ece was on the wrong end of a 3-0 rout to Colom

PITTSBURGH -- There used to be a time -- any year really between 1993-2012 -- when reaching 81 wins would be cause for celebration for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Not anymore. These days the certainty of a non-losing season is nothing more than a speed bump on Pittsburghs resilient quest for a playoff berth. Gregory Polanco, Neil Walker and Ike Davis all homered and the Pirates beat the Boston Red Sox 9-1 on Wednesday night to maintain their grip on the second National League wild card spot. Polanco and Walker hit solo shots off Boston starter Clay Buchholz (8-9) and Davis drilled a three-run blast to centre off reliever Steven Wright. The Pirates have won 10 of 12 and improved to a season-high 11 games over .500 (81-70). Pittsburgh moved 2.5 games clear of Milwaukee in its race for a second straight post-season bid after the Brewers fell to St. Louis. "We got some good pitches to hit and didnt miss them," manager Clint Hurdle said. "Fun to watch those guys work in the box." Francisco Liriano (6-10) won his third straight decision, allowing one run in six innings. The left-hander worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning and has now given up two runs or less in 11 of his 12 starts since the All-Star break, looking like the pitcher who won 16 games in 2013 than the one that struggled with his command and his health during a rocky first half to 2014. "It was a battle for me today, just trying to execute pitches, make good pitches," Liriano said. "I got a couple little plays and just a tough night location-wise but Ill take it." Boston rookie centerfielder Rusney Castillo went 1 for 4 in his major league debut. The Cuban defector signed a seven-year, $72.5 million deal with the Red Sox last month. Boston has lost three of four. "Obviously Id like a better outcome in terms of winning the game," Castillo said. "But I was pretty satisfied with my overall approach and the way I stepped in today." Castillos arrival in the Red Sox clubhouse on Wednesday afternoon ended a quick tour of the teams minor league system. He made stops at three different levels before coming up to Boston to stay. While manager John Farrell stressed the final games of an otherwise lost season are simply a chance for Castillo to "get acclimated" to life in the big leagues, the 27-year-old believes it wont take long for him to get up to speed. He provided a brief glimpse of whats to come in the fourth when he ripped a sharp grounder to second that Walker couldnt handle for his first major league hit. "Ill sign it and keep it in my house somewhere," Castillo said with a smile. While Castillo is a part of Bostons long-term future, the present belongs to the Pirates. Polanco wasted little time drumming Buchholz, who hadnt given up a homer in his last 36 innings. There was no chance to make it 37 after Polanco drilled a Buchholz fastball into the seats in right for his seventh homer of the season and first since Aug. 10. The lead ballooned to 4-0 in the second behind a two-run double by Clint Barmes. Walker golfed a Buchholz pitch into the first row of seats in right for his 21st homer of the season in the third, extending his record for most home runs in a season by a Pittsburgh second baseman. TRAINERS ROOM Red Sox: 2B Brock Holt, out with a concussion since Aug. 25, is scheduled to meet with concussion specialist Micky Collins on Thursday. Farrell said Holt is doing daily vision exercises and running on a treadmill but has not started baseball related activities. Pirates: RHP Charlie Morton reported no issues a day after pitching five shutout innings in his first start in a month due to a hernia issue. Manager Clint Hurdle said hes still hasnt made a decision on who will start when Mortons turn in the rotation comes up again on Sunday against Milwaukee. UP NEXT Red Sox: Brandon Workman (1-9) will try to end a nine-game losing streak when he makes his 15th start of the season. Workmans only victory of the season came on June 10 against Baltimore. His ERA is a season-high 5.27 after giving up five earned runs in three innings of a 10-6 loss to Baltimore last week. Pirates: Gerrit Cole (9-5) goes for his third straight victory. The 24-year-old struck out six and walked one while working six innings in a 7-3 victory over Chicago in his previous start. Cheap Minnesota Vikings Jerseys . Colorado came up big against Chicago last spring, and repeated that performance Tuesday night. Varlamov stopped 36 shots and Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche in a 5-1 victory over the Blackhawks. China