Plouffe took Gonzalez

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Just over a fortnight ago North Queenslands bid for back-to-back NRL premierships appeared in tatters.The Cowboys had just been beaten by the lowly Sydney Roosters 22-10 - their third loss in a row - and any hope of a top-four finish seemed gone.Fast forward two weeks and the Cowboys are back on track.Victories over the Warriors and Canterbury mean the premiers will finish fourth with a win over Gold Coast at home on Saturday, giving them a double chance in the finals.Centre Justin ONeill admits the teams confidence took a hammering during the run of defeats and says they had to rediscover their desire to turn things around.The fire in our belly definitely came back in our last couple of games, he said.That was something we were lacking a little bit. That hunger to win games and do whatever it took to win.The last couple of games has really helped get confidence and morale back up around the club.No club has gone back-to-back in a unified rugby league competition since Brisbane in 1992-93.The Cowboys have long stated that defending their title is a driving force and ONeill admits securing a top-four finish will go a long way to achieving that ambition.It was definitely a goal for us, he said.We definitely wanted to finish in the top four. Weve put ourselves in a good position to do that and the rest is going to be up to ourselves. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . Rob Manfred, baseballs chief operating officer, testified last week during the grievance filed by the players union to overturn Rodriguezs 211-game suspension. A person familiar with the hearing, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press on Saturday that Manfred testified the sport wasnt concerned whether Bosch distributed performance-enhancing drugs to minors because MLBs interest was his relationship with players under investigation. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! .25 million option on reliever Jose Veras. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . -- Whether Jeremy Hill deserves a prominent role in LSUs offence this early in the season is a matter for debate. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . Ronaldo produced a spectacular individual performance on Tuesday, scoring all three goals and guiding Portugal into the next years World Cup in Brazil with a 3-2 victory in Sweden. The Real Madrid forward has scored 66 goals in 2013, but the last three may be the boost he needs to upstage Messi after FIFA unexpectedly extended the voting period for the Ballon dOr to Nov. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . Ronaldo produced a spectacular individual performance on Tuesday, scoring all three goals and guiding Portugal into the next years World Cup in Brazil with a 3-2 victory in Sweden. The Real Madrid forward has scored 66 goals in 2013, but the last three may be the boost he needs to upstage Messi after FIFA unexpectedly extended the voting period for the Ballon dOr to Nov. Texas needed extra innings to stave off its first three-game skid since late May on Friday night, but it got the job done.The American League-leading Rangers (52-29) look to start a new winning streak as they face the Twins in the second contest of a three-game set Saturday afternoon in Minnesota.Meanwhile, the Twins (25-54) are no strangers to losing streaks. They have strung together skids of three or more games 12 times this season, and earned another after Fridays 3-2 loss in the series opener.Ian Desmond led off the 10th inning with a 418-foot homer, giving the Rangers a win in extras after Texas Martin Perez and Minnesotas Ervin Santana each turned in stellar starts before giving up two runs apiece in the seventh.Jurickson Profars two-run single broke the scoreless tie in the Twins seventh, but Trevor Plouffe socked a two-run blast in the bottom of the frame to pull even again.Brian Dozier singled to set the table for Plouffe, extending his career-best hitting streak to 13 games.Theres nothing wrong with a little adversity, especially at this point in the season, said Desmond, who has 15 homers this season and finished a triple shy of the cycle. We see what were made of. We had some good bounce-back performances today.After a classic pitchers duel in the opener, both teams turn to a pair of youngsters Saturday as Rangers right-hander Chi Chi Gonzalez (0-0, 9.00 ERA) opposes Twins righty Tyler Duffey (3-6, 5.59 ERA).Duffey carries momentum into his first career start against the Rangers.The 25-year-old enjoyed one of his best outinngs Sunday against the New York Yankees, giving up a solo homer and two hits but nothing more while striking out eight in an eight-inning victory.ddddddddddddThrowing the ball over the plate does wonders, Duffey said after pitching 5 2/3 perfect innings and carrying a shutout into the eighth. I was able to spot my fastball well and everything worked off of that.It was his first win in six starts, snapping a three-decision losing streak, and marked the first time in eight starts since May 15 that Duffey allowed fewer than four runs.Duffey had been touched for six runs in each of his past three starts, going 0-2 while pitching to a 11.37 ERA.Gonzalez makes his second big league start of the year after being recalled from Triple-A Round Rock on Monday to face the Yankees. He allowed five runs on 10 hits and two walks in a five-inning no-decision.The 24-year-old was 3-6 with a 5.04 ERA in 14 starts with Round Rock before assuming Colby Lewis spot in the starting rotation.Plouffe took Gonzalez deep for a solo homer in Texas 6-5 win over Minnesota last August 13. Gonzalez lasted 5 2/3 innings, surrendering five runs on five hits and a career-high-tying five walks with four strikeouts.Eduardo Escobar (1-for-2) also recorded a hit against Gonzalez.The Rangers and Twins meet five more times this season after Saturdays showdown, with a July 7-10 four-game series in Arlington taking both teams into the All-Star break. ' ' '