ST. LOUIS -- Matt Carpenter welcomes it when teams bring in a left-handed reliever to face him. In fact, he almost thrives on it. The left-handed Carpenter hit a two-run home run off lefty Wesley Wright (0-3) and Matt Holliday drove in two with a two-out hit to help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros 5-4 Wednesday night. "Ive always felt, my whole career, even as an amateur, like I see lefties pretty well," said Carpenter, who earned his first All-Star Game selection this year. "I try to take the same approach and just get a good pitch to hit and try to put a good swing on it." Carpenters batting average is nearly 40 points lower against lefties (.294 versus.333 against right-handers), but four of his nine home runs this season have come against southpaws. His homer in the seventh gave the win to Seth Maness (5-1). Tony Cruz got hit by starter Jordan Lyles first pitch of the inning and one out later Carpenter put a 2-1 pitch into the right field stands. "I think he takes it personal that they come in thinking thats something hed have more of a weakness with," manager Mike Matheny said. "Theres some guys who are just highly motivated and I think thats one of the things he takes a lot pride in, is putting together a tough at-bat so they just dont start firing left-handers against us." Maness gave up two hits and a run in two innings of relief. He struck out three. Edward Mujica earned his 25th save in 26 tries. He has appeared in six consecutive games, going 1-1 with four saves. Lyles gave up four runs and six hits in 6 1-3 innings. He struck out two and walked two. Lyles hasnt won a game since beating Milwaukee on June 18. Astros manager Bo Porter said he knew his starter would only face the first two batters in the seventh. "That was a totally left-on-left decision and you look at the stress of the innings in which he had gotten to that point," Porter said. "I sent him back out there with the notion he was going to face Cruz, he was going to face the pinch hitter (Yadier Molina) and Wesley was going to be ready for Carpenter." Cardinals starter Shelby Miller needed 94 pitches to labour through five innings. He gave up three earned runs, walked five and struck out five. He had a total of six full counts, coming back to strike out Jason Castro and getting Brett Wallace to ground out. "It was a rough one for me," Miller said. "I didnt have anything going for me. I couldnt throw strikes or much of anything. I just tried to keep the team in it as much as I could with what I had. It wasnt much, but five innings, three runs and the offence picks you up. "These guys never cease to amaze me when they go out there and do the things that they do." Wallace, who had four hits and scored a run, drove in Jose Altuve in the seventh to give Houston a 4-3 lead. Hollidays single in the fifth tied the score at 3-3. His slap to right field drove in Cruz and Shane Robinson, who had a pinch hit single in place of Miller. Allen Craig walked to open the second and scored on Matt Adams single. Adams has five RBIs in in his past six games. The Cardinals swept their five-game homestand with three victories over Miami before taking both against Houston. The home sweep comes on the heels of a 7-11 stretch that included three wins over the Chicago Cubs, who host the Cardinals in a four-game set starting Thursday. "This is a huge five-game stretch for us to win, come out here and win all these games at home, to get on a roll right before the All-Star break," Carpenter said. "Hopefully we can continue it in Chicago." Chris Carter hit his 18th home run just over the right field fence to open the second. Houston then used a Wallace single, two walks and an error for a 2-0 lead. The Astros took a 3-1 lead after Castro hit a ground rule double and J.D. Martinez drove him in with a single in the fifth. NOTES: Cardinals C Cruz got his third start in the past four games in place of All-Star catcher and league-leading batter Yadier Molina, who is nursing a sore right knee. Hes gone 3 of 9 in that span. ... Molina struck out as a pinch hitter in the seventh. ... Wallace, former first-round pick of the Cardinals, is 7 for 18 with five RBIs and four runs in four games this season against St. Louis. . Porter said after the game the Astros will call up one of their top prospects, 23-year-old right-hander Jarred Cosart, to make his major league debut Friday at Tampa Bay. Dallas Keuchel will be pushed to Saturday with Erik Bedard starting on Sunday. . The Astros have lost 13 of their past 15 games against their former NL Central division rivals. Air Max Plus Nz Cheap .S. -- Nikolaj Ehlers registered a hat trick for the third straight game and Jonathan Drouin had a goal and five assists as the Halifax Mooseheads hammered the host Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 10-1 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Cheap Air Max Plus . The native of Mont-Tremblant, Que., captured a World Cup downhill event Saturday, his second this year and fifth career victory on the circuit. http://www.discountairmaxplusnz.com/ . Perez, 35, posted a 1-2 record with a 3.69 earned-run average in 19 relief appearances last season. His season ended Aug. 9 due to a torn ligament in his left elbow. Perez joins infielder Andy LaRoche and catcher Mike Nickeas with minor-league agreements for 2014 that include invitations to attend spring training. Nike Air Max Plus Online . It says Pocklingtons lawyer filed the appeal Friday in a California court. CTV Edmonton also says Pocklington gave a $100,000 cash deposit as part of the conditions of his bail, and that he will be out on bail until his appeal is heard. Wholesale Air Max Plus . Isner, ranked No. 14, won his eighth career singles title and took the title in New Zealand for the second time after his victory in 2010. The match was similar to Isners quarterfinal victory over fifth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber which went to three sets, all tiebreaks and contained no breaks of serve. MILAN -- The long-awaited sale of AC Milan to Chinese investors could be completed next month.Sino-Europe Sports announced on Thursday that the closing of the deal is slated for Dec. 13, when Milan will hold a shareholders meeting.The deal with the Chinese group, which includes the participation of a Chinese state investment fund, values the club at 740 million euros (around $800 million), and requires the investors to spend 350 million euros over three years on improvementts.ddddddddddddSilvio Berlusconi owns 99.93 percent of the club, which he purchased 30 years ago. The three-time former premier and billionaire businessman has been negotiating for more than a year to sell the Serie A club.Coming three days before the Milan derby, the announcement appears intended to assure Milan supporters over the clubs future. ' ' '