run away from this because of personal reasons, Thomas added. Its gotten to a point where it doesnt make any sense. Its time.Thomas said that there are a trio of legacy schools with

HOUSTON -- The Houston Astros dont have enough time for their bats to go quiet like they did Thursday night.Albert Pujols hit a two-run homer in the first inning and Ricky Nolasco pitched seven solid innings, helping the Los Angeles Angels hinder the Astros wild-card hopes with a 2-0 victory.The Angels ended an 11-game skid and pushed Houston 1 1/2 game behind the Tigers for the second AL wild card.Were not perfect, Houston manager A.J. Hinch said. I dont know if anybody is going to run the table, and I think losses anytime of the year hurt. These obviously hurt when youre glued to whats going on.Pujols homered into the Crawford Boxes in left field, helping Los Angeles move to 2-11 against the Astros this season.Its nice to win, Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia said. We have played some tough games. Those guys have had our number. Theyre a tough team. They have played well against us, but we are going to keep playing hard.Nolasco (7-14) gave up five singles and struck out five. He did not allow a baserunner past second. Nolasco had a second straight scoreless start after throwing six shutout innings Saturday against Toronto.I was spinning the ball pretty good, Nolasco said. I thought I was feeling the strike zone for the most part. I was challenging with fastballs when I had to. I was pitching off some good breaking balls to keep them off balanced.JC Ramirez pitched the eighth before Andrew Bailey pitched the ninth for his fifth save.Mike Fiers (11-8) allowed two runs and four hits with a season-high nine strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.We knew in April losing to any team in our division was a big loss, Fiers said. Obviously coming down here in September it seems bigger but its one game.The right-hander retired 13 straight at one point. Fiers had his second straight strong outing after throwing six scoreless innings Saturday in Seattle.Just came out of the gate slow and made too many mistakes in the first inning, Fiers said. Pujols capitalized on a first-pitch fastball and after that I settled in and got my pitches working and kept them off-balance for the most part.Jose Altuve had three hits for Houston, which grounded into three double plays.We couldnt piece an inning together where we had multiple hits in a row or multiple baserunners, Hinch said. There was always something in the way either too late after a couple outs or starting something up with two outs and then them making a big pitch at the right time.TRAINERS ROOMAngels: LHP Tyler Skaggs (left forearm tightness) played catch and will throw some bullpens in the coming week. Hes symptom free, but we are going to obviously be very conservative where his treatment is now to make sure that this doesnt re-occur or turn into anything bigger, Scioscia said. Right now he feels great.Astros: RHP Lance McCullers, who has been out since Aug. 2 with a mild right elbow strain, threw a full bullpen Thursday. McCullers was pain free and will have another bullpen in a few days.BROWN RETIRESHouston Astros TV play-by-play announcer Bill Brown will retire this month. The 69-year-old Browns final scheduled broadcast will be the last regular season home game, Sept. 28 against the Mariners. Brown started with the Astros in 1987 and has called games for them for nearly 30 years.PUJOLS MOVING UP THE CHARTSPujols two RBI broke a tie with Frank Robinson for 20th on the career list. His 116 RBI this season are his most since driving in 118 in 2010. The home run was Pujols 53rd against the Astros.UP NEXTAngels: RHP Alex Meyer (1-3, 5.63) will make his fifth start of the season and fourth for the Angels on Friday. Meyer earned his first career win in his last start Sunday, tossing five shutout innings against Toronto.Astros: RHP Doug Fister (12-12, 4.45) will make his 31st start of the season Friday, looking to snap a four-game losing streak. Fister allowed seven runs in less than four innings Sunday at Seattle. Wholesale NFL Jerseys . Thats not a comment on the suspension that banished the Portland Winterhawks general manager and coach from his Western Hockey League teams bench for most of the 2012-13 season. Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys . In the lead up - which seemed to begin the moment Mike Geiger blew the whistle in Houston last Thursday night - the Impact rumour mill went into overdrive. The speculation went into meltdown mode, of the golden nugget variety. http://www.cheapjerseysali.com/ . "Four now," Carl Gunnarsson told the Leaf Report proudly following a 5-2 victory over New York on Tuesday night, the clubs fifth straight at home. NFL Jerseys China .ca! Hi Kerry, Heres an interesting one. I know its common knowledge that all players are responsible for their sticks. We witnessed that when Zack Kassian hit Edmontons Sam Gagner in the face after a missed check. Former Indiana?star Isiah Thomas told ESPN he was just having fun when he held up a Crying Jordan sign in front of the student section at Assembly Hall during the No. 13 Hoosiers 76-67 win against No. 3 North Carolina on Wednesday night.There were two girls sitting behind me, two IU students, and one of them handed it to me, Thomas said. I knew the crowd would go crazy -- and they did when I held it up.Thomas and Jordan have had their friction during the course of their NBA careers, but Thomas described their relationship as friendly.I love just being a fan, he added. It was fun.Thomas, who was on hand for Indianas 1981 national championship team that was honored Wednesday, also said he is hopeful that former Hoosiers coach Bob Knight will return to Bloomington at some point.Knight, 76, did not return for the anniversary of the 1976 team last season and was not in attendance Wednesday when the 1981 group was honored at halftime. Knight was fired after 29 years at the school in 2000 and has declined numerous requests to return to Bloomington.I didnt talk too him about coming last night, but Ive reached out to him in the past about it, Thomas said.dddddddddddd I think he needs to come back and the reason I say that is because he was always -- and still is big on standing up for yourself and taking responsibility, walking the walk and talking to talk. We all came to IU because of Bob Knight.Im not going to let him run away from this because of personal reasons, Thomas added. Its gotten to a point where it doesnt make any sense. Its time.Thomas said that there are a trio of legacy schools with coaches that are a foundation of the programs: John Wooden with UCLA, Dean Smith at North Carolina and Bob Knight at Indiana.Hes denying us the luxury to talk about him at our school in that manner, Thomas said. Thats not fair to us, its not fair to the students at IU. He is loved in Indiana; he is loved in Bloomington. No matter where he lives or goes, his home will always be in Bloomington. Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jersyes Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '