PITTSBURGH, Pa. - It might be way too early to call the Pittsburgh Pirates a team of destiny. But after what manager Clint Hurdle witnessed Thursday night, he had to stop and wonder. "Sometimes, youre just meant to win," he said. The Pirates got a lucky break when Boston pinch-runner Jemile Weeks was hit by a batted ball in the ninth inning, beating the Red Sox 3-2 to increase their lead in the NL playoff race. The Pirates won their fourth in a row. They now lead Milwaukee by 3 1/2 games for the second wild-card spot, and host the Brewers in a three-game series beginning Friday night. Down 3-2, the Red Sox put runners at the corners with no outs in the ninth against Mark Melancon. Will Middlebrooks then hit a chopper down the line and ball struck the back of Weeks left leg as he made a dive back to third. Weeks was called out, and Melancon retired the last two batters for his 30th save in 34 opportunities. "Ive never seen that one before," Hurdle said. Weeks said there was nothing he could have done to avoid being hit by the ball. "There was a lot involved," he said. "The play was, if its not a double-play ball, make sure you get back. It wasnt a double-play ball, got back, had to avoid getting tagged or creating a double-play situation. Thats what I did and the ball hit me on the way back." Gerrit Cole (10-5) allowed two runs in seven-plus innings, striking out seven and walking none. He won his season-best third straight start. The second-year righty improved 7-1 in nine career September starts. "Pitching like games like this is fun," Cole said. "Every game Ive pitched (in September) has been do-or-die. You want the ball in that situation. You want to do well." Starling Marte hit his 13th homer, connecting off Brandon Workman (1-10) in the fifth for a 3-1 lead. Workman lost his 10th straight decision. Boston had closed to 3-2 in the eighth on Xander Bogaerts sacrifice fly, but lost for the eighth time in its last 11 games. Cole was lifted after giving up back-to-back singles to Christian Vazquez and Garin Cecchini to start the inning. TRAINERS ROOM Red Sox: INF-OF Brock Holt, who has not played since Sept. 5 because of a concussion, was cleared to resume baseball activities Thursday after being examined by Pittsburgh-based head trauma specialist Micky Collins. Boston is hopeful Holt can play in a few games before the season ends Sept. 28. If not, he will go for the Florida Instructional League camp in Fort Myers to get some game action. Pirates: SS Jordy Mercer was back in the lineup after missing two games with a lower back strain and went 1 for 3 with a double. UP NEXT Red Sox: RHP Allen Webster (4-3, 6.02) will start Friday night in the opener of a three-game series at Baltimore, facing RHP Kevin Gausman (7-7, 3.57). Pirates: LHP Jeff Locke (7-5, 3.66) will face the Brewers Yovani Gallardo (8-10, 3.59) in the series opener. BIG PAPI RETURNS Boston designated hitter David Ortiz returned to the team and started at first base after missing the first two games of the series because of a family emergency. Ortiz was forced to play in the field because the DH rule is not in effect in interleague games at NL parks. He went 0 for 4 and struck out twice. Sko Nmd Norge . Mueller is the grandson of the late Ron Lancaster, the Hall-of-Fame quarterback and longtime head coach in the CFL. Last season, Mueller was quarterbacks coach of the University of Regina Rams, his alma mater. Ultra Boost Norge . The union filed a grievance late Thursday, one day after Goodell suspended four players who participated in bounties from 2009-11. The complaint says Goodell is prohibited from punishing players for any aspect of the case occurring before the new collective bargaining agreement was signed last August. http://www.nmdnorgesalg.com/nmd-r1-sko-norge.html. The R&A announced Monday that golfs oldest championship will return to Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland for the first time since Max Faulkner won in 1951. Nmd Sko Udsalg . - A mixed martial arts fighter who changed his name to War Machine was ordered Friday to stand trial in Nevada state court on 34 felony charges including attempted murder, sexual assault and kidnapping that could get him life in prison for allegedly attacking his porn star ex-girlfriend and her friend. Tubular Shadow Sko . A receiver doesnt make the catch on a passing play and instantly motions to the ref – and everybody else – for a pass interference flag.Goals have been tough to come by lately for the Pittsburgh Penguins, especially for star forward Evgeni Malkin. Malkin and the Pens offence will try to break out on Monday night as they play host to an Anaheim Ducks club hoping to avoid a winless road trip. The action can be seen live on TSN2 starting at 7:30 pm et/4:30 pm pt. The Penguins have lost four of their last five games, held to just a single goal in each setback. They looked to have broken out on Friday night with a 4-1 win over Nashville, but fell right back into the loss column the following night with a 4-1 setback to New Jersey. Chris Kunitz had a goal and Marc-Andre Fleury gave up three goals on 21 shots for Pittsburgh, which fell to 4-5-0 on the road compared to its 8-3-0 mark at home. "We had our fair amount of chances, especially early on, we had some pretty good looks and didnt score," Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby said. "We have to find a way to bare down and get those goals." Crosby is tied for second in the league with 25 points, but has just one goal over his last 10 games. It has been worse for Malkin, who is mired in a career-worst 13-game drought without a goal. Malkin has a goal and four assists in six career meetings with the Ducks, who have lost the first three of their four-game road trip. That first two setbacks came in regulation before a 3-2 shootout defeat at the hands of Carolina on Friday. Corey Perry and Dustin Penner scored in regulation for Anaheim, while Viktor Fasth made 21 saves. "I think we played a rreally good game today," said Fasth, who had been out since Oct.dddddddddddd16 with a lower-body injury. "We basically just gave up 20 shots and had a lot of chances for us." Anaheim had gone 8-0-1 before its three-game slide and is 7-5-2 on the road this season. By comparison, the Ducks are 8-0-0 as the hosting club. Injuries and illness have plagued the Ducks as of late, but they saw encouraging events unfold Sunday. Forwards Matt Beleskey, Saku Koivu and Mathieu Perreault were all on the ice for practice, leaving the possibility of game action tonight for the trio. Perreault missed Fridays game with flu-like symptoms, while Beleskey has been limited to just two regular season games this season and none since Oct. 5 due to a broken thumb. Koivu has been out the past 10 games with a concussion suffered on Oct. 27. The Ducks have won their past two encounters with the Penguins, including a 2-1 victory in Pittsburgh on Feb. 15, 2012 in the most recent meeting. Anaheim snapped a four-game series road losing streak with the win, getting goals from Perry and Teemu Selanne as well as 25 saves by Jonas Hiller. Malkin went into that game having scored five goals with 10 points in his previous five games, but was held without a point. Hiller could get the start tonight and is 2-2-0 with a 3.02 goals against average in four career meetings with the Pens, while Fasth has never faced them. Fleury, who posted 27 saves in the most recent loss in this series, is 4-2-0 with a 2.52 GAA in six games against the Ducks. ' ' '