Twins Take Down A's 7-2, Keep Ground in AL Wild Card Hunt

The Oakland A’s had been playing some great come-back ball, sweeping the Cleveland Indians in their previous home series, but the Minnesota Twins were not having it, as they came into town and knocked around Oakland’s starter to end their streak at four.

It was a rough outing for the A’s Brandon McCarthy, who was not sharp and labored through 3.1 innings, allowing six runs (all earned) off of ten hits.  Coming into the game, McCarthy’s ERA stood at 2.68 and had thrown five quality starts, going 3-1 over that span.  After tonight’s un-characteristic outing, his ERA now stands at a still respectable 3.16, and he was able to get a couple strikeouts, issuing only one walk.  Even if that walk did end up coming back to haunt him, and scored.

It was relief pitcher Travis Blackley that came in and actually did really well against the charging Twins, pitching 5.2 innings of one-run ball.

Darin Mastroianni was 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored.  Joe Mauer went 3-for-5 knocking in a pair in the top of the 4th, only to have Josh Willingham do the same but score a run as well.  It was a good night for a struggling Twing club.

Catcher Derek Norris and shortstop Adam Rosales both collected a pair of hits, but were left on.  The only runs for Oakland came off a double from Josh Donaldson to knock in Yoenis Cespedes in the 2nd,  and Coco Crisp coming in to score off a sacrifice groundout by out-fielder Josh Reddick in the 3rd.

Athletic hitters collected a mere six hits.

Minnesota’s Brian Duensing was solid, going six strong innings allowing only two runs (one earned) off of five hits, striking out seven and walking one.  With the win, he is now 3-8 and has lowered his ERA from 4.69 to 4.46.

A bit of exciting news for A’s fans, as lefty Brett Anderson will make his 2012 debut after spending the season thus far on the disabled list recovering from Tommy John surgery.  Hopefully his return to action will shake off the bad feelings from a disappointing loss to a Minnesota team that had lost its five previous games.  He will need to get ahead early of Mauer and company, because McCarthy’s location was an issue tonight, and the Twins made him pay.

The A’s will get Minnesota’s Cole De Vries, who is 2-4 with a 5.04 ERA.  Significantly enough, in his last two starts he is 0-2, allowing eleven earned runs in only five innings.

In other news, Oakland has acquired shortstop Stephen Drew from the Arizona Diamondbacks, and will report to camp ASAP.

Fortunately for the A’s, with a Baltimore loss they have lost no ground in the AL Wild Card standings, and are still half a game behind the tied for 1st Orioles and Rays.

Posted in: Adam Rosales,american league west,Brandon McCarthy,Brett Anderson,Brian Duensing,coco crisp,derek norris,joe mauer,Minnesota Twins,Oakland Athletics,Stephen Drew,wild card,Yoenis Cespedes