HOUSTON -- The Houston Astros got another good outing from their starting pitcher, and their bullpen was just fine for a change. J.D. Martinez hit a two-run homer off James Shields, Jordan Lyles pitched six effective innings and the Astros beat the Kansas City Royals 3-1 on Wednesday night. Lyles (2-1) allowed one run and six hits in his 50th career game. Travis Blackley and Hector Ambriz each got three outs before Jose Veras pitched a perfect ninth for his eighth save one night after the bullpen struggled in a 7-3 loss. "Theyve been taxed a lot this year and called upon on numerous occasions, so every once in a while youre going to have the kind of game that we had last night," manager Bo Porter said. "But again, it speaks to the character of the men down there. They hold themselves accountable to holding a lead, and tonight they did a tremendous job. All of them." Bud Norris pitched six shutout innings Tuesday, but the Royals scored seven times in the final three innings. Houston bounced back quite nicely to take two of three for its fourth series win this season. Shields (2-5) struck out seven in seven innings while yielding two runs and seven hits. He has gone seven or more innings in each of his last six starts, but hasnt won since April 30 due in part to his offence providing him with just five runs combined in his last four starts. "Its a little frustrating," manager Ned Yost said. "Especially when James Shields goes out and gives you the type of performance he gives you about every time he goes out. We just have not done a good job with run support with him at all." Shields is confident it will turn around soon. "These guys are great. They are grinding every day," Shields said. "We are going through a little struggle right now. Our heads are high, and we are staying positive. It is a long season. By no means are we out of it." The right-hander, who was acquired in an off-season trade with Tampa Bay, retired his first two batters before running into trouble. Jason Castro singled before Martinez drove a 2-2 pitch into the seats in right for his fourth homer. "We were able to get him right away, first inning which is huge and it gives Lyles a little bit of comfort as well," Martinez said. "Pitchers like that ... good guys, youve got to get them early before they settle in." Castro tacked on an RBI single in the eighth inning against Kelvin Herrera. Houstons Jimmy Paredes got his first start of the season at third base in place of Matt Dominguez, who sat out with tightness in his left quadriceps. Paredes has struggled in the outfield in the last few games, causing two collisions, but was solid at third. Alcides Escobar smoked a grounder to Paredes with one out in the eighth, and he made a perfect throw to first to get him out. "I dont know how hard he threw that ball across the diamond, but I would love to put a clock on it though," Porter said of the play. "He almost mishandled it and he got control of it and it was absolutely whistled across the diamond. He looked comfortable over there." Kansas City got its only run in the third when Jeff Francoeur hit a leadoff triple to the hill in centre and George Kottaras followed with an RBI double. Alex Gordon walked with two down, but Lyles struck out Billy Butler to end the inning. Lyles also got Gordon to bounce out with two runners on to end the fifth. Castro, the catcher, was impressed with Lyles work. "Thats the best Ive seen him throw in a long time," Castro said. "He had command, didnt miss. When we were trying to go certain locations, he missed where we were trying to go. He didnt leave really anything over the plate for guys to hit and thats big when you can do that." After their two-run first inning, the Astros had trouble stringing together hits against Shields. Martinez singled to start the fourth, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. Chris Carter followed with a single, and Shields retired the next two batters to end the inning. Gordon singled in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. NOTES: Houston is off on Thursday. ... The Royals return home to open a four-game series with the Angels. ... Kansas City C Salvador Perez was out of the lineup for the second straight game after bruising his right hip after crashing into the railing chasing a foul ball on Monday. He said he has a gigantic bruise on his hip, but is OK and that he could have played on Tuesday. He is day to day. ... Dominguez is expected to be back in the lineup on Friday. 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Duchene scored two goals and had an assist, helping the Colorado Avalanche beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 on Friday night to match the best 10-game start in team history. BARCELONA, Spain -- Barcelona defeated Borussia Moenchengladbach 4-0 to match the 20-goal scoring record in the group stage of the Champions League, but Lionel Messi fell short of equaling Cristiano Ronaldos 11-goal mark in the first phase of the tournament.Messis 10th goal and Arda Turans hat trick helped Barcelona reach the 20 goals in this seasons group stage, a feat achieved only three other times in the past, including by the Catalan club in 2011-12.Real Madrid did it in 2013-14 and Manchester United in 1998-99. Borussia Dortmund needs one goal in its game against Madrid on Wednesday in Spain to match the record.All Group C positions had already been decided ahead of Tuesdays final round. Barcelona finished with 15 points, six more than Manchester City, which drew 1-1 with Celtic in England. Moenchengladbach ended third with five points, two more than winless Celtic.The team played well the entire match, Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said. The players were quick and precise. I congratulate them.Messi scored in the 16th minute at Camp Nou after a one-two with Turan inside the Moenchengladbach area. The Argentine slid behind the defenders and fired home a low left-foot shot after receiving Turans return pass.Messi had a great chance to match Ronaldos record in the 73rd, but his close-range header was brilliantly saved on the line by goalkeeper Yann Sommer.Turan scored in the 50th, 53rd and 67th minutes to help the Catalan club endd a three-game winless streak.dddddddddddd It conceded a 90th-minute equalizer in a 1-1 home draw against Real Madrid in the Spanish league on Saturday.According to UEFAs statistics, Barcelona made a whopping 1,022 passing attempts on Tuesday, completing 939 of them.Barcelona were very Barcelona-esque, Moenchengladbach coach Andre Schubert said. We had too much respect for them and didnt play with enough courage.Barcelona was without forward Neymar and midfielder Ivan Rakitic because of suspensions.Luis Enrique also rested striker Luis Suarez, giving a chance to recently signed forward Paco Alcacer, who has been criticized by Barcelona fans for his lackluster performances.Ronaldo scored 11 goals last year became the first player to reach double figures in the six games of the group stage. Messi played in only five matches for Barcelona this season, but he twice scored hat tricks -- in the home games against Celtic and Manchester City. He also netted once against City in Manchester and twice against Celtic in Glasgow.Ronaldo on Wednesday will try to become the first player to score 100 goals in European competitions. He is two short of the milestone heading into the game against Borussia Dortmund at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.Messi now has 93 goals overall in the Champions League, two less than Ronaldo. 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