PITTSBURGH -- A strike away from ending his teams longest losing streak in two years, Pittsburgh Pirates closer Tony Watson tried to get St. Louis pinch-hitter Matt Carpenter to chase a fastball up and away.Instead, Watsons fastball went right down the middle. Whatever chance the Pirates might have of reviving their playoff hopes may have gone along with it.Carpenter drilled a solo shot to tie the game with two outs in the ninth and Randal Grichuk and Jhonny Peralta followed with homers of their own as the Cardinals rallied for a 9-7 win.The Pirates have dropped eight straight and fell 5 1/2 games behind St. Louis in the race for the second wild card in the National League.To serve up four late, its hard to swallow, Watson said after blowing his third save since inheriting the closers role when Mark Melancon was sent to Washington at the trade deadline.Pittsburgh had scrambled back from an early 5-0 hole to move in front with a four-run fifth inning that included Jordy Mercers two-run double to left. The bullpen kept the Cardinals in check and Watson quickly retired the first two hitters in the ninth and had Carpenter -- who came in 2 for 17 against Watson -- down 0-2 before everything changed.Matt Carpenter is a really good hitter, faced him a number of times, Watson said. Thought I could get it. Couldnt locate the pitch ... middle up is a pretty high zone for every major league hitter.Things quickly unraveled from there. Yadier Molina doubled, Grichuk sent a long drive to the seats in left to put St. Louis in front and Peralta completed Watsons implosion by depositing a 2-0 offering into the right-field seats.Behind in the count 2-0, youre not getting ahead of hitters, Watson said. When hitters see that, balls start flying out of the park, in the gaps.Carpenters homer was the 15th by a St. Louis pinch-hitter this season, a major league record. Molina finished 4 for 5, including a first-inning grand slam. Mike Mayers (1-1) tossed a scoreless eighth for the win, and Seung-Hwan Oh worked around a solo homer to Jung Ho Kang in the ninth for his 16th save.Kang had two homers for Pittsburgh in his second game back from a stay on the disabled list but Watsons stumble extended the teams longest funk since a 10-game losing streak in 2011. An All-Star as a setup man in 2014, Watson has given up a career-high nine homers this season. The three he surrendered in the ninth matched his season total in 2015.Its all about location, No. 1, manager Clint Hurdle said. He was much more efficient location wise last year than he is right now. Weve got some guys that are not quite having the seasons theyve had in the past. Its part of the maturation process of being in the game.St. Louis raced to a quick 5-0 lead behind Molinas first grand slam since 2012 and Matt Adams 436-foot homer in the second that reached the Allegheny River on the bounce. Pittsburgh, however, scrapped back.John Jaso atoned for an earlier defensive miscue with an RBI single in the second and Kang homered in the fourth to make it 5-2. Matt Bowman entered for rookie Luke Weaver, pulled after four innings and 83 pitches, and quickly frittered the lead away. His wild throw to second on an attempted double play gave Pittsburgh life. Gregory Polanco followed with an RBI single, Andrew McCutchen scored when Brandon Moss couldnt handle Matt Joyces line drive and Mercer doubled to the left-field corner to give the Pirates just their second lead in a week.It didnt last.TRAINING ROOMCardinals: RF Stephen Piscotty was initially held out of the lineup to give his aching left wrist a breather. Piscotty took a pitch off the wrist on Monday. Postgame X-rays were negative and Piscotty doubled as a pinch-hitter in the eighth.Pirates: Pittsburgh held C Francisco Cervelli out of the lineup a day after he experienced discomfort in his left hand trying to block a pitch.UP NEXTCardinals: Mike Leake returns to the rotation after a stay on the disabled list while battling a case of the shingles. Leake is 9-5 with a 3.28 ERA in his career against Pittsburgh but is 1-2 with a 5.71 ERA this season.Pirates: Rookie Jameson Taillon will face the Cardinals for the first time in the series finale. The 24-year-old has a 2.80 ERA over his last 10 starts and pitched six innings of one-run ball last week against Milwaukee. Erik McCoy Jersey Large . The native of Mont-Tremblant, Que., captured a World Cup downhill event Saturday, his second this year and fifth career victory on the circuit. Justin Hardee Jersey . The Clippers were angry about blowing a big lead; the Kings didnt like being in that kind of hole and nearly digging themselves out only to lose. http://www.customsaintsjersey.com/custom-deuce-mcallister-jersey-large-502e.html . Patrice Bergeron and Daniel Paille scored 20 seconds apart a few minutes after Stamkos was taken off the ice on a stretcher with a broken right leg, and the Bruins beat the Lightning 3-0 on Monday afternoon. Darren Sproles Jersey . It was just business as usual for the Thunder at home. Durant scored 32 points and the Thunder beat the Bulls 107-95 on Thursday night for their eighth straight win. Eli Apple Jersey . The CFLs leading rusher kept adding to his gaudy numbers this season and scored the winning touchdown with just over two minutes to play. The New Westminster, B.C., native plowed three yards into the end zone for the last score of a heated, see-saw battle between the two teams with the best records in the CFL. VILLARS-LES-DOMBES, France -- Mark Cavendish approached the finish line with so much speed that German rival Marcel Kittel swerved out of the way.The Manx Missile easily sprinted to his fourth stage victory in the Tour de France on Saturday.I didnt see it, Cavendish said of the incident with Kittel. I was in front of him.Finishing in the main pack during the 14th stage, Chris Froome had little trouble holding onto the yellow jersey.Todays stage was quite welcome after the last few days of racing, Froome said. It was really nice to switch off a little bit and sit on the wheels inside the peloton.It was Cavendishs 30th career win in the Tour, putting him within four of Eddy Merckxs record. The British sprinter held up four fingers after crossing the line.Kittel threw up his arm in protest when Cavendish passed him.I saw Cavendish overtaking me and suddenly cornering me, Kittel said. I had to brake to avoid a crash. Its not for me to say if he made a mistake.Cavendish analyzed it only after watching the replay.We were next to the barriers and it was him coming off the barriers more than anything, Cavendish said.Alexander Kristoff, a Norwegian with Katusha, crossed second, and world champion Peter Sagan was third.Cavendish is just faster right now, Kristoff said.Kittel came fifth.Kittel had already lost and stopped his effort. He had lost his focus. Maybe Cavendish swerved a bit, but its nothing, retired sprinter Laurent Jalabert said.The peloton stopped for a minute of silence at the start of the stage in honor of the 84 victims of the truck attack in Nice. Froome, French champion Arthur Vichot, and other leaders of the Tour took their helmets off and stood still at the start line.It was the first of three days of national mourning in France, and fans waved the countrys flag all along the 208.5-kilometer (130-mile) route frrom Montelimar to the bird sanctuary of Parc des Oiseaux in Villars-Les-Dombes near Lyon.ddddddddddddCavendishs personal record for wins in one Tour was six in 2009. His performance in this race has come as somewhat of a surprise, considering that he has been slowed by injuries in recent seasons.But Cavendish seems rejuvenated after joining the South African squad Team Dimension Data for this season.Ive been a lot more patient than I was last year, Cavendish said.Froome remained 1:47 ahead of second-place Bauke Mollema and 2:45 in front of third-place Adam Yates in the overall standings.Four riders -- Martin Elmiger of Switzerland, Alex Howes of the United States, Jeremy Roy of France, and Cesare Benedetti of Italy -- formed an early breakaway and opened up an advantage of 4 1/2 minutes before falling apart in the final kilometers.Known as a transfer stage because it was a lengthy leg that moved the peloton from one region to another to set up the ensuing mountain tests, the route took riders by fields of grain and sunflowers amid winds exceeding 35 kph (22 mph).The stage started 15 minutes early because of concerns over a strong headwind and concluded with a three-kilometer straight directly into the wind.Matti Breschel, a Danish rider with Cannondale, crashed midway through the stage, and was reported to have broken his collarbone.The Tour enters the Alps on Sunday with a 160-kilometer (99-mile) leg from Bourg-en-Bresse to Culoz featuring six climbs, including the beyond-category Grand Colombier.It is a tricky stage, Froome said. I know the roads there. Its a stage that has probably been a bit underestimated because its not an uphill finish.---Andrew Dampf on Twitter: www.twitter.com/asdampf ' ' '