The Houston Astros will have an overabundance of outfielders when

HOUSTON -- The Houston Astros will have an overabundance of outfielders when George Springer and Dexter Fowler come off the disabled list. Robbie Grossmans big Friday night could help his case for staying in the majors. Grossmans two-run homer put the Astros ahead in the eighth inning and they held on for 4-3 victory over the Texas Rangers on Friday night. "They know that we have two of our regular guys coming back and at some point decisions are going to be made," Houston manager Bo Porter said when asked about Grossmans future in the crowded outfield. "These guys will continue to battle and continue to play well to put themselves in position to stay here on the active major league roster." Chris Carter hit his 25th home run for Houston, which trailed 2-1 entering the eighth inning. Carter is the first Astro to hit at least 25 homers in consecutive seasons since Hunter Pence in 2009-10. Jon Singleton singled with no outs and Grossman, who finished with three hits, launched a 92 mph fastball from Neal Cotts (2-6) into the Crawford Boxes in left field with one out to put the Astros on top. "He just didnt make some pitches that he shouldve made," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "He just missed with his pitches." Gregorio Petits double with two outs added an insurance run. Jose Veras (2-1) threw a perfect eighth for the win. Chad Qualls allowed a run in the ninth and there were runners at first and second with one out when Daniel Robertson grounded into a double play to end the game and give Qualls his 13th save. The win extends Houstons streak over the Rangers to six games, the longest in franchise history. The Astros are 7-3 against Texas this season and remain ahead of the last-place Rangers in the AL West. J.P. Arencibia hit a two-run homer in the first for Texas. Carter cut the deficit to one with his two-out shot in the fifth. Carter, who homered twice Thursday night, has 12 home runs since July 4 and has upped his batting average from .181 to .225 since July 1. Houston starter Brett Oberholtzer allowed six hits and two runs in seven innings. Miles Mikolas yielded four hits and a run in five innings for the Rangers. Houston second baseman Jose Altuve left the game with discomfort in his neck. Altuve didnt appear to be injured when he batted in the fifth inning, but was replaced by Petit for the start of the sixth. He said after the game that he thinks he may have slept on it wrong and expects to be back in the lineup on Saturday. Altuve leads the majors with 158 hits and his 45 steals are tops in the American League. He entered the night tied with Seattles Robinson Cano for the AL lead in hitting at .335, but went 0 for 3 Friday night to leave him at .333. SOTOS RETURN Texas catcher Geovany Soto (groin) was activated from the disabled list on Friday and started his first game since July 21. It was just his fourth game after missing the first part of the season following surgery to repair torn cartilage in his right knee in March. He went 0 for 3 with a strikeout. TRAINERS ROOM Rangers: Outfielder Alex Rios did not play Friday and will also be out of the lineup Saturday after he re-aggravated a sprained right ankle on Wednesday. "I could play on it, but Id rather give it a little rest to make it feel better," Rios said. Washington said Rios was available to pinch-hit and he will definitely be back in the lineup Sunday. Astros: Fowler (back) and Springer (quadriceps) are inching closer to being activated from the disabled list. Fowler went 2 for 3 with an RBI in the start of a rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Friday night and Springer was back in Houston after returning from a rehabilitation assignment at Single-A Quad Cities. UP NEXT Yu Darvish will start for Texas against Scott Feldman on Saturday. Darvish is 3-0 with a 1.52 ERA in three career starts at Minute Maid Park. He came within one out of a perfect game in Houston on April 2, 2013. He has a 2.16 ERA in his last four starts to lower his ERA to 2.82. Feldman, who spent his first eight seasons with Texas, threw the third complete game of his career in his last start, allowing eight hits and one run in a 6-1 win over Toronto. Nike Air Max 270 From China .com) - NFL owners have unanimously approved the sale of the Buffalo Bills. Fake Nike Air Max 270 . -- Michigan coach John Beilein is willing to give Nik Stauskas a little leeway when it comes to shot selection. https://www.cheapnikeairmax270china.us/ . Eller scored the midway through the third period after Dallas scored twice to tie it, leading Canadiens to a 6-4 win over the Stars on Thursday night. Wholesale Nike Air Max 270 . Jeff Carter had two goals and an assist as the Kings stretched their streak to seven wins in a row with a 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday. Cheap Nike Air Max 270 .J. -- The New York Jets have promoted Tony Sparano Jr.UNIONDALE, N.Y. - Anders Lee scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period, Jaroslav Halak made 27 saves, and the New York Islanders beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 on Saturday night to sweep a home-and-home series.Lees third goal of the season at 2:38 came on a tip-in of Lubomir Visnovskys slap shot that got past backup goalie Thomas Greiss. Brock Nelson added a power-play goal at 9:47 — his team-leading 10th tally — and Islanders captain John Tavares closed the scoring with his eighth at 15:46.New York had tied it 1-1 in the second period on a goal by Matt Martin.The resurgent Islanders (14-6), who finished last in the Metropolitan Division last season, won for the eighth time in nine games. Halak has won his last six starts, allowing just eight goals.New York tied Pittsburgh atop the division with 28 points, though the Penguins (13-4-2) have played one fewer game.CANADIENS 2, BRUINS 0BOSTON (AP) — Carey Price made 33 saves, Tomas Plekanec had a goal and an assist, and Montreal topped Boston.Andrei Markov added his 100th career goal for the Canadiens, who posted their eighth win in nine games.Tuukka Rask stopped 22 shots, but fell to 3-12-3 in his career during the regular season against the Canadiens.Montreal improved to 3-0 against Boston this season.It was the 728th regular-season meeting between the clubs, the first in Boston since Montreal upset the top-seeded Bruins in a seven-game series last spring in the Eastern Conference second round.LIGHTNING 2, WILD 1TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Steven Stamkos scored his 14th goal of the season, and Tampa Bay snapped Minnesotas four-game winning streak.Alex Killorn scored in his fourth straight game for the Lightning, who had lost two in a row. Anton Stralman had two assists, and Ben Bishop stopped 30 shots.Zach Parise scored for Minnesota, which won the other meeting between the teams, 7-2 on Oct. 25. Darcy Kuemper finished with 26 saves.Bishop made two saves during Minnesotas power play early in the third period. The Wild went 0 for 3 with the man advantage to drop to 1 for 38 on the road.FLYERS 4, BLUE JACKETS 2PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Brayden Schenn, Mark Streit, Wayne Simmonds and Braydon Coburn all scored for Philadelphia, which beat Columbus and broke a season-worst, four-game losing streak.Jakub Voracek and Claude Giroux both had two assists, and Voracek improved his NHL-leading points total to 29. Giroux notched his 400th NHL point with his first assist. Steve Mason made 20 saves.Boone Jenner and Matt Calvert scored for the Blue Jackets, who have lost three games in a row. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 33 shots against his former team.SABRES 2, CAPITALS 1WASHINGTON (AP) — Torrey Mitchell scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:42 left, Jhonas Enroth stopped 43 shots, and Buffalo beat Washington for its third straight win.Washingtons Braden Holtby made the initial save after Brian Gionta picked up a loose puck in the left circle, but Mitchell knocked in the rebound for his third goal of the season.Matt Moulson also scored for Buffalo, which began the day last in the NHL. The Sabres have won three in a row for the first time since Feb. 25-28.Matt Niskanen tied it for Washington with a power-play goal at 5:54 of the third period. Holtby made 24 saves.Enroth, starting in place of the injured Michal Neuvirth, stopped 20 shots in the second period.Washington had won two straight and five of seven.MAPLE LEAFS 4, RED WINGS 1TORONTO (AP) — Tyler Bozak scored a pair of third-period goals, and Toronto beat Detroit.Leo Komarov and Peter Holland had the other goals for Toronto. Jonathan Bernier made 26 saves to improve to 7-5-2.Tomas Tatar had the lone goal for Detroit, and Jimmy Howard made 24 saves.Following Thursday nights backlash, the Maple Leafs saluted their fans on Saturday night after the win before leaving the ice.Toronto topped Detroit for the first time in three games this season, and the Maple Leafs have back-to-back contests after a three-game skid in which they were outscored 17-5. They are 8-4-1 in their last 13.Bozak gave Toronto its second lead of the night with a short-handed goal early in the third period.BLUES 3, SENATORS 2OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Alex Steens second-period goal stood up as the game-winner in St. Louis victory over Ottawa.Maxim Lapierre and Vladimir Tarasenko also scored for the Blues (13-6-1), and Brian Elliott stopped 24 shots.Ottawa got goals from Mika Zibanejad and Erik Karlsson. Robin Lehner, making his second consecutive start, stopped 30 shots.The teams meet again Tuesday in St. Louis for the second and final time this season.Ottawa (9-6-4) was only 3-7-2 in afternoon games last season, and the Senators repeated the trend against the Bllues.dddddddddddd.PREDATORS 3, PANTHERS 2, SONASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Filip Forsberg scored the lone goal in a shootout, and Nashville edged Florida after squandering a two-goal lead in the final minute of the third period.Colin Wilson and Matt Cullen had goals in regulation for the Predators, winners of three of four. Pekka Rinne made 28 saves to improve to 13-3-1.Rocco Grimaldi and Nick Bjugstad scored 12 seconds apart to help the Panthers tie the game. Roberto Luongo had 48 saves for Florida, which has lost two of three.With time winding down in the third, Luongo was pulled for an extra attacker. Grimaldis first career goal put the Panthers on the board at 19:17. Bjugstad quickly followed to send the game to overtime.STARS 5, KINGS 4DALLAS (AP) — Jamie Benn scored two first-period goals, and Dallas held on to top Los Angeles.It was the Stars second straight home victory after they had lost nine of their first 10 there.Los Angeles dropped to 1-4-3 on the road at the start of a three-game trip. The only victory was at Dallas on Nov. 4.Tyler Seguin and John Klingberg each had a goal and an assist for Dallas, and Jason Demers scored in his first game after being traded to the Stars.Justin Williams scored two goals, and Tanner Pearson and Mike Richards had one each after Los Angeles fell behind 4-0.Dallas Cody Eakin and Los Angeles Kyle Clifford and Jarrett Stoll had two assists apiece.Kari Lehtonen made 38 saves for Dallas. Los Angeles Jonathan Quick had 23, including only two in the third period.AVALANCHE 4, HURRICANES 3DENVER (AP) — Zach Redmond scored his second goal of the game with 1:35 remaining, and Colorado rallied to beat Carolina.Jarome Iginla had a goal and an assist, and Erik Johnson also scored for the Avalanche, who have won three of four. Calvin Pickard had 17 saves in relief of Reto Berra.Colorado trailed 3-2 late but controlled play for most of the third period. Iginla tied it 3-3 at 14:43, and Redmond pinched in from the blue line to record his first career multi-goal game.Carolina pulled goalie Cam Ward for an extra skater with a minute left, but couldnt tie it. Ward finished with 31 saves.Nathan Gerbe, Andrej Nestrasil and John-Michael Liles scored for the Hurricanes, who have lost five of six after a 5-0-1 stretch. Carolina struggled to score during its recent slide, managing just two goals during a three-game losing streak.BLACKHAWKS 7, OILERS 1EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Marian Hossa had a goal and three assists, and Jonathan Toews scored twice as Chicago routed Edmonton.Marcus Kruger, Kris Versteeg, Duncan Keith and Patrick Kane also scored for the Blackhawks (12-7-1), who have won three straight and five of six.David Perron had the lone goal for the Oilers (6-13-2), losers of six in a row overall and seven straight at home. Edmonton has yet to win a game against Western Conference opponents, dropping to 0-10-1.The Blackhawks took control with goals on their first two shots.COYOTES 4, SHARKS 3, SOSAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Antoine Vermette, who also scored in regulation, netted the lone goal of the shootout to help Arizona beat San Jose.San Joses Joe Pavelski scored on a power play to tie it midway through the third period. Brett Burns fired a shot from just inside the blue line that Pavelski redirected past Devan Dubnyk for his 200th career goal.Shane Doan scored 52 seconds into the third to give the Coyotes a 3-2 lead. He followed Sam Gagners shot and flipped in the rebound.Vermette and David Schlemko scored in the first to put the Coyotes ahead en route to their third road win in four games.Dubnyk stopped 40 shots for the Coyotes. Antti Niemi made 22 saves as the Sharks fell to 2-3-2 at home.Tommy Wingels and Andrew Desjardins had goals in the second period to tie it for the Sharks.FLAMES 5, DEVILS 4, SOCALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Jiri Hudler scored late in regulation to start Calgarys comeback and then got the deciding goal in the shootout to lift the Flames over New Jersey.Flames coach Bob Hartley pulled goalie Karri Ramo with just under 4 minutes remaining in regulation with his team trailing 4-2. Hudler scored from the side of the net with 2:22 left, and Curtis Glencross second of the game tied it with 5 seconds to goBoth teams scored once in the first three shooters of the shootout before Hudler sent a shot past Scott Clemmensen to put Calgary ahead. Ramo clinched the victory by stopping Travis Zajac.Clemmensen got the nod over Cory Schneider, who had started the Devils first 20 games this season — a team record.Josh Jooris also scored for Calgary, which finished 4-1 on a five-game homestand.Adam Henrique, Mike Cammalleri, Zajac and Tuomo Ruutu scored for New Jersey. ' ' '