ood got right back on track after Singletons hit and set dow

HOUSTON -- After a tough June where Justin Upton has hit under .200, the Atlanta Braves hope the last two games are an indication that hell get back to where he was earlier this season. Upton homered for the second straight game and drove in three runs and Alex Wood pitched seven scoreless innings to help the Braves to a 4-0 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday night. "When he gets hot like this its really, really something to watch," manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "Hopefully this is the beginning of one of those big runs that he can give us." Upton is hitting just .185 this month, but his average for the season is .272 after a great start to the year. "Im seeing the ball and hitting it, thats about it," Upton said. "Ive gotten some good pitches to hit and Ive put good swings on them." Shae Simmons and Juan Jaime finished the three-hitter as the Astros were shut out for the 10th time this season. The Braves had just two hits when Upton launched his 16th homer, a two-run shot into the bullpen in right-centre, to make it 3-0 in the seventh inning. Collin McHugh (4-6) had plunked Jason Heyward to set up things for Upton. Upton drove in Atlantas first run on a sacrifice fly in the second inning. He joked that Wood owed him a treat of some kind for providing most of the offence in the win. "Just maybe get an ice cream cone or something," Upton said with a laugh. "Theyve got some good ice cream in there, at least get a scoop of ice cream." Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman left in the eighth after being hit by a pitch on what appeared to be his right elbow. He was examined by a doctor and said he was fine and hoped the swelling wasnt too bad on Thursday so he could play. Wood (6-6) was recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett to make his first start since May 4 after appearing in 11 games out of the bullpen in his last stint with the Braves. He allowed three hits and struck out four with one walk. "He did a nice job," Gonzalez said. "Mixed all his pitches ... his breaking ball, his fastball, threw some nice change ups." Gonzalez was encouraged by Woods performance in filling in for Gavin Floyd, who had surgery this week after breaking a bone in his throwing elbow. Simmons and Jaime struck out two apiece in a hitless inning apiece. McHugh struck out nine in his third straight loss. "He made a mistake to a really good hitter, and he didnt miss it," manager Bo Porter said of Uptons homer. "But outside of that one pitch, I feel like he was in complete control of the game the entire time." B.J. Upton doubled and took third on a balk before scoring on a groundout by Tommy La Stella to push Atlantas lead to 4-0 in the eighth. Evan Gattis doubled to start the second and scored on the one-out sacrifice fly by Justin Upton. McHugh walked a pair in the fourth inning, but the Braves didnt get another hit until Freeman singled with two outs in the sixth. Freeman was tagged out trying to stretch it into a double to end the inning. Dexter Fowler hit a leadoff double in the first, and was thrown out at third trying to advance on Jose Altuves grounder. Houston didnt get another runner until rookie Jon Singleton snapped an 0-for-17 skid with a ground-rule double to right-centre field with two outs in the fourth. The ball got lodged under the wall and Singleton was already heading toward home when he was called back to second base. Wood got right back on track after Singletons hit and set down the next five Astros before walking Fowler with one out in the sixth. George Springer singled with two outs to put runners at the corners, but Wood struck out Singleton to escape the jam. NOTES: Braves LHP Ryan Buchter was optioned to Gwinnett to make room for Wood on the roster. ... The Astros recalled OF L.J. Hoes from Triple-A Oklahoma City and optioned OF Robbie Grossman there before the game. ... Atlanta RHP David Carpenter, on the disabled list with a strained right biceps, felt good after throwing a bullpen on Tuesday and is scheduled to throw another one on Thursday. ... SS Carlos Correa, Houstons top prospect and the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 draft, had season-ending surgery on Wednesday after breaking his right fibula. Oakland Raiders Jerseys .C. -- Gleason Fournier scored the shootout winner as the Grand Rapids Griffins defeated the Abbotsford Heat 4-3 Friday in American Hockey League action. Fred Biletnikoff Raiders Jersey . -- Top-seed Shahar Peer and Canadian Eugenie Bouchard advanced to the second round of the inaugural WTA Citi Open. http://www.footballraidersmall.com/Youth...l-Elite-Jersey/. Torres scored the first goal by an English team in the knockout phase of the Champions League this season when he met Cezar Azpilicuetas cutback in the ninth minute of their first leg match in the last 16. But Chelsea failed to make the most of its counterattacks and the Turkish champions equalized in the second half after gaining in confidence and cutting out their defensive mistakes. Isaiah Johnson Jersey .J. Hardy finally got in on the fun Saturday, against a likely opponent. Marcus Allen Womens Jersey . The Cavs announced the move Saturday, one day after LeBron James said hes returning to Cleveland. A 12-year veteran, Haywood has played in 794 NBA games, averaging 6. White Sox rookie first baseman Jose Abreu came to major league baseball with some hype, as many Cubans do, but there wasnt any expectation for the kind of first month that hes enjoying. 27-years-old with a power-hitters build (listed at 6-foot-3, 255 pounds), Abreu has roared into the majors, with 10 home runs, 31 RBI, a .262 batting average and .962 OPS in his first 26 games. As with any one-month sample, these numbers arent sustainable, but what is fair to expect from Abreu? For one thing, his batting average on balls in play is .246, which is well below average, so it would be fair to expect his batting average to go up as a few more balls fall in, but hes also had a major-league best 33.3% of his flyballs leave the park, which isnt going to hold. Over the past five seasons, there have been two seasons in which a player finished with more than 27% of his flyballs turning into home runs -- Adam Dunn in 2012 (29.3%) and Chris Davis in 2013 (29.6%) -- so Abreu is most likely to fall off his current 62-home run pace. No, seriously. What will bear watching with Abreu is how pitchers adjust to him as he makes his way through the league. He swings at a lot of pitches out of the strike zone and hes already seeing among thelowest percentage of strikes when hes at the plate, so pitchers are learning. Its also interesting to note that, thus far, while Abreu destroys fastballs and sliders, hes struggled with change-ups. If thats the scouting report, surely hell start seeing more change-ups, if just to affect his timing. At this point, 14.5% of the pitches Abreu has faced have been change-ups; it will be interesting to see if that number increases over the next month or more. None of this anticipated regression should come as a surprise, merely as a caution.dddddddddddd Baseball tends to catch up to sluggers, especially ones that are willing to expand their strike zone by swinging freely. GOOD ADDS (available in at least 40% of TSN leagues) Nick Castellanos, 3B, Detroit - 3 HR, 13 RBI, .258 AVG, 7 R, 66 AB (Available: 71.6%) Dioner Navarro, C, Toronto - 1 HR, 14 RBI, .309 AVG, 11 R, 81 AB (Available: 89.6%) Alberto Callaspo, 3B/2B, Oakland - 3 HR, 13 RBI, .272 AVG, 9 R, 81 AB (Available: 74.6%) Casey McGehee, 3B, Miami - 0 HR, 16 RBI, .287 AVG, 5 R, 94 AB (Available: 75.8%) Dillon Gee, RHP, N.Y. Mets - 2-1, 2.88 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 27 K, 40 2/3 IP (Available: 65.7%) Ian Kennedy, RHP, San Diego - 2-3, 3.16 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 37 K, 37 IP (Available: 76.2%) CLOSER NOTES The Angels have demoted Ernesto Frieri, leaving side-arming veteran Joe Smith for the role. Smith, 30, recorded the first three saves of his career last season for Cleveland. While hes not the classic fire-balling closer, Smith has managed to miss bats this year, striking out 11 in 10 innings, the best rate of his career. Pirates closer Jason Grilli is on the DL with a strained oblique. Mark Melancon, who has 37 career saves, takes over. Melancon has been really good for the Pirates over the past couple seasons, posting a 1.41 ERA and 0.92 WHIP in 84 games, striking out 79 in 83 innings. If the Pirates are in position to win games, Melancon is qualified to close them out. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '