OAKLAND, Calif. -- Houston Astros right-hander Collin McHugh said he doesnt spend much time thinking about his pitching history, but maybe he should make an exception going into his start against the Oakland As on Wednesday afternoon.McHugh is 5-1 with a 3.00 ERA in eight career starts against Oakland. Then there is his history of September success. McHugh is 10-0 with a 3.08 ERA in his past 12 September starts since 2014 as an Astro. This season, he is 2-0 with a 3.31 ERA in September.McHugh (11-10, 4.66 ERA) is 1-0 with a 3.63 ERA in three starts against the As this year, beating them in his most recent meeting on Aug. 30 in Houston. He threw six shutout innings with five strikeouts and one walk in six innings during a 3-1 victory.I cant think too far back, McHugh said Tuesday. I know I faced them a few weeks back, three or four starts ago, threw the ball pretty well against them. But its a good lineup. Any lineup you face in the major leagues is a major league lineup.Even at this point in the season, even with the guys that theyre bringing up, whether youre in contention or not, every guy here is a major-leaguer, and any teams capable of beating any team on any given day. Thats the beauty of baseball.The Astros won the first two games in the series and will go for the sweep Wednesday. After beating the As 2-1 in 10 innings on Tuesday night, Houston moved to within two games of the Baltimore Orioles for the American Leagues second wild-card spot.McHugh, who has a four-game winning streak, is coming off of one of his best starts of the season. He held the Seattle Mariners scoreless on two hits over seven innings Friday in a 6-0 victory. He struck out six and walked two.I felt good, McHugh said. Command-wise, I probably felt as sharp as Ive felt all season the last month or so.As rookie right-hander Daniel Mengden (2-7, 5.68 ERA) will make his 13th start of the season and is coming off arguably his best outing of the year. He blanked the Kansas City Royals on a season-low three hits over seven innings Thursday in a 14-5 victory. Mengden struck out six and didnt walk a batter for the first time this season. Before that start, he had allowed two or more runs every outing.Thats been one of my biggest flaws since Ive been up here, the amount of walks Ive had, Mengden said. If you look at my stats in the minor leagues, my walks have been good compared to strikeouts. When I got up here, I think thats where I got into most of my trouble.Free passes are the worst. Theyll kill you as a pitcher. Im just trying to throw strikes. Getting ahead is the biggest thing.As manager Bob Melvin said Mengden attacked hitters at Kansas City.It was just pounding the strike zone, Melvin said. I think hed been getting behind in counts, maybe picking a little too much at the corners as opposed to throwing the ball over the plate and getting ahead. And he did that really effectively, so hopefully the confidence goes into his next start because I think he understands when he throws the ball over the plate, hes got a good chance to get hitters out and stay in the game a little bit longer.For a while there, he was getting behind and throwing a lot of pitches. They were making him work pretty hard and he was coming out of games early, (but) I think he got past that in his last outing.Custom Dallas Stars Jerseys . General manager Jarmo Kekalainen told Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch on Friday that he wants to see Gaboriks contributions go beyond the scoresheet before considering a long-term deal for the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent. Dallas Stars Pro Shop . 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The Northern Irishman arrived at the course on Wednesday hoping to start, but after hitting a few balls on the practice putting green Clarke advised officials he was not fit to play.SAINTE-MARIE-DU-MONT, France -- Minutes after pulling on the yellow jersey for the first time in his award-filled career, Mark Cavendish walked over to the Utah Beach Peace Monument and placed a white rose to commemorate the Allied landings in Normandy that took place there more than 70 years ago.It was a memorable moment that crowned a day full of emotions for the British cyclist, who won a sprint at the end of the crash-affected opening stage of the Tour de France and took the overall lead on Saturday.It was Cavendishs 27th stage win in the French classic -- third on the all-time list behind Eddy Merckx (34) and Bernard Hinault (28) -- but he had never won the opening leg, which is often a time trial.Cavendish has already worn the leaders jerseys at the Giro dItalia and the Spanish Vuelta.Its going be a special day tomorrow to ride a stage in yellow, Cavendish said. There was no better place to achieve this than Utah Beach where soldiers died for us.Its an incredible opportunity to remember and respect not just those that fought and died on D-Day but fought and died across all the wars and brought freedom to the Western world, he added.After the stage, Cavendish joined a specially invited group of American, Canadian, French, Belgian and German riders for a ceremony at the Peace Monument.German rival Marcel Kittel and Slovakian Peter Sagan finished second and third, respectively, in the 188-kilometer (117-mile) picturesque stage, which began at Mont-Saint-Michel, a World Heritage Benedictine abbey perched on a rock off the Normandy coast.Two years ago, Cavendish was the overwhelming favorite to win the opening stage and take yellow when the Tour opened on his home roads in England. But he crashed during the sprint, separated his right shoulder, and had to withdraw from the race.Once dominant, Cavendish has also struggled to keep up with rivals like Kittel and Andre Greipel in recent years. The 31-year-old joined South African team Dimension Data for this season after shoulder surgery in September.Ever since 2008 its been the end of me. I guess thats just how it is -- something to talk about, Cavendish said. I would stay home if I didnt think I could win.Cavendish was behind Sagan and Kittel entering the final 150 meters, but Kittel went around Sagan on the left and Cavendish slipped by on the right and easily surged in front.ddddddddddddPushed by a strong tail wind of up to 70 kph (43 mph), the leaders required slightly more than four hours to reach the finish.Two-time Tour winner Alberto Contador crashed midway through the stage and several riders were involved in an ugly high-speed crash on the final straight.Contador hit a traffic curb while coming around a right turn. The Spaniard came away with some serious abrasions and had his jersey ripped on his back and right shoulder, but he was quickly helped back to the peloton by his Tinkoff teammates.Im bruised all down along my right side from my ankle up but at least I dont have to go home, Contador said. Hopefully I can get through the coming days and recover before the mountains.Defending champion Chris Froome and the other overall favorites finished safely in the main pack.In the overall standings, Cavendish leads Kittel by four seconds with Sagan six seconds behind, courtesy of time bonuses.Cavendish has won virtually everything there is to win for a sprinter in cycling, including gold medals at both the road world championships and the track worlds.Cav, as he is known, will be aiming to tick off one final box when he aims for gold on the track at the upcoming Rio de Janeiro Olympics.The opening-day route also passed through Sainte-Mere-Eglise, where American paratrooper John Steele dangled from a clock tower after his parachute got caught during the invasion, and survived. The town is now home to the Airborne Museum.The stage included two mild Category 4 climbs in the opening 40 kilometers (25 miles), but was otherwise a mostly flat and rolling route along the English Channel coast.The Tour remains in Normandy for Stage 2 on Sunday, a slightly more challenging 183-kilometer (114-mile) leg from Saint-Lo to Cherbourg-En-Cotentin---AP Sports Writer Samuel Petrequin contributed to this report.---Andrew Dampf on Twitter: www.twitter.com/asdampf ' ' '