CINCINNATI, Ohio -- The Houston Astros will do almost anything to get Matt Downs bat in the lineup. Downs made his first major league appearance in the outfield Monday night and hit a tie-breaking homer in the eighth inning, lifting the Astros to a 3-2 win over the slumping Cincinnati Reds. "I dont know if I thrive in those situations, but I like them," said Downs, who got the start in right. "You can turn the game around with one at-bat. It felt great." Downs greeted Nick Masset (3-6) with a 362-foot leadoff drive to left, sending the Astros to their second straight win after a three-game losing streak. "It was one of those at-bats where he left something out over the plate and I put the (bathead) through it," Downs said. Downs, who has started at all four infield positions, has been working out in the outfield, manager Brad Mills said. He handled three chances flawlessly, including two fly balls. "We watched him settle under those two fly balls, and he looked OK," Mills said. "Then he came up with the big home run in the eighth inning. That was huge." Brandon Phillips hit a leadoff homer in the first for Cincinnati, which has lost four straight. Six Houston pitchers combined for a four-hitter, and the Astros turned three double plays. Cincinnati collected 13 hits while being swept by Milwaukee in a weekend series. "We hit the ball on the ground for some double plays at the wrong time," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "We havent hit very well the last three games." Rookie David Carpenter (1-3) picked up his first career win by getting Phillips to ground into an inning-ending forceout with runners on first and second in the seventh. "It was definitely a tough one," Carpenter joked about his one-batter win. Jordan Lyles and Wesley Wright combined for a scoreless eighth, and Mark Melancon worked the ninth for his 19th save. Phillips got the Reds off to a fast start, hitting his fifth homer in his last eight games and No. 17 overall. It was his second leadoff homer of the season. The Reds added another run in the second. Drew Stubbs walked with one out and swiped second before Todd Frazier doubled into the left-field corner. Houston left-hander J.A. Happ settled down after the rough start, setting a season high with nine strikeouts in six innings. He allowed three hits and walked three. "I felt like I was in a good comfort zone," said Happ, who has a 2.40 ERA in five starts since being recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City on Aug. 26. "I was able to throw my off-speed stuff early, which makes my fastball better. I felt pretty good. Its good when you have confidence in your pitches. Thats the difference between a solid and not-so-solid outing." Travis Wood pitched five scoreless innings in a surprise start for the Reds. He allowed four hits, walked two and struck out two. Wood was pressed into action when left-hander Dontrelle Willis was scratched for the second consecutive game because of back spasms. The Astros tied it up against Logan Ondrusek in the sixth. With runners on first and second and none out, Downs hit a grounder to third that skipped past Frazier for an error that allowed J.D. Martinez to score. Jimmy Paredes loaded the bases with a bunt single, and Carlos Lee scored on Clint Barmes grounder that Frazier corralled with a diving stop to his left. NOTES: Willis visited a chiropractor, but his back didnt improve enough for him to make the start. ... The Reds struck out 33 times against the Brewers over the weekend. ... A lingering right ankle injury might limit Reds 1B Yonder Alonso to pinch-hitting for the rest of the season. Alonso was hurt while playing left field in Chicago the first weekend of August, and its gotten progressively worse. ... RHP Homer Bailey will try to set a single-season career high with his ninth win in his start on Tuesday against Houston. RHP Bud Norris, the Astros scheduled starter, will be trying to avoid a career-high 11th loss. nfl jerseys china . -- The Phoenix Coyotes have signed restricted free agent forward Kyle Chipchura to a one-year contract. cheap jerseys . Fantuz announced via Twitter on Wednesday morning that he would attend the CFL teams practice, effectively putting his NFL aspirations on hold. http://www.cheapjerseyssafe.com/ . Colts head coach Chuck Pagano said the team would consider signing him as a free-agent for the teams main training camp. Anderson is the fourth member of the Redmen to receive a tryout with an NFL