PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Pirates have won eight games in a row, and fans are starting to notice. After all, the Pirates own the best record in all of baseball. Pittsburgh beat the Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 on Saturday night in front of its fifth straight sellout crowd at home. The Pirates have never had that many consecutive capacity crowds since moving into their new ballpark in 2001. Long the third-most popular team in a three-team town behind the NFLs Steelers and NHLs Penguins, the Pirates are suddenly becoming a hot ticket. "The energy of the crowds has been unbelievable and weve been soaking it all up," said Pirates closer Jason Grilli, who earned the save. "You absorb it and try to use it to your advantage. Were playing for ourselves but were also playing for about 40,000 people in the stands and an entire city. "People are dusting off their Pirates shirts and coming out in droves, and were trying to give them what they want to see." Pedro Alvarez and Garrett Jones homered, and Francisco Liriano pitched six strong innings to lead the surging Pirates. Alvarez hit his 20th home run with one out in the second inning to extend his hitting streak to 12 games and help the Pirates to their longest winning streak since 2004. Pittsburgh, which has endured 20 consecutive losing seasons, is a major league-best 50-30. Jones hit a drive to the shrubbery in straightaway centre field, his seventh homer, to lead off the fourth inning and increase the Pirates lead to 2-0. That was enough for Liriano (7-3), who improved to 4-1 in five home starts this season. "Were having fun, were playing hard and were giving everything we have," Liriano said. Liriano gave up one run and seven hits in six innings with one walk and six strikeouts. Tony Watson, Mark Melancon and Grilli each pitched one scoreless inning of relief. Grilli recorded his 27th save in 28 opportunities. "Frankie, for as efficient as he was in giving up one run, there were only about six or seven sequences where he threw back-to-back strikes," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "But when he needed to make a pitch, he made a pitch." Grilli was pitching for the first time in six days after having his worst outing of the season. He gave up three runs against the Los Angeles Angels in a non-save situation last Sunday before the Pirates held on for a 10-9 win. "Hes our guy," Hurdle said. "He was well-rested and I wasnt the least bit nervous about going to him." Donovan Hand (0-1) allowed both home runs but turned in a solid five-inning performance in his second major league start. Hand was pleased with his outing, except for the home run to Alvarez that cleared the right-field stands, hit a tree and bounced into the Allegheny River. "I tried to go up and in and left a fat pitch over the middle in his hot zone, and he crushed it," said Hand, who pitched 4 2-3 scoreless innings in his first start June 28 against Atlanta. "I was aggressive, which is exactly what I wanted to do, just building off of the last start because they swing it a lot." Hand has made a good impression on Brewers manager Ron Roenicke. "I thought Donny threw the ball really well," Roenicke said. "He understands how to pitch. He understands how to throw strikes." Carlos Gomez had two hits for the Brewers, who lost their fifth straight game. He singled with one out in the sixth inning and scored Milwaukees run on Yuniesky Betancourts single with two outs. Brewers shortstop Jean Segura extended his hitting streak to 11 games, but second baseman Rickie Weeks run ended at a career-best 13 games. Pittsburgh has won four straight games against Milwaukee and eight of 10 after losing nine in a row. "Were playing good baseball," Hurdle said. "Its nice to get to 50 wins but were just trying to meet the demands of the game, honestly self-evaluate and get better every day. There is still a long way to go." NOTES: Milwaukee LF Ryan Braun (bruised left thumb) is scheduled to a swing a bat Tuesday for the first time since going on the disabled list, retroactive to June 10. ... Pittsburgh LHP Wandy Rodriguez (strained left forearm) wont make a scheduled rehab start Monday for Triple-A Indianapolis after experiencing discomfort in his forearm Friday during a bullpen session. ... Pirates RHP A.J. Burnett (strained right calf) is scheduled to pitch a simulated game Tuesday. That could be the last step before he is activated from the disabled list. ... Brewers RF Norichika Aoki didnt start for the first time since May 30 as Roenicke decided to rest him. Aoki pinch-hit in the ninth inning and flied out. ... The three-game series concludes Sunday with Milwaukee RHP Kyle Lohse (3-6, 3.69) facing Pittsburgh RHP Charlie Morton (1-1, 2.81). Nike Air Max Bw Black . Detroit and Boston are deadlocked, 1-1, and Tigers manager Jim Leyland could be forgiven if he was caught rationalizing instead of dissecting how his club could blow a 5-1 lead late in Game 2. Nike Air Max Bw Classic For Sale . Now, correct me if Im wrong but I saw one official distinctly pointing at the net indicating a good goal but after an inconclusive review they overturned the goal. Shouldnt the ruling on the ice (good goal) stand after an inconclusive review? Why was this overturned? James Veaudry Pembroke, ON -- Hey Kerry, Youll get a lot of these, but why was the Montreal goal against Nashville Saturday night overturned? Eller puts the puck on net and the on ice ruling from the ref behind the net is a Montreal goal. http://www.airmaxbw.com/cheap-air-max-bw-white.html .Y. -- Marcell Dareus and the Buffalo Bills defence made life miserable for Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco. Air Max Bw . The Montreal Canadiens announced on Friday that the veteran forward will return to the teams line-up on Saturday night when the Habs visit the Nashville Predators. Air Max Bw For Sale .C. -- Chris Thorburn thinks one of the reasons the Winnipeg Jets have been successful