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PITTSBURGH -- Jon Jay already had a bat in hand before St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny even called his name. A minute later the veteran outfielder was standing on second base after his pinch hit tied the game. Jay didnt stay there long, racing home with the go-ahead run on Matt Hollidays sharp single in a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night. "He just sensed," Matheny said of Jays precocious grab of the bat. "We hadnt had any interaction at that point. Hes smart, he knows the game." And the Cardinals know a thing or two about coming through late. St. Louis scored all three runs off reliever Jared Hughes (6-4) with two outs in the seventh inning to back John Lackey and send the scuffling Pirates to their seventh loss in 10 games. Lackey (2-1) worked out of trouble early to last seven innings in his second victory for the Cardinals after arriving in a trade from Boston on July 31. He was 11-7 with the Red Sox. Trevor Rosenthal gave up a leadoff home run in the ninth to Andrew McCutchen but held on to earn his 39th save. "I think guys know when we have a pitcher like Lackey on the mound, hes going to keep us in the game," Matheny said. "Weve just got to keep fighting and figure out a way to get something going." Pedro Alvarez hit his 18th homer in the second off Lackey, but the Pirates managed little after that to fall further behind St. Louis and first-place Milwaukee in the NL Central race. Pirates starter Francisco Liriano overwhelmed St. Louis for six-plus innings before leaving after Kolten Wongs infield single led off the seventh. Hughes came on and promptly picked off Wong. Things didnt work out so well for the normally dependable right-hander, however, when he went to the plate. Tony Cruz started the game-changing rally by turning an 0-2 count into a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a sharply hit single by Jay. Holliday then gave St. Louis the lead with a grounder past shortstop Jordy Mercer. St. Louis has 209 RBIs this season with two outs, tops in the National League. "It was just a night where (Hughes) couldnt get the ball where he wanted to go," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. The cushion was more than enough for Lackey, who had little trouble after navigating a choppy second inning. Alvarez hit a long home run to centre with one out, and infield hits by Starling Marte and Jordy Mercer followed. The runners moved up on a sacrifice by Liriano, but Josh Harrisons sharply hit fly to left went right to Holliday. Lackey settled down following the reprieve, not allowing a runner past first base over his final five innings. He walked one and struck out three to improve to 3-0 against National League teams this season. "I think Tony and I made some good adjustments after the first time through the lineup," Lackey said. "The last three innings were as good as I felt." OUCH Cardinals 1B Matt Adams spent the last four innings with cotton stuffed in his nose following a nasty collision with the fence down the right-field line. St. Louis backup outfielder Shane Robinson left in the top of the ninth after injuring his left arm while trying to steal second. Matheny said Robinson was "in pretty bad shape" and might have to return to St. Louis for further examination. TRAINERS ROOM Cardinals: C Yadier Molina and RHP Michael Wacha will head to Double-A Springfield this week to begin rehab assignments. Molina has been on the disabled list since tearing a ligament in his right thumb July 10 and will go through a full workout with Springfield on Tuesday. If he makes it through without a problem, Molina will likely play on Wednesday and could be back with the Cardinals before rosters expand on Sept. 1. Wacha hasnt pitched since heading to the DL in mid-June with a stress reaction in his right shoulder. He is scheduled to throw batting practice Wednesday and will make at least one minor league rehab start before being activated. "Its a great step forward," Matheny said about the progress of both players. "Obviously, well see how they both feel after they get an opportunity to get into a game. Its definitely good news." Pirates: RHP Charlie Morton, on the 15-day DL since Aug. 20 with a sports hernia in his right hip, threw a bullpen session and will start for Double-A Altoona on Thursday. Morton will work five innings or 75 pitches. UP NEXT Cardinals: RHP Lance Lynn (14-8, 2.78 ERA) will look to remain unbeaten in August. Lynn is 3-0 with a 1.75 ERA in four starts this month. Pirates: RHP Gerrit Cole (7-4, 3.69 ERA) tries for his first victory since July 4. Cole is 1-1 with a 1.93 ERA in two regular-season starts against the Cardinals. Tom Waddle Bears Jersey . "Yes, Id like to get them in," Detroits rookie manager said. "Mother Natures going to have a say in that." Sure enough, the Tigers had their game against the Kansas City Royals postponed because of rain on Thursday. Anthony Miller Youth Jersey . After seven wins in a row, they have to do it one more time to get into the playoffs. http://www.bearsrookiestore.com/Bears-Riley-Ridley-Jersey/ . The fourth-year guard from Carleton University kicked off his varsity career with rookie of the year honours in 2011, before racking up three straight Mike Moser Memorial Trophies for outstanding player. Gale Sayers Jersey . "For the past several weeks, Logan has been dealing and playing with an upper body injury," said general manager Doug Wilson in a statement. "Despite his efforts to play through it, the injury has not responded as we had hoped and Logan has made the decision to undergo a surgical procedure to repair the problem. Mitchell Trubisky Womens Jersey . Head of clinic Josef Obrist tells the Austria Press Agency on Thursday that Morgenstern "is doing surprisingly well. ... He still has a memory gap but thats nothing unusual." Morgenstern has moved to a rehabilitation clinic in Klagenfurt for further recovery.VAL DISERE, France - Lindsey Vonns days of competing in all five ski disciplines may be behind her, since the four-time overall World Cup champion is seriously considering giving up slalom in her comeback from a career-threatening knee injury.The 30-year-old American racer thinks she is still somewhat off the pace in speed events, despite clinching her first victory in nearly two years in a downhill at Lake Louise, Canada, on Dec. 7.The 2010 Olympic downhill champion thinks ditching slalom may help her cause to become the No. 1 speed racer again.I definitely plan on doing (giant slalom), but I want to focus on the speed races right now, Vonn said on Thursday ahead of a downhill and super-G in the French resort of Val dIsere. I dont know if Ill do slalom again. Its difficult starting in the back. But well see. I havent skied slalom since my injuries, so I dont know how it feels yet.Vonns previous World Cup victory was in GS on Jan. 26, 2013, in Maribor, Slovenia, and she has raced only seven races since.Less than two months after that win, she injured her right knee in a heavy fall at the world championships.Desperate to get back in time for the Sochi Games, she partially tore one of the reconstructed ligaments in a training crash in Copper Mountain, Colorado.Again, she attempted to grind things out, only to sprain her MCL racing downhill in Val dIsere last December, and had a second surgery a month later.Im in a much different position this year than I was last year, Vonn said. I have a healthy knee finally. So Im looking forward to the races this weekend and hopefully the conditions will be good.It has been a big month.Racing downhilll for the first time since hurting her knee again in Val dIsere, Vonn finished eighth at Lake Louise and grabbed a second-place finish in super-G to go with her downhill triumph.ddddddddddddI wasnt expecting to be as fast as I was in Lake Louise. The first race, being eighth place was about what I expected, she said. But I learned a lot from the first race and tried to improve, and both the second downhill and the super-G were good performances.Still, she thinks she can do much better.Im trying to be more comfortable with the speed and to be more aggressive. Downhill is a little bit farther along than super-G, and I definitely need more training. This weekend, hopefully Ill have good results like I did in Lake Louise. But its a process, coming back from two years of injury takes a bit of time.Vonn last raced slalom at Maribor, the day after her GS win, and the last time she scored points was when finishing eighth at Schladming, Austria, in March 2012.Although she did not finish her three slalom races before Schladming, she had previously shown good form in the discipline: Winning two races and securing three other podium finishes over a calendar year from November 2008-2009.Her reluctance to race slalom again is good news for World Cup leader Tina Maze.The 2013 overall champion competes in all five events, and the Slovenian heads into Val dIsere in superb form after winning a GS and placing second in slalom at the Swedish resort of Are last weekend.Its fun to change disciplines and try to be in front in each, Maze said.She leads overall with 560 points from Austrias Anna Fenninger on 303, while Vonn is eighth with 212. ' ' '