id. "So he knows its not in his best interest to testif

PITTSBURGH -- Edinson Volquez couldnt seem to find the strike zone in the first inning of his start against the Philadelphia Phillies, throwing 11 of his 16 pitches for balls. After escaping the jam unscathed, he got some advice from pitching coach Ray Searage. The rest of the way went smoothly with Volquez allowing a run over seven innings, and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Phillies 3-2 Saturday. "He slowed me down," Volquez said. "I was too fast to the plate and everything was late with my hands to get the ball where I wanted." The adjustment worked. "I could see the strike zone a little closer to me and I felt like I could put the ball where I wanted," Volquez said. Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run homer in the first and Volquez (7-6) had an RBI groundout with the bases loaded in the second inning as the Pirates moved a season-high five games over .500 at 46-41. The Pirates couldve added to the 3-0 lead but Gregory Polanco Starling Marte each flew out with men on second and third. Volquez allowed four hits and walked four. He struck out five in his third straight win. "He battled," manager Clint Hurdle said. "It was a very, I thought, gritty performance by him today because he spent a lot of time out of the stretch again." McCutchen followed up Fridays game, when he was a home run shy of the cycle, with the big hit off David Buchanan. McCutchen connected to right after Polanco led off the home first with a single. McCutchen said it was nice to begin his day with a home run after he ended Friday with a ball that smacked the wall about 10 feet lower than necessary to clear it. "I got a little better swing on it," McCutchen said. "(I) got out in front of it a little more so I was able to get hands through the zone and put a little more backspin on it." Hurdle was pleased his team jumped on top early, similar to the way the Pirates scored four runs in the first inning Friday. "Its always nice to get in front," he said. "It does give you a sense of momentum coming out of the chute." Philadelphia dropped a season-high 13 games below .500 at 37-50. "We havent been able to bounce back from being down early in the game," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. "Its been different when weve scored early. Its something were going to have to try and do, score earlier in games." Buchanan (4-5) found his stride after the second and kept the Pirates at bay until he was lifted in the sixth. Philadelphias starter was charged with three runs and six hits and an intentional walk. "The biggest thing for me today was not walking anybody," Buchanan said. "If you throw strikes and make them put it in play then good things usually happen." Marlon Byrd stranded five men on base in his first two at-bats. He flew out in the first to leave men on the corners, then struck on four pitches to end the third with the bases loaded. Byrd homered off Pirates closer Mark Melancon in the ninth but even an attempt at starting a rally wasnt enough to appease the right fielder after his earlier at-bats. "I have to do a better job producing in the first at-bat, too," Byrd said. "Bases loaded and I struck out. My job is to produce." Melancon retired to next three batters he faced for his 16th save. Tony Watson worked a perfect eighth. Cody Asche homered in the fourth for Philadelphia against Volquez. NOTES Asches home run in the fourth inning snapped a 16-inning scoreless streak for Volquez. . In their last 14 starts, Pittsburghs starting pitchers have combined to post a 2.32 ERA. . Pittsburgh SS Jordy Mercer doubled twice and is batting .714 (10 for 14) in his last five games. . Pirates LHP Jeff Locke (1-1, 3.46 ERA) faces Phillies RHP A.J. Burnett (5-7, 3.92 ERA) when Pittsburgh and Philadelphia conclude their three-game series Sunday. Hydro Flask Deals Online . Altidore strained his left hamstring in the Americans opener against Ghana on June 16 and didnt play in their next two games. "We dont know how much because we need to see how hes going, but hes available," U. Wholesale Hydro Flask . CNN and Gazzetta dello Sport reporter Tancredi Palmeri broke the news via Twitter Tuesday afternoon. Italian Football Association President Giancarlo Abete has also resigned, according to Palmeri. http://www.cheaphydroflaskfreeshipping.com/ . Smith has spent the last three seasons with the Rockies, playing both left and right field, and has a .275 batting average with 51 homers and 181 RBIs in 487 major league games. Hydro Flask Outlet Online . The Thunder earned the Game 1 win with a 100-86 victory Saturday night. Oklahoma City dominated the first half and led by 22 at the break, but saw its lead shrink to just two points in the fourth quarter. Cheap Hydro Flask Free Shipping . -- Canada played to expectation up until halftime.TORONTO -- The former owner of the Vancouver Canucks should be forced to answer, in front of a jury, if he approved a career-ending sucker punch on Steve Moore, a lawyer for the former NHL player argued in court Thursday. Its now 10 years after Todd Bertuzzis infamous hit, and Moores multi-million-dollar lawsuit is finally approaching a trial. Moores lawyer, Tim Danson, is asking the Ontario Superior Court to compel John McCaw Jr., who is based in Seattle, to testify in Toronto. "He just goes on with his life with the incredible privileges of being a billionaire...while Steve Moore tries to recover from a shattered life," Danson said in court Thursday. "For him to say, Im not going to come and testify in any capacity is regrettable. Its regrettable and it defies principles of fairness and justice. For him to simply hide behind his U.S. citizenship and residency given the nature of all of these facts should not be accepted and its not something the public would accept." NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly have voluntarily agreed to testify, Danson said. Master Ronald Dash, who is hearing the motion, said he would not order McCaw to testify in person at the trial, slated to begin in September, but is considering Dansons alternate request that McCaw testify via video conference. McCaws lawyer, Steven Frankel, argued that the court doesnt have jurisdiction to do that and suggested Danson is trying to do an "end run" around very specific court rules. Frankel said there is no evidence before the court that McCaw, who is not an individual defendant, even has relevant evidence to give. A jury should be able to hear McCaw answer whether he knew Canucks players were gunning for retaliation against Moore for a hit weeks earlier on former Canucks captain Markus Naslund that resulted in a concussion, Danson argued. Bertuzzi has alleged the Canucks then-coach Marc Crawford urged his players to make Moore "pay the price," while Crawford has claimed Bertuzzi disobeyed instructions to get off the ice before Moore was attacked. Players were issuing public threats against Moore before the hit, Danson said, and what McCaw did or didnt do about it is "highly relevant to the questiion of negligence.dddddddddddd" "Theres no way that you can have the intensity of the public threats over three weeks going on unless the corporate culture set by Mr. McCaw allowed it, and he has to answer to that," Danson said. Danson suggested that McCaw fostered a corporate culture that may have at least implicitly approved such an attack, including having as the president and general manager Brian Burke, who was "unapologetic about promoting violence in hockey." "Were Burke and Crawford carrying out the wishes of McCaw?" Danson suggested. "Or given the wink...when it came to getting Mr. Moore?" McCaw no longer owns the Canucks, having sold his company Orca Bay, now known as Canucks Sports and Entertainment. But he maintains a "very significant financial interest" in the outcome of the lawsuit, as he is still on the hook for half of any liability found against the team, which Danson said was a condition of the sale. "If he doesnt testify, if he doesnt come forward, our case is going to be significantly weakened," Danson said. "So he knows its not in his best interest to testify because if he testifies, it will be....to the benefit of the plaintiffs." Moore is suing Bertuzzi and the Canucks for $38 million for a 2004 on-ice hit that left Moore, then a Colorado Avalanche player, with a concussion and three fractured vertebrae. Bertuzzi pleaded guilty to a criminal charge of assault causing bodily harm and was sentenced in 2006 to a years probation and 80 hours of community service. He also served a multi-game suspension from the NHL but has gone on to play for several other NHL teams, including currently as a forward for the Detroit Red Wings. Meanwhile, for Moore, it has been a "very, very difficult 10 years," Danson said. "I think anybody can imagine, your entire life you want to make it in the NHL and he finally makes it...a dream come true and in his rookie year his career is cut short by probably the worst act of criminal violence in sports history," Danson said. "He still suffers from significant post-concussion symptoms that have a significant impact on his life." The court is expected to issue a decision in a few weeks. ' ' '