Lance Berkman

Mike Matheny singled in the tying run and Houston outfielder Lance Berkman's error on the play allowed the go-ahead run to score in San Francisco's 6-3 victory over host Houston last night. With the Giants trailing in the sixth inning, 3-2, Matheny hit a bases-loaded single to left that Berkman misplayed for an error, allowing Edgardo Alfonzo to score, making it 4-3. Giants starter Brad Hennessey (2-0), recalled from Triple A Fresno yesterday, allowed three runs on six hits in six innings.

HOUSTON - The St. Louis Cardinals tied Atlanta in the NL wild-card race on Tuesday night, crushing the Houston Astros, 13-6, while the Atlanta Braves lost to the Phillies. The race for the NL's final playoff spot will go on into the final day of the regular season. If the teams are tied after Wednesday's game, St. Louis will host a one-game playoff on Thursday night. The Cardinals trailed, 5-0, early and appeared to be headed for a second straight loss to the worst-in-baseball Astros.

Alex Gonzalez scored from first base on Ken Griffey Jr.'s pop-fly single that fell among three Pirates fielders in the ninth inning, and the Cincinnati Reds overcame Adam Dunn's baserunning mistake that cost them two runs in a 5-4 victory over the host Pittsburgh Pirates last night. With Griffey getting three hits and scoring twice, the Reds came back from deficits of 2-0 and 4-3 to win their eighth in 10 games and split the four-game series despite being swept in a doubleheader Tuesday.

Talk about two improbable pitching performances. Just back from the minors, Florida's Rick Vanden Hurk took a no-hitter into the seventh inning for his first career win last night. A few hours earlier, Atlanta's Buddy Carlyle pitched one-hit ball over seven innings for his first victory since 1999, then was shipped back to the minors before he had time to celebrate. The result was a doubleheader split, the host Braves winning the opener 3-1 behind Carlyle before the Marlins rode the big Dutchman to a 5-1 victory in the nightcap.

Astros jettison Cooper The latest victim of inflated front-office expectations and underperforming players is Houston's Cecil Cooper. Astros general manager Ed Wade fired the manager yesterday with 13 games left and put third-base coach Dave Clark in charge. Houston had lost seven straight, matching its worst skid of the season. Cooper is the fourth skipper to get tossed overboard this season - all in the National League. Arizona dismissed Bob Melvin on May 7, Colorado replaced Clint Hurdle on May 29, and Washington fired Manny Acta on July 13. The Astros were 70-79 before last night's game and are probably on the way to their third losing season since 1991.

The Houston Astros won their opener just as they won most of their games last season - with one of their aces getting just enough run support. Roy Oswalt and Brad Lidge combined on a five-hitter, Craig Biggio doubled and scored on Joe Borowski's wild pitch in the seventh inning, and the Astros beat the visiting Florida Marlins last night, 1-0. Coming off consecutive 20-win seasons, Oswalt struck out eight in eight innings, walked one and...

HOUSTON - Roger Clemens got his first victory of the season and 343d of his career, pitching five innings in Houston's 7-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs last night. Clemens (1-2) allowed two runs and four hits and struck out five. He benefited from first-inning homers by Astros leadoff hitter Craig Biggio and Lance Berkman, which staked him to a 2-0 advantage. Pirates 11, Mets 1 NEW YORK - Pittsburgh's Jason Bay drove in three runs, and Paul Maholm (3-7) held slumping New York in check for six innings.

What began as an easy night turned into a struggle for the Houston Astros. Lance Berkman hit his 20th homer and drove in five runs as the visiting Houston Astros built an 8-0 lead and then held off the Pittsburgh Pirates, 12-8, last night. It was the seventh win in eight games for Houston, which has a two-game lead over the Phillies in the NL wild-card race. Berkman hit a three-run homer in a four-run first inning and Mike Lamb hit a three-run homer in a four-run second as the Astros moved 14 games over .500 (83-69)

Thanks to Dave Roberts, Eric Gagne's dominant season is now a record-setting one, too. Gagne earned his 44th straight save this season, setting a major league record as he closed out the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers' 6-3 win last night over the Houston Astros. With two outs in the eighth, Gagne gave up a long drive to Lance Berkman. Roberts ran up the hill in center, and fended off a fan to come up with the ball and end the inning and keep Gagne from blowing his first save of the season.

Jeff Kent hit a home run in his first at-bat for Houston and Jeff Bagwell homered twice as the Astros won their season opener last night, 10-4 over the visiting Colorado Rockies. Roy Oswalt pitched seven strong innings for the win and the Astros roughed up NL Rookie of the Year Jason Jennings in their first home opener since their stadium was renamed Minute Maid Park. Kent, the 2000 NL MVP, helped lead San Francisco to the World Series last year. He signed an $18.2 million, 2-year contract with the Astros in the offseason, joining Bagwell and Lance Berkman in the middle of a powerful lineup.

