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.Edwin Encarnacion Jersey . World champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia won the gold medal with 237.71 points, Moore-Towers and Moscovitch followed at 208.45 and Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia were third at 187. Andy Pettitte Jersey . With Parker having a quiet game for once, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw provided the scoring as France won its first major basketball title by beating Lithuania 80-66 on Sunday. It was a victory that ended a decade of frustration for Parker and a talented French generation, which lost the final against Spain two years ago and took bronze in 2005. http://www.cheapyankeesjerseyschina.com/adam-ottavino-jersey/ . Canada is now down to its 22-player limit, although but players wont be registered until Christmas Day. Changes could still be made as a result of a suspension or injury. Chad Green Jersey . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. Bernie Williams Jersey .B. - Sebastien Auger made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 2-1 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.RIO DE JANEIRO -- Its no easy thing to push Usain Bolt, even in an Olympic warm-up race.It might be even tougher to upstage him.Some of Wednesday nights most entertaining theater came, as usual, from the Jamaican star, who smiled and wagged his finger at a brash up-and-comer while winning his 200-meter semifinals heat. Bolt will go for his eighth Olympic gold in the final on Thursday.Bolts main goal during the opening rounds is to conserve energy, which is exactly what he was doing when he looked to his right, saw Canadas Andre de Grasse a few steps behind him and put it on cruise control.The only problem was, de Grasse, the bronze medalist in the 100, didnt back down. He sped up, caught up and suddenly, the two were nose-to-nose, peering and smiling at each other down the stretch. Bolt finished in 19.78 to win by a scant .02 seconds. He wagged his finger at de Grasse as they crossed the line.That was really unnecessary, Bolt said. I dont know what he was trying to do. Hes a young kid. Hes great. He has a lot of talent. Im looking forward to the competition in the final.The competition wont include American Justin Gatlin, who has given Bolt more run for his money than anyone else over the past four years.ddddddddddddIn the evenings biggest stunner, Gatlin finished third in his heat and did not qualify for the final.He said he rolled an ankle in the run-up to the Olympics and was happy just to make it here.Probably, I should have rested it instead of running on it, said Gatlin, who finished second to Bolt in the 100.Team USAs Lashawn Merritt did qualify for the final. He finished first in his semifinal and third overall with a time of 19.94.Joining Gatlin (20.13) in failing to qualify was American Ameer Webb (20.43).Bolt, who has his eyes on not only the win but maybe another world record, is hoping his time will come Thursday night.I definitely think I can try for the world record, said the sprinter, whose current record in the 200 stands at 19.19 seconds. But now, its executing right, running the corner efficiently and coming in the straight and running the perfect race.The Associated Press contributed to this report.[g right, running the corner efficiently andl] ' ' '