Gildenregeln » ey (7-3, 4.68) faces LHP Jeff Locke (0-1, 3.96)

NEW YORK -- Anyone who thought Houston would be a Yankee Stadium pushover hasnt been paying attention to Chris Carter at the plate. New York Knicks Pro Shop . After striking out four straight times, Carter snapped a ninth-inning tie with a colossal three-run homer Tuesday night that extended his second-half power surge and sent the Astros to a 7-4 victory over the New York Yankees. "I was just trying to hit it and put it in play. My first four at-bats, I didnt do anything," Carter said with a smile. "I went up there in the last at-bat and just tried to forget about it and regroup." Marwin Gonzalez knocked in two runs with a pinch-hit single, and the fourth-place Astros (53-73) won for the third time in four meetings with the Yankees this year. Despite a $154 million difference in opening-day payroll, Houston took two of three at home against New York to begin the season. "Shows us that were on the right track," winning pitcher Josh Fields said. "Were playing a lot better baseball than last year." Brian McCann hit a two-run homer, and Martin Prado had three hits for the Yankees, who dropped the opener of a six-game homestand against two teams with losing records. New York fell four games out of a playoff spot. "We were able to come back and tie the game up and we let it slip away," manager Joe Girardi said. David Robertson (1-4) walked consecutive batters and threw seven straight balls before Carter launched a 3-0 pitch into the raised concrete bleachers in left field for his 30th home run. "I tried to make a good pitch down and away. Instead, I threw it right into his bat path, and he put it 30 rows deep," Robertson said. "I struggled out there tonight and I blew it for our team." Carter, the reigning AL player of the week, is batting .340 with eight homers and 19 RBIs in his past 13 games. He leads the majors with 17 home runs and 42 RBIs since July 1. "It was like somebody flipped a light switch," Fields said. Fields (3-6) tossed a scoreless eighth on his 29th birthday. With the infield in, Jacoby Ellsbury was thrown out at home on a one-out grounder to shortstop by slumping Carlos Beltran. Chad Qualls worked a perfect ninth for his 14th save. Prado singled in the fourth off starter Brett Oberholtzer before McCann drove an 0-2 pitch into the second deck in right for his 14th homer. Robbie Grossman hit a two-out RBI single in the fifth, and Houston chased Chris Capuano on his 36th birthday during a three-run sixth. Fowler led off with a triple and scored on Jason Castros tying groundout. After consecutive singles, both runners moved up when Jake Marisnicks groundout deflected off reliever Adam Warren. Astros manager Bo Porter pushed the right button, lifting No. 9 batter Gregorio Petit for a left-handed hitter even though Petit had doubled both times up. Gonzalez hit a two-run single that gave Houston a 4-2 lead. It was the first run-scoring hit by a Houston pinch hitter since Jesus Guzman had an RBI single against Texas on May 14. "I didnt think that I was going in that early," Gonzalez said. "Bo told me like 10 minutes before." Prado tied it in the bottom half with a two-run double that ended Oberholtzers night. ON THE GREEN Tiger Woods was on the field during batting practice before heading to the runway behind the Yankees dugout, where the golf star greeted injured New York pitcher Masahiro Tanaka and then Astros outfielder Dexter Fowler. TRAINERS ROOM Astros: Guzman was activated from the disabled list, and LHP Darin Downs was placed on the 15-day DL, retroactive to Aug. 15, with a strained muscle on his right side. Guzman had been sidelined since Aug. 2 because of back spasms. ... OF Alex Presley, sidelined since July 8 with a strained right oblique, joined the team to receive treatment but wont be activated from the DL for a while. Yankees: Tanaka (elbow) plans to throw another bullpen Wednesday. ... Girardi said a decision on whether to use RHP David Phelps (elbow inflammation) as a starter or reliever when he gets back probably will depend on how long hes out. UP NEXT Yankees RHP Michael Pineda (2-2, 1.82 ERA) makes his second start since a long injury layoff in the second game of the series. RHP Scott Feldman (6-9, 4.45) gets the ball for Houston. BAD TIMING Robertson had gone 27 games without giving up a home run since Josh Willingham connected for Minnesota