veterans of the Championship to help climb

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SEATTLE -- Jose Altuve had two hits and an RBI and the Houston Astros damaged the Seattle Mariners post-season hopes with a 5-2 victory Wednesday. Wholesale Fake Air Max 90 . Altuve had a RBI double in the fifth and a single in the seventh for his league-leading 200th hit. He is the second Astros player to accomplish the feat, joining Craig Biggio -- who set the franchise record of 210 in 1998. Altuve leads the league in hitting at .337, hits and steals with 52. If he finishes as the leader in all three categories he would be the first to do that since Seattles Ichiro Suzuki in 2001. The Mariners, who lost two of three in the series, remained a half-game behind Detroit for the American Leagues second wild-card spot. The Tigers lost to AL Central rival Kansas City, 3-0. Oakland, which opens a three-game series at Safeco Field on Friday, holds a two-game advantage over the Mariners for the first wild-card spot. Nick Tropeano (1-0), making his major league debut, held the Mariners in check for his five innings. He allowed two runs and four hits, striking out five and walking none, and left with a 4-2 lead. Tony Sipp finished the ninth for his fourth save in five opportunities. Regular closer Chad Qualls has a nagging hip injury and was unavailable. The Astros chased Hisashi Iwakuma (14-7) after just 4 1-3 innings, his third shortest outing of the season. Iwakuma struggled with his control from the start. The best indicator was his one-out walk to Jon Singleton in the second inning. It was just his 15th walk issued in 161 2-3 innings this season. Matt Dominguez then popped out before three straight hits, by Alex Presley, Max Stassi and Jonathan Villar, produced three runs. In Iwakumas 24 previous starts, opponents had scored a combined three runs in the second inning. The Mariners responded in the bottom of the inning with two runs off Mike Zuninos one-out double. Altuve, the leagues leading hitter but hitless in 10 previous at-bats in the series, pushed it to 4-2 with his one-out RBI double to left in the fifth. After Iwakumas second walk -- his 16th of the season -- with one out in the fifth, he was lifted. He gave up four runs and six hits and struck out six. The Astros added a run in the eighth on Presleys two-out RBI single. He and Stassi each had two RBIs. UP NEXT The Mariners have their final off day of the season Thursday before their critical weekend series against Oakland. Lefty James Paxton (5-2, 1.87) opens the series Friday against right-hander Jason Hammel (2-5, 4.70). Houston also is off Thursday before its three-game weekend series at the Los Angeles Angels. Brett Oberholtzer (5-10, 4.3 Cool

will be matched up against C.J. Wilson (11-9, 4.64). SELIG AND NO. 42 Commissioner Bud Selig, retiring after this season, came through Seattle and spoke with the media before the game. Among his topics was the genesis for all the players wearing No. 42 on April 15 each season to honour Jackie Robinson breaking the Color Line on that date in 1947. "Commissioners are never supposed to have favourites," Selig began. "Let me tell you a story. I came back from a trip to Arizona and my phone was ringing. It was Ken Griffey Jr. And he apologized for calling me so late and he said, I know how you feel about Jackie Robinson. What would be wrong with all of us wearing No. 42? " Selig said he would think about it but didnt take long. The next morning he called Robinsons widow, Rachel, and told her Griffeys idea and she embraced it. So every year since 2004 every player wears No. 42 on April 15. The number also was retired throughout baseball in 1997. CLOSER TO THE END Even though Mariners closer Fernando Rodney has 44 saves in 47 opportunities and needs just two more to set the franchise record, he tends to be a final-inning roller coaster. Manager Lloyd McClendon says just enjoy the ride. "Im a believer that once you get to your closer in the ninth inning, youve done your job as a manager," McClendon said. "Its his game to win or lose. . If you asked if Id take Fernando Rodney out of the game, it would have to be dire straits." Fake Shoes For Sale . -- Kurt Buschs Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, in some ways, was like his career wrapped into one afternoon. Wholesake Fake Yeezy 700 . Watching them over the past year - and in some cases, two years - has given us a starting point for this seasons Craigs List.TORONTO -- Harry Redknapp got a rude shock after taking over Queens Park Rangers in November 2012. The team was in last place in the English Premier League, its roster filled with bloated contracts and egos. "The attitude stank. Attitude towards the game, attitude towards training," he wrote in his autobiography "Always Managing." "I cant remember a worse one -- and behaviour like that cannot be altered overnight." Redknapp, however, found one kindred spirit. "Within weeks I had worked out that my best player was Ryan Nelsen, a 35-year-old New Zealand international -- and he couldnt wait to get out," Redknapp wrote. "`Youve got no chance, he told me. Not a prayer. This is the worst dressing room Ive ever been in in my life. You havent got a hope with this lot. I dont know how you solve it." Today, Nelsen is in his second season as manager of Toronto FC. He recalls his season with QPR -- his finale as a player -- as a ringside seat on what happens when a dressing room goes wrong. "It was an amazing learning experience for me," he said in an interview this week. Redknapp, whose team was relegated at the end of the 2012-13 season, is on the verge of taking QPR back to the Premier League after one season in the Championship. QPR faces Derby Country on Saturday at Wembley in a promotion playoff worth up to 120 million pounds (C$220.5 million), mostly from broadcast rights, according to a 2013 report by the Sports Business Group at Deloitte. With reported debts of 177 million pounds (C$325 million), Queens Park Rangers could do with hitting the promotion jackpot despite the deep pockets of millionaire owner Tony Fernandes. Among the things Nelsen learned at QPR was the need to get recruitment right, to watch wages and that a good football team needs chemistry off the field as well as organization in it. "It was an environment that probably players were getting paid too much for potentially their mentality to win," he said of QPR. "Young guys probably on too much before they had earned it." There were also older players who might have lost their fire. And second-tier Championship players who had the character desire but perhaps not the talent needed. "Everybody tried their best to get the mixture right, but it just didnt jell," said Nelsen. "It was just wrong." The ill-fated QPR spending spree was funded by Fernandes, a British-Malaysian businessman whose net worth as of February was valued at US$650 million according to Forbes magazine. He took over in August 2011, almost a year before Nelsen came on board. The New Zealand international didnt expect to play much at QPR, thinking his job would be to help then-manager Mark Hughes and successor Redknapp off the pitch. He ended up playing 21 league matches, becoming captain and turning into a fan favouriite before leaving in January 2103 to take over Toronto FC. Wholesale Fake Vans. Nelsen points no fingers today, saying the intentions of Hughes and Fernandes "were so right for the club to do really well." The rot had set in too much by the time Redknapp took over. "There had to be a clearout before you could get it back again," he said. There are more fashionable soccer teams in London but Loftus Road, QPRs home in Shepherds Bush, has seen its share of players with flair in Rodney Marsh, Stan Bowles and Gerry Francis in the 1960s and 70s. A blue-collar club, QPR won the League Cup in 1966-67 and was runner-up in 1985-86. It was also runner-up in the FA Cup in 1981-82 and was runner-up in the First Division, precursor to the Premier League, in 1975-76. Celebrity QPR fans included musicians Phil Collins, Pete Doherty and composer Michael Nyman. A no-nonsense defender at the end of his playing career, Nelsens work ethic appealed to the QPR fans tired of rental players on big salaries. "I think they just liked that I worked hard and tried to win games," said Nelsen. "People respected that." Nelsen loved the QPR supporters right back. "But it wasnt right off the field," he said of the team. "And that weighed heavily on me because I was kind of brought in to help that out." QPR was relegated several months after Nelsens departure to Canada. According to the Daily Mail, the clubs wage bill was higher than that of Spanish champion and Champions League finalists Atletico Madrid. Toronto benefited from the subsequent clearout, with Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar coming to MLS on a loan agreement. Loic Remy (Newcastle) and Adel Taarabt (AC Milan) were also sent out on loan. Cesar, whose attitude has earned nothing but praise from Toronto coaches and players, says QPR wants him back in August. The team will have to reload if it returns to the Premier League. Redknapp, a master wheeler and dealer, brought in hardened veterans of the Championship to help climb back up the mountain. "He invested really wisely," said Nelsen. "He moved guys that probably had big value. And in saying that, their value has probably increased." Nelsen will be watching closely this weekend. "Ive got a lot of friends on that QPR team," he said. In addition to the big-time Charlies, he remembers of group of honest players desperate to succeed. "And QPR had them. They probably got outnumbered bit a little at the end but those guys, you wish them the best so badly. and for Harry as well, because at his age (now 67) he probably could have gone off and retired somewhere. But he knuckled down in the Championship and you wish them all the success. "All of his coaching staff were fantastic when I was there. And theyve helped me since Ive been here, to tell you the truth." ' ' '