Kommandozentrale » in his second start against his former club,

HOUSTON -- Minnesota rookie Chris Colabello admitted he was putting too much pressure on himself as he struggled through a terrible offensive skid. Once he settled down, he started to feel better at the plate and on Monday he broke out of his slump in a big way. Colabello homered twice, including a tiebreaking grand slam in the ninth inning, to lift the Minnesota Twins to a 10-6 win over the Houston Astros. It was 6-all before Chia-Jen Lo (0-3) allowed a single to Brian Dozier with one out in the ninth. Doug Bernier and Chris Herrmann drew two-out walks on full-count pitches before Colabello hit the next pitch into the bullpen in right-centre. It was the first career grand slam for the 29-year-old Colabello, who ended a 0-for-23 skid with a single on Sunday. He spent years playing Independent League baseball before signing with the Twins last season. "Having spent as much time as I did in (independent) league ball I wanted to impress people," he said. "Any time you get into a new environment you want to go out and impress people every day and you kind of get yourself out of your element and things get a little out of character there. When you do that, its very hard to be yourself." "The biggest goal for a hitter is to go out and be yourself," he continued. "Trust your approach. Trust what you do. Believe in what got you here and then go from there. Today was a good step in that direction." Manager Ron Gardenhire was impressed with his performance on Monday. "That was pretty nice swings driving the ball," he said. "Thats a big day for him; we needed it." The Twins trailed 5-1 after two innings, but chipped away at the lead with the help of solo homers by Trevor Plouffe, Colabello and Dozier. A two-out RBI single by Pedro Florimon tied it in the eighth. Plouffe tied a career high with three hits and Doziers home run gives him 16 this season, which ties a franchise record for a second baseman. Chris Carter and Jason Castro drove in two runs apiece and Jose Altuve tied a career high with four hits for the Astros, who have lost six of seven. Josh Roenicke (3-1) pitched two hitless innings for the win. Minnesota starter Andrew Albers allowed nine hits and five runs, tying career highs, in 1 2-3 innings. "Today I left a lot of balls up and left a lot of balls right over the middle and they made me pay," he said. "It obviously wasnt a very good day." Houstons Paul Clemens allowed seven hits and four runs in 3 2-3 innings in his second major league start after making 30 relief appearances. Trevor Crowe hit an RBI single that capped a three-run first for Houston. Plouffe homered in the second. The Astros scored twice in their half. "Offensively we swung the bats well early and could not get anything after that," manager Bo Porter said. "Their bullpen did a good job of holding it right there and gave their offence a chance for the late inning rally that they put together." Castro, Houstons All-Star catcher, was injured in the second inning. He hit an RBI single, which skidded down the left field line to make it 4-1. Castro left the game after the hit. He appeared to injure himself on the swing on a foul ball the pitch before the single. He trotted slowly to first base on the hit and chatted with the team trainer and Porter for a couple of minutes before being replaced by Cody Clark. The injury leaves Clark as Houstons only healthy catcher. Carlos Corporan and Max Stassi are both on the seven-day concussion disabled list. Porter didnt have an update on Castro after the game. "Ill wait and see what the doctor says," he said. "I dont want to jump to any conclusions." NOTES: The series continues tomorrow when Houston rookie Jarred Cosart (1-1) opposes Pedro Hernandez (3-1). ... Longtime former Astros radio broadcaster Milo Hamilton was at the ballpark on Monday to celebrate his 86th birthday. Nike Air Max 95 Sale Nederland . Wayne and Cindy Tuck of Ilderton, Ont., closed out round-robin play earlier in the day with a 7-3 win over Finland but needed a win over Austria to reach the final eight. Nike Air Max 98 Dames Sale .C. Lions 35-14, was named the CFLs offensive player of the week Tuesday. Sheets recorded his ninth 100-yard rushing performance of the season to tie the Riders club record. http://www.airmaxkopennederland.com/uitverkoop-air-max-95.html . "All he says is, its crazy," DeMar DeRozan told reporters following Torontos win over the Pistons Wednesday. The Raptors longest-serving members, Johnson and DeRozan have had two coaches and 56 different teammates in five seasons with the club, all without appearing in a single playoff game. Nike Air Max Classic Bw Nederland . The visitors missed a host of good chances to win the game, and were left to rue substitute Ivo Ilicevics strike against the crossbar in the 86th minute, when he only had the goalkeeper to beat. Nike Air Max 90 Dames Goedkoop . Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley told local media in comments published Wednesday that John Tomic would not be allowed into Melbourne Park in any official capacity or as a spectator.GUELPH, Ont. -- Jake Paterson made 39 saves as the Saginaw Spirit halted the Guelph Storms seven-game win streak with a 6-3 victory on Sunday in Ontario Hockey League action. Dylan Sadowy and Eric Locke each scored twice for the Spirit (29-26-5) while Jeremiah Addison had a goal and an assist. Nick Moutrey added a single goal for Saginaw and Kristoff Kontos tacked on two assists. Scott Kosmachuk, Zack Mitchell and Steven Trojanovic supplied the scoring for the Storm (45-10-3), who hold a four-point lead on the London Knights for top spot in the OHL standings. Guelphs Justin Nichols allowed three goals on 17 shots and was pulled at the 7:11 mark of the second period. Matthew Mancina stopped 17-of-19 shots in 33 minutes of relief. --- 67s 4 RANGERS 2 KITCHENER, Ont. -- Brendan Bell scored twice and Philippe Trudeau turned away 39 shots as Ottawa doubled up the Rangers to keep pace in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Connor Brown and Brett Gustavsen also scored for the 67s (21-34-4), who are tied for eighth in the conference, and Erik Bradford had two assists. Darby Llewellyn and Frank Hora scored for Kitchener (22-34-3), which sits five points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Jordan Dekort turned aside 20-of-23 shots for the Rangers. --- STEELHEADS 2 ICEDOGS 0 MISSISSAUGA, Ont. -- Spencer Martin stopped 35 shots, including 15 in the third period, as the Steelheads blanked Niagara. Sean Day opened the scoring for Mississauga (22-33-4) at 11:30 of the second period and Josh Burnside added an insurance goal at 5:06 of the third. Vince Dunn was a team-worst minus-2 for the IceDogs (19-32-8), who sit ninth in the Eastern Conference. Niagaras Brent Moran kicked out 29-of-31 shots in a losing cause. --- COLTS 5 WOLVES 3 SUDBURY, Ont. -- Andrew Mangiapane scored twice as Barrie came from behind to defeat the Wolves. Brendan Lemieux, Tyson Fawcett and Aaron Ekbblad also scored for the Colts (31-24-3), who trailed by two goals twice in the game.dddddddddddd Nicolas Baptiste and Kevin Raine scored 10 seconds apart in the first period to give Sudbury (30-19-9) a 2-0 lead and Trevor Carrick made it 3-1 before Barrie scored four unanswered goals. Daniel Gibl stopped 29 shots for the Colts as Franky Palazzese made 32 saves for the Wolves. --- BULLS 3 PETES 2 BELLEVILLE, Ont. -- Adam Laishram broke a 2-2 deadlock at 12:01 of the third period as the Bulls edged Peterborough to move within three points of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Cameron Brace and Jake Bricknell also scored for Belleville (19-35-5). The Petes (26-28-5) got goals form Nelson Armstrong and Greg Betzold. Michael Giugovaz, in his second start against his former club, made 25 saves for the Bulls. Andrew DAgostini stopped 27 shots for Peterborough. --- SPITFIRES 6 STING 2 WINDSOR, Ont. -- Eric Diodati, Brady Vail, Josh Ho-Sang and Sam Povorozniouk each had a goal and an assist as the Spitfires handed Sarnia its 12th loss in its last 13 outings. Brody Milne and Ryan Moore also scored for Windsor (35-22-3) while Ryan Foss and Ben Johnson each chipped in with two assists. Nickolas Latta and Brandon Lindberg scored for the last-place Sting (16-38-6). Dalen Kuchmey made 22 saves for the Spitfires as Sarnias Brodie Barrick turned away 30-of-36 shots in a losing cause. --- GENERALS 7 FRONTENACS 2 OSHAWA, Ont. -- Scott Laughton scored three times and set up one more as the Generals crushed Kingston. Cole Cassels, Josh Sterk, Colin Suellentrop and Stephen Desrocher also scored for Oshawa (39-16-5). Henri Ikonen and Roland McKeown scored for the Frontenacs (32-21-4) while forward Mack Lemmon was ejected 6:37 into the game for a boarding major. Daniel Althsuller made 38 saves for the Generals. Matt Mahalak allowed seven goals on 29 shots for Kingston. ' ' '