on June 1 at Yankee Stadium. POWER RESTORED Carter became the first Astros player to reach 30 homers in a season since Lance Berkman (34) and Carlos Lee (32) in 2007. Trent Tucker Jersey . I wondered how NHL coaches would feel about a playoff schedule that allowed them to open a best-of-seven series on the road, which many claim to favour, yet still gave them the precious home-ice edge for a seventh game. Max Zaslofsky Jersey . It was the most lopsided loss in Lakers history. Darren Collison had a team-high 24 points while starting at shooting guard for the injured Jamal Crawford. Chris Paul added 13 points and 11 assists for the Clippers, who apparently are trying to make up for decades of humiliation at the hands of the Lakers all in one season; theyve won the last two meetings by a combined 84 points. https://www.cheapknicks.com/1361x-reggie-bullock-jersey-knicks.html .com) - Coming off a pair of tough losses last week, the Syracuse Orange will try to put an end to their first losing skid of the season when they pay a visit to the Maryland Terrapins at the Comcast Center on Monday night in Atlantic Coast Conference action.PITTSBURGH -- Alfredo Simon became the NLs first 10-game winner and Billy Hamilton had three hits and three RBIs in the Cincinnati Reds 11-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night. Simon (10-3) allowed three runs on five hits and three walks in 6 1-3 innings to break a tie with the Dodgers Zack Greinke and Cardinals Adam Wainwright for the NL lead in victories. Simon went to spring training as a relief pitcher and moved into the starting rotation when Mat Latos was recovering from elbow and knee surgeries. Brandon Phillips, Skip Schumaker and Zack Cozart each had two of the Reds 14 hits in the game, which was delayed 1 hour, 15 minutes by rain in the bottom of the seventh inning. Schumaker also had three RBIs in helping Cincinnati win for the sixth time in seven games. Pittsburghs Gregory Polanco went 2 for 4 and became the second player in Pirates history -- joining Spencer Adams (1923) -- to have a hit in each of his first eight major league games. Edinson Volquez (4-6) was tagged for eight runs in 2 2-3 innings after going 3-1 with a 2.48 ERA in his previous five starts. Pirates reserve outfielder Travis Snider pitched the ninth inning in his first major league appearance on the mound. He allowed two runs on a double by Hamilton and a groundout by Todd Frazier, but struck out 2010 NL MVP Joey Votto on a 2-2 changeup to end the inning. Andrew McCutchen had his 12-game hitting streak end as he went 0 for 3 before being pulled after six innings with Pittsburgh trailing 9-1. Starling Marte had two hits and two RBIs while running his hitting streak to nine games. The Redds broke open the game in the third inning, sending 12 men to the plate. RJ Barrett Jersey. Phillips doubled in the first run and another scored on a wild pitch by Volquez before Schumaker and Cozart hit consecutive RBI singles to make it 5-0. The Reds next run came on a disputed call and resulted in the ejection of Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle. Simon hit a nubber to the left of the mound with the bases loaded that right-hander Stolmy Pimentel, who had just relieved Volquez, made a diving play on then flipped the ball to catcher Russell Martin at home plate for an apparent force out on Devin Mesoraco. Mesoraco, however, was ruled safe following a 3-minute, 33-second video review in which it was determined that Martin had illegally blocked home plate. Hamilton followed with a two-run single that capped the inning and increased Cincinnatis lead to 8-0. In the fourth, Mesoraco doubled and scored on a single by Schumaker. The Pirates scored in the fifth when Polanco knocked in Pedro Alvarez, who hit a leadoff double. Marte drove in a run in the sixth inning with a fielders choice and Jose Tabata hit a sacrifice fly as a pinch-hitter in the seventh and added an RBI single in the ninth. NOTES: Pirates RHP Gerrit Cole threw a 60-pitch simulated game Wednesday the first time he faced batters since going on the 15-day disabled list June 4 with right shoulder fatigue. . Cincinnati RF Ryan Ludwick was rested despite going 7 for 12 in the previous three games. He was replaced by Schumaker. . Reds RHP Homer Bailey (7-3, 4.68) faces LHP Jeff Locke (0-1, 3.96) in the finale of the three-gamer series on Thursday. ' ' '