After the Oilers continued to squander power-play opportunities

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HOUSTON -- Mariners left-hander Joe Saunders would have preferred to keep going after throwing 86 pitches in Saturday nights 3-1 win over the Astros. Wholesale NFL Jerseys . But considering the struggles of both he and his team, he will take it. "We still won," Saunders said. "Thats all that matters." Saunders pitched into the sixth inning for his first win in nearly a month, and Seattle beat Houston. Kendrys Morales, Nick Franklin and Dustin Ackley each drove in a run in the first inning for the Mariners, who had lost six in a row before the series against the major league-worst Astros. Seattle will have Hisashi Iwakuma on the mound when it goes for a series sweep Sunday. Mariners manager Eric Wedge saw plenty of room for improvement after the game. "Youd like to keep going. I mean, we had opportunities," Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. "We played sloppy baseball in the second half of a baseball game. "We had opportunities offensively and misplayed some balls defensively, (but) in the end we won the ball game." Saunders (11-13) allowed an unearned run and six hits over 5 1-3 innings in his first win since Aug. 4 at Baltimore. The left-hander was 0-3 with an 8.31 ERA in his previous four starts. "I still think theres a full moon when I pitch or something, because there is some crazy (stuff) going on in my games," Saunders said. "So it was nice to get a W for sure." Matt Dominguez and Brandon Barnes had two hits apiece for Houston (44-91), which is headed for its third straight 100-loss season. Dallas Keuchel (5-8) got off to a rough start, and the Astros never recovered. Seattle jumped on Keuchel for three runs in the first inning. Morales had a run-scoring infield hit before Keuchel issued consecutive walks to Raul Ibanez and Franklin to force home another run. Ackley then made it 3-0 on a groundout that brought home Morales. Kyle Seager also had two hits for the Mariners. Keuchel had a nice outing after the rocky first, striking out eight in seven innings. He allowed four hits and walked two, at one point retiring 12 consecutive batters. "He threw well," Mariners shortstop Brad Miller said of Keuchel. "He had a good stretch. I know there (on) my second at-bat he was starting to get into a rhythm, so obviously were glad we jumped out early on him." Saunders left the game with two on and one out, with Wedge preferring to go with Carter Capps for the right-on-right matchup with Jake Elmore. "I wasnt happy about coming out of the game," Saunders said. "Im never happy about coming out of a game. I thought I had a lot left in the tank, but hes the manager for a reason and he makes those decisions." After Saunders left the game, Capps and Yoervis Medina each pitched 1 1-3 scoreless innings before Danny Farquhar finished for his 11th save. "Saunders was a little erratic but controlled damage," Wedge said. "The bullpen did a nice job." Houston had a chance to get back in the game in the second. Dominguez led off with a single and Chris Carter then walked before Barnes grounded into a double play. The Astros loaded the bases with two walks, but rookie Cody Clark bounced into a forceout to end the threat, with shortstop Brad Miller making a key stop. The Astros scored in the fourth when Barnes singled with one out and scored on an error by Franklin at second. Houston went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position. "We just cant seem to be able to get the big hit," Astros manager Bo Porter said. "Weve had plenty of opportunities and have had men in scoring position, but it just seems like the big hit is avoiding us at this point." NOTES: Mariners SS Brad Miller has reached safely in 12 consecutive games. ... Astros INF Jake Elmore recorded his first major league steal in the second inning. ... The Mariners lead the season series 10-5, having taken eight of the past nine games. ... Porter said after the game that the Astros have recalled RHP Jorge De Leon and OF Trevor Crowe from Triple-A Oklahoma City. Both will be active Sunday. Cheap Soccer Jerseys . Barcelona also left injured defenders Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba out of its squad for the trip to Glasgow. That means that Marc Bartra will probably start again in the centre of the defence alongside Gerard Pique. Wholesale Jerseys .C. -- Al Jefferson joked that he feels he can score from anywhere on the court. http://www.jerseysfromchinaauthentic.us.com/ . After dropping their final six games of December, the Wild opened the new calendar year with four consecutive wins. Following a loss to Colorado on Saturday, Minnesota rebounded the following night to blank Nashville 4-0, but then had the tables turned on them