team. jerseys from china . In part it was a move of necessity Sunday as Jose Bautista shifted back to right field from designated hitter. cheap nfl jerseys . They got it when Jamar Walls blocked punt touchdown return proved to be the difference Friday, clinching the Stampeders a home playoff game with a 27-13 victory over the hapless Eskimos.HAMILTON, Ont. -- The Hamilton Bulldogs anaemic power play unit came alive at the right time against the Toronto Marlies. Ranked 30th with the man advantage, Hamilton scored twice on seven attempts Tuesday, including Nathan Beaulieus game-winner late in the third period, as the Bulldogs defeated the Marlies 3-2 in the American Hockey League. Beaulieu says the Bulldogs specials teams are improving because of the teams increased familiarity with its system. "The difference is our comfort," Beaulieu said. "We switched up the units a little bit and we were working on our special teams a lot in practice, dialling in on them almost every day with video and on ice work. "Were drilling it into our heads so that its second nature to us." Stefan Chaput and Mike Blunden also scored for the Bulldogs (17-24-6), while Joey Tenute and Gabriel Dumont had three assists each. Robert Mayer made 23 saves in the win. Will Acton and Joe Colborne had goals for the Marlies (25-17-4). Jussi Rynnas stopped 25-of-28 shots. Hamilton edged ahead for good at 17:14 of the third after Torontos Ryan Hamilton was whistled for goaltender interference. Beaulieu held the puck at the blue-line and waited for traffic to develop in front of Rynnas before releasing a wrist shot that fooled the screened goaltender. Consecutive penalties in the first five minutes of the opening period put the Bulldogs on the back foot, and the Marlies nearly opened the scoring on their second man-advantage. Jake Gardiner walked the blue-line and let loose a wrist shot that took a deflection in front of Mayer and glanced off his crossbar before heading wide. The penalty trouble continued for Hamilton as Joey Tenute was whistled for hooking at 9:43 to put Toronto on its third power play in the first ten minutes of play. But the Bulldogs held the visitors at bay yet again, thanks in large part to a diving shot block by Dumont. The Marlies struck late in the first to open the scoring when Carter Ashton expertly redirected a dump in to find Acton in space. The touch pass put the centre passt his marker and Acton raced in from the left wing and snapped a wrist shot over the Mayers shoulder at 18:09.dddddddddddd Where the first had been an action-packed period, the second began listlessly, with neither team mounting much in the way of sustained offence. The Bulldogs provided a rare test for Rynnas with eight minutes to play in the period, firing a three-shot flurry from close range that the goaltender turned away in quick succession. But Rynnas could do little to hold Hamilton off the scoreboard a minute later after a horrendous giveaway put the puck on Dumonts stick in the high slot. His initial shot was stopped, but Chaput reacted quickly to the rebound and slotted it home at 13:48 to tie the game 1-1. Toronto reacted swiftly, retaking the lead after Hamiltons Morgan Ellis was whistled for cross-checking at 14:58. Gardiner wheeled to his right and slid a pass to Colborne along the blue-line, who stepped forward and unleashed a slapshot that beat Mayer over the shoulder again. Hamilton did not trail for long, however, levelling the game 2-2 late in the second period. With the Bulldogs mounting a successful cycle, Dumont backed off his defenders on the left and dropped the puck to Tenute, who fired a hard slapshot from the faceoff circle that Blunden tipped past Rynnas at 17:30. The line of Dumont, Tenute and Blunden was consistently dangerous on Tuesday, and Dumont credited the skill of his linemates for his success. "Playing with Tenute and Blunden, it was going good for us," said the centreman. "We kept things simple, but Joey is a highly skilled player and he can make plays. I was just trying to work hard and use my speed. "Joey found me all night long, and it was good." Hamilton looked the more likely of the teams to break the deadlock in the third, narrowly missing the net at the end of two frantic scrums in front of Rynnas with under eight minutes to play. Note: Toronto head coach Dallas Eakins was assessed a game misconduct and ejected at 17:14 of the third after Hamilton took a 3-2 lead. cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '