HOUSTON -- One night after staging an impressive comeback victory, the Minnesota Twins found themselves on the other side of an impressive rally. They managed to stick around long enough to get the win. Clete Thomas scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch in the 12th inning and Darin Mastroianni added a two-run double, helping the Twins beat the Houston Astros 9-6 on Tuesday for their third straight win. "A long one but a good one for us," Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said. Thomas reached on a fielders choice and went to third on Josmil Pintos double. Kevin Chapman (0-1) then uncorked a wild pitch with pinch-hitter Ryan Doumit at the plate. Mastroianni provided a couple of insurance runs when he doubled with two down as Minnesota recovered after Glen Perkins blew a save opportunity in the ninth. "We havent lost a lead too many times with Perk in the game; he just didnt have his stuff," Gardenhire said. "He said it -- he couldnt locate the baseball." Brian Dozier and Trevor Plouffe homered for Minnesota, which improved to 5-0 against major league-worst Houston. Plouffe and Pinto had four hits apiece, and Mastroianni went 3 for 6 with three RBIs. "Chapman threw me a slider, and I thought it was a ball but the umpire called it a strike," Pinto said of his key double in the 12th. "I told myself to try a little harder and the next pitch was a slider and I hit it." Brandon Barnes had three hits and five RBIs for the Astros, including a tying three-run homer off Perkins with two out in the ninth. "(Minnesota) ended up doing a little bit more than we did," Astros manager Bo Porter said. Caleb Thielbar (3-2) pitched two hitless innings for the win and Josh Roenicke finished for his first save. Barnes and Marwin Gonzalez walked with one out in the 12th, but Roenicke retired the next two batters to get out of the jam. The Twins won 10-6 in Mondays series opener by scoring five times in the last two innings, including Chris Colabellos tiebreaking grand slam in the ninth. But Houston responded with its own comeback in the second game. With two out and none on in the ninth, Perkins hit Brett Wallace with a pitch and L.J. Hoes then singled to right to put runners on the corners. Perkins got ahead of Barnes 0-2 before he sent the next pitch over the wall in right for his seventh homer. "Weve been fighting," Barnes said. "Weve been on the wrong side of some games, but we fight. We battle. Were young and were still learning." The Twins got to Jarred Cosart for two in the first and two more in the third while building a 4-1 lead. Dozier went deep in the first and Plouffe added another two-run shot in the third after Cosart walked Josh Willingham on four pitches with two out. Cosart, who entered with a 1.59 ERA through eight starts, gave up four runs and five hits in four innings. He struck out five and walked three. "Its kind of what everyones been waiting for," Cosart said of his outing. "I didnt get the results. A starters job is to keep the team in the game and give us a chance to win the game. I didnt do that today." Chris Carter hit his 27th homer in the second for the Astros, and Barnes two-run single cut Minnesotas lead to 4-3 in the seventh. But Houston lost a chance for a bigger inning when Barnes was thrown out at the plate when Gonzalez was caught between first and second. Pedro Hernandez allowed two runs and six hits in six-plus innings for the Twins. It was his first start since being recalled from Triple-A Rochester on Aug. 30 after Samuel Deduno went on the 15-day disabled list with a right shoulder injury. "We used a lot of pitching," Gardenhire said. "Our starter was good; Hernandez was fine. We had like a 70- to 80-pitch limit on him and he was pretty close to right around there." NOTES: Astros All-Star C Jason Castro was out of the lineup after spraining his right knee on Monday. "The good news is that theres no structural damage," Porter said. "Hes day to day and hes obviously sore right now." Castro said he had a cyst drained Tuesday. ... Astros 3B Matt Dominguez was out of the lineup with a stomach illness. ... The Astros acquired C Matt Pagnozzi from Atlanta for cash. Houston transferred RHP Edgar Gonzalez to the 60-day disabled list to make room for Pagnozzi on the roster. Rodney McGruder Jersey .Tzavelas opened the scoring in the 11th and Pereyra added another in the 51st. Emmanuel Kone pulled one back in the 80th and Levadiakos missed several chances to level in the last 10 minutes. Jerome Robinson Clippers Jersey . TSNs coverage of the Third Round gets underway Sunday with Game 1: Los Angeles at Chicago at 3pm et/Noon pt. TSNs broadcast schedule for the Third Round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs is as follows: Chicago Blackhawks vs. Los Angeles Kings• Game 1: Los Angeles at Chicago – Sunday, May 18 at 3pm et/Noon pt• Game 2: Los Angeles at Chicago – Wednesday, May 21 at 8pm et/5pm pt• Game 4: Chicago at Los Angeles – Monday, May 26 at 9pm et/6pm pt Featured in the broadcast booth for TSN are play-by-play announcer Chris Cuthbert and game analyst Ray Ferraro, with Farhan Lalji contributing reports from rinkside. https://www.clipperslockerroom.com/Chris-Paul-City-Edition-Jersey/ . "This doesnt end anything," he said. "Weve got 10-1 in our last 11 games, and were going home in first place. We just have to keep playing the way we are right now. Mfiondu Kabengele Jersey . The Brazilian-born strikers brace drew him level with Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo as the leagues leading scorers with 17 goals apiece through 16 rounds. "The important thing is to help the team win, not the goals," Diego Costa said. After a first half dominated by defence, Atletico pressed Valencia into its area and Diego Costa did the rest. Johnathan Motley Jersey . Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane wanted to stay in Chicago and the Blackhawks wanted to keep the high-scoring forwards in the only NHL uniform they have ever known. SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- North Carolina has beaten Michigan State, Kentucky and reigning national champion Louisville in this up-and-down season, but the Tar Heels were no match for No. 2 Syracuse. A strong start keyed by James Michael McAdoo vanished amid the Oranges flailing arms and diving bodies, and Syracuse beat UNC 57-45 on Saturday in an Atlantic Coast Conference marquee matchup. Forwards C.J. Fair and Jerami Grant combined for 32 points and 20 rebounds to pace the Orange, who shot a season-low 35 per cent (21 of 60) and still won handily, leading by as many as 19 late in the second half. "They got by and won a game shooting 35 per cent," said UNC coach Roy Williams, who dropped to 1-4 against Syracuse in his Hall of Fame career. "The first six or eight or 10 minutes, I thought we were aggressive. We were involved. I thought after that point they were just so much more aggressive than we were. It ends up a 12-point game, but it really was more than a 12-point game. "They had so much more intensity than we did." Not at the start. North Carolina attacked the middle of the Syracuse zone with great success at the outset, with McAdoo hitting a pair of jumpers and J.P. Tokoto another from the foul line as the Tar Heels gained an 8-4 lead in the first 4 minutes. "We started slow, let McAdoo get in the lane," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "Once we got back in front, our defence was good the whole game." The Orange regrouped after a timeout and went on a 17-5 run keyed by Fair and Grant, who did all the scoring. Fair, who had three early turnovers and was struggling at the start, hit a 3 from the wing and converted three free throws to give Syracuse a 19-15 lead, and two free throws by Grant completed a 10-0 spurt that put the Orange on top to stay, 21-15 at 8:53. The Tar Heels cooled off in a big way after the solid start, unable to penetrate inside. After Paige converted a three-point play with 13:04 left, UNC got only a fast-break slam dunk by McAdoo, a layup by Nate Britt and a jumper in the lane by Leslie McDonald in the ensuing 11 minutes and went into the locker room at halftime trailing 34-22. "Forr us, not being able to get looks -- we were successful early in the game.dddddddddddd Thats really on us, McAdoo said. "And also them being really good." Syracuse (16-0, 3-0 ACC) evened its all-time record against the North Carolina (10-6, 0-3) to 4-4. UNC started 0-2 in ACC play three times in the past five years and five times overall, and the loss to Syracuse equaled the worst conference start in school history in 1996-97, Dean Smiths final year as head coach. The last time North Carolina scored fewer than 45 points was in a 56-44 loss to eventual national champion Villanova in the Southeast Regional final of the 1985 NCAA tournament. The Tar Heels also beat North Carolina State 45-44 in February 1997. UNC shot 2 of 12 from behind the arc against the Syracuse zone and 20 of 51 (39.2 per cent) overall and was outrebounded 41-35, 17-10 on the offensive glass, netting just two second-chance points. "They were just playing harder," said Tokoto, who finished with three points on 1-of-6 shooting. "Thats pretty much what it was. We couldnt knock down the shots we needed to make and go on our run." The Tar Heels dont play again for a week, when they host Boston College. "Cant go backwards," Tokoto said. "Its on to the next game. Just got to look at the film, look at what we did wrong as a team, and where we can improve on." North Carolina was coming off a 63-57 home loss to Miami in which the Tar Heels shot just 31 per cent (20 for 65) and finished with a season-low scoring output against Miamis zone. This game, which featured teams with a combined 3,990 wins (UNC is third with 2,100 and Syracuse fifth with 1,890) was decided by a dominant first half by the Orange. Tyler Ennis finished with 10 points and seven assists to go with a season-high four turnovers, and Trevor Cooney had five steals and 10 points on 4-of-17 shooting. Rakeem Christmas contributed eight rebounds and had four of the Oranges nine blocks. Marcus Paige led North Carolina with 17 points and McAdoo had 15 points and nine rebounds. Desmond Hubert suffered a concussion in practice Friday and did not play against Syracuse. ' ' '