o games, was scoreless.We were close against a very good Stanford team, Eustachy said. Im not sure our guys believed we could beat them, and I thought we could. Well get it right.BIG PICTUREStanford: The Cardinal is 4-0 under first-year head coach Jerod Haase, although early success is not necessarily

SEATTLE -- Clint Hurdle speaks with great appreciation for what Sean Rodriguez brings defensively, playing wherever Pittsburgh needs him to be in the field.It was his bat, though, that carried the Pirates on Wednesday night.Hes as good a defender as Ive run across wherever you put him. ... Hes a gifted defender and hes having one of his better offensive seasons so far this half, Hurdle said.Rodriguez doubled in consecutive at-bats and drove in four runs, David Freese hit a solo home run and Pittsburgh beat the Seattle Mariners 8-1 to split a two-game interleague series.Rodriguez was responsible for breaking the game open in the fifth inning with a three-run double into the left-field corner off Seattle reliever Donn Roach. Rodriguez doubled an inning earlier off starter Wade Miley (6-4) to score Starling Marte.Freese got it all started with a solo home run on the first pitch of the second inning. It was a three-run inning for Pittsburgh, capped by a two-run double from Josh Harrison.All that offense backed a strong start from rookie right-hander Jameson Taillon, who pitched six innings, giving up just one run and six hits. Making his fifth career start, Taillon (2-1) overcame a shaky first inning and retired 10 straight at one point. He struck out six and didnt allow a walk.Taillon made some adjustments from his last start against the Dodgers when he was knocked out after four innings and giving up eight hits and four runs. His curveball was sharp, and Taillon relied more on his sinking fastball that had a number of Seattle hitters swinging over the top.Hurdle thought Taillons final four pitches to get Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager to finish off the sixth inning with two runners on might have been his best.Even though the game is 8-1, I dont want to give up those runs, Taillon said. I wanted to really put the foot on the gas there and set the tone still. I knew I was close to being done so I let them eat and was aggressive with them.Miley was making his first start since June 12 after a brief stint on the disabled list due to an impingement in his left shoulder. He was lucky to make it through the fourth, leaving pitches up in the strike zone and watching them get hit hard.A lot of mistakes up over the plate and he had a hard time getting in rhythm with any of his pitches, Seattle manager Scott Servais said.Freeses opposite-field home run into the first row down the right-field line was just the start. Rodriguezs double in the fourth gave Pittsburgh a 4-0 lead, and he scored on Jordy Mercers sharp single. Roach took over in the fifth and was greeted by consecutive one-out singles by Freese and Jung Ho Kang. Marte walked and Rodriguezs hard shot just inside third base bounced into the corner and allowed all three runners to score.Rodriguez doubled his RBI output for the entire month of June entering the game. Between June 1 and June 23, Rodriguez appeared in 21 games without an RBI.BROKEN HANDIf the pitching performances from Miley and Roach werent bad news enough, the Mariners lost catcher Steve Clevenger in the third inning to a broken bone in his right hand after taking a foul ball square on the exposed hand off the bat of Andrew McCutchen. Clevenger fractured the third metacarpal, and Seattle will require a roster move to fill the backup catcher role.TRAINERS ROOMPirates: RHP Ryan Vogelsong will throw a simulated game this weekend in Oakland after throwing a bullpen session on Tuesday. Vogelsong suffered facial fractures when he was hit in the left eye with a pitch in late May. Hes eligible to come off the disabled list on July 23.Mariners: Seattle placed reliever Nick Vincent on the 15-day disabled list with a back strain to clear a spot for Miley. Vincent said hes been dealing with the discomfort for about two weeks and finally decided rest was the best course. Vincent has made a team-high 35 appearances.UP NEXTPirates: After an off day on Thursday, the Pirates open a series on Friday against Oakland with Jeff Locke (7-5) getting the start.Mariners: Seattle opens a four-game series with Baltimore on Thursday and Taijuan Walker (3-6) on the mound after missing his last start due to a sore ankle.Melvin Gordon III Youth Jersey . Gerald Green and Miles Plumlee? Green had bounced around the NBA when he wasnt playing overseas. The Pacers gave up on Plumlee after just one season. Now Green and Plumlee are key cogs in the Suns surprising breakout season. Nasir Adderley Youth Jersey . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. http://www.chargersauthenticofficialonline.com/authentic-dan-fouts-jersey.html . -- Most satisfying to Russ Smith about No. Junior Seau Womens Jersey . Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC failed to make the postseason while Montreal Impact fell at the first hurdle losing heavily to Houston Dynamo in the Eastern Conference Knockout Round. Melvin Ingram Youth Jersey . Clarkson had been dealing with an elbow injury in early January and will be out of action for at least one week. He has three goals and five assists through 36 games with the Leafs this season.STANFORD, Calif. -- Dorian Pickens scored 17 points and Stanford beat Colorado State 56-49 on Sunday in a matchup of two teams still trying to figure out how to consistently score.They certainly did a great job playing a very compact defense, but we also made some mistakes, said first-year Stanford coach Jerod Haase, whose team improved to 4-0 but had its lowest point total of the season.We didnt capitalize on certain things. We need to make a few more open shots. The biggest thing is we need to get the ball inside.Pickens made 4 of 6 from 3-point range, but was the only player on either team to shoot with success from the perimeter. Pickens teammates were a combined 1-for-12 and the Rams were 5-for-18.Stanford, which won its third home game in a span of six days, also got 11 points from Reid Travis. But the junior forward, who averaged 21.7 points through the Cardinals first three games, managed just five shot attempts against a collapsing CSU defense.They made it tough for us to get the ball inside, Stanford point guard Robert Cartwright said. Its a great opportunity for us to grow. We havent really been challenged this way. We have to find ways to win and we did that.The Rams (2-1) hadnt been held under 50 points since a 56-43 loss to San Diego State on March 13, 2015.Colorado State coach Larry Eustachy played a young lineup that included as many as three sophomores and a freshman at times.We expect this is going to be a time when were going to learn. Its as good a defensive team as Ive had in a long time for such young kids, Eustachy said. They werent more physical tthan us.dddddddddddd I thought we tried really hard. You just cant overcome 20 turnovers.Prentiss Nixon led Colorado State with 15 points. Braden Koelliker, who averaged 14.5 points in the teams first two games, was scoreless.We were close against a very good Stanford team, Eustachy said. Im not sure our guys believed we could beat them, and I thought we could. Well get it right.BIG PICTUREStanford: The Cardinal is 4-0 under first-year head coach Jerod Haase, although early success is not necessarily indicative of long-terms results. Previous coach Johnny Dawkins started 10-0 in his debut season of 2008-09 (including a win over Colorado State) before the Cardinal lost 90-60 to Arizona State in its Pac-10 opener. Stanford wound up finishing ninth in the conference.Colorado State: The Rams need to shoot the ball better. They converted just 38 percent from the field -- including 6 for 33 from the 3-point arc -- in their first two games. They were worse against a stronger Stanford defense, making just 29.8 percent (14-for-47).UP NEXT:Stanford, having concluded a three-game homestand, treks east to play in the AdvoCare Invitational in Orlando, Florida, where it opens the three-day event against Miami (3-0), which averaged nearly 87 points in three easy victories.Colorado State returns home for a Wednesday night matchup vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore (0-4), which comes off a 116-79 loss at Wichita State and will play its fourth game in five on the road. ' ' '