their second game following the Olympic break, having

HOUSTON -- Six-foot-four, 250-pound slugger Chris Carter isnt the kind of player who normally hits infield singles. On Saturday he got the first one he could remember in the eighth inning to drive home a run and lift the Houston Astros to a 3-2 win over the Boston Red Sox. Of course, he was helped by speedy rookie George Springers hustle in beating the throw to second base on the play. "That was a big hit for us and we needed that run right there in that situation," Carter said. "I was just glad I was in the situation to come through for us." Jason Castro hit a two-run homer in the third inning to help Houston to the victory. Jose Altuve doubled to open the eighth and chase Red Sox starter Jake Peavy (1-8). Altuve advanced to third on a groundout by Castro before Springer was intentionally walked and Jon Singleton struck out. Carter then hit a grounder off Junichi Tazawa to shortstop Brock Holt. Springer just beat Holts throw to second in a force attempt, allowing Altuve to score. "Thats really good," Altuve said of Springer on the play. "Hes a guy that can do everything and that was the big thing in the game." Josh Fields (2-4) pitched 1 2-3 scoreless innings for the win and Chad Qualls got two outs for his 10th save. The Astros turned a double play to end the game and Boston challenged the play at first, but it was upheld. Castro gave Houston an early lead with his home run in the third inning before David Ortiz cut it to 2-1 with a shot in the fourth. He has now hit at least 20 homers in 13 straight seasons. The Red Sox tied it on a sacrifice fly by Dustin Pedroia in the seventh. Peavy allowed six hits and three runs with a season-high nine strikeouts in seven-plus to extend his career-long losing streak to eight games. He hasnt won since April 25 as the Red Sox have struggled to score when hes on the mound. "I think his run support is probably less than three runs a game on the year, and the way hes pitched isnt reflected in his won-loss record," manager John Farrell said. "He can only control so much, and what he was able to control (Saturday), he was outstanding at, and that was leaving guys in scoring position." Houston starter Brett Oberholtzer allowed two runs and tied a season high with 11 hits in 6 1-3 innings. He was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City before the game for his fourth stint with the Astros this season. Carter, who homered twice on Friday night, extended his career-best hitting-streak to eight games and has six homers and 10 RBIs in that span. Altuve finished with two hits and leads the majors with 130. Altuve doubled with two outs in the third inning before Castros homer to right field, which sailed just out of reach of leaping right fielder Mookie Betts and into the seats, gave Houston a 2-0 lead. Ortiz sent the first pitch of the fourth inning several rows back into the seats in right field to get Boston within one. Jackie Bradley Jr. singled to start the fifth inning before consecutive singles by Holt and Pedroia loaded the bases with one out. Oberholtzer escaped the jam when Ortiz grounded into a double play to end the inning. Castro hit a leadoff triple in the sixth inning, but Houston came away empty-handed when Springer grounded out followed by back-to-back strikeouts by Singleton and Carter. Bradley and Betts hit back to back singles to start the seventh before Oberholtzer was replaced by Fields with one out. Pedroias sacrifice fly came next to tie it before Houston intentionally walked Ortiz. Fields limited the damage by striking out Mike Napoli. NOTES: Houston placed RHP Collin McHugh on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to July 7 with a problem with a nail on his middle finger to make room on the roster for Oberholtzer. ... Houston OF Dexter Fowler, on the disabled list with a back strain, said Saturday that he is doing better, but isnt sure when hell be ready to play again. "You dont want to get it flared back up and then youll miss more time," he said. "So just ... relax and try to get it healed." Cheap Nike Sneakers . "Thank you for the warm welcome," Beckham said on an 80-degree February morning. In this case, it was soccer weather. The sport moved a step closer to returning to South Florida on Wednesday, when Beckham confirmed he has exercised his option to purchase a Major League Soccer expansion franchise in Miami. Wholesale Sneakers Free Shipping . The question is how many minutes will be available to them and can any of their defence or goaltending provide value? Top Picks: Following a down year in 