Athletics 6, Twins 1: Josh Donaldson homered and had three RBIs and Dan Straily pitched seven strong innings as visiting Oakland defeated Minnesota for the ninth consecutive time.

Sam Fuld smacked a two-run homer and was one of five Athletics with two-hit outings as Oakland completed a sweep of the three-game series. Straily (1-1) allowed one run, three hits, two walks and struck out five.

Donaldson snapped a 1-1 tie with a two-run homer to right field off Twins starter Mike Pelfrey (0-2) in the third. Fuld added a two-run blast to right in the fourth to increase the margin to four.

Donaldson stroked a run-scoring single to center in the sixth to make it 6-1 as Pelfrey allowed six runs and nine hits in five-plus innings. Ryan Cook and Fernando Abad each pitched an inning of relief as Oakland held the Twins hitless over the final 7 2/3 frames to record its fourth straight victory.

Minnesota had the early lead when Brian Dozier clubbed a one-out homer to left in the first inning. The Athletics tied it in the second on Daric Barton’s run-scoring single to left.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Oakland starting pitchers have allowed three or fewer runs in all nine games. … Twins OF Josh Willingham (wrist) sat out his third straight game and hopes he will be ready for Friday’s series opener against the Kansas City Royals, while Athletics OF Coco Crisp also sat out the series with a wrist ailment. … Oakland manager Bob Melvin announced before the game that he will be using a closer-by-committee approach after the early struggles of RHP Jim Johnson (18.90 ERA).