Twins 3, Athletics 2: Josh Willingham hit a walk-off, three-run homer off Oakland closer Brian Fuentes to rally Minnesota to its second consecutive victory over the Athletics.
Three Oakland pitchers combined on a shutout until the ninth, when Jamey Carroll singled and Denard Span walked ahead of Willingham, who blasted a 1-0 sinker from Fuentes (2-1) into the Twins' bullpen in left-center.The loss extends Oakland's losing streak to seven games.
Athletics starter Jarrod Parker and Minnesota native Cole De Vries started out in an unlikely pitchers' duel between a pair of rookies. Parker allowed four hits and four walks in six scoreless innings, and De Vries scattered two hits over five scoreless frames in his first start at Target Field.
Colin Cowgill broke the scoreless tie with a single to left off Brian Duensing to score Kurt Suzuki, and Coco Crisp added an RBI single in the eighth for a 2-0 lead.
Glen Perkins (1-1) worked around three walks in a scoreless ninth for the win.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Twins C Joe Mauer went 0-for-5 to snap his eight-game hitting streak. ... Crisp went 2-for-2 to break out of a 2-for-29 slump. … The Athletics have scored only 14 runs in their past eight games and rank last in the American League with 164 runs scored.
Oakland | Minnesota | |
Jarrod Parker | Player | Cole De Vries |
No Decision | W/L | No Decision |
6.0 | IP | 5.0 |
4 | Strikeouts | 1 |
4 | Hits | 2 |
0.00 | ERA | 0.00 |
Oakland | Minnesota | |
Coco Crisp | Player | Justin Morneau |
2 | Hits | 2 |
1 | RBI | 0 |
0 | HR | 0 |
3 | TB | 4 |
1.000 | Avg | .667 |