HOUSTON -- Lance McCullers isnt reveling in his success after two straight 10-strikeout games.Houstons 22-year-old starter remains focused on improving.Its a good two starts, but tomorrow its back to what I can do to try to help the team win against Toronto the following week, he said. So thats all Im really thinking about right now.McCullers fanned 10 in six solid innings, Colby Rasmus broke out of a slump with a two-run homer and the Astros beat the New York Yankees 4-1 on Wednesday night.McCullers (6-4) allowed five hits and one run and his 10 strikeouts tied a season high.All in all hes becoming a little more of a complete pitcher the more that he utilizes all his weapons, manager A.J. Hinch said.He kept the Yankees off-balance by throwing almost as many curveballs as fastballs, but to Brian McCann it seemed like more than that.Hes got one of the better curveballs youre going to see and out of 90 pitches it seemed like he threw 89 of them, McCann said. He has a great arm and a really good curveball.Rasmus snapped an 0-for-29 skid when he sent an off-speed pitch from Masahiro Tanaka (7-3) into the seats behind the bullpen in right-center field to make it 4-0 with one out in the third.He said he hasnt felt right most of this month after getting an ear infection early in July.My ear had a little bit to do with it, kind of got me down those few days there to get my balance off and what not, he said. I was trying to play through it and suck it up. I got that kind of tamed now ... so Im hoping that can get me on a good roll and I can help this team win some ball games.Ken Giles and Luke Gregerson pitched a scoreless inning each before Will Harris got his 11th save by striking out two in the ninth.Tanaka, who entered the game with a 1.50 ERA in nine road starts, allowed seven hits and four runs in five innings for the loss. He had thrown 12 1/3 straight scoreless innings on the road before an RBI single by Carlos Gomez with one out in the first inning.He had the one bad inning. He left the (splitter) up, he left a couple pitches up that inning, manager Joe Girardi said. They made him work. He had a real easy first inning and then after that they really made him work. The one inning really did him in.Marwin Gonzalez extended his hitting streak to a career-high 11 games with a single to start the third. He advanced to second on a groundout and took third on a wild pitch. A single by Carlos Correa came next to score Gonzalez and push the lead to 2-0.Rasmus then collected his first hit since July 5, when he also homered and drove in two runs, on his 12th homer this season.McCann cut the lead to 4-1 when he led off the fourth inning with a home run to center field.Didi Gregorius singled with one out before McCullers walked Starlin Castro. But McCullers ended the threat by striking out the next two batters to end the inning.McCullers then struck out the side in the fifth to make it five in a row.McCanns homer was the highlight of the night for the Yankees, who managed just four other hits, which were all singles, and struck out a season-high 15 times.TRAINERS ROOMAstros: Houston 3B Luis Valbuena was out of the lineup after leaving Tuesdays game in the second inning with a strained right hamstring. Hinch said he was feeling better on Wednesday and was confident that he would avoid a trip to the disabled list. ... Gomez left the game before the third inning with a strained right hamstring, but said after the game that he didnt think it was serious.UP NEXTYankees: New York has a day off Thursday before opening a three-game series at Tampa Bay with Ivan Nova (7-5, 4.65) on the mound.Astros: Houston is off on Thursday before Collin McHugh (7-6, 4.18) starts in the opener of a three-game series at Detroit. McHugh allowed two runs and six hits in six innings of a win over the Angels on Saturday. Custom Deion Sanders Jersey . And when it opened, every player was at his stall. Thats a sure sign that a team is in a slump and is searching for answers. "Its embarrassing to be at home and play the way we did," said defenceman Josh Gorges. Custom Bobby Cox Jersey . Malkin got tangled up with Detroits Luke Glendening early in the third period and his left skate took the brunt of collision with the boards behind Pittsburghs net. http://www.custombravesjersey.com/custom-bob-horner-jersey-large-627z.html . Ferrer, trying to win his fourth title on Mexican soil, will next play South Africas Kevin Anderson, who eliminated American Sam Querrey,7-6 (2), 6-4. Also Wednesday, Gilles Simon (6) of France beat Donald Young of the United States 6-4, 6-3, Ukraines Alexandr Dolgopolov downed Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 and Croatias Ivo Karlovic defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 7-6 (4), 6-2. Freddie Freeman Jersey . Louis Blues. Shane Hnidy joins Brian Munz for the broadcast on TSN 1290 Radio at 7pm ct. Mike Foltynewicz Jersey . Denis Coderre, the former federal MP who was elected mayor on Nov. 3, has drawn the ire of some Montreal Canadiens. During last nights game he tweeted: "Hello? Can we get a one-way ticket to (minor-league) Hamilton for David Desharnais please. There are still about 2 1/2 months remaining in Major League Soccers regular season but the time has come to separate the wheat from the chaff, the contenders from the pretenders.Fridays match in Vancouver between the Whitecaps FC and San Jose will either clarify or cloud the playoff picture. The sides are battling for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.Vancouver (8-10-6, 30 points) enters the match on the heels of back-to-back losses on the road to FC Dallas and Colorado, the top two teams in the league. The Whitecaps FC are two points in front of San Jose (6-6-10, 28 points) and two points behind Portland in the standings.San Jose has just eight matches left on the schedule and Vancouver has 10. Both teams understand the need to win -- and to do so now.On Wednesday, the Earthquakes added an offensive threat for the stretch run when they signed forward Henok Goitom, an experienced striker whose had success playing in both Spain and Sweden and scored a goal in Italys Serie A in his only appearance.ddddddddddddThe 31-year old Goitom has an extensive international pedigree, with 78 professional club tallies, one goal as member of the Swedish national team and four with the youth national team.Its time for players to step up, Whitecaps FC head coach Carl Robinson said. (San Jose) is a very physical team and theyve got someone who can score goals up top, so we know its not going to be easy.San Jose will carry a four-match unbeaten streak to the Pacific Northwest.San Jose has never won a match at BC Place, a stretch covering seven contests in Vancouver. The Earthquakes forged a 1-1 draw in their first-ever road meeting versus Vancouver in 2011 and have since lost their past six matches by an aggregate score of 14-6. ' ' '