2011-2012, Matt Duchene rebounded with his highest points-per-game (0. http://www.cheapsneakers.us/ . Scott scored a career-high 30 points, Jeff Teague added 28 and the Hawks rallied to beat the New York Knicks 107-98 on Saturday night. "We were down Paul, down so many bodies," Scott said. Discount Sneakers .Fucale will not only be one of the local boys, he is also a Montreal Canadiens draft pick and will have a huge cheering section when Canada opens the tournament Dec. Adidas Sneakers Cheap .C. -- Al Jefferson knows few people will be giving the Charlotte Bobcats a chance to upset the Miami Heat in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.Fresh off earning his second Olympic gold medal, Sidney Crosby will get back to work for the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight when they host the Montreal Canadiens at CONSOL Energy Center. Viewers in the Canadiens region can watch the action unfold on TSN Canadiens at 7pm et/8pm at. The game can also be heard on TSN Radio 690 at 7pm et/8pm at. Crosby famously delivered the overtime game-winner for Team Canada in the 2010 gold medal game against the United States, but unlike four years ago in Vancouver the Canadians didnt need a dramatic finish to repeat as Olympic champions. Montreal will try to bounce back from a loss in its first game after the Olympics. The Canadiens were handed a 2-1 overtime loss by visiting Detroit on Wednesday to have a three-game winning streak halted. The Habs did not have No. 1 goaltender Carey Price for their first game back after he suffered a lower-body injury at practice on Wednesday morning. Price, who also will miss tonights game, anchored Team Canada in its gold medal run in Sochi, posting a 5-0 record, a 0.59 goals against average and .972 save percentage. Peter Budaj started on Wednesday and he stopped 28 shots before allowing Detroits Gustav Nyquist to score with just 27.3 seconds remaining in OT. Budaj well get the call between the pipes again this evening. The Canadiens still managed to notch a point thanks to Brian Giontas game- tying tally with just 28.7 seconds left in regulation. "In the third we started to pressure their D a little more and it paid off in the end," Gionta said. "In the first two periods, they were able to come through out of their zone quite easily." Budaj could get another start tonight for the Habs. Montreal also recalled Dustin Tokarski from its AHL affiliate in Hamilton on Wednesday to take Prices place on the roster. The Canadiens and Penguins have split a pair of games so far this season, but Pittsburgh has won four of five and seven of its last nine meetings with Montreal. The Habs, who are playing five of their next six games on the road, have dropped five straight in the Steel City. Pittsburgh returns from the break with a healthy 16-point lead atop the Metropolitan Division, but the club still has injury concerns to deal with. Defenseman Kris Letang is still out due to a stroke suffered prior to the Olympics. Fellow blueliner Paul Martin is out for at least a month after injuring his hand while representing the U.S. in Sochi. The Pens were 4-1-1 in their final six outings before the Olympics. The clubs next game will be played outdoors when Pittsburgh visits the Chicago Blackhawks for Saturdays game at Soldier Field, home of the NFLs Chicago Bears. Maurices Jets welcome Coyotes to MTS Centre The Winnipeg Jets have thrived under Paul Maurice despite injury limiting Evander Kane to just four games under the new head coach. Kane is expected to return to the lineup tonight when the Jets face the Phoenix Coyotes. Viewers in the Jets region can watch the action live on TSN Jets at 6:30pm ct/7:30pm et. The game can also be heard on TSN Radio 1290 at 7pm ct/8pm et. Winnipeg has gone 9-3-1 in 13 games since replacing Claude Noel with Maurice, who made his coaching debut with the club in a 5-1 win over the Coyotes on Jan. 13. Ondrej Pavelec made 18 saves and the Jets got goals from five different players to beat the Coyotes for a second straight time following a six-game series losing streak. The Jets have also won both of their meetings at home versus the Coyotes since relocating from Atlanta. Coincidentally, the Coyotes franchise used to call Winnipeg home before moving to Phoenix prior to the 1996-97 season. The current Jets have endured just one losing streak under Noel, a current two-game slide that includes a shootout setback to St. Louis in the final game before the Olympic break. Kane missed the last six games with a hand infection and has been limited to just four games since Jan. 7 due to injury. He has 15 goals and 29 points in 42 games this season. The fourth overall pick of the 2009 draft is likely to skate on a line tonight with Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele. "I want him to play his game in our framework," Maurice said of what he wants to see out of Kane. "Thats what Im asking from everybody. Keep the individual things that make you special, jjust fly in formation, especially when we dont have the puck.dddddddddddd" The Jets come in with 62 points, two fewer than the Coyotes, who trail the Vancouver Canucks by just one point for the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. Phoenix also is six points behind Los Angeles for third place in the Pacific Division. Consistency has been an issue for the Coyotes, who lost their final game before the Olympic break and are 4-5-1 since last winning back-to-back games on Jan. 16 and 18. Phoenix returns five players to its roster who competed in the Sochi Olympics, including goaltender Mike Smith, who won a gold medal with Team Canada even though he did not get into a game during the tournament. "I knew going over there that thered be a good possibility that I wouldnt get into a game," Smith told Phoenixs website. "I was just doing everything I could to be a part of the team and kind of keep the dressing room light and get to know a lot of the guys I play against (in the NHL)." Like the Coyotes, Smith has had an up-and-down season, going 20-17-9 with a 2.77 goals against average and .913 save percentage. Smith yielded all five goals on 38 shots in the earlier loss to the Jets, falling to 7-6-0 with a 2.53 GAA against the franchise. Pavelec is 2-1-1 in his career versus the Coyotes, posting a 1.73 GAA. Granlund, Ortio to make NHL debuts as Flames host Kings Fourteen points out of a playoff spot and considered a team still rebuilding, the Calgary Flames may feature a number of new faces down the stretch of the season. That will be the case tonight when a pair of players make their NHL debuts in a clash with the Los Angeles Kings. Watch the game live on TSN at 9:30pm et/6:30pm pt. Goaltender Joni Ortio and forward Markus Granlund are both expected to play tonight for the Flames after putting together solid campaigns so far with the Abbotsford Heat of the American Hockey League. The 20-year-old Granlund, a 2011 second-round pick of the Flames, has netted 23 goals and 44 points in 50 games with the Heat. He is expected to center the fourth line between Paul Byron and Kevin Westgarth. "You can play only one first NHL game, so Im just going to try and enjoy the game," said Granlund. Ortio, who like Granlund hails from Finland, is 20-6-0 in 28 games with the Heat this season, posting an impressive 2.22 goals against average. His start tonight will give Swiss Reto Berra some extra time to recover after having traveled to Sochi, Russia for the Olympics. Flames goaltender Karri Ramo is currently out with a sprained right MCL, opening the door for Ortio to debut along with Granlund. "Its exciting. Im happy that we get to make our debut at the same time," Ortio grinned. "Its a fun coincidence and its going to be fun." The Flames sit 14 points out of a wild card spot despite winning six of eight going into the Olympic break. They have managed to beat the Kings twice already this season in Los Angeles and will try to defeat the club at home for the first time in five encounters. The Kings will play their second game following the Olympic break, having bested the hosting Colorado Avalanche 6-4 last night. Anze Kopitar had two goals and an assist, while Justin Williams and Jeff Carter helped the rally with a goal and an assist each. Kopitar and Carter scored 2:04 apart in the second period to tie the game at 4-4 and Kopitars power-play goal 3:13 into the third frame put his club ahead for good. "Those two quick (goals) at the end of the second were huge and we carried that momentum into the third," Kopitar said. "Its nice to start off the third with a power play." Robyn Regehr and Jarret Stoll also lit the lamp as the Kings have won two straight following a four-game slide. They did so by scoring six goals, nearly half the output of the 15 goals they had scored in their previous 11 games. Backup Martin Jones stopped 25-of-29 shots in the victory, giving No. 1 goaltender Jonathan Quick some more rest after Quick served as the starting netminder for Team USA in the Olympics. Quick may start tonight and is 8-5-1 with a 1.62 GAA and .935 save percentage in 14 previous meetings with the Flames. Los Angeles is five points ahead of Vancouver for third place in the Pacific Division. ' ' '