bed one back but Andujar did well to tip Alessandro Diamantis free kick onto the crossbar. The rebound was

ST. LOUIS -- After rookie Martin Perez silenced the St. Louis Cardinals, his manager was non-stop with praise. "Ive always seen the stuff, but tonight was the first time I think he showed hes a big-league pitcher," Ron Washington said after the Texas Rangers 4-2 victory Saturday night. "It can be a huge step, he just beat a pretty good team. "He should be proud. I know we are." Nelson Cruz got the decisive hit for the second straight game with a two-run homer in the third inning for the Rangers, who have won four of five after losing six in a row. Fellow rookie Shelby Miller (8-5) allowed two homers for the second time in three starts and didnt make it out of the sixth against the team the Cardinals beat in the 2011 World Series, Texas was making its first regular-season visit to Busch Stadium. "Im not saying that if I make a better pitch I get them out, but both pitches were right down the middle, perfect pitches to hit," Miller said. "The first one was supposed to be in and the other one was supposed to be away, and both kind of ended up right down the middle of the plate." A.J. Pierzynski also hit a two-run homer for Texas, which goes for a three-game sweep on Sunday night with Nick Tepesch (3-6, 4.84) facing Adam Wainwright (10-4, 2.37). The first two games have been sellouts and the finale was supposed to be a matchup of aces, but the Rangers are saving Yu Darvish for the Yankees Tuesday in New York. They didnt want Perez to come up in New York, either. Perez (1-1) was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock where he was 5-1 with a 1.75 ERA. The lefty allowed a run in each of the first two innings but gave up just two hits the next five innings and retired the last 10. Though perhaps the Rangers top prospect, Perez entered 1-5 with a 5.40 ERA with seven starts. "I just had to do the same job Im doing at Triple-A," Perez said. "The first two innings I missed a couple pitches but after that I just said OK, this is my game." Joe Nathan wrapped up a game that had all of the scoring in the first three innings with a perfect ninth for his 24th save in 25 chances. The start of the game was delayed by rain 66 minutes. It was the second such delay this week. Earlier Saturday, Washington said he felt good about Cruzs tiebreaking two-run single in the ninth on Friday because the Rangers need wins, and not because Cruz needed redemption. The Rangers were an out away from taking the 11 Series when Cruz misplayed David Freeses game-tying triple in Game 6. Cruz snapped a 2-2 third-inning tie with a two-run homer, his 19th of the season to the opposite field in right. He also singled and has four hits and five RBIs the first two games of the series. Miller departed after bouncing a throw to first on a sacrifice bunt by Perez that loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth. Fellow rookie Seth Maness got Ian Kinsler on a groundout to end the sixth. Miller is 3-2 this month, the other loss coming when he gave up two homers and four runs on the road against the Mets. Manager Mike Matheny couldnt find fault with pitches that the right-hander left up. "He lives there, thats where his success is, so thats one of those two-edged swords," Matheny said. "Most of the guys in the league have a tough time catching up to him. You dont see many guys that see him the first time able to square balls up the first pitch they see on the top of the zone." The Cardinals have opened the scoring both games and took the lead on Allen Craigs RBI single in the first with Carlos Beltran just beating the relay to the plate from centre fielder Leonys Martin. The Rangers answered when Adrian Beltre doubled to open the second and Pierzynski lined the next pitch into the right field seats for his seventh homer. The Cardinals tied it in the bottom half when Freese tripled off the top of the wall in right-centre and scored on Shane Robinsons sacrifice fly. NOTES: St. Louis Rams general manager Les Snead threw the ceremonial first pitch. ... Tepesch is 0-2 with a 9.77 ERA in his last three starts, and Washington said he needs to develop trust in all of his pitches. ... Wainwright has worked at least seven innings six straight starts, going 5-1. ... Cardinals RHP Michael Blazek made his major league debut and struck out two in a perfect ninth. ... Yadier Molina was 0 for 4 to end a seven-game hitting streak, dropping his league-leading average to .366. He batted .423 (11 for 26) during the streak. ... Craig has 21 RBIs this month, his best month ever. ... Cruz has 11 RBIs the last six games with a .400 average (10 for 25). Larry Bird Jersey Large .ca! Kerry, Two nights after the Scott-Eriksson incident in Buffalo, the Bruins returned home to play San Jose. In that game, Zdeno Chara put a check on Tommy Wingels that clearly targeted his head. Custom Reggie Lewis Jersey . LOUIS -- Mike Smith is used to facing plenty of shots, so this was nothing new. http://www.customcelticsjersey.com/ . -- There were a lot of firsts for the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. Custom Walter Brown Jersey .ca. Kerry, Just watched the shootout in the Coyotes/Leafs game and I have to ask, why was the James van Riemsdyk goal allowed to count? All of the video replays we were shown on TV were inconclusive about whether the puck had entirely crossed the line or not. Custom Larry Bird Jersey . Then the Pacers gave Oladipo and his Orlando teammates the cold shoulder. Paul Georges buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter spurred a 21-4 run, finally sending Indiana past the Magic 97-87 in a tougher-than-expected opening night matchup.ROME -- An Argentina side without Lionel Messi beat Italy 2-1 Wednesday in a friendly match honouring Pope Francis. Gonzalo Higuain put Argentina in front in the 20th minute and substitute Ever Banega doubled its lead four minutes into the second half before Lorenzo Insigne pulled one back with his first goal for Italy in the 76th minute. Higuain, Napolis new signing, was one of several Argentina players currently in Serie A. Pope Francis is an avid football fan, who comes from Argentina. He met the teams in the Apostolic Palace on Tuesday. AC Milan and Italy striker Mario Balotelli missed the match with an injury. Both he and Messi returned to their respective clubs Tuesday night. The last time the teams met was in 2001 -- also a friendly in Rome that Argentina won 2-1. Before that, Diego Maradonas Argentina eliminated host Italy from the 1990 World Cup on penalties in a semifinal in Naples. "We met a team of great quality, one of the best in the world," Italy coach Cesare Prandelli said. "We made mistakes coming out of defence and started badly, but then we did well. "We lacked that grit and finish around the penalty area, but the team did well. Honor to Argentina, it is a very strong side." The match was also used to promote peace and camaraderie in sport and to that end both teams had been staying at the same hotel and had travelled to the Stadio Olimpico together. Italy captain Gianluigi Buffon and his Argentina counterpart Javier Mascherano also planted an olive tree in a temporary pot after the national anthems, as a sign of unity. The tree will be kept in the Vatican gardens. All that had little impact on the teams competitiveness on the pitch, as the match was fast-paced right from kickoff. Italy had a good chance early on as Daniele De Rossi collected the ball in his own penalty area and dribbled downfield before lifting an accurate long ball to release Pablo Osvaldo. However, Argentina goalkeeper Mariano Andujar rushed out to clear the danger. It was Osvaldos first match back since being kicked out of the Confederations Cup squad for insulting his club coach at Roma -- a breach of Prandellis strict code of ethics. The Roma striker was born in Buenos Aires. Argentina went even closer twoo minutes later as Higuain raced into the area but Giorgio Chiellini got in a perfectly timed tackle to clear the ball for a corner before the former Real Madrid player could unleash a shot.dddddddddddd Chiellini, who was celebrating his 29th birthday, also headed the resulting corner out to safety. Argentina took the lead after Italy lost the ball in midfield and Erik Lamela picked out Higuain, who was given too much space in the box by De Rossi and Verratti and he curled a shot into the right hand side of goal. Italy started looking more dangerous, especially down the right flank, and almost took the lead in the 39th minute. Antonio Candreva put in yet another cross from the right, but Claudio Marchisio -- seemingly surprised to find himself completely unmarked -- failed to connect from a meter out. Argentina should have doubled its lead on the stroke of halftime when Rodrigo Palacio slid in, in front of an empty net, but didnt connect properly with Angel Di Marias cross and blazed the ball over the crossbar from close range. Argentina did so shortly after the restart. Higuain rolled the ball across to an unmarked Banega following a swift counter attack, and the halftime substitute drilled a low shot into the bottom left corner. Argentina could have extended its lead in the 56th minute when Palacios ball was parried by Federico Marchetti -- who had come on for Buffon moments earlier -- but only as far as Higuain. However, Marchetti got back up swiftly to palm away his effort and De Rossi cleared the danger. Italy almost grabbed one back but Andujar did well to tip Alessandro Diamantis free kick onto the crossbar. The rebound was eventually bundled into the net by Candreva, but he was clearly offside. The hosts did reduce the deficit in stunning fashion. Osvaldo touched the ball onto Insigne and, with his first touch, the 22-year-old lifted the ball perfectly into the top right corner from 25 yards. It was Inisgnes second game for Italy. "It was a wonderful sensation to score," Insigne said. "I always try those shots and it went well tonight. "It was a wonderful feeling to meet the pope, I got goosebumps because it doesnt happen every day. I still need to fully realize it happened." ' ' '