OAKLAND, Calif. -- Chris Carter hit his 36th homer and drove

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OAKLAND, Calif. -- Chris Carter hit his 36th homer and drove in three runs against his former team to help the Houston Astros beat the slumping Oakland Athletics 4-3 on Friday night. Carter added an RBI single, Jon Singleton also homered and Jose Altuve had two hits for Houston, unbeaten in three games since firing manager Bo Porter on Monday. It was the Astros fifth straight win overall, two shy of their season high. The loss dropped Oakland six games behind the first-place Los Angeles Angels in the AL West. Owners of the best record in the majors on Aug. 9, the As have gone 7-17 since. Oaklands anemic offence managed seven hits but stranded eight runners and failed to score after loading the bases with none out in the fourth. Brett Oberholtzer (5-10) allowed three runs and seven hits in 6 1-3 innings to end his two-game losing streak. The left-hander struck out one and walked two. Jose Veras retired two batters and Tony Sipp pitched two scoreless innings for his third save. Carter has routinely beaten up on As pitching since being dealt to the Astros as part of a multiplayer trade in 2013. His home run was his seventh against Oakland this year and eighth overall. His 20 RBIs against the As are his most against any club this season. Jeff Samardzija took the loss, his fourth in five starts. Samardzija (4-5) fanned nine and did not walk a batter for the eighth time this season. The right-hander retired his first seven batters before giving up Singletons solo home run in the third. The As came back with three runs in the bottom half. Derek Norris singled in Alberto Callaspo with the bases loaded, and Craig Gentry scored on the same play when the ball skipped past right fielder Jake Marisnick for an error. Adam Dunns RBI single to right beat the defensive shift by the Astros infield and made it 3-1. Oakland loaded the bases again in the fourth with no outs, but Gentry hit into a forceout before Josh Donaldson grounded into a 5-2-3 double play. TRAINERS ROOM Astros: Interim manager Tom Lawless said the team hopes to get OF George Springer back for the final six games of the season. Springer has missed 43 games due to a left quadriceps strain. Athletics: Stephen Vogt (left ankle sprain) will not play in the series against the Astros. ... LHP Sean Doolittle (strained intercostal) is scheduled to throw on flat ground Saturday. If all goes well for the Oakland closer, the next step will be throwing off a mound. UP NEXT Astros: RHP Scott Feldman (8-10) is coming off his second career shutout, a three-hitter against Texas. He has beaten Oakland only once in five career starts. Athletics: LHP Scott Kazmir (14-7) had a 7.80 ERA over his six starts in August. Swell Wood Water Bottle . -- Cordell Cato scored his first goal of the season and the San Jose Earthquakes survived a full half playing a man down to beat FC Dallas 2-1 Saturday night. Swell Bottle Wholesale . - Jerome Verrier scored the winner 8:24 into overtime and Louis-Phillip Guindon stopped 46 shots as the Drummondville Voltigeurs edged the host Val-dOr Foreurs 4-3 on Friday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoff action. http://www.swellbottlesales.com/s-well- ... utlet.html. -- Michigan coach John Beilein is willing to give Nik Stauskas a little leeway when it comes to shot selection. Swell Bottle Outlet . Western and the second-ranked Laval Rouge et Or (7-0) once again received 20 and 10 first-place votes from the Football Reporters of Canada panel, respectively. Rounding out the Top 10 are the Calgary Dinos (7-0), Queens Gaels (7-1), Guelph Gryphons (7-1), Montreal Carabins (5-2), Bishops Gaiters (5-2), McMaster Marauders (5-3), Manitoba Bisons (4-3) and the Saskatchewan Huskies (4-3) Western crushed York 50-10 last Saturday in its league finale to secure first place in the OUA standings and a bye in the first round of the conference playoffs. Swell Bottle Sales . Vonn "reopened" the idea of competing in the season-opening World Cup event on Oct. 26-27 in Soelden, Austria after returning to the slopes last month in Portillo, Chile.Michael van Gerwen played on another level to his Premier League rivals as he claimed the title for a second time, says Sky Sports expert Wayne Mardle. The 27-year-old Dutchman reinforced his status as the world No 1, beating Adrian Lewis 7-4 in the semi-finals, before a one-sided 11-3 win over Phil Taylor in the final at The O2.Van Gerwen had finished top of the table after just one defeat in the competitions opening week and also set the highest televised average of 123.4 during the campaign. Van Gerwen was delighted to have defeated Taylor 11-3 to win his second Premier League title Mardle believes Mighty Mike has been the stand-out player in the Premier League and questioned whether his current high standards in a fiercely competitive era will ever be matched.Yes, he is on another level. Just look at the averages, Mardle told Sky Sports. We go on about the averages as a guide only, but theyre a brilliant guide. If you look in the next 10 years, I think the averages that hes producing now cant be any better in the next 10 years. Wayne Mardle If you look in the next 10 years, I think the averages that hes producing now cant be any better in the next 10 years. Some of the darts hes throwing - its incredible.Over the longer period, Phil Taylor has done it, but Michael is proving hes good enough. He is setting new standards, but hes got to do it for a long time yet.No-one is going to do it for 25 yyears like Phil has, but the competition is so rife.dddddddddddd Phil Taylor never had to cope with the quality that Michael van Gerwen is having to manage. Losing finalist Taylor says Van Gerwen put him under extreme pressure Taylors brief hopes of a comeback were snuffed out by a stylish 100 finish from Van Gerwen, who hit double 20 in successive darts to open a commanding 7-3 lead.Mardle feels that Taylors resistance was broken in the decisive moment of the match as Van Gerwen demonstrated the very same ruthless finishing that served The Power well in previous years.Phils done it, he was the master at playing like this, said Mardle. Michael does it in a different way, with less fuss. Michael does it with a speed and a panache that Phil Taylor just cant manage. When there was a big moment in that game, Michael was the man. That 100 finish - that was it. Taylor was powerless to prevent Van Gerwen from completing a one-sided win Phils reaction was just to look at his entourage, his family and friends in the audience. Look at Michael as if to say: what on earth? And Michael celebrated, because Michael knew 6-4 to 7-3 changes absolutely everything. After the break it was done and dusted pretty shortly. Also See: MVG wins Premier League Taylor: MVG is like AJ PL Darts Play-offs Recap Darts betting ' ' '