HOUSTON -- Not even a ninth-inning home run that ended his bid at a first career shutout could ruin Martin Perezs day. Perez threw a four-hitter for his first career complete game, leading the Texas Rangers to their seventh straight victory, 6-1 over the Houston Astros on Sunday. "When I go to the mound I think, Im the best here, and I have the ball," Perez said. "I just want to throw. Thats what I did tonight. I took the ball and threw the pitch where (catcher Geovany Soto) called it." Perez (5-3) struck out a career-high eight while walking two in earning his second straight win. Perez has allowed four runs over his last 22 2-3 innings, spanning his last three starts. "He threw a lot of strikes out there today," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "Hes good at keeping the ball down. He has good mechanics. I think when he gets erratic its only because he tries to do too much. As long as he stays throwing the ball through the catcher and spots his fastball down in the zone the way hes capable of doing, hell be fine." Perez retired 15 of 17 batters from the third to the eighth, including nine in a row before Jake Elmores single with two outs in the eighth. "His fastball command was there. His changeup was there," Soto said. "He had a lot of early outs in the third, fourth, fifth innings. "I think he looks a little bit different. He has more conviction, more aggressiveness, more attack. I feel like hes doing that. Whenever he needs a strike leading off the inning or leading off an at-bat, he got a strike. He uses all his pitches real well and he used all his pitches well today." The left-hander gave a lot of credit to Soto. "He helped me out with pitches, and we have a good relationship," Perez said. "He called the pitches. I just threw it 100 per cent. Hes a good catcher and called a good game." Chris Carter ruined Perezs shutout bid with a home run with two outs in the ninth inning, but Perez said the home run didnt matter because the most important thing was the Rangers won. Alex Rios had two hits, drove in a run and scored twice in his second game with the Rangers, who have won 12 of their last 13 games. Adrian Beltre also had two hits. Dallas Keuchel (5-7) allowed six runs and eight hits with eight strikeouts in 8 2-3 innings. He was the second Astros starter to go into the ninth this season, as Bud Norris threw eight-plus innings May 8 against the Los Angeles Angels. "That was the best I felt all year," Keuchel said. "(Perez) was better than me today, and I didnt make pitches when I needed to." Keuchel set down the first 13 batters before Rios beat out a grounder to short with one out in the fifth for the Rangers first hit. Soto then put the Rangers ahead 1-0 with a ground-rule double to centre field. Rios laced a two-out double down the right-field line in the sixth to extend the lead to 2-0. Elvis Andrus reached on an error with one out and advanced to second on Beltres single before scoring on Rios double. Perez had his offence to thank for the opportunity to finish off the complete game, as he was told he would not be given a chance to finish it if the Rangers did not score at least two runs in the ninth. The offence plated four in the inning. Texas upped the lead to 5-0 in the ninth on Jurickson Profars based-loaded single with two outs, plating Rios and Jeff Baker. Craig Gentry came around to score on an errant thrown by L.J. Hoes, and Profar scored on Leonys Martins single to make it 6-0. Houston has lost five in a row and nine of the last 10 games. The Astros own the worst record in the majors at 37-79. "I think we were overly aggressive," Houston manager Bo Porter said. "It would have been a better idea to slow the game down and get the pace in your favour, but it felt like the more outs (Perez) recorded, the quicker our at-bats got." NOTES: Texas DH Lance Berkman went 2 for 3 with a home run and drove in two runs in his first rehab game Saturday night for the Rangers Triple-A affiliate, Round Rock. Berkman has been on the disabled list since July 7 with left hip inflammation. . Texas RHP Neftali Feliz was expected to throw Saturday for Round Rock but did not pitch as a precaution because of mild right arm triceps tendinitis. He will throw on flat ground Sunday and be re-evaluated. Feliz has been rehabbing from Tommy John surgery last year. . Texas sent SS Leury Garcia to the White Sox on Sunday to complete the trade for Rios. . Houston SS Jonathan Villar, who had not started the previous three games because of a left thumb sprain, did not start Sundays game, either. Porter said Villar was not in the lineup Sunday because the Rangers were starting a left-hander and the thumb bothers Villar more batting right, but Villar is expected to start Monday. Hydro Flask 16 Oz Coffee . The Lightning are 2-0 so far on a four-game road trip, giving the club five straight wins as the guest and improving Tampas away record this season to 11-8-2. Standard Mouth Sports Cap Hydro Flask . The Montreal Canadiens announced on Friday that the veteran forward will return to the teams