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HOUSTON -- Brad Hand knows he has to prove he belongs in Miamis rotation. His last five starts might be making the decision easier. The left-hander pitched three-hit ball into the eighth inning and Jeff Mathis had a two-run double for the Marlins in their 2-0 victory over the Houston Astros on Friday night. Hand struck out four and walked two in a career-high 7 1-3 innings to earn his second straight win. "Nothings done yet," Hand said. "I am still trying to go out every fifth day and solidify myself in this rotation. Nothing is going to be given to me or anything. Im going to have to prove it every fifth day." Hand (2-2) cruised through the first five innings, allowing just two baserunners, and retired seven of his first eight batters. Chris Carter reached on a walk in the first and Gregorio Petit singled with one out in the third. "We stuck with the game plan right out of the shoot," Hand said. "We were able to get ahead of the guys. I was trying to get easy, quick outs and groundball outs." Hands previous career high for innings pitched was Sunday against San Francisco when he allowed two runs in seven innings. He said he doesnt know whats changed for him other than throwing strikes. "You guys have seen it: When I walk guys, get behind in the count, thats when I get myself in trouble," he said. "The biggest thing for me is to focus and pound the strike zone and make them put the ball in play." Hand continued a string of solid starts since transitioning from the bullpen to the rotation at the beginning of July. He has yielded three runs or fewer in each of his five starts. "That was a tremendous effort by Brad tonight," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. "He was pounding the strike zone and was in complete control of that game. ... It was fun watching him pitch. He and Matty (Mathis) seemed to be on the same page the whole night and flipped in some nice breaking balls and changeups and ran that fastball in and out." Donovan Solano and Giancarlo Stanton each had two hits for the Marlins, who won their fifth in sixth games. Miami was able to get to Dallas Keuchel (9-7) in the seventh. Jarrod Saltalamacchia reached on an error by centre fielder Enrique Hernandez. Adeiny Hechavarria hit an infield single with two outs before Mathis drove in both runners with a double. "I was frustrated earlier," said Mathis, who grounded into an inning-ending double play in the fifth. "I had a chance to push a run across and was not able to do it. Brad kept us in the game. I had another opportunity, and luckily, got it done." Bryan Morris got two outs in the eighth, and Steve Cishek pitched a perfect ninth for his 25th save. Keuchel, who had given up four runs or more in each of his last five starts, allowed two runs -- none earned -- and nine hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings. "I definitely need to be a little bit better," he said. "I dont think I lost it, I just think it was some bad breaks. I think Ive pitched well, just the results havent been there." The left-hander retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced but ran into trouble in the fifth and sixth, allowing the first two batters to reach in both innings. Houstons defence helped him out both times, turning double plays in each inning. "If you look at the way he pitched tonight, he deserves to fare better," Astros manager Bo Porter said. "Defensively, we did let him down. We gave them extra outs that extended the inning and allowed them the two runs they got." Houston, which has lost three straight to fall a season-high 19 games under .500, did not get a runner past second base. Carter reached second in the first, and Jason Castro doubled in the eighth to chase Hand. NOTES: Miami recalled catcher J.T. Realmuto from Double-A Jacksonville and optioned right-hander Anthony DeSclafani to Triple-A New Orleans. ... Houston selected the contract of Petit, an infielder, from Triple-A Oklahoma City. He started at shortstop. The Astros optioned right-hander Anthony Bass to Oklahoma City after Thursdays game. ... Houston also transferred right-hander Matt Albers to the 60-day disabled list. ... Miami challenged the original safe call on Jose Altuves attempted stolen base in the sixth. After review, the call was overturned and Altuve was out. Brad Hunt Jersey . -- The Los Angeles Dodgers signed Cuban shortstop Erisbel Arruebarrena to a $25 million, five-year contract Saturday. Reilly Smith Jersey .2 million in 2012, according to tax returns the league has submitted. http://www.officialgoldenknightspro.com/...hts-jersey/.com) - Markus Granlund scored the game-winning goal as the Calgary Flames used an early offensive flurry to defeat the Los Angeles Kings, 2-1, on Monday. Alex Tuch Jersey . -- Andy Dorman and Kelyn Rowe scored in the second half to lead the New England Revolution to a 2-1 victory over Sporting Kansas City in the first leg of their Eastern Conference semifinals series on Saturday night. Oscar Dansk Jersey . According to a report from ESPN, Lynch wants a new contract from the Seahawks, and will likely skip all off-season workouts until he can renegotiate his deal with the Seahawks. England and defending champion Spain qualified for the World Cup on Tuesday night along with Russia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, which earned its first berth as an independent nation. Chile and Ecuador earned the final two automatic spots from South America and Honduras got the final guaranteed slot from the North and Central American and Caribbean region, the 21st of 32 slots for the field in Brazil next June. Less than two minutes from elimination, Mexico advanced to a playoff against Oceania when the United States scored twice in stoppage time for a 3-2 win at Panama that knocked out the hosts. Wayne Rooney scored in the 41st minute and Steven Gerrard in the 88th to give England (6-0-4) a 2-0 win over Poland at Londons Wembley Stadium and first place in Group H by one point over Ukraine (6-1-3). The Three Lions qualified for their 14th World Cup and fifth in a row. "We have a great togetherness, are there for each other and proved we can perform under pressure," Gerrard said. Spain (6-0-2) won Group I with a 2-0 victory over visiting Georgia on goals by Alvaro Negredo in the 26th minute and Juan Mata in the 61st. Iker Casillas returned to starting lineup for Spain after being replaced by Victor Valdes against Belarus last week. The Spanish, who have won three straight major tournaments, including the 2008 and 2012 European Championships, qualified for their 10th straight World Cup. "It may look practically routine, but its important to remember how successful weve been at qualifying," coach Vicente Del Bosque said. "This is not an easy competition." France (5-1-2) was second and will be in the playoffs despite defeating visiting Finland 3-0 on goals by Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema around Joona Toivios own goal. Cristiano Ronaldos Portugal, Greece, Ukraine, Romania and Iceland also finished second in their groups, winding up in Mondays draw for the eight-team European playoffs next month along with Sweden and Croatia. The four playoff winners also will earn berths. With a population of just over 300,000, Iceland would be the smallest nation to qualify for a World Cup. Trinidad and Tobago, at about 1.3 million, was at the 2006 tournament in Germany. The seedings for the playoffs will be determined by Thursdays FIFA rankings. Denmark (4-2-4) had the poorest record among the nine second-place teams and missed out on a playoff berth. Bosnia (8-1-1) won 1-0 at Lithuania on Vedad Ibisevics 68th-minute goal to win Group G on goal difference over Greece. Bosnia-Herzegovina gained independence from Yugoslavia in 1992. Almost 10,000 fans jumped, cried and screamed Vamos Bosnia -- or Go Bosnia -- when Ibisevic scored in Kaunas. Fans headed to the airport after the game to wait for their team to arrive in the middle of the night and joiin the party.dddddddddddd. Greece (8-1-1) defeated visiting Liechtenstein 2-0 as Dimitris Salpingidis scored in the seventh minute and Giorgos Karagounis added a goal in the 81st. Russia (7-2-1) won Group F with a 1-1 tie at Azerbaijan as Roman Shirokov scored in the 15th. Portugal (6-1-3) finished a point back after defeating visiting Luxembourg 3-0 on goals by Silvestre Varela, Nani and Helder Postiga. Italy, which already had clinched, tied Armenia 2-2 at Naples. Former Real Salt Lake forward Yura Movsisyan scored in the fourth minute for the visitors. Alessandro Florenzi and Mario Balotelli scored for the Azzurri, and Giueseppe Rossi entered in the 73rd minute for his first international appearance since Oct. 7, 2011. A 26-year-old forward who was born and lives in New Jersey, Rossi had been sidelined until last May by a knee injury late that October, which required three operations. After clinching last week, Germany rallied for a 5-3 win at Sweden as Andre Schuerrle had a second-half hat trick following goals by Mesut Ozil and Mario Goetze. A 2-1 win by Chile (9-6-1) over visiting Ecuador (7-5-4) earned both nations berths. Alexis Sanchez scored for Chile in the 35th minute and Gary Medel added another three minutes later, while Felipe Caicedo scored for Ecuador in the 66th. Uruguay (7-5-4) was fifth on goal difference after a 3-2 win at home over already qualified Argentina (9-2-5) and will play a home-and-home playoff against Jordan, the fifth-place team in Asia. Cristian Rodriguez and Edison Cavani scored around a Luis Suarez penalty kick for the hosts, and Maxi Rodriguez had two goals for the visitors. In CONCACAF, Honduras (4-3-3) earned the regions third berth and its second straight World Cup trip with a 2-2 tie at Jamaica on goals by Carlo Costly and Maynor Figueroa. Mexico (2-3-5), in danger of failing to reach the tournament for the first time since 1990, lost 2-1 at Costa Rica as Brian Ruiz scored in the first half and Alvaro Saborio in the second for the Ticos. Oribe Peralta scored in the 29th minute for Mexico. Panama (1-4-5) finished fifth when Graham Zusi and Aron Johannsson scored in second-half stoppage time for the U.S. (7-2-1), which like Costa Rica had clinched last month. In the African playoffs, Ghana routed Bob Bradleys Egypt national team 6-1 in the first leg of the home-and-home, total-goals series. The second leg is scheduled for Nov. 18 in Cairo. Bradley was hired by Egypt in September 2011, 15 months after Ghana beat Bradleys U.S. team 2-1 in the second round of the World Cup. The Pharaohs, ranked 50th, have not qualified for the World Cup since 1990. The 24th-ranked Black Stars have eliminated the U.S. in two straight World Cups and were knocked out by Uruguay on penalty kicks in the 2010 quarterfinals. ' ' '