PITTSBURGH -- The first slump of Gregory Polancos major league career didnt last very long. Polanco hit a two-run homer and reached base three times, and the Pittsburgh Pirates won for the fifth time in six games, 5-1 over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night. The 22-year-old phenom entered his fourth week in the majors without a hit in 12 at-bats over his previous three starts, dropping his average 50 points to .288. But a night after singling in his first pinch-hit at-bat, Polanco doubled, walked and hit his third home run. "This game is all about adjustments," Polanco said. "You have to adjust quick. The faster you adjust, the better you do." Charlie Morton continued his effective pitching at home for Pittsburgh, which clinched its fourth consecutive series victory. Morton (5-9) limited Arizona to one run, five hits and three walks in six innings to lower his ERA at PNC Park to 2.13. Pittsburgh (44-40) has won nine of 11 and moved a season-best four games over .500. "We had a bad April. We dug a hole," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "Weve been digging out. Thats all were doing right now, is digging out." Polanco has taken the opposite approach, reaching safely in 19 of 21 major league games. His line-drive shot to right off Chase Anderson in the second inning gave the Pirates a 3-0 lead. "Its fun to watch him," Hurdle said. "Hes got skills and he pays attention. The league has adjusted to him to some degree already and now hes starting to fire back a little bit." Paul Goldschmidt went 3 for 4 with a run for the Diamondbacks, who have lost three straight. Last-place Arizona had three errors. "We made some mistakes tonight, and it came back to haunt us," Goldschmidt said. "Thats uncharacteristic of this team and these guys; we take a lot of pride on our defence. . Tonight we didnt get it done." Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates, who earlier in the day was named NL player of the month for June, did not play the field in the ninth inning. He fouled a ball off his left foot and winced in pain in the eighth, but continued his at-bat and singled. After the game, McCutchen said, "Im good to go . feel good," but would not commit to being able to start Thursdays game. Morton has worked into the sixth inning during all eight of his home starts this season and has allowed four earned runs over 33 2-3 innings in his past five starts at home. "When I got into a tight spot I made some good pitches," Morton said. "But I really didnt get ahead of guys. I think when I did get in a situation where some pitches had to be made, I made some pretty good pitches." Justin Wilson, Tony Watson and Mark Melancon each worked a scoreless inning for Pittsburgh. Run-scoring hits by Starling Marte and McCutchen in the eighth inning eliminated a save opportunity for Melancon. Russell Martin went 2 for 3 with a walk for the Pirates. Anderson (5-4) allowed 11 baserunners and did not get out of the fourth inning. "I wasnt able to establish the inside part of the plate tonight and just didnt do a good job of putting myself in good counts to be successful," Anderson said. "That games on me, for sure." NOTES: Reigning NL MVP McCutchen led the NL -- or tied for the lead -- in extra-base hits (20), home runs (8) and RBIs (25). . . A day after blowing his fourth save in 23 opportunities this season, Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said Addison Reed would remain his closer. ... Pirates LHP Francisco Liriano, who has been on the DL since June 11 because of an oblique strain, threw a simulated game Wednesday. He indicated it went well but no specifics were offered about a return. ... RHP Vance Worley starts for Pittsburgh on Thursday against RHP Roberto Hernandez (3-7, 4.26). Adidas NMD R1 China . After Andrew Romine served up two monster home runs in the inning, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said he thought Romine was one of the bright spots on the night, showing just how bad the series opener against the last-place Minnesota Twins went for the Tigers. Cheap Fake NMD . Specifically, thumbs up to the Canadian-based teams in the NHL, or at least most of them. http://www.cheapnmdonline.com/adidas-nmd-mens-clearance.html .com) - Whew! North Dakota States reign as the three-time FCS national champion was pushed to the limit by South Dakota State on Saturday, but freshman R. Cheap Mens Adidas NMD Shoes .Before a raucous sellout crowd, the Hawks won for the 29th time in 31 games to extend their Eastern-best record to 36-8.As usual, pretty much everyone chipped in.Four starters were in double figures and backup point guard Dennis Schroder led a spurt at the start of the fourth quarter that helped the Hawks pull away. Adidas NMD Womens Clearance . In a pregame tribute commemorating his final contest at Coors Field on Wednesday night, Helton caught the ceremonial first pitch from his daughter with his wife, younger daughter and good friend Peyton Manning watching from the field. EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Oilers have dug themselves an awfully deep hole, but at least there has been some upward movement of late. Jordan Eberle scored twice as the Oilers won their third game in a row for the first time this season, getting past the Florida