line-up on Saturday night when the Habs visit the Nashville Predators. http://www.hydroflask32oz.com/water-bottle-straw-lid/40-oz.html . -- Brandon Jennings made the most of his first game with the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. Hydro Flask 18 Oz Wide Mouth . Supported by three-run homers from Jayson Werth and Wilson Ramos, the young right-hander went seven strong innings in the Washington Nationals 8-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night. Hydro Flask Coffee Sale .S. Open champion Justin Rose birdied the first hole with a blind shot he hit to a foot of the pin, and he stayed in front Tuesday until he completed a 4-under 67 for a two-shot lead over Jason Dufner in PGA Grand Slam of Golf.Andy Murray returns to action at Indian Wells, and Barry Cowan has answered five key questions about the ATP World Tour Masters event. The British No 1 could pave the way for another showdown with Novak Djokovic, but first he must negotiate a competitive field which includes Stan Wawrinka, Rafael Nadal and Kei Nishikori.Sky Sports expert Cowan discusses the big talking points at Indian Wells... Is Murray well prepared? Murray guided Britain to a Davis Cup win over Japan I think Andy Murrays leading role in Britains Davis Cup win over Japan is perfect preparation for Indian Wells. I must confess going into it, I thought the match with Kei Nishikori was 50-50, because Nishikori had won a title, while Andy had been away from playing competitively because of the birth of his first child.But for Andy to dig deep and be physically and mentally strong in that fifth set was extraordinary. That kind of match was the best thing for him, going into Indian Wells, because he needed a tough test ahead of a crucial period of the season. Murray did well on the clay last year, but hes a better hard court player and these next couple of tournaments are important. A kind draw for Murray? The world No 2 will face Marcel Granollers in his opening match Obviously now there is less importance on the draw than there was over a year ago, when he was ranked a little lower. It was always is he going to be in Djokovics half or isnt he? Hes always in the opposite half to Djokovic now and its favourable early on.Juan Martin Del Potro plays Tomas Berdych in the pick of the second round matches. Thats going to be a real test for both and will tell you where Del Potro is at and how Berdych is playing. There are a few questions marks about Tomas at the moment. I think these two tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami are great, because you can learn so much about a players form. Youve had the first major, generally some of them had a bit of a break, and these two events can set the tone for the next few weeks. Davis Cup concerns about Djokovic? Novak Djokovic was made to work for a win over Mikhail Kukushkin in Serbias Davis Cup victory Novak was taken to five sets in last weeks Davis Cup win over Mikhail Kukushkin, but it was simplly another match that Djokovic won.dddddddddddd It was the same thing when he came through a five-set match against Gilles Simon at the Australian Open. There was a feeling that Djokovic was vulnerable, but he is only vulnerable if he loses those matches. History says that if Djokovic comes through a match like that, then it makes him even stronger.Just like Andy, Novak will benefit from a challenging match ahead of the tournament. What is a realistic aim for Rafa? Rafael Nadals confidence was dented by two semi-final defeats on clay I thought last year that Rafa could get back to his very best, but what I witnessed in South America, where he suffered two semi-finals defeats on clay, was alarming. I think there is a player who is playing with fear, that is almost putting too much pressure on himself on his best surface. Hopefully we will see him play the sort of tennis that he played at the end of the last year, which was very, very good. Barry Cowan on Rafael Nadal If you look last year, I think he played better on quicker surfaces where it forces him to be aggressive. He knows there is no compromise. He has to stand on the baseline to return serve and Indian Wells makes you do that. Hopefully we will see him play the sort of tennis that he played at the end of the last year, which was very, very good. Who else can challenge for the title? Stan Wawrinka won a recent hard court tournament in Dubai Stan Wawrinka has always performed poorly at this time of the year, but Ive got a feeling that he will do well. Nishikori is another player who has really struggled here, because there are totally different conditions, and the ball gets up high and is more difficult to control for the smaller players like Kei.But these conditions will certainly favour the big-serving players such as Milos Raonic, John Isner and Nick Kyrgios. Those types of players will become very dangerous. Watch Andy Murrays match against Marcel Granollers as part of tonights live coverage from Indian Wells, which starts at 7.15pm on Sky Sports 3. 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