Houston, TX (Sports Network) - Jason Michaels went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and three RBI, helping the Houston Astros post a 7-0 win over the Texas Rangers and avoid being swept in the finale of a three-game interleague set at Minute Maid Park. Houston starter Wandy Rodriguez (6-4) worked seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits -- all singles -- while fanning four and walking three. David Carpenter, Fernando Abad and Mark Melancon worked the final two innings in perfect fashion to seal the four-hitter. It was nice to see Wandy work through and get out of some jams, Astros manager Brad Mills said. I know in the third inning, he got two quick outs on seven pitches and he wound up throwing close to 30 pitches that inning when he loaded the bases and was able to get locked back in. Carlos Lee added a home run and Clint Barmes collected three hits for the Astros, who snapped a five-game losing streak and an eight-game slide at home. Elvis Andrus had a pair of hits, while Michael Young and David Murphy added the others for the Rangers, who had won the first two games of the series after scoring a combined 10 runs. Matt Harrison (6-7) went six innings in defeat, yielding five runs on seven hits while striking out two and walking a pair. Houston erased the scoreless tie in the fourth. Lee took a fastball from Harrison deep into the seats in left for a 1-0 lead. Houston then broke the game open in the fifth, plating four runs. With a runner on second and two outs, Hunter Pence slapped a ground ball to Adrian Beltre at third. Beltre vacuumed up the ball, but made a low throw to first that couldnt be handled by Young, allowing Michael Bourn to score. After an intentional walk to Lee, Michaels roped an RBI double down the right field line. Houston wasnt done, however, as Chris Johnson smacked a two-run single up the middle to extend the Astros lead to 5-0. The Astros added a pair of runs in the seventh on Michaels two-run homer to left, his second home run of the season. Texas best chance to score came in the third inning. With two outs and the bases loaded, thanks to Ian Kinsler and Josh Hamilton walks and a bloop single by Andrus, Rodriguez got Beltre to fly out to right to end the inning. Wandy is Wandy, what you see is what you get, Hamilton said of Rodriguezs performance. Heaters in, curveballs, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt. GAME NOTES:Barmes is two RBI short of 300 for his career...Texas is 4-2 against Houston this season and clinched its fifth consecutive Lone Star Series...The Rangers streak of eight consecutive wins at Minute Maid Park was snapped...Houston is 4-8 in interleague play while Texas holds an 8-7 mark...Astros second baseman Jeff Keppinger was scratched because of illness... Bourn extended his hitting streak to nine games...Texas was shutout for the third time this season...Carpenters appearance in the eighth was his major league debut. cheap jerseys from china . De Caster, 32, suited up in 31 games for the Goldeyes this season, hitting .351 with four home runs and 26 RBI before leaving to join Tabasco of the Mexican League on June 21. wholesale jerseys . - The Dodgers began the season poorly and then soared from last to first during a torrid 50-game stretch to make the playoffs for the first time in four years. http://www.wholesalejerseychinast... . Coach Jason Garrett said the team was trying to get as much medical information as possible to make a decision for "the best way to handle it for now and the future." Bryant broke his left index finger in Sundays 20-19 win at Cincinnati, though he returned to the game after the injury and caught a touchdown pass. [url=http://www.wholesalejerseychinastore.com/]cheap jerseys . -- Although Martin Brodeur seems likely to return next season with the New Jersey Devils, the 40-year-old goalie also isnt convinced their current season is over just yet. cheap nfl jerseys . Hudson allowed one run in six-plus innings, Stephen Drew had three hits and two RBIs, and Arizona beat the struggling Florida Marlins 5-1.MONTREAL – The meeting between Leafs general manager Dave Nonis and Phil Kessel last week had little to do with contract negotiations. Instead, Nonis and Kessel were sorting through the fallout of a wild melee with the Buffalo Sabres, one that saw Kessel suspended for the duration of the pre-season. "He brought up to me how important it was to stay," Nonis said on Tuesday afternoon of the conversation with Kessel. "And thats when we started negotiations. There werent negotiations early in camp. I wanted to hear from him and I wanted him to tell me that he wanted to be a Toronto Maple Leaf. And once he did, we worked quickly and were able to reach an agreement." Kessel, who will turn 26 on Wednesday, and the Leafs agreed to an eight-year deal that will pay the winger $8 million per season, keeping him in Toronto until beyond his 34th birthday. "Ive always wanted to be here," said Kessel, who expressed no interest in negotiating an extension during the season, the deadline thus ticking in recent hours. "Its a place I wanted to play, want to finish my career here. Its a great city. The organization is unbelievable and Im real excited to continue here." Only two players in the NHL have finished top-10 in league scoring in each of the past two seasons: Lightning star Steven Stamkos and Kessel. Its that level of production, not easily replaced in todays NHL, which enticed the Leafs to lock him up as a cornerstone for the long-term, longer in fact than any player on the roster. "If you want to retain an elite player, youre going to probably have to give them fairly lengthy term," Nonis insisted, the David Clarkson seven-year deal this past summer another example of such requirements. "What you want to make sure of or be as comfortable as you can be that that player is going to be able to perform at a high level for most, if not all of it. And again, Phil being 26-years-old, Im pretty comfortable that weve got, hopefully, the best eight years of his career." Though he enters his eighth NHL season, Kessel remains relatively young and has demonstrated in recent years an ability to grow – both on and off the ice – and further mold an overall game thaat had been previously lacking.ddddddddddddMaybe most striking, however, and most prominent in the playoffs last spring was the intensity he presented against the Bruins, a handful opposite Chara and company with four goals and six points in the seven-game series. "Its not like he hadnt done anything prior to that series, but his desire to win and to compete and do things that dont come natural to him, I think that opened a lot of peoples eyes," Nonis said. "One thing with that is he has to continue doing that and he knows it." "I think maybe some people dont think he has a ton of compete in him, but we in the room know he does," said Tyler Bozak, who remained a Leaf this past summer with a five-year deal. "He puts up those points every single year for a reason." Kessel had scored 30 goals for four consecutive seasons before tallying 20 in the shortened 48-game schedule last year. Only three players have found twine more in the past three seasons, an impressive trio that includes Corey Perry, Alex Ovechkin and Stamkos. Whether that line of production continues to ascend though will be up to the player, according to Nonis. "Its going to be where he wants it to go," Nonis stated. "If he wants to continue that compete that he showed in the postseason... if he wants to continue to work on his conditioning and his strength and his playmaking and all those things that have improved over the last three or four years, Phil should continue to improve. We shouldnt see a flat-line, he should keep getting better." Dion Phaneuf is the next contract for Nonis and his management team to work on, the Leafs captain unsigned beyond this season. Ahead in the summer of 2014 looms a daunting list that includes Jake Gardiner (RFA), James Reimer (RFA), Cody Franson (RFA), Mark Fraser (RFA), Mason Raymond (UFA), Paul Ranger (UFA), Nik Kulemin (UFA) and Dave Bolland (UFA). With Kessel now securely in the fold though, the Leafs do have a core group of forwards locked up long-term, with Clarkson, Bozak, Joffrey Lupul, and James van Riemsdyk all signed until at least the conclusion of the 2016-2017 season. cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '