MINNEAPOLIS -- It had been nearly two months since Joe Saunders pitched in the majors and 10 days since his last rehab start in the minor leagues. Wholesale Arizona State Jerseys . So it was understandable if he was a little shaky early in his return to the Texas Rangers rotation. He spent most of the outing searching for his best stuff, but still managed to shut down the struggling Minnesota Twins offence. Saunders pitched five scoreless innings and Luis Sardinas drove in the only run of the game to lift the Rangers to a 1-0 victory over the Twins on Wednesday night. "It was a battle for the first time coming back in almost two months," Saunders said. "It was a struggle, but I made some good pitches, got some clutch strikeouts against some pretty good hitters and kept the team right where it needed to be." Saunders gave up five hits and struck out six after being activated from the 15-day disabled list earlier in the day. "I had to take a step back there in the first inning, relax and calm the nerves a little bit," Saunders said. "Its been a long time coming for me. Its the longest Ive ever been out. It was a good start." Sardinas had a two-out single off struggling Twins reliever Jared Burton (1-2) in the seventh inning to help propel the Rangers to their seventh win in the past 10 games. Kyle Gibson gave up six hits and struck out four in six scoreless innings, but the Twins left nine runners on base and went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position. Joe Mauer went 0 for 4. Shawn Tolleson (1-1) pitched 1 2-3 scoreless innings of relief for the win and Joakim Soria picked up his ninth save in 10 tries, one night after his error in the ninth inning led to his first blown save of the season. Saunders had only made one other start this season, but he took a line drive from Evan Longoria off his left ankle in his season debut on April 4. Saunders made four rehab starts and had his breaking ball working in his return to the Rangers rotation on Wednesday night. Saunders stranded seven baserunners, including getting Brian Dozier to fly out with the bases loaded in the second. With his pitch count at 97 after five innings, manager Ron Washington elected to go to the bullpen rather than push Saunders too hard in his first start back. "Hes a competitor and he had to compete tonight, especially early in the game when they couldve done some damage," Washington said. Gibson was just as sharp, allowing just one extra-base hit and breezing through six. But he didnt get any help from a slumping offence that has scored just 10 runs in the past six games. Mauer had a chance in the seventh inning with the tying run on third base and two outs, but he chased a breaking ball for strike three and heard boos from a frustrated hometown fan base. Mauer is hitting .277 with 15 RBIs and six doubles on the season. "I feel pretty good actually, which is even more frustrating," said Mauer, who has been dealing with a sore back for parts of the season. "Im hitting a lot of balls hard and just not having much to show for it. So hopefully that turns here soon. just got to try to have some good at bats, keep having good at-bats and hopefully they start falling." Elvis Andrus was ejected in the sixth inning after he muttered something to home plate umpire Pat Hoberg regarding a low strike called earlier in his at-bat. It was the second ejection of the season for Andrus and Washington moved Sardinas from second base to shortstop and put Rougned Odor at second base to fill the hole. NOTES: Twins CF Aaron Hicks was a late scratch with a back issue, forcing manager Ron Gardenhire to start SS Danny Santana in CF. ... While on a rehab assignment for a groin injury, Twins RHP Mike Pelfrey felt soreness in his shoulder and was brought to Minnesota for examination. Another stint on the disabled list is likely after the Twins diagnose the injury. ... Alex Rios extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a single in the fourth. ... Gardenhire challenged a play in the seventh inning when Leonys Martin was ruled safe on a steal. Gardenhire claimed Dozier applied the tag, but the play was upheld after a 51-second review. Authentic Arizona State Jerseys . The thinking at the time was Clowney could have already been promised he would be selected first overall by the Houston Texans, therefore negating any need to meet with any other teams. The plot took another twist this week. Stitched Arizona State Jerseys . Both the top-seeded Djokovic and sixth-seeded Fish took relatively easy paths, with the Serb winning when opponent Jo-Wilfried Tsonga retired in the second set with a sore arm and Fish dominating Janko Tipsarevic in two quick sets. http://www.cheaparizonastatejerseys.com/ . City has reached new heights under manager Manuel Pellegrini as they transition from big spending/immediate impact to perennial contender. Yaya Toures seeming discontent Tuesday may complicate that, as does the little issue of Financial Fair Play.FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - When the Miami Dolphins played the New England Patriots in the season opener, Knowshon Moreno ran for 134 yards and Tom Brady was sacked four times.Since then, Moreno gained just 14 yards on the ground before a knee injury ended his season after three games, and Brady has been sacked only 12 times.Plenty has changed between Miamis 33-20 win and the rematch Sunday against a New England team that has lost only two more games.It was so long ago, there are a number of players that will be involved in this game that werent even on the roster the last time that the two teams met on both sides, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said.But a lot remains the same, such as the Patriots offensive approach.For the most part, it is the same style, same up-paced, fast-tempo consistent offence, said Miami defensive end Cameron Wake, who sacked Brady twice in the opener. These are big games when we come to face each other.This ones big for both teams.The Patriots (10-3) would clinch the AFC East for the sixth straight season with a win or a tie. The Dolphins (7-6) need a win to have a realistic shot at the playoffs.That will be tough against a team that has won 34 straight home games against AFC opponents, is 6-0 at home this season and is an NFL best 52-9 in December since 2000.But the Dolphins have won their past two meetings with the Patriots, both at home.It probably helps the confidence, for sure, Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill said, but there has been a lot of football between then and now. Each game is a new game. We know these guys. They know us.In the opener, the Patriots led 20-10 at halftime then were outscored 23-0 and outgained 222-67 as their streak of 10 straight opening wins ended. In the fourth quarter, Brady completed only six of 20 passes for 31 yards.You end up watching all the games just because all of them can provide some insight. Certainly, that game can provide a lot of insight, Brady said, but our team is a little bit different now. There are going to be some new things that we do. Im sure theyre going to have some new things.Two key players missed that game with suspensions, Patriots cornerback Brandon Browner and Dolphins defensive end Dion Jordan.New England tight end Rob Gronkowski was rusty then after off-season knee surgery, but has 10 touchdown catches this season. Miami roookie wide receiver Jarvis Landry had no catches in the opener, but leads NFL rookies with 63 now. Cheap Arizona State Gear. So on Sunday it will be the same teams, but different circumstances.Weve obviously taken a look at the first game, Miami coach Joe Philbin said, but, certainly, you pay a little bit more attention, when its the 14th game of the season, to the last four or five weeks.Some things to watch for as the Patriots seek their 16th consecutive regular-season home win:ON THE RUN: The Patriots running game got a boost when they signed LeGarrette Blount. In his three games with them, the powerful back rushed for 202 yards and two touchdowns. The Dolphins are trying to get their ground game going after rushing for just 63 yards in last Sundays 28-13 loss to Baltimore and fewer than 100 in four of their past five games.We kind of got out of rhythm a little bit and didnt have real good balance, Philbin said.SHORT PASSES: Tannehill is sixth in the NFL with a 66.7 completion rate, but only 31st with 6.66 average yards per pass attempt. But the Patriots still have to be wary of the deep pass.Our secondary has to stay alert at all times, New England cornerback Darrelle Revis said. Our first job is to defend the pass at all times. We cant go to sleep back there. We cant have our eyes in the backfield. Weve got to keep our eyes on the man on play-action and definitely on double moves.BACK ON TRACK: The Patriots came back from a 26-21 loss in Green Bay that ended a seven-game winning streak with a 23-14 win in San Diego. Now the Dolphins will try to recover from their loss to Baltimore in which they led 10-0 after one quarter. Miami has alternated wins and losses since starting at 4-3.PLAYOFF THOUGHTS: The Patriots know they have to keep improving even if they clinch the division title.Weve still got three games left, Brady said. Youre playing for a division championship, so its a very important game. Theyve got some goals that they have, too.GUARDING GRONK: Gronkowskis TD catch at San Diego made him the first tight end in NFL history with at least 10 in four different seasons. His 73 catches are second most by a tight end this season.I got a little taste of covering him last season, Jordan said. 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