~~**GÄSTEBEREICH**~~ » n his last seven starts. Jose Altuve extende

The Toronto Raptors will try to get back into the win column tonight when they welcome the Detroit Pistons to Air Canada Centre. Catch all the action live on TSN2 or on TSN Radio Toronto at 7pm et/4pm pt. The Raptors had a three-game winning streak halted Monday night with a road loss to the Brooklyn Nets. The loss, coupled with the Brooklyn win, shrunk Torontos lead in the Atlantic Division to three games over the Nets. "They (Nets) have veteran guys," said Raptors forward John Salmons. "They have guys that can hit guys in the clutch. They got guys that have carried teams in the past. Its definitely a tough team." Kyle Lowry had 21 points, eight rebounds and seven assists and Amir Johnson poured in 16 points for Toronto, which has won two straight north of the border. Tyler Hansbrough also finished with 16 points, followed by 14 from DeMar DeRozan and 12 out of Terrence Ross. The Raptors begin a three-game homestand tonight and will host the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday and the Phoenix Suns on Sunday. The Pistons ended a three-game losing streak on Tuesday night with a 99-89 home victory over the Sacramento Kings. Detroit has dropped nine straight as the visitor. Josh Smith notched 24 points and eight rebounds in the Pistons triumph. Rodney Stuckey contributed 23 points off the bench, while Andre Drummond gave 15 points and five blocked shots to help Detroit. Kyle Singler had 11 points and five steals in the win. The Pistons pulled away thanks to a near flawless defensive frame in the third, as they held the Kings to just 11 points on 4-of-20 shooting. Smith and Brandon Jennings opened the period with 3-pointers, and Detroit led the rest of the way. "We didnt give them easy looks," said Detroit interim head coach John Loyer. "In that quarter I think we held them to 11 points and our contest rate was one of the highest of the year." Despite the sub .500 record, the Pistons are just three games behind the Atlanta Hawks for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. "I have to be able to contribute, I dont want to sit home in April and think about what I could have done," said Smith, who is averaging 21.1 ppg over his last nine. "I just want to try to leave it all out there on the floor." Cheap Dennis Eckersley Jersey . Funny, they looked like longtime friends during Pittsburghs 5-1 demolition of Dallas on Tuesday night. Quick to the puck and even quicker to the net, the Penguins top line overwhelmed the suddenly struggling Stars as Pittsburgh bounced back from a dismal weekend sweep at the hands of Philadelphia by jumping on Dallas early. Cheap Walt Weiss Jersey . Hughes, 30, is a former Major Leaguer with the Baltimore Orioles, having played in 14 games with the Os in 2010. 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He sits there every night, he hears me cuss out the referees every night, Casey said, laughing.ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Dallas Keuchel came within one out of his second consecutive shutout and the Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Angels 5-2 Monday night for their first three-game winning streak of the season. Jason Castro and Matt Dominguez drove in runs during a three-run first inning for the Astros, who knocked around Garrett Richards (4-1) for 10 hits in the opener of a 10-game road trip. Keuchel (5-2) followed up his first career shutout with another gem, yielding five hits and striking out eight. He didnt allow a runner past second base until the ninth, when manager Bo Porter pulled him after two-out infield singles by Mike Trout and Albert Pujols. Howie Kendrick followed with a two-run triple off Josh Zeid, who got C.J. Cron on a grounder to end the Angels third loss in 11 games. Dexter Fowler and Chris Carter also drove in runs for the Astros (17-28), who still have the ALs worst record despite six wins in their last eight games. Keuchel baffled the Angels, whose only hits in the first seven innings were back-to-back singles by Pujols and Kendrick in the fourth. Keuchel retired Los Angeles next 10 batters until Grant Green led off the eighth with an infield single. Keuchel improved to 5-1 in his last eight starts. He has yielded four runs, 18 hits and one walk over 25 1-3 innings in three straight dominant outings. Houstons bats also are improving just in time for a three-game series at Angel Stadium, where the Astros have won seven of ttheir last eight.ddddddddddddThe Astros have at least nine hits in nine straight games for the first time since June 2007. Richards yielded a season-high 10 hits and five runs over seven innings, leaving him with just two wins in his last seven starts. Jose Altuve extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a leadoff double in the first. He advanced to third on Richards major league-leading 10th wild pitch and then scored when Richards comically lobbed a pickoff attempt into left-field foul territory. Castro and Dominguez followed with run-scoring singles. Fowler drove in another run with a two-out single in the second, but cost the Astros a second run when he was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double while George Springer was running home from first. Castro doubled and scored on Carters single in the third. Richards retired the next seven Houston batters and finished strong. NOTES: Fowler drew a walk in his career-best ninth consecutive game, the first Houston player to accomplish that feat since Morgan Ensberg in 2006. ... Angels LHP Hector Santiago, who lost his job in the rotation and hadnt pitched in eight days, retired all six batters he faced in relief. ... Opening-day starters Kole Calhoun and David Freese both had extra-base hits during rehab assignments with Triple-A Salt Lake on Monday night. Both are expected back in the majors soon. OF Josh Hamilton, also closing in on an injury return, took batting practice at Angel Stadium before the game. ' ' '