t easy. It was hard.ESPN.coms?John Oreovicz contributed to this

HOUSTON -- The Houston Astros added Carlos Pena to bring a veteran presence to their young team. They also thought he could help move the offence. On Thursday the 35-year-old showed his value in both areas, encouraging his teammates after a tough start and coming through in the 10th inning with a three-run homer to give the Astros a 7-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. "Hes been tremendous on and off the field," manager Bo Porter said. "He is a first-class guy that really has helped mentor a lot of these guys we have here. You look at some of the big hits hes been able to get for our ball club (and) it speaks to the reason why we brought him aboard." Pena takes pride in getting the team back on track when things go wrong. "I do try to bring a good attitude every single day and throughout the ball game regardless of whats going on motivating my teammates and encouraging," he said. Carlos Corporan struck out but reached on a wild pitch with one out in the 10th and J.D. Martinez followed with a double. Pena then launched the first-pitch homer off Michael Gonzalez (0-3) to the second deck in right field. It was his sixth career last at-bat homer and his first since Aug. 2008 when he was with Tampa Bay. "It never gets old," he said, still recovering from a post-game shower of Gatorade, water and shaving cream. "What a ball game. What a game. What a great homestand. I thought we were in every single game. This is a lot of momentum moving forward." Houston went 5-2 in this homestand and is 18-16 since May 15. Things didnt look good early on Thursday though, when the Astros fell behind 3-0. It was a sloppy game that featured six unearned runs and four errors. Hector Ambriz (2-4) pitched a scoreless 10th to help Houston take two of three in the series. Corporan tied it with a solo home run in the eighth. Matt Dominguez tied a career-high with three hits. The Brewers led by a run before Jonathan Lucroys homer in the sixth, which bounced on top of the low wall in right field, made it 4-2 and chased Lucas Harrell. Houston got back within one when Martinez reached on an error by second baseman Scooter Gennett leading off the bottom half. Dominguez hit an RBI double with two outs that made it 4-3. Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke was troubled by his teams performance on Thursday. "Thats as bad as it gets," Roenicke said. "Sometimes we might lose big, or we may not pitch well, but all the things we did wrong in that game, thats a bad game." Milwaukee starter Yovani Gallardo allowed five hits and three runs -- none earned -- in seven innings. He has not permitted an earned run in 21 straight innings spanning three starts. Gallardo didnt exactly let his defence off the hook for struggling in this one. When asked if the mistakes on defence bothered him he said: "Not really; maybe a little bit." Then he backtracked a bit saying that its part of the game. "I know for a fact the guys behind me dont want to make errors," he said. "They want to get every out they can. That is just how it is. As a pitcher, you have to move past it, whether its an error or a misplayed ball. You have to focus on the next guy." Jim Henderson replaced Gallardo for the eighth and immediately gave up the homer to Corporan. Gennett was thrown out at home on a grounder for the second out in the ninth. Dominguez doubled to lead off the ninth and reached third with one out, but John Axford retired the next two batters to send it to the 10th. Carlos Gomez doubled to start the Milwaukee eighth before a peculiar error on second baseman Jose Altuve. He missed catching the ball on a pickoff attempt, allowing Gomez to take third. Altuve immediately looked down at his glove and ran to the Astros dugout. Television shots showed that his mitt had come apart, leaving a big hole in it that allowed the ball to get through. An Astros official tied it back together and he returned to the field. Astros centre fielder Justin Maxwell dropped a fly ball hit by Caleb Gindl that sent two runs home in the second for a 3-0 lead. Houston right fielder Trevor Crowe injured his right shoulder crashing into the wall attempting to catch the home run by Lucroy and left the game. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained right shoulder after the game. Marc Krauss was promoted from Triple-A Oklahoma City to take his place on the roster. NOTES: Houston plays another one of its former NL Central rivals when it opens a three-game series with the Cubs on Friday. Dallas Keuchel is scheduled to pitch for the Astros against Matt Garza. ... The Brewers return home to begin a three-game series with Atlanta on Friday. 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PAUL, Minn.INDIANAPOLIS -- The two Indiana favorites didnt win the Brickyard 400 -- far from it.But Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon gave the fans at Indianapolis Motor Speedway the highlight of the race minutes after the checkered flag dropped on the Kyle Busch victory Sunday afternoon.Stewart and Gordon took a ceremonial lap driving side-by-side in what is expected to be their final race in the state that has celebrated their racing prowess. After they parked on pit road, Gordon went over to Stewart and gave him a hug.Gordon didnt expect to compete Sunday -- he was supposed to drive the pace car. But with Dale Earnhardt Jr.?out because of concussion-like symptoms, Gordon came out of retirement to race. He shared the spotlight with Stewart, who will retire from Sprint Cup racing after this year.A five-time Brickyard 400 winner, Gordon finished 13th, two spots behind the two-time Brickyard winner Stewart. The Indiana native Stewart finished 11th. He still lives in the state. Gordon moved to a town near Indianapolis when he was 14.For us to share that moment together, I mean thats probably our last lap around here in a professional race, and Ill cherish that moment, Stewart said. Its something that doesnt happen very often.It was pretty cool. ... Were never going to get that chance to do that again.In January, Gordon invited Stewart to go dune buggy riding with him?in California. Stewart broke his back on a hard landing, which forced him to miss the first eight races of the year.Tony and I have gone through a lot over the years, but he and I have become really good friends, Gordon said. I was with him when he got hurt this year. ... I leaarned a lot about Tony Stewart.ddddddddddddHes driven. Hes tough.To see him in that pain I saw him in and come back and win Sonoma [last month] and be out here driving like this with a chance at a championship when this whole thing is over, thats impressive.As far as the race, the 44-year-old Gordon had some typical Gordon moments on the track. He was never great on the double-file restarts. He had some moments when he nearly got caught up into accidents. He passed about four cars on the final couple laps.I enjoyed moments, Gordon said. I enjoyed that last [ceremonial] pace lap with Tony Stewart. ... Ill be honest. Those restarts -- thats not fun.Theres nothing fun about that, unless you are making great passes and go forward. When you are getting your butt kicked on restarts, its not fun. That was the least fun for me, but its also something I need to work on for next week at Pocono.Gordon joked that he was too old to be doing this much longer. He is committed to Pocono next week but nothing beyond then. A timetable for Earnhardts return has not been set.Being out of the car this long made me realize how tough this truly is, how not only fit are these drivers but how talented they are, Gordon said. They just took advantage of me on those restarts.They knew they could -- they probably knew that a little bit when I was full-time. ... It gives me a great appreciation for what this [new 2016 aerodynamic] package is like. Its not easy. It was hard.ESPN.coms?John Oreovicz contributed to this report. ' ' '