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PITTSBURGH -- For his first start with the Pirates, Edinson Volquez beat Adam Wainwright. Thatll do nicely as an early return on that off-season contract he signed with the Pirates. Tony Sanchez hit a tiebreaking RBI double in the seventh inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 on Sunday. Singed to a one-year, $5 million contract as a free agent in December, Volquez was sharp in his first start for the Pirates as he gave up one run and three hits in 5 2-3 innings with one walk and four strikeouts. That came after Volquez pitched two scoreless innings of relief Thursday against the Chicago Cubs. "What you saw was fastball command with downhill angle, big-time spin and tilt on the breaking ball, a good changeup and getting ahead with good pitches," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "He pitched a gem." Volquez got a standing ovation when he walked off the mound. "I think I did a great job and the fans appreciated what I did," Volquez said. "I just wanted to keep making another good pitch, keep the ball down and get them to hit the ball on the ground. All my pitches were there." Sanchezs double to deep centre field with two outs came off Wainwright (1-1) and snapped a 1-1 tie. "Im still nervous playing up here," Sanchez said. "My heart is racing. My head is spinning. It feels like the game is going 1,000 mph. So, its nice to be able to get some big hits." The hit by the rookie reserve catcher scored Pedro Alvarez, who led off the inning with a walk, and was Sanchezs second winning hit of the week as he singled home the winning run in the 16th inning of Wednesday nights victory over the Chicago Cubs. "I cant let what happen in the seventh inning happen, especially in a close game, a rivalry game like this," Wainwright said. "I walked the leadoff man then left a ball out over the plate with two outs and Sanchez took a good swing at it. You cant do that." Tony Watson (1-0) retired all four batters he faced, striking out three, and ran his string of consecutive scoreless innings to 24, dating to last season. Jason Grilli pitched a scoreless ninth to convert his first save. St. Louis managed just three hits. Singed to a one-year, $5 million contract as a free agent in December, Volquez was sharp in his first start for the Pirates as he gave up one run and three hits in 5 2-3 innings with one walk and four strikeouts. That came after Volquez pitched two scoreless innings of relief Thursday against the Chicago Cubs. Volquezs 5.71 ERA last season with the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers was the highest among the 81 pitchers who qualified for the ERA title. He also allowed 15 runs in 13 innings in exhibition games this spring. Wainwright went seven innings and allowed two runs and five hits after pitching seven scoreless innings in his first start of the season at Cincinnati in Mondays opener. He struck out seven and walked two. The Pirates opened the scoring in the fourth inning when Andrew McCutchen doubled with one out and scored on Neil Walkers two-out double. An RBI triple by the Cardinals Jon Jay in the sixth tied the score at 1-1 and chased Volquez. NOTES: St. Louis CF Peter Bourjos, who is off to a 0-for-13 start with his new team, got the day off. Jay started in his place. The Cardinals acquired Bourjos from the Los Angeles Angels in an off-season trade. ... RHP Jameson Taillon, Pittsburghs top pitching prospect, will undergo Tommy John surgery by David Altcheck in New York and hell miss 12 to 18 months. ... The Cardinals play their home opener Monday against the Cincinnati Reds with RHP Michael Wacha (0-0, 0.00) facing LHP Tony Cingrani (0-0, 0.00). ... The Pirates are off Monday then open a three-game series Tuesday night at Chicago with RHP Charlie Morton (0-0, 0.00) pitching against Cubs RHP Edwin Jackson (0-0, 1.29). Custom Texas Rangers Nike Jerseys . 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Nat Borchers headed in the sole goal in the 54th minute, getting on the end of a Kyle Beckerman free kick. The defeat cost Sporting top spot in the Eastern Conference. Even a draw would have moved the Kansas City club above Columbus.CHICAGO -- As their win total plummeted last season, one thing remained steady for the Chicago White Sox -- their faith in Robin Ventura. The White Sox rewarded their manager with a multi-year contract extension Friday, announcing the move hours before their annual fan convention opened. The terms were not disclosed. The extension comes after the White Sox dropped from second in the AL Central in Venturas first season to last with 99 losses in his second year. "You lose 99 games, there are going to be questions like that, about where this organizations headed and why they think the people in charge are the right people to get them through their end goal," general manager Rick Hahn said. "I would say we saw in 2012 and 2013 two extremes in terms of being a first-place club and being a club that was a disappointed in terms of performance. Throughout each of those extremes, Robins leadership was unwavering." Venturas contract was set to expire after this year. He turned down an extension before the 2013 season, leading to speculation that he might not want to stick around much longer, but he insisted that wasnt the case. He wanted to give Hahn -- then in his first season as GM -- a chance to work with him before making a long-term commitment. "I just felt it was important for Rick to have a full year of doing the job, us working together," Ventura said. "Then, you have the ability and freedom to decide if Im the right guy for the job. Nothing really changed in my mind of where I want to be and what I want to do. Its just more of it being his first time going through, I just wanted to make sure he had the ability and the freedom to do that. Now with the way last year went, the off-season, a lot of communication, a lot of talks of where were headed, how were going to do it -- Im excited to just keep going." Hahn, who got bumped up from assistant GM in October 2012 to replace the promoted Ken Williams, called it a selfless act by Ventura. "(It) allowed me the latitude to get comfortable," Hahn said. "It speaks to what kind of good man he is and actuallly makes a decision like this all the easier because of it.dddddddddddd" A former All-Star third baseman, Ventura had never managed at any level when he replaced Ozzie Guillen. And the results his first season were promising. The White Sox led the Central for much of 2012 before finishing second to Detroit with 85 wins, but there was a huge drop-off last year. Chicago wound up last in the division at 63-99, giving Ventura a 148-176 mark in two seasons. The White Sox hit just .249 as a team and their home run total dropped from third in the majors at 211 to 19th at 148. With little speed, there was no way to make up for the drop in power, and compounding the problem was the poor play on defence. They went from leading the majors in fielding percentage to ranking 29th, with Alexei Ramirez committing 22 errors and tying the Cubs Starlin Castro for the major league lead among shortstops. "Its imperative that we show improvement," Hahn said. "Its imperative that we show growth, especially on the position player side. We feel we have the ability to contend. But the most important thing for us is going to be allowing these young guys room to grow." Venturas steady hand, his ability to relate, came up over and over on Friday. Its why the White Sox believe he is the right manager, particularly on a team with some key young players. They signed Cuban slugger Jose Abreu to a six-year, $68 million contract, hoping he can add pop. Theyll have a full year with outfielder Avisail Garcia after acquiring him from Detroit in the midseason deal that sent Jake Peavy to Boston, too. Theyve added some youth, athleticism, to their lineup. They believe they have enough pitching to compete with Chris Sale leading the rotation, even if they didnt land Japanese star Masahiro Tanaka. And they insist Venturas the man to lead them. "He just doesnt miss on how to handle guys," longtime star Paul Konerko said. "Hes stern with them, he gets his point across. But for a team of this makeup, Robin is such a good fit. Im glad he would want to stay." ' ' '