HOUSTON (AP) — Justin Verlander got pushed around by the Seattle Mariners early Thursday night http://www.philliesfanproshop.com/authentic-robin-roberts-jersey , and then umpire Nic Lentz sent him off for an early shower.Certainly not what the former Cy Young and MVP Award winner had in mind for his first shot at career win No. 200.Seattle jumped on Verlander for six runs in two innings before the star right-hander was ejected for arguing a balk call in the Mariners’ 8-6 win over the Houston Astros.Mitch Haniger, Denard Span and Jean Segura combined for 10 hits and seven RBIs with a homer each off Verlander (11-7), who was ejected shortly after setting a season high for runs allowed.“Just wanted some answers,” he said. “I thought he screwed up. He clearly thought he didn’t. Just hate for the ball to be taken out of my hands that way.”Haniger gave the Mariners their first leadoff homer this season when he sent a fastball into left-center field. Span followed with his second career triple off Verlander before Segura hit a ground-rule double and Nelson Cruz added an RBI single to make it 3-0.Verlander retired the next five batters before Haniger doubled with two outs in the second. He looked to have been picked off at second with Span batting, but Verlander was instead called for a balk.Verlander barked at plate umpire Lentz and kept repeating: “I did not,” before throwing his next pitch. Span and Segura then hit back-to-back homers to push the lead to 6-0. Verlander retired Cruz before getting tossed.He was still upset about it after the game and ranted about it for about three minutes when asked what happened.“I don’t have an answer for you,” Verlander said. “I don’t know. I’ve never been called for that.”Verlander has been up and down in his last few starts and has allowed 10 homers and 15 runs the last five times out, including a season-high four homers in a loss to Detroit on July 15.James Paxton (10-5) continued his success against the Astros, yielding seven hits and four runs in 5 2/3 innings to improve to 4-0 against them this season. He said he didn’t feel great Thursday night so having such a huge cushion early helped.“That was huge,” he said. “To come out and put up those six runs in the first two innings was really big for our team. We needed to do something like that. And against as good a pitcher as Verlander gives us a lot of confidence I think.”Edwin Diaz allowed a home run to Tyler White with two outs in the ninth before striking out Josh Reddick for his 43rd save.Haniger had a season-high four hits with two RBIs, Span had three RBIs and finished a double shy of the cycle and Segura added three hits and drove in two runs.“Great night offensively,” manager Scott Servais said. “Our guys got after it early. Sometimes starting pitchers can be most vulnerable in that first inning and we jumped on him early.”The Astros cut the lead to 6-2 in the third inning when Marwin Gonzalez drove in two with a single.An RBI single by Haniger and a sacrifice fly by Span extended Seattle’s advantage to 8-2 in the sixth.Tony Kemp had three hits and drove in two runs with a single in the sixth Tug McGraw Jersey , and White’s RBI double cut the lead to 8-5 in the seventh.The Astros were forced to use five relievers to finish the game. Roberto Osuna made his home debut for the Astros in the ninth inning, allowing one hit in a scoreless frame after being acquired in a trade with the Blue Jays last week. Osuna made his first appearance since May 6 on Monday after serving a 75-game suspension for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy. The former Blue Jays closer was arrested and charged with assaulting his girlfriend May 8 in Toronto.TRAINER’S ROOMAstros: SS Carlos Correa said he’s feeling good and expects to come off the disabled list Friday. He hasn’t played since June 25 because of a sore lower back and just finished a five-game rehab assignment at Double-A Corpus Christi. … 2B Jose Altuve, who hasn’t played since July 25 because of soreness in his right knee, is improving, but there is still no set date for his return.ZEROESSeattle reliever Alex Colome threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings on Thursday night to extend his scoreless streak to 16 2/3 innings over 16 games.UP NEXTHouston’s Gerrit Cole (10-4, 2.64 ERA) opposes Seattle’s Mike Leake (8-7, 4.16) when the series continues Friday night. Cole lost his second straight start Sunday when he allowed six hits and three runs in five innings of a 3-2 loss to the Dodgers. Leake is looking for his first win since June 23 after going 0-3 in his last seven starts. MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Twins‘ blueprint for 2018 included a dynamic young center fielder making great plays on defense and coming up with big hits. Of course, that role was supposed to be filled by Byron Buxton, once considered the top prospect in baseball.Instead, the Twins are rallying around Jake Cave.Cave hit his first career grand slam and closer Fernando Rodney survived a chaotic ninth inning as the Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 6-5 on Sunday.Buxton’s 2018 has been mostly a washout due to injuries. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2012 draft was optioned to Triple-A Rochester and is currently on the minor league disabled list with an injured wrist. That opened the door for Cave, a 25-year-old rookie the Twins acquired in a minor league trade with the Yankees this spring.“This is my dream,” said Cave Drew Hutchison Jersey , who’s more or less been the Twins’ everyday center fielder since late June. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”Cave homered in his major league debut on May 19, and he established himself with a number of highlight-reel catches along the way, earning him the trust of manager Paul Molitor. The latest step in that process is came Sunday as Molitor started the left-handed hitting Cave against a hard-throwing lefty in Kansas City’s Danny Duffy (7-10), who had been tough on the Twins in three prior starts this season.That trust was rewarded with two outs in the second inning when Cave jumped on a full-count fastball for his first career grand slam and fourth homer of the season to put the Twins on top 4-2.“I know Duffy’s got good stuff, I know he’s a competitor, and I know he’s going to come right at me at some point with the heater,” Cave said. “I got it, just stayed short, didn’t try to do too much, and I was rewarded.”Cave fell behind 1-2 in the at-bat and then laid off some tough pitches, including a curveball that just missed inside at 1-2 and a fastball just below the knees one pitch before the grand slam.“I had him punched out twice, and it’s tough to see the ball go out of the yard Larry Bowa Jersey ,” Duffy said. “But you still have to keep pitching.”Molitor likes what he’s seen so far from the Twins’ second choice in center field.“He’s got a little moxie to his game. He’s not afraid to take some chances on the bases and defensively, which is good because when he got up here we said, ‘Don’t play tentative.’ If you play timid, the game will bite you,” Molitor said. “I think he’s taking advantage so far. Hopefully it’s a good step for him as he tries to get himself established up here.”RODNEY WALKS THE TIGHTROPERodney came on to protect a one-run lead and promptly gave up Whit Merrifield’s fourth hit of the game leading off the ninth. But catcher Mitch Garver threw out Merrifield trying to steal second. Alex Gordon then struck out. Big sigh of relief, right?Hold that thought. Salvador Perez lined a single to center. Pinch runner Adalberto Mondesi stole second, then took third as Lucas Duda walked on a full-count pitch. Duda even stole second, his first stolen base since 2014.But with the tying run 90 feet away, Rodney retired Rosell Herrera on a ground ball to earn his 24th save in 30 chances.“I thought that we were going to find a way to score a run there,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “We just couldn’t muster it.”QUOTABLE“It’s easy to get frustrated, which I did. I came back to the dugout and I had my little 30 seconds of being upset. But I know we’re winning this game, we’re up by one and we’ve got our big man (Rodney) coming in in the ninth. I’ve got no choice but to give my best for him.” — Garver http://www.philliesfanproshop.com/authentic-jim-bunning-jersey , on refocusing after he grounded into a rally-killing double play in the eighth inningSHORT STARTTwins starter Ervin Santana lasted just 4 1/3 innings in his third start since spending half of the season on the disabled list. Santana gave up three runs on seven hits and left after throwing 78 pitches.Lefty Gabriel Moya (2-0) got out of the two-on, one-out jam and earned his second career victory. He picked up career win No. 1 in Friday’s series opener.“I just kind of felt we were at a little bit of a crossroad there,” Molitor said about pulling Santana in the fifth inning. “My gut told me we wanted to go ahead and try to get those last two outs with Moya, and thankfully he got it done.”TRAINER’S ROOMRoyals: Mondesi got a second day off to rest his right shoulder, which he strained while diving for a ball on Friday.Twins: Grossman was replaced by a pinch runner after hitting a one-out single in the seventh. After initially listing him as day-to-day with a mild right hamstring strain, the team announced after the game that Grossman would be placed on the 10-day disabled list.UP NEXTRoyals: RHP Jakob Junis (6-11, 5.12 ERA) takes the mound on Monday to open a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs in Kansas City. In his last start, Junis pitched into the sixth inning and struck out five White Sox to pick up his first victory since May 18.Twins: RHP Kyle Gibson (5-8, 3.47) will face the Indians for the second straight outing as the Twins open a three-game series in Cleveland on Monday. Gibson pitched six innings and allowed three earned runs while fanning six in a 6-2 loss to the Indians last Tuesday.