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PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Neal Huntington spent the hours leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline searching for a way to upgrade the team with the best record in baseball. The typically buttoned down Huntington even considered taking leave of his senses to do it. "We talk a lot about, we dont want to do something stupid," Huntington said Wednesday after the deadline passed. "We were willing to do something stupid. We just didnt want to do anything insane." At the moment, insanity might be defined as breaking up the chemistry the Pirates have spent the last four months cultivating. Russell Martin drove home Neil Walker with the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and the Pirates rallied past the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 to extend their lead in the NL Central to 2 1/2 games. Pittsburgh (65-42) has its best record entering August since the 1972 Pirates ended July at 60-35. Martins sharp grounder off Trevor Rosenthal (1-2) rolled into left field, giving Walker time to score from second and propel Pittsburgh to its 25th comeback win in an increasingly special season. Pittsburgh is 23 games over .500 for the first time since 1992. "We can win just about every way possible," manager Clint Hurdle said. The Cardinals appeared in firm control of the division race two weeks ago but now find themselves staring up at the Pirates, who have taken the first four games of a five-game series. St. Louis broke out of a slump to put together 13 hits, but the Cardinals left 11 runners on base and dropped their seventh straight. The Cardinals led 2-0, 3-1 and 4-2 but couldnt hold on. "You always at some point during the season, every year, no matter what, go through a rough patch," St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright said after failing to earn his 14th victory. "The good teams find a way to get out of that rough patch and find a way to get back to playing good quality baseball, and thats what were going to do." Tony Watson (3-1) worked two shutout innings in relief of starter Jeff Locke. Mark Melancon pitched a perfect ninth for his fifth save. Melancon is 3 for 3 in save opportunities since All-Star closer Jason Grilli went down with a right forearm injury last week. Matt Holliday had three hits and drove in two runs but St. Louis failed to score over the final five innings against Pittsburghs bullpen. "Theres something were not doing, and we know were not doing it and fixing it," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. Walker hit his seventh homer of the season off Wainwright in the first inning, starting a pattern that repeated itself throughout the night. The Cardinals found ways to score off starter Jeff Locke, but Pittsburgh kept chipping away. "Its things weve done throughout the course of the season," Pittsburgh centre fielder Andrew McCutchen said. "If were down early, we just keep working." The teams with the two best records in the National League were mostly spectators before Wednesdays non-waiver trade deadline, though the Pirates acquired minor leaguer Robert Andino from Seattle. The past two seasons, the Pirates made somewhat aggressive moves meant to bolster their playoff chances, but instead contributed in part to a second-half swoon. This time, Huntington is keeping the group he called "one of the tightest" hes been around intact. When the 4 p.m. deadline passed, the Pirates were huddled around a TV in the clubhouse. They werent anxiously waiting for news. Instead, they were watching Martin and first baseman Garrett Jones play video games. "The trade deadline is like a gossip magazine," Watson said. "You take it for what its worth but its in one ear and out the other." Pittsburgh needed to find a way after a rare off-night by Locke, whose rapid ascension from fifth starter to All-Star has fueled Pittsburghs relentless pursuit of the Cardinals. But St. Louis spent four innings pecking away at the left-handers usually deft mix of breaking balls. The Cardinals came in hitting just .155 (30-194) during their late-July swoon but peppered Locke for 10 hits, the most he has given up in 31 career starts. They came in various ways, from a hard-hit double by Beltran in the fourth to a swinging bunt by David Descalso that travelled 20 feet. Locke tied a season high by giving up four runs. He struck out six and walked one as his ERA rose from 2.15 to 2.36. "He was fighting uphill all night," Hurdle said. Wainwright, however, couldnt take advantage of the first signs of life by the St. Louis offence in a week. Every time the Cardinals would push in front, the Pirates would respond, eventually tying it on a sacrifice fly by McCutchen in the fifth. Wainwright left after seven innings, allowing four runs on eight hits, striking out six and walking one. "(They) gave me the lead three times and I blew the save three times," Wainwright said. "I can be better than that, I will be better than that." NOTES: The Pirates placed reserve C Mike McKenry on the 15-day disabled after he underwent surgery on Tuesday to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. Rookie Tony Sanchez, Pittsburghs top pick in the 2009 draft, will serve as the primary backup to Martin for the rest of the season ... The series concludes Thursday with Pittsburghs Charlie Morton (3-2, 3.59 ERA) facing Joe Kelly (1-3 3.44). The Pirates are 5-1 in Mortons last six starts. Custom Flyers Jerseys . -- Aldon Smith believes he is on the path to being sober for good. Cheap Custom Flyers Jersey . 31, the CFL club announced Monday. The team also has yet to decide on the future of Doug Berry, who began the season as a consultant to the head coach but took over the offensive co-ordinators duties in July. http://www.customflyersjersey.com/ . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. Wholesale Custom Flyers Shirts . In the response filed Wednesday to the complaint by 30-year-old Alexander Bradley, attorneys say the former University of Florida player is invoking his Fifth Amendment right that protects people from incriminating themselves. Cheap Flyers Jerseys . Ancelotti says Ronaldo has recovered from a hamstring injury but "but he doesnt feel comfortable yet so we wont risk him." Madrid is third in the Spanish league, six points behind leader Barcelona, going into Saturdays game against Valladolid. Daniel Ricciardo says a problem with his visor held him back at the Brazilian Grand Prix, where he finished a disappointing eighth position in extreme wet conditions.While teammate Max Verstappen stole the plaudits with his impressive drive to third, Ricciardo struggled and was one of the teenagers victims as he scythed through the field late on. Ricciardo, who also had to contend with a five-second penalty for entering the pit lane when it was closed during a safety car spell, also fell victim to Red Bulls strategy mistake forcing a switch back to wet tyres late in the race.Ricciardo has revealed his visor kept fogging up, preventing him from driving on the limit and utilising the potential of the car.It was a frustrating race, we never really felt like we got lucky with the strategy; every time we made a change with the tyres there was a safety car or a red flag, he said. We lost positions and obvviously we could not predict what was going to happen and we felt a little bit on the back foot.ddddddddddddBut the real difficulty today was my visibility, which was a struggle as my visor kept fogging up. I kept opening my visor and trying to wipe it but its never happened before, and it held me back. Its a shame as the car was a lot better than eighth, when we had a clear track our speed was good.Team boss Christian Horner confirmed the team will look into what caused the issue.The rain was not running properly down the visor, and then it started to fog, and so he was struggling for visibility out there, Horner said. When visibility was as it was, he said he didnt see Max until he was ahead of him [during the overtake]. Obviously an issue to understand what happened. ' ' '