HOUSTON -- Lance McCullers isnt reveling in his success after two straight 10-strikeout games.Houstons 22-year-old starter remains focused on improving.Its a good two starts, but tomorrow its back to what I can do to try to help the team win against Toronto the following week, he said. So thats all Im really thinking about right now.McCullers fanned 10 in six solid innings, Colby Rasmus broke out of a slump with a two-run homer and the Astros beat the New York Yankees 4-1 on Wednesday night.McCullers (6-4) allowed five hits and one run and his 10 strikeouts tied a season high.All in all hes becoming a little more of a complete pitcher the more that he utilizes all his weapons, manager A.J. Hinch said.He kept the Yankees off-balance by throwing almost as many curveballs as fastballs, but to Brian McCann it seemed like more than that.Hes got one of the better curveballs youre going to see and out of 90 pitches it seemed like he threw 89 of them, McCann said. He has a great arm and a really good curveball.Rasmus snapped an 0-for-29 skid when he sent an off-speed pitch from Masahiro Tanaka (7-3) into the seats behind the bullpen in right-center field to make it 4-0 with one out in the third.He said he hasnt felt right most of this month after getting an ear infection early in July.My ear had a little bit to do with it, kind of got me down those few days there to get my balance off and what not, he said. I was trying to play through it and suck it up. I got that kind of tamed now ... so Im hoping that can get me on a good roll and I can help this team win some ball games.Ken Giles and Luke Gregerson pitched a scoreless inning each before Will Harris got his 11th save by striking out two in the ninth.Tanaka, who entered the game with a 1.50 ERA in nine road starts, allowed seven hits and four runs in five innings for the loss. He had thrown 12 1/3 straight scoreless innings on the road before an RBI single by Carlos Gomez with one out in the first inning.He had the one bad inning. He left the (splitter) up, he left a couple pitches up that inning, manager Joe Girardi said. They made him work. He had a real easy first inning and then after that they really made him work. The one inning really did him in.Marwin Gonzalez extended his hitting streak to a career-high 11 games with a single to start the third. He advanced to second on a groundout and took third on a wild pitch. A single by Carlos Correa came next to score Gonzalez and push the lead to 2-0.Rasmus then collected his first hit since July 5, when he also homered and drove in two runs, on his 12th homer this season.McCann cut the lead to 4-1 when he led off the fourth inning with a home run to center field.Didi Gregorius singled with one out before McCullers walked Starlin Castro. But McCullers ended the threat by striking out the next two batters to end the inning.McCullers then struck out the side in the fifth to make it five in a row.McCanns homer was the highlight of the night for the Yankees, who managed just four other hits, which were all singles, and struck out a season-high 15 times.TRAINERS ROOMAstros: Houston 3B Luis Valbuena was out of the lineup after leaving Tuesdays game in the second inning with a strained right hamstring. Hinch said he was feeling better on Wednesday and was confident that he would avoid a trip to the disabled list. ... Gomez left the game before the third inning with a strained right hamstring, but said after the game that he didnt think it was serious.UP NEXTYankees: New York has a day off Thursday before opening a three-game series at Tampa Bay with Ivan Nova (7-5, 4.65) on the mound.Astros: Houston is off on Thursday before Collin McHugh (7-6, 4.18) starts in the opener of a three-game series at Detroit. 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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. Phillip Lindsay Broncos Jersey . A statement from the worlds top-ranked player says all checks "were satisfactory and showed positive evolution" regarding the injury, which contributed to his loss to Stanislas Wawrinka in the final in Melbourne. MONTREAL -- The NHL-leading Montreal Canadiens are once again streaking. Only this time, its in the opposite direction.After matching or setting franchise -- and league -- records en route to a 13-1-1 start, the Canadiens are now 0-2-1 in their past three games after falling to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night in Raleigh. Now theyll head home to face a Toronto Maple Leafs squad on a roll, rested and waiting in Montreal.Its the second meeting in three weeks for the historic rivals, and the final on at the Bell Centre. The teams last squared off on Oct. 29 in Montreal, with the Canadiens skating away with a 2-1 victory.The Canadiens gave up three goals in six minutes in the third period against Carolina to see a 1-0 lead become a 3-1 deficit. It marked the third straight game of at least three goals allowed for Montreal and while they connected three times of their own in Tuesdays overtime loss to Florida, theyve only scored three goals total in their two other losses.I think the effort was there, Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said after the loss to the Hurricanes. You need puck luck and we dont have the puck luck lately.If theres been one bright spot during Montreals recent slide, its the play of defenseman Andrei Markov. The 16-year NHL veteran picked up a pair of assists against the Hurricanes to extend his point streak to seven games and moving him into a tie with Yvan Cournoyer for seventh place on the Canadiens all-time assists list.Carey Price, who made 37 saves in their last meeting with Toronto, will get the start in goal on Saturday but Therrien didnt confirm any other potential line-up changes. Rookie Charles Hudon, called up from the AHL on Thursday, replaced Sven Andrighetto. He could earn another go after picking up an assist and leaving an impression oon his coach.dddddddddddd.Well see, but he played really well, Therrien said. He played well for a first game, I thought he created offensively, really responsible on the ice. I thought the kid competed really well. Im pleased with his effort.For the Maple Leafs, November has been much kinder than October was. After posting a 2-4-3 record in the opening month of the season, Toronto has won six of its eight games so far this month. And not only has Mike Babcocks group been winning, its been doing so with plenty of offense of late; Toronto has scored at least six goals in each of their most recent four wins.The young Leafs have made headlines for their offensive efforts and while the likes of Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews and William Nylander have generated most of the buzz, rookie Connor Brown added his name to the conversation on Thursday night. Brown became the fifth Maple Leafs player to record a four-point night with two goals and a pair of assists in a 6-1 win over the Panthers.Im slowly getting more comfortable with the puck and more comfortable making plays, Brown told TSN after the game. Offensively it was a bit of a slow start but I feel good defensively and I feel like Im in the right spots.While the offense has been rolling, its been doing so without much help from the power play. Toronto has scored just three times on 19 opportunities with the man advantage and has been held off the scoresheet in four of the past five games.Opponents arent scoring much on power plays either against the Leafs, who have allowed just three goals on the penalty kill and have denied the opposition of any power play tallies in six of eight games this month. ' ' '