Down two in the bottom of the 10th, the Pittsburgh Pirates recorded three runs on five hits to overtake the St. Louis Cardinals in extras for the second consecutive evening. In the series victory, the Bucs’ Francisco Cervelli proved to be clutch once again, tying the game at 5-5. The first-year Pirate continues his sensational season after years as a backup for the New York Yankees, hitting .291 heading into Sunday’s tilt and a WAR of 1.9, sixth best in MLB. The catcher is hitting .358 when putting the ball in play and he has thrown out 21 baserunners on the bags.

The Pirates continue to climb up the NL Central standings, with PIT heading into the All-Star break just 2.5 games back of the division-leading Cardinals. If the postseason began tomorrow, the Pirates would have earned the top Wild Card seed and taken on the Chicago Cubs in a one-game playoff.

Francisco Liriano struck out six and allowed just two runs despite walking four in the no-decision, and Mark Melancon is arguably the best reliever in all of baseball of late, lowering his ERA to 1.47.

Pittsburgh is hot heading into the second half, and this is all despite having a regular in the batting order hitting over .300. They are in the market for a middle infielder after the injury of third baseman Josh Harrison. Pedro Alvarez has underperformed in a contract year at first base, but the rotation is as dominant as they come, with first-time All-Star A.J. Burnett and 13-3 Gerrit Cole leading the way.

After years of futility in the bottom of the NL, the Pirates and manager Clint Hurdle are here to stay, and they are doing it in a fashion similar to last season’s Cinderella, the Kansas City Royals.

Kelvin Queliz is an MLB writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @iamkelvinq, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on LinkedIn and Google.