The Sports Monitor

The Pirates got some good news in their pennant chase Friday night. First, they beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, a team that's trying to be a wild-card contender. Second, the Cardinals lost to the Cubbies, giving the Pirates a three-game lead in the NL Central. Finally, the surging Reds blew a lead in the ninth and lost. That's a better feeling than after Starling Marte's dropped fly ball.

Pirates Nation can breathe a sigh of relief. Francisco Liriano erased the bad memories of Tuesday night's loss to the Cardinals with a complete-game gem Wednesday night. Liriano needed just 94 pitches to turn back the Cards in a 5-1 win. It was enough to forget Starling Marte's blunder in the ninth last night. Marte furthered his redemption with a two-run double to give the Pirates a 5-0 lead. The Pirates got a boost before Marte with homers from Garrett Jones and Pedro Alvarez. It's a big win to ease worries about any potential collapse. It was another superb start from Liriano. The Bucs now lead the Cards by three games in the NL Central and the Reds by 3.5 games.

Do you believe the Pirates are jinxed? That thought has to be going through Bucco fans' minds after Tuesday night's 4-3 loss in 14 innings to the Cardinals. That's the Pirates' fourth loss in a row. The Pirates had the game locked up when Starling Marte got lazy and dropped a lazy fly to left. It would have been the second out of the ninth inning. The Cardinals tied it, thanks to Marte's error, and won it in the 14th, thanks in part to the Pirates' inability to score Andrew McCutchen from third base with no outs. In the 14th, Clint Barmes couldn't handle a grounder by John Jay, who scored the winning run. The Cards are now just two games behind the Pirates in the National League Central. Let's get back to being jinxed. You have to think that after going through the last two seasons. It's hard to fathom the Pirates not getting to 82 wins this season. After what's happened so far, just a winning season won't cut it. The

Andrew Lambo will be in a Pirates uniform tonight. Will he start? He should. And if he does, what do you think he'll do against the Cardinals' Adam Wainwright (13-7, 2.66 ERA). I'm guessing an 0-for-4 night with two strikeouts. Not better than what we've seen in the outfield. But then again, the Bucs will be facing Wainwright. At least Lambo, who strikes out a lot, offers a power threat that's been missing.

Did Sidney Crosby get special treatment while renewing his driver's license? I don't care either way. I don't expect the Penguins to admit their superstar got bumped to the front of the line. And I wouldn't expect the DMV to keep Crosby waiting in line for an extended period of time. Yeah, it would stink to be there for an hour and see Crosby walk up and go to the front of the line. But can you imagine the problems that would arise if Crosby waited, while everyone hit social media to say where Crosby was?

James Harrison's game might have slipped, but his mouth sure hasn't. Harrison told reporters Monday that HBO's "Hard Knocks" shouldn't be at Bengals training camp. "I don't feel they deserve to be here. They did nothing to be here other than they want to be here. They didn't put no blood, sweat and tears into of this." Gotta hand it to Harrison, he still knows how to create a stir. It remains to be seen how much of a stir he can cause on the field. It also remains to be seen how he'll adapt to playing for the Bengals. He probably should worry more about that. But he sure is entertaining.

The Pittsburgh Pirates need an power-hitting outfielder. They didn't trade for one. Instead, they'll promote one. The long-awaited call-up of Andrew Lambo will happen Tuesday. Lambo has hit 31 home runs in Class AA and AAA this season. He also strikes out a lot and doesn't walk much, which probably is why it's taken so long for him to get his promotion. We'll see how he does. It can't be much worse than what they've been putting out there.