inning Thursday and the Cardinals got seven stingy innings from Wainwright to open their NL division series with a 9-1 rout of the Pirates.

“To be able to get out on a good first step and play well today I think is big for our guys confidence-wise,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. “Gives us an opportunity to just take some momentum, and momentum is big right now when you talk about a five-game series.”

The first eight Cardinals reached safely in the third to chase A.J. Burnett, saddling the right-hander with the second-shortest outing of his career and putting Game 1 out of reach early.

A sellout crowd roared and then settled in for an easy victory by the NL Central champions, making their third consecutive trip to the postseason.

“Game 164 was rough,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “One of the things we’ve been good at is we don’t overcook things.”

Lance Lynn (15-10) faces Pittsburgh rookie Gerrit Cole (10-7) in Game 2 on Friday.

After a record 20 straight losing seasons, the Pirates are back in the playoffs for the first time since 1992. They entered their first best-of-five division series with plenty of momentum after beating Cincinnati in the wild-card game Tuesday, but Pittsburgh never threatened to rally against Wainwright and finished with only four hits.

Pittsburgh also was sloppy in the field, committing three errors. St. Louis was sharp on defense, with reliever Carlos Martinez turning in the top play by slinging an off-balance throw to first to nip Russell Martin in the eighth.

“What a play!” Matheny mouthed in the dugout.

Third baseman David Freese prevented extra bases in the third with a diving catch on Clint Barmes’ low liner.

Wainwright remained unbeaten in the postseason, going to 3-0 with a 2.27 ERA in 14 games, five of them starts.

He allowed a run on three hits in seven innings, striking out nine without a walk. The only damage came on a homer by Pedro Alvarez to start the fifth.

The right-hander tied for the NL lead with 19 wins this year and was 4-0 in his last five starts. He thrives on expectations.

“I’d love to be that guy,” Wainwright said. “It’s important to have somebody go out there that you can count on for sure.”

Wainwright also started the Cardinals’ big burst with a leadoff, full-count walk.

Beltran, who has never reached the World Series, reprised his role as one of the game’s greatest playoff sluggers. His 443-foot drive to the distant second deck in right field put St. Louis ahead and was the second-longest shot by a left-handed batter at 8-year-old Busch Stadium.

“I almost got caught up in the moment,” said Wainwright, who had a perfect view from second base. “I threw my hands up in the air as soon as he hit it, I knew it was gone.

“Then I realized I had to run.”

Beltran has 15 home runs, 10 doubles and 28 RBIs in 35 postseason games. He also has scored 40 runs and stolen 11 bases.

Leadoff man Matt Carpenter called Beltran “Mr. October.”

“He’s like our secret weapon when it comes to the postseason. He steps up every time,” Carpenter said. “Some guys just have a knack for a big game and he’s one of them.”

Beltran’s 13 career RBIs against Burnett are the most of any player.

Beltran’s homer got the Cardinals going, and Jon Jay later walked with the bases loaded. Freese added a two-run single that cleared the bases when right fielder Marlon Byrd’s throw to the plate deflected off Freese’s leg for an error.

Burnett was 3-1 against the Cardinals this season but has gotten rocked in his last two visits to St. Louis, also giving up five runs in three innings in early September. In five outings at Busch Stadium the last two seasons he has a 15.50 ERA.

“Hopefully, we can turn it around and give me a chance to get that ball again,” Burnett said. “I was not able to repeat a single delivery all day, that’s the bottom line.”

Hurdle was non-committal on whether Burnett would get the ball if the Pirates make it to Game 5, again in St. Louis.

“I do believe that he’s capable of going out and throwing a gem the next time he’s out there, wherever that may be,” Hurdle said.

While the Pirates may have had trouble at the plate and in the field with the shadows, the late-afternoon start didn’t seem to bother the Cardinals.

“Everybody was seeing the ball good today,” rookie Matt Adams said.

— Associated Press —