Astros

Reporting from Milwaukee — A national baseball writer tweeted Wednesday that "there is some opposition to [new Houston Owner Jim] Crane from American League West teams not wanting the Astros in the division. " To which another writer in the work room at the general managers/owners meetings responded, "What's not to like? You get to play the Astros 18 times. " When owners gather at the Pfister Hotel on Thursday, they are expected to approve Crane's $680-million purchase of the Astros from Drayton McLane.

The Dodgers had been playing so well, Sunday looked as if they were trying to purge all the bad hiding in their systems in one little game. That sterling fielding? Forget it. That strong starting pitching? A major no-show. A timely offense? Slept all day. Matt Kemp as a baseball demigod? Try regular dude. It added up to a hide-the-eyes, 12-0 loss to the Houston Astros, a game that was over early but just kept rolling on anyway. It was as if  every good thing the Dodgers have been doing for 2 1/2 weeks disappeared in an instant.

at Houston 5, Pittsburgh 0: Wandy Rodriguez pitched a five-hitter for the Astros and tied a career high by striking out 11 batters. Atlanta 4, at Chicago 1: The Braves won a road series for the first time in nearly two months. at Colorado 10, Washington 4: Jorge De La Rosa pitched effectively into the seventh inning to earn his career-best fourth straight win and Ryan Spilborghs hit a bases-loaded triple to key a four-run fifth inning as the Rockies swept the series.

HOUSTON — Andre Ethier raced to the right-field wall and jumped as high as he could in hopes of snagging a fly ball hit by the Houston Astros' Jordan Schafer against the Dodgers' Chad Billingsley. But the ball skipped off Ethier's glove into the stands, Schafer had the first grand slam of his career and the Dodgers were in a big hole in the second inning Sunday. They then dug themselves only deeper as the Astros pummeled the Dodgers, 12-0, ending the Dodgers' winning streak at three games and giving the Dodgers a split of their six-game trip to Milwaukee and Houston.

Talk about adding a late-inning buzz to a ballgame. The Houston Astros -- who once had the "Killer Bs" -- beat the San Diego Padres, 7-2, on Thursday, but only after waiting out a 52-minute delay in the top of the ninth inning caused when a swarm of bees took over part of left field at Petco Park. Geoff Blum hit a three-run homer and finished with four runs batted in. The Astros won three of four against the Padres.

at Milwaukee 6, Houston 2: Craig Counsell had three hits and drove in three runs, and Mike Burns pitched seven solid innings in the Brewers' victory, their third in a row. Counsell hit his seventh triple, a career high. at Atlanta 4, Philadelphia 3: Omar Infante's bases-loaded single against Brad Lidge capped a ninth-inning rally and lifted the Braves to a victory. Lidge picked up his eighth blown save, aiding Atlanta's rally with two errors on the same play following Garret Anderson's leadoff single.

The Houston Astros have exercised the 2012 option on the contract of Manager Brad Mills and added a club option for 2013. The Astros went 76-86 in Mills' first year as manager, including a terrible 17-34 start. But Houston went 59-52 after June 1 with a lineup that routinely included four rookies ? and without Roy Oswalt ( Phillies) or Lance Berkman (Yankees), who left in trades. General Manager Ed Wade said Friday that Mills has every quality needed to be a successful manager.

at Arizona 4, Houston 3: Diamondbacks closer Chad Qualls suffered a dislocated left kneecap when hit by Jason Michaels' line drive on the final play. Shortstop Stephen Drew picked up the ball and threw Michaels out to end the game. at Philadelphia 3, Atlanta 2: Carlos Ruiz hit a two-run, go-ahead double for the Phillies. at Milwaukee 4, Pittsburgh 1: The Brewers beat the Pirates for the 21st consecutive time at home. at St. Louis 2, Washington 1: Adam Wainwright earned his major league-leading 16th victory.

Geoff Blum hit a tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning and Miguel Tejada homered and had a season-high five runs batted in, helping the Houston Astros overcome an injury to ace Roy Oswalt for an 11-6 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night. Jeff Keppinger had four hits and drove in three runs Houston ended Chicago's five-game winning streak and ended its own three-game skid. The Cubs fell half a game behind St. Louis in the NL Central.

Reporting from Houston — The only thing the Dodgers appear to be pressuring is themselves. They fielded a lineup Wednesday with six players batting below .250, one of whom Manager Don Mattingly conceded had been rushed back prematurely from the disabled list to bolster an injury-ravaged team. Not that Rafael Furcal provided any offensive support during the Dodgers' 2-1 loss to Houston at Minute Maid Park that ended with the Astros' second walk-off hit of the series. The shortstop, who returned Sunday from a nearly six-week absence, twice grounded out with runners in scoring position while going hitless in four at-bats.

