Dein erstes Forum » the final of the Mercedes Cup with victor

LOS ANGELES -- Clutch hitting from Andrew McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez helped the Pittsburgh Pirates finally win a series in Dodger Stadium after a seven-year drought. McCutchen hit his first home run in over a month, doubled twice and scored two runs to help the Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 on Sunday and take three of four from the defending NL West champions. "Its good that we were able to get three out of four against a really good team here in L.A.," McCutchen said. "We havent done that in a long time, so its a step in the right direction, definitely." Alvarez drove in three runs against Zack Greinke and Josh Harrison homered against Chris Perez, helping the Pirates win for the eighth time in 12 games. The last time they captured a series at Chavez Ravine was in September 2006, when they took two of three under then manager Jim Tracy. "Weve been out here a lot and not done a whole lot. So it was a big thing for us -- because we flat-out believe we can play," skipper Clint Hurdle said. "We needed to knock this off our to-do list, and we were able to. We knew what we were facing here, and we outpitched them for three of the four days. We played three really clean ballgames. We have confidence and we have enough edge and grit, and I think it showed up this weekend." Edinson Volquez (3-4) allowed two runs and five hits over five innings, striking out six and walking one. "Youve got to stay focused on what youre doing, especially against those guys because they have a good lineup," Volquez said. "You cant make a lot of mistakes against them, especially with Greinke because hes one of the best pitchers in the National League. Tonight I had better fastball command than I did in New York, so I was able to throw more strikes and keep the fastball down." Jason Grilli, the fifth Pirates pitcher, got three outs for his eighth save and third of the series after giving up a pair of two-out walks and an RBI single by pinch-hitter Scott Van Slyke. It was the Dodgers only hit after Justin Turners solo homer with one out in the fourth. Greinke (8-2) gave up a season-worst four runs and five hits in seven innings and struck out seven. "Hes an ultra-competitor. And to beat him, youve got to out-compete him," Hurdle said. "We laid off some tight pitches, we worked some counts, got his pitch count up, then we hit some pitches we were able to handle and got the barrel on them. But that was the plan coming in. I mean, you give him strike one and he can cut you up three different ways. So we just tried to be as aggressive as he was. We were looking for fastballs early, and his location played into it." Alvarez opened the scoring in the first with a two-run single after Greinke gave up a two-out double to McCutchen and walks to Ike Davis and Russell Martin. "McCutchen did a lot against us," manager Don Mattingly said. "Obviously the kid at third base (Alvarez) had a couple of big hits too, and had some good at-bats. Zack had been fairly successful against him." McCutchen, whose 21 homers, 84 RBIs and .317 average last season helped the Pirates end a 20-year playoff drought, made it 3-1 in the third with his fifth homer and first since April 23. The RBI was the first for the reigning NL MVP after a drought of nine games and 33 at-bats since his run-scoring single against Washingtons Blake Treinen on May 22. "I havent been hitting the ball the way I knew I could be, so tonight was a good start for myself," said McCutchen, who came in 4 for 21 against Greinke with two RBIs. "Just being ready to hit was the biggest key, and getting pitches to hit. Ive been a little late, probably because my timings been off on off-speed pitches. So tonight I got myself in a hitting position and was ready to fire. And when I got a good pitch to hit I was able to put the barrel on it." Harrison, who was 7 for 17 in the series, hit his fourth homer in the seventh for the Pirates final run. NOTES: Dodgers RF Yasiel Puig had two hits and has reached base in 33 straight games, the longest active streak in the majors. ... RHP Bryan Morris, who gave up Hanley Ramirezs second homer of the game in Saturdays 12-2 Pirates loss, was traded to the Miami Marlins for the 39th overall pick in Thursdays draft. RHP Casey Sadler was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis, where he was 6-1 with a 2.66 ERA in eight starts. Cheap Air Max Trainers . The roster changes have been constant and continuous since late last year, but even with their 46-man roster set for the start of the season, the banged-up Bombers will be kicking off Week 1 with a handful of fresh faces and back-ups in the starting lineup. Nike Air Max Cheap Wholesale .9 million deal Thursday. The 25-year McGinn had 19 goals and 19 assists in 79 games last season in helping the Avalanche tie a franchise record with 52 wins. http://www.cheapairmaxforsale.us/ Nike Air Max Clearance Sale . Speaking on Leafs Lunch with Bryan Hayes and Jamie McLennan on Thursday, Bernier said it was "very hard" at times being entrenched behind Jonathan Quick and is now excited at the prospect of getting an opportunity to compete with Reimer for the top spot with the Leafs. Cheap Nike Air Max Outlet . 98 jersey in a game yet, and already its a big seller.STUTTGART, Germany -- Roberto Bautista Agut and Lukas Rosol reached the final of the Mercedes Cup with victories over the top two seeds in the semifinals on Saturday. Bautista Agut of Spain defeated defending champion and top seed Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-3, 6-4, then Czech player Rosol beat the second-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 7-6 (3), 6-2. No. 3 seed Bautista Agut won almost three quarters of his service points and saved five break points for victory in 1 hour, 14 minutes. The Spaniard was leading 4-1 in the first set when play was suspended for 40 minutes due to rain. FFognini, who defeated Germanys Philipp Kohlschreiber in last years final, had been bidding to reach his fourth final of the season.dddddddddddd. Rosol struck 10 aces to Youzhnys five, and converted four of his nine break points to win in just under 1 1/2 hours. Youzhny won the tournament in 2002. Rosol upset the fourth-seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain in the quarterfinals. Both the 48th-ranked Czech and Bautista Agut are aiming for their second title. Rosol won at Bucharest last year while the 23rd-ranked Spaniards maiden victory came at s-Hertogenbosch last month. ' ' '