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HOUSTON -- In what has already become another tough season, the Houston Astros have had little reason to celebrate. That changed on Monday when Brandon Barnes gave the American Leagues worst team plenty to smile about. Barnes hit a last at-bat, two-out RBI ground-rule double in the 12th inning to lift the Astros to a 3-2 win over the Colorado Rockies in interleague play. Matt Dominguez singled off former Astro Wilton Lopez (1-2) to start the inning. He was replaced by pinch-runner Ronny Cedeno and he advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. The Rockies intentionally walked Jose Altuve with two outs before Barnes connected on a double which sailed into the corner of right field to score Cedeno and give Houston the win. "It was probably the best time Ive had on a baseball field," said Barnes, who entered the game an inning earlier as a pinch-runner. "It was true joy, true emotion. It was awesome. It was a blast." Paul Clemens (2-2) struck out two in a scoreless 12th for the win. It was the first time Houston had won on a last at-bat this season. Manager Bo Porter hopes it will give his team, which was coming off a three-game sweep by the Athletics, something to build on. "I think these kind of wins are definitely something that can catapult you forward from just an energy standpoint," he said. "Finding a way as a team and to come out on top, that momentum can carry over." Carlos Gonzalez drove in a run with a double in the first, and Jonathan Herrera made it 2-0 with a sacrifice bunt in the fourth. Carlos Pena hit a two-run double for Houston to tie it at 2 in the fourth. The Astros loaded the bases with two outs in the 11th, but Jimmy Paredes flew out to end the inning. Wilin Rosario singled to start the 10th, went to second on a sacrifice bunt and third on a fly out. Houston intentionally walked pinch-hitter Michael Cuddyer and Travis Blackley struck out pinch-hitter D.J. LeMahieu to end the threat. The Rockies had several opportunities to put the game away, but came up empty again and again, stranding 15 batters. "Its difficult to win that way, when you leave over 10 runners on base and not being able to get the big hit," Gonzalez said. "Its frustrating." Houston starter Bud Norris yielded eight hits and two runs in seven innings. Jhoulys Chacin pitched seven-plus innings for the Rockies, allowing five hits and two runs with a season-high nine strikeouts. It was the most strikeouts this season by a Colorado pitcher, and came against a team which leads the majors with 494 this season. Eric Young hit a leadoff double, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and made it 1-0 on a double by Gonzalez. Colorado loaded the bases with no outs in the third. But Norris was able to escape the jam by retiring Troy Tulowitzki before Rosario grounded into a force out that left Young out at home and he retired Jordan Pacheco. Nolan Arenado doubled in the fourth and reached third on a sacrifice bunt. Colorado pushed the lead to 2-0 when he scored on a sacrifice bunt by Herrera. Chacin sailed through the first three innings and struck out the side in the second. Houston didnt get a hit until Jose Altuve singled with one out in the fourth. Altuve stole second base before Jason Castro walked in the fourth. Chacin struck out J.D. Martinez, but Altuve stole third base on the play. Penas double sent Altuve and Castro home and tied it at 2-all. Norris ran into trouble again in the fifth when he walked Fowler to start the inning. Tulowitzki singled to send Fowler to third before a wild pitch allowed Tulowitzki to advance to second. The Rockies came away empty-handed when Norris struck out Rosario before a groundout by Pacheco ended the inning. Norris allowed the leadoff hitter to get on base for the fifth time in seven innings when he allowed a single to Young to start the seventh. Fowler followed with a walk, but just as he had several time before, he worked out of the jam, this time by sitting down the next three Rockies. "He was absolutely fantastic today," Porter said of Norris. "Early in the game when he got into the bases-loaded jam, I just felt like he really did a great job of understanding who was in the batters box and how he was going to attack them. He kept his composure and just made quality pitch after quality pitch." NOTES: Martinez tied a single-game franchise record by striking out five times. ... Houston optioned OF Robbie Grossman to Triple-A Oklahoma City after the game. The team said they would make a corresponding move on Tuesday. ... This two-game series wraps up on Tuesday when Colorado left-hander Jorge De La Rosa faces Jordan Lyles. De La Rosa is 4-0 with a 2.31 ERA this month. ... Cuddyer was out of the lineup a day after bruising his right forearm after getting hit by a pitch, but pinch-hit in the 10th inning. ... The ceremonial first pitch was thrown out by 90-year-old WWII veteran Pat Duncan, who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor. Los Angeles Dodgers Gear . Marincin has played in two NHL games so far this season with two penalty minutes. The 21-year-old has three goals, four assists and a plus-5 rating in 24 games with the American Hockey Leagues Oklahoma City Barons this season. Shawn Green Jersey . James, who turned 29 on Monday, injured his groin Friday during the Heats overtime loss at Sacramento. He sat out the following game, a 108-107 win Saturday in Portland, before coming back to help send the Nuggets to their seventh consecutive loss. https://www.cheapdodgersonline.com/145h-a-j-pollock-jersey-dodgers.html . However, he did make them miss him a little less. Cundiff, who had the