is will start the Astros first game after the break Friday against Seattle.

SEATTLE -- Another key hit by Jordy Mercer gave the Pittsburgh Pirates their season-high sixth straight win. Mercer hit a go-ahead single with two outs in the ninth inning and the Pirates beat the Seattle Mariners 4-2 on Wednesday. Mercer has come up big for the Pirates in several clutch situations. Hes batting .391 with runners in scoring position with a home run, six RBIs and three walks. "I guess I have a knack for coming up with big hits in big spots," Mercer said. The Pirates improved to 48-30 -- they are 18 games over .500 for the first time since 1992, their last winning season. With the victory, Pittsburgh wraps up a 7-2 road trip to Cincinnati, Anaheim and Seattle. "It was a good trip. Very good trip," manager Clint Hurdle said. Neil Walker hit a two-run homer off Felix Hernandez to put Pittsburgh ahead in the fourth. Seattle tied it in the sixth on Raul Ibanezs team-leading 18th home run, and fourth in four games. It was 2-all when Pedro Alvarez singled to lead off the ninth inning against reliever Charlie Furbush (1-4) and advanced on a sacrifice bunt from Neil Walker. After a groundout by Gaby Sanchez, Travis Snider was intentionally walked. Mercer followed with an RBI single off Yoervis Medina, and the Pirates added an insurance run when a wild pitch on a third strike from Medina allowed Snider to score and Starling Marte to reach first base. Mercer said he had a solid scouting report on Medina from the coaching staff and knew what to expect from the Mariners reliever. "I was just looking to see something over the plate and put a good swing on it," Mercer said. "I gained a little confidence from the previous at-bat before when I singled to right. Just let it get deep and drive it up the middle or the other way and it worked out." Mark Melancon earned his second save of the season. Mike Zunino delivered a pinch-hit single and Nick Franklin singled to put a pair of runners on with two outs in the ninth, but Kyle Seager grounded out. Vin Mazzaro (4-2) picked up the victory with two innings of scoreless relief. Hernandez bounced back to form after his worst start of the season. He blew a seven-run lead against the Los Angeles Angels in his last appearance, but struck out 11 against the Pirates. Hernandez gave up six hits and walked two. "Youve just got to battle him. Youve got to battle him and try and get his pitch count up and stay in the game so you can get him out before its the ninth inning," Hurdle said. "We were able to do that. Hes always going to be tough. He competes very, very well out there and the sequence and the stuff he has makes it a very difficult day at the plate." The Mariners squandered a chance to take the lead in the eighth. With the game even, Kendrys Morales doubled and the Pirates intentionally walked Ibanez to put a pair of runners on with one out. Mazzaro managed to escaped by striking out Justin Smoak and getting Michael Saunders to fly out. "Weve got to hit. Its time to hit," Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. "Youre not going to win games unless you hit. They got the two-out hit. We didnt. Game over. Thats the difference." Walker hit his sixth home run, connecting with two outs. Seattle managed to get a run back in the bottom half without a hit. Ibanez reached first after swinging at a third strike wild pitch that got away from catcher Russell Martin, then Smoak hit a grounder and Mercer mishandled the throw to second, the ball deflecting off the shortstops glove. Ibanez took advantage of the Pirates defensive shift and advanced to a vacated third base on the misplay. A sacrifice fly from Saunders made it 2-1. Jeanmar Gomez turned in a fine outing for the Pirates in his first start off the disabled list. He allowed just three hits and an unearned run in five innings with five strikeouts and threw the most pitches (81) of any outing this season. "He gave us the innings we needed and got to the part of the game were hoping to get to with the lead." Hurdle said. "He was effective again -- real nice job." Ibanez tagged Justin Wilson for his ninth home run in June. NOTES: Notes: The Pirates optioned RHP Duke Welker to Triple-A Indianapolis in order to activate Gomez from the 15-day disabled list. ... Alvarez extended his hitting streak to 10 games. Hes batting .390 with four doubles, five home runs and 13 RBIs over that span. ... Ibanez has just 12 hits against left-handed pitchers this season but six of the hits have been home runs. He is batting .214 with six home runs and 12 RBIs against lefties. ... Ibanez hit his ninth homer in June. Nike Air Max Womens Sale White . After a lengthy wait, persistent rain finally forced the postponement of the Nationals game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday night. The teams, and a few thousand fans, waited nearly four hours from the 7:05 scheduled start time before an announcement was made shortly before 11 p. Nike Air Max Womens Sale 90 . "Jeff is a hard worker who was an important special-teams contributor for us last season," said Stamps GM John Hufnagel. http://www.nikeairmaxwomenssale.com/ . 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. Nike Air Max Womens Sale 95 . It was hard for Luck to pull off another comeback, or even get into the end zone, while standing on the sideline. Rivers threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to rookie Keenan Allen and Nick Novak kicked four field goals to give the Chargers a 19-9 victory against the Colts on Monday night. Nike Air Max Womens Sale Rose . McCarthy, a player who played some games in the second tier for Wigan at the start of this season, would go on to shine inside Evertons midfield, outplaying the man he was brought in to replace, on one of the grandest stages in English football. On Saturday, it was fitting that Manchester Uniteds most recent dagger into the chest was delivered by Frenchman Yohan Cabaye, a wonderfully gifted central midfielder who put on an outstanding effort for Newcastle at Old Trafford. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Chris Archer had no trouble ranking his first complete game in the major among his list of baseball accomplishments. Archer pitched a five-hitter in his 13th big league start, pitching the Tampa Bay Rays past the Houston Astros 5-0 on Sunday. "The best game Ive ever pitched in my life," Archer said. Archer (4-3) struck out eight and walked none. He has nine starts this season after making his major league debut last year. "The past couple games, I felt strong enough to continue to pitch deep into the ballgame, but really Ive never pitched into the eighth inning before -- minor league, major league, little league, whatever," Archer said. "But they had faith in me to go deep. We scored enough runs so that there was no question. We played tremendous defence which saved me pitches, and I was able to execute." Desmond Jennings homered as the Rays won for the 14th time in 16 games. Tampa Bay completed its most successful three-series homestand at 9-1, and went into the All-Star break in second place in the AL East. Houston headed into the break with a 17-inning scoreless streak. The Astros have lost 12 of 15 and have the worst record in the majors at 33-61 during their first season in the American League. Between Saturdays third inning and the fourth inning Sunday, the Astros went 11 straight innings without scoring or leaving a runner on base. Only four runners reached base in those 11 innings -- two were doubled up and two were picked off. Jennings hit his 11th homer, connecting in the sixth off Paul Clemens after Kelly Johnsons third straight single. Jennings also preserved the shutout by running down Jason Castros 400-foot line drive to centre field for the final out with a runner on base. "Archy deserved it," Jennings said. "He threw as well as he has all year. He deserved to finish that game. I thought from the fourth or fifth inning he was going to pitch thee whole game, just by the way he was throwing every pitch where he wanted.dddddddddddd That was fun to watch." Archer turned in Tampa Bays 15th consecutive quality start and went a second straight start without walking a batter. The Rays have won his last five starts. "I think good can be an understatement," Houston manager Bo Porter said. "He was excellent today. It was more about him that it was about anything else." Rays manager Joe Maddon agreed, and will have to determine whether Archer stays in the rotation when Alex Cobb comes off the disabled list. "Archys been on a roll, but to pitch a complete game shutout is different," Maddon said. "To go six innings and leave and get a win is a nice thing, but the complete-game shutout, when you teach yourself that lesson, the sky is the limit." Jennings beat out an infield hit in the first and scored the first run on Evan Longorias double. The Rays added two more runs in the fourth with the help of a throwing error by Erik Bedard (3-6). Bedard gave up eight hits and struck out six in five innings. Notes: Cobb pitched off the Tropicana Field mound for the first time since being struck on the head by a line drive on June 15. Cobb called it "a relief" to be back on the mound and said he hopes to pitch in another game within a couple of weeks of the All-Star break. ... Longoria passed B.J. Upton and moved into second place on the Rays career list for extra-base hits. Longoria has 341. Carl Crawford is the leader with 424. ... Rays SS Yunel Escobar left in the ninth inning with a mild hamstring strain. ... OF Chris Carter was out of the Astros lineup for a second straight day due to a sore ankle. ... Astros LHP Brett Oberholtzer was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City after the game. ... Porter announced that Bud Norris will start the Astros first game after the break Friday against Seattle. 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