MINNEAPOLIS - As Joe Mauer walked back to the dugout, the bat in his hand and a sour look on his face, there were boos from the Minnesota crowd. Air Max 97 Plus Black . Mauer struck out to end the inning, with a runner on third base in the seventh on Wednesday and the Twins trailing 1-0. Everybody does this, of course, in a sport with a 30 per cent success rate at the plate long proven to be a benchmark of excellence. Failures this year have piled up for Mauer faster than usual for the six-time All-Star, three-time American League batting champion and one-time AL MVP. "Im a heck of a lot more frustrated than they are," Mauer said that night, when asked about those jeering fans. The sound of those boos has been jarring, considering hes the hometown guy from St. Paul with the handsome looks and the hitting skills to build a .321 career batting average, the best among all active players in baseball with at least 3,000 plate appearances. Minnesotans are fiercely proud of and protective of their natives, so Mauer figured to have a lifetime pass in the popularity department here. After signing that $184 million, eight-year contract extension in 2010, though, he has become a more-frequent target of criticism from fans frustrated by the teams struggles the past several years. The 28 home runs he hit in 138 games in 2009 were a one-year wonder. Lingering lower-body injuries limited him to 82 games in 2011. This season, his on-base-plus-slugging percentage was at a career-low .704 entering the weekend series in New York. Mauer is also on pace to blow by his career-high strikeout total of 89 set last year. "I feel pretty good actually, which is even more frustrating," he said. "Im hitting a lot of balls hard and just not having much to show for it. So hopefully that turns here soon." Mauer isnt the only one sputtering with the Twins. The teams batting average with runners in scoring position fell to .214, the second-worst in the league, after losing three of four games to Texas this week. "Were putting together a lot of good at-bats but still not driving people in with runners in scoring position. Thats the main focus, getting guys on, but we cant get them in," second baseman Brian Dozier said. Mauer reluctantly gave up his job as the catcher to better protect himself from another concussion, after missing the final six weeks of last season following a foul tip that hit him in the head. The loss to the Twins of Mauers intelligence and defence behind the plate was supposed to be trumped by an increase in his availability and production at a less-taxing position. He missed five games with back spasms earlier this month, but since then he said he feels fine. The problem has been these paltry totals: nine extra-base hits and 15 RBIs through Thursday. "The expectations are very high for him. People get frustrated. I just dont want Joe to get frustrated. I know he is a little bit right now, because he doesnt have the results he wants. But I dont want to put any more pressure on the guy," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "I just want him to just keep being himself, keep swinging, and hell be fine." ___ Dave Campbell on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/DaveCampbellAP Wholesale Air Max 720 . The 33-year-old defender has spent his entire career at Chelsea, scoring 57 goals in 621 appearances. He regained his regular starting place under Jose Mourinho in the season that ended at the weekend without Chelsea winning a trophy. Air Max 270 Black Wholesale . A strong fastball. A big, bending curveball that can buckle hitters at the knees. Against the Detroit Tigers on Sunday, Elias put the entire package together against one of the leagues strongest lineups. http://www.wholesalenikeshoesclearance.com/cheap-max-95-shoes.html . MLB.com reported that the Dodgers locked the left-hander in for one year at $10 million with up to $4 million in incentives.SAN ANTONIO -- The San Antonio Spurs have said their goal this season was not to have the leagues best record. But once it was in sight, they went for it. Danny Green had a career-high 33 points and the San Antonio Spurs rallied from a 21-point deficit to beat the Phoenix Suns 112-104 on Friday and clinch home-court throughout the playoffs. "Its a big plus," Green said. "Its not something we were focused on, but we know it will help us. Well be at home for most of the playoffs. The biggest thing for us is to stay healthy and to build chemistry. Winning games in the process helps and we get home-court advantage. Thats just the extra bonus for us." Eric Bledsoe had 30 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists to lead Phoenix (47-32), which fell into a tie with Memphis for the Wests eighth seed. Kawhi Leonard scored 18 points for the Spurs and Tony Parker added 18 points and three assists in his return from a two-game absence due to a back injury. Green was 7 for 10 on 3-pointers in pushing San Antonio (62-18) to victory without Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, who both sat out the second game of a back-to-back for rest. It appeared the remaining Spurs were taking the night off, too, as the Suns ran past them early. Phoenix took a 35-14 lead with 2 minutes left in the first quarter and was shooting 60 per cent from the field midway through the second quarter. "(The Spurs) could have said, Oh, its tough, three (games) in four nights, back-to-back, and were just going to take a blow tonight." San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "But they didnt do it. Those guys have a lot of pride. I think some of the assistant coaches got on them; cause you know I didnt, I just kind of watched a little bit." Popovich was able to jest about his demeanour, but the mood was sombre in the Suns locker room. Phoenix faces the seventh-seeded Mavericks in Dallas on Saturday night before hosting the Grizzlies on Monday and playing at Sacramento on Wednesday. The Suns likely must win out for any chance to reach the post-season. "We dont have much choice; our season is on the line,&qquot; Bledsoe said. Wholesale Lebron James Shoes. . Making matters worse is Phoenix appeared to have Fridays game well in hand until it was outscored 37-19 in the third quarter. "They do what they always do, they lock in in the second half," Bledsoe said. "When theyre down, they dont panic. We had too many good shots and good looks early. We thought we were going to come in the second half and it was going to be easy like the first half and we just werent as aggressive or locked in." After a sluggish start, Parker took over offensively to spark a 29-14 run to close the third quarter. Parker hit a 15-foot jumper, a 3-foot driving jumper and an 18-footer before Green hit a 3-pointer to pull San Antonio within 72-68 with 6:45 left in third. "I was just trying to be aggressive," Parker said. "We were down 13; so I just tried to bring some energy to the team. It was a back-to-back for everybody. And I had four or five days off, so I was just trying to bring energy." Marco Belinellis 19-foot jumper put San Antonio up 79-78, its first lead since leading 9-8 with 8 minutes left in the first quarter. Phoenix regained the lead in the fourth, taking a 98-97 advantage on Channing Fryes 3 with 4:25 remaining but Leonard and Belinelli followed with 3s to give San Antonio a lead it didnt relinquished. "Theyre a good team, it doesnt matter who they put out there, they play hard," Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said. "You know other guys want to step up and we let guys get going. Danny Green, we couldnt stop him. Tony Parker in the third was great. They played better than we did." NOTES: NBA commissioner Adam Silver attended the game after sitting in on the Spurs quarterly meeting. It was Silvers first game in San Antonio since taking over as commissioner Feb. 1 when David Stern retired. Suns G Goran Dragic (ankle) missed the game, but Phoenix coach Jeff Hornacek expects him to play Saturday in Dallas. ... Phoenix scored 37 points in the first quarter, coming within 3 points of matching the most points San Antonio has allowed in the quarter set by Houston on Dec. 25. ' ' '