HOUSTON — It's clear to the Dodgers that despite the team's fast start this year, they need more run production from players not named Matt Kemp or Andre Ethier . Kemp and Ethier have accounted for 63% of the team's runs this season (43 of 68) but "we can't count on two guys," second baseman Mark Ellis said. "We've all got to do our part. " James Loney took up the challenge Saturday, slugging his first home run, into the upper deck at Minute Maid Park against Houston Astros starter Kyle Weiland . It was only the second Dodgers home run this seasonn not hit by Kemp or Ethier.

What's more amazing? The way Matt Kemp continues to make Major League Baseball's regular season look like his personal home run-hitting contest? Or that it took this long for Clayton Kershaw to win his first game? Kemp hit his ninth home run of the season and Kershaw earned his first victory as the Dodgers beat the Houston Astros, 5-1, at Minute Maid Park on Saturday. James Loney also went deep in the Dodgers' win, which improved the team's National League-best record to 12-3.

It is not required during the course of a season that all victories must be works of art. Mangled, difficult and uncomfortable victories, they ultimately count just the same. The Dodgers defeated the Astros, 3-1, on Friday night in Houston, and if many of the ingredients appeared familiar -- another home run by Matt Kemp, another RBI from Andre Ethier, more dazzling defense from Jerr yHairston Jr. -- there were also several cover-the-eyes moments. Most of which were provided by left-hander Ted Lilly, who was the model of efficiency in his first outing, but never could seem to find any rhythm Friday.

Reporting from Milwaukee — Houston will be pushed from the National League Central to the American League West in 2013, a move Major League Baseball announced Thursday in conjunction with its unanimous approval of Jim Crane as the Astros' new owner. Also coming soon, perhaps as early as next season, is a second wild-card team to each league, meaning 10 of 30 teams would make the playoffs. Commissioner Bud Selig, acting on the advice of a special committee for on-field matters, said the two wild-card teams from each league probably will play a one-game playoff to advance to the postseason with the three division winners.

Reporting from Milwaukee — A national baseball writer tweeted Wednesday that "there is some opposition to [new Houston Owner Jim] Crane from American League West teams not wanting the Astros in the division. " To which another writer in the work room at the general managers/owners meetings responded, "What's not to like? You get to play the Astros 18 times. " When owners gather at the Pfister Hotel on Thursday, they are expected to approve Crane's $680-million purchase of the Astros from Drayton McLane.

The pennant races are all but decided, so staff writer Kevin Baxter takes one final look at how Major League Baseball stacks up heading into the postseason. Records and statistics are through Friday's games: Last team standing? 1. PHILADELPHIA (97-52): First team to clinch a playoff berth is nearing a franchise record for wins. 2. MILWAUKEE (88-63): Only contender with a losing record on the road. Good thing the NL has home-field advantage in the World Series. 3. DETROIT (88-63)

Conventional wisdom made AstroTour '92 seem like a good idea. Forgive the road-weary Astros if they don't think they missed a thing. The ballclub saw more than its share of conventioneers on the road. The Astros had been away for 20 days when the first gavel came down on the Republican National Convention at the Astrodome, and in their travels they'd already seen plenty of funny hats, balloons and other standard convention fare.

Fans cheered when the doors to Houston's Enron Field officially opened Thursday afternoon. Their mood only got better upon first inspection of the sunny grass field of the Astros' new home. "You know, I kind of have a lump in my throat," longtime fan Wade Upton said. "This really shows Houston is back. State of the art, top of the world. That's how it should be."

Gobs of shaving cream were caked in Justin Sellers' sideburns, his jersey, his glove. The Dodgers rookie had left the field minutes earlier, but the remnants of his most joyous moment in baseball still covered him like a badge of honor. "You don't top this feeling," Sellers said. In his third major league game, the speck of a shortstop transformed a two-thirds-empty Dodger Stadium into a rollicking place Sunday during the Dodgers' 7-0 victory against the Houston Astros.

Sizing up the apparent mismatch between the Houston Astros and Clayton Kershaw, a radio reporter asked Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly before the game if his ace had a chance to do something more special than usual against the team with the worst record in baseball. "You mean a perfect game or something?" Mattingly said. Jason Michaels erased that possibility with a broken-bat infield single in the second inning Saturday night at Dodger Stadium, but Kershaw was nearly flawless for much of a 6-1 victory in which he notched his career-high 14th victory.