ST. LOUIS -- Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Edinson Volquez was expecting some pearls of wisdom from pitching coach Ray Searage before Thursday nights start at St. Louis. "He came up to me and I figured we were going to go over their lineup, do some scouting," Volquez said. "But all he said was, Go out there and win." Volquez compiled with those simple instructions, tossing a complete game six-hitter to win his fourth straight start in a 9-1 victory. Neil Walker, Josh Harrison, Russell Martin and Andrew McCutchen all drove in two runs for Pittsburgh, which avoided being swept in the four-game series. Volquez (8-6) has a 0.90 ERA in winning four consecutive starts for the first time in his career. He struck out five and walked two in recording the second complete-game win of his career. He allowed just one hit as a member of the San Diego Padres in beating Houston 1-0 on July 19, 2012. "He used his breaking ball effectively and he got outs when he needed them," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "Its about throwing strikes and changing speeds. It was a real good effort." Volquez seemed to get better as the game went along. He needed a season-high 114 pitches to give the Pirates their first complete game of the season. "He had command of all of his pitches," St. Louis infielder Matt Carpenter said. "We just werent able to get anything going." Volquez allowed the leadoff batter to reach base in each of the first four innings. He then gave up just two hits over the final five. "When he gets past the fifth, he smells the finish," Hurdle said. Shelby Miller (7-8) allowed four runs in five innings. He walked four and struck out one. Walker extended his hitting streak to a season-high 12 games with a two-run double in the fifth that extended the Pirates lead to 4-1. McCutchen started the three-run uprising with a run-scoring single that broke a 1-all tie. McCutchen drove in a run in the sixth with a sacrifice fly. Harrison added a two-run double in the inning that made it 6-1. Martin homered off Jason Motte in the ninth. Martin drove in his 500th career run in the first inning. The Pirates had been held to six runs in losing the first three games of the series. They were a combined 2 for 25 with runners in scoring position in those losses. On Thursday, they came up with several key hits in a 4-for-11 effort with runners in scoring position. "We took advantage of some mistakes and some opportunities and we were able to play our game," Walker said. The Cardinals were playing without All-Star catcher Yadier Molina, who tore a ligament in his right thumb in Wednesdays 5-2 win. Molina will undergo surgery on Friday and is expected to miss 8 to 12 weeks. "I think it was a tough night for our club in general," manager Mike Mathney said. "We just didnt look right from the beginning." St. Louis tied it in the third on a sacrifice fly by Carpenter. Kolten Wong began the inning with a single. Miller lost his third straight decision. "I didnt do a good job of getting ahead in the count," Miller said. "I ended up walking guys and they took advantage of the situation." NOTES: St. Louis OF Allen Craig, mired in an 0-for-13 skid did not play Thursday. ...The Cardinals open a three-game series in Milwaukee on Friday. Joe Kelly (1-1, 0.59) will face Yovani Gallardo (5-5, 3.45) in the first game. Kelly is making his first appearance since straining his left hamstring on April 16. ... Pittsburgh will travel to Cincinnati for a three-game series beginning Friday. LHP Jeff Locke (2-1, 3.08) will face Mat Latos (2-1, 2.41) in the opener. ... St. Louis C Tony Cruz, who is replacing Molina, allowed a passed ball in the sixth that brought in a run. ...There are now just three teams without a complete game this season -- Kansas City, Colorado and the Chicago Cubs. 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The 23-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., defeated Germanys Benjamin Becker 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday in the fourth round of the Sony Open in just 89 minutes.SAN ANTONIO - The San Antonio Spurs didnt dwell on nearly blowing a 24-point lead in the second half. They won, and thats all that mattered to the veteran club. Tim Duncan had 29 points, 13 rebounds and five assists, and San Antonio overcame a fourth-quarter collapse to beat the Denver Nuggets 108-103 Wednesday night for its 15th straight victory. Tiago Splitter, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili had 10 points apiece for the Spurs (55-16), who have the leagues best record. "They made it competitive," Parker said. "They played with a lot of energy. We missed a lot of little stuff; easy layups that we always make and they got back in the game. It happens sometimes. Were not going to beat everybody by 20." It just seemed like they were after overwhelming the Nuggets in the first half. Danny Greens 3-pointer at the buzzer was his fifth of the half, giving San Antonio its largest lead of opening 24 minutes at 63-43. Green scored 16 points, all in the first half, before leaving with a foot injury early in the second. His status is unknown, but he wore a walking boot as a precaution after the game and will have an MRI on Thursday morning. "All of a sudden he couldnt walk," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "The bottom of the foot, there is something. They are going to X-ray it. I am just guessing it is plantar fasciitis or something like that." San Antonio had 19 assists while going 24 for 42 from the field and forcing nine turnovers in the first half. "We were getting embarrassed in the first half," Denver forward Darrell Arthur said. "I was upset. I had words with some of the guys in the locker room." Aaron Brooks scored 25 points and Kenneth Faried had 24 points, including 15 points in a frenzied final quarter for the Nuggets. Denver went on a 34-20 run in the final 11 minutes. "We played a good half, we played a bad half," Popovich said. "The NBA is a 48-minute game and youve got to keep playing." After leading by as many as 24 points and by 20 midway through the third quarter, San Antonio needed Duncans late heroics to preserve its win streak.dddddddddddd Duncan scored all but one of the Spurs final 11 points, capping his performance with an off-balance jumper off the glass for a 107-99 lead with 30 seconds remaining. The heavily contested shot sealed the win and led Nuggets coach Brian Shaw to turn and smile at Popovich, who shook his head as well. "(Duncan) played a great all-around game," Popovich said. "Probably nobody noticed, but it was assists, boards, scoring — he was the guy that kept it together." Duncan finished the game 12 for 20, including going 4 for 5 in the final five minutes on a series of layups and jumpers. It seemed like it was going to be an early night for Duncan and San Antonios veterans after the team rolled to a sizeable early lead. The Nuggets opened at a frenetic pace and the Spurs were more than willing to play along. The teams combined for 24 shots in the opening six minutes. Green and Kawhi Leonard benefited the most from the fast start, going a combined 4 for 5 on 3-pointers. Leonard got the Spurs started by swatting Farieds jumper from behind off the opening tip and then hitting a 3-pointer and 19-footer to give San Antonio a 7-4 lead. Green then hit three consecutive 3-pointers to extend the advantage to 16-10 with 8 minutes remaining in the first quarter. Green ended the run by draining a closely contested 3 on Randy Foye after screaming for the ball as Duncan brought it up court off a rebound. "We fell asleep," Brooks said. "They got a lot of backdoors in the first half. We fell asleep on a lot of plays and allowed them to run their offence, and I think in the second half we pressured a little bit more." NOTES: Spurs F Austin Daye has become an overnight fan favourite, receiving an ovation second only to Ginobilis upon entering with 29.5 seconds remaining in the first quarter. After averaging just 2.3 minutes in four games since being acquired from Toronto, Daye scored a game-high 22 points in 29 minutes in a 113-91 victory over Philadelphia on Monday. ... Spurs F Matt Bonner (right calf strain) missed his second straight game and his ninth due to injury this season. ' ' '