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MADRID, Spain -- Maria Sharapova held her nerve Saturday to reach her second consecutive Madrid Open final, where shell play Simona Halep of Romania. Sharapova was cruising against Agnieszka Radwanska before allowing the third-seeded Pole to break back in the second set. But the eighth-ranked Russian recovered to secure a 6-1, 6-4 win. Earlier, Halep rallied in the hot conditions to dispatch former champion Petra Kvitova 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-2. "Shes having a great year so its going to be an extremely difficult match," Sharapova said of Halep. Despite a few blips, Sharapova has been steady all week and has lost just three times on clay since the 2011 French Open. All three of those losses came against Serena Williams, the two-time defending champion in Madrid who withdrew with a left thigh injury on Friday. Kvitova, the 2011 winner, looked on course for victory before unforced errors and the rising temperatures took their toll. The Czech was 2-0 up in the second set and cruising against Halep, who was visibly frustrated after a late call went against her during the first-set tiebreaker. But Kvitova hit 66 unforced errors and that inconsistency caught up with her as Halep recovered, with the now composed Romanian hitting 22 winners and breaking Kvitova four times over the last two sets. Kvitova struggled in the final set, looking sapped of energy by the end of a match that lasted more than 2 1/2 hours. "Its been an amazing week for me, I feel very well here in Madrid," said the fifth-ranked Halep, who reached her first Masters series final. "I played really well, I was striking the ball really well." Sharapova hit 28 winners to four for Radwanska, who netted a forehand on match point to be broken for a seventh time. In the mens semis, three-time champion Rafael Nadal faced fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut while David Ferrer was up against Kei Nishikori of Japan. 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"Its extremely difficult to play in such conditions, but our doubles team showed a lot of quality.NEW YORK, N.Y. - Put aside the playoff talk. Jacoby Ellsbury and the New York Yankees are having a tough enough time with Houston. Scott Feldman shut down the slumping Yankees again, and Robbie Grossman snapped a seventh-inning tie with a two-run single that sent the Astros to a 5-2 victory Wednesday night. Dexter Fowler had an RBI double, Jose Altuve added a run-scoring single, and the Astros (54-73) did more damage to New Yorks post-season chances with their fourth victory in five meetings this year. Houston, which has finished with the worst record in the majors each of the past three seasons, won a series at Yankee Stadium for the first time in four tries. The fourth-place Astros improved to 4-7 in the Bronx and will go for a three-game sweep Thursday afternoon. "We havent been giving up toward the end of the game. We just keep grinding out at-bats, and things are working out for us," Grossman said. Stephen Drew hit his first homer for New York, and Ellsbury drove in a run with a bunt single. But the Yankees (63-61) lost for the seventh time in nine games and dropped five games out of a playoff spot. They are 2 for 17 with runners in scoring position during the series and have totalled 20 runs in their last nine games, never scoring more than four in that stretch. "Weve got to score more than two runs. Its hard to win when you only score two runs," manager Joe Girardi said. "Our pitching has been pretty good, but thats a pretty tall task." Ellsbury flied out against Jose Veras with two on to end it. New York stranded 10 in all. "I knew it was in the park. It was a great sinker," Veras said. Feldman (7-9) matched a career high by throwing 121 pitches and worked out of trouble to last 6 2-3 innings. He gave up two runs and eight hits, striking out a season-best seven. The right-hander tossed 6 2-3 shutout innings to beat the Yankees on opening day. Houston had lost his previous six road starts, but he entered with a 2.30 ERA during four straight quality starts against New York. "Hes a veteran guy and hes been around the game for a long time. He knows how to pitch," Fowler said. Making his second start since a long injury layoff, Michael Pineda took a 2-1 lead into the seventh. He threw 89 pitches and was pulled after a leadoff walk to Jason Castro. Looking to rest his best relievers following a heavy workload the past few days, Girardi turned to David&nbbsp;Huff (2-1) and Esmil Rogers.dddddddddddd They failed miserably, ruining the managers bobblehead night. Houston smacked five straight one-out singles, four off Rogers, in a span of 10 pitches. "We have relied on the home run quite a bit, and today was a prime example of keeping the line moving," Astros manager Bo Porter said. "I felt like guys had great at-bats." No. 9 batter Jake Marisnick tied it with a single to left, Grossman put the Astros up 4-2, and Altuve added an RBI single as the boos increased for Rogers. "When the other guys are used a lot, guys have to step up," Girardi said. "It just didnt happen tonight." Kevin Chapman struck out Ellsbury with runners at second and third to end the bottom half. Veras worked the ninth for his first save since Sept. 2, 2013, with Detroit. "It was nice to see Chapman come in, probably the biggest part of the game, and pick me up. I owe him a dinner or something like that," Feldman said. Seemingly resigned to trying small ball, the Yankees went 4 for 5 on stolen base attempts in the first five innings. But one pitch after Chase Headley was caught at second in the fourth, Drew hit his fifth home run of the season. The other four came with Boston before a July 31 trade. TRAINERS ROOM Astros: Regular closer Chad Qualls was unavailable because of a stiff back. He is day to day. Yankees: Slumping DH-RF Carlos Beltran sat out because of pain in his troublesome right elbow and was examined by a doctor. He had his third cortisone shot and is day to day. "Hopefully, this is the last one," said Beltran, who hopes to return to the lineup on Friday. "At the end of the year I have to address it and get the surgery to get it over with, but right now Im just trying to finish the season." ... RHP David Phelps (elbow inflammation) played catch and will try to get ready to come off the disabled list as a reliever, Girardi said. UP NEXT LHP Dallas Keuchel (10-8, 3.11 ERA) makes his first career start against the Yankees in the series finale. RHP Brandon McCarthy is 4-2 with a 2.30 ERA in seven outings for New York since he was acquired from Arizona in early July. HERE COMES TROUBLE Fowler is 9 for 20 (.450) with six extra-base hits against the Yankees this year. NICE GRAB Yankees LF Brett Gardner tumbled head over heels over a low retaining wall to make a courageous catch in the ninth. ' ' '