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PITTSBURGH -- Down to his final strike and his team trailing by a run with two outs in the ninth, St. Louis pinch-hitter Matt Carpenter told himself to just find a pitch he could handle.When the fastball from closer Tony Watson ended up right down the middle and not up and away as Watson hoped, Carpenter pounced. His solo homer -- a major league record 15th by a St. Louis pinch-hitter this season -- tied it and sent a jolt through the Cardinals. A home run each from Randal Grichuk and Jhonny Peralta followed, and St. Louis rallied for a stunning 9-7 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.Weve got a team that I think the best way to describe it is a dangerous team, Carpenter said. Weve got a team that I dont think anybody wants to match up with, especially in a postseason scenario. Its a fun team to play on. We never quit, and tonight was a good example of it.St. Louis blew an early five-run lead and the Pirates were a pitch away from ending a seven-game losing streak when Watsons 0-2 fastball turned into Carpenters 18th home run. An All-Star two years ago as a setup man who moved into the closer role when Mark Melancon was traded to Washington at the deadline, Watson gave up as many homers in the ninth as he did during the entire 2015 season.Were not playing good ball and to go out there and (have) guys fight back and be a strike away and serve up four more runs, its tough to swallow, Watson (2-4) said after his third blown save since replacing Melancon.Yadier Molina went 4 for 5, including a first-inning grand slam for St. Louis. Mike Mayers (1-1) tossed a scoreless eighth for the win, and Seung-Hwan Oh worked around a solo homer to Jung Ho Kang in the ninth for his 16th save.The Cardinals finished with five home runs in all, including Matt Adams 436-foot drive over the seats in right field that plopped into the Allegheny River on the bounce. The comeback allowed St. Louis to remain a game in front of the New York Mets for the second wild card in the National League.Im speechless, St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. Just, I love how this team competes, right down to the last out. Having a guy like (Carpenter), who hadnt felt quite right, to be able to come into that situation, and then right after that ... Im at a loss.Jung Ho Kang had two homers for Pittsburgh and Jordy Mercer hit a two-run double in the fifth as the Pirates took advantage of some sloppy defense by the Cardinals to overcome an early five-run deficit. Watsons implosion, however, sent Pittsburgh to its eighth straight defeat.The Pirates came in reeling during their longest skid in two years, one that dropped them to the fringe of playoff contention. Opponents have outscored them 47-22 during the slide, including a 12-6 setback on Monday night in which the Cardinals simply overpowered Pittsburghs struggling pitching staff.It looked like more of the same early on Tuesday. The Cardinals loaded the bases against Ryan Vogelsong and Molina cleared them with his first grand slam since 2012, the 25th straight game the Cardinals have homered, a club record.MARTINEZ FINALLY ARRIVESSt. Louis rookie outfielder Jose Martinez made his long-awaited major league debut when he entered as a pinch-hitter in the seventh. The 28-year-old son of former major leaguer Carlos Cafe Martinez grounded out to third in his first plate appearance after more than a decade in the minors.It was good to see him get that chance, Matheny said. This is a good day for him. Long time coming.TRAINING ROOMCardinals: RF Stephen Piscotty was initially held out of the lineup to give his aching left wrist a breather. Piscotty took a pitch off the wrist on Monday. Postgame X-rays were negative and Piscotty doubled as a pinch-hitter in the eighth.Pirates: Pittsburgh held C Francisco Cervelli out of the lineup a day after he experienced discomfort in his left hand trying to block a pitch.UP NEXTCardinals: Mike Leake returns to the rotation after a stay on the disabled list while battling a case of the shingles. Leake is 9-5 with a 3.28 ERA in his career against Pittsburgh but is 1-2 with a 5.71 ERA this season.Pirates: Rookie Jameson Taillon will face the Cardinals for the first time in the series finale. The 24-year-old has a 2.80 ERA over his last 10 starts and pitched six innings of one-run ball last week against Milwaukee. Cheap Authentic Jerseys . LOUIS -- St. Football Jerseys Outlet .ca! 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RIO DE JANEIRO -- Exploding out of the blocks in lane eight, Wayde van Niekerk didnt see another runner during the entire Olympic 400-meter final.He didnt need to. It was just him against the clock.The South African sprinter broke Michael Johnsons 17-year-old world record on Sunday night in Rio de Janeiro, leaving two of the greatest one-lap runners of this era in his dust. Van Niekerk finished in 43.03 seconds -- 0.15 seconds faster than Johnson ran on Aug. 26, 1999, in Seville, Spain. To think, Johnsons mark was considered one of the almost untouchable records in track.I thought someone was going to catch me, Van Niekerk explained. I felt very alone at the end.The 24-year-old Van Niekerk leaned at the finish line, which he really didnt need to do as Kirani James of Grenada and LaShawn Merritt of the Unites States werent even in the picture. James, the defending Olympic champion, finished with the silver and Merritt, who won gold eight years ago in Beijing, hung on for bronze as he staggered across the line.Van Niekerk drove a wedge in the rivalry between James and Merritt at the world championships last August, when he beat them both with such a lung-searing performance that he left the track on a stretcher.Now, hes the fastest ever.Instead of collapsing at the finish this time, Van Niekerk dropped to one knee and put his head in his hands. Moments later, he draped a South African flag around his shoulders and took off his spikes. As he did so, Van Niekerk pointed at the clock to make sure everyone saw his time.Hard to miss.On any other night, Van Niekerk wouldve drawn all the headlines. But he was competing for attention with Usain Bolt, who won his unprecedented third 100 title.Not a big deal to the unassuming Van Niekerk.Its Usain Bolt, the king of the 100 and 200, Van Niekerk said. Im just grateful for being here. Just trying to build my legacy.Earlier this year, Van Niekerk spent time in Jamaica working with Bolts coach, Glen Mills. While there, he developed a relationship with Bolt, who interruptted his own victory celebration Sunday to seek out Van Niekerk.ddddddddddddhen he came to Jamaica, I said to him, `Youre the only person who can break the 400-meter record, Bolt recounted. Hes very fast and keeps on going. To me, I wasnt really surprised he got it.The glowing compliments kept on coming with Johnson, a track and field TV analyst for BBC, weighing in as well.Oh my God! From lane eight, a world record. He took it out so quick, Johnson told the BBC. I have never seen anything from 200 to 400 like that.That was a massacre from Wayde van Niekerk. He just put those guys away.They didnt stand a chance. James thought he possibly had enough in the tank to catch Van Niekerk around the final curve. No way.No one did. This was really a race for silver, with James easily holding off Merritt, who had to dig deep to cling to the bronze.He just wouldnt slow down, James said. Usually, what happens is the last 100 (meters) guys start to slow down a little bit, but he just kept going.Merritt had a similar take.I did think he would fade a little bit, Merritt said. I honestly did. He was so far out.Akani Simbine, who is Van Niekerks roommate in the Olympic Village, knew what was coming.But we didnt bring it up much because thats just added pressure, you know, said Simbine, who finished fifth in the 100 final. He knows what he needs to do and we believe in what he can do.It was just a thing of, OK, he said hes going to do it, break the world record, and here he did it.It was a stunning sprint world record by someone other than Bolt -- a boost for track since the sports current superstar cant be around forever.Van Niekerk is so young, what else can he do? Can he go under 43 seconds? Johnson said. It is something I thought I could do, but never did. Usain Bolt will be retiring soon. This could be the next star of the sport.---AP Sports Writers Gerald Imray and Jenna Fryer contributed. ' ' '