HARRISON, N.J. -- Maybe just a touch of the flu is what New York Red Bulls forward Bradley Wright-Phillips needed. The English forward, who had one goal in seven games last season, missed Tuesdays training session with a fever, but recovered enough to score three goals Wednesday night and lead the Red Bulls to their second straight victory, 4-0 over the Houston Dynamo. "We thought it was only a matter of time before he scored a goal and then got hot," Red Bulls coach Mike Petke said. "But three goals tonight? I did not see this coming." Wright-Phillips, who joined New York in August, was the first Red Bulls player to record three goals in a match since Thierry Henry in March 2012 against Montreal. "I just try to do the same thing all the time," said Wright-Phillips, 29, the younger half brother of England midfielder Shaun Wright-Phillips, who plays with Queens Park Rangers. "I didnt think it was my night. I just try to do the same thing. "No matter where I go, I think I can score goals. I scored today. Next game, I might not be scoring and you guys might be interviewing somebody else." The win earned New York some measure of revenge against Houston, which beat the Red Bulls in Harrison last November to eliminate them from the playoffs. Henry had the other goal for the Red Bulls, who were winless in their first six games but improved to 10 points and within one of Eastern Conference leaders Sporting KC and the Columbus Crew. Houston is winless in its last five. Wright-Phillips put New York ahead in the 12th minute after Kosuke Kimura sent a through ball down the right side into the path of a streaking Henry. Unmarked, Henry had time and space to turn and send a bounding ball to the top of the six, where an equally unmarked Wright-Phillips easily deflected it past Houston keeper Tally Hall. His second goal was similar 12 minutes later. Left back Roy Miller slid to win a ball from Houston counterpart Warren Creavalle on the left touchline and advanced unchallenged into the Dynamo penalty area. There, he sent a low bounding cross that Wright-Phillips was able to redirect at the edge of the six to just inside the far post. Wright-Phillips helped hike the lead in the 65th minute, sending a cross in front of the Houston goal that Hall had to punch out in front. Henry ran onto the free ball and easily converted from the middle of the penalty area. Wright-Phillips completed his hat trick in the 86th, converting a penalty after Henry was brought down in the area. "He had a little bit of flu-ish symptoms yesterday, in practice," Petke said, before adding with a laugh, "so I told him hopefully this Friday hell have the flu again." The Red Bulls play at Columbus on Saturday. "It just wasnt a good night for us," Houston coach Dominic Kinnear said. "Probably the third goal, but we were still getting chances after that. After that third goal went in, its definitely a big mountain to climb." Both teams were without significant regulars. New York did not dress injured midfielder Tim Cahill and suspended defender Ibrahim Sekagya, while Houston was without U.S. national team midfielder Brad Davis, who missed his third straight game with an injured ankle, and Kofi Sarkodie, who was ejected against Philadelphia on Saturday. Cheap Football Jerseys Authentic . -- Keith Aulie has joined the Tampa Bay Lightning. Fake Football Jerseys For Sale . Vettel only needs to finish fifth or better Sunday to wrap up the championship with three races remaining, and bettered his own lap record to claim his third straight pole at Buddh International Circuit. https://www.fakefootballjerseys.com/. Thats exactly what happened. And they enjoyed every moment. Durant remained sizzling with 33 points, Serge Ibaka added 22 and the Thunder roared back from an abysmal start -- they trailed 22-4 early -- to embarrass the Miami Heat 112-95 on Wednesday night, erasing that big deficit out of the gate by outscoring the two-time defending champions by 43 points over a 33-minute span. Knockoff Football Jerseys . The Philadelphia left fielder clubbed a tiebreaking, solo home run in the seventh inning, and the Phillies edged the Red Sox, 2-1, in the middle test of a three-game interleague series at Citizens Bank Park. Replica Football Jerseys .com) - Damian Lillard poured in 40 points on 11-of-21 shooting to go along with 11 assists, and the Portland Trail Blazers stunned the Oklahoma City Thunder, 115-111, in overtime on Tuesday.The Oakland As have the best record in the American League at 13-5 and are second only to Milwaukee by a half-game for best record in the Majors. This organizations success, at times, defies logic. They play in the most in-need-of-repair stadium in the Majors and traditionally draw in the bottom third, if not worse, in the Majors. Yet, here they are at 13-5 atop the American League West after starting last season at 12-5 en route to a 96-win season. There were a couple of things that caught my attention about the As 4-1 victory over Houston. First, it was the starting pitcher. Jesse Chavez was actually with the Blue Jays back in 2012 as a reliever. He didnt see much action with a team that had three starters - Brandon Morrow, Drew Hutchison and Kyle Drabek - down with injuries. Later that year, the Jays lost the then 28-year-old on a waiver claim by Oakland. Last