Hilfestellungen » hearted blocks with ease (95).J.J. Watt, DE,

OAKLAND, Calif. - Two days after homering in the eighth inning to break up Yu Darvishs no-hitter, Houstons Carlos Corporan came up with another timely late hit. Just like that, the Astros have a winning streak and their first series win in nearly two months. Corporan hit an RBI double off reliever Sean Doolittle in the 11th inning to drive in Jose Altuve, lifting Houston to a 2-1 win over the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday. "I was ready for the fastball and he threw it," Corporan said. "As soon as I hit it I thought its either a homer or a double and were going to score." Corporans hit came after Oakland nearly won the game in the bottom of the 10th when Houston left fielder Robbie Grossman made a leaping grab of Chris Youngs deep fly at the fence. Its the first time the Astros have had back-to-back wins since June 15-16 when they took three of four from the Chicago White Sox. Thats also the last time Houston won a series. "That was a big hit by Corporan," Astros manager Bo Porter said. "Hes actually got big hits all year. You look at the year (catcher Jason) Castros having, a lot of that credit goes to Corporan being a great backup and giving him opportunities to take days off." Jose Altuve singled with one out Doolittle (3-4) and was headed for third on Corporans double to left-centre when Young bobbled the ball. Altuve alertly rounded third and scored the tiebreaking run while Corporan was caught in a rundown between second and third. Corporan had entered the game as a defensive replacement in the bottom of the ninth. "Weve been playing pretty good," Corporan said. "Things are going our way now. Its our turn." Chris Carter homered and Jonathan Villar added two hits for the Astros. Houston has won the first two games of this series after dropping 11 of the first 12 between the two division rivals. Lucas Harrell (6-13) pitched one inning for the win while Josh Fields earned his second save. Yoenis Cespedes singled and scored Oaklands run. The As have dropped nine of 13 and fell two games behind first-place Texas in the West. "It just seemed like it was frustrating from the beginning and got more frustrating as the game went on," said As manager Bob Melvin, who was ejected in the eighth inning after arguing a close play at third base. "You have to try and put that away and keep your wits about you and not get frustrated." Houston won despite Oakland getting the tying run on base in the bottom of the 11th. Eric Sogard hit a leadoff double but Fields struck out Alberto Callaspo, Jed Lowrie and Josh Reddick to end it. Carter, the former As first baseman, homered off As starter Jarrod Parker leading off the seventh. Its Carters third in his last five games. Brandon Mosss RBI double in the seventh off Houston reliever Phil Humber tied it. Both starting pitchers were stellar but left with no decision. Houstons Jarred Cosart, the first pitcher in franchise history to begin his career with five consecutive starts of five-plus innings while allowing two or fewer runs, kept the As silent early. He allowed only one runner past first base through six innings and didnt give up a fly ball out until Josh Donaldsons sinking liner to centre leading off the fifth. The Astros also backed him with solid defence. Houston turned a double play to end the third, and centre fielder Brandon Barnes made a running catch near the wall to rob Seth Smith of extra bases in the sixth. Parker pitched a career-best 8 1-3 innings for Oakland and had six strikeouts. The right-hander faced just two over the minimum through the fifth and made his only mistake came in the seventh when he gave up Carters team-leading 22nd home run of the season. Melvin was ejected in the eighth after arguing a call by third base umpire Doug Eddings. Sogard doubled leading off the inning but was thrown out on a close play trying to advance on Nate Freimans deep fly to centre. Melvin scampered out of the dugout to dispute the call before getting tossed. NOTES: Castros single in the ninth extended his hitting streak to a career-best 12 games. ... Carters home run was his first against his former club. He was traded to Houston in the off-season as part of Oaklands deal to acquire Lowrie. ... As C John Jaso still has not been cleared to resume baseball activities but the team is hopeful he can return this season. Jaso met with a concussion specialist in Pittsburgh earlier this week. ... CF Coco Crisp was held out of the lineup after getting a cortisone injection in his wrist on Tuesday. ... The Astros called up INF Marwin Gonzalez from Triple-A Oklahoma City and optioned RHP Jorge DeLeon down. ... Houston traded minor league LHP Travis Blackley to Texas in exchange for a player to be named later and cash considerations.Superstar Shoes NZ . -- The boos poured down on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots at the end of a horrible first half. Cheap NMD NZ . It might not have mattered. While the Dodgers are preparing for the playoffs, the Padres showed their future has promise behind two rookies. http://www.nmdshoesnz.com/ . A forerunning sled crashed into the worker Thursday at the Sanki Sliding Center. The unidentified worker broke both legs and was airlifted to a nearby hospital. Adidas X_Plr NZ . The Oilers come in having lost five in a row (0-4-1) and 16 of their last 20 games, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. Stan Smith Sale NZ .Y. -- Sabres forward Drew Stafford has witnessed plenty of turmoil during his eight seasons in Buffalo.Editors note: An earlier version of this article listed Aaron Donald. His Madden NFL 17 rating is 98, not 99.?Were still a few weeks away from the release of Madden NFL 17, but we have the final player ratings to chew on until then. Here are the players?who landed the coveted 99 overall ratings.For a separate breakdown on the top-rated players at each position, click here.Rob Gronkowski, TE, New England PatriotsGronkowski is one of just three players since the merger to score 65 receiving TDs in his first six seasons. The other two? Jerry Rice and Randy Moss. (And just think what Gronk could have done if he hadnt missed 16 regular-season games during that span.) Last season, Gronkowski dropped only?one ball on 120 targets, and Madden NFL 17 rewarded him with an average rating of 95.7 in the three catch-related subcategories. And dont underrate Gronks ability to create fireworks?after?the catch. His combination of strength (88 rating) and agility (85) made him tough to bring down in the open field, and he averaged 7.67 YAC per reception last season, tops among tight ends.Luke Kuechly, MLB, Carolina PanthersHow much better is Kuechly than his peers? Heres one illustration: Madden NFL 17 lists 20 positions other than middle linebacker, and the top-two players at each are separated by the slim average of 2.15 rating points. And then theres Kuechlys position, where he is nine points?ahead of the next-closest middle linebackers, Brandon Marshall and Derrick Johnson, who both are rated as 90s. Madden NFL 17 rated Kuechly as 97 or better in seven categories, ranging from tackling to toughness, but it underrated his man-coverage skills, giving him a 74. I dare you to watch the way Kuechly sticks with Julio Jones down the seam on this play?and tell me he deserves a 74.ddddddddddddVon Miller, OLB, Denver BroncosMillers five sacks and two forced fumbles in the Broncos final two games sealed his Super Bowl MVP award, his record-breaking $114.5 million contract, and his 99 rating in Madden NFL 17. Three plays from Super Bowl 50 exhibit why theres no one in the NFL quite like Miller:Third-and-10, first quarter: Miller zooms around right tackle Mike Remmers with a speed rush. Forced fumble. Broncos touchdown.Third-and-8, third quarter: Miller fools Remmers with an outside-inside spin move. Half sack. Panthers punt.Third-and-9, fourth quarter: Miller fights through a Remmers hold around the edge. Forced fumble. Broncos recover.?A few takeaways: 1) Poor Remmers. 2) Stay out of third-and-long against Miller and the Broncos. 3) Miller isnt a one-trick pony. Hell beat you with acceleration around the edge (88 rating), hell leave you flailing with that finesse move (98), and hell shed half-hearted blocks with ease (95).J.J. Watt, DE, Houston TexansWatt has gotten used to his place in Maddens 99 club. This marks his fourth consecutive year with such a distinction. He needs two more 99s to match Peyton Mannings record of six straight years (Madden 06-11). Watt has a 90-plus rating in 11 subcategories, two more than any player to make this list. The ones hes probably most proud of? Stamina (95) and toughness (94). Watt played through a herniated disk in his back and?five torn muscles in his torso, groin and upper legs last season. He has paced all defensive linemen with 4,498 snaps played since 2011, but Watts streak of 80 consecutive starts is in jeopardy after recently undergoing back surgery. ? ' ' '