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HOUSTON (AP) —ng: Alex Bregman was made for these moments.The young third baseman was great for the defending champions all season and now that the calendar has flipped to October he’s taken his play to another level Nolan Ryan Jersey , slugging two home runs to help Houston to a 2-0 lead in the AL Division Series against the Cleveland Indians.“He loves the bright lights,” praised George Springer, MVP of the World Series last year. “He loves the big stage … he believes he should get a hit every time or make the big play or score the big run. That’s just who he is and when you have a guy like that it makes you want to do the same thing.”Game 3 is Monday in Cleveland.The 24-year-old Bregman had the best year of his career this season, leading the AL with a career-high 51 doubles, and setting career marks by hitting .286 with 31 homers and 103 RBIs. His breakout season helped carry the offense in a year where last year’s MVP Jose Altuve and star shortstop Carlos Correa struggled with injuries.“He brings joy to the team,” Altuve said. “He shows up here and lets everybody know he’s ready to play and … you see how he plays and you’re like: ‘OK. I want to join him, and I want to play at the same level he’s playing.'”Bregman gave Houston its first run of the playoffs this season when he hit a solo homer off Corey Kluber in the fourth inning of Game 1 on Friday. It was the first of four homers hit by the Astros in a 7-2 win. The Astros were up by 1 in Game 2 on Saturday when Bregman connected off Trevor Bauer with two outs and none on in the seventh to add some insurance in the 3-1 victory.“This is what it’s all about,” Bregman said. “This type of baseball is a blast. Everybody in that clubhouse is living and dying on every pitch. It’s fun to play these types of games.”Bregman, the second overall pick in the 2015 draft, hit four homers and drove in 10 runs in his postseason debut last season to help the Astros to their first World Series title. He homered twice against the Dodgers in the World Series, and his two-out single in the 10th ended Houston’s thrilling 13-12 win in Game 5.Selected as an All-Star for the first time, he hit a tiebreaking home run in the 10th inning at Nationals Park in July that sent the AL to victory.Bregman never seems daunted by important moments despite having played just two full seasons in the majors.Manager AJ Hinch said Bregman has a “calm heartbeat” and he knows the Astros can always count on him when they need a big play whether it be on offense or defense.“I love how he describes pressure. He describes pressure as a privilege Rougned Odor Jersey ,” Hinch said. “That, to me, shows someone that gets it, someone that is going to be able to handle the moment.”Though Hinch and the Astros have come to expect this level of play from the former LSU standout, the manager sometimes takes a step back simply to appreciate his greatness.“It’s amazing to watch him do it time after time after time,” Hinch said. “We’re getting spoiled. Guys aren’t supposed to do it at this level at that rate he’s been doing.”Altuve, who became the first Astro to win MVP since Jeff Bagwell collected the National League award in 1994, has been wowed by Bregman’s development this season. In a stacked MVP race led by Boston’s Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez and Angels star Mike Trout, Altuve believes that his teammate’s season was the most impressive.“Bregman does something big for us every single game,” Altuve said. “He’s the kind of player that you really want to have on your team. He had an MVP season. He’s my MVP.”Bregman isn’t interested in discussing individual awards and accolades and says his only focus is helping the Astros repeat as champions. And as much as he’s done so far, he’s constantly working to do more and get better.“This was definitely, definitely something I envisioned doing http://www.rangersfanproshop.com/authentic-matt-moore-jersey , (but) I think there’s so much room to improve on both sides of the ball, and I look forward to working on it,” he said. DENVER (AP) — Miles Mikolas had some pitches he’d rather have back. His swing was a keeper.Mikolas and Tyler O’Neill each homered and the St. Louis Cardinals leaned on their bullpen to withstand a Colorado rally and beat the Rockies 7-5 Friday night for their fourth straight win.O’Neill also had an RBI double and Kolten Wong added three hits and a sacrifice fly for the Cardinals in a game between teams in the thick of their respective division races and running 1-2 in the NL wild-card race. It was also St. Louis’ ninth win in a row on the road.“(Mikolas) hit one earlier in the year and we knew he was going to probably run into another one at some point,” said Bud Norris, who got three outs for his 27th save, capping 4 1/3 innings of scoreless relief by the Cardinals’ bullpen. “Obviously, that swing helped us win a ball game and definitely was doing your part on the offensive side, too.”The Rockies pulled within two runs with a five-run fifth that featured a two-run drive by Charlie Blackmon and a solo shot by Nolan Arenado, both off Mikolas, who helped St. Louis take a 7-0 lead by hitting a two-run homer as part of a four-run second.Mikolas had stranded five base runners over the first four innings but could not get out of the fifth.He was relieved by Chasen Shreve after Carlos Gonzalez scored from third on Ian Desmond’s fielder’s choice and Ryan McMahon hit a two-out RBI single that drove in Desmond, who had reached third on second baseman Wong’s throwing error.“They got hold of two bad breaking balls, but other than that Russell Wilson Jersey , I thought all the other contact that inning was pretty soft, a couple bloopers, seeing-eye singles stuff, like that,” Mikolas said. “I’ll beat myself up over those breaking balls but other than that they got a couple of hits that weren’t so good.”Besides, he can take some solace in the difference his home run made in the game.“I’ve got the juice right now for our pitching staff, so that’s nice. That’s something that will help me go to bed tonight,” said Mikolas, also tipping his cap to the bullpen for picking him up.Carlos Martinez (7-6) picked up the victory with 1 2/3 innings of hitless relief.Norris gave up a two-out double to Ryan McMahon and walked pinch-hitter Chris Iannetta before retiring D.J. LeMahieu on a fielder’s choice for the final out.“The game got ugly earlier, but we didn’t give up,” Gonzalez said. “We put some runs (up). We scored five that inning to put us back in the game. But they also pitched well. Their bullpen came in and shut us down.”Leading off the second, O’Neill drove a 1-2 offering from Antonio Senzatela (4-4) deep into the left-field bleachers for his fifth home run of the season Martin Perez Jersey , marking the 16th straight game in which the Cardinals homered. The streak is the longest since St. Louis connected in a club-record 25 straight games in 2016.Jedd Gyorko worked a one-out walk and Wong singled before Senzatela struck out Harrison Bader. But after Gyorko scored from third on a passed ball, Mikolas homered over the wall in straightaway center for his second of the season. The right-hander also homered for his first big league hit April 2 at Milwaukee.“He got the ball up and they made him pay,” Rockies manager Bud Black said of Senzatela. “He didn’t really have any consistent secondary pitches tonight. Probably too many mistakes and just really couldn’t string any pitches together all night.”The Cardinals added three runs in the fifth, moving out to a 7-0 lead on run-scoring doubles by Gyorko and O’Neill and a sacrifice fly by Wong.TRAINER’S ROOMCardinals: RHP Michael Wacha threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings Thursday night in his second rehab start for Class A Palm Beach against Fort Myers. He’s expected to throw a bullpen session Sunday before making a third rehab start on Tuesday, most likely at Class AA Springfield. Wacha went on the 10-day disabled list June 21 with a left oblique strain. “He’s in the conversation to come back and pitch in early September but what day that looks like — he’s not there yet,” interim manager Mike Shildt said.UP NEXTCardinals: RHP John Gant (5-5, 3.76 ERA) has posted a 2.30 ERA over his last three starts spanning 15 2/3 innings. He is making his first career appearance against the Rockies.Rockies: RHP German Marquez (11-9, 4.42 ERA) is set to make his third career start against the Cardinals but first in more than a year. He won his previous outings against St. Louis, both at Coors Field, going 2-0 with a 2.53 ERA over a combined 10 2/3 innings.