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 gd 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 tk 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, t. 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 GRVEDesmond, 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 RMRangers: RHP Yu Darvish (shoulder) tk another step toward returning to the rotation, throwing a smth 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 afternn. 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. Eden Hazard Jersey .com) - Richie Incognito has reportedly been admitted to a psychiatric care unit in Arizona. Romelu Lukaku 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. http://www.belgiumsoccerpro.com/Thorgan-Hazard-Belgium-Jersey/ . - Levi Browns tenure at left tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers is over before it even began. Nacer Chadli Jersey . Kuznetsov, who was selected by the Capitals in the first round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, has been playing for his hometown team Chelyabinsk Traktor of the KHL. Thomas Vermaelen Jersey . At a Manhattan federal court hearing, attorney Jordan Siev said his law office has gotten more evidence nearly every day to support its lawsuit accusing MLB and Selig of going on a "witch hunt" to ruin Rodriguezs reputation and career. He said the defendants went "way over the line. NEW YORK -- With so many gd teams near the top of the Metropolitan Division, coach Barry Trotz knows his Washington Capitals need to bring their best effort every night if they plan to keep pace.Matt Niskanen scored two goals in the third period, lifting the Capitals over the New York Islanders 4-2 on Tuesday for their fifth straight victory.Brett Connolly and Justin Williams also scored for Washington, which improved to 18-7-3. Dating to a 2-1 overtime loss at Tampa Bay, the Capitals have earned 11 out of a possible 12 points.We need to continue to have consistency, Trotz said. Were now 11 games over .500 and were fourth in the division.Following a five-game winning streak, the Islanders have dropped their last two. New Yorks 11-12-5 record is the worst in the Metropolitan Division.Our goal right now is to finish a couple games above .500 going into the Christmas break, center Casey Cizikas said. I thought we played well enough to win.Brock Nelson and Nikolay Kulemin scored for the Islanders, and Jaroslav Halak made 34 saves.We find ways to lose games, Halak said. Were not finding a way to win a game.The third meeting of the season between the teams -- and second in 12 days -- was a tight-checking game. Neither club was able to sustain sequences in the offensive zone, though the Capitals finished with a 38-28 advantage in shots on goal.Niskanens wrister from the left circle 14 into the third put Washington ahead for gd. The defenseman snapped in a feed from partner Dmitry Orlov, as all five Islanders were on the left side of the ice.I dont think (Halak) saw it, Niskanen said.From there, Braden Holtby made the lead hold up.Holtby stopped 26 shots, with his two toughest saves coming on Josh Baileys goal-mouth backhander with 11 minutes left and John Tavares snap shot from the slot nearly 2 minutes later as the Capitals held onto their one-goal lead.I felt like I was moving and seeing the puck pretty well, Holtby said. Theyre a team that always (seems) to push in the third against us. ... My job is to be ready.Niskanens power-play goal with 1:57 left ended the scoring.Trailing 1-0 after the first period, it tk the Capitals all of 2:09 to draw even on Connollys third of the season. A scratch in Washingtons previous four games, Connolly drove to the net and Lars Ellers centeriing pass ricocheted off his stick blade.ddddddddddddWashington went ahead 5:28 later on Williams power-play goal. Jakub Vrana drove to the net and Evgeny Kuznetsov, who was behind the goal line, found him with a pass, and the 20-year-olds shot bounced off Williams.The Capitals finished 2 for 3 on the man advantage, and killed off both New York power plays.Youre not going to give up two power-play goals and expect to win, Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. Somehow, some way we have to get back to trying to get the special teams where (they) need to be.Despite being outplayed for much of the period, New York was able to tie the game at 2 on Kulemins goal midway through the second. Kulemin deflected Nick Leddys point shot past Holtby for his third of the season.Halak made certain the game stayed tied going into intermission, as he made stops in the final minute on Karl Alzner, Alex Ovechkin and Niskanen, prompting the crowd of 12,730 to chant his name.New York struck first on Nelsons seventh of the season at 92. The left wing was sprung by Cal Clutterbucks stretch pass, and Nelson fired an end-over-end shot from the top of the left circle that beat Holtby over his glove.The goal was Nelsons first since Dec. 1.Im losing my patience a little bit with some of the guys, Capuano said. Some guys arent working smart. When you work, there has to be a method of how you go about your business. ... Im talking about the intangibles of the game.Game notes The Islanders returned D Scott Mayfield to Bridgeport of the AHL. Mayfield had one goal and two assists in three games. ... Washington scratched D Taylor Chorney and LW Andre Burakovsky, while the Islanders scratched J.F. Berube and Alan Quine. ... Cizikas missed two first-period shifts after taking a skate blade to the wrist during his first shift of the game. ... The Metropolitan Division rivals will meet twice more this season on Dec. 27 and Jan. 31, both in New York.UP NEXTCapitals: Play at Carolina on Friday night.Islanders: Host the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night.---This story has been corrected with a more accurate description of Niskanens first goal, total shots for Islanders and save total for Holtby. ' ' '