MINNEAPOLIS -- Theres no mystery about this. . As Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau perform, the Minnesota Twins will follow. Timely home runs by both of the former American League MVPs? Thats as close to a formula for victory the Twins can find. Morneau hit a two-run, go-ahead homer in the eighth inning, and the Twins rallied from six runs down to defeat the Los Angeles Angels 10-9 on Thursday. "That feeling when it comes off the bat and you know its gone, theres nothing like that in baseball," Morneau said. Mauer went deep, too, hitting a three-run shot off Dan Haren in the fifth that cut into a 6-0 lead the Angels built against Francisco Liriano. Every Twins batter had at least one of the teams 20 hits, enough to make up for the 14 men left on base, including eight in scoring position. "We know we can do it," Mauer said. "Maybe everybody else doesnt." The skepticism stems of course from their health. With Mauers knees and Morneaus concussion, the franchise cornerstones -- who make up more than one-third of the teams payroll -- have missed big chunks of the last two years. This was the first time Mauer and Morneau homered in the same game since July 6, 2010, the day before Morneau took that hit to the head. "I saw it in spring training. I saw it today. Its fun to watch those guys hit," said Josh Willingham, who started a three-run seventh with his fourth of Minnesotas six home runs this year. Maicer Izturis hit a two-run single in a five-run second inning and had two of the Angels five steals. Mark Trumbo homered and scored a run in the fifth on Vernon Wells two-out ground-rule double when he walked and stole a base. But that wasnt enough. Denard Span had four hits, including an infield single that tied the game at 6 in the seventh inning. On the play, he reached first at the same time as Scott Downs, inadvertently stomping down on top of the relievers foot with his cleat. Downs right ankle rolled awkwardly, and he left the game what the team called a bruise. He was on crutches afterward. Which hurt worse? The inning or the injury? "Both," Downs said. "Thats baseball. Thats going to happen. Its not fun to watch, thats for sure. Its just something we have to bounce back from as a bullpen and go back at it." Without LaTroy Hawkins or Jason Isringhausen available to pitch after working the night before, manager Mike Scioscia didnt have many options. The bullpen gave up 11 hits and seven runs over the last four innings. "Were going to need to get our starters maybe over that little hump and then try to get our roles in the bullpen a little more nailed down," Scioscia said. "Our guys tried. We just couldnt shut the door when we needed it." Peter Bourjos hit an RBI single off Brian Duensing, whose wild pitch let Wells take second. That put the Angels in front again in the eighth -- for a few minutes. Mauer singled off Rich Thompson (0-1), and Morneau followed with his first home run of the season. He had left seven runners on before that. The Twins tacked on two more runs, and the drama didnt stop there. Jeff Gray (2-0) picked up the victory, and Matt Capps notched his second save despite giving the Angels two runs back. Albert Pujols, 5 for 23 with his new team, singled to start the ninth and reached third when Torii Hunters possible double-play ball skipped off second base for a fluke single. Trumbo cut the lead to two with an RBI single, Wells beat out another potential double-play ball and another run scored on a fielders choice to first. Chris Iannettas slow roller to third ended the game with a runner on second. "If I get 65 of them this year and every one of them is like that, Ill be happy," Capps said. Haren struck out Mauer, and Morneau flied out to the warning track with Span on third in the first inning. Mauers infield pop out and Morneaus lazy fly followed a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the third, and boos came from the crowd. But Mauer got one back in a big way in his next at-bat. "To hit one good and get it out of the park, its definitely a good feeling," he said. NOTES: With RH Jason Marquis making his final minor league tuneup start Thursday and RH Scott Baker set for season-ending elbow surgery, the fifth spot in the rotation has become a competition between RH Anthony Swarzak, who pitches Friday, and RH Liam Liam Hendriks, who takes the mound Sunday. ... LH Matt Harrison, who threw six scoreless innings to win his first start for the Texas Rangers, faces Swarzak on Friday for Texas. ... The Angels send Ervin Santana (0-1, 7.94 ERA) to the mound on Friday in New York to face Hiroki Kuroda (0-1, 6.35 ERA) of the Yankees. [url=http://www.lionsofficialteamstore.com/autographed-mikel-leshoure-jersey-vt-... Leshoure Jersey . The Whitecaps (8-5-6) had hoped to redeem themselves Wednesday in Toronto, but fell 3-2 on a last-minute goal by former Vancouver midfielder Terry Dunfield. The loss to the struggling Reds added to the disappointment of dropping the Amway Canadian championship to them in May. . -- Graeme McDowell knew it was a mistake as soon as he glanced up at the scoreboard. [url=http://www.lionsofficialteamstore.com/autographed-ron-bartell-jersey-ih-49.... .Y. -- As if a deflating season-opening loss wasnt bad enough in putting a dent in the Buffalo Bills high expectations. [url=http://www.lionsofficialteamstore.com/autographed-riley-reiff-jersey-rc-63.... Reiff Jersey . was released from a Las Vegas jail early Friday after serving two months of a three-month sentence in a misdemeanour domestic battery case. . The former WBO and WBU champion was 46. Sanders was shot in the hand and stomach at a family members 21st birthday gathering at the restaurant in Brits, in South Africas North West province, on Saturday night, police said. He died in a hospital in the capital city Pretoria in the early hours of Sunday morning.WIMBLEDON, England - Andy Roddick found his form quickly in his first Olympic match Monday, beating Martin Klizan of Slovakia, 7-5, 6-4 in the first round at Wimbledon. Roddick converted only two of 13 break-point chances but dominated with his serve, as often happens at Wimbledon, where hes a two-time runner-up. "I served really well," he said. "I would have liked to have converted more break points. But I got a couple and, thankfully, thats all I needed." The Olympic match, delayed one day by rain, was Roddicks first in eight years. He lost in the third round at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games and skipped Beijing 2008. As a price for being unseeded, hell face a daunting challenge in the second round: Novak Djokovic, the 2011 Wimbledon champion. "The guy has been the best player in the world over the last couple of years," Roddick said. "Its going to be tough. But the situation, weve both been through it a million times. Im going to have to serve well and take some chances on returns." Lleyton Hewitt of Australian and Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, both threee-time Olympians, won their opening matches. [url=http://www.lionsofficialteamstore.com/autographed-amari-spievey-jersey-rl-5... Spievey Jersey. No. 9-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina, No. 13 Marin Cilic of Croatia, No. 16 Richard Gasquet of France and big-serving Milos Raonic of Canada also advanced. American Varvara Lepchenko eliminated Veronica Cepede Royg of Paraguay 7-5, 6-7 (6), 6-2. Their match was tied after two sets when play was suspended Sunday because of rain. Roddick, a dedicated Davis Cup player for the United States, took Court 2 on a sunny morning looking particularly patriotic. He wore a blue shirt, white shorts and stars-and-stripes shoes. "Posh sneakers, Andy," shouted a spectator with a British accent. Roddick had the bulk of the crowd support, although a chant of "U-S-A! U-S-A!" quickly fizzled. He lost only nine points in 11 service games, and the first break point came on the final shot of the opening set, which put him ahead to stay. Roddick won with more than just his serve, hitting several improbable shots, including a back-to-the-net lob to help win one point, and a backhand as he did a belly flop behind the baseline. ' ' '