Now, even the Bronx is in Boston. The New York Yankees played Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline," a Fenway Park tradition, after the third inning of Tuesday night's 4-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Yankee Stadium, following a moment of silence for the victims of Monday's bombing at the Boston Marathon. The Yankees and Red Sox will soon resume one of the the most intense rivalries in sports, between the white lines. But on an outside video board Tuesday, the Yanks displayed their NY logo and the B of the Red Sox with the words, "United We Stand.

1. The Washington Nationals, on paper, look like a force in the National League. A complete pitching rotation that includes healthy ace Stephen Strasburg and a dominant bullpen lead the way. Centerfielder Denard Span was acquired from the Minnesota Twins in an offseason trade. Span brings a career .284 average and 360 runs scored to a Nationals team that was 10th in baseball in runs scored with 731 in 2012. 2. The Giants are coming off of their second World Series title in the last three seasons.

CLOSER Mariano Rivera is having second thoughts about returning to the New York Yankees, ESPNNewYork.com reported. Sources told the website that it still is "probable" Rivera will return. Rivera, considered the greatest closer in baseball history, will turn 43 next month. He tore his ACL in Kansas City in early May, and at that time vowed he would return in 2013. Rivera has yet to inform the Yankees of his final intentions, sources told the website. He made $15 million in 2012 but will be a free agent and any negotiations will have to factor in that he pitched in only nine games.

Astros owner Jim Crane said it's possible that Roger Clemens could pitch this season for Houston. "We haven't heard from Roger, so that's still up in the air," Crane told the Associated Press on Monday. The last-place Astros began a weeklong homestand Monday that includes three games against the Chicago Cubs and four against the Phillies. Their only remaining home games after this stretch are against the Pirates and the Cardinals - two teams in postseason contention. Crane said he would not pitch the seven-time Cy Young Award winner against a contender.

Bob Uecker finally got a primo spot at Milwaukee's Miller Park. Although it's not in the first row, it's near Hank Aaron, Robin Yount, and Bud Selig, albeit outside the stadium. The Brewers on Friday honored the former catcher in a befitting manner: With a 7-foot bronze statue of the jocular broadcaster with his hands in his pockets. Master of ceremonies Bob Costas put the entire event into perspective with: "We are here somehow, for some reason, to unveil a monument to a man with a lifetime batting average of exactly .200, 14 career home runs in seven big-league seasons with six different teams.

DETROIT TIGERS third baseman Miguel Cabrera will rest for a week after being struck in the right eye Monday by a one-hop smash hit by the Phillies' Hunter Pence. Cabrera has a non-displaced fracture under the eye and received eight stitches, but Tigers president and general manager Dave Dombrowski said yesterday that Cabrera's vision is "perfect" and he won't go on the disabled list. "Thank God, I had my sunglasses on," Cabrera said. "It just took a bad hop and I was unlucky.

The Houston Astros fired general manager Ed Wade and team president Tal Smith on Sunday night in the first of the changes promised by new owner Jim Crane. Wade was the general manager of the Phillies from 1998 until he was fired after the 2005 season. The moves come less than a week after the sale of the team from Drayton McLane to Crane was officially completed last Tuesday, a transaction that requires the franchise to move from the NL Central to the AL West in 2013. Assistant general manager Dave Gottfried will serve as interim GM, but will not be considered for the permanent job. Wade was hired in September 2007 after spending the previous two years as a professional scout for the San Diego Padres.

THE ST. LOUIS Cardinals are tied with Atlanta for the NL wild-card lead, getting a tiebreaking two-run triple from Ryan Theriot in the seventh inning of a 13-6 victory over the host Houston Astros last night. The sliding Braves lost 7-1 to the Phillies, sending the race for the NL's final playoff spot to the final day of the regular season. If the teams are tied after tonight's game, St. Louis will host a one-game playoff tomorrow night. The Cardinals trailed 5-0 early and appeared to be headed for a second straight loss to the Astros.

HOUSTON - The St. Louis Cardinals tied Atlanta in the NL wild-card race on Tuesday night, crushing the Houston Astros, 13-6, while the Atlanta Braves lost to the Phillies. The race for the NL's final playoff spot will go on into the final day of the regular season. If the teams are tied after Wednesday's game, St. Louis will host a one-game playoff on Thursday night. The Cardinals trailed, 5-0, early and appeared to be headed for a second straight loss to the worst-in-baseball Astros.

The Houston Astros don't want to make too much out of one win. But in a season with so few, this one felt good. Brett Myers didn't allow an earned run in seven innings and the lowly Astros snapped the mighty Tampa Bay Rays' six-game winning streak with a 2-1 victory last night in Houston. Hours after the last-place Astros (15-27) confirmed that ace pitcher Roy Oswalt had requested a trade, the worst team in the National League beat baseball's top team, handing the Rays just their 12th loss in 42 games.