Stanley Cup-winning Kings or the defending

CHICAGO -- Once again, the Cardinals relied on Matt Adams clutch bat. Adams drove in four runs, A.J. Pierzynski had three hits in his St. Louis debut and the Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 6-3 on Saturday to stop a four-game skid. Adams doubled sharply in the first inning, a one-hopper that bounced past first baseman Anthony Rizzo and into right field to score two runs. Adams two-run triple with two outs in the seventh made it 5-2. "He was our guy today," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "If you look at when we started to gain some traction in our division, its when Matt started to go. Not to put the pressure on him, but he was the guy at the time and hes continued to do that, to step up big for us." Helping out Adams was the 37-year-old Pierzynski, who signed with the Cardinals on Saturday, 10 days after he was released by Boston. St. Louis had been looking for a steady presence behind the plate since All-Star catcher Yadier Molina tore a ligament in his right thumb July 9. Molina had surgery two days later and is expected to miss eight to 12 weeks. "That was pretty much a cram session for A.J. there," Matheny said. "He did a nice job coming in, obviously making an impact with the bat, but I felt like he had a nice feel for what Shelby (Miller) was doing." Miller returned to the Cardinals rotation and pitched effectively into the sixth inning. The young right-hander began the game with three perfect innings and retired 16 of his first 18 batters. In his first start since being removed from the rotation July 10, Miller allowed two runs and three hits in 5 2-3 innings. He had given up at least three runs in his previous five starts. Randy Choate (2-2) got the last out of the sixth. Trevor Rosenthal worked around two hits in a scoreless ninth, earning his 31st save in 35 tries. "When you get in a groove and youre feeling pretty good, in a rhythm, you just keep going," Miller said. "Thats kind of what I felt like I did today." Nate Schierholtz hit a solo shot for the Cubs in the sixth, tying it at 2. It was Schierholtzs fourth career pinch-hit homer. Rizzo drove in a run with a groundout in the fourth. Cubs starter Jake Arrieta settled in after the two-run first inning, allowing just three baserunners the rest of the way. He thwarted Cardinals threats in the fourth and fifth, and a diving catch by left fielder Chris Coughlan helped Arrieta escape the sixth. "He did it with not his best stuff, but he was still pretty effective," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said. "That performance was probably indicative of how much hes grown." With Arrieta out of the game, the Cardinals pulled back ahead in the seventh, scoring four runs against reliever James Russell (0-2). Jon Jay hit a leadoff single, advanced on a sacrifice and stole third before scoring the tiebreaking run on Matt Carpenters grounder. Russells four earned runs allowed marked his worst outing since July 21, 2012, when he gave up six, also against the Cardinals. Ryan Sweeney hit a leadoff homer against Pat Neshek in the eighth, his third home run of the season and second this series. NOTES: Adams had only four RBIs in his previous 23 games against the Cubs. ... Pierzynski, who batted sixth for the Cardinals, was booed loudly by the Wrigley Field crowd during his first at-bat. Pierzynski played seven seasons on the south side of Chicago for the White Sox. ... The Cubs optioned RHP Neil Ramirez to Triple-A Iowa and recalled RHP Blake Parker. The 25-year-old Ramirez has a 0.96 ERA in 33 appearances this season. Renteria indicated the move was made to give Ramirez a rest and was not based on performance. ... Rizzo went 0 for 4, ending his 10-game hitting streak. ... Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright (12-5, 2.02 ERA) pitches the series finale Sunday against Kyle Hendricks (1-0, 2.77), who will make his third big league start. Jarius Wright Jersey . The day began ominously for the Rangers when star pitcher Yu Darvish was scratched from his scheduled start with stiffness in his neck. Fill-in Scott Baker gave up three hits over six innings and Chris Gimenez hit a tiebreaking two-out RBI single in the sixth off Phil Hughes. Stephen Curry Jersey . -- Navy football player Will McKamey, who has been hospitalized since collapsing at practice three days ago, has died while in a coma. http://www.officialcarolinapanthersfootb...n-jersey-womens. The Spanish champions decision not to sign a defender during the January transfer window may have backfired after Valencia took advantage of a lethargic, uninspired effort by its hosts at the Camp Nou, where former Spain coach Luis Aragones -- who previously coached the Catalan side -- was honoured after his death on Saturday. Julius Peppers Jersey .Leicester won 25-21 in a heated European Rugby Champions Cup group match on Sunday.Toulon said on its website on Wednesday that it decided to open an investigation after Leicester complained about the behaviour of prop Martin Castrogiovanni and fullback Delon Armitage. Rashaan Gaulden Jersey . They were right in that they responded to coach Randy Carlyles goaltending switch to erase a two-goal deficit.GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Henrik Lundqvist had his game-day face on at practice. He still smiled and answered all the questions thrown at him Monday about the Los Angeles Kings -- the New York Rangers long-awaited opponent in the Stanley Cup finals. "Exciting. Long flight," the star goalie said Monday before he and his teammates headed to California for New Yorks first appearance in the finals since winning the title in 1994. "East Coast-West Coast. Ill look forward to this matchup." If there wasnt already enough pressure on Lundqvist to lead his team to the championship, he is now part of the hype machine heading into Game 1 on Wednesday. Headlines are screaming: "King Henrik vs. the Kings." "Clever," he said with a slight laugh. The Rangers have been waiting since Thursday to find out if they would face the 2012 Stanley Cup-winning Kings or the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks in the finals. They took two days off before returning to practice on Sunday. Most of the players said they watched at least part of Los Angeles third road Game 7 win of this playoff year that night. So practice on Monday had a bit more focus for the Rangers as they knew exactly who was standing in their way next. "Any team you play at this time of year is a good hockey team, especially a team that has kind of been around the playoffs and the Stanley Cup finals a couple of times in the last few years," forward Derek Stepan said. "This is a very good hockey club, We have a tough challenge in front of us." The Kings returned to Los Angeles after their 5-4 come-from-behind overtime win at Chicago and took Monday off. They have played a record 21 playoff games before the finals -- one more than the Rangers, who eliminated the Montreal Canadiens in six games during the Eastern Conference finals. Before this year, no team that played seven games in each of the first two rounds had reached the finals. Now, both clubs have done it. The Kings taking it a step further with a trio of seven-game series. "When you knew you were playing L.A., the adrenaline started coming a little bit more," Lundqvist said. "Youve been thinking about this ever since you beat Montreal, but now knowing were going to L.A., it was easier to focus on whats coming. "You just try to now come back to the focus and mindset you had last week. Its been nice to get a little break heree and get away from it a little bit because its been that intense.dddddddddddd" Both teams will be back to the grind on Tuesday for media day, leading up to the opener the following night. The Rangers and Kings split two games during the regular season -- with each team winning in the other clubs building -- but they havent seen each other since Los Angeles 1-0 victory at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 17. New York opened with a five-game Western road trip as final renovations were being made at the Garden. Its only win during that stretch was a 3-1 victory at Los Angeles on Oct. 7 -- a 28-save performance by Lundqvist. "Great goaltending. Great defence. Great forwards. Great special teams," Kings coach Darryl Sutter provided as a quick scouting report on the Rangers. "Were up against it again." The Rangers know that many, if not most, in the hockey world arent giving them much of a chance to win the Cup. They neither mind nor embrace the role of underdog. They have heard it before, and have just gone about their business. "When you get into the NHL, you know how hard it is to win," forward Brad Richards said. "The underdog thing and the favourite thing really doesnt mean anything in the locker room. You have to go out and play." New York needed seven games to get past division rival Philadelphia in the first round. The Rangers werent expected to beat Pittsburgh from the start, and certainly not after they fell into a 3-1 series deficit. Montreal was coming off a stirring seven-game victory over defending Eastern Conference champion Boston, so odds makers favoured the Canadiens in their matchup against New York, too. But here the Rangers are as the last team standing. "To put it quite simply, were up against the team that won the Stanley Cup two years ago that just beat the defending Stanley Cup champions, that without a doubt is battle-tested," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "We know exactly what we have to do. If we want to have a chance, were going to have to bring our best hockey of the year. Its as simple as that. "Weve had a couple of good practices, were going to have another good one tomorrow, and were going to be ready come Wednesday." He added one more thing as he left the media interview tent while wearing his sandals, to go prepare for a cross-country flight. "Bring your shorts," he said. 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