he end, what we did with the U.S. in the first game -- maybe it was like this, the skill levels, he said, and he held the

MINNEAPOLIS -- It looks as if the Minnesota Twins are finally coming around at the plate.Max Kepler homered twice and set a Twins rookie record by driving in seven runs, helping Minnesota rout the Texas Rangers 17-5 on Saturday.The Twins entered the game having scored the fewest runs in the American League. But they hit six homers last Sunday in a win at Yankee Stadium, and then they averaged five runs in a three-game series at the White Sox.And Saturday was pretty nice, too.Eduardo Nunez had four hits for the Twins, who scored at least three runs in four of the first five innings. Keplers second home run of the day capped a six-run fifth inning and gave the Twins a 17-4 lead.We know the struggles offensively arent going to be all year long, Nunez said. It has to change at some point.Texas right-hander Chi Chi Gonzalez (0-1) recorded just two outs in his second start of the season. Gonzalez walked two batters and gave up two hits in Minnesotas four-run first. He also was hurt by poor defense, with misplays on three consecutive batters extending the inning.Rangers manager Jeff Banister pulled him after 38 pitches.You get into a situation like that -- young kid, could have pushed him to one more hitter, Banister said. Wherever that takes him, hes out of that game anyway. Im going to protect him.Cesar Ramos replaced Gonzalez and was charged with seven runs in 2 1/3 innings as the Twins worked their way through the Texas bullpen. The Rangers finally turned to backup catcher Bryan Holaday for the last four outs.Tyler Duffey (4-6) was the beneficiary of the outburst, pitching six innings for his second straight win. He gave up four runs and eight hits, including long home runs by Ryan Rua and Robinson Chirinos in the fourth inning.Minnesota slugger Miguel Sano launched a two-run drive into the second deck in left field in the second inning. His 12th homer of the season was his first since returning from a hamstring injury that sidelined him throughout June.Sano was one of three players who shared the previous team rookie record with six RBI. And apparently he wasnt eager to yield the title to Kepler.Sano was telling me during the game that he had eight, so I was a little bummed out about that, Kepler said. But everybody on the bench was like, `No he didnt.Im honored today to even have achieved something like that, Kepler added. But lets keep it going.SAN DIEGO BOUND?Nunez is making a strong argument for an invitation to his first All-Star Game. He led off the first and second with doubles, hit a sacrifice fly in the third inning and singled in the fifth and sixth. He is hitting a team-high .322 with 11 homers, 34 RBI, 42 runs scored and 18 stolen bases.But the seven-year veteran isnt letting the upcoming All-Star announcements distract him.I dont want to put anything in my mind yet, Nunez said. I have no control over that. The only control I have is to play well and do my thing and help the team to win.ROUGH STARTThe Rangers had a rocky first inning with fielding gaffes on three straight plays that led to four runs. With two on and one out, Gonzalez snagged Brian Doziers comebacker, but Rougned Odor dropped the throw to second base, erasing the chance for an inning-ending double play. Kepler then grounded softly to first baseman Mitch Moreland, who threw home too late to force Nunez.Finally, Eduardo Escobar hit a potential double-play grounder, but shortstop Elvis Andrus dropped Odors feed. He recovered in time to retire Kepler, but that opened the door for Juan Centenos two-run single.TRAINERS ROOMTwins: RHP Trevor May (back) pitched a scoreless inning for Triple-A Rochester in his injury rehab assignment on Friday. General manager Terry Ryan said that May would pitch again on Saturday night, his first time pitching on consecutive days since he was put on the DL on June 10. Ryan said May is relatively close to returning to the Twins 25-man roster. . SS Escobar left with a strained left hamstring. He is day to dayUP NEXTRangers LHP Cole Hamels has won four straight starts, giving up just two earned runs in 27 2/3 innings. Hell look to extend that streak on Sunday against Minnesotas Kyle Gibson, who earned his first win of the season on Tuesday. Gibson pitched seven innings in a 4-0 win over the White Sox. Salomon Shoes NZ . -- Eastern Kentucky thrives off creating havoc for others. Cheap Salomon Shoes NZ . The Croatian served 21 aces and hit 42 winners against Sijsling, who double-faulted to give Cilic a 4-3 lead in the deciding set. "All the players, they know me and they were really happy to see me and they were really happy that this is over for me," Cilic said. http://www.clearancesalomonnz.com/ . Jeff Green scored 13 points and Kris Humphries 12 for the Celtics, who nearly blew an 18-point, second-half lead. Sullingers 20-20 was the first by a Celtics player since Kevin Garnetts first game in Boston in 2007. Garnett was dealt -- along with Paul Pierce -- to Brooklyn during the off-season. Wholesale Shoes NZ From China . The recently retired Stern was elected Friday to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and will be enshrined with the class of 2014 on Aug. Cheap Shoes NZ For Sale . Clarkson had been dealing with an elbow injury in early January and will be out of action for at least one week. He has three goals and five assists through 36 games with the Leafs this season. TORONTO -- Ralph Krueger, the head coach of plucky, piecemeal Team Europe, shines like a light. His coaching tenure with the Edmonton Oilers ended early and badly; now hes the chairman of Southampton, the Premier League football club. Not many men can switch sports at the highest levels. Krueger managed it because when he enters a room, his heart is as open as the door he walked through.On Thursday at the World Cup of Hockey, he was asked about how much the human heart tells in our games, hockey most of all.I dont think theres a game more honest than ice hockey, he said. Theres no hiding here. ... If youre not connected, it doesnt matter how much skill you have, youre going to be dealing with luck and chance. Hockey will punish you if youre dependent on that. Its such a great game because of that. Such an honest game.Heart is an amorphous concept, easy to lie about. Its nice to think that desire can overcome any weakness, because most of us have weaknesses and the alternative is believing that youll never be good enough. And underdogs win sometimes, which means heart must win sometimes, too.Heart is also an impossible thing to metric, and there are times when having all the heart in the world doesnt help. In some ways, big hearts can seem the easiest to wound. Theyre bigger targets.Dean Lombardi, the general manager of Team USA and the Los Angeles Kings, has a huge heart. He is known for his almost blind devotion to his players. If he falls in love with you, he will love you forever. He is the sort of man who makes other men wish they saw the world as clearly as he does.Like Krueger, he, too, talked about passion and hockey on Thursday. Unlike Krueger and Team Europe, Lombardi and his team were going home soon after.Lombardi talked specifically about how he believes heart can close the talent gap between teams.I think that our game allows emotion, competitiveness, caring about each other, to close that gap more than any other sport, he said. And thats why I think its the greatest game. Theres no doubt in my mind that the formula has worked. Weve won two Stanley Cups. The first thing, yes, we had talent, no question about it. But the reason we won, we were a frickin team.When Lombardi was building Team USA, he began with the premise that no matter what roster he made, it would be less talented than Canadas.His coach, John Tortorella, agreed.Ill be honest: Were not as deep as Canada skill-wise, he said. Not sure USA Hockey will like me saying that, but its the truth. Its a situation where I still think, in our mind, we could not just skill our way through Canaada.ddddddddddddSo Lombardi decided that his team needed to compensate with heart. He used his hands to show the talent gap between Team USA and Canada. He said he could have picked a different roster that would have narrowed that gap, and he drew his hands closer together. Instead, he purposefully picked a roster that widened that gap, he said. He pulled his hands farther apart.Their heart, he said, would more than make up the greater distance. In his mind, then, talent has a ceiling, but heart doesnt. Heart must be exponential.He lifted the hand that represented Team USA over the Canadian one.Give me 22 guys that care, Lombardi said. Thats where it starts. From there you can build competitiveness and culture and everything else. But if you dont have 22 guys that care, youre not going to get to square two.Then Team USA came here (with 23 guys) and lost 3-0 to Kruegers Team Europe, lightly regarded almost to the point of invisibility. The Americans didnt just lose that game. They were flat, uninspired, gutless. Never mind too-talented Canada, which also beat them. They couldnt beat a group cobbled together from eight different countries deemed too uncompetitive to dress their own teams.What did that that say about Team USAs heart?Krueger also used his hands to answer that question. In the end, what we did with the U.S. in the first game -- maybe it was like this, the skill levels, he said, and he held the hand representing his team well below his American hand. But the work ethic and the passion and the team spirit was able to bring us above them on that day.Now his other hand, like his team, was on top.Lombardi didnt much like the suggestion that his group had been outgutted by an afterthought team that is also this tournaments oldest.No. There were guys in tears in that room the other night, and they were real, he said of the moments after the loss to Canada that eliminated them. And some of the texts I got from players, Ill treasure for the rest of my life. Thats good stuff. Those are things you dont forget, even in failure. And so that part we got down.Even if heart cant be quantified, Lombardis math doesnt add up. He thought heart would help his players close the gap between them and the better team, which is advancing to Saturdays semifinal. Instead they were caught by a worse one, which will play in Sundays.The harshest possible assessment of Team USA is that it had no heart.The kindest one is that it was made to be broken. ' ' '