THEMA: Cavaliers host Houston on Wednesday

MINNEAPOLIS -- After a rough first two innings, Nick Tepesch settled down and cruised through another quality outing to help the Texas Rangers stay hot. Tepesch won his second consecutive start, Elvis Andrus and Chris Gimenez each had two RBIs, and the Rangers beat the Minnesota Twins 7-2 on Monday afternoon. Tepesch (2-0) gave up both his runs in the first two innings before lasting 6 2-3. He struck out four to win consecutive starts for the first time in his career. "Thats one of the things that made me successful today, to be able to put the first two innings behind me," Tepesch said. "Treat each inning as a new inning." Alex Rios added two more hits and now has six straight multi-hit games. The Rangers have won three straight and five of six after a rough start to the season. "Early in the season everything didnt go the way we wanted it to," Andrus said. "At the same time, we still trust in each other and we knew theres a lot of baseball left. Everyone is feeling well right now as a team." Trevor Plouffe homered and Eduardo Escobar had two hits and an RBI for the Twins, who have lost four in a row since climbing two games over .500 on May 21. After Kevin Correia (2-6) set down nine straight, Roughned Odor and Shin-Soo Choo lined back-to-back two-out singles in the fifth. Andrus followed with a double to the gap in left-centre that scored both runners and broke a 2-all tie. "Its two-out hits. Thats been the theme this season," Correia said. "That one pitch or two pitches a game, you make that one pitch and its a world of difference." Gimenez made it 6-2 with a two-run double down the line in left in the eighth off reliever Jared Burton and Texas was on its way to another win. "We just got off to a bad start," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "Im so happy that were finally putting it together as a group." Minnesota had its opening day outfield back together for the first time since the first week of the season. Josh Willingham and Oswaldo Arcia were activated from the disabled list after Sundays game and started alongside centre-fielder Aaron Hicks. But the re-enforcements werent enough to overcome Tepesch, who didnt allow a runner past second base after the second inning. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire knows it might take a few more at-bats before Willingham and Arcia are able to help lift Minnesotas struggling offence. "That can be a huge part of it, driving the baseball and let them get a few at-bats here," Gardenhire said. "It takes a little time, a little different pitching up here than down there." Tepesch dominated Triple-A Round Rock after getting demoted in spring training and has a 2.95 ERA in three big-league starts since being recalled May 14. "Hes shown these three starts what hes capable of doing," Washington said. "But you cant hang your hat on a couple of outings. If hes around here healthy, hes going to get many outings. I just want him to be consistent." Hicks, a career switch-hitter, informed manager Ron Gardenhire before the game that he has decided to only hit from the right side. The struggling prospect is hitting .250 right-handed compared to .149 from the left side. He had two singles Monday. Two replay reviews went against the Twins. Arcia slided into third after a botched play in the outfield in the first, but a review showed third-baseman Adrian Beltre tagging him before his foot reached the base. Gardenhire challenged an out call at first on Willinghams dribbler down the line in the sixth, but the call stood. NOTES: Hicks told Gardenhire before the game he had no confidence swinging from the left side. "He came to me this morning and said he wants to hit right-handed. So, obviously, when a guy has no confidence left-handed, you gotta do what you gotta do," Gardenhire said. ... This was Ron Washingtons 1,186th game as Rangers manager, tied with Bobby Valentine for most in franchise history. ... Texas P Tanner Scheppers, out since April 18 with elbow inflammation, had his first rehab outing on Saturday with Double-A Frisco and will make three more with Triple-A Round Rock before being eligible to return on June 3. ... Choo hopes to return to left field on Tuesday after DHing the last two games with a sore left ankle. ... Phil Hughes (5-1, 3.15 ERA) will try for his fifth consecutive win on Tuesday against the Rangers Yu Darvish (4-2, 2.35). Custom Boston Celtics Jerseys . The 25-year-old native of Milford, Conn., has 18 points in 41 games this season. The five-foot-eight 166-pound centre also has 28 points (10-18) in 15 games with AHL Oklahoma City. Kevin Mchale Jersey . 22 because of a bruised foot and have added forward Sean Collins to the roster on emergency recall from Springfield of the AHL. www.authenticcelticsproshop.com/Gordon-Hayward-Jersey/. Interestingly, the culprits were not rookies, but well paid, experienced pros. The first gaffe came in the 24th minute of arguably the biggest early season MLS game in history between Seattle and Toronto. Sounder newcomer Marco Pappa, (with over 100 MLS games, and 39 Guatemalan Caps to his name) attempted a back pass to one of his central defenders. Danny Ainge Jersey . This is the final meeting of the season between these teams.? The Capitals were 5-4 winners in a shootout Oct. Boston Celtics Jerseys . The 26-year-old slider from Calgary posted a time of 50.464 seconds, 0.573 seconds back of leader Natalie Geisenberger. The German led the overall World Cup womens standings this season and continued her dominance by putting down a track record time of 49.CLEVELAND - While the wins keep piling up for the Dallas Mavericks, all the Cavaliers keep adding are injuries.Monta Ellis scored 20 points, Dirk Nowitzki added 15 and the Mavericks won their fifth straight game Sunday, a 109-90 victory over the Cavaliers, whose news on the injury front gets worse by the day.Cleveland again played without LeBron James, who is out with knee and back soreness. Kyrie Irving left in the third quarter with lower back tightness and wont make the trip to Philadelphia for Monday nights game.Im in a lot of pain right now, said Irving, who missed two games last week with a sore left knee. I just have to get through it. It stinks because you have two injuries at one time.Irving, who scored a season-low six points and was 2 of 9 from the field, said the injuries arent related.As his team raised its record to 25-10, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle recognized the Cavaliers are far from full strength.This is the kind of team weve got to beat, he said. Theyre without the best player in the world and lost one of the best point guards in the league. They were already down bodies when Kyrie went out, but I really did think it was a harder game than the score indicated.James missed his fourth game in a row and fifth of the season. The Cavaliers are 1-4 when the four-time MVP doesnt play and have dropped 5 of 7 overall.Nowitzki has 27,397 career points and is 12 shy of tying Moses Malone for seventh place all-time.Kevin Love scored a season-high 30 points, but the Cavaliers couldnt stay with the Mavericks, who had six players in double figures.Before the game, Cavaliers general manager David Griffin said speculation about coach David Blatts job status was ridiculous and added no change would be made.The Mavericks, who wrap up this three-game trip Monday in Brooklyn, are 10-0 on the road against the Eastern Conference this season and have won 14 straight overall against the East.Dallas went ahead for good late in thee first quarter and built a 57-42 lead two minutes before halftime.dddddddddddd The margin grew to 20 in the third.Chandler Parsons, Tyson Chandler and J.J. Barea scored 14 points apiece for Dallas, which shot 56 per cent and made 12 of 26 3-pointers.Rajon Rondo, who scored a season-high 29 points Friday against Boston, was held to four points and had eight assists in 27 minutes. Dallas is 6-2 since acquiring Rondo from the Celtics.We get out and run, so I love it, Ellis said. Hes a great floor general at both ends of the court. Were doing good, but we can do better. We made the extra pass today, and when we move the basketball like that, we can put teams in a bind.PROPER BALANCECarlisle used nine players between 18 and 29 minutes, and the Mavericks had 30 assists with only 10 turnovers. It went great, Chandler said. Everyone understands what were trying to accomplish out there. Coach is doing a great job running bodies in and out, keeping everyone fresh.NO GUARDINGBlatt was displeased with his teams defence. Certainly not good enough, he said. The other night we played great defensively, tonight we did not. We didnt play the kind of defence we needed to play against any team, certainly not Dallas.TIP INSMavericks: Mark Cuban purchased the franchise 15 years ago Sunday. Under his ownership, Dallas won the 2011 championship and has advanced to the NBA Finals twice. . C Greg Smith (right oblique) left in the second quarter and didnt return.Cavaliers: Griffin said James didnt attend Sundays game and wont make the trip to Philadelphia on advice from the teams medical staff. The Cavaliers host Houston on Wednesday and Griffin hopes James will return during their five-game West Coast trip that begins Friday. ... G Dion Waiters missed all seven shots, including three air balls, in the first half. He finished with eight points, going 4 of 14.UP NEXTMavericks: At Brooklyn on Monday.Cavaliers: At Philadelphia on Monday. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '