MINNEAPOLIS -- Adrian Peterson would have been forgiven for sitting this one out. Two days earlier, Petersons 2-year-old son was killed in an alleged case of child abuse in Sioux Falls, S.D. The alleged assailant is in jail, and Peterson rushed to the hospital Thursday to see the child before vowing to play against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. Even after his Minnesota Vikings were thumped 35-10 by the Panthers and booed off the field by their home crowd, Peterson said he never wavered in his decision to play. "I was set on it," said Peterson, who was held to 62 yards on 10 carries. "I just look at things and I dont ask people to understand my mindset and how I think. Anything bad, I try to take good from it. Thats the way I approach life in all situations. I never thought about not playing. It was all about just going out there and praying that I have the strength to get through and help my team. That was my focus." Fans held signs that read "Stay Strong 28" and "Prayers for Adrian," and several teammates offered hugs and well wishes before the game for their MVP. "I just prayed and asked God to give me the strength just to get through the game, just play and focus," Peterson said. "And for the most part, I did. It was a terrible way to lose, but we can learn from this, make some corrections and get back on track." The Vikings (1-4) delivered as flat of a performance as theyve had in recent memory to fall even further back in the muddled NFC playoff picture. Matt Cassel was intercepted twice, the defence was burned for big play after big play and the Vikings trailed 28-3 with 6 minutes left in the third quarter to send fans heading for the exits. The stout Carolina defence made things tough for Peterson. He was able to rip off one run of 31 yards, but was bottled up for the rest of the afternoon and was held to his lowest yardage output since Week 2 last season. Peterson declined to discuss the relationship he had with the boy, who lived with his mother in Sioux Falls. The mothers boyfriend, Joseph Patterson, is charged with aggravated assault and aggravated battery. "Can we focus on football? Im not really trying to get into details on that," Peterson said. "We just got blown out by (25) points. So lets focus on football and what the Minnesota Vikings can do to get better." Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said he thought his star running back handled himself well during the trying circumstances. "Its a difficult, difficult situation and there are a lot of people trying to support him within in the organization, his teammates as well," Frazier said. Panthers safety Mike Mitchell, who had two interceptions and a sack, sought out Peterson during the game to offer some words of encouragement. Mitchell said he mentioned to the deeply religious Peterson the Bible verse Jeremiah 29:11 about God providing hope for the future. "I told him that to keep that in his heart as he continues to take this challenge going forward," Mitchell said. Peterson said he is leaning on his teammates and family to help him through, and he will continue to look to the football field as a shelter, as he has throughout his life during the toughest of times. And the Vikings will have to lean on Peterson if they hope to get things turned around before its too late. "In life situations, and in football, youve got to continue to believe," Peterson said. "Weve got to get everyone with that same mindset, to believe no matter what the circumstances. Were 1-4. Weve got to believe and have faith that were going to be able to turn it around and accomplish our goals. Thats the way I think. We just have to get everyone thinking the same way." Custom St. Louis Cardinals Jerseys . Sijsling, ranked 74th in the world, was leading 6-0, 4-1 when his Italian opponent called it quits after just 39 minutes on court. 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Van Slyke drove in a career-high four runs with two homers off struggling left-hander Tony Cingrani, and the Los Angeles Dodgers pulled away to a 6-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night, a rare comfortable win in their pitching-dominated series. Jedd Gyorko Cardinals Jersey . -- Arizona coach Bruce Arians says there "were obviously very, very many problems" with the officiating in the Cardinals 24-21 loss at Philadelphia.HOUSTON -- The Houston Astros had solid pitching but couldnt get their offence going in the first two games against Atlanta. On Thursday, they finally put together a complete game and won 6-1 to avoid a series sweep. Matt Dominguez broke out of a slump with a three-run home run and rookie George Springer also homered to back up seven strong innings by Jarred Cosart. Dominguez snapped an 0-for-23 skid with his two-out shot to left-centre field off Mike Minor (2-5) that made it 5-1 in the fifth inning. "Thats the big hit that when we were in this here funk that we were in, that was the big hit that had been eluding us," manager Bo Porter said. Dominguez said there was a mixture of relief and excitement when he connected on his home run. "I try not to focus on it but of course it gets in your head," Dominguez said. "Good situation. Got a good pitch to hit and I was finally able to put the barrel on it." Cosart (8-5) allowed six hits and a run for his fourth straight victory. Porter believes that Cosarts presence on the mound has improved with each start this season and the 24-year-old agreed. "When Im throwing strikes I have a lot more confidence and obviously thats what theyve been preaching," Cosart said. "And with the mechanical stuff Ive been doing I have a lot more confidence in throwing strikes and just being able to trust my stuff and attack the hitters and know Ive got a really good defence behind me thats going to make a lot of plays for me." Springers solo homer off Juan Jaime in the seventh pushed the lead to 6-1. He has 15 homers this season, the most by a rookie in franchise history before the All-Star Break. Lance Berkman had the previous mark with 12 in 2000. Minor gave up seven hits and five runs in six innings to remain winless since May 19. Jon Singleton had two hits and an RBI and Jose Altuve added a pair of hits and swiped two bases ffor the Astros, who had managed just four runs combined and had been shut out twice in a four-game losing streak.dddddddddddd. Altuve leads the American League with 107 hits and 30 steals. Justin Upton had two hits on Thursday and hit .364 with two homers and four RBIs in the series and B.J. Upton had a hit and scored Atlantas only run. "Things just didnt go our way," Justin Upton said. "For the most part we tried to play a little small ball with our run-scoring struggles and weve done a pretty good job of it. (Thursday) it didnt work out for us and we didnt get the big ball, either." The Braves had trouble stringing together hits against Cosart and he was helped by the Astros turning a pair of double plays. Evan Gattis doubled to start the seventh before Jason Heyward drew a walk, but Cosart retired the next three batters to end the threat. B.J. Upton hit a leadoff single before stealing second and taking third on an error on the throw by Jason Castro. The Braves went up 1-0 when he scored on a sacrifice fly by Tony La Stella. Altuve singled and a double by Singleton, which bounced off the wall in left field, sent him home to tie it at 1-1 in the first. Minor plunked Dominguez to start Houstons fourth before a double by Castro. The Astros took a 2-1 lead when Castro scored on a groundout by Jesus Guzman. NOTES: The Astros opened their gates 30 minutes early Thursday to allow fans to watch the World Cup match between the United States and Germany on the stadiums big screens. ... Atlanta 1B Freddie Freeman was back in the lineup after leaving Wednesday nights game in the eighth inning after being hit by a pitch on the right elbow. ... Houston selected the contract of RHP Jose Veras from Triple-A Oklahoma City and outrighted RHP Kyle Farnsworth before the game and he has elected free agency. Veras struck out Justin Upton for the last out of the game. ' ' '