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HOUSTON -- Chris Carter has hit his fair share of no-doubt home runs this season and has never taken more than a second to watch as one began to sail out of the park. That changed on Tuesday night when Houstons slugger hit his 32nd homer, a towering three-run drive in the eighth inning that lifted the Astros to a 4-2 win over the Oakland Athletics. He stood at the plate gazing skyward, still clutching the bat with his left hand until it was clear that the ball was destined for the train tracks atop the wall in left field. "It was just pure excitement right there," he said with a smile. Though reticent to admit it, Carter takes a bit more pleasure in coming up big in games against his former team, which traded him away before last season. Hes done it a lot this season, homering four times in his last five games against the Athletics. Oakland starter Jason Hammel had retired 10 straight batters when he was replaced by Luke Gregerson (3-3) for the eighth inning. Robbie Grossman reached on an error by first baseman Stephen Vogt with one out and Gregerson hit Jose Altuve with a pitch. Carter then connected on a 90 mph fastball to put the Astros on top. "He left one up for me," Carter said. "I was just trying to hit one in the gap there and I got it in the air." Gregerson lamented the pitch to Carter. "I was trying to go sinker, down and away," he said. "It started away, but it just ran all the way across the plate, down and in." Josh Fields (4-6) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win and Chad Qualls did the same in the ninth for his 15th save. The As began the day tied with the Angels for the AL West lead. Carter homered for the second straight game, and leads the majors with 19 since the start of July. Before the game, he received a plaque honouring him as the American League player of the week. His home runs are the most since Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee hit 34 and 32 respectively in 2007. "I tell you what, hes putting together some kind of season and the home runs are getting bigger and bigger," Houston manager Bo Porter said. Carter, who struggled early in the season before heating up, seemed puzzled when asked after the game if this is the best stretch of his career. "Is that a real question," he asked. Told it was, he continued. "No. I dont think theres been a time like that in the majors," he said. "Maybe in the minors but not here." Dexter Fowler hit a solo homer for Houston to cut the lead to one in the fourth inning. Carters shot ruined Hammels best start since joining the Athletics in a trade from the Cubs. He allowed three hits and one run while working on extra rest -- the As skipped his last turn because they had two off-days last week. Dallas Keuchel allowed five hits and two runs in seven innings to remain winless since July 30, a span of five starts. Carters home run let him off the hook for the loss and he enjoyed watching Carter admire his shot. "I was joking with him. I said: Dang, you really watched that one," Keuchel said. "It kind of reminded me of Manny Ramirez with the Red Sox back in the day." TRAINERS ROOM Athletics: Manager Bob Melvin said SS Jed Lowrie (broken right index finger) and INF Nick Punto (hamstring) are both getting better and could be ready for rehabilitation assignments in the next few days. Lowrie was scheduled to play catch on Tuesday and Melvin said theyll see how "fast they can move with him" depending on how that goes. Melvin said Punto isnt able to run at full speed yet, but has been doing everything else. UP NEXT Oakland left-hander Drew Pomeranz will be recalled from Triple-A Sacramento to make his first major league start since June 16. He has struggled in his career against the Astros, going 0-1 with a 13.50 ERA in two appearances against Houston. Brad Peacock will start Wednesday against the As, making his fourth start since being recalled from Triple-A on Aug. 6. Paul Molitor Brewers Jersey . Despite 11-1 records, theyre out and Big Ten winner Ohio State is into the national semifinals. Matt Albers Jersey . Ashton scored a hat trick -- giving him 13 goals in 16 AHL games this season -- to power the Toronto Marlies to a 5-2 victory over the visiting Lake Erie Monsters in AHL action on Sunday. https://www.cheapbrewers.com/. -- Masahiro Tanaka knows that first appearance in a spring training game for the New York Yankees will be scrutinized. Bobby Wahl Brewers Jersey . Joining him in this years class were Switzerlands Patrick Huerlimann and Norways Eigil Ramsfjell. The announcement was made at the world mens curling championship at Capital Indoor Stadium in China. Bud Selig Brewers Jersey . -- Miguel Angel Jimenez quickly shifted his focus back to the Ryder Cup after winning his first Champions Tour event.OTTAWA -- Two injuries have derailed most of Kaetlyn Osmonds rookie Olympic season, but she and her coach have managed to find a silver lining. Osmond said shes fully recovered from both a stress reaction in her left ankle, and a torn right hamstring, and is skating in practice better than at any other time in her relatively short career. And when the curtain comes up on the Sochi Olympics next month, Osmond, at least, will be fresh. "I think it will end up being a real advantage for her," her coach Ravi Walia said on the eve of the Canadian figure skating championships. "Some people are exhausted at the end of the season, and I think she wont be. Shes just getting better. This last month of training, shes just gotten so much better. And I really believe that she has a lot more in her this season to keep improving." The 18-year-old from Marystown, N.L., should be a lock for one of Canadas two Olympic berths in womens singles, and is Canadas most promising female skater since the retirement of Joannie Rochette. But a season that held so much promise for the skater who burst onto the international scene when she won Skate Canada in the fall of 2012 has been full of obstacles. She suffered the stress reaction -- a precursor to a stress fracture -- in August, and was off the ice for several weeks. Then finally back on the ice for Skate Canada in late October, she woke up the morning of her long program unable to put much weight on her leg. Tests determined it was a torn hamstring and she withdrew from the remainder of the Grand Prix circuit. "This whole year has been a big learning experience," said Osmond, who trains in Edmonton. Her goal this week is to show "that I can come back from anything." Walia said her recovery from her latest setback has been remarkable, and praised the teenagers positive outlook. "Shes had so many obstacless and so many setbacks, but whats been great is she has a good attitude, and whatever setbacks she had she would do whatever she had to to get back on track," he said.dddddddddddd "Even if she wasnt at 100 per cent, you could tell the motivation was there." "I was getting worried because of timeline," he added. "But each day she would come (to practice) and do whatever we had to do, and it would be successful each day. She got ready so quick." This seasons short program -- to "Big Spender" from the musical "Sweet Charity" -- was met with some criticism when she debuted it at Skate Canada. There were questions about whether the choice of music was too mature for the teen. She was referred to as "Canadas answer to Miley Cyrus." Both Osmond and Walia shrugged off the negative comments. "She knows her program is appropriate for her, she likes it and its exciting to do, so it didnt bother her at all," Walia said. "It was brought up to be something that it wasnt. Half the skaters out there are skating to music, that maybe where it comes from, might be a story that theyre not portraying. Shes skating to a 60s style dance. "It was a little surprising, it didnt necessarily bother me," he added. Osmond won Skate Canada Challenge -- a qualifying event for nationals that she normally would have skipped -- early last month, and now, with obstacles behind her, is poised to make her Olympic debut. "It just seems like everything is going really fast. Its exciting," said Osmond, who was eighth at last years world championships. "(Making the Olympic team) still hasnt fully crossed my mind, I think its still such a shocker to even think of the possibility, so I dont think it will fully register until I actually make it." Skate Canada will name its team for Sochi on Sunday. ' ' '