Berkman Stays Hot, Astros Top Giants

(NEWSER) - Lance Berkman splashed his major league-leading 15th home run into McCovey Cove, breaking a ninth-inning tie and helping the Houston Astros rally past the San Francisco Giants 8-7 last night. Houston came back from a 6-0 deficit to take three of four from the Giants, its first series win at San Francisco since a three-game sweep in September 2001. More»

'I didn't know,' says player Eugenio Velez of spelling snafu

(NEWSER) - Outfielder Eugenio Velez made his season debut yesterday when his San Francicso Giants took on and beat the Houston Astros. That’s right—Velez played the whole game blissfully unaware that his jersey pegged him as a player from some mythical, misspelled version of the City by the Bay. “I didn’t know,” he tells the AP . “Increible!” And that’s not misspelled—it’s Spanish for “incredible.” More»

Rays at the head of the class—Rockies, Marlins at the back

(NEWSER) - Report card time! Here’s how the rambunctious kids of MLB are doing so far, in Yahoo Sports’ Steven Henson’s estimation. A students—Rays, Red Sox, Cubs, Angels, White Sox Particular kudos go to the Rays, the poor kid who went to the head of the class. B students—Cardinals, Brewers, Twins, Phillies, Yankees, Athletics, Marlins, Orioles The Cardinals have a slight edge in the wildcard race. The Yankees, meanwhile, barely scrape together a B. More»

Astros' underrated Berkman racks up unbelievable numbers

(NEWSER) - The best player in baseball right now is hitting .399 on the season, and .586 over the past 15 games, but he's not getting the recognition he deserves, Richard Justice writes in the Houston Chronicle. In past seasons at least, Lance Berkman has been overshadowed by bigger names, but it's time for Astros fans to stand for the Big Puma. More»

(NEWSER) - Matt Cain provided his own insurance run and limited Lance Berkman to only a base hit. Cain hit a solo home run and earned his first victory in three starts, and the San Francisco Giants snapped the Houston Astros' four-game winning streak 4-2 on Tuesday night. It was the fourth career homer and second this season for Cain (2-3). More»