Jerseys .Y. -- Syracuses streak lives on -- barely. http://www.cheapjerseyschinanfl.com/.Steamboat Ski Resort contends Steamboat Springs, Colorado has long been known as Ski Town, U.S.A., and claims in a new lawsuit that Salt Lake tourism officials violated their trademark when they rolled out the Ski City marketing campaign last month. Cheap Super Bowl Jerseys . Greece was on the wrong end of a 3-0 rout to Colombia in its first game of the tournament. They surrendered a goal in just the sixth minute of the contest, and despite some promising attacking play, failed to crawl back into the match. Japan, on the other hand, struck first in its match with Ivory Coast, with Keisuke Honda putting his side into the lead in the 16th minute. Cheap NBA Jerseys . At least 90 players who had college eligibility remaining are expected to enter the draft, shattering last years record number of 73. "Its a humongous number, so the first reaction is it makes you step back a little bit," said NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah, a former scout with the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles.XALAPA, Mexico -- Shona Thorburn scored 15 points to lead Canadas womens basketball team to its second straight lopsided victory at the FIBA Americas Championship, a 93-51 rout of Chile on Monday. The easy back-to-back wins, said Thorburn, have provided the perfect opportunity for the team to gel before the games get tough. "Its the first time these 12 players have played together this summer, so these few easy games have been very beneficial for us," said Thorburn, who was sidelined for most of the summer with a foot injury. "Weve taken them as a learning experience, getting to know each other, the last two games weve been able to work on zone offence because they played zone on us, so I think its helped us. "I think the plan is to be peaking in that final game." Kim Gaucher (formerly Kim Smith) finished with 11 points, and a team-high six rebounds and three steals, while Justine Colley also had 11 points. The Canadians, who cruised by Jamaica 75-37 in their opener on Sunday, are tied with Cuba atop Group A. They had their way with Chile, racing out to a 28-10 lead after one quarter and taking a 49-19 advantage into the dressing room at halftime. Canada led 66-41 with a quarter left to play. Coach Lisa Thomaidis said there is a danger in opening the tournament with easy wins. "Theres always that fear when you havent been tested yet," Thomaidis said. "But its really about us right now, and really challenging ourselves to keep raising the level of our play. Certainly as long as we keep holding ourselves to those high standards, I think regardless of the opponent were still going to be on track. "The way the tournament is set up, I think teams are going to be progressively tougher for us to face, so its very good lead-in for us to play thoose tougher opponents having these few games under our belt.dddddddddddd" As Canadas veterans, Thorburn said she and Gaucher -- who had originally planned on retiring after the 2012 London Olympics but had a change of heart -- said their job has been to keep everyone focused through these two easy games. "This is the Americas, people are coming out to get you," Thorburn said. "We play aggressive basketball down here compared to anywhere else in the world. Every team does, thats just how it is down there. "So its just keeping people focused for 40 minutes. Usually in the past, were good at playing 35 minutes, but the game is 40 minutes long and its kind of keeping people focused that long. I think Kim and I bring that, we bring a competitive edge, and every practice, every shootaround, every game, we go hard. "We want to get better and I think we have brought that to this team and they understand thats the way its going to be." The lopsided games have given Thomaidis the chance to rest some key players and get everyone involved. "Were playing six games in seven days, and four games in a row without a break," Thomaidis said. "Thats taxing. Its a very physical game, the international game, and its really important that we keep people fresh and were not playing them long minutes in the first few games because were going to need them down the road here." The Canadians face Venezuela on Tuesday, then wrap up round-robin play versus Cuba on Wednesday. Chile, with previous losses to Venezuela and Cuba, dropped to 0-3 on the tournament. Canada needs to finish in the top three in order to qualify for the 2014 FIBA world championship. The Canadian women have appeared in the previous two world tournaments, in 2006 and 2010. ' ' '