unenviable job of replacing Dawson last season, agreed Thursday to a one-year, $1. Dodgers Jerseys 2020 . -- Claudio Bieler hadnt scored since early September, and not from the run of play since mid-July. Austin Barnes Jersey . Now, correct me if Im wrong but I saw one official distinctly pointing at the net indicating a good goal but after an inconclusive review they overturned the goal. Shouldnt the ruling on the ice (good goal) stand after an inconclusive review? Why was this overturned? James Veaudry Pembroke, ON -- Hey Kerry, Youll get a lot of these, but why was the Montreal goal against Nashville Saturday night overturned? Eller puts the puck on net and the on ice ruling from the ref behind the net is a Montreal goal. Dale Earnhardt Jr., your work is done.Long ago, you escaped the enormous shadow of your father.Lately, youve ensured an important legacy all your own by raising a caution flag on head injuries in NASCAR.Now, its time to seriously consider walking away.For good.Earnhardt is already sitting out the rest of 2016 to deal with the lingering effects of yet another concussion, but he made it clear that he hopes to be back behind the wheel next February for the season-opening Daytona 500.My heart is there to continue, he said Sunday at Darlington Raceway. And if my doctor says that Im physically able to continue, then thats an easier decision for me to make. Its not something that I think about. Were trying to focus on just getting well and getting normal.Theres no doubt that NASCAR will be rooting for his recovery, given the sports dwindling television ratings and ever-increasing number of empty seats at the tracks.Earnhardt remains the sports most popular driver, and to have him walk away would be a huge blow given the reluctance of the fan base to embrace a new generation of stars.But Junior cant worry about any of that.Hes got bigger issues to consider.Earnhardt should give a hard look at all those former giants of the NFL whose brains were addled by one brutal hit after another, who died far too young or lived out their years in the cruel isolation of dementia.No one knows for sure what another hard crash would do to Earnhardts brain.He might be fine. He might not be.There are different levels of concussion. There are individual differences. The age the concussion occurs plays a part, said Dr. Katherine Dec, a professor at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine who specializes in sports-related concussions.Wed all love to have an easy answer, she added. Thats what everyone wants to know, something that makes the decision kind of black and white. But the brain is a miraculous thing. There are still a lot of things we dont know.We know that Earnhardt, at the very least, had two concussions about six weeks apart in 2012, which was the wakeup call that everyone in NASCAR needed to address an issue that had long been swept under the rug. Junior sat out two races that year and sought out concussion experts to get the lowdown on potential problems down the road.He became the most vocal advocate for brain safety, prompting NASCAR to mandate that all national series drivers undergo preseason neurocognitive baseline testing as part of a comprehensive concussion program. He also joined a growing list of aathletes by saying he would donate his brain to science after his death, so it can be studied for signs of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.ddddddddddddThat will go down as Earnhardts most lasting impact on the sport, far more important than his two Daytona 500 victories or those other 24 career wins, or even the impressive feat of making a name for himself in a sport still dominated by the towering presence of his late father, a seven-time Cup champion.Junior certainly sent the right message again when he stepped out of the car after another hard crash at Michigan this summer. He actually managed to compete in the next three races before the concussion symptoms cropped up again. He had missed six races before announcing Friday he was done for the year, meaning hell miss the final 18 events of 2016.Dr. Raj K. Narayan, the head of neurosurgery at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, New York, and LIJ Medical Center in New Hyde Park, New York, said its impossible for those on the outside to know exactly what Earnhardt is going through.But there are some common-sense aspects that should be taken into account when dealing with any head injury.The science has not gotten to the point yet where we can accurately qualify the amount of brain damage that already occurred, except to say that the more times you get injured and the more injuries you have, it makes total sense that it is likely to affect you more, he said. I think its quite clear that repeated, multiple injuries increase your risk of becoming demented with the passage of time.Of course, it was probably a lot easier for Earnhardt to make peace with sitting out the rest of the year than it would be for him to call it a career, given his potential -- if healthy -- to race at a high level for several more seasons. He had three victories in 2015, four the previous year. While Earnhardt has never won a season championship, hes been a perennial Chase contender.Lets just hope when Earnhardt sits down with his doctors, when he talks this over with his family and closest friends, he errs on the side of caution.Hes already done so much for the sport.Hes certainly made his daddy proud.He deserves to live a long, healthy life.---Paul Newberry is a national writer for The Associated Press. Write to him at pnewberry(at)ap.org or at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry . ' ' '