Panthers 4-1 on Thursday night. Sam Gagner and David Perron also scored and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had three assists for the Oilers (7-15-2) who improved to 3-7-0 at Rexall Place this season. "Weve got some confidence back and some swagger," Nugent-Hopkins said. "It is definitely nice. You obviously cant get too high, but when you are losing a lot of games in a row some guys can get down. You need to stay positive and it is easy to do that when you are winning." Edmonton was 2-9-1 in its previous 12 games before embarking on the winning streak. "Winning games does so much for the confidence of the team, especially when you are playing well and winning," said Oilers forward Taylor Hall. "Thats a double bonus. We are getting great goaltending and it seems like our special teams is the engine that is driving us right now. We are getting a lot of confidence off of that." Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins said goaltender Devan Dubnyk has been very sharp of late. "He seems really focused early in the games," he said. "When our team was struggling, we werent focused early and he was part of that. I find him very focused to start games now. Then he gets into the rhythm and gets a little swagger back there. He has been excellent for us of late, and when your goalie is excellent the wins start piling up." Eakins added it has also been a good thing to provide the home fans something to cheer about. "Its always nice when you are coming off the ice and they are clapping and not yelling You suck," he said. Scottie Upshall responded for the Panthers (6-13-4) who saw a season-high two-game winning streak come to an end. "Our starts have been hurting us. Weve had a handful of games where were behind the eight-ball right away and in this league, its hard to catch up," said Panthers defenceman Tom Gilbert. "They came out strong and we just werent ready to match that. "We had our opportunities, it was just a matter of trying to get the second goal, trying to get some momentum, trying to get some energy going for us and we just never got that. Florida head coach Peter Horachek said his team just didnt seem to be going the same speed as the Oilers. "The key was the energy, we didnt have any," he said. "Thats the key to the game, if your energy is better and you go out with a workman attitude, everything improves, the whole game improves from our standpoint. "I thought at the beginning of the game, you could see the work ethic wasnt theree, the legs werent there, the compete level wasnt there.dddddddddddd That made it a struggle." The Oilers picked up right where they left off in Tuesdays 7-0 drubbing of the Columbus Blue Jackets, scoring a power play goal just 57 seconds into the contest. A Nugent-Hopkins point shot deflected into the air and Eberle was able to bat it past Florida goalie Tim Thomas for his seventh of the season. It was Edmontons 12th straight unanswered goal stretching back to a four-goal third-period explosion in Saturdays 4-2 win over Calgary. Edmonton had 12 first period shots to Floridas six on Dubnyk. The Oilers made it 2-0 six minutes into the second period as Nail Yakupov did a good job waiting out traffic on a three-on-two break, sending a nice pass to a trailing Gagner who beat Thomas high to the glove side for his first of the season. Edmonton took a three-goal lead just past the mid-mark of the second frame with another power play goal as Perron was able to tip in his eighth of the season off of a one-timer from the top of the circle by defenceman Justin Schultz. Florida finally got on the board with three-and-a-half minutes to play in the second period as the Panthers caught Edmonton scrambling with defender Corey Potter without a stick and Upshall somehow snuck a bad-angle shot between Dubnyk and the post to make it 3-1. The Panthers had three power plays in the third period, but were unable to get anything past Dubnyk. Eberle scored his second of the game into an empty net to put the game away. The Panthers wrap up a five-game road trip in Calgary on Friday night. The Oilers are off until Monday, when they host the Chicago Blackhawks. Notes: The game was the second of two meetings between the teams this season. Edmonton won the first game 4-3 in overtime on Nov. 5 when rookie forward Mark Arcobello scored the first two goals of his NHL career, including the overtime winner. Arcobello was a healthy scratch for the rematcha After the loss to the Oilers, the Panthers fired head coach Kevin Dineen, replacing him with current bench boss Peter Horacheka The Oilers put bruising forward Steven MacIntyre on waivers for the purpose of reassignment to their AHL affiliate in Oklahoma Citya Panthers defenceman Mike Weaver missed the game with an illness, while forward Scott Gomez missed his eighth game with a groin injury. Defenceman Ed Jovanovski (hip) is officially off injured reserve, but has still yet to play this seasona Friday marks the 10th anniversary of the Heritage Classic Game in Edmonton, the NHLs first-ever outdoor match-up. Among those in attendance was a 12-year-old Taylor Hall to see the Oilers face the Montreal Canadiens. There are six outdoor games scheduled this season in the NHLa Oilers centre Boyd Gordon was an impressive 15-2 in faceoffs in the game. ' ' '