DENVER -- The St. Louis Cardinals picked up a win before a pitch was even thrown when reserve outfielder Jose Martinez captured a playful, pregame staredown with Colorado reliever Carlos Estevez.Too bad for the Cardinals that didnt count in the standings. They sure couldve used it.Nolan Arenado hit a grand slam, German Marquez pitched five solid innings for his first major league win and the Rockies slowed the Cardinals playoff chase with an 11-1 victory on Wednesday.The Cardinals, who had won four straight, entered the day tied with New York and San Francisco atop the NL wild-card standings. The Mets and Giants both played later.Arenado broke open the game in the second with his NL-leading 39th homer of the season. His fourth career slam made it 6-1.Its a pitch that simply caught too much of the plate.Stayed straight, starter Luke Weaver said. For it to flatten out at such a big moment right there is disappointing.Weaver (1-4) was roughed up by the Rockies, surrendering seven hits and six runs in two innings. Before this game, the right-hander had allowed 12 earned runs in his last seven starts combined.The Cardinals had some early momentum when that standoff went their way just after the anthem.Heres how it unfolded: Estevez and Martinez stood near their dugouts -- with their baseball cap over their heart -- and refused to back down until the other moved first.Estevez blinked first and made a winner of Martinez, who celebrated before retreating to the dugout. Estevez said manager Walt Weiss pulled him in out of fear of being ejected.Its not fun to have one less bullpen guy, Estevez explained.Martinez was going to see this thing through to the end -- no matter the consequences.The umpire asked me, `Why you do that? Im like, `When youre a rookie and a big league guy asks you to stand up there, I stand up there, said Martinez, who had a pinch-hit single in the seventh. The most important thing is we have fun and the fans enjoyed it.This was a memorable day for Marquez (1-0), who made his first big league start after three appearances out of the bullpen. He allowed one run and struck out three.At 21 years, 212 days, Marquez was the second-youngest pitcher in Rockies history to earn his first win, the team announced. The youngest was Jamey Wright (21-206).A great pitching performance from the kid today, Weiss said. Its easy -- easy velocity. Very effortless.The hard-throwing Marquez was acquired in January as part of the deal that sent outfielder Corey Dickerson to Tampa Bay. Marquez pitched a majority of the season for Double-A Hartford, where he was chosen as the pitcher of the year in the Eastern League.Marquez worked his way out of several dicey situations against the best road team in baseball. He allowed his only run in the second, when Jeremy Hazelbaker led off with a double and later scored on Kolten Wongs sacrifice fly.The Cardinals took two of three from Colorado during a series in which their starting pitchers were brilliant at the plate. Carlos Martinez, Adam Wainwright and Weaver went a combined 4 for 4 with two doubles and six RBI. Weaver had a single in his only plate appearance.DJ LeMahieu got two hits and drove in two runs to raise his average to .351. He holds a slight lead over Washingtons Daniel Murphy in the NL batting race.TRAINERS ROOMCardinals: OF Matt Holliday (broken right thumb) is hoping to take live batting practice Friday at Wrigley Field before the Chicago Cubs series. ... C Yadier Molina had the day off.Rockies: Third base coach Stu Cole sat out another day after being hit in the head by a ball that caromed off another during batting practice Tuesday.THIS & THATRockies catcher Tom Murphy had a three-run homer as part of a five-run seventh. ... Arenados grand slam gives him 128 RBI this season, which leads the majors.UP NEXTCardinals: After a day off, RHP Mike Leake (9-10, 4.54 ERA) opens a three-game series Friday in Chicago. RHP Jake Arrieta (17-7, 2.96) goes for the Cubs.Rockies: RHP Tyler Chatwood (11-9, 4.13) takes the mound Thursday to begin a four-game series in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. Chatwood is 7-1 with a 1.77 ERA in 11 road starts this season. Adidas NMD R1 Sverige . Already owning gold from competition in Vancouver in 2010, Loch posted a combined four-run time of 3:27.526. That included a track-record third run of 51. Adidas NMD R2 Sverige .Y. -- Syracuse has turned up the defence at the right time all season, and when High Point threatened to pull off a monumental upset the second-ranked Orange did what they do best with their quick hands and savvy play. http://www.nmdsverige.com/ . It was Kerbers third final of the year after losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in Monterrey in April and to Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in Tokyo two weeks ago. The 10th-ranked German improved her record in finals to 3-5. NMD Skor Billigt . -- Its been a long road back for Sean Bergenheim. Stan Smith Adidas Dam Sverige . It was the kind of score that might make everyone else wonder which course he was playing. Except that Graeme McDowell saw the whole thing. Crouched behind the 10th green at Sheshan International, McDowell looked over at the powerful American and said, "Ive probably seen 18 of the best drives Ive seen all year in the last two days.Find out where the worlds best fighters stand in the latest edition of the TSN.ca mixed martial arts rankings. For a breakdown of the UFC champions click here. Heavyweight 1) Cain Velasquez2) Junior Dos Santos3) Daniel Cormier4) Fabricio Werdum5) Alistair OvereemDidnt Make The Cut: Antonio (Bigfoot) Silva, Mark Hunt, Josh Barnett Rankings are generally the same with Werdum moving up one spot after defeating Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira last month. An intriguing matchup between Overeem and Browne (UFC on FOX Sports 1) in August should create some movement in the division. Light Heavyweight 1) Jon Jones2) Lyoto Machida 3) Alexander Gustafsson4) Glover Teixeira5) Rashad Evans Didnt Make The Cut: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Dan Henderson, Gegard Mousasi Teixiera moves into the top five with his first round stoppage of James Te Huna (UFC 160). Evans also moves back into the top five with a unanimous decision victory over Dan Henderson (UFC 161). Middleweight 1) Chris Weidman2) Anderson Silva3) Vitor Belfort4) Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza5) Luke RockholdDidnt Make The Cut: Michael Bisping, Yushin Okami, Mark Munoz Silva moves to the number two spot as Weidman becomes new middleweight champion in his upset win (UFC 162). Jacare moves into the fourth spot with his quick finish of Chris Camozzi (UFC on FX 8). Upcoming bouts between Jacare vs. Okami (UFC on FOX Sports 1) and Bisping vs. Munoz (TBA) should shake up the rankings in the coming months. Welterweight 1) Georges St. Pierre2) Johny Hendricks 3) Jake Ellenburger4) Carlos Condit 5) Rory MacDonald Didnt Make The Cut: Martin Kampmann, Demian Maia, Nick Diaz No movement on the rankings, but upcoming matchups between Ellenberger vs. MacDonald (UFC on FOX 8) and Kampmann vs. Condit 2 (UFC on FOX Sports 1 2) will surely shuffle the rankings. Lightweight 1) Ben Henderson2) Gilbert Melendez3) Anthony Pettis 4) T.J. Grant 5) Josh Thomson Diidnt Make The Cut: Michael Chandler, Nate Diaz, Gray Maynard A first round knockout loss (UFC 160) puts Maynard out of the top five and inserts Canadian Grant into his fourth spot.dddddddddddd An upcoming title bout between Pettis vs. Henderson (UFC 164) could shake up the top of the division. Featherweight 1) Jose Aldo2) Chad Mendes 3) Frankie Edgar4) Pat Curran5) Ricardo Lamas Didnt Make The Cut: Erik Koch, Chan Sung Jung, Cub Swanson Despite recent wins by Edgar and Swanson, there has been no movement in the division. Bantamweight 1) Dominick Cruz 2) Renan Barao3) Urijah Faber4) Brad Pickett5) Michael McDonald Didnt Make The Cut: Eddie Wineland, Eduardo Dantas, Bibiano Fernandes Due to Barao being hurt and his title fight with Wineland at UFC 161 being cancelled, there has been no movement in the division. An upcoming bout between McDonald vs. Pickett (UFC on FOX Sports 1) should create movement in the top five. Flyweight 1) Demetrious Johnson 2) Joseph Benavidez3) John Dodson4) Ian McCall5) Jussier da Silva Didnt Make The Cut: Darrell Montague, Louis Gaudinot, John Moraga No movement in the division. Bantamweight (Women) 1) Ronda Rousey2) Cat Zingano3) Sara McMann4) Sarah Kaufman5) Miesha Tate Didnt Make The Cut: Liz Carmouche, Alexis Davis, Shayna Baszler No major movement in the division as the Canadian Kaufman makes her UFC debut against McMann in August (UFC on FOX Sports 1 2) and Rousey defends her title against Tate in December. Pound-For-Pound 1) Jon Jones2) Georges St-Pierre3) Anderson Silva4) Jose Aldo5) Benson Henderson Didnt Make The Cut: Demetrious Johnson, Cain Velasquez, Renan Barao Silvas upset loss at UFC 162 to Weidman bumps him to the third spot, while St-Pierre moves up. Quality of opposition pits St-Pierre ahead in the second spot, as now he and Silva both have knockout losses inside the octagon. Agree or disagree with these rankings? Leave a comment below. ' ' '