HOUSTON -- When Chris Carter stepped up to the plate with the game tied in the 10th inning, Houston manager Bo Porter wasnt thinking about his sub-. Oliver Ekman-Larsson Jersey .200 batting average and the fact that he had struck out twice Thursday night. The only thing on Porters mind was Carters penchant for changing a game with one swing. "He has the ability that when he steps into the batters box hes in scoring position," Porter said. Carter homered leading off the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Astros a 5-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Carter, who homered twice on Wednesday, hit his 13th homer of the season into the Crawford Boxes in left field off J.J. Putz (1-1). "We found out again tonight why we keep running him out there," Porter said of Carter, who has had an up-and-down year and is hitting just .199. There was no doubt about the second game-ending homer of his career. "As soon as I hit it I knew it was going to be out and started celebrating almost in the box," he said. Putz lamented the pitch he threw to Carter. "He put a pretty good swing on it," Putz said. "Theres nothing else to say. I just didnt make the right pitch, I guess." Miguel Montero tied it at 4-4 in the ninth with a home run to left field on the first pitch from closer Chad Qualls. It was a game that last years Houston team would have almost certainly lost. But players and staff alike agree that things are finally starting to turn around for this team that has lost 100-plus games in three straight seasons. "Its been real exciting compared to last year, its like night and day," Carter said. "Last year we lost a bunch of games and guys were down on themselves and it just kind of seemed like there was a really bad vibe and this year everyones excited, jumping around, having fun." Carlos Corporan had a two-run home run and Jon Singleton homered and drove in two runs for the Astros (31-37), who have won six of their last eight games. Tony Sipp (1-0) struck out one in a scoreless 10th for the win. Singleton drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the first inning and broke a 1-all tie with his solo shot to right field in the third. Corporan extended Houstons lead to 4-1 with his home run to left field in the fourth. Chris Owings hit a solo homer to get Arizona within 4-3 in the seventh inning. Houston second baseman Jose Altuve was hit on the right hand by a pitch in the seventh inning. X-rays were negative and he is listed as day-to-day. David Peralta singled for Arizonas first hit with one out in the third inning. Ender Inciarte reached on an error by Altuve that left Peralta at third and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Didi Gregorius to tie it at 1-1. Enciarte was shaken up in that inning when he took a knee to the head from Jonathan Villar while stealing second base. He remained in the game but was replaced by Cody Ross in the bottom of the sixth as a precaution. Springer had two nifty defensive plays. The first one came when he sprinted from right field to centre and dived to make the catch on a ball hit by Owings for the first out of the fifth. Springer made another excellent diving catch on a fly ball by Martin Prado to start a double play to end the eighth. Paul Goldschimdt was on second and had almost reached home when Springer caught it, allowing Villar to step on second base to end the inning. The Astros celebrated "Drake Day" on Thursday with the Grammy Award-winning rapper attending the game and talking to students from the Astros Urban Youth Academy before the game. Each player came up to bat to music by the rapper and Singleton chose the tune "All Me." Seconds after the music trailed off with one out in the third inning, Singleton caught all of a 90 mph fastball from Wade Miley and launched a towering homer into the second deck in right field to give Houston a 2-1 lead. NOTES: The Diamondbacks acquired INF/C Jordan Pacheco from the Rockies and designated INF/OF Nick Evans for assignment before the game. ... Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said he doesnt expect OF Mark Trumbo, who has been out since April 22 with a stress fracture in his left foot, to return to full baseball activities for at least three more weeks. Shane Doan Authentic Jersey . United will finish the season without a major trophy if it fails to overturn a 2-0 deficit against Olympiakos in the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday. Custom Coyotes Jerseys . LOUIS - Martin Brodeur may one day return to the New Jersey Devils, where he won three Stanley Cups and cemented his place as the goaltender with more wins than any other in NHL history. MINNEAPOLIS -- The Chicago White Sox havent conceded the division race, during yet another mercurial season for temperamental manager Ozzie Guillens team. Jake Peavy sure pitched like he isnt giving up. Peavy won for the first time in more than six weeks with eight shutout innings, and the White Sox beat the Twins 7-0 Sunday to sweep a three-game series in Minnesota for the first time in more than seven years. "Were going to grind things out," Peavy said. "Thats a testament to these guys who have not mailed it in. After that last stretch, we couldve come in here, our heads hung low, and mailed it in on a team that has had our number." Brent Lillibridge, Paul Konerko, Alexei Ramirez and Alex Rios each hit home runs for the White Sox, who had lost 29 of 36 games to their nemesis until winning three straight at Target Field this weekend. The backsliding Twins have lost seven of their last eight games overall. Thats what the White Sox looked like at the beginning of the weekend, after losing six in a row after finally pulling back to the .500 mark. Those defeats did come against the top two teams in the American League, the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, though, and with 50 games left in the underwhelming AL Central the White Sox arent at all out of it. Theyre still in third place, but they climbed to 5 1/2 games behind the Detroit Tigers. "Its all about confidence," Guillen said. "Theyve got their confidence back, and they know they can win." Peavy (5-5) last picked up a victory by pitching four shutout innings in his first career relief appearance, June 25 against the Washington Nationals, three days after he beat the crosstown rival Cubs with a so-so start. The 2007 National League Cy Young Award winner hasnt been the same since coming to Chicago in a trade with the Padres, but the 30-year-old right-hander was in a rhythm that recalled his old San Diego form. "Once he got the lead, he just said, Im getting ahead of every hitter," said Minnesotas Michael Cuddyer, marvelling at the way Peavy used and spotted his cut fastball. Cuddyer added: "They stuck it to us, all three games." The power surge from Peavys teammates sure helped. The White Sox were averaging barely more than four runs per game when hes pitched, but little Lillibridge went deep for the second straight day in the second inniing and Konerko followed suit in the fourth -- both shots to the same section in the second deck above left field off Brian Duensing (8-10). Keith Yandle Jersey. The White Sox hit only 18 home runs in July, their fewest in that month since 1992. "You have to tip your hat to them. They hit the ball well," said Duensing, lamenting that he left many of his sinkers up in the strike zone. Peavy, whose start was pushed back by one day, will probably have to play a big part for the White Sox to catch the Tigers. He gave up only three hits, all in the first three innings, and Joe Mauers double was the only way the Twins got a runner to second base. Peavy struck out six without a walk, hitting one batter. "Were just aggressive. I cant stand putting people on base," Peavy said. "My stuff was OK, but it makes all the difference in the world when you get a two or three-run lead early." Duensing lasted 6 1-3 innings, but he gave up nine hits -- Rios had an RBI double to cap a stretch of three straight extra-base hits that started the fourth -- and five runs while walking one and striking out four. One of those runs was unearned, due to a throwing error by Duensing in that rough fourth inning. He stopped a soft comebacker by Gordon Beckham but sent his throw well wide of first base, blowing an easy out and prompting manager Ron Gardenhire to rub his balding head before letting out a big sigh in the dugout. Thats the kind of mistake the Twins have been making lately, and being swept by the White Sox is a sure sign theyre struggling. They were 7-1 against their primary division rival this year until this weekend. "We have great players here. We had a good series," Rios said. "Everybody did a good job. Thats what we need, to get things rolling." Notes: The White Sox are the only AL team with a winning record on the road and a losing mark at home. Theyre 14-5 in their last 19 road games, including five wins in a row. ... Guillen gave struggling DH/1B Adam Dunn a day off against a lefty and said he hopes Dunn can start fresh and finish strong this season. The manager also said he wants the slugger to come to spring training next year in better shape. ... LH John Danks pitches Monday in Baltimore, facing RH Jeremy Guthrie of the Orioles. ... Danks has a 1.69 ERA since June 6, the lowest in the majors in that span. wholesale nfl jerseyscheap jerseys from china ' ' '
