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DENVER -- A different team and a new season has made all the difference for Jordan Lyles. Lyles pitched effectively into the ninth inning, Troy Tulowitzki homered twice, and the Colorado Rockies beat the Texas Rangers 8-2 on Monday night. Nolan Arenado also homered to extend his hitting streak to 25 games. It is the longest in the majors this season. Lyles (4-0) stole the spotlight from his teammates with another outstanding performance. He came to the Rockies from Houston in the off-season, where he had a career ERA of 5.35 in 72 games and 65 starts. After Mondays gem hes carrying a 2.62 ERA in seven starts, three of which have come at hitter-friendly Coors Field. "The biggest thing is making better pitches when guys are in scoring position. I dont know the numbers but I can figure I wasnt too good in the past," he said. "Thats the biggest key." He also got plenty of offensive support. Tulowitzki, who was named the NL Player of the Month for April before the game, had his first multi-homer game of the season and the ninth of his career. He hit a two-run shot off Texas starter Martin Perez in the fifth and hit another two-run homer off reliever Shawn Tolleson to give Colorado a 7-1 lead in the seventh. Both homers came after Drew Stubbs had doubled. Tulowitzki had a chance for a third home run when he came to bat in the eighth but he walked. "If there was a good pitch to hit I was definitely going to offer," Tulowitzki said. "You do think about three home runs but its not like I was trying to go deep, I was trying to put together a good at-bat." It was more than enough for Lyles (4-0), who came within three outs of the second complete game of his career. He had struggled in six previous starts against Texas but held the Rangers in check a night after they had 14 hits and nine walks in a 14-3 win over the Angels. He worked out of trouble in the third and the Rangers first run came on a ground out to shortstop in the sixth. Texas had runners on first and second in the eighth but Lyles got Josh Wilson to ground into the third double play of the night to end the inning. "He was not the same guy we faced last year," Texas catcher Robinson Chirinos said. "Today he was keeping the ball down and getting ground balls." Manager Walt Weiss sent him out for the start of the ninth but Lyles left to a standing ovation after giving up a leadoff single to Adrian Beltre. He allowed two runs on seven hits and struck out five in his longest outing since throwing a complete game against Milwaukee on Sept. 30, 2012. "He threw a heck of a game and it was a way to try to reward him for what hes done and show confidence in him for what hes done," Weiss said. "I told him it was going to be a short leash sending him out there." Perez (4-2) struggled for the second consecutive start after hurling 26 straight scoreless innings. He allowed five runs on seven hits over five innings. In his past two games he has been touched for 13 runs in 9 2-3 innings. "When he made a mistake out over the plate, they made him pay for it," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "Hes only human. Hes going to have some starts that dont go in his favour." Perez had not surrendered a home run for 46 innings dating back to last season when Arenado went deep on him in the second. After Carlos Gonzalez led off the second with a double to left, Arenado drilled a 93-mph fastball into the tunnel in left field to make it 2-0. It was Arenados sixth of the season and fourth during his streak. The hitting streak is the second-longest in Rockies history. Gonzalez made it 3-0 in the third when his ground out to first scored Brandon Barnes. Notes: Rockies manager Walt Weiss appealed an out call at first base in the second inning and the call was reversed upon review. ... Tulowitzki hit .364 with seven home runs and 22 RBIs in April. The only other time Tulowitzki won the NL Player of the Month award was September 2010. ... The Rockies selected the contract of RHP Nick Masset from Triple A and optioned INF Ryan Wheeler to Colorado Springs. ... Texas will send Robbie Ross Jr. (1-2, 3.86) against Colorados Juan Nicasio (3-1, 4.19) on Tuesday. Ross Stripling Dodgers Jersey . The Canadian Luge Association officially named seven athletes to the 2014 Olympic team Tuesday. Edney, will lead teenagers John Fennell and Mitchel Malyk into their first Games in mens singles. Tristan Walker and Justin Snith will represent Canada in doubles, while Gough, will be joined by Kimberley McRae in womens singles. Corey Seager Jersey . An in-person hearing allows for Garbutt to be suspended for five games or longer as per the leagues Collective Bargaining Agreement. Garbutt delivered a high hit to Penner in the second period of Sundays game. http://www.dodgerssale.com/dodgers-justin-turner-jersey/ . TSN 1290s Jordan Cieciwa, Big Marv and Toby are here to give their predictions on who will leave with the belt and who will take some of the other key bouts on the card. Johny Hendricks vs. Ross Stripling Jersey . -- Raiders wide receiver Jacoby Ford made it through a third straight practice without any setbacks and expects to play in Oaklands regular-season finale against San Diego. Kirk Gibson Jersey . Adam LaRoche will take that. "I like our position in the standings and I like how our team is playing," LaRoche said after Washington swept a day-night doubleheader from the Cubs on Saturday. The irrepressible Cristiano Ronaldo scored a dazzling hat trick to send Portugal into the 2014 World Cup finals at the expense of Zlatan Ibrahimovics Sweden on Tuesday, while France advanced by conjuring a remarkable turnaround against Ukraine. There was disappointment in the playoffs for Iceland, however, after the Nordic country failed in its bid to become the least populous nation to reach footballs biggest stage after losing to Croatia on a thrilling final night in European qualification. Ronaldo came out on top in his personal duel with fellow superstar Ibrahimovic, whose brace in Stockholm was upstaged by the Real Madrid forwards three brilliant goals in 29 second-half minutes. Portugal won 3-2 for a 4-2 aggregate victory. France overturned a 2-0 first-leg deficit to Ukraine by winning 3-0 in Paris, with strikes by Mamadou Sakho and Karim Benzema as well as an own goal ensuring Les Bleus qualified for a 10th consecutive major tournament. Iceland lost 2-0 to 10-man Croatia at Zabreb and was eliminated by the same score on aggregate, and Greece was the other European nation to make it to Brazil through the playoffs after drawing 1-1 in Romania to progress 4-2 overall. The list of African qualifiers was completed with Ghana advancing 7-3 on aggregate over Egypt despite a 2-1 loss in Cairo and Algeria progressing on away goals at the expense of Burkino Faso. Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Cameroon had already won their playoffs. Mexico qualified Wednesday after beating New Zealand 4-2 in the second leg of an inter-continental playoff, bringing an end to one of its most troubled and divisive qualifying campaigns. Striker Oribe Peralta followed his double in the opening leg with a hat trick at Wellington to send his team to Brazil with an aggregate score of 9-3 over the two matches. The final berth for the 32-team World Cup will be secured later Wednesday as Uruguay protects a 5-0 lead over Jordan. The draw for the group stage of the 2014 World Cup takes place in Bahia, Brazil, on Dec. 6. Spain endured a miserable return to the scene of its World Cup triumph in 2010, losing 1-0 to South Africa at FNB Stadium -- the venue formerly known as Soccer City -- in one of a host of international friendlies. A virtually second-string Germany team consigned fierce rival England to back-to-back losses at Wembley Stadium for the first time in 36 years by winning 1-0, and Netherlands played with 10 men for almost an hour but still drew 0-0 with Colombia. While France was engineering the greatest recovery of the playoffs, Ronaldo proved once again he is the man for the big occasion, continuing a prolific season in which he could yet wrestlee the World Player of the Year award from great rival Lionel Messi.dddddddddddd He had already trumped Ibrahimovic by scoring the winner in the first leg on Friday, but the rivalry between arguably the two biggest showmen in the sport climbed to new levels at the Friends Arena. Ronaldo opened the scoring in the 50th minute but Ibrahimovic netted twice in four minutes to level the score on aggregate and give Sweden hope. That was quickly extinguished by two pieces of brilliance from Ronaldo, who burst through to power home a left-footed in the 77th before latching onto another through-ball and smashing into the roof of the net two minutes later. "Of course, we cannot underestimate how important is Cristiano for us," Portugal coach Paulo Bento said. His second hat trick in international football, to go with his 24 at club level for Manchester United and Real Madrid, sparked jubilant scenes of celebration as Portugals coaching staff and substitutes spilled onto the pitch. That was possibly the last chance for the 32-year-old Ibrahimovic to play at a World Cup, but football fans will be thrilled that both Ronaldo and Frances Franck Ribery -- two of the favourites for this years Ballon dOr -- will be in Brazil. Ribery took a back seat on Tuesday as Benzema and, more surprisingly, central defender Sakho ushered 1998 world champion France to next years tournament. Didier Deschamps lifted the World Cup in the Stade de France 15 years ago in his finest moment as a player and this fightback, against a Ukraine lineup known for his doughty defence, probably tops his achievements as a coach. "Ive experienced some great moments but this one is special. Its fabulous," Deschamps said. France levelled the aggregate score at 2-2 by halftime through close-range goals by Sakho and the recalled Benzema before Ukraine was reduced to 10 men in the 47th when fullback Yevhen Khacheridi was red-carded for fouling Ribery. Worse was to follow for the visitors as substitute Oleg Gusev turned a driven cross into his own net under pressure from Sakho, putting the French through. "We took a big slap in Ukraine," Ribery said, "and we woke up." Croatia qualified for its fourth World Cup since becoming an independent state in 1991 and quashed Icelands hopes of reaching footballs showpiece tournament for the first time. Striker Dario Mandzukic scored in the 22nd minute to put Croatia ahead on aggregate but was given a red card nine minutes later for a reckless tackle. Iceland, whose population is only around 320,000, couldnt capitalize and Darijo Srnas 47th-minute goal sealed victory for the hosts. ' ' '