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HOUSTON -- Cardinals right-hander Carlos Martinez ended a tough stretch in emphatic fashion Wednesday.Martinez took a no-hitter into the sixth, Jeremy Hazelbaker and Brandon Moss hit home runs and St. Louis beat the Houston Astros 8-2.Martinez (11-7) pitched seven innings of three-hit ball, allowing a run while striking out seven. He retired 15 of the first 16 batters before giving up a leadoff double to Teoscar Hernandez in the sixth.Martinez had allowed 14 runs over his previous three starts.Hes been impressive, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. I enjoy watching guys improve. When you see him pitch like that and maintain like that, thats improvement.Martinez leads St. Louis pitchers with 11 starts of seven or more innings.Every day I go out on the hill focused on my work and ready to go through nine innings hopefully, Martinez said. Some days theres bad days, some days theres good days like today. I stayed focused and I felt really good. I feel like its just part of the game and I went out and did the best I could.The Cardinals have won four straight and have a slim lead for the second NL wild-card spot over the Pirates and Marlins.St. Louis is averaging 7.5 runs per game during this winning streak and began its offensive frenzy Wednesday in the third inning against starter Doug Fister.Eight Cardinals batted in the three-run third, highlighted by Stephen Piscottys two-run single and Yadier Molinas RBI double.Hazelbaker bashed a 3-2 pitch from Fister in the fourth for his first home run since July 29. Moss blew it open in the seventh with a three-run homer off Tony Sipp.Moss has four home runs in the last six games and leads the Cardinals with 22 homers in just 281 at-bats. Its a nice resurgence for the 32-year-old, who hit .250 with four homers in 51 games last season after being acquired from Cleveland in July.Seems like everybody discounted everything he did before he got to us, Matheny said. That was a bunch of homers. Then he comes over smoking the ball and not getting anything for it. You could just see where he was trending and where he continues to trend. This guys got legitimate big power.St. Louis has 49 home runs since the All-Star break to lead the National League.Its good were just having good approaches and obviously were having success at the plate, Hazelbaker said. It comes from preparation and just knowing what were capable of and just being prepared every at-bat.Fister (11-8) gave up four runs, seven hits and a walk while striking three in four innings.It was a disappointing day, Fister said. Any loss is a tough loss to swallow. I felt good today. I felt strong, I felt in control, but they put a few good swings on balls, and the ball bounced their way today.Fister has allowed four or more runs five times in his past 10 starts after reaching that mark once in his first 14 outings this season.Alex Bregman drove in Hernandez with a single in the sixth. The rookie has seven RBI in the last 11 games and is batting .312 in that time.Houston has been outscored 29-11 during a four-game losing streak and surrendered eight or more runs in three straight games for the first time this season.The rollercoaster ride that weve been on is no fun when were in this portion of it, Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. This game will test your character, itll test your resolve, itll test your ability to come back from adversity and this is another test for us. Weve got the better part of six weeks left in the regular season, and we need to compile some wins.UP NEXTCardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (9-7, 4.72 ERA) starts against Philadelphia on Friday. Wainwright is looking for his eighth season with 10 or more wins and needs four to tie Dizzy Dean (134) on the Cardinals career list.Astros: RHP Joe Musgrove (1-0, 1.47 ERA) starts against Baltimore on Thursday after getting his first major league win against Toronto on Friday. Wholesale Under Armour Uk . Lack made 20 saves for his third shutout of the season as the Canucks blanked the St. Louis Blues 1-0 in the first post-Olympic game for both teams night. Under Armour Sale Uk . Still, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke thought taking him out before the fifth inning was an unusual move. "Im looking up at the board and hes got two hits given up and one run, and Im taking him out after the fourth inning," Roenicke said. http://www.underarmourukoutlet.com/ . -- An ugly goal by Nick Bonino helped the Anaheim Ducks overcome the defensive-minded Phoenix Coyotes on a night when their ragged power play continued to struggle. Under Armour Sale Clearance Uk .J. -- New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his left knee. Under Armour Outlet Uk . Miikka Kiprusoff had just announced his retirement after a decade-long run in Calgary and it would be up to Berra and Ramo to fill the void. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The American League West-leading Texas Rangers try to get back on a winning track when they face the Tampa Bay Rays in the rubber match of a three-game series at Tropicana Field on Sunday afternoon.The Rangers send left-hander Martin Perez (8-8, 4.09 ERA) to the mound to face off against Rays lefty Drew Smyly (5-11, 4.85).Texas (73-51) had its four-game winning streak snapped in an 8-2 loss Saturday against the Rays. The game got out of reach when the Rays scored four runs in the seventh inning off of Rangers reliever Keone Kela. Rangers manager Jeff Banister says his team has to pull it together quickly.Weve got some work yet to do, Banister said. We get Smyly, obviously another really good arm, guys been pitching well of late. Weve got to go out and put together a good baseball game.The Rangers have struggled against Smyly, hitting .205 with only six extra-base hits lifetime against him.Tampa Bay (51-70) is far out of any sort of playoff race but manager Kevin Cash is looking for some consistency from his ball club as it tries to avoid any more extended losing streaks for the rest of the season.I think its important to be able to bounce back after a loss and not let it linger, Cash said. Thats what was so encouraging about (Saturday). We were able to come back out and play a good baseball game.The Rays have been dealing with plenty of injuries in the recent week. Before Saturdays game, the team announced that Nick Franklin would be placed on the seven-day cooncussion disabled list after he was hit on the batting helmet by Kevin Kiermaiers bat on Wednesday.dddddddddddd Franklin tried to return Friday but said when he went out to left field he felt like hed just pass out there.Kiermaier missed Saturdays game with hip soreness after he was pulled out of Fridays game after two innings. Its uncertain whether hell be back in the lineup Sunday.Logan Forsythe, however, appears to be on track to return Sunday after missing the past games with back spasms. The Rays would definitely welcome his bat back in the lead-off spot but Cash said the team has to continue to battle through adversity.Sure youd like to have all your guys healthy but thats not realistic over the course of a season, Cash said. We will play with the guys that we have and try to make it work.They will face Perez, who is coming off of a solid outing against the Oakland Athletics when he gave up one run and five hits in seven innings to earn the win. It was Perezs first win in his last eight starts even though hes pitched at least seven innings in three of his last four turns.Its uncertain if the Rangers will have the services of third baseman Adrian Beltre on Sunday as he decides whether to take bereavement leave for a death in his family. Beltre was informed of his grandfathers death before Fridays game. He is 6-for-9 in the series with two home runs. ' ' '