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HOUSTON -- Monday was a day of ups and downs for Joe Mauer. Luckily for Minnesotas star first baseman the long day ended on a positive note. Mauer had two hits in his return from the disabled list, including a go-ahead RBI single in the ninth inning, to help the Twins to a 4-2 win over the Houston Astros on Monday night. Mauer was elated to rejoin his team after a 34-game stint on the disabled list with a strained muscle in his right side. But his excitement was tempered when Josh Willingham, one of his best friends on the team, was traded to the Royals just before the game. "I was on a high coming in and seeing everybody and then to see one of our guys go out that was pretty tough," he said. "But then to win the ballgame was a good way to end it." A pair of walks by Josh Fields (2-5) left runners at first and second with two outs in the ninth when Mauer hit a groundball single to left field that scored Jordan Schafer. Brian Dozier also scored on the play when rookie left fielder Domingo Santana held the ball for several seconds before throwing it in. "I just panicked," Santana said. "I was just trying to throw the ball to the cutoff man, but I just panicked." Mauer, who doubled in the third inning, extended his hitting streak to 13 games in his first game since July 1. "This guy, Ive always said he can get right out of bed and hit," Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said. Brian Duensing (3-2) got the last two outs of the eighth inning for the win and Glen Perkins pitched a scoreless ninth for his 29th save. Chris Carter and Jose Altuve both had solo homers for Houston and Jake Marisnick had a career-high four hits. Carter connected for his 26th homer to make it 2-2 in the fifth inning. Tommy Milone allowed eight hits and two runs in his debut with the Twins after being traded from Oakland for Sam Fuld on July 31. "Good to get the first one out of the way," Milone said. "Obviously going out there with a new team you want to pitch well and I felt like I did that." Houston starter Brad Peacock allowed seven hits and two runs in five innings. Eduardo Escobar was at third with two outs in the fourth when an error by Peacock on a pickoff attempt at first base allowed him to score and make it 2-1. First baseman Jon Singleton crashed into first base umpire Bill Welke and knocked him to the ground as he chased the ball. Welke was OK but got up slowly and kept trying to brush the dirt off his uniform for more than an inning. The Twins took a 1-0 lead in the first on Plouffes fielders choice. The Astros tied it up in the bottom of the inning on Altuves homer. TRAINERS ROOM Minnesota: RHP Ricky Nolasco (elbow) made his second rehabilitation start for Class A Cedar Rapids on Sunday and Gardenhire said that he should make his next start for the Twins. Houston: OF Alex Presley (strained right side) will begin a rehabilitation assignment with short-season Class A Tri-City on Tuesday. Presley expects to come off the DL sometime during Houstons upcoming road trip to Boston and New York. UP NEXT Houstons Collin McHugh opposes Yohan Pino when the series continues on Tuesday night. Pino is looking for his first win since July 10 and McHugh will try to snap a six-game skid. Cheap Cowboys Jerseys . Four years after winning gold on home ice in Vancouver, the Canadians will get a chance to make it two in a row Sunday against Sweden after beating the United States 1-0 in the Olympic semifinals Friday at Bolshoy Ice Dome. Trysten Hill Gear . PETERSBURG, Fla. http://www.officialcowboysnflauthenticshop.com/ .ca/CurlingSkins - with the Top 16 curlers earning a ticket to Banff, Alta. to compete in the TRAVELERS ALL-STAR CURLING SKINS GAME Presented by Pintys, running Jan. Tony Pollard Gear . -- Washington Capitals forward Brooks Laich is expected to miss the rest of the regular season after having an operation on a groin muscle. Throwback Cowboys Jerseys .28 mph. Logano will start on the front row next to Penske Ford teammate Brad Keselowski, who came in second Friday at 193.099. The Penske drivers swept the top two spots for the second straight race, reversing their qualifying finish in Phoenix a week ago.PORTLAND, Ore. - Nicolas Batum had a simple question for his Portland teammates: "Why not us?" No other team has come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series. But the Trail Blazers took the first step Monday night by beating the San Antonio Spurs 103-92 to stave off elimination and narrow the Western Conference semifinal series to 3-1. "Why not us? No, its never been done before," Batum said. "We know its going to be tough. It wont be easy, especially against this team. The French forward had 14 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists and pestered fellow countryman Tony Parker all night. Damian Lillard had 25 points to lead the Blazers, who won their first second-round playoff game since a victory over Utah in the 2000 conference semifinals. "We had nothing to lose tonight. We had no pressure. It was do or die," Batum said. "So we just go out there and play." Portland held Parker to 14 points after he had scored 29 points or more in three of his last four playoff games. Coach Gregg Popovich sat Parker and Tim Duncan after Portland built a 20-point lead in the final quarter. The Spurs are looking to advance to the conference finals for the third straight season. Game 5 is Wednesday night in San Antonio. "The energy was weird tonight," Parker said. "You have to give a lot of credit to Portland. They played great. They came out of the gates and I thought Batum was great tonight. He gave them a big boost." The Blazers were the last team to take a series to seven games after dropping the first three. Portland rebounded in the first round against Dallas in 2003, but ultimately lost the deciding game in the first-round series. The Blazers have been hurt by the loss of backup point guard Mo Williams to a groin injury for the past two games. Williams provided both energy and points off the bench all season in relief of Lillard. Portland got just six points off the bench in Game 3, but Will Barton provided a spark with 17 points on Monday night. Barton became the first Blazer with 17 points and six rebounds off the bench in a playoff game since Briian Grant in 2000 against Utah.dddddddddddd "Any time you get a boost off the bench its always good for a momentum swing," San Antonios Danny Green said. "When he comes in and gets the crowd into it, they pretty much get it going, and it helped them a lot. " Coach Terry Stotts promised that the Blazers would play with pride in Game 4 and they did from the start. Lillards pull up jumper gave Portland a 14-8 lead. He extended it to 20-14 with a layup. But the Spurs answered with a 9-2 run and took a 24-23 lead on Patty Mills 3-pointer. Portland, which had only led twice in the previous three games, quickly reclaimed the lead and held on until Tiago Splitter tied it at 46 with a free throw. The Blazers had a 50-48 lead at the half. "I though with the way Nico (Batum) played, the game came a lot easier," Lillard said. "He was attacking, making plays. He was pushing the ball." Lillard opened the second half with a 3-pointer. Batum hit a 3 and added a free throw to push the lead to 69-61. Batum added another 3 before Thomas Robinsons dunk and Lillards 3 made it 77-63 to cap a 12-2 Portland run. Lillards layup put Portland ahead 90-72 in the fourth quarter. He added another to make it 94-74. "If they lost today it was a sweep, but theyve got pride and they played good," Manu Ginobili said. "They played the game more desperately than we did. We didnt bring the same emotions the first three games. The bottom line is they played better than us in every aspect of the game. Parker scored 29 points in San Antonios 118-103 Game 3 victory on Saturday night. The Spurs had routed the Blazers 116-92 in the series opener after their grueling seven-game series against the Mavericks, then built a 20-point lead and won Game 2, 114-97. NOTES: Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll watched the game sitting next to Paul Allen, the Microsoft co-founder who owns both the Super Bowl-winning Seahawks and the Blazers. ... It was Batums first double-double in the playoffs. ... It was Portlands first playoff victory against the Spurs since May 1, 1993, in the first round. 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