All Paul | Pirates 4 Cardinals 3

Xavier Paul didn't play the first 9 innings of today's game, but he did 9 innings of work in the 10th and basically won the Pirates a ball game.

He entered the game to play left field in the top of the 10th and made 2 put outs, including one on a ball hit to the warning track by Matt Holliday. After that, he was due up 2nd in the bottom of the inning. Paul hit a 2-hopper to first baseman Albert Pujols, who gloved it on the fringe of the outfield grass and lazily tossed it to the pitcher covering. Paul was running as hard as he could the whole way down the line and managed to get the safe call at first, shocking everybody.

"I was just runnin' hard 90, you know?" said Paul in a post game interview.

After the infield single, Paul took off and stole 2nd and then advanced to 3rd when the throw skipped into centerfield. After that it was easy. Chase d'Arnaud hit a marginal fly ball to center, and Colby Rasmus made a bad throw and the Pirates had their 52nd win of the year.

It's not often you see speed and hustle like we saw from Paul today. He hasn't got much playing time at all recently, and is definitely near the top of the list in terms of players on their way out the door when our regulars start coming back from injury, but efforts like today will certainly make it hard for the team to give him up. He's a hard-nosed player and will do anything to help this team win, even if it means sitting on the bench of the first 9 innings of a game. Incredible stuff from the new x-man.

More unlikely heroes emerged today, as Ronny Cedeon and Eric Fryer were the key contributors in getting the first 3 runs of the day. They both had 2 hits and scored 3 runs between them. They also made some big plays defensively, none bigger than Fryer picking Gerald Laird off of 2nd base in the 8th inning right before a David Freese single that would have put the Cardinals on top again.

The Pirates scored 4 runs on 7 hits, and had 3 extra base hits. All 3 of those hits were doubles, two from Cedeno and one from d'Arnaud.

Charlie Morton was shaky all afternoon but pitched well enough to keep the team in the game. He went 5.1 innings and surrendered 3 runs (all earned) on 6 hits while walking 5. A handful of walks is a lot to overcome, but Morton made some big pitches when it meant the most. The bullpen did a great job as well. Jason Grilli went 1.2 scoreless innings giving up 1 hit and striking out 2, and after him Chris Resop, Joel Hanrahan, and Joe Beimel pitched scoreless innings. The zero Beimel put up ended up earning him his first win since 2003.

The Pirates escape this series with a win and finish the homestand at 3-3. The offense is still a major concern, and Pedro Alvarez continues to mash the ball in AAA. More news to come on that later, I am sure.

Tomorrow the Pirates start a 4-game set with the Atlanta Braves, who have a very impressive pitching staff which will be seeing the best of. In addition to being shown on ROOT Sports, the game is on ESPN tomorrow night, although it may be blacked out in Pittsburgh. It's my man James McDonald facing Tim Hudson. Check back here for pre-game notes and the liveblog.