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PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Starling Marte swung so miserably at the first two sliders he saw from Arizona Diamondbacks closer Addison Reed in the ninth inning that the Pittsburgh left fielder knew more were on the way. So he stepped out of the batters box, took a deep breath and waited. "I was struggling the first two pitches but I was thinking about the pitch I want," Marte said. "He threw me a slider and it was a good chance to hit the ball." Was it ever. Marte turned an 81 mph slider over the middle of the plate into a game-tying, two-run double and then scored on pinch-hitter Ike Davis single two batters later as the Pirates rallied for a 3-2 win Tuesday night. "Every time were up to bat theres a chance we do something," Davis said. "Its hard to shut us down for nine. Weve done it a lot this year ... anything is possible with us." The Pirates were shut down for eight innings by Arizona starter Wade Miley before rallying in the ninth. Neil Walker and pinch-hitter Gregory Polanco started the inning with singles against Miley. One batter later, Marte turned an 0-2 count into a tie game. "He got a ball that he could get a barrel on," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "He slowed it down and put a good swing on it and hit it to the big part of the ballpark." Andrew McCutchen was intentionally walked and Davis hit a broken-bat single to right, scoring Marte easily as the Pirates won for the fourth time in five games. Ernesto Frieri (1-3) earned his first win with the Pirates after working a scoreless ninth. The abrupt ending ruined an otherwise stellar outing for the struggling Miley, who is winless since May 10. The left-hander retired the first 14 batters he faced and allowed four hits in eight-plus innings, striking out 10. Despite the slender lead, Arizona manager Kirk Gibson didnt hesitate to send Miley back out for the ninth in search of his first career shutout. Things changed quickly, however, when Walker and Polanco reached. "I didnt make good pitches," Miley said. "Actually, the pitch to Walker was a good one, a slider down and in, but I hung a pitch to Polanco. I was making pitches all night long but I didnt make them when I needed to." Until the late miscues, it appeared Miley was on his way to his first victory in nine starts. Miguel Montero and Aaron Hill produced consecutive RBI singles in the fifth off Pirates starter Jeff Locke. Paul Goldschmidt went 2 for 4 with a run for the Diamondbacks, who fell to 27-2 when leading after eight innings. "I want to be the guy out there with the game on the line," Reed said after blowing his fourth save. "Sometimes it doesnt go the way I want or my teammates want it to." Locke lacked Mileys crispness but allowed only two runs over eight innings, yielding eight hits while walking one and striking out three. The Diamondbacks stranded six runners in the first four innings and were on their way to doing it again in the fifth before catching a break thanks to some sloppy defence by the Pirates. Goldschmidt singled with two outs and was attempting to steal second when the Pirates sniffed it out. Locke threw to Gaby Sanchez at first to start the rundown, but the burly Goldschmidt was safe at second when Sanchezs throw to shortstop Jordy Mercer sailed into left field. Montero followed with a single that brought Goldschmidt home, and Montero scored moments later on Hills flare to shallow right. Given some room to work with, Miley didnt let it go to waste. He struck out the side in the seventh and had little trouble in the eighth. Arizona nearly extended its lead to 3-0 in the ninth, only to have Gerardo Parra thrown out at home trying to score on a single to right by Ender Inciarte. Less than 15 minutes later, the Pirates were celebrating their second win in 35 games when trailing after eight innings. NOTES: Pirates LHP Francisco Liriano is scheduled to pitch four innings in a simulated game Wednesday. Liriano, on the disabled list with a strained left oblique, threw 52 pitches without an issue in the bullpen on Sunday. ... An MRI on Arizona SS Chris Owings left shoulder Monday revealed no structural damage. Owings went on the disabled list Sunday with a left shoulder strain. Gibson called the injury just a bruise. Owings wont hit for about a week, but Gibson is confident the rookie will be able to return when his 15-day stint on the DL is up, barring any setbacks. ... The series continues Wednesday when Arizonas Chase Armstrong (5-3, 3.63 ERA) faces Pittsburghs Charlie Morton (4-9, 3.41). Cheap Wholesale Basketball Shoes . Jackson Houck added a goal and two assists for the Giants (28-23-10), who halted a five-game slide, while Tyler Morrison, Mason Geertsen and Dominik Volek each scored once. Matt Bellerive scored both goals for the Blazers (12-43-5), who are 1-9-0 in their last 10 outings. Discount Basketball Shoes Online .A. Happ? Happs seven wins are second on the staff to Mark Buehrles 10. Win-loss record is an antiquated stat, sure, but win total is generally an indication of a pitchers ability to work deep into games, enough to be personally affected by the result. http://www.basketballshoeswholesale.com/. Minutes after the previously winless Colts got their first win, 27-13 over Tennessee, team vice chairman Bill Polian said the four-time league MVP will not play this season though he has begun throwing to teammates at the team complex. Basketball Shoes Wholesale . The senior threw for 319 yards and no interceptions in his final college game, leading No. Clearance Basketball Shoes Online . "He came up to me and said, I want to train," said Toronto coach Ryan Nelsen. The 26-year-old midfielder is expected to play Saturday night when Toronto hosts D.C. United, returning to his Major League Soccer squad with mixed feelings about the Americans World Cup run -- sad that it ended when it did but proud of his teams performance.In Edmonton, HOPE is a four letter word. Yet, one more time, Oilers general manager Craig MacTavish faced the media to explain the direction of his team, or in the eyes of many, lack of direction. MacTavish stood in there. Like a pi?ata at a 10-year-olds birthday party, he took the blows , but he didnt back down, swinging back when lumped in with those accused of bad decision-making in the past. I’ve been on the job for 18 months, so you want to lop me in, but I had nothing to do with management, so don’t lop me into a situation of power and influence in the management level of this organization, I’ve been on the job for 20 months,” MacTavish fired back. MacTavish, Kevin Lowe and Bob Nicholson gathered yesterday along with a group of Edmonton’s management types to dissect the carcass of an Oilers team whose playoff dreams are virtually dead a mere 26 games into the regular season. This meeting, one of many of late, lasted a few hours and covered every scenario this brain trust could muster to improve the team, both now and in the future. Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins wasnt invited because his job was on the line and while the specifics arent clear, there is a strong sense MacTavish continued to defend his coach and convinced those above that coaching is not the issue. MacTavish leaves the bullet in the chamber, for now, but hes also left us to wonder how he intends on filling the massive holes in his roster after implying in his media availability his core three forwards - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle - are not for sale. Loyalty is one of MacTavishs strongest attributes; it may also be a fatal flaw. The Oilers dont have a recognized top defence pair. They lack a legitimate No. 1 goaltender and No. 2 centre. Collectively, these shortfalls are the primary reasons for this teams ongoing struggles. Acquiring the players to fill these holes in season is a tough task; excluding Hall or Eberle as trade bait makes it next to impossible. If the untouchable label has been placed on the fortunate few, thats going to change in the off-season when teams have mmore flexibility to make bigger and more meaningful deals.dddddddddddd Its unlikely RNH will become a target given his play and value as a top-line centre. But Hall, Eberle, Nail Yakupov, Justin Schultz, and David Perron will be high on any list of players in play at the Draft when they shift from being Oilers to assets. In the meantime, more executive meetings in Edmonton with Pro and Amateur scouting changes are expected as this team sharpens its focus on a top-heavy Draft they would rather not to have to depend on. In other news... Hockey Newfoundland (HockeyNL) may have to wait at least another year before an age change proposal for minor hockey across Canada is put to vote. Hockey Canadas annual meeting will wrap up Saturday in Ottawa and its believed the much anticipated vote to adjust the ages for levels between atom and midget will be tabled for at least another year for further study. HockeyNL proposed an age change that would see all levels from Atom to Midget shift by one year. For example, a player in his second year of Bantam this season would play a third year of Bantam next season to realign the age brackets to where they were prior to change in 2001. HockeyNL reportedly says it is seeing a significant number of 15-year-olds dropping out in the current system which is jeopardizing its Midget programs. (HockeyNL proposal) Atom: current age 9-10 would change to 10-11. Pee Wee: current age 11-12 would change to 12-13. Bantam: current age 13-14 would change to 14-15. Midget: current age 15-17 would change to 16-17. While this proposal has been on the table for months, few outside of federation offices and governing minor hockey associations knew the details of exactly what was to be voted on in Ottawa on Saturday. Hopefully, by opting for further study, local associations as well as parents can get up to speed on the particulars of the plan and potential impact on their teams. TSN will be in sunny Boca Raton, Florida next week for the NHLs Board of Governors meetings. Tune in for Insider Trading on Tuesday on Sportscentre and TSN.ca. ' ' '