Steckbrief » said. My focus is this team and kicking balls throu

MINNEAPOLIS -- The surging Texas Rangers passed their latest test in resiliency, reaching the midpoint of their season on a resounding note.Ian Desmond homered to lead off the 10th inning for Texas, and the Rangers held on for a 3-2 victory Friday night over the Minnesota Twins.Theres nothing wrong with a little adversity, especially to kind of see what were made of, said Desmond, who leads the majors this season with five go-ahead home runs in the seventh inning or later.After losing back-to-back games to the Yankees in New York on the last at-bat, including a six-run rally Wednesday against relievers Matt Bush and Sam Dyson, the league-leading Rangers improved to 18-6 in one-run decisions this year.Sometimes theyre gifts. They show us what are flaws are, manager Jeff Banister said.Dyson surrendered a leadoff single in the 10th, but he struck out the next two batters and notched his 17th save in 19 attempts. Bush (3-1) pitched two scoreless innings for the win, which lifted the Rangers to a club-record 52-29 at the 81-game mark.Its a good number. Its a much better number than being the other way around, Banister said. Were not going to toast to halfway.Flip their record, and its still three games better than the Twins (25-54).Trevor Plouffe tied the game for the Twins with a two-run home run in the seventh that spoiled Martin Perezs shutout bid, but Desmond took Fernando Abad (1-3) deep to start the extra session. Abad has taken the loss in three of his last four appearances.Obviously that fastball wasnt where he wanted it, Twins manager Paul Molitor said.Ervin Santana turned in his third straight sturdy start for the Twins, though he needed 117 pitches to log 6 1/3 innings. Two of his three walks came in the seventh, when pinch-hitter Jurickson Profar put the Rangers in front with a two-run single off reliever Ryan Pressly. Santana struck out five and allowed only three hits.Perez retired the first 10 batters he faced and finished the fourth, fifth and sixth innings with double plays.In the fifth, after Max Kepler sacrificed to move the runners up to second and third, Kurt Suzuki tried to bunt, too. Plouffe broke for home with the pitch, but the ball popped high enough in the air for first baseman Mitch Moreland to catch it and throw across the diamond for an easy out. Just the type of ugly mistakes that have made a bad season much worse for the Twins.It didnt work out. We didnt get the ball down, Molitor said.Throwing strong in his first full season since Tommy John ligament replacement surgery on his elbow, Perez hasnt lost in eight starts. The left-hander allowed five hits and three walks in seven innings while striking out three, taking his second no-decision during that span.IAN IS IN A GROOVEDesmond, in his first season with the Rangers, leads the majors with 34 multi-hit games. He hit .358 in June and is tied for the team lead in homers (15) and RBI (52), making quite the case for the All-Star team.He just continues to impress us every single night he goes out there, Banister said.DOZIERS DRIVESBrian Dozier singled before Plouffes homer, stretching his hitting streak to a career-high 13 consecutive games during which hes hitting .431 with 12 extra-base hits and 13 RBI. Doziers run of 11 games in a row with at least one extra-base hit ended as the longest in a single season in the majors since Chipper Jones had 14 straight in 2006, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.TRAINERS ROOMRangers: RHP Yu Darvish (shoulder) took another step toward returning to the rotation, throwing a smooth bullpen session before the game. Hell start a rehab assignment Monday with Double-A Frisco. RHP Keone Kela (elbow) could be back in the bullpen after the All-Star break. Hell pitch Monday for Triple-A Round Rock.Twins: Miguel Sano played 3B in his return from rehab (hamstring), and he threw Adrian Beltre out with an off-balance, bare-handed grab of a slow grounder to end the sixth. Sano pumped his arm on the way to the dugout. With the RF experiment all but over, Sano will rotate between 3B and DH.UP NEXTRangers RHP Chi Chi Gonzalez (0-1, 9.00 ERA) will make his second start of the season Saturday afternoon. RHP Tyler Duffey (3-6, 5.59 ERA) will take the mound for the Twins in the middle game of the series, coming off a career-high eight innings in a win on the road over the Yankees. He gave up just two hits and one run. Black Friday Shoes Deals . -- There were so many positives from the Orlando Magics first victory of the season that it was hard for coach Jacque Vaughn to stop praising his players. Fake Black Friday Shoes . Scott won the Australian PGA last week in his first event in Australia since winning the U.S. Masters in April. American Matt Kuchar, ahead by two strokes with four to play and even with Scott with one to go, double-bogeyed the 18th after taking two shots to get out of a bunker. https://www.shoesblackfriday.com/ .In my heart and mind Im competing for India, luge competitor Shiva Keshavan told The Associated Press in an email interview. Every day Im flooded with messages from Indians all over the world telling me they are supporting me. Black Friday Shoes Sale . The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling "puts an end to my dreams of being a top player," the 27-year-old Troicki said in a statement. "I worked my entire life for it, and it has been taken away from me in one afternoon by a doctor I didnt know," said Troicki, whose ranking peaked at No. Black Friday Shoes Store . The return match will take place next Wednesday. Udinese leads Fiorentina 2-1 in the other semifinal. Napoli staged a second-half comeback from two goals down after Gervinhos opener and a stunning strike from Kevin Strootman. CHICAGO -- Two guys fell down. One quickly got up.That was enough to lift the Jacksonville Jaguars to a 17-16 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday.But hey, theyll take it. After all, they came into the season with higher expectations, and theyre starting to deliver, even if it took a fluky touchdown.A slipping Arrelious Benn caught a 51-yard touchdown from Blake Bortles in the closing minutes to lift the Jaguars (2-3) to their second straight win -- a rare road victory.We have a lot of guys that make good decisions, smart decisions and play smart football and have great presence to get up and go, Bradley said. We just showed a clip like that on Saturday morning. We talked about some things that can take place in the game and how you have to take advantage of opportunities.Benn slipped as he caught a slant and so did Tracy Porter as he tried to tag the receiver. That allowed Benn, who spent the past three seasons on injured reserve, to get up and run untouched for his first touchdown since he caught three for Tampa Bay during the 2011 season.Sure, the TD might have been aided by Soldier Fields oft-criticized grass. But the Jaguars showed something, wiping out a 13-0 deficit and pulling out the win after they wasted several opportunities early on.It was a step forward for a rebuilt team that came into the season with higher expectations. While it might not have been playoffs-or-bust for the Jaguars, they were certainly looking for more after five straight years with at least 11 losses.With the win over Chicago after beating Indianapolis two weeks earlier in London, they at least appear headed in the right direction. They will face a stiffer challenge at home next week against Oakland, though.It was ugly, it was a little sloppy, we have corrections to make, cornerback Jalen Ramsey said. Were going to grow froom this, but at the end of the day, a win is a win.ddddddddddddere are some things we learned in the Jaguars win over the Bears:YARDS, NOT POINTS: Brian Hoyer threw for 302 yards -- his club record fourth straight 300-yard game filling in for the injured Jay Cutler (sprained right thumb). But all that movement isnt translating into touchdowns.The Bears offense produced 389 yards after racking up 522 in last weeks 29-23 loss at Indianapolis. But they struggled in the red zone once again, with one touchdown in four tries.LOCKING DOWN: Chicagos Alshon Jeffery had 93 yards receiving going against Ramsey. All but three came in the first half.The difference in the third and fourth quarters?Different ways to shade him, Ramsey said. Giving him different types of press techniques. Stuff I thought I could do well on, and it worked for me.BREAKING DOWN: The Bears got outscored 17-3 in another tough fourth quarter. That came after Luck threw a late touchdown to T.Y. Hilton in the closing minutes to lift the Colts the previous week.BREAKING OUT: Bears receiver Cameron Meredith is starting to break out in a big way, with teams focusing on Jeffery and Kevin White on injured reserve.He had 11 catches for 113 yards after setting a career high with 130 yards against the Colts.ROUGH START: Bortles came on strong down the stretch after a rough first half.He completed 20 of 33 passes with a touchdown in the game, but was off target in the early going. Bortles got a touch-luck interception on the Jaguars first possession of the game when Tracy Porter picked off a pass in the end zone that popped out of receiver Allen Robinsons hands.---AP NFL website: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '