Martin. The Rangers answered when Adrian Beltre doubled to open the second and Pierzynski lined the

Colorado and Houston play the first of two matches in the final two weeks of the regular season, when the Rapids visit the Dynamo for a Saturday night Western Conference battle at BBVA Compass StadiumColorado enters the weekend in second place on the Western Conference table and looking to build momentum heading into the postseason. The Rapids (16-8-8) knocked off the Portland Timbers 1-0 on Oct. 1, extending their unbeaten streak to four matches.If the playoffs ended today, Colorado would be the second seed. With 51 points, Colorado trails first-place FC Dallas by five points and holds a three-point lead over the L.A. Galaxy for second place. The Rapids are still in the hunt for the Supporters Shield, but have not fared well away from home this season, with only three road victories.The Dynamo are headed in the opposite direction, although not officially eliminated from the postseason, yet. With four matches remaining, Houston (7-12-11) is in last place and coming off a 2-0 loss at home to New York City FC on Sept. 30, which ended a three-game winning streak. A second straight home defeat could eliminate the Dynamo from the postseason.Last weeks loss to New York City FC was deflating for the Dynamo, who had won two straight to energize their seemingly slim playoff hopes. The loss felt like punch in the cut, Houston interim coach Wade Barrett said.We didnt take care of the ball very well. You know, we were just off tonight, Barrett told the teams website after the loss to New York City FC. Its hard to explain, we had a good week of training. It felt like, coming into the game, the guys were pretty confident. For whatever reason, we were kind of flat tonight, in a lot of different ways. I feel like we all kind of got knocked down tonight, myself included.The Dynamo are 4-5-9 since Barrett took over as interim coach in the spring. Houston goalkeeper Tyler Deric is out for the Dynamo with a left elbow sprain. Nike Free Cheap Online . But by the time the game started, the Toronto Raptors forward felt even worse. And, for three quarters, it showed as Gay shot a woeful three-for-13 from the field. Cheap Nike Free Uk . 10 Texas A&Ms offence dominated as usual against SMU. http://www.nikefreesaleuk.com/ . And when it opened, every player was at his stall. Thats a sure sign that a team is in a slump and is searching for answers. "Its embarrassing to be at home and play the way we did," said defenceman Josh Gorges. Nike Free Trainers Wholesale Uk . Hamelin, who triumphed in the 500 on Saturday, edged out Victor An of Russia by 0.021 seconds to maintain his lead in the World Cup standings. Russias Vladimir Grigorev was third. In the relay, Canada took control six laps from the finish line to beat Russia and the Netherlands. Nike Free Trainers Uk . The giant slalom world champion slipped during her first run in the morning, landing on her back and then twisting forward before getting her leg caught in the protective material on the side of the slope.ST. LOUIS -- After rookie Martin Perez silenced the St. Louis Cardinals, his manager was non-stop with praise. "Ive always seen the stuff, but tonight was the first time I think he showed hes a big-league pitcher," Ron Washington said after the Texas Rangers 4-2 victory Saturday night. "It can be a huge step, he just beat a pretty good team. "He should be proud. I know we are." Nelson Cruz got the decisive hit for the second straight game with a two-run homer in the third inning for the Rangers, who have won four of five after losing six in a row. Fellow rookie Shelby Miller (8-5) allowed two homers for the second time in three starts and didnt make it out of the sixth against the team the Cardinals beat in the 2011 World Series, Texas was making its first regular-season visit to Busch Stadium. "Im not saying that if I make a better pitch I get them out, but both pitches were right down the middle, perfect pitches to hit," Miller said. "The first one was supposed to be in and the other one was supposed to be away, and both kind of ended up right down the middle of the plate." A.J. Pierzynski also hit a two-run homer for Texas, which goes for a three-game sweep on Sunday night with Nick Tepesch (3-6, 4.84) facing Adam Wainwright (10-4, 2.37). The first two games have been sellouts and the finale was supposed to be a matchup of aces, but the Rangers are saving Yu Darvish for the Yankees Tuesday in New York. They didnt want Perez to come up in New York, either. Perez (1-1) was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock where he was 5-1 with a 1.75 ERA. The lefty allowed a run in each of the first two innings but gave up just two hits the next five innings and retired the last 10. Though perhaps the Rangers top prospect, Perez entered 1-5 with a 5.40 ERA with seven starts. "I just had to do the same job Im doing at Triple-A," Perez said. "The first two innings I missed a couple pitches but after that I just said OK, this is my game." Joe Nathan wrapped up a game that had all of the scoring in the first three innings with a perfect ninth for his 24th save in 25 chances. The start of the game was delayed by rain 66 minutes. It was the second such delay this week. Earlier Saturday, Washington said he felt good about Cruzs tiebreaking two-run ssingle in the ninth on Friday because the Rangers need wins, and not because Cruz needed redemption.dddddddddddd The Rangers were an out away from taking the 11 Series when Cruz misplayed David Freeses game-tying triple in Game 6. Cruz snapped a 2-2 third-inning tie with a two-run homer, his 19th of the season to the opposite field in right. He also singled and has four hits and five RBIs the first two games of the series. Miller departed after bouncing a throw to first on a sacrifice bunt by Perez that loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth. Fellow rookie Seth Maness got Ian Kinsler on a groundout to end the sixth. Miller is 3-2 this month, the other loss coming when he gave up two homers and four runs on the road against the Mets. Manager Mike Matheny couldnt find fault with pitches that the right-hander left up. "He lives there, thats where his success is, so thats one of those two-edged swords," Matheny said. "Most of the guys in the league have a tough time catching up to him. You dont see many guys that see him the first time able to square balls up the first pitch they see on the top of the zone." The Cardinals have opened the scoring both games and took the lead on Allen Craigs RBI single in the first with Carlos Beltran just beating the relay to the plate from centre fielder Leonys Martin. The Rangers answered when Adrian Beltre doubled to open the second and Pierzynski lined the next pitch into the right field seats for his seventh homer. The Cardinals tied it in the bottom half when Freese tripled off the top of the wall in right-centre and scored on Shane Robinsons sacrifice fly. NOTES: St. Louis Rams general manager Les Snead threw the ceremonial first pitch. ... Tepesch is 0-2 with a 9.77 ERA in his last three starts, and Washington said he needs to develop trust in all of his pitches. ... Wainwright has worked at least seven innings six straight starts, going 5-1. ... Cardinals RHP Michael Blazek made his major league debut and struck out two in a perfect ninth. ... Yadier Molina was 0 for 4 to end a seven-game hitting streak, dropping his league-leading average to .366. He batted .423 (11 for 26) during the streak. ... Craig has 21 RBIs this month, his best month ever. ... Cruz has 11 RBIs the last six games with a .400 average (10 for 25). ' ' '