Player Ratings: Borchers, Grabavoy excellent in win over Houston

Nick Rimando - 7.5 Another night, another clean sheet for Rimando. I don't recall very many spectacular saves, but he can't have MLS Save of the Week caliber saves every week.

Tony Beltran - 8 For my money this was one of Beltran's best nights of the yearso far. He seemed to have calm control over Houston on his side of the field and made some impressive stops. Not only that but he made some great services into the box (albeit nobody was home at times to try to finish them off.

Nat Borchers - 8.5 Borchers played like a man possessed against they Dynamo. He made stop after stop (timely ones at that) and looked to be playing to his full potential.

Carlos Salcedo - 7 Salcedo did his fair share to help RSL to its first shut out in a while. There is more and more chatter about Salcedo having earned a starting spot both from Kreis as well as the fans. I'm not one to argue against that.

Chris Wingert - 6.5 The defense had a good night and Wingert was no exception. It was a battle and Wingert didn't back down.

Kyle Beckerman - 7.5 The engine on Beckerman is impressive. I don't know how many minutes he has put in over the past month or so but it has to be taking its toll on his body. You wouldn't notice it by his quality of play, however.

Javier Morales - 6.5 Javi had a fantastic shot that ended up going just a bit high but besides that he connected on most of his passes and was fouled all night long as per usual. He held up well.

Ned Grabavoy - 9.5 Grabavoy completed all of his passes except one which was a long ball (as noted by @thecrossbarrsl). That is akin to a perfect game by a baseball pitcher, am I right? Not an easy task, but Grabavoy pulled it off.

Joao Plata - 6.5 Plata had a good shot that hit the crossbar, but the crossbar isn't a goal. This game made me that much more convinced that he is at his best when he comes off the bench. Not that he had a bad game, but he didn't excel like he usually does coming on later in games.

Olmes Garcia - 6 A relatively quiet night for Garcia. There were a couple of plays in which his athleticism showed through, but I don't remember any great chances on goal or anything else that truly sticks out as a highlight.

Alvaro Saborio - 7.5 Sabo did well to calmly slot home the PK. He didn't do so well at converting the other two or three chances that he had. Not a bad game at all and I'm not complaining. But I've seen what he can do when he is really on.

Substitutes

Luis Gil - 7 Gil had a great defensive night, perhaps the best I have seen him have in his young career. The other side of the coin is that he didn't shine on the offensive end of things.

Devon Sandoval - 6 I was surprised how quickly Sandoval was able to assert himself. He had a great nose for goal and probably should have finished his point blank chance. I thought he also made the right passes at the right times. Good to see him get some minutes after a lengthy absence.