under new coach Paul Maurice is that theyre playing together as a team. Thanksgiving weekend is filled with the rivalries and season-ending drama. The first weekend in December will determine just about every conference championship.This weekend in college football looks like it has limited potential to shake up the rankings and College Football Playoff chase. But thats also what last weekend looked like and we all know how that turned out.For once, the Big 12 is in the spotlight. The conferences best hopes for making a late push to the College Football Playoff will meet in Morgantown, West Virginia, when the No. 10 Mountaineers face No. 8 Oklahoma.The Sooners (8-2) have the higher ranking but West Virginia, with its 8-1 record, probably has a better path to the playoff. Both teams will need some help as the College Football Playoff committee has not shown itself to be particularly impressed with the conferences best teams.Another game to watch in the Big 12 this week is in Fort Worth, Texas, when No. 13 Oklahoma State faces TCU. The Cowboys are the longest of playoff long shots, weighed down by a loss to Central Michigan that was aided by a blown call by officials. Oklahoma State has already beaten West Virginia and finishes the season against rival Oklahoma.The picks:THURSDAY NIGHT THROWDOWNSNo. 3 Louisville (minus 14) at HoustonLikely the last big-stage game for Lamar Jackson and the Cardinals to show off their stuff to Heisman voters and the selection committee ... HOUSTON 35-28, UPSET SPECIAL.Arkansas State (plus 8+) at No. 25 TroyThe newly ranked Trojans are looking to make it two straight victories in games for first-place in the Sun Belt ... TROY 35-21.FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTSUNLV (plus 28+) at No. 22 Boise StateThe Rebels helped the Broncos a bunch last week by beating Wyoming ... BOISE STATE 45-28.MARQUEE MATCHUPS.No. 8 Oklahoma (minus 2+) at No. 10 West VirginiaThe Mountaineers defense has been solid, but with one major concern: Not much pass rush (17 sacks) ... OKLAHOMA 40-34.No. 20 Washington State (plus 4+) at No. 12 ColoradoMaybe the most unlikely game of the season with playoff implications ... COLORADO 28-27.No. 21 Florida (plus 13+) at No. 16 LSUThe Gators can clinch the SEC East by winning this hurricane-postponed game. The Tigers can give Tennessee the inside track to the division with a win ... LSU 28-12.PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONSNo. 2 Ohio State (minus 22+) at Michigan StateIt has been such a horrible season for the Spartans, but they have Ohio State and Penn State in the next two weeks with a chance to pull a season-salvaging upset. OHIO STATE 35-17.Indiana (plus 23) at No. 4 MichiganThe Wolverines are not built to be quarterback-dependent, which should serve them well against the Hoosiers ... MICHIGAN 42-17.No. 5 Clemson (minus 22+) at Wake ForestThe Demon Deacons defense mucked up both Louisville and Florida State, so the Tigers take Wake seriously ... CLEMSON 28-10.No. 6 Wisconsin (minus 28) at PurdueThe Badgers can win tthe Big Ten West by winning out .dddddddddddd... WISCONSIN 35-13.Arizona State (plus 27) at No. 7 WashingtonThe ideal way for QB Jake Browning and the Huskies to bounce back from their worst game of the season? A home game against the worst pass defense in the Pac-12 ... WASHINGTON 50-21.CONFERENCE CALLSNo. 9 Penn State (minus 28) at RutgersNittany Lions RB Saquon Barkley against the worst rushing defense in the Big Ten ... PENN STATE 45-14.Oregon (plus 14) at No. 11 UtahTwo more games for Mark Helfrich to show he should remain the Ducks coach ... UTAH 46-30.No. 13 Oklahoma State (plus 4) at TCUThe Cowboys have had consecutive great-escape victories to keep their Big 12 title hopes alive ... TCU 35-28.No. 15 Southern California (minus 11) at UCLAThe Trojans are rolling into the rivalry game while the Bruins are just trying to salvage a season ... USC 42-21, BEST BET.No. 17 Florida State (minus 21) at SyracuseIf Clemson and Louisville can make the playoff, Florida State could end up in the Orange Bowl ... FLORIDA STATE 38-24.Maryland (plus 14) at No. 19 NebraskaThe Terps are still looking for win No. 6 for bowl eligibility. Probably not this week, though the Cornhuskers could be without QB Tommy Armstrong ... NEBRASKA 33-17.No. 24 San Diego State (minus 10) at WyomingA victory by Donnel Pumphrey and the Aztecs would help set up a San Diego State-Boise State Mountain West title game, which would help the conferences chances to get a New Years Six bowl bid ... SAN DIEGO STATE 28-17.LATE-SEASON NONCONFERENCEUTSA (plus 27+) at No. 23 Texas A&MThe Aggies look to build a little confidence before a Thanksgiving night game against LSU ... TEXAS A&M 49-21.TWITTER REQUESTSStanford (minus 11) at California -- (at)scurrynChristian McCaffrey against the Bears defense (equals) so many missed tackles ... STANFORD 42-24.Mississippi (minus 10) at Vanderbilt -- (at)jeremiah8712The Rebels can get bowl eligible with a win; the Commodores need to win their last two to get to six victories ... MISSISSIPPI 34-17.Notre Dame (pickem) at Virginia Tech -- (at)hokiesmashThe Hokies have had some perplexing losses, but inconsistency probably should have been expected in their first season with a new coach ... NOTRE DAME 28-27.UConn (plus 7+) at Boston College -- (at)LicatacsThe Eagles can still get bowl-eligible by winning out -- which is remarkable considering how poorly they have played against good competition ... BOSTON COLLEGE 14-10.Harvard (minus 12+) at Yale -- (at)MattSmithCFBThe Crimson need help to win the Ivy League ... HARVARD 34-17.---Record: Last week 14-12 straight; 12-14 vs. points.Season: 163-69; 105-122-3.Upset specials: 3-8.Best bets: 2-9.---Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org Cheap Jerseys Wholesale China NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys 2020 Wholesale Authentic Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China Wholesale Authentic Jerseys ' ' '