Tuesday.EDMONTON -- The lack of scoring at home for the Edmonton Oilers has reached a historic low. Kari Lehtonen only needed to make 22 saves to record his 23rd career shutout as the Dallas Stars defeated the struggling Oilers 3-0 on Wednesday night. The Oilers (4-14-2) have lost four in a row and gone 1-8-1 in their last 10 to slip to second last in the NHL. It was the third consecutive home game the Oilers have been shut out, setting a franchise-worst record. Edmonton has only scored two goals in its last five home games. "This is extremely frustrating, not to be able to put a puck into the back of the net," said Oilers captain Andrew Ference. "It was one of these games again that you can point to positives, but at the end of the day you have to get the job done and score. Its obviously a huge challenge for everybody to keep their heads up right now and not grip their sticks too tight." Oilers centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said their inability to score is almost baffling. "The last three games at home, I dont know what it is," he said. "You are not going to win without scoring. We have to find a way to get the second and third opportunities. "Its not a good sign. I thought we played pretty good in the last three games, we just have to find a way to score. This is not something you want to keep doing, putting yourself in this situation. I cant stress enough how we have to bear down in front of the net." Rich Peverley, Antoine Roussel and Tyler Seguin scored for the Stars (9-7-2), who have won four of their last five games. Stars centre Shawn Horcoff credited Lehtonen for giving his team the time to find their footing in the contest. "Hes one of the best in the league and he gives us a chance to win like that every night," said Horcoff. "I think in the first, we started real slow and we gave up a number of key opportunities and he made a couple of real, big saves that allowed us to get our feet. Once we settled in a little bit, we were able to take the game over." There was a good pace to start the game as the Stars controlled much of the early play, but the Oilers had by far the best chance to that point when Jordan Eberle got the puck in tight in front of the net, only to robbed by an impressive glove save by Lehtonen. Edmontons Sam Gagner hit the crossbar two minutes later. The game remained scoreless through thhe first with the Stars getting 11 shots on Edmonton goalie Devan Dubnyk and the Oilers responding with nine. Cheap Jerseys From China. After the Oilers continued to squander power-play opportunities, including a lengthy 5-on-3 early in the second, Dallas took a 1-0 lead. Peverley got a shot away and was then able to outmuscle defender Jeff Petry to get to his own rebound and chip his fourth of the season past Dubnyk from the doorstep. The Stars came close to taking a two-goal lead on a power play with six minutes left in the second, but Cody Eakin rang a shot off the post. Edmonton survived a pair of 5-on-3 penalty kills before the midmark of the third period and even a penalty-shot attempt by Valeri Nichuskin with three minutes remaining. But the Oilers couldnt get the equalizer they needed before Seguin dumped a shot from his knees in his own zone into an empty net to give the Stars the 2-0 lead. "I was tired and I aimed for the net," Segiun said of his eighth goal of the season. "If it missed, I didnt care at that point. It was one of those shifts where we were out there for a solid minute at least. They were making some good plays and I just wanted to get it out." Roussel added yet another empty netter to ice the game. The Stars are right back at it on Thursday night as they play the second game of a three-game road swing in Calgary. The Oilers return to the ice on Friday when they host the San Jose Sharks. Notes - It was the first of three meetings between the two teams this season, with the Stars having claimed 11 of the previous 13 games they have played against each other. ... Dallas centre and former Oilers captain Horcoff made his first appearance against his old team since an off-season trade that sent him from Edmonton to the Stars in return for defenceman Philip Larsen. Horcoff played nearly 800 games for the Oilers in 12 seasons. ... Recently-signed free agent goalie Ilya Bryzgalov has yet to join the Oilers as he has been sent to the teams AHL affiliate in Oklahoma City for a conditioning stint. ... With young Oilers defenceman Justin Schultz still suffering from a groin injury, Corey Potter was called up and made his season debut. ... Stars winger Ray Whitney suffered a lower-body injury in his teams last game on Saturday and will miss at least the next two games. The veteran 41-year-old has recorded one goal and seven assists this season. cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '