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SEATTLE -- Dallas Keuchel tried to deflect the praise of his manager and teammates after his second complete game in his last three starts. But there is no denying the stellar performances Keuchel has delivered over the last month. The Houston left-hander pitched a four-hitter in leading the Astros to a 4-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday. Keuchel (6-2) struck out six, walked none and allowed just an unearned run that scored on a throwing error in the second inning. He went 8 2-3 innings in a victory over the Angels in his last start, the only thing keeping him from three straight complete games. "He is definitely in a groove right now. Its a joy to watch," manager Bo Porter said. Keuchel has been nearly unhittable in his last four starts. He has earned four victories, thrown two complete games, walked just one and struck out 28. Hes allowed just four earned runs with a 1.08 ERA over that span. "Hes been lights out," first baseman Marc Krauss said. "Hes been everything you can ask for and more lately." Keuchel said hes not trying to nibble at the strike zone anymore; an approach that cost him at times as a rookie last season. Instead, hes trying to be more aggressive with his pitches. "Im just trying to attack the zone," Keuchel said. "Im not trying to be too fine anymore. Thats what I did my rookie year and obviously I had more walks than strikeouts." "Im just trying to go out there and help the team to the best of my ability." Krauss and George Springer hit two-run homers off Hisashi Iwakuma (3-1), who allowed a season-high nine hits. Seattle took the early lead with a two-out rally in the second inning. Mike Zunino and Michael Saunders each singled to put runners on first and second. Cole Gillespie followed with a dribbler off the end of the bat up the third-base line. Keuchel fielded the ball and threw wide of first base down the right-field line as Zunino scored. Keuchel retired the next 14 batters and faced the minimum 22 batters after Gillespies single in the second. Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon wasnt as impressed with Keuchels outing. He called Keuchel "average" and put the onus on his offence for not getting the job done. "I saw average stuff," McClendon said. "We didnt swing the bats very good. At some point, youve got to stop giving credit to average pitchers. That becomes a broken record. At some point, weve got to start swinging the bats." Meanwhile, the Astros finally broke through in the sixth inning. Jose Altuve singled and Springer followed with a two-run blast to left field for his fourth homer in his last three games. It was also Springers seventh home run of the month. Krauss added his homer in the seventh to extend the lead to 4-1, matching the most runs Iwakuma allowed this season. NOTES: Houston optioned OF L.J. Hoes to Triple-A Oklahoma City following the game and recalled OF Robbie Grossman. Grossman is expected to return to the lineup as the teams every day left fielder. ... Houston C Carlos Corporan was the only Astros batter that failed to get a hit. ... Mariners OF James Jones had his streak of hits in his first 15 starts and last 14 straight games ended with a 0-for-4 performance. ... Seattle 2B Robinson Canos streak of reaching base in a career-high 31 straight games also ended with a 0-for-4 day. ... McClendon didnt rule out the possibility of LHP James Paxton rejoining the starting rotation following a rehab start for Triple-A Tacoma on Saturday night. Paxton allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts in a 62-pitch outing. Paxton has been on the disabled list since April 9 with a strained left latissimus dorsi muscle. Authentic Derek Rivers Jersey . 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Alvarez hit his first career home run, pitched six innings and hurt his right hamstring while running the bases in the Miami Marlins 4-3 win over the Chicago Cubs.NEW YORK -- The latest buzzer-beater at the Big East tournament belongs to a Seton Hall reserve with a familiar last name. Sterling Gibbs hit a step-back jumper as time expired and Seton Hall stunned No. 3 Villanova 64-63 in a thrilling quarter-final Thursday, a loss that could cost the Wildcats a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. "Were really confident, honestly, especially after you beat the No. 3 team in the country," said Gibbs, a sophomore transfer from Texas whose brother was a Pittsburgh star. "We know if we can beat them, we can beat anyone. So were just up for the challenge." Eugene Teague had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the eighth-seeded Pirates (17-16), who advanced to the tournament semifinals for the first time in 13 years. They will play Friday night against No. 4 seed Providence, which held off fifth-seeded St. Johns 79-74. Josh Hart scored 18 to lead the top-seeded Wildcats (28-4), beaten only twice in 18 regular-season conference games while winning their first outright Big East title since 1982. Both losses were blowouts by Doug McDermott and Creighton. "Youve all heard me say this before: This was not about 1 seeds, 2 seeds. This was about we wanted to come to Madison Square Garden and win the Big East tournament. Winning the Big East tournament would mean much more to us than a 1 seed," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "The NCAA tournament seedings, my belief is 1, 2, 3, it doesnt matter that much. Youre going to play great teams." Patrik Auda scored all 13 of his points in the first half for Seton Hall, a 10 1/2-point underdog. But the pesky Pirates, accustomed to playing close games, built a 15-point lead and recovered after Villanova spurted past them with a 16-0 run in the second half. It was Seton Halls first victory in five tries against top-seeded teams at the Big East tournament. "We never really got rattled," coach Kevin Willard said. "These guys have a lot of heart. They have a lot of character, and they deserve to win." Villanova took a 63-62 lead on Darrun Hilliards floater in the lane with 7.8 seconds to go. Seton Hall pushed the ball past halfcourt, then called timeout with 3.7 seconds left. With much of the crowd on its feet, Jaren Sina inbounded and Gibbs backed off Hilliard with a hard step back, draining a 17-foot jumper from the top of the key just as the horn sounded. "We usually dont like to call timeouts. We usually like just to go. But I wanted the ball, at that time, in Sterlings hands," Willard said. A fired-up Gibbs, who finished with 10 points, jumped onto the scorers table and looked up at the crowd as excited teammates ran all over the ccourt in a wild celebration.dddddddddddd The shot was a near carbon copy of the one Kemba Walker hit three years ago at the Garden during Connecticuts captivating run to Big East and NCAA tournament championships. That buzzer-beating jumper by Walker, also in the quarterfinals, beat a top-seeded Pittsburgh team that was led by Gibbs brother, Ashton. "It ended up being a little bit of a scramble. The plan kind of got switched up a little bit," Sterling Gibbs said before Teague interrupted. "A little bit?" said the senior centre. "Yeah, a lot of bit," Gibbs acknowledged. "In the end, it was supposed to get in my hands and I was supposed to create a shot for my teammates or create a shot for myself, and I just stepped back and hit the jumper." Hilliard scored all 11 of his points in the second half. JayVaughn Pinkston also had 11 for the Wildcats, but the 77 per cent free throw shooter was 3 of 10 at the foul line as the Wildcats went 15 for 25 (60 per cent) to Seton Halls 6-for-9 mark. The Pirates limited Villanova to 37.9 per cent shooting and 21.1 per cent from 3-point range (4 for 19), less than 18 hours after holding Butler to a 2-for-18 mark (11.1 per cent) from long distance in the opening round. "We got the shots we wanted to. We just werent making them," Villanova guard Ryan Arcidiacono said. Playing in the Big East quarterfinals for the first time since 2003, the Pirates won despite getting only seven points from leading scorer Fuquan Edwin on 3-of-15 shooting. Villanova won both regular-season meetings, by an average of 16.5 points, and figured to have an advantage again after Seton Hall had to hold off Butler 51-50 Wednesday night. Early on, though, it was the Pirates who looked fresh even though they had little time to rest. On a bitterly cold day in the Big Apple, the Wildcats took a while to warm up. They missed 13 of their first 14 attempts from 3-point range and trailed 44-31 with 14 minutes remaining. But they made a flurry of steals during a 16-0 run and took their first lead at 47-44 on Hilliards 3-pointer with 8:03 left. Edwin tied it with a 3 and Teague followed with a three-point play to put the Pirates back in front. With the score tied at 59, Arcidiaconos steal sent Villanova on a fast break that culminated in Harts layup with 40 seconds left. Undeterred, the Pirates worked the ball around and Gibbs passed to Sina for a 3 from the left corner that gave them for a 62-61 edge with 17.2 seconds remaining. "That was a great college basketball game," Wright said. "Great to be a part of it. Great atmosphere. The Garden was rocking. We had a lot of fun." ' ' '