season, he worked in the As pen as a reliever. Now the As, thanks in part to injuries, have given the 30-year-old right hander the chance to start. So far, it looks as though the As have struck gold. Chavez has made four starts and in doing so, became the first starter in franchise history to go at least six innings in his first four outings and give up one or fewer runs in each. Sunday, he picked up his first Major League victory as a starter and has solidified his spot in the Oakland rotation. The other thing I noticed is the As lineup. Of the 11 players who appeared in that 4-1 victory over Houston, only one was actually signed and developed by Oakland. That was budding Cuban star Yoenis Cespedes, who defected in 2011 and signed a four-year, $36 million contract with the As in February of 2012. All the rest were picked up in trades - many descript or on waiver claims or lower-tier free agents. Take Daric Barton, who came on late in the game to play first, but can also catch. He was picked up in a trade with St. Louis, along with infielder Kiko Calero and right hander Dan Haren, for then ace lefty Mark Mulder, who ultimately blew out his shoulder with the Redbirds, sat out a few years and ultimately had to abandon a comeback this spring. Barton is still contributing to the As and Haren is still going strong elsewhere. Josh Donaldson failed as a catcher in the Cubs organization and with the As. Then they made him into a third baseman and hes turned into a star. The As, with a limited payroll, just keep finding ways. If you roll back the clock to the year 2000 and then go over the As records over the following 14 seasons, theyve had nine winning seasons, four losing seasons and one .500 season. In fact, they had five seasons in a row between 2007 and 2011 where they only reached .500 once. But their successes have been mighty; two seasons with over 100 victories and seven more with at least 91. In 14 years, the As have finished first in the AL West six times. They have made the postseason eight times. Grant you, they have only won one division series and were defeated in the only ALCS they made it to. But I dont think I have to remind you there have been plenty of other teams that havent come closse to making the postseason over that 14 year span, teams that have a lot more money to spend and better venues to play in.dddddddddddd The other amazing thing about the As is their attendance. If you go back to when they were the Athletics in Philadelphia, where they resided for 54 years, the Athletics never broke one million in attendance once. During their 13 seasons in Kansas City, the As only surpassed one million twice, while in 46 years in Oakland, they have only bettered the two million mark, which is generally conceded to be the break-even point, 11 times. How good have they been over the last 14 years? Well collectively, they have finished 204 games above .500. The only two teams in the American League that have been head and shoulders better than them are the Yankees at 390 games over .500 with two World Series wins and two losses, and Boston at 265 games over .500 with three World Series triumphs. Billy Beane and Moneyball may have been overrated to a degree, but the As have proven to be one of the great franchises in the game against all odds. The Blue Jays have a significant homestand starting up Tuesday night. Baltimore comes to town for three followed by Boston for three. At 10-9, the Jays are one game ahead of the Orioles and Bosox. The Jays starting rotation will have to deliver more innings over these next six games. Last turn through the starting five, lefty Mark Buehrle was the only one able to get through the sixth and then beyond. The Jays have a bit of a psychological edge in both these series. The Orioles will be coming off an emotional Patriots Day game in Boston Monday morning and a draining series against the Bosox. Then Boston goes from that series to a three gamer with the Yankees. Both the Os and the Red Sox could be a little battle worn by the time they hit Toronto. Everybody talks about the Jays someday regretting trading Noah Syndergaard to the Mets. Well Henderson Alvarez is already in the Majors and looking dominant at times with the Miami Marlins. Saturday at home, he hit 96 MPH on the radar gun and pitched a complete game two-hitter, as the Marlins shut out Seattle 7-0. He faced just 28 batters, one over the minimum. It was Alvarezs first victory since he no-hit the Tigers on the final day of last season. He is 1-2 this season with a 2.66 ERA. Giants righty Tim Hudson is joining some exclusive company. He set a Giants record over the weekend by throwing 30 innings without issuing a single walk. He has also come close to a Major League mark by starting a season with four games of at least seven innings without walking a single batter. A gentleman by the name of "Tiny" Bonham also did that in 1944, according to ESPN, and Hall of Famer Grover Cleveland "Pete" Alexander had a six game run in 1923. We mentioned right hander Dan Haren a little earlier in connection with the As. Well, hes trying to reboot his career with the Dodgers. His control has been impeccable in the early going. He has 20 strikeouts and just two walks. Of all active pitchers, Dan Haren has the top strikeout-to-walk ratio at 4.09 to one. ' ' '