Alles wichtige » and the top contenders in the Western Conference

MIAMI -- Pittsburgh Pirates rookie Gregory Polanco had five hits Friday night, and the last one was the biggest -- and the longest. Playing in his fourth major league game, Polanco broke a tie in the 13th inning with his first homer, helping Pittsburgh to an 8-6 victory over the Miami Marlins after the Pirates had a ninth-inning meltdown. Polanco went 5 for 7, scored three times and made a run-saving catch in right field. "That could have been a coming-out party for him," manager Clint Hurdle said. "Very exciting to watch. I hope we get to watch for a long time." Clint Barmes singled off Mike Dunn (5-4) to start the 13th and advanced on a sacrifice. Polanco homered on a hanging 2-2 slider and smacked his hands as he circled the bases, mindful his mother was in the stands watching him for the first time since he played winter league in his native Dominican Republic. "For sure this is my best game ever -- the first time shes here watching me play," Polanco said. "I was excited and a little emotional. Shes so proud of me, and I know shes feeling excited right now." Jeanmar Gomez (1-2) pitched four scoreless innings after the Pirates blew a 6-2 lead in the ninth when three relievers combined to issue six walks. The Pirates Jeff Locke pitched a career-high eight innings, and the bullpens wildness cost him his first victory since Sept. 12. Miami trailed 6-5 and had runners at first and third with two out in the ninth when Hurdle ordered NL home run and RBI leader Giancarlo Stanton intentionally walked. The strategy backfired when Casey McGehee fell behind 0-2, and then walked against Mark Melancon to tie the game. Melancon struck out Marcell Ozuna to send the game to the 10th. "You rip off the rearview mirror and keep playing," Hurdle said. The Marlins stranded three in the ninth and two in the 12th. "The game was there for the taking at the end," McGehee said. "It was unfortunate we couldnt quite finish it off." Pittsburghs Sterling Marte homered and tied a career high with four hits. Ike Davis added a two-run double, and the top four hitters in the Pirates order went 13 for 27. The Pirates have won seven consecutive series openers, and on Saturday they have a chance to reach .500 for the first time since mid-April. Miamis Nathan Eovaldi pitched as though he was more worried about his wifes delivery than his own, which was understandable. Their first child is due, which left Eovaldis status in doubt until game time, and he allowed 10 hits and six runs in 4 2-3 innings. Stanton hit his 18th home run. Rafael Furcal, making his season debut after being sidelined by injuries since 2012, turned two double plays at second base but went 0 for 6. Locke, making his second start since right-hander Gerrit Cole went on the disabled list, allowed two runs, seven hits and no walks. The left-hander said he was encouraged by his performance. "Its huge," he said. "Anytime you give this team a chance to win, it makes you feel good. Thats what Ive always tried to do through the struggles and the successes. It builds a lot of confidence moving forward." Locke made the NL All-Star team last year but pitched poorly the second half of the season and has spent most of this season in Triple-A. NOTES: Marlins LF Christian Yelich left the game in the second inning with a strained lower back. His status is day to day. ... 2B Michael Martinez made his first start with the Pirates and went 0 for 3. ... Pirates OF Josh Harrison (ankle) was held out of the lineup. ... Former Pirate Garrett Jones pinch-hit in the ninth for Miami and struck out. ... The Pirates Russell Martin was safe at second when the Marlins botched a rundown in the fourth, but the call was reversed following a replay review and he was ruled out. ... Martin made his 1,000th career start at catcher, which ranks fifth among active players. ... RHP Stolmy Pimentel and RHP Vance Worley are candidates to start Sunday for the Pirates in place of LHP Francisco Liriano (left oblique strain). ... LHP Randy Wolf (1-2, 4.15 ERA) is scheduled to start Saturday for Miami against RHP Charlie Morton (3-7, 3.14 ERA). Dante Pettis Jersey . This game was inside. Adrian Peterson was missing. The stage was set for another step toward the playoffs. Jimmie Ward Jersey .Y. - Referee Ed Hochuli referred to replay official Tom Sifferman by his nickname Jungle Boy, which was heard on the in-stadium microphone during the Arizona Cardinals-Carolina Panthers NFC wild-card game Saturday. http://www.49ersrookiestore.com/49ers-Cassius-Marsh-Jersey/ . Howard had 17 points and a career-high-tying 26 rebounds in his Houston debut, James Harden added 21 points and the Rockets cruised to a 96-83 win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night. Frank Gore 49ers Jersey . Howard hit a three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Philadelphia Phillies to a 6-3 win over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night. Tarvarius Moore Jersey . - For a general manager who preaches building through the draft, Reggie McKenzie has struggled to find impact players his first two years in Oakland.The Dallas Stars landed a big-time scorer to fit into their second-line centre spot, sending forward depth to Ottawa in return. Numbers Game looks at the Jason Spezza trade. The Stars Get: C Jason Spezza and LW Ludwig Karlsson. Spezza, 31, has been one of the premier scoring centres in the league and, since 2005-2006, only Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Alex Ovechkin, Joe Thornton and Pavel Datsyuk have a higher points-per-game than Spezzas 1.06 (611 points in 575 games). With a decided tilt towards more offensive zone starts, which makes sense given his skill set, Spezza has put up solid possession stats. In an ideal world, he would be better without the puck, but Spezza has consistently generated shots when hes on the ice. Hes also very effective on the power play, which ought to help a Dallas power play that was 23rd in the league last season, converting 15.9% of their attempts. In Dallas, Spezza should also tend to get favourable matchups, as other teams will still focus on Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and Valeri Nichushkin on the top line. At the moment, candidates to skate on Spezzas wing should include veteran Erik Cole, prospects Colton Sceviour and Brett Ritchie as well as, if hes cleared to play, Rich Peverley. What that might indicate is that the Stars are going to still be in the market for additional help. Some of that additional help comes in the person of Spezzas winger in Ottawa at the end of last season, Ales Hemsky, who signed a three-year, $12-million deal with the Stars. Hemsky, 30, was getting miscast in Edmonton, as the Oilers turned to younger talent and cut his ice time, but joining Spezza in Ottawa at the trade deadline showed that Hemsky still has what it takes to produce when he plays with top talent. As a setup guy, Hemsky might fit with Benn and Seguin on the top line, allowing Valeri Nichushkin to slide in alongside Spezza. With one year remaining on his contract, Spezza brings a $7-million cap hit, though hes a significant bargain as his actual salary is only $4-million. Karlsson is a 6-foot-3 winger who spent most of his first pro season in the ECHL, scoring 24 points in 39 games. With the Senators taking on three players, Karlsson going the other way eases any potential pressure on Ottawas reserve list. If he materializes into a legit NHL prospect, it would come as a major surprise and probably an added kick in the teeth to the Senators, who are already giving up the clear top player in the deal. Dallas is a team on the rise and adding Spezza and Hemsky to the fold does a nice job closing the gap between the Stars and the top contenders in the Western Conference. The Senators Get: RW Alex Chiasson, C Alex Guptill, LW Nick Paul and 2nd round pick in 2015. Chiasson is a 23-year-old winger coming off a decent rookie season during which he scored 13 goals and 35 points in 79 games, with meddiocre possession stats that were substantially better than his minus-21 rating would suggest, thanks to one of the lowest on-ice save percentages in the league.dddddddddddd Thats the kind of thing that tends to bounce back, so dont write off Chiasson entirely as a defensive liability. Offensively, he broke into his NHL career with 11 goals and 54 shots on goal in 19 games (from late 2012-2013 through October 2013), and the 6-foot-3 winger looked like he might have the making of a big goal-scorer, more because he was generating a lot of shots rather than the unsustainable rate at which he was finishing, but Chiassons ice time decreased as the season went on and he scored eight goals in the final 70 games of the season. With offensive upside, its possible that Chiasson would find his way into a role with the Senators top six forwards, but there will be some competition among other offseason additions as well as the wingers already in the organization. With Clarke MacArthur and Bobby Ryan the established scorers, there will be room for competition with the likes of Mark Stone, Mike Hoffman and Mika Zibanejad, depending on the next steps for Senators GM Bryan Murray. Still on his entry-level deal, Chiasson will make $900,000 next season, which is a bargain price for a top-nine forward, particularly one that could conceivably score 20 goals in the right situation. 22-year-old Alex Guptill is a solid prospect, who scored 61 points in 69 games over his last two seasons at the University of Michigan. He joined the Texas Stars late in the season, chipping in a couple of points in five games, so hell start next season at Binghamton and get used to the pro grind. Nick Paul is a 19-year-old winger that the Stars drafted in the fourth round last summer. He has good size (6-foot-3, 200 pounds) and while he made progress in his second OHL season, scoring 26 goals and 46 points in 67 games, he was even better in the postseason, scoring 12 goals and 18 points in 22 playoff games. Both Paul and Guptill have a chance to eventually play for the Senators, but both are going to need some time before thats a realistic consideration. A second-round pick brings a little better than a one-in-three chance of yielding an NHL player. All told, this package isnt particularly sexy in exchange for the second-leading scorer in franchise history, but the Senators didnt have much leverage and have reasonable chance to get two or three NHLers out of the deal, eventually. It might be more encouraging if the Senators were going to take the cap savings from this deal and re-invest it in the teams payroll, but we will have to wait and see if anything happens in that respect before the Senators get credit for losing skill and cutting payroll. 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. 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