HOUSTON -- Brad Hand knows he has to prove he belongs in Miamis rotation. His last five starts might be making the decision easier. The left-hander pitched three-hit ball into the eighth inning and Jeff Mathis had a two-run double for the Marlins in their 2-0 victory over the Houston Astros on Friday night. Hand struck out four and walked two in a career-high 7 1-3 innings to earn his second straight win. "Nothings done yet," Hand said. "I am still trying to go out every fifth day and solidify myself in this rotation. Nothing is going to be given to me or anything. Im going to have to prove it every fifth day." Hand (2-2) cruised through the first five innings, allowing just two baserunners, and retired seven of his first eight batters. Chris Carter reached on a walk in the first and Gregorio Petit singled with one out in the third. "We stuck with the game plan right out of the shoot," Hand said. "We were able to get ahead of the guys. I was trying to get easy, quick outs and groundball outs." Hands previous career high for innings pitched was Sunday against San Francisco when he allowed two runs in seven innings. He said he doesnt know whats changed for him other than throwing strikes. "You guys have seen it: When I walk guys, get behind in the count, thats when I get myself in trouble," he said. "The biggest thing for me is to focus and pound the strike zone and make them put the ball in play." Hand continued a string of solid starts since transitioning from the bullpen to the rotation at the beginning of July. He has yielded three runs or fewer in each of his five starts. "That was a tremendous effort by Brad tonight," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. "He was pounding the strike zone and was in complete control of that game. ... It was fun watching him pitch. He and Matty (Mathis) seemed to be on the same page the whole night and flipped in some nice breaking balls and changeups and ran that fastball in and out." Donovan Solano and Giancarlo Stanton each had two hits for the Marlins, who won their fifth in sixth games. Miami was able to get to Dallas Keuchel (9-7) in the seventh. Jarrod Saltalamacchia reached on an error by centre fielder Enrique Hernandez. Adeiny Hechavarria hit an infield single with two outs before Mathis drove in both runners with a double. "I was frustrated earlier," said Mathis, who grounded into an inning-ending double play in the fifth. "I had a chance to push a run across and was not able to do it. Brad kept us in the game. I had another opportunity, and luckily, got it done." Bryan Morris got two outs in the eighth, and Steve Cishek pitched a perfect ninth for his 25th save. Keuchel, who had given up four runs or more in each of his last five starts, allowed two runs -- none earned -- and nine hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings. "I definitely need to be a little bit better," he said. "I dont think I lost it, I just think it was some bad breaks. I think Ive pitched well, just the results havent been there." The left-hander retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced but ran into trouble in the fifth and sixth, allowing the first two batters to reach in both innings. Houstons defence helped him out both times, turning double plays in each inning. "If you look at the way he pitched tonight, he deserves to fare better," Astros manager Bo Porter said. "Defensively, we did let him down. We gave them extra outs that extended the inning and allowed them the two runs they got." Houston, which has lost three straight to fall a season-high 19 games under .500, did not get a runner past second base. Carter reached second in the first, and Jason Castro doubled in the eighth to chase Hand. NOTES: Miami recalled catcher J.T. Realmuto from Double-A Jacksonville and optioned right-hander Anthony DeSclafani to Triple-A New Orleans. ... Houston selected the contract of Petit, an infielder, from Triple-A Oklahoma City. He started at shortstop. The Astros optioned right-hander Anthony Bass to Oklahoma City after Thursdays game. ... Houston also transferred right-hander Matt Albers to the 60-day disabled list. ... Miami challenged the original safe call on Jose Altuves attempted stolen base in the sixth. After review, the call was overturned and Altuve was out. Pittsburgh Penguins Jerseys China . He just didnt expect them to be this good. Darrun Hilliard scored 19 points to lead No. 6 Villanova to a dominating 77-59 victory over Georgetown on Saturday, preserving the Wildcats hopes of a No. Authentic Derick Brassard Jersey . 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Pedroia hit a two-run double to jump-start Bostons 18-hit effort, David Ortiz had a two-run single and the Red Sox wrapped up a big homestand by beating San Diego 8-2 Thursday, sending the Padres to their season-high sixth straight loss. "Hes been in the middle of this offence from Day One and continues to be so," Red Sox manager John Farrell said of Pedroia, who raised his average to .325 by going 2 for 4. Brandon Snyder and Jacoby Ellsbury each had solo homers for the Red Sox. Boston went 8-1 at Fenway Park to match its best homestand since June 2010. The Red Sox also won for the 12th time in its last 14 games at home. The AL East leaders improved to 19 games over .500 (53-34). Sitting in his uncomfortably warm office about two hours before the game, Black praised the play of Pedroia. It didnt take long for the Red Sox second baseman to make him look good. "Pedroia might be the MVP of the league so far. I think you can make a case for it," he said. Pedroias two-run double in the first moved Boston ahead 2-0. Ellsbury singled leading off to extend his season-high hitting streak to 14 games and Shane Victorino doubled off the Green Monster before Pedroia doubled into the left-field corner. "What were seeing of late is hes starting to pull the ball," Farrell said. "Its a byproduct of getting pitched in a little more because hes gotten so many hits the other way. We know that when either an offspeed pitch stays in the middle of the plate or a fastballs in the inner part of the plate, hes always been a dead-pull hitter in those locations of pitches." The 2008 AL MVP just feels like hes taking a simple approach each time he steps to the plate. "I feel good," he said. "It depends if the balls in. Im trying to hit the ball where its pitched. If Im pulling the ball, it means theyre throwing it in a little more. Thats it." The Padres have scored just seven runs in their losing streak. They also lost for the 10th time in 12 games. "They know whats ahead of them. They know what the challenge is," Black said after the game. "This is the part of the season, part of the summer where its hot, its hot for everybody. Youve got to keep pushing through. We were swept in this series. Weve swept some teams to get back in the race in the west, but our guys know whats in front of them." Allen Webster (1-2) pitched six innings for his first major league win, allowing two runs and five hits, while walking four and striiking out two.dddddddddddd Chase Headley didnt feel like the slump has been that bad despite the team scoring two or fewer nine of the last 12 games. "I think its looked worse than it has been," he said. "Weve had some at-bats in situations where we had a chance to drive in runs and the guys hit the ball hard and it just hasnt gone in the hole for us. Obviously its disappointing when you put one, two runs up on the board for an extended period of time. I think as a group, I dont think its maybe as far off as it looks." The Red Sox open a three-city, 10-game West Coast trip Friday night in Anaheim against the Angels. Eric Stults (6-7) gave up four runs and nine hits over 4 1-3 innings without walking or striking out a batter. He was tagged for seven runs -- six earned -- in 3 2-3 innings in his previous start Saturday in a loss at Miami after giving up two runs or less in his previous six. In the second, Snyder homered into Bostons bullpen to make it 3-0. Ortizs bases-loaded, two-run single off reliever Tyson Ross in the sixth gave the Red Sox a comfortable 7-2 lead. Ellsbury homered over the bullpens to make it 8-2. Headleys sacrifice fly had cut it to 3-1 in the third before Jose Iglesias run-scoring, ground-rule double pushed Bostons lead back to three an inning later. The Padres sliced it to 4-2 in the fifth on Jesus Guzmans single high off the left-field wall -- when he missed a homer by a couple of feet -- but Webster got Mark Kotsay to line to left, ending the inning with two runners on. Jonny Gomes RBI single made it 5-2. NOTES: Black said he expects SS Everth Cabrera, on the 15-day DL since June 19 with an injured left hamstring, to be activated when the club opens a three-game series against the Nationals on Friday night. ... Boston 1B Mike Napoli was back in the lineup after getting Wednesday night off. With a left-hander starting for San Diego, Gomes was also inserted into the lineup one day after hitting a game-ending homer in the ninth inning. ... Black also discussed options for his teams struggling offence. "You have to try and do everything you can to get things going," he said, saying theyd run and bunt with the right people. "When youre not scoring things look a little flat. As people in the game know, that happens everywhere. When you score, sometimes you score in bunches and you lose and the pitching wasnt solid, but youre playing hard. Were playing hard, but were just not scoring runs." ... Farrell said he hopes SS Stephen Drew, sidelined since last Friday after aggravating his right hamstring, will be back in the lineup Saturday. ... The gametime temperature was 91. cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '