back-to-back. The Pelicans went 1-2 on a recent road trip

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis rookie Marco Gonzales grew up watching the Colorado Rockies. Raised in Fort Collins, about an hour north of Denver, he is quite familiar with Coors Field. "I spent a good part of my life there," the Cardinals lefty said. Gonzales came back to beat his boyhood favourites on Sunday. In just his fifth major league start, Gonzales struck out nine and allowed one run over 5 2-3 innings to help the NL Central-leading Cardinals beat the Rockies 4-1 for their third straight win. The Cardinals held their 3 1-2-game division lead over Pittsburgh. St. Louis has won 13 straight regular-season home games in September and October. Colorado lost all six games on its just-completed road trip. Third baseman Nolan Arenado left the game soon after bruising his chest diving for a ball in the third inning. Jhonny Peralta hit a two-run homer to cap a three-run rally in the third inning. It was his team-high 21st homer. Gonzales (3-2) turned in the finest effort of his career under the pressure of a pennant chase. "Its great to be in a race, you could feel the intensity out there," Gonzales said. "My number was called and I just tried to focus, go out there and do my job." Gonzales, the Cardinals first-round pick in the 2013 draft, gave up two hits over the first five innings and carried a 3-1 lead into the sixth. He surrendered a two-out single to Brandon Barnes before leaving. "It was a terrific outing," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. "We needed that. He really came up big." Added catcher Yadier Molina, "He stepped up and Im happy for him." Gonzales strikeout total was the most by a Cardinals rookie left-hander since Rick Ankiel fanned 11 in 2000 against Pittsburgh. Trevor Rosenthal struck out the side in the ninth to pick up his NL-leading 44th save in 49 opportunities. Six St. Louis pitchers combined to fan 16. Peraltas homer, a 410-foot shot off Jordan Lyles (6-3), broke a 1-all tie and put the Cardinals ahead to stay. "When I hit it, right away, I knew I hit it good," Peralta said. Matt Holliday hit an RBI double before Peralta homered. Molina had three hits for St. Louis and scored in the eighth on a wild pitch. Barnes drove in the Rockies run with a double in the second. Lyles gave up three runs on nine hits over six innings. "I just made a mistake to Peralta and good hitters put good swings on the ball," Lyles said. "He hit it a long way." Colorado scored just eight runs during the six-game losing streak, three came in the ninth inning of a 5-4 loss to St. Louis on Saturday. The Cardinals, who are 19-2 in their last 21 home games in September and October, carry plenty of momentum into a three-game series against Milwaukee that begins Tuesday. "For us, its a one-game series every night," Matheny said. "Thats the way weve got to look at it." TRAINERS ROOM Rockies: 1B Justin Morneau did not start for the second successive game after straining a side muscle in Fridays 5-1 loss. Cardinals: 1B Matt Adams was held out of the lineup. He sustained a slight oblique muscle pull in Saturdays 5-4 win. He is listed as day-to-day. UP NEXT Rockies: RHP Christian Bergman (2-3, 4.89) will face Roberto Hernandez (8-11, 4.04) in the opener of a three-game against Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday in Denver. Bergman will be making his eighth major league start. Cardinals: RHP Lance Lynn (15-9, 2.73) will open a three-game series at home against Milwaukees Wily Peralta (16-10, 3.75) on Tuesday. Lynn is 5-2 with a 2.37 ERA in nine starts against the Brewers. Adidas NMD R1 Rea . Cilic cruised to victory, beating the seventh-seeded Seppi 6-1, 6-3 in just 72 minutes. He faced only one break point, winning 24 out of 29 points played on the first serve. Adidas NMD Rabatt . 5 Trade Deadline is drawing closer and teams will be deciding on whether to buy or sell while figuring out which players can make the biggest difference and hold the greatest value. http://www.nmdsverige.com/falcon-adidas-skor.html .com) - The Los Angeles Kings werent playing their best hockey before the league went on break during the Winter Olympics. Stan Smith Adidas Dam Sverige . -- The Grand Rapids Griffins scored three goals in 33 seconds of the second period en route to defeating the Hamilton Bulldogs 6-1 in American Hockey League action on Friday. NMD Rea . The seventh-ranked Berdych wants to focus on the ATP Tour after helping the Czechs beat the Netherlands in the first round. Seeking their third straight Davis Cup title, the Czechs will rely again on veteran Radek Stepanek.(SportsNetwork.com) - The New York Knicks havent prevailed on the road since spoiling LeBron James homecoming in Cleveland on Oct. 30. The Knicks have lost nine in a row on the road and will play their next three games away from home, starting with Tuesdays matchup with the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center. New York is only 4-18 overall, only two games better than the NBA-worst Philadelphia 76ers, and will also make stops in San Antonio and Boston. The Knicks suffered their eighth straight loss Sunday versus the Portland Trail Blazers, 103-99, and were led by Carmelo Anthonys 23 points and 10 rebounds. It was Anthonys first double-double of the season and hes sixth in the NBA in scoring with 23.2 points per game. J.R. Smith scored 20 points off the bench and Amare Stoudemire ended with 16 and 10 rebounds. Iman Shumpert had 11 points and the Knicks made 51.9 percent from the field (5-of-19 from 3-point range). New York had a 97-95 lead with 3 1/2 minutes left on Anthonys layup, then the Blazers closed the game on an 8-2 run. Theres a level of attention to detail that were still below in order to win these games, said Knicks head coach Derek Fisher. Were obviously doing enough to be in the game and have a chance to win. Seven of New Yorks eight consecutive loosses have been by seven points or less.dddddddddddd The Knicks are 0-5 on the first game of a back-to-back. The Pelicans went 1-2 on a recent road trip and won for the second time in seven tries with Sundays 104-87 triumph over Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center. Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday scored 23 and 22 points, respectively, with Davis pulling down six rebounds with two blocks. Ryan Anderson and Tyreke Evans scored 11 points apiece and Omer Asik collected eight points and 11 boards for New Orleans, which limited Bryant to 14 points and shot 51.8 percent. The Pelicans, who never trailed after a 9-7 lead early on, survived with 16 turnovers and held the Lakers under 20 points in both the first and third quarters. New Orleans also had a 50-34 rebounding advantage. We played a great team game, said Pelicans head coach Monty Williams. Cant say enough about our ball movement. This is a great win for our team. New Orleans is 5-2 at home and will play the first of two meetings with the Knicks this season. The Knicks will host the Pelicans at MSG on Jan. 19 and split two meetings last season with each team winning on the road. The Knicks have won nine of the last 11 games in this series and five straight trips to the Big Easy. ' ' '