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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Houston Astros got a good glimpse of what could happen if Chris Carter and George Springer are hitting well at the same time. Carter connected for two home runs, Springer set a rookie club record for homers in a month and the Astros beat the Kansas City Royals 9-3 Wednesday for their fifth straight win. The Astros have been waiting for Carter to take off after he hit 29 home runs last year. "This guy led our offence in home runs and RBIs last year. He had been hot and cold, but we all know when hes hot, he can carry a ballclub because weve seen him do it," Astros manager Bo Porter said. "We definitely would love to get him going. That would be an added boost to our team," he said. Carter, who had been benched the previous three games with a .192 batting average, homered to lead off the fifth. He hit a three-run homer in sixth off reliever Louis Coleman for his fourth career multihomer game and his first this season. "He sat for three days, worked extremely hard in the cage and watched a lot of video," Porter said. "He came in today with a good game plan and understanding the things in which hes worked on the last few days." "I always say this: Its good from a coaching standpoint you put in effort with a guy and the next time he gets in the lineup you see it pay off. Thats good for the player to see the immediate results of the work which hes putting in" he said. Springer homered off Danny Duffy (2-5) in the first for his ninth home run in May. Glenn Davis held the Astros rookie record with eight home runs in September 1985. Springer also walked twice and was hit by a pitch. "Our offence is better," Carter said. "Its been coming around really good. George has six home runs in six games. Im happy for him. I think we have something going here." The Astros, with the worst record in the AL, won three times in Kansas City for their first sweep of the season. Houstons winning streak is its longest since a six-game string that ended last June 3. The Royals have lost four in a row. "Its just a bad series, unfortunately, it happened at home," Royals designated hitter Billy Butler said. "Its a tough go right now." Carlos Corporan had three hits with a walk. He drove in a run as the Astros outscored the Royals 21-5 in the series. Jarred Cosart (4-4) gave up one earned run and four hits in five innings, but was pulled when his pitch count reached 95. "I chose a good day to go five and the offence scored nine runs," Cosart said. "I didnt have my best stuff. The offence came out scoring early. I felt pretty good out there. I had a couple of innings with high pitch counts. We have a five-game winning streak going. Weve got momentum. Were going back home to our own ballpark." Duffy allowed six runs on seven hits and five walks in four-plus innings. The first four Royals pitchers combined to walk 10, which was a season high. "He just didnt have anything going for him today," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "His fastball was down to 88-92 (mph) and we kept checking and asking if he was OK. He was fine, but he was going through a little dead arm. He was throwing hard, but it just wasnt coming out. We had to kind of ride it. We didnt have any bullpen help." Brett Hayes singled in the Kansas City fifth to snap an 0-for-27 skid to begin the season. He homered in the seventh, the Royals first home run in nine games. NOTES: Houston 2B Jose Altuve dropped Eric Hosmers popup to shallow right in the sixth inning for his first error of the season. That ended an Astros record of 88 errorless games by a second baseman. Altuve also had a single and tops the majors with 73 hits. ... Butler grounded out four times and is in a 2-for-22 funk, tumbling his average to .235 with one home run. ... Royals LF Alex Gordon batted third for the first time this season and extended his hitting streak to six games with a first-inning single. Ecco Shoes Australia Sale . Hernandez (3-0) struck out 11 and shut down Oakland for the second time in a week, becoming the first Mariners pitcher to win three times in the first nine games of a season. With the usual "Kings Court" for Hernandez home starts expanded to a "Supreme Court" encompassing the entire stadium with yellow shirts and "K" cards, Hernandez gave up four hits in the 28th double-digit strikeout game of his career. Ecco Shoes Clearance Australia . The 27th-ranked Austrian underwent surgery on a torn tendon in October and needs more time to recover, the Austria Press Agency reports on Saturday. http://www.wholesaleeccoaustralia.com/ .Y. - Urijah Faber walked out on a Madison Square Garden stage in a Wes Welker jersey, the UFCs fun nod to that other "super" show this weekend. Ecco Shoes On Sale Australia .Mateo Kovacic and Andrea Ranocchia scored for Inter, which had goalkeeper Samir Handanovic to thank for several crucial saves.Its an important victory against a Chievo side which plays well, Mancini said. Ecco Shoes Sale Clearance Australia . Atletico Madrid made it three wins from three thanks to a double from in-form striker Diego Costa in a 3-0 victory at Austria Vienna, leaving the Spanish side on the brink of the last 16 already to continue its brilliant start to the season.CALGARY - The Calgary Flames wont make the NHL playoffs this season, but that sure hasnt deterred their effort. Karri Ramo had 33 saves in regulation plus three more in the shootout and red-hot Mike Cammalleri scored the winning goal as the Flames won 2-1 over the San Jose Sharks on Monday. Scoreless after two shots each, Cammalleri moved in from off the right wing and went short side on Alex Stalock, setting off a roar from the Scotiabank Saddledome crowd announced at 19,289. Cammalleri entered the night tied with Jarome Iginla for the most goals since the trade deadline (9) and tied with Tyler Seguin for the most points over that same period (15). It then came down to Karri Ramo, who thwarted James Sheppard to clinch it. That coming on the heels of stops against Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski. "We played the total team game. I know that Karri Ramo played well, brought us some big saves at the right time, but to pick one player of the game tonight, we could have a long list. I felt that it was a real solid team effort," said Flames coach Bob Hartley. Joe Colborne scored in regulation for Calgary (30-35-7). The Flames have won 10 of their last 13 on home ice. "Lets play well at home, lets get a swagger in this building," said Hartley. "I think the fans are unbelievable, theyve been behind us since the start of the season. The way were playing right now is maybe a small way to say thank you for all our great support." It was also Calgarys league-leading 43rd one-goal game. Thats two away from the club record of 45 set in 2005-06. "Its a tough test whenever San Jose comes in and the fact that we were able to match them and pull one out in the shootout is pretty special," said Colborne. "We hope to be battling them for a divisional or a conference lead sooner rather than later so its a huge experience for us." Sheppard scored in regulation for San Jose (46-18-9). Its his second goal in as many games for Sheppard, matching his output from the seasons first 56 games. Despite having their four-game road winning streak come to an end, the point was enough for the Sharks to clinch a playoff spot for the 10th consecutive season. "It was probably an inevitability but there is satisfaction in clinching," said Sharks coach Todd McLellan. "That was one of the goals that we set out to do and theyve accomplished that. It wouldve been nice to get the two points, obviously were in a heck of a race for other things so thats a little bit disappointing, but we have to move on." The Sharks lead atop the Pacific Division increases to two points over Anaheim, but the Ducks hold two games in hand.dddddddddddd. "We were going to clinch no matter what. It was just a matter of time," said Sharks captain Joe Thornton. "Weve just got to continue to get points. It wouldve been nice to get two but well take the one." San Jose wraps up its short two-game road trip in Edmonton on Tuesday night. After being outplayed much of the first period, Calgary had a much better second. Early on, Stalock had to be sharp, throwing up his blocker to deny Sean Monahan from the slot and stopping Kris Russell from in close after he was set up neatly by Kenny Agostino. The Flames kept up the pressure and it eventually paid off on Colbornes ninth goal at 18:00, the result of a heady play by rookie defenceman Tyler Wotherspoon. Playing his 10th NHL game, the 21-year-old faked a shot and sent a perfect cross-ice pass to Colborne, alone at the side of the net, who buried it over Stalock as he desperately slid across. "Thats an all-star play right there," said Colborne, who has five goals in the past 11 games. "Not too many guys can fake a shot, head up, and find me back door — flat pass through the seam. That was an all-world play." After missing six weeks with a knee injury, Ramos first two starts since his return have been excellent. Saturday night he stopped 24-of-25 in the Flames 8-1 win in Edmonton. One area he had struggled in were shootouts going 0-3 and stopping just 6 of 14 shots coming into Mondays game. "Its a tough situation. Its something that I have to better at, I need to make more saves," said Ramo. "We took a look at the shootouts when I had a little bit of time off so we decided to change some things and work on that and today it worked and that was a good thing, it gives you confidence." Ramo improves to 13-10-4. Stalock had 26 saves in regulation. He hasnt lost in regulation in his last six starts (4-0-2) and is 11-4-2 on the year. "A point in any game in this league is good, especially on the road. Two points were right there. It wouldve been huge, obviously, for the race for the Pacific," Stalock said. "Obviously our goal was to make the playoffs but everybody in this room knew that we should make the playoffs. Its an honour to make the playoffs. Not everyone can. Now the last nine are about positioning." Notes: San Jose D Brad Stuart (upper body) returned after missing 13 games...San Jose owns the fourth longest playoff streak in professional sports (NHL, NFL, NBA, MLB). They trail Detroit Red Wings (22), San Antonio Spurs (16) and Denver Nuggets (10). ' ' '