Aufsichtsperson » t a jolt through Pittsburghs dugout. Tabata hit a tw

The St. Louis Cardinals open the season on top of the TSN.ca MLB Power Rankings, ahead of the defending champion Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers. After losing to the Red Sox in the World Series, the Cardinals upgraded their outfield defence, adding centre fielder Peter Bourjos, and made moves to improve their batting order, including the addition of shortstop Jhonny Peralta and opening up room at first base for Matt Adams. The Red Sox are obviously still formidable, with rookie shortstop Xander Bogaerts helping to refresh the roster, but there have been enough questions about their pitching staff from year-to-year to like St. Louis ever-so-slightly better. The Tampa Bay Rays and Pittsburgh Pirates round out the Top Five. Among teams that struggled last season, the San Francisco Giants and Milwaukee Brewers are both ranked among the top dozen teams, after some interesting offseason additions and the New York Yankees open in a middle-of-the-pack 16th. The Yankees are an upwardly-mobile team if they can stay healthy and get the kind of pitching they would like from CC Sabathia, Masahiro Tanaka and Michael Pineda (among others), but the roster is still old and the spectre of injuries hangs over them as Derek Jeter enters his final season. The Toronto Blue Jays, ranked third in the preseason last year, open much more modestly this year, ranked 25th, with massive questions about their pitching staff. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Mike Ditka Youth Jersey . An offseason trade acquisition from Kansas City, Greinkes National League debut was delayed by a non-baseball injury in the spring, and he was 0-1 after dropping an 8-0 decision at Atlanta in his initial appearance with the Brewers on May 4. Khalil Mack Youth Jersey . -- Byron Scott is taking over the Los Angeles Lakers with the vocal support of his fellow Showtime greats. http://www.chicagobearfootballauthentic.com/authentic-richard-dent-bears-jersey/ . The Flames announced Monday that Treliving, a former assistant general manager with the Coyotes, will take over the vacant GM spot in Calgary. "Im ready for this,"Treliving said. Dick Butkus Bears Jersey . On Wednesday night, they showed that stellar defence and a little small ball can get the job done too. With pinch-runner Kevin Pillar aboard after Dioner Navarro opened the bottom of the ninth with a single, Anthony Gose dropped down an excellent bunt along the first-base line. Dan Hampton Youth Jersey .J. -- Tom Coughlin doesnt have many options at halfback for the winless New York Giants.PITTSBURGH -- The Pirates had a plan for Gerrit Cole when they drafted the hard-throwing right-hander with the top pick in the 2011 amateur draft. They hoped Cole would develop into one of the franchise cornerstones, and two years later he may already be there. The 23-year-old dominated the San Diego Padres on Thursday, striking out 12 to lead the Pirates to a 10-1 romp and stop a three-game losing streak. Pittsburgh moved a game in front of Cincinnati for the top wild card spot in the NL after Cole (9-7) pitched his third straight gem. "He continues to grow right in front of our eyes," manager Clint Hurdle said. Cole is 3-0 with a 0.90 ERA and 28 strikeouts in his last three starts, each following a Pittsburgh loss. Overwhelming the Padres with a fastball topping out in the high 90s and a curveball seeming to improve by the pitch, Cole prevented a sweep that would have put a dent in his teams pursuit of its first division title since 1992. "We just couldnt get to the fastball," San Diego manager Bud Black said. "I think we knew it was coming but he located some pitches, threw down and away well. He pitched in. He pitched up (and) mixed it up a little bit with the slider and the changeup." And for once, Cole received some help at the plate. Held to four runs and 11 hits in the first three games of the series, the Pirates pounced on starter Ian Kennedy (6-10) for six runs while putting together their biggest offensive outburst in nearly a month. Neil Walker had four hits, including his 11th homer of the season, and drove in three runs while Pedro Alvarez hit his NL-leading 34th homer for Pittsburgh. Jose Tabata added two hits and three RBIs as the Pirates regained some momentum heading into the biggest series in the 12-year history of PNC Park. "If you would have told us we were going to win one of four in this last series, Ill take the last one, thats for sure," Walker said. "Its certainly not the best feeling. This wasnt our best series playing a team people probably think we should beat, but thats baseball." And meaningful baseball at that, something not seen in September in Pittsburgh since Barry Bonds was hitting balls over the fence at Three Rivers Stadium in 1992. The Pirates ended 20 years of losing earlier this month and have their sights set on a playoff spot. Pittsburgh innched closer to extending its season beyond Sept.dddddddddddd 29 by showcasing the resiliency thats become the teams trademark. The Pirates were in position to beat San Diego on Wednesday night when closer Mark Melancon surrendered two runs in the ninth to blow his third save of the season. Given 12 hours to get over it, they responded emphatically. Coles main weakness may be that he gets too fired up. His ERA in the first inning rose to 6.00 when Tommy Medicas two-out RBI single gave the Padres an early lead. It was the lone hiccup on a day he bolstered his case to earn a start in October if the Pirates make it that far. Pittsburgh can get there if it can find any sort of consistency at the plate. After gasping for three days, they rediscovered some pop against a team at the end of a wearying 10-game road trip. Making a spot start while leadoff hitter Starling Marte spent the day in the hospital helping his wife welcome their first child, Tabata scored on a fielders-choice grounder by Andrew McCutchen to tie it in the first. Three innings later, Alvarez crushed a belt-high Kennedy pitch and sent it nearly to the concourse behind the seats in centre for just his second home run in 22 games. The homer sent a jolt through Pittsburghs dugout. Tabata hit a two-run double with two outs, and Walker followed with a shot to right that climbed just over the top of the Clemente Wall for a 6-1 lead. Cole worked out of a two-on, two-out jam in the fifth and completed his career day by striking out Nick Hundley swinging. The burly right-hander pumped his first in celebration as he walked off the mound. The Pirates hadnt won a game by more than two runs since knocking off Milwaukee 5-2 on Sept. 2. NOTES: Hurdle said he hasnt set a rotation for the final week of the season. If the Pirates dont make any changes, ace Francisco Liriano would be available to pitch the opening game of the post-season. Liriano (16-7, 2.29 ERA) will start Friday night against Cincinnatis Mat Latos (14-6, 3.14) ... Pittsburgh C Tony Sanchez had 2 of his teams 14 hits and made an acrobatic grab in the eighth when he hauled in a foul pop by Chris Denorfia, flipping into the Padres dugout in the process ... San Diego begins a three-game series at home on Friday against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Robbie Erlin (2-3, 5.18 ERA) will face Edinson Volquez (9-11, 5.94). ' ' '