ARLINGTON, Texas -- Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle had no special message for his team and there was no big celebration after what was a special victory for their long-suffering fans. Flames Jerseys 2020 . With their 1-0 victory at Texas on Monday night, the Pirates clinched their first winning season since 1992. But victory No. 82 was really just another step toward their goal of getting into the playoffs. "Its going to touch a lot of people on a lot of different levels. We are aware of it," Hurdle said. "Everybodys here for a reason, and thats to knock down things we havent done in a long time." Before rookie right-hander Gerrit Cole (7-7) threw seven scoreless innings with a career-high nine strikeouts to win a pitchers duel against Yu Darvish, the Pirates hadnt had a winning season in more than two decades -- since the last of their three consecutive NL championship series appearances under manager Jim Leyland. Their last post-season before that was the 1979 World Series championship team. "We dont really understand what the fans have been through. I know it definitely puts a smile on their face when they see that No. 82 up there," Cole said. "Were extremely happy to be able to make them feel like weve got a winning team out there. But weve got a few weeks ahead and those are going to be some real big games." Pittsburgh had lost a season-high four games in a row since getting their 81st victory last Tuesday at Milwaukee. The Pirates (82-61) didnt get a runner to second base against Darvish (12-8) until Marlon Byrds two-out double in the seventh. He came home when Pedro Alvarez, mired in a 5-for-41 slump over 12 games, followed with a double. They finally have their winning season after taking the opener of a three-game interleague series between wild-card leaders. "Its a huge deal for me. It certainly thrills me to be a part of that," said Pirates hitting coach Jay Bell, the shortstop on that 1992 team. "I understand the significance of this game, the 82nd win, more than probably at least most of the players here," said second baseman Neil Walker, the teams first-round pick in 2004. "As big as this win is for the city of Pittsburgh and the organization, and as big a deal as the media is going to make out of it, we still have a lot of baseball to play. Weve got a lot of games we need to win, were in a tight race." The Pirates moved within a game of NL Central-leading St. Louis, which swept Pittsburgh in three games over the weekend. Texas lost for the fourth time in five games, and still needs one more win to clinch its fifth consecutive winning season. The Rangers dropped two games behind idle AL West-leading Oakland. Darvish is 0-3 his last five starts, all Rangers losses. The Japanese right-hander struck out six while allowing one run and four hits over seven innings. He threw a season-low 81 pitches before coming out because of cramping in his right leg. Manager Ron Washington said the move was precautionary. "We needed him to step up and he stepped up tonight, he really threw the ball well, he moved the ball around well, he kept it down in the zone, he did a good job," Washington said. "Hes in great shape. Its just something that flared up. If thats all thats wrong with him, and the way he pitched out there tonight, Ill take it." Cole got out of a self-induced jam in the sixth after consecutive walks to Elvis Andrus and Alex Rios, his only walks in the game. Andrus got his 38th career stolen base -- the Rangers pulled off a double steal when Rios reached before Adrian Beltre grounded out. "The sixth inning could have gotten out of hand," Cole said. "I was just able to get the ball down on them." Tony Watson pitched a perfect eighth, his 14th consecutive scoreless outing. Mark Melancon worked the ninth for his 12th save in 14th chances to close out Pittsburghs 16th shutout of the season. The Rangers said Darvish started feeling the cramps during the seventh. There was a short delay after the Rangers took the field in the eighth before Tanner Scheppers came out of the bullpen. "Its minor," Washington said. "No level of concern." NOTES: It was the 14th 1-0 game ever at Rangers Ballpark, which is in its 20th season. It was the second this season, both Rangers losses. ... Pirates CF Andrew McCutchen had a leadoff triple in the ninth. He was thrown out trying to score on Justin Morneaus chopper to second baseman Ian Kinsler. ... Rangers LF Jim Adduci left the game after his at-bat in the fifth inning, when he sustained a right biceps strain while striking out. ... Darvish upped his major league-leading strikeout total to 246. ... Beltre was 1 for 22 over six games before his two-out single in the ninth. Flames Jerseys China . The hard-serving 22-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., became the first Canadian to be ranked in the Top 10 on the ATP World Tour thanks to his runner-up performance at Rogers Cup in Montreal. Calgary Flames Store .ca look back at each of the Top 10 stories of 2013. Today, we look back at LeBron James and the Miami Heat winning their second straight NBA championship. https://www.cheapflames.com/ . -- Jimmie Johnson has a sixth NASCAR championship in hand and two legends within reach.EDMONTON -- The San Jose Sharks may not have been all that sharp to start after playing the night before, but that changed once the puck dropped for the second period. Trailing by a goal after 20 minutes of play, Joe Pavelski responded with three goals and an assist as the Sharks snapped a two-game losing skid with a 5-2 victory over the struggling Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. "I think after back-to-back nights and not having a morning skate and things like that, youre probably going to be a little sluggish," said Sharks captain Joe Thornton, who had two assists on the night. "We continued to get better and better and it was a good way to end the night. As long as were moving around, moving the puck around, were going to be successful." Patrick Marleau and Marty Havlat also scored for the Sharks (47-18-9), who moved four points up on idle Anaheim for the Pacific Division lead and remained two points back of St. Louis for first in the Western Conference. San Jose clinched a playoff spot in a 2-1 shootout loss to Calgary on Monday. The Sharks power play came into the game ranked just 23rd in the league and had gone just three-for-35 in its last 10 games. They were 3-for-3 against the Oilers, a major factor in the victory. "The numbers arent that important, its when they come and how they come," said Sharks head coach Todd McLellan. "Weve had nights like this and it just hasnt gone in. When you look at the power play standings and the numbers and that type of stuff, you panic over it outside the room, but not inside the room. We finally got a reward for playing basically the same way that we have." "I think weve been bad for a long time and in the last few games weve created a little bit of momentum on it," said Pavelski, who had two of the power play goals for his club. "It hasnt been one game and then take a couple of games off, weve been consistent on our opportunities and tonight it just finally went in for us." David Perron and Taylor Hall responded for the second-to-last place Oilers (25-39-9), who have lost three in a row, including a humbling 8-1 loss to the rival Calgary Flames on Sunday on the heels of a 3-1 defeat to the last-place Buffalo Sabres. "We wanted to come back and play solid after our last couple games and get back to the stuff that we had been having some success with," said Oilers captain Andrew Ference. "The power play chances they got, they jumped on and put us behind the eight ball. I think our five-on-five hockey was light years better than our last game. That wasnt too tough to beat, though." Edmonton head coach Dallas Eakins said his team left far too many missed opportunities on the table. "We have to find a way to bury the chances that we have, and there were some that were just laying there in front of their net," he said. "You just have to find a way to put those in." Oilers goalie Ben Scrivens said the team remains very much a work in progress. "We need to show to ourselves that we can play the right way," he said. "I dont know what it is that we refuse to buy in completely. Its not one guy, a line, a defence pairing. Its just kind of waves throughout the team. Its not wanting to do what we have to do. We had some tough bounces tonight that probably added to the scoring differential. You cant give a team like that the chances on the power play because they have skilled guys who will make you pay and they did tonight. Fake Flames Jerseys. ." The Oilers started the scoring just over four minutes into the first period as Perron danced around Shark Tyler Kennedy before picking a perfect spot on a shot past San Jose goalie Antti Niemi. It was Perrons team-leading 26th goal of the season. The first period shots narrowly favoured the Sharks, who had 11 on Edmonton starter Scrivens to the Oilers 10 in the opening period. San Jose tied the game on the power play six-and-a-half-minutes into the second period. Scrivens made the initial stop on a shot from the slot by Marleau, but the rebound angled to Pavelski at the side of the net with a wide-open cage to put in his 35th of the year. Another power-play goal midway through the second period gave San Jose a 2-1 lead, as Pavelski chopped a puck to Marleau at the top of the opposite circle and the Sharks assistant captains lighting-quick release led to a goal before Scrivens could get across. It was Marleaus 31st goal of the year. The Sharks took a two-goal lead with 30 seconds left to play in the middle period as Edmonton defender Jeff Petry overskated a puck at his own blue-line, allowing Havlat to come in and send a wrist shot that beat Scrivens stick-side. San Jose scored their third man-advantage goal of the game just over a minute into the third period. Pavelski got the puck with space in the front of the net, waited for defender Andrew Ference to go down, and then beat Scrivens over the blocker to make it 4-1. Pavelski earned his third hat trick of the season with seven minutes left in the third as he took a shot that hit the stick of Edmontons Matt Hendricks and deflected into the Oilers net. Pavelskis four-point night gave him 71 points on the season. Edmonton made it look a little better with five minutes left to play as Hall picked up a rebound in front and hooked a diving backhand shot into the net for this 25th to make it 5-2. The Oilers have been outscored 16-4 in their last three home games. The Sharks return home to face the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. The Oilers play the fifth game of a six-game homestand on Friday against the Anaheim Ducks. Notes: It was the fourth of five games this season between the two teams this season. The Sharks won the first two games before the Oilers got one back in the most recent meeting on Jan. 29 when Ben Scrivens recorded a record-setting 59 saves in a 3-0 shutout win in Edmontona Both teams were coming off of losses to the Calgary Flames, although of vastly different degrees. The Oilers were embarrassed 8-1 by the provincial rival Flames at home on Sunday, while the Sharks lost a 2-1 game in Calgary on Monday in a shootouta Laurent Brossoit was called up from the AHL for the game to serve as the Oilers backup goalie after Viktor Fasth was injured in a collision in practice on Wednesdaya Oilers forward Nail Yakupov missed his fourth straight game with an ankle injurya Sharks forward Logan Couture was unable to play after he suffered a lower-body injury while blocking a shot in Wednesdays game in Calgary. Also out for the Sharks were forwards Tomas Hertl (knee) and Raffi Torres, both out with knee injuries. Defenceman Brad Stuart played his second game back since missing 13 games with an upper-body injurya Sharks winger Adam Burish left the game in the second period after taking a hard shot to his hand. ' ' '