quivocal red card for violent conduct will be automatically suspended for

MINNEAPOLIS -- Justin Verlander showed some rust in his return. Clearance Nike Air Vapormax . The results werent great, albeit against a hot-hitting opponent. That award-winning right shoulder looked relaxed, though, and the sight of Verlander on the mound gave the sputtering Detroit Tigers a spark. Verlander lasted into the sixth inning, Nick Castellanos had two hits and two RBIs, and the Tigers salvaged a doubleheader split by beating the Minnesota Twins 8-6 Saturday night. "He knows how to pitch. He knows what hes doing. He can kind of contain the situation, and I think he did that well," said Torii Hunter, who had three of Detroits 17 hits. Victor Martinez and J.D. Martinez each had three hits, too, and Joe Nathan notched his 27th save in 32 attempts despite an RBI double by Brian Dozier in the ninth. Verlander (11-11) improved to 5-0 in seven career starts at Target Field. With two outs and two on in the sixth inning, manager Brad Ausmus came for the ball and was greeted with an icy stare as Blaine Hardy arrived from the bullpen. "I wanted to finish the game, but I knew what he was seeing. Obviously Ive been off for a while and fatigue was a factor there and we really couldnt let this game slip away from us," said Verlander, whose last turn was skipped because of shoulder soreness. He was removed after one inning the start before that Aug. 11 at Pittsburgh, when Ausmus said he looked like he was throwing darts to protect the joint. Here, his motion was free and easy, and his changeup was diving. "He wouldnt be Justin Verlander if he didnt push back when hes being taken out. He does not like to come out of games, and I think thats great," Ausmus said. Coupled with their 12-4 loss to the Twins in the afternoon, the Tigers dropped to a season-most three games behind first-place Kansas City in the AL Central. They also fell to a game behind Seattle for the second wild-card spot. In the opener, Twins rookie Kennys Vargas drove in five runs and starter Yohan Pino (2-5) struck out six in five innings. So after the Tigers gave up a total of 32 runs and 34 hits while throwing a whopping 398 pitches in losing the first two games of the series, they badly needed the old Verlander to come through in this one. "Im extremely happy he got a win in his first start back," Ausmus said. Minnesota rookie Trevor May (0-3) completed five innings for the first time in four career starts, but he didnt hold his 4-2 lead after a two-run double by Trevor Plouffe in the third inning. Eugenio Suarezs broken-bat, two-run single pushed the Tigers in front 5-4, and Jared Burton was summoned from the bullpen. Castellanos hit a two-out, two-strike, two-run single in the seventh off Burton to add to the lead. Vargas finished the day with six RBIs and has driven in 23 runs in his first 22 major league games, all this month. The Twins scored seven runs in the opener off Tigers starter Buck Farmer (0-1), who managed only four outs. He gave up six runs in the second, while the Twins batted around for the third time in a span of nine innings. TRAINERS ROOM Tigers: Miguel Cabreras bothersome right ankle flared up a bit near the end of the long day, and Ausmus said hed consider keeping the slugger out of the series finale to give him two straight days off with no game Monday. "Obviously wed prefer to have Miggy in the lineup, but his health is more important," Ausmus said. Twins: Joe Mauer is still receiving daily treatment for the strained muscle on his right side that kept him out for 34 games. He stretched his streak of reaching base, the longest active in the majors, to 25 games and drove in four runs for the day. "I feel good. Im seeing the ball well," said Mauer, whos hitting .327 with 11 RBIs in 13 games since coming off the DL. UP NEXT The Tigers will try to split the series by sending reigning Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (14-4, 3.07 ERA) to the mound Sunday afternoon. Kyle Gibson (11-9, 4.13 ERA) pitches for the Twins. Discount Nike Air Vapormax .3 seconds remaining, and No. 7 North Carolina held off a resilient No. 25 Virginia team, 54-51, on Saturday. John Henson contributed a double-double with 15 points to go with 11 rebounds for the Tar Heels (25-4, 12-2 ACC), who have won five straight and 10 of 11. Nike Air Vapormax Online . Patrick Kane and the Chicago Blackhawks were proof of that on Wednesday night. https://www.fakevapormaxwholesale.com/ . There were no real chances until Augsburg broke the deadlock through Raul Bobadilla in the 33rd minute. Frankfurt failed to clear a cross and Bobadilla slotted home from close range at the far post.TORONTO -- The MLS schedule is just three weeks old and already the shots are coming fast and furious. Too many on Clint Dempsey, says U.S. coach Juergen Klinsmann. But the league decided that Dempsey was the trouble-maker not the victim when it suspended the Seattle Sounders star striker two games Friday for "violent conduct" against Toronto FC defender Mark Bloom. The incident happened off the ball in the 40th minute of Torontos 2-1 win in Seattle last Saturday. Dempsey swung an arm and caught Bloom in the groin. The U.S. international was also fined an undisclosed amount. Klinsmann stepped in after the game, saying MLS has to offer key players like Dempsey more protection. "Obviously we are a little bit worried about Clint Dempsey getting fouled I dont know how many times in this game against Toronto," he said in a U.S. Soccer video. Toronto committed 25 fouls compared to 15 for Seattle. "Im hoping MLS is having an eye on that ... What I saw there on the weekend there were certain things not within the rules any more," Klinsmann added. "So I hope that our players in a certain way get a little bit of protection because they need to be healthy going into this World Cup." Seattle was also the victim of 25 fouls in its season-opening win over Sporting Kansas City. Asked about the Klinsmann comments on protecting stars, Toronto FC manager Ryan Nelsen stuck his tongue firmly in his cheek. "I 100 per cent agree with him," he said. "Jermain Defoe, Michael Bradley and Gilberto should be left alone, they shouldnt be allowed to tackle them." "I think theres a hidden agenda with Juergens comments," he added. Bradley, a veteran U.S. international whose father Bob Bradley used to coach the American national team, also downplayed the issue. "Its a physical league for sure but when youu look around the world, all the best games are physical," he said. Fake Nike Air Vapormax. "Theyre hard, Teams compete at the highest level. For us, when we look back at last weekend, we feel like we played hard, we competed hard, we left everything we had on the field but in an honest, fair way. "And so I think, after the fact, for people to look and to start to talk about a play here, a play there, lets be honest, theres little plays like this that go in every game. And still when you look back at 90 minutes, I think the way that we were able to get after Seattle and make the game hard on them and really win the physical battles was something we want to take forward into this game (Saturday against D.C, United) as well." Seattle coach Sigi Schmid didnt offer much on the suspension in an interview posted on the club website. "It is what it is so we have to deal with it," he said. Dempsey is eligible to return for an April 5 road game in Portland. The MLS disciplinary committee also suspended Chicago Fire defender Lovel Palmer for two games and fined him an undisclosed amount for violent conduct toward Portland Timbers forward Maximiliano Urruti last weekend. Both Dempsey and Palmer submitted appeals that were turned down. Montreal Impact midfielder Justin Mapp was also fined an undisclosed amount for simulation in a game against the Houston Dynamo. New York Red Bulls defender Armando was banned one game and fined an undisclosed amount for serious foul play against Colorado Rapids forward Deshorn Brown. Prior to the start of the season, the leagues board of governors approved a policy stating that any player receiving a red card for violent conduct or adjudged unanimously by the discipline committee to be an unequivocal red card for violent conduct will be automatically suspended for at least two